Part 6
Saturday 12th December, 10:49 am
Khushi was sulking, and she knew that Arnav could not help but find it amusing.
"I don't get it," she pouted, "If, like you said, I'm beautiful inside and out, why do I need a makeover?"
"Because... you don't know you're beautiful, that's what makes you beautiful," came the singsong, tongue-in-cheek response.
Typical.
"Seriously, Arnav, I feel uncomfortable in all this," she said as she struggled with the zipper of the pencil skirt she was trying on in the changing room.
"Seriously, Khushi, NK is not a genius like me. He judges beauty by things like clothes and makeup, so he needs all this to realise what he is missing out on."
"Really? And what is he missing out on?" Khushi asked, attempting to feign innocence.
But Arnav saw right through it.
"Fishing for compliments, are we now, Miss Gupta? Fine, if you want to know, your beauty lies in your smile, which makes everyone around you smile, and the way your eyes sparkle when you laugh, and your little button nose, and the way it becomes red when you blush. Happy?"
Khushi gazed at her reflection in the mirror and touched her nose gingerly. He was right, it had become red.
Her lips curved into a small smile.
And then she smoothed out her facial expressions so she could look nonchalant as she walked out of the changing room, wearing one of the many outfits that he had picked out for her.
The beaming look on Arnav's face said it all, even if out loud he only said, "I've depleted my quota of complimenting you for today."
She rolled her eyes.
"Next stop, shoes," Arnav announced, stuffing the book he had been reading in his shoulder bag as he got up.
...
Saturday 12th December, 11:26 am
"Arnav, I can't walk in these things," Khushi groaned, as she held the edge of the shelf to stop herself from tripping on the stilettos she was trying on.
"Come on, all girls can," he replied, his eyes on his phone, "It's in your DNA. Just keep your back straight, and lead with the ball of your feet, before stepping with your toes."
"How on earth do you know that?" she said, unable to hold back her laughter.
"Google," he said simply, flashing the screen of his phone at her.
"I'm serious, I really can't."
"Yes, you can. Obama said so," he chuckled, as he walked towards her.
"Poor joke," she commented, but giggling nonetheless.
"Okay now, focus, right foot forward."
Khushi took a deep breath and let go of the shelf, and practised as he had told her. Back straight, she kept muttering to herself as she walked a few steps.
It was not that hard after all, it struck her.
She turned to share this with Arnav who was shadowing her, and felt herself stumble. She swung her arms around wildly reaching for Arnav, and heaved a sigh of relief as she felt his hands clasped firmly around her back and waist.
"Thanks," she whispered, looking up towards him, and realised that they were so close to each other that she could almost discern the different shades of brown in his eyes. A whiff of an earthy musky scent hit her nostrils. She lowered her gaze and unwound her arms from around his neck, suddenly self-conscious.
"You okay?" he asked, propping her back on her feet.
She hummed in response.
...
Saturday 12th December, 2:06 pm
"So, what can I do for the lovely lady?" the hairstylist, the very flamboyant Jacques, asked Khushi.
She almost gave her usual reply, ("Just a trim, nothing fancy"), but then remembered Arnav's very specific instructions, sourced from Google of course, that he had made her memorise before leaving.
"A hair mask, please. And... a haircut after that, keeping the length, but adding shorter layers at the crown and a side swept fringe. And then could I please have some subtle highlights in the tips, um, balayage style? And finally, could you style it with some loose curls at the bottom, please?"
She was staring at a spot over Jacques's shoulder as she spoke, too embarrassed to look straight at him. She wished Arnav had not had to leave to work on his group project. She felt so out of place, alone in the fancy salon, with none of the confidence and attitude that accompanied the place. She expected to be escorted out of the salon by some snooty people any minute now.
"Got it," Jacques said, smiling kindly at her, "Brace yourself, my darling, you are about to become... a diva!"
She answered with a small, shy smile. Maybe it wasn't all that scary after all.
...
Saturday 12th December, 9:27 pm
Khushi's doorbell rang. She looked up from the novel she had been reading, and glanced at the wall clock.
"Who is it?" she asked, before opening the door, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
Her flatmate, Anna, was out clubbing and she was alone at the flat.
She hardly received any visitors other than her sister, Payal, but Payal was holidaying in Italy with her husband and children.
Lavanya's visits to the flat were extremely rare, because she preferred to try and drag Khushi out of the flat to parties. But she was down with flu and was probably resting at home.
Maybe it was one of Anna's friends.
Or a serial killer.
"It's me," came the reply. Arnav.
She smiled widely as she opened the door.
"You look great, Khushi!" Arnav gasped.
She was surprised at first and then realised that he was seeing her with her new haircut for the first time.
"Thanks," she muttered, embarrassed, as she usually felt when she received any praise.
"Khushi, this is my friend, Zoe," Arnav introduced her to the petite girl standing next to him, "She will teach you all there is to know about makeup, from contouring, to smokey eyes, to matte lips, to those scary ass contraptions used to rip your eyelashes off."
"Eyelash curlers," Zoe laughed good-naturedly, in a way that made Khushi take an instant liking to her.
...
Saturday 12th December, 10:51 pm
"Arnav, look!" Khushi exclaimed in glee, as she paraded across the room in her stilettos proudly.
He looked up from the assignment on his laptop, and smiled, "See, I told you you could do it!"
"It just goes to show, Arnie, that I'm a better teacher than you," Zoe teased him.
"Oh please," Arnav quipped back, "I taught her. You just made her practise a bit. Anyway, can I wash this thing off now?"
He pointed at the green clay face pack that Zoe and Khushi had forced him to put on. Well, to be fair, the girls had not exactly forced him. They did give him a choice between either makeup or a facial.
Khushi burst out laughing at the adorable pleading look on his green face.
"It's not even dry yet," she said, breathless from laughing so hard, "Haven't you read on Google, clay is great for unclogging your pores and giving you flawless, glowing skin?"
...
Saturday 12th December, late at night
Khushi's laughter continued to ring in her ears even after Arnav and Zoe had left. She could not remember the last time she laughed this much.
Arnav had said, once, that she spread happiness around her. But the epithet applied more to him than to her. She had asked him a few times, why he was doing so much for her, and he had shrugged off the question, reminding her that she was helping him with his tuition fees.
But she knew it was a lie. Arnav's eyes flickered away from hers when he lied.
Her thoughts travelled to NK, a knot tightening in her stomach in anticipation, as she wondered how he would react on seeing her. Their last conversation had been when he had scolded her over the roses that had to be delivered to Sheetal. Was he still irritated that she had, for the first time in five years, failed to follow his instructions? Was he even thinking about her?
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