Posted:
12 years ago
Part 11-
Arnav turned off the ignition and thought of calling Khushi but again his mind and heart started waging an inner battle.
Mind-Why should I call her..??..As if she cares if I come home late and won't have dinner..??
Heart-Of-course she does after all she's been having dinner with you for the past two weeks..!!
Mind-So what..??..Don't you know she belongs to the category of people who live for food..??
Heart-I know...But if she keeps on waiting for me and won't eat..!!
Mind-Why do you care so much if she eats or not..??
Heart-I don't..I'm just being courteous..!!
Mind-Oh really..???...But you have never cared about being so courteous to anyone else..??..What's so special in Khushi..haan..??
Heart-She's not special..!!
Mind-That's evident..!!
Heart-But..!!
Mind-What's wrong with you dude..??...What happened to your ego..??..Forgot..you're Arnav Singh Raizada..??
Heart-Fine..I'm not calling her..!!..But if she is hungry then it's all your fault..!!
"Good evening..Mr. Raizada..Good you're here..Let's start the meeting.."..Mr. Srivastava said as he produced his hand forward for a hand-shake seeing Arnav.
"Yaa sure..."Arnav replied.
It had become an unwritten rule between both Khushi and Arnav to have the dinner together after the day Khushi had forced him to have dinner and they had remembered their old days.It was not that they actually talked or anything.They just had dinner together sitting civilly in front of each other without coming up with something to argue about.Even though Khushi always continued with her blabbering regardless of the fact that Arnav was listening or not.
As Arnav came home around 12,he hoped against hope that Khushi had already eaten her dinner and was sleeping.The meeting had turned out to be longer than he expected.But all his hopes went down the drain when he saw her slim figure on the sofa in the living room.She was sleeping snugly with a half-opened book in hand.Which he presumed that she was reading before she drifted off to sleep.
He stared at her serene face for a few minutes before he attempted to wake her up from her peaceful slumber.
"Khushi...Khushi..wake up.."..Oh man...She looks so beautiful when she's asleep..!!...Can't she always stay quiet like this..??
He kept a hand on her shoulder in order to wake her up but he was totally confused when he noticed her expression changing from the peaceful one to one of fear,anxiety,stress,disgust,anger.Arnav didn't know how to exactly describe the look he saw on her face and before he could ponder over it.She started screaming.
"Please don't do this to me...Please don't..If you want then kill me..But not this..Please I beg you..I considered you a friend..How can you do this to me..??...How??..Dare not touch me Sh..."
Arnav couldn't comprehend what had taken place all of a sudden but it was evident that she was dreaming something very- very bad.He shook her hard..."Khushi..Khushi..It's..it's me..Arnav..!!..Khushi..wake up..!
She slowly opened her eyes trying to consume her surroundings.And her expressions of anger,fear,stress or disgust changed to the one of pure relief when she saw him..."Ar..Arnav..It's you..!!..Thank-god.."
A look of intense relief passed on his face too after seeing that she had regained consciousness.She hugged him as if her whole life depended on him.At first,Arnav was reluctant to hug her back but seeing her distressed state,he couldn't control himself.He had no idea what had just happened and was worried for her immensely..After five minutes he asked.."You fine..??"
His words made her realize what had just transpired and she made her way out of his arms and replied.."Ya-a-aah..ofcourse I'm fine..Mujhe kya hoga.."..And gave him a fake smile which he could easily look through.
"But abhi.."
"Kya abhi..??..aree woh..bura sapna tha..nightmares you know.."
"And what was the nightmare about..??.."..Who is she trying to fool..??
"Umm..woh..Haan...I was reading this book na.."..She pointed at the book still on her lap.."Bas I was reading it and fell asleep and you know na..thriller hai toh wahi bas sapne mein..I mean..bas wo scene imagine.."
"I don't believe you.."
"Then don't.."She said getting up from the couch.."Hawww...It's midnight..Itni late kyun kar di aane mein..??.."
"Stop changing the topic Khushi.."..He said giving her a total ASR look.
"I'm not...I'm telling the truth baba..main kyun jhooth bolongi tumse..??.."
