Arnav-Khushi FF: ASR Decrypted - Part 5 on pg9 - Page 4

Posted: 11 years ago
 
 
Part 3
 
 

The worst part of Khushi's assignment, she soon came to realise, was having to live in Delhi, with her Madumati Buaji - a self-professed match-maker whose current project was none other than Khushi herself.

 

"But Khushi bitiya, the boy is an NRI!" her Buaji insisted, smugly flaunting the one credential that she knew usually floored girls over. When Khushi's exasperation did not morph into the expected excitement, Buaji turned to emotional blackmail, threatening not to eat until Khushi at least met this perfect match. Khushi sighed - it was like being stuck in Pride and Prejudice

 

Before she knew it, the house was being scrubbed clean, cracks in the walls were being hidden with ostentatious wall-hangings, sizzling sounds and mouth-watering wafts of air were coming from the kitchen, and neighbours were dropping in to gossip and tease under the pretext of helping. Buaji was one sharp woman - she would not take the risk of giving Khushi the time to change her mind.

 

Khushi's mind, however, was elsewhere. In the midst of all the mayhem, all she could think of was what she could possibly do to gain access the dark recesses of Arnav Singh Raizada's thoughts. There was only one way as she saw it. But Shashi Sir would have none of it.

 

He was back to his former stern self on the phone, "No way, Miss Gupta. You are my responsibility."

 

"But Sir, what about the case?"

 

"Your only duty is to report to the appeal court, whatever information it is that you have. If he does not cooperate, there is nothing you can do. There is absolutely no need for you to get so emotionally involved. It is not your fault that he is there, nor is it your responsibility to get him out. You can only help as much as he allows you to. Beyond that, there is his lawyer, there is the appeal court judge. Just stick to your job."

 

"But Sir," she rebutted earnestly, "I won't feel I have done justice to the case, to my job, if I just do the bare minimum. I can't just tick off a few boxes and swear in court that my report is the truth. I know that there is more."

 

"Look I understand that," Shashi Sir said, his tone gentler, "the situation is not ideal, but you cannot put yourself at risk. Just for a report. It's really not worth it."

 

"I think it is," Khushi insisted, "Please, Sir, please trust me."

 

"I trust you, Khushi. You know I do. But why should I trust him? He has confessed and been sentenced already. You do know how Shyam Manohar Jha was killed, don't you? And you want me to allow you to talk to him in private, without the guards outside, without handcuffing him?"

 

"Please Sir! I know what I am doing. Please?"

 

She heard a resigned sigh on the other side of the line. Meanwhile, on her side, the chaotic sounds had suddenly been amplified. The boy's car had been spotted veering into their street. Hands were fixing her saree, combing and patting her hair, placing a little kohl dot behind her ear to ward off 'evil eyes.' And her small victorious smile was being grossly misinterpreted by the omniscient onlookers as a sign of shyness.

 

Khushi was about to protest most vehemently, but her eyes fell on her Buaji's proud teary smile. It was her way of showing love after all. She smiled back reassuringly - she would give him a fair chance. But as it turned out, as instantly likeable as the suitor was, with his funny attempts at speaking hindi, the child-like curious twinkle in his eyes, and his warm, affectionate dimple-chinned smiles... her thoughts kept travelling back to that other pair of eyes. Those obscure black eyes that blazed with intensity, defiance, with unbearable pain. Arnav Singh Raizada's eyes.

 

Two days later, she was at the prison again, in the interrogation room, waiting for Arnav to arrive. This too was a deviation from standard procedure, which she felt was important. The whole thing would be an exercise in futility if she failed to get him to trust her. She did not bring the file this time, or her notebook. She did not even have her phone. She would be as empty-handed as him.

 

As he was being led to the interrogation room, he saw, through the one-way glass, that the shrink was there already this time. She was looking around her, running her hands on the table, as though trying to understand something, something beyond her reach. She was in her usual plain chiffon saree, this time bottle green, and her straight black hair was cascading gently onto her petite frame.

 

Before opening the door, the warden roughly shoved him against the wall and breathed down his neck, "No funny business this time, do you hear me? You better behave yourself, or you will regret it, I promise you!"

 

Arnav just looked at him derisively. No funny business? If only he could. He thought back to last time, when he had fought against the handcuffs, until the cold steel had burnt through his wrists in sweet stinging pain. In a rare gesture of humanity, the warden had ordered a constable to bandage the gashes, but Arnav, if anything, had been mildly surprised. He was still seething with rage.

