He’s Amazing ~ Part 20 {Reloaded}

For the first time all evening, Khushi finally took a good look at Arnav once she was seated beside him and it was then that she finally realised he was wearing a black sharwani. He caught her taking him in and she smiled at him before quickly looking away. God he looked sexy!

Nani moved forward and proceeded with the shagun ceremony. Everyone beamed with happiness as they watched, glad their their children had found happiness in each other and that they were preparing to start a new life together. Buaji and Garima had tears in their eyes, their Khushi soon wouldn’t be theirs.

Khushi had periodically turned to Arnav and had tried to read his expressions. She noticed how he had been beaming throughout the ceremony, regularly taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Once the rasam was done, Nani turned the Shashi and Garima and smiled.

“Shashi ji, your daughter is now ours! And you don’t have to worry, she will be the darling of our family. We will treat her with the same love we give to Anjali and Payal.”

“Thank you, and you Arnav, for both choosing my daughter and taking a stand for her today. I know you will all keep her very happy.”

Arnav smiled and nodded, but quickly got to his feet when he saw Anjali and Shyam glaring at him, gesturing for him to touch Shashi’s feet.

“Shashi ji, would it be possible for all us elder people to go and talk about other arrangements.”

“Of course, please follow us to the other room.”

The elders left to discuss what was to happen next and the youngsters stayed behind, talking excitedly about the function that had just happened and about all their plans for future functions. Arnav casually put his arm around Khushi and pulled her closer to himself.

“Hey babe.”

“Hi.”

“So, you’re officially mine!”

“Not officially. I become yours officially after the wedding!”

“Who are you trying to fool. You’ve been mine right from the first moment we both properly looked at each other. By the way, did I mention that you look beautiful?”

“Thank you, you look incredibly hot.”

“You look hotter. In fact you look so hot that I want to take you upstairs right now. Can I take you upstairs?”

“What do you plan to do there?”

“Someone’s got naughty ideas in her head hasn’t she? I want to make love to you for so long and so hard that you can’t move tomorrow morning.”

Khushi bit her lip and felt her cheeks heating up as he nuzzled into her neck.

“I’d love that!”

Both Arnav and Khushi got caught in the moment and completely forgot that they were surrounded by their siblings. Bringing his face to hers, Arnav smiled as he leaned in to kiss Khushi. As if on autopilot, Khushi too moved forward. Their lips touched ever so lightly, but they both felt the insane fireworks go off around them.

Anjali was the first to notice what was happening and cleared her throat loudly. Arnav and Khushi jumped apart and looked at their siblings feeling extremely awkward.

“Ahem, chote, as much as I have no issue with what you two are doing, would both like to pay attention and help us plan YOUR wedding. Or would you both rather we just let you carry on and we do all the wedding planning for you.”

Arnav ran his hand through his hair and gave his sister a sheepish smile while Khushi kept her eyes on her lap, feeling too shy to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Nanav, you’ll have plenty of time with Khushi on honeymoon. But I don’t think you need it, seeing as your honeymoon period started a long time ago!”

“Nanheji, they have to go on honeymoon, after all it’s time to ‘bond’ every couple needs their honeymoon. Why I remember our like it was yesterday. Rani Sahiba, do you remember how much bonding we did during out honeymoon?”

There was scattered laughter throughout the room and Anjali blushed before punching her husband on the arm. Khushi looked around in awe at the people sitting around her. They were all so open with each other. She decided that if she was to be a part of this family, she too would have to speak up and actually interact with them properly.

“Payal bhabi, tell us, how was your honeymoon?”

“Horrible, all Akaash did was sleep all day! We barely went out to sight see and there was no time at all for shopping.”

Akaash turned to his wife, his eyebrow raised. He then turned to Khushi as he offered his side of the story.

“Yes I did sleep all day, but someone has left out a vital part of the story. You should ask her why I had to sleep all day. But I’ll save us all time and tell you all. It’s because someone wouldn’t let me get to sleep until the early hours of the night. If she wants, she can tell you why we were up so late every night.

