Once upon a time in a fairytale - P7 Pg18 - Page 6

Part 4-

Arnav was shaken at the sight of Khushi and Iti in the same frame. Strangely for someone of his stature, he was not much of a confrontational individual; in fact he hated conflicts altogether and avoided them for as long as he could. Fearful of how Iti would react at seeing him, he just decided to avoid the faceoff and left from the breakfast place. Confusion, restlessness, and fright had overcome him. He ran to the top most deck of the ship, his most favorite and the most secluded area, hoping to find some solitude. That's what he always craved the most when he was distressed. How would he face Khushi if she found out what he had been up to? Her innocent cheerful face now haunted him. He felt the need to escape this ship immediately but shivered at the thought of leaving Khushi here alone with Iti. Something just didn't feel right. But then, how would he survive the next 4 days? He cringed at the thought!

At the breakfast table Iti had already done her part of the damage.  She had casually befriended Khushi as Khushi had given up her preselected table for Iti's group, out of courtesy. The 8 of them later joined tables and exchanged small talk and personal information. One of the few things Iti shared with all was that she was Arnav Singh Raizada's girlfriend and loved him to the core.

"Kaun? The business tycoon Arnav Singh Raizada? Raizada group of industries ka maalik?" Khushi had reciprocated with much thrill by telling Iti she was his new partner on his latest venture. Khushi was ignorantly excited that she had found a friend in Iti, whereas Iti's evil propaganda had now become even stronger, and she continued to get on the good side of Khushi in hopes to get closer to Arnav through her in the future. Thankfully however, she never told Khushi why she was on the cruise.

They all finished breakfast and split up. Khushi and her friends went for a walk, whereas Iti headed for the casino.

Today was the day of the first excursion. It was supposed to be a clear breezy Saturday morning but the clouds had taken over and the sky seemed to have disappeared behind their dark grey fluffiness. "An unexpected rainstorm is headed our way." The captain announced. Rain always meant bad news and illness for Arnav. His head was as it is aching. He stood there engrossed in his worries, when he heard a faint sound of a group of girls heading his way. "Why?" He murmured in frustration, but stayed patient and composed. Much to his delight, it was in fact Khushi and her friends. He decided to make use of this opportunity to discover whether they had learnt anything about him from Iti.

He remained in his position pretending to be clueless and let Khushi approach him first. "Hello Mr. Azad aap yahaan?" Khushi spoke as she and her friends got closer to him. Arnav casually turned around, smiled, and said hello. "Vacha, girls, main inhi ki baat kar rahi thi jo kal mujhe bar mein mile the. This is Mr. Azad. Azadji meet my friends." She introduced everyone.

"Hello girls, how are you this morning? Nice to meet you all!" He responded. "Waise aap log sab yahaan kaise?" He continued.

"We urgently needed a walk post some really filling breakfast. Bas! Aur yeh jagah mujhe bahot hi pasand hai toh main apni doston ko yahaan leke aa gayi." Khushi answered.

"Acha? Maine toh abhi kuch khaya hi nahi. How was your breakfast? And how exciting has your morning been otherwise?" Arnav came to the point anxiously as he wasn't in the mood to waste any more time in Smalltalk.

"Breakfast bahot hi acha tha, aap zaroor jaiyega. Meri morning toh bahot hi achi nikli. I made one more friend here today." Khushi continued the conversation as her friends engaged in their own little chat a few feet away.

"Oh really? Ek aur banda? Khushi you seem to be on a roll huh?" Arnav couldn't stop himself from teasing her, keeping his sense of humor intact amidst all the stress.

Khushi reddened again. There was something about this man that always left her weak and at loss of words. But she quickly regained her courage and replied to him softly but progressively increasing the volume of her tone, still avoiding eye contact. "Arrey bilkul nahi. It was a girl. In fact, woh to mere naye business partner ko bhi jaanti hai."

Arnav now grew conscious. "Business partner? Who is that?" He asked almost hastily.

"I can't tell you that." Khushi gave a perceptive answer and continued. "Lekin woh mere business partner ki girlfriend hai. I am so excited. Koi toh hoga jise is nayi company mein main jaanungi."

Arnav grew even more worried. He quickly figured out what Iti had been up to. "Phir toh tum apne business partner se bhi mili hogi na? Woh akeli toh yahaan nahi aayi hogi." Arnav still continued gathering information.

"Nahi nahi woh akeli ayi hai uske doston ke saath. Uske boyfriend, yane ki mere business partner kissi business trip par gaye hue hai toh woh nahi aa sake." Khushi replied and then slowly murmured as she made a tense face, "Warna jo mulakat agle hafte hone wali thi aaj hi ho jaati."

Arnav heaved a sigh of relief and quietly caught on to her nervousness at the thought of meeting him here. Her gesture finally brought a slight smirk on his face. "Acha yeh toh bahot achi baat hai ki tumhe ek nayi dost mili Khushi. Theek hai toh tum apni doston ke saath enjoy karo main breakfast ke liye chalta hoon. See you around." He looked at her one last time, and gazed at her deeply as if wanting to find all answers to his uneasiness just then.

Suddenly it started to shower slowly as if the rain god started bucketing fancy on these two estranged souls. Khushi too stood there, frozen in the moment as she looked back at him intently, with a strange aching feeling that this may be the last time she might see him. But his stimulating stare and the sensation of the drizzling rain droplets snapped her out just a few moments later. She quickly looked down in discomfort and said, "Yeh baarish hume pura bheega dey issey pehle hume andar chalna chahiye."

"Hum mausam ki nahi pyar ki barsaaton se dar ke bhaagne waalo mein se hai!" He uttered, staring unstoppably at her. He wondered what made him say such words to her. Whereas she paused once again hearing this from him, fascinated and lost in his words, while her friends tried to pull her out of her spell. "Khushi, jaldi karo hum bheeg rahe hai!" Vaacha screeched, finally bringing Khushi to her senses.

"Bye Mr. Azad. " She looked around to realize how badly it had now started pouring, and quickly squealed in shock as she ran with her friends to find shelter. Arnav just stood there getting drenched as he watched her disappear behind the deck entrance shack.