"Finally, this is the last one!" Khushi sighed as she took out her belongings from the twentieth box she'd unpacked since morning.
Khushi Kumari Gupta along with her mother, father, sister and buaji had shifted to a new, bigger house after her father's chain of sweet shops had been doing great in the city. Apparently, people in the city appreciated Lucknow's sweets more than Lucknow's own citizens.
It was 7 in the evening and all she wanted to do was have some hot chocolate, watch the newest season of The Bachelor and go to sleep. So what if she was a 25 year old going to bed this early on a weekend, right? Nope, it sucked. She knew that very well but her life was finally falling back into place with her new job and new house and she could leave partying on the back burner until she was all settled.
"Khushi, look at the house across the street! Isn't it beautiful?" Her sister, Payal screamed from the bay window.
So what if this was a much bigger house? She still wanted to have her sister by her side at night when the dark haunted her.
Khushi rushed to her side and glanced out the window at the huge mansion. It was obviously bigger than theirs and had a security guard with a train of cars parked outside.
"It really is beautiful, di. I bet some snooty family lives in there."
"Stop it, Khushi! Don't talk like that about people you don't know!" Payal lightly slapped Khushi's arm.
Khushi laughed at how sweet her elder sister was. Amid their conversation, Khushi's eyes spotted a car pull up in front of the mansion and a dapperly dressed tall man stepped out. Khushi paused mid-sentence as she tried to get a look at her face.
"What are you looking at, Khushi?" Payal asked.
"It's not a 'what', it's a 'who', di. A handsome who'."
Khushi and Payal both got a look at the name plate in front of the house that read, "Raizada's and immediately their curiosity peaked.
"Raizada's?" Khushi muttered.
The man in the black suit turned slightly and Khushi recognised the face immediately. Even after 17 years, there was still an aura around him one could just not miss.
"Arnav?" Khushi whispered.
"What are you saying, Khushi? Not all Raizada's are the ones we knew." Payal said, not believing her.
"No, di. I'm sure. Have you not heard about Facebook? I saw his picture. And, I can recognise him anywhere at any given time." Khushi's gaze followed Arnav's retreating back as he walked into his house.
"Khushi? Payal? Come downstairs for dinner!" Their mother called the two sisters who were busy peering out the window.
"Come, Khushi. Stop dreaming about Arnav." Payal quickly got up and went downstairs.
Khushi ignored Payal's remark because she knew it was him. She just knew. Plus, she remembered seeing his picture on her feed the other day because she stared at it for 10 minutes.
Arnav had grown up to be a very handsome man; not that he wasn't good looking when they were kids. But he was cute back then, now he was hot. All the memories came rushing back to her- a ten year old Arnav and an eight year old Khushi playing in the park. Those were simpler times.
All Khushi looked forward to in a day was going to school, meeting her friends, meeting Arnav in the lunch break as he defended her from anyone who tried to pick on her and coming back home to play with her sister, Arnav, Aakash, Anjali and NK in the open parks and streets of Lucknow.
Oh, how things had changed.
Do let me know what you think and if you want me to continue! Updates will roll out weekly.
Love, Akshita :)