“I can’t believe my Akash is getting married!”
“Mamiji why are you finding it so hard to believe, we all knew Akash would get married one day, it’s Chote that is the problem.”
“Di! I’m right here!”
“I know you are! That’s why I’m saying it! Come on Chote, you need to start thinking about settling down too. Akash is younger than you and he’s already ready to get married.”
“He’s only a little bit younger than me Di. It’s no big deal that he’s getting married before me.”
“I know, but you haven’t even shown any interest in getting married yet.”
“I just haven’t met the right person yet.”
“And when do you think you will find a woman suitable for the great Arnav Singh Raizada?”
Arnav looked up from his laptop at this point and stopped. His mind instantly went to Khushi and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Oh my god! Chote! I see that smile! There’s someone on your radar isn’t there?!”
Arnav shook his head and shut his laptop.
“Di! When the time comes and when I find someone, you will be the first to know, I promise.”
With that, Arnav got to his feet and left the room.
Anjali turned to Mamiji and smiled.
“He so has someone on his radar.”
*****
Khushi was busy putting a few clothes into her little suitcase when Payal came running into the room.
“Guess what!”
“What?”
“The Raizada’s have picked a date for the engagement!”
“They have? When is it?”
“Exactly a month from now!”
“No way?”
“Babuji said that they said they didn’t see why they should wait for the engagement when I’m already wearing a ring in Akash’s name!”
“Jiji, I’m so excited for you!”
“I can’t believe this is happening!”
“Have they said when the wedding is going to be?”
“No they haven’t, but Babuji said that he doesn’t think that it will be too long after the engagement, but they will finalise dates on the day of the engagement!”
Khushi hugged her sister and she felt as though her heart was going to explode with happiness. Payal had loved Akash since she knew was love was, and now they were going to get married! Khushi had always liked Akash. In high school he had always backed her up when everyone else would tease her, and as an adult, he opened up a whole new world for her, a world where her work would be far more appreciated than ever before. And she also had to he grateful to him because if it wasn’t for him, then she probably wouldn’t have Arnav in her life now. Things between her and Arnav were weird and they were maintaining a professional relationship, but Khushi knew that her feelings for Arnav were constantly brewing and he knew it was the same for him too.
“Khushi, I was going to ask, how long are you going to London for?”
“Maybe a week. I doubt I’ll need to stay longer than that.”
“That’s such a long time!”
“It’s only a week, that’s not long at all!”
“I know, but it’s so close to the engagement, I need you here!”
“I know you do, but I promise, 1 week, I won’t go a day over a week. I need to go to this conference and then I need to make sure that I have got everything in order. And I want to stay with mama and papa a few days, I’ve really missed them since I’ve been here. I haven’t seen them much at all since I’ve started this deal with Arnav.”
“Khushi you need to bring Maasi and Mausaji back with you!”
“I will definitely tell them! But I don’t know if they will come back, they haven’t been back here in years and years and I don’t think they will want to come back.”
“I know all that, but please, it’s my wedding and I want all my family here with me.”
Hugging Payal again, Khushi promised that she would try her best to convince her parents to come to India with her.
Khushi’s parents had moved to England a long time ago. They had moved to England when Khushi was only 8. Initially they had taken Khushi with them, but for some reason, even after a year Khushi just wasn’t settling in and she wasn’t doing well at school. So after talking to Payal’s parents, they had decided that it would be best for Khushi to go back to India and stay there with Payal and her parents until Khushi was old enough to make her own decisions and go back to England. Shashi and Garima loved Khushi, but they weren’t keen on the idea of a daughter being so far away from her parents like this. Regardless of their reservations towards the situation, they took care of Khushi as there own, and sure enough, when Khushi was ready she did go back. But Khushi had always known that India was her home and this is where she wanted to be. So she was more than ready to kick her life into gear and get settled back down here.
*****
“Arnav, I’m leaving for London tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’ll have a day in between before the conference when I’ll be able to look over all my notes and stuff, I want to prepare over there so I know I know all my points thoroughly.”
“Khushi, I was wondering, can I come with you?”
“Do you want to?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I don’t see why not, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to come to the conference.”
“I was invited to the conference, so yeah I will be able to come.”
“That’s alright then! So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yes you will.”
“Have you got a ticket for the flight?”
“No, I’m going to go by my jet. You should come with me.”
“But I already have a ticket with the airlines.”
“I’ll sort that for you but will you come with me on my jet?”
“I mean… Yes! Of course!”
“Great! What time was you’re flight meant to be tomorrow?”
“It was meant to be at 4pm and I have a short layover in Dubai.”
“Okay, we’ll leave at 12pm so we can have a little bit more time in Dubai.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Are you okay to leave 4 hours earlier than planned?”
“I have no issue at all.”
“Then let’s do it!”
“I’ll come and pick you up tomorrow at 11:30am.”
“Okay, bye, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Khushi hung up and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. What had she just done?
*****
Arnav and Khushi boarded onto Arnav’s private jet and Khushi couldn’t help but gasp as she took it all in. She had expected it to be lavish and fancy, but his jet was nothing like what she had expected.