Again there was scattered laugh and Payal blushed. Anjali came to her sister-in-laws rescue and diverted the attention away from Payal.

“Chote where will you guys go on honeymoon?”

“Wherever Khushi wants to go.”

“Where would you like to go Khushi?”

“I don’t care as long as I’m with my husband.”

“Then it’s settled, Saale Saab, you and Khushi ji shall have your honeymoon in the storeroom at home!”

“What, no way Jijaji! There’s no space for one man to lie down in there, how will me and Khushi both fit?”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to manage. After all, the less space there is during the honeymoon, the better right?”

The group burst out laughing and Khushi hid her face in Arnav’s chest. Lavanya who had been watching the scene that was playing out in front of her, laughed. She couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with happiness for Khushi. The people who were sitting around them right now were some of the best people she had ever met and she was so glad that they were so open and fun. She just knew Khushi would have a great time with them.

“Please stop teasing my sister! Her honeymoon is private and all details of the honeymoon are confidential and should stay between her and Jeej. But of course as her sister and best friend, I will know everything…”

“La! You know I wouldn’t tell you!”

Before Lavanya could reply, the elders of both family came out, causing Arnav and Khushi to jump apart.

“We have decided that the engagement will be the day after tomorrow and the rest of the ceremonies will start after that. We have decided that this will happen as soon as possible as we want it be done before Khushi and Arnav have to go back to university at the start of next semester.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and began talking excitedly.

“But Nani, with everything being so soon, Chote and Khushi won’t have time to go on honeymoon?”

“They will leave as soon as the wedding ends. That will give them 5 days for their honeymoon.”

The Raizada’s and Kashyap’s embraced each other, excited that this was happening and so soon.

They sat around for a little while longer before the Raizada’s decided it was time to leave. As they greeted each other and slowly left, Arnav hung back and waited for his family to leave and for the Kashyap’s to be out of earshot before he turned to Khushi.

“I’ll FaceTime you tonight. Be ready.”

Before Khushi could reply, Arnav dropped a quick kiss on her cheek and left.

*****

It was later the same evening and Lavanya was finally settling down after a long evening. After the Raizada’s had left they had got changed and then got straight on to tidying up the house before sitting down with their parents and discussing all the things that needed to be done within the next few days before the engagement. Khushi was in the bathroom and Lavanya was waiting for her to come out so that they could finally actually talk about everything that had happened today.

Just as La picked up her own phone, Khushi’s laptop, which she’d left on was now ringing, signifying that someone was FaceTiming her. Lavanya answered the call upon seeing that it was Arnav. She waited as the call connected and waited for Arnav’s face to pop up on the screen. When he did finally appear, Lavanya got the shock of her life and instantly averted her eyes. Arnav was sitting in front of her without his shirt on.

“Arnav What the hell! Please put your shirt on!”

“What the? Lavanya?”

“Yes!”

“Where’s Khushi?”

“In the bathroom. Where’s your shirt, do I have to tell Khushi to buy you one?”

“No Lavanya, I don’t see the need to wear a shirt when I’m talking to my girlfriend. It’s not like I have anything to hide.”

“Yeah true, she’s seen it all hasn’t she?”

Eyes still averted, Arnav and Lavanya laughed at the last comment and it was then that Khushi walked back into the bedroom. She came to sit down beside Lavanya and said hi to Arnav. La said bye before passing the laptop back to Khushi.

“Hey darling.”

“Hi handsome.”

“Has Lavanya left?”

“Yeah, she’s sitting in her bed.”

“But she’s still in the same room?”

“Yes, why?”

“Fine go to an empty room and take the laptop with you.”

“Why?”

“Just do it! I want to talk to you in private.”

Khushi looked to Lavanya who simply smirked. Khushi left and made her way to the guestroom.

“Ok I’m here.”

“Good. Now lock the door and close the curtains.”

“But why?”

“Just do it!”

“Ok, ok, laad gavarnor.”

Khushi went over and locked the door and closed the curtains. She flipped the lights on before coming back to sit on the bed.