 

He was incensed that she had brought up such an intimate topic with such careless candour, that she had, in the first place, even thought that she could read him with her pop psychology nonsense, and that in all of this, he was, to her, nothing but an assignment she had to get through. If anything, he hated her more than the damned warden, who at least, had no pretence about him. He was a stinking old bas***d, and he seemed to have no qualms about demonstrating that. But she had to be Miss Goody-two-shoes, pretending to be all caring, as though he was too dim to see that all she was doing was following some lame, oversimplified textbook.

 

Beyond that, though, he hated himself, for having allowed her to see how deeply her words had affected him. It was what she wanted, it was all she needed to be able to add another feather to her cap - she had seen through and managed to define Arnav Singh Raizada in a pompous stream of psychobabble. How could he? How could he have let her use Anjali to get to him and fulfil her own petty ambitions?  

 

She got up from the chair when she saw him enter the room and give him one of her placid smiles. She gave a meaningful look to the warden and the latter unlocked Arnav's handcuffs and left the room.

 

Arnav stared at her, trying to understand what this latest gimmick was all about.

 

She seemed to have heard the question, and answered, "Last time, you said you could not trust me, because I don't trust you. There are no handcuffs this time, and there is nobody watching us. At least, I asked that there be nobody watching us. I hope they listened."

 

Arnav snorted, and said scathingly, "Oh really? So there's nobody watching us? Basically, if I try kill you now, there would be nobody to come in and save you?"

 

She said nothing.

 

Her silence felt even worse than her meaningless words, because it made him realise even more acutely, that he was being watched, like a defenceless animal in a macabre laboratory. Except that this time, they had forgotten to lock the cage.

 

He did not care what her motives behind this suicidal strategy were.  In that instant, all he could see was the sham she represented, with her counterfeit compassion, her blinkered self-importance and condescension. She stank of the whole bloody social system itself, with its artificiality, double-standards and lies. The very reason why he was in prison. He lunged at her and grabbed hold of her throat. He figured he might have the time to squeeze the self-righteous conceit out of her before the heroic guards came in to rescue her and expose her words for the lies that they were.

 

He had already been sentenced for one murder anyway. How much worse could it get?



...


Part 4: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/63871539�



Edited by errrm - 11 years ago
Posted: 11 years ago
OMG he's thinking of strangling her???

I realized he was near the edge, from their first interview, and that as always what others think and society's norms mean nothing to him...

Still intrigued as to WHY he killed Shyam, how and why Di died, if the secrets of the past are the clue to what happened, and on and on...

Needless to say I just LOVE the whole thing...

Amazing writing and imagination...

Anxiously but patiently waiting to find out how Khushi responds to his attack...

Thanks for the pm...
Edited by dorindakate - 11 years ago
Posted: 11 years ago
Wow amazingly written
I can visualize everything
Thanks for the pm
Posted: 11 years ago
First of all thank very much for the pm. Its greatly appreciated.
Its a great update! Its fresh and intense. I am sooo curious to knw arnavs past. Also how khushi will build up trust with arnav. He lunged at her and got her at throat. Will het tears stop him?? Wat a cliff hanger!!
Again thank u
Posted: 11 years ago
Unique and typical writing style...
You are pretty clear with your words that brings out the exact picture of what you want to say...
Posted: 11 years ago
Its a nice concept...something new...really enjoyed reading the way you portrayed their emotions...frustrated and sick of thr system asr, talented, sincere yet a little green when it comes to the real world khushi...

You should change the title to ff though! Or it would end up being a very long short story... :)
Posted: 11 years ago
amazing...far shocking then what i expected...arnav is showing his vile, pathetic part to her to terrify her in the process and partially to mask down his thoughts haunting him,hovering him 24*7...those hazel orbs calming his senses down...trust problem i guess!:)

wonderful update!
Edited by icegurl789 - 11 years ago
Posted: 11 years ago
wow...very unique n interesting concept...pls continue soon...
Posted: 11 years ago
amazing...🤗...lovely update...continueee...😃
Posted: 11 years ago
This part ws amazingly written...very impactful..
And i can clearly understand arnav here...why he wud supposed to trust khuhsi when he dsnt know abt her intentions a bit...but still his act did scare me...hope he'll understand her by the time...
Cont..

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