Credit for Cover: arshy4ever
Thanks yaar!
CHAPTER
11
Arnav snapped out of his
shock, and held the other man's hand. "Arnav SINGH RAIZADA...NOT Arnav MALLIK
Singh Raizada" With that, he pushed the other man's hands off his collar.
Garima went to that
man. "Anand beta, listen to me please..."
Anand calmed down. "Mausi, he
has 'explanations' I suppose?"
Then she turned to Arnav; she
could read the emotions in Arnav's eyes...jealousy, hurt, possessiveness. She
knew she had done the right thing by forgiving him. "Don't worry beta. This is
Anand. Anand Rajwardhan Kapoor...Khushi bitiya's elder brother..."
Arnav's eyes widened with
relief and confusion. How come Khushi never mentioned about Anand?
Understanding the question
in his eyes, Garima said, "Bitua, the day you dropped Khushi bitiya at home from
Sheesh Mahal, was the day Jiji slipped into a coma. Anand was 18 at the time and
at college. I took Khushi away, and few days later, when we found out that Jiju
was missing, I called up Anand. Pari seemed happier and had forgotten most of
the things...we decided to let it remain that way... So Anand came here, to
Mumbai to look after our law firm. We thought of revealing it all to Khushi when
she seemed very happy... But somehow, I-"
"Mausi..." Anand said
quietly, putting a hand on Garima's shoulder. Garima let her tears flow. "Mausi,
how could you let him-" Anand began, shooting Ratna apologetic looks.
Garima stopped, and told him
everything. Anand was not entirely convinced, but respected Mausi's decision. He
decided to keep a close eyes on Arnav, and then turned to his friendly self and
chit-chatted with Ratna and Garima as they walked away, leavig Arnav staring at
Khushi's sleeping form.
-Next Morning-
The night had seen thick
fog, and hence Garima insisted Ratna and Arnav to stay for the night. Arnav
wandered aroud the house. The kids had gone to school, and he could not resist
looking into their room.
Khushi had just sent the
kids away to school, and went to have her bath. She picked up a seaweed green
saree, that had glittery border. After wearing the saree, she tied her hair into
a lose knot and looked into the mirror. Frowning, she reached for the clip and
took it off, letting her hair lose over her shoulder. Much better! She thought.
Then, out of nowhere, she
heard.
"Waise...ye colour tum pe itna bura bhi nahi lagta..." She remembered a
hand extending towards her hair, and letting it fall loosely, and saying, "Much
better...!
Too dazed about it, she
walked out. As she passed the kids' room, she saw Jiji's brother-in-law's
back towards the door, holding a familiar red card
He observed the room with a
strage mixture of joy and grief...joy for meeting his kids, and grief for not
hearig his kids calling him 'Papa'.
He looked around the room,
drinking in every detail, trying to picture his children's childhood. He hadn't
been able to talk to them much, but his heart ached to. His eye fell on a
rectangular purple box, which was labelled 'Papa'. Curious, he walked to it and
opened it. He saw cards...loads and loads of cards...Birthday cards, New Year
Cards and many more... Surprised and curious, he opened the first one...
'To my Dear Arshi and
Navi
Many Many happy returns of
the day!
Papa loves you and misses
you alot
Papa is very sorry that he
could not see you this year also...
Love,
Papa.'
The words 'love' and 'papa'
were slightly blur...with TEARS he realized. His heart ached, and as he studied
the writing, he realized that the P's and Y's were just like Khushi's. He did
not hear Khushi stop outside the room, staring at his back.
"I HAD to send them
these..." a soft voice whispered from behind.
Arnav whirled around to see
Khushi a seaweed green saree. He remembered that night... So close...So
beautiful...Dancing in their own world...
"What do you mean?" he
asked.
She looked up with tears in
her eyes; eyes filled with strange desperation. "They asked me about their
father...What could I say? That I-I don't remember him?" She closed her eyes in
frustration.
Arnav walked nearer to her.
"Khushi?"
Her eyes opened again,
gazing down. "I try so so hard to remember him... I remember I loved him
ALOT...I know I still DO love him...If only I remembered..." she whispered,
tears threatening to break through.
Arnav's felt a knot in his
heart but somewhere, a part of him was elated that she still DID love him. He yearned to comfort her. He slowly
reached out his hand, and pushed her hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her
ear. He felt a storm of emotions...It had been so long since he had felt her
under his fingers.
Khushi could sense him
close by, and was surprised that her heart had begun racing. She felt his hand
tucking her hair behind her ear, and did not flinch. To her amazement, she knew
that touch! Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she recognised this touch. She
looked up to meet his eyes... His warm, chocolate brown DEEP eyes.
A whir images flooded her
mind. She closed her eyes, frowning. Arnav felt a little anxious. "Khushi? Tum
theek ho?"
Khushi's eyes flew open.
"Arnavji?" she asked, a slight smile playing on her lips.
Arnav was bewildered. He
embraced her in fierce hug. She hugged him back.
Suddenly, Khushi's mind
flooded with a rush of other images...
"You should be Khushi. You should be. THAT is your
fault."... "Did you say that because DI was upset, or because YOU were
upset?"... "You did that just for my money Khushi Kumari Gupta. You took up the
name of Singh Raizada for the money that came along with that tag!"
And just as
suddenly as she had remembered, she forgot it all. "Mujhe maaf kar deejiye..."
she muttered, withdrawing herself from his arms, and walking out of KM to her
boutique, confused about what had just happened... WHY HAD SHE HUGGED HIM?! she
wondered, leaving a stunned and pained Arnav behind.
As she was
about to leave the house, Garima called her. "Bitiya, Anand forgot to take hs
lunch box! Please give it to him on your way to work?!"
"Okay Amma!"
Khushi said, as she went and took the lunch box from her hand and started to go
out.
When Garima
looked at Khushi, her eyes widened. It was the same saree she had worn on
Payaliya's sangeet!
Arnav walked
out of the kids' room and met Garima's eyes. Garima read the unspoken request in
them. "Bitiya, Arnav bitua will drop you..."
Khushi was
silent for a few seconds, contemplating. Maybe she could get him to talk about
the past? She agreed.
PRECAP- Teri Meri ( I won't explain this... You will read it anyway na? 3:) )
Edited by Dynamix215 - 11 years ago
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