“What now and what are you up to?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

“Oh seriously? Is that all? Why did I need to lock everything and close everything? You can see me na?”

“Because we need privacy for I want you to do for me.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Arnav smirked and Khushi felt herself getting a little tense. Was he going to make some sort of strange request?

“Strip!”

“What!?”

“What did you think I meant when I said see you?”

“See me, like this!”

“Oh gosh Khushi, why would I want that? And look I’ve already done what you would have wanted me to do; I’ve only got my boxers on!”

“Arnav, stop being silly, if you really want to see me, we’ll go out tomorrow!”

“Oh we’ll do that, but this is going to be fun as well.”

“I refuse to take my clothes off!”

“Then I refuse to meet you tomorrow!”

“Oh don’t be mean!”

“Please baby, I want to see you.”

“Fine.”

Khushi grumpily placed the laptop on the bed and stood up.

“God this is so awkward!”

“Just imagine it’s me taking your clothes off.”

Khushi looked at herself, took a deep breath and slowly pulled her kameez over her head. Once off, she slowly put it aside before turning back to the computer screen. Arnav on the other side gasped. She looked amazing. No matter how many times he saw her in her underwear, she still took his breath away every single time. There she was, stood before him in a black lacy bra. Arnav could feel himself harden, how he wished he was there with her, to touch her, to kiss her…

“Your shelwar has to go.”

“What!”

“Babe, do it. Please.”

Khushi took a breath and then undid the strings on her shelwar. Arnav gulped. Khushi stepped out of them and it took her a moment to have the courage to look up to the screen and take in his expression. Though she had stood before him in nothing but her underwear before, doing it like this made her feel so much more exposed, so much more vulnerable. Arnav on the other hand was sat there, taking her in. There she was, in nothing but two pieces of skimpy black material and he couldn’t do anything about it.

“God I want to touch you and kiss you.”

“I want to feel your touch on my skin.”

“Tomorrow baby, I promise!”

“But engagement preparations!”

“We’ll think about that then. Khushi… Take your bra off…”

“Arnav!”

“Babe, we’ve got this far.”

Khushi shook her head but turned around all the same. Arnav saw her hands go to her back and she unclasped her bra. She pulled it away and turned, excruciatingly slowly. Her checks were bright red. Arnav’s mouth fell open. She looked amazing and instantly he regretted his decision because it made him want to be with her. He desperately wanted to be with her desperately. Khushi looked up and she could tell that he was fighting for his self control, that perhaps he hadn’t thought this rendezvous through properly.

Arnav shifted and Khushi got a slight peak of him, it was evident he was hard. She felt herself flush further as it brought back all the memories of the two nights they had spent together and it made her long for him. To be with him, to be in bed with him. To be touched by him, to be intimate with him again…

“What now?”

“Nothing, we don’t have to do anything, we can just sit and have a normal conversation… Or we could have a sexy conversation, it’s up to you…”

“But like this? Shouldn’t we get dressed again?”

“No, it’s so much more fun to do it like this…”

To begin with, Khushi felt extremely self conscious about the fact that she was sitting before him, naked. But after a while, she stopped thinking about it and they fell into a regular, easy conversation.

“You’re damn sexy.”

“I know, you’ve mentioned it at least 4 times in the last half an hour.”

“I’m going to have to go now Khushi, I desperately need a cold shower!”

With that, Arnav bid her goodnight and then disconnected the call. Khushi closed her laptop and looked at her clothes that were strewn all over the floor. Picking each bit up, she looked at the clock as she got dressed again. It was well past midnight, so she decided to sleep in the guest room.

Pulling the last of her clothes back on, she shook her head as she smiled to herself.

“He’s mental, but I love him.”

He’s Amazing ~ Part 13 {Reloaded}

 

After breakfast, Khushi and Lavanya left. They hugged Payal and Anjali and then bid goodbye to NK, Akaash and Shyam. Khushi smiled shyly at Arnav, who in return pulled her into his arms and kissed her lightly on the lips.