The entire interior of the jet was black glass and white leather. There were large leather sofas on either side of the jet ans there were coffee tables by the sofas.
“This is insane!”
“I’m assuming you like it.”
“It’s amazing! But are the seats safe?”
“Don’t worry about the seats. During take off and landing we have special seats nearer the front of the jet. We go there and strap ourselves in. Once we’ve taken off, we can come back into the main area.”
Khushi nodded, still slightly taken aback by everything around her.
Arnav took her hand and led her to another part of the jet.
Khushi looked around her, utterly mind blown. They were in a bedroom! Along both sides there were sofas and in the middle of the room was a bed. There were also 2 desks, one which had a built in computer and one white was just an empty normal desk.
“I know what you’re thinking, and down worry. The desks are both stuck firmly down to the ground, they won’t go anywhere no matter how the jet moves.”
“Arnav… This is incredible!”
“I’m glad you like it. It took me ages to design this aircraft so that it was just right for me.”
Before they could talk any more, the captain announced that all was ready and set and that they were ready to take off.
Arnav led Khushi back to the seats where they have to sit during take off and landing and they got strapped in. Once they were ready, the jet started moving and moments later, they were in the air. Khushi looked out of the little window and saw them fly above Delhi. She’d always loved flying and she loved the life she had, she was flying all the time. She hadn’t been to see too many places on earth, but she knew that she wanted to visit America one time and she also wanted to go to Australia.
“You can take your belt off.”
Khushi nodded and unbuckled herself as she followed Arnav into the main area of the jet. He took a seat on one of the large sofas and stretched out his arms and legs. Arnav called for a member of the cabin crew.
“How may I help you sir?”
“Can I have my laptop bag please?”
The stewardess nodded and went off to get Arnav’s bag.
Khushi took in her surroundings, still not quite able to believe that she was in a private jet.
“I know what you’re thinking, how can I have a jet. The truth is, this jet cost more than I could actually afford. I put so much money into this, I don’t have much extra left over. But this is something I really wanted. So I decided, I wasn’t going to save up for it and get it at a time when I could buy it and have a lot of money left over. I just bought it.”
Khushi nodded.
“The sensible part of me thinks that you’re crazy. But I can see why you’d want this and honestly, I think you deserve it.”
“Thank you.”
The stewardess returned with Arnav’s laptop bag and handed it to him.
“Sir, whenever you would like to eat, please let us know what you would like and we will see if we are able to prepare that for you.”
“Thank you. But I don’t think we’ll have a meal on this leg of the journey. We may just have tea and coffee at some point.”
The stewardess nodded and left.
“Khushi, if you want to have something, just call the stewards and let them know. If you want a meal that’s fine. But if you don’t, I know a place at the Dubai airport that has the best food.”
Khushi nodded. She felt like that’s all she could do. This whole experience was slightly overwhelming.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, it’s just… All this…”
“It takes a bit of getting used to, I’ll admit that.”
Khushi started flicking through the channels on the tv, she needed to put her attention to something. This situation, as much as it was enjoyable was also slightly awkward. She didn’t know what to talk to Arnav about and Arnav too wasn’t making much conversation.
Khushi found and film and decided to watch it, while Arnav tapped away on his laptop.
*****
The flight to Dubai didn’t take long, 3 and a half hours only. They left the jet and made their way over to a restaurant to get some food.
“Ah, its this one! My absolute favourite. They serve the best Italian food. Their food here is ever better than what you can get in Italy.”
Khushi ordered a pizza and Arnav ordered some spaghetti. They both tucked into their food.
“Wow this really is amazing!”
“I told you! Their food is the best. I always have a layover in Dubai just so I can eat here.”
“Have you been to Italy.”
“Yeah, I have. Maybe I can take you there one day?”
“Maybe you can.”
Arnav placed his hand on Khushi’s and gave it a squeeze. It was almost like he was sealing the deal that they would go to Italy one day. However, before Khushi could read too much into it, he removed his hand and carried on trying to finish his meal.
When they finally finished their food, the bill was paid and they left the restaurant. They walked around the airport, taking in all of the large shops that were there and smelling the food that was served by all the different food places. At one end of the airport was a large water fountain with a whole lot of greenery around it. It looked so beautiful and Khushi couldn’t help but feel super peaceful.
“I really love this airport. It’s one of my favourites in the whole world.”
“I can see why you like it so much.”
“Haven’t you ever stopped here before?”
“I have, but I never really get the chance to explore and look around. I usually book flights where I have the shortest transits.”
“Khushi you’re really missing out. I wish we had more time, I would’ve taken you out and shown you around Dubai. The city itself is so stunning.”
“Maybe we can stop here for longer on our way back and you can show me around.”
“I’d like that.”
Arnav took Khushi’s hand into his and he had the sudden urge to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her, right here. Right now. In the airport of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Arnav moved in, his eyes fluttering shut. Khushi didn’t really know what was happening, but realised that she too was being drawn into the moment. Arnav’s hand slipped to Khushi’s wrist as he continued to inch closer and closer to her lips…
Tanzeela’s Creative Writing Corner 