"Sure..??.."
"Trust me.."..And gave him an assuring look.."Accha...tumne khana nahi khaya na..??..Please..ye mat kehna ki you've already had dinner or else I'll pakka wala kill you..!!.."
"Kyun..??.."
"Because aaj khana maine banaya hai..silly.."..She said with a proud childish grin.
"Umm..nahi.."..Well...he didn't had the heart to tell her that he had already eaten after what had happened before and lose that radiant look on her face again.
"Oh great.."
"But Hari Prakash ne kyun nahi..."
"Aree yaar...He wasn't feeling well..Actually aaj main jaldi bhi aa gayi thi toh I volunteered to make dinner...waise bhi jabse shaadi hui hai...kitchen mein gayi hi nahi hoon..Bas baith ke khaati rehti hoon..Moti ho jaongi aise..So I gave him some medicines and asked him to rest.."
"Ya..ya..You and your kind heart..."
"Shut up..Poor guy..he's always working so hard..and also.."
"I understand...!!..But tumhare haath ka khana khane se pehle main mar kyun nahi gaya..Pata nahi kya milaya ho..!!..You know the difference between sugar and salt right..??..."
"Morone"..She passed him one of her signature mean looks which she especially reserved for him and went off to heat the food.
They were halfway through dinner and she had rarely spoken a word or two which had never happened before.Arnav could see that her mind was elsewhere and he was actually feeling genuinely worried for her.Finally she ended her silence..."How's the food...??...and mind it no nasty comments.."
"It's actually bad.."..Even-though he had personally liked the food very much but as if he's ever gonna accept that.
"Haww...Batameez..Maine kaha tha No Nasty Comments"..Lard Governor..taareef bhi nahi kar sakta..!!
"Ohkay..fine..It's not that bad.."
She gave him a triumphant smile.."And did you notice that maine sab tumhare pasand ki cheez banayi hai..??.."
Well, as a fact he had noticed that but had thought that it was a mere coincidence.He could never imagine that she did it intentionally.
"How do you know that I like all this..??.."..Oh..She did soo much for me..She cares for me..Yeah..!!..Arnav CONTROL man..!
"Actually I was talking to ma..your biological mother to be precise..on phone and then I told her that I'm gonna make the dinner...So she asked me to make all this for you...and main unko mana toh kar nahi sakti thi..You know na.."...Jhooth bolna paap hai Khushi but nahi nahi Devi Maiyya main nahi bataongi ki I wanted to make his favourite dishes and already knew them nahi toh phir attitude jhadne lagega..Bas iss baar maaf kar dena Devi Maiyya!!
"And you actually did all this for me..??.."..Mumma ke hi kehna per usne kiya toh but why am I feeling happy about it..??
"Tension mat le..I still hate you..!!.."..Dekha Devi Maiyaa..maine toh sach nahi bataya tab ud raha hai..bata diya hota toh kya hota..??
"Thankfully..I can't deal with an all nice Khushi..I prefer the arrogant one.."
"Helllooo Raizada..Main aur Arrogant.???...Look who's talking"
"Whatver...!!..Waise..what name were you calling in your sleep...Sh..aage.??...I could'nt catch the full word.."
"Hey devi maiyaa...Phir start ho gaya..Lard Governor"..She mumbled.
"Kya kaha tumne..??.."
"Kuch nahi..kuch bhi toh nahi..main kabhi kuch kehti kahan ho..??.."
"Stop changing the topic and answer my question Khushi.."
"Aree you know..Sh se kiska naam start hota hai...Sh se..Yesss...She se start hota hai..hai..Haan..Sherlock Holmes..Sherlock Holmes hi toh tha..He was the villain you know.."..You're pathetic Khushi..Sherlock Holmes was the best you could come up with..??...Main kya karoon jab bhi ye gadha ASR mode mein aata hai toh I get all nervous and my brain stops working..!!
"Villain..??..But I thought he was the detective.."..She can't even lie convincingly..!!
"Well..yess..you know he was the detective..but now he is the villain..because in my dream he was not the detective..but he was something else..and that something else that he was..was actually him only but not as a detective..but as someone else..."
"Get to the point Khushi.."..He said in a no non-sense voice..!
"Well..that's the point..He was my murderer..Come on..stop giving me that look..He Was Actually The Murderer..I'm not lying..!!Just imagine It will be soo cool to get killed by Sherlock Holmes..I mean it will be just super cool..Ekdum awesome..!!.."..Just look at his face..Beta tu toh gayi aaj..!!
"Yaa...very awesome..!!.."..He said but to her dismay instead of passing her a convincing look he passed her a disbeleif one..."And you were Sherlock Holmes' friend also na..??"
"Yaa...I mean..I was Dr. Watson...Dr. Khushi..Dr.Watson..Doctor-Doctor..you got the similarity..??.."
"Oh..Yaa..ofcourse..Doctor..Doctor.."...He said giving her a 'Who Are You Kidding??' look..
"Accha..wo chodo...Dessert Time.."
"You have even made dessert...??.."
"Haan..wo bhi gazar ka halwa..Tumhara favourite..Again!!."..Atleast topic toh change hua..Why does this guy has to know me so well??
"What's wrong with you today..??..Pehle mere pasand ki dishes ab gazar ka halwa..??.."
"Aree...main apne hubby dear ke liye itna nahi kar sakti..!!.."..She said giving him an extra sweet smile.
"Kuch nahi ho sakta tumhara.."
"I know..I know.."..She said as she brought the dish to the table.
"But I can't eat it..!!"
"Whyyy...??...Don't worry..maine namak nahi daala..sacchi mein..I know the difference between sugar and salt.."
"Nahi..woh baat nahi hai..woh I'm diabetic na.."
"Uffo...itni si baat..maine sugarfree banaya hai.."
"Sacchi..??.."...Stop looking so surprised Arnav..!!
"How can I let my darling Raizada eat sugar wala halwa.."
"Sudhar jao..Gupta.."
She smiled inwardly seeing him polishing off the halwa.Khushi knew him well.That meant he liked it even if he won't accept the fact.After they had finished eating,she started picking up the plates and all when Arnav asked.."You need help..??.."
She turned to look at him with her eyes as round as the plates in her hand with surprise.."Now..it's my turn to ask what's wrong with you today..Arnie baby..??.."
"No..Arnie..!!...Khushi..You know I hate that name.."
"Kyun..??...I toh love it...main toh boloongi..Arniee...Arniee...Arnie..."
"Thik hai then...Baad mein mat chilana..you asked for it..Khasi.."..He said helping her clean up for night.
"Nooo...Arnav...I had told you not to call me that.."
"Aree..you can call me anything..and I can't..That's mean..Khasi.."
Their friendly banter went on for sometime both enjoying the moments and forgetting their present problems even though they were still lingering at the back of their minds like black thunder clouds waiting to rain.Both of them knew that this was going to be a long night.After sometime when they parted for their rooms near the pool.Arnav again asked Khushi.."You are actually fina na..Khushi..??.."
"Haan baba...Sacchi mein I'm fine.."..I'm really sorry Arnav..I really am..but I can't tell you the truth now..maybe later..but not now..I'm really sorry..but some things are better buried in the past!!
Eventhough Arnav did'nt say anything at the moment,he knew Khushi was not telling him something.Something from her past.Something that she did not want to talk about.Something that she was scared of.Something from which she was running away.
Arnav had known Khushi all his life and he even knewwe Khushi was not an escapist.She was a realist and beleived in staying and fighting for what she beleived in.Then what was that which a strong-willed girl like Khushi was running away from??
But Arnav also knew that Khushi was not the kinds who would depend on others to fight for her problems.She did not like taking help of others to deal with her things and he thoroughly respected that approach of life of hers.That is why,he decided that he'll let Khushi take her own time and wait for her to tell him the haunts of her past herself.
But if she does'nt then?Then he promised himself that he'll go to any extent and to any end of the world to find the cause of her problem and throw them out of her life.
Note-All those who want PMs...Please Buddy me...!!
Edited by veds275 - 12 years ago