 

“Will I see you before we go back to uni?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll have time. I mean we have less than a week to go and La and I haven’t even had time to go shopping yet.”

“Well even if we cant see each other, I shall be calling you every evening.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“Bye babe.”

 

*****

 

On the way back to their house, Khushi broke the news to Lavanya that she and Arnav had slept together. To Khushi’s surprise, La did not take the news well.

 

“What the hell Khushi! What were you thinking?”

“Lavanya I told you. I couldn’t say no! The way he asked me, the way things happened I didn’t want him to feel bad. But it’s not just that, I wanted it too.”

“I know what you mean, but Khushi didn’t you think about your future. Just imagine if you and Arnav don’t get married, you get married to someone else, what will he think of you if he realises you’ve slept with someone before!”

“I know Lavanya, but…”

“But what? What will you say? What will they think of mom and dad? The guy will think that mom and dad were completely useless parents, hence why you were able to go and sleep with someone!”

“Lavanya, you’re acting like you’re someone from the last century! This is normal. Whoever I marry will probably have slept with someone at some point as well. You’re making it sound like people never have sex outside of marriage.”

“That’s not the point! What if you get pregnant with Arnav’s kid now?”

“That won’t happen! We used protection!”

“They do rip sometimes! And knowing the way you two are, you wouldn’t have even realised!”

“Lavanya, stop it now! You’re being ridiculous and quite mean! You’re my best friend; you shouldn’t be like this with me. You should be happy for me!”

“If I was just you’re friend then yeah, I would have been happy, but I’m your sister as well. I’m thinking about your future before everything else.”

“I know you mean well. But don’t worry, nothing bad will happen. Arnav’s promised me we will get married!”

“I hope you do…”

 

Lavanya remained silent for the rest of the journey and Khushi sighed and let herself relive everything that had happened the night before.

When they reached home, they were greeted by Garima at the door.

 

“My babies are back. How was your party, did you enjoy yourselves?”

 

Lavanya nodded and then excused herself.

 

“Amma, I’m not feeling too good, I’m going back to bed.”

“Same, aunty, I’m tired as well.”

“Goodness, you sleep all night but you’re both still tired. Fine go on. Go back to bed.”

 

When in their room, Lavanya closed the door and sat down on the bed. Her mood had changed a lot since the journey. Khushi just assumed that now that Lavanya had time to process the information, she was more understanding of her.

 

“Now tell me everything! How was it? How did it feel?”

“I was… It was something out of a fairy-tale.”

“Did it hurt?”

“It did to start with, and actually the pain did last a while and I was aching this morning too, but the pleasure of it was just mind blowing.”

“God, I hope mom and dad find me a decent guy soon. I want to get married now, just so that I can experience all of this.”

 

Khushi yawned and lay on the bed.

 

“God, you really are tired aren’t you! I just said that so we could get some privacy so I could talk to you about all this, but you genuinely are tired.”

“We didn’t get to sleep until well after 4. Any way, Lavanya, can we go shopping tomorrow. I need to buy some new dresses.”

“Sure. But let me sleep now too. I am actually quite tired too. We were all up until about 3 just talking. You know the Raizada’s are really lovely people. They will be awesome in-laws for you.”

“I know. It’s like I’ve known them forever. I just hope that nani ji, mamaji and mamiji like me too. And then there’s aunty and uncle. I won’t marry unless they approve!”

“You know, NK’s really sweet as well. Every time I turned to speak to someone else, he would start conversation with me again.”

“Arnav was right! He does have a crush on you!”

“I don’t know about that, but he is really nice and I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better.”

 

Both fell silent and just let their minds relax. After a few moments of silence, Lavanya had a thought and she felt she had to speak about it with Khushi.

 

“Khushi, what about your brother?”

 

Khushi jumped up at the mention of her brother. The question had startled her. They hadn’t talked about her brother in years!

 

“What about him?”

“What if he doesn’t approve of your relationship with Arnav?”

“How would he find out? And even if he does, it doesn’t even matter what he thinks. He’s never cared, so why should I care about what he thinks.”

“Khushi, he does care. If he didn’t, why would he keep in touch with mom and dad, finding out about you, sending you money?”

“I don’t know Lavanya. But all I know is, is that he doesn’t love me. If he did, he would have got in touch with me personally. I understand he keeps in touch with uncle and aunty, but he left me when I needed him the most, I’ll never forgive him for that! He left me all on my own. And he knew where I was, if he cared, he could have come to see me. But he didn’t.”

“But he’s still your brother. He matters Khushi!”

“Lavanya, please I don’t want to talk about this!”

“Fine we wont talk about it, but the truth is, you can’t avoid your brother forever Khushi. He will return one day and you will have to face him.”

“Let him come, he won’t see my face!”

 

Sensing that this was a futile discussion, Lavanya dropped the topic.

 

“Just one thing Khushi, when you and Arnav do get married, make sure you keep your volume down.”

“Meaning?”

“I could hear you; I was staying in the next room. And I could hear you moaning and screaming!”

“What! Seriously? If you could hear us, why were you so surprised when I told you that we had slept together?”

“I just thought you guys were making out and doing other stuff, I didn’t think you had actually had sex.”

“Oh god, that’s so embarrassing! What was I saying?”

“You were saying his name over and over again.”

 

Khushi looked away and blushed.

 

“I’m so happy for you babes. I hope you always remain this happy.”

 

Both turned away from each other and let their eyes shut as they peacefully fell asleep for another few hours. La and Khushi were at peace, but their peace was not to last…

 

*****

 

Khushi and Lavanya returned to university a week later. After dumping her bags in her room, Khushi went straight over to Arnav’s. She knocked on the door, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Arnav to open the door. The moment he opened the door, she flew into his house and into his arms.

 

“Well hey there, I didn’t realise you would miss me that much in such a short amount of time.”

“I missed you so much, you don’t even understand.”

 

Arnav hugged her tightly and smiled at the fact that she had missed him so intensely. Breaking the hug, he took her lips in a hungry kiss. After an eternity they pulled away.

 

“I’ve missed your taste so much! That sounds so strange when I say it out loud but it’s the truth.”

“Same here. I missed yours too.”

 

Breaking apart, Arnav gestured Khushi to sit down on the sofa and he sat down beside her.

 

“So, have you finished your assignment?”

“Which one?”

“I only set one over the break, the one that’s due tomorrow.”

“Oh shit! I totally forgot!”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to do it.”

“No Arnav, I have to do it. Just because I’m your girlfriend doesn’t make me any different to anyone else in the class. I’m still your student and I need to do my assignments if I want to graduate this year.”

 

With that, Khushi jumped to her feet, placed a quick kiss on Arnav’s cheek and rushed out. After watched her rush off, and he couldn’t help but feel amused by her all over again.

 

*****

 

“Welcome back everyone. I hope you have all had the time to unwind and relax a little, but I also hope that you all remembered to complete completed my assignment.”

 

There was a shuffle as students took their laptops out or to get their notebooks out. Most of the members either pulled up their documents ready to forward onto Arnav or had the hard copy ready to hand to him.

One member of the class however, raised her hand and instantly Arnav knew what was coming.

 

“Sir, I haven’t done it!”

“Miss Mishra, welcome back. I must say I really had hoped that you would have the work done, but I’m not at all surprised.”

“You really expect too much from me. Like you said, it was time for us to relax and unwind and that is what I did, you assignment simply did not find into that agenda.”

 

Members of the class looked to each other, flabbergasted at the way Sia was able to speak to Arnav.

 

“Ah, well yes, you do have a point. I completely understand. But you’re back now and it’s time to get back to reality and I want my work done. So seeing as you have failed to complete my work, you shall have to add an extra 2000 words to your assignment and I want it on my desk first thing tomorrow morning.”

 

Sia grumbled and then looked away muttering to Tina.

“He might be good looking but he’s a right ba***rd.”

 

Khushi looked at Sia and threw her a dirty look, but didn’t say anything. Inside, she was seething though. How dare she call Arnav such a thing? She turned away and continued to listen to what Arnav was saying. And just like that, his voice was enough to calm her down completely. Was it possible just to be turned on by his voice? To find so much peace in his voice even when he wasn’t speaking to her? It was the strangest thing but she liked the feeling.

The lesson ended and Khushi watched as everyone else left the room. Arnav looked at her and smiled and closed the door.

 

“My baby stayed back for me?”

“Of course I would.”

 

Khushi got out of her seat and sat on Arnav’s desk. He moved towards her and closed the distance between them. He positioned himself between her legs and moved in to kiss her. The kiss started light like every other time and gradually he hunger between them grew like a fire.

When they finally moved apart from one another, Khushi gave him a playful smile as she played with his tie.

 

“My man doesn’t want me today.”

“How did you get to that absurd conclusion?”

“You’re not hard.”

 

Arnav raised his eyebrow at how straight forward she was being. But it was a game he was also well versed in and was ready to play with her.

 

“Do you want me to be hard?”

“Maybe.”

“If I was hard Khushi, I would take you on this very desk. I’m fighting for my self control as it is. I’m trying so hard to respect your wishes but, when you say things like that, you really test me.”

 

Khushi giggled and Arnav moved in again to kiss her. His hands caressed her body as she wrapped her arms around his neck. But before they could settle into the moment, the door flies open and Arnav and Khushi jump apart.

 

“Oh my god! What the hell! I’m so sorry!”

 

Arnav was the first to get back to his senses and react.

 

“Miss Mishra! There’s something called knocking! Shut the door please.”

 

Closing the door, Sia walked into the room nervously, her eyes never leaving Khushi.

“I left my bag and my phone.”

“That’s fine, but again, there’s something called knocking.”

 

“Khushi, you’re with Mr Raizada? But Lavanya said you were with some guy from another university!”

 

Arnav turned to Khushi, waiting for her to respond but when he realised she was still too shocked to say anything, he knew that he needed to step in.

 

“Well, she said that because we wanted to keep our relationship quiet. I’m sure you can understand that a teacher-student relationship is not something that people would be impressed about. Sia, please don’t tell anyone about us. There would be a lot of trouble if anyone found out about is.”

 

His tone was a lot softer towards the end of what he was saying and he could tell that he was getting through to Sia. Finally, Khushi came back to her full senses and she knew that she needed to say something.

 

“Please Sia, I know you don’t like me and we’ve never been friends or anything, but please, just this once, don’t say anything.”

“I-ok, I won’t say anything. But Khushi don’t think it’s because I like you or anything. I’m only doing so because Mr Raizada said so!”

 

With that, she grabbed her bag and phone and rushed out of the room. Arnav raised his eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, trying to comprehend what had just happened, but he smiled as it all sunk in. It wasn’t the ideal situation but it was better than nothing.

 

“The nerve of that girl!”

“Even if it is for your sake, at least she won’t say anything.”

He’s Amazing ~ Part 11 {Reloaded}

When the song came to an end, Arnav dipped Khushi and they held their position. Their eyes locked on each other. Everyone was still for a moment, not knowing how to react. The dance had been passionate, very passionate. There had been lifts, dips, tight embraces and close proximity throughout the entire dance that amazed everyone. Payal was the first to pull herself out of the trance and began to clap, causing everyone to follow her lead. Arnav and Khushi’s trance broke and pulled away from one another, Arnav smirking and Khushi blushing. The next song came on and all the other couples took to the dance floor. Arnav smiled at Khushi as he stepped towards her once more.

 

“You’re an amazing dancer.”

“So are you.”

 

“Yikes! Khushi! What the heck you guys!”

 

Arnav looked up and saw that Lavanya was making a beeline towards them.

 

“This is my cue to make an exit otherwise she’s going to attack me.”

 

Before Khushi could protest, Arnav rushed away. She watched as Lavanya closed in on her. Putting her hands out, Khushi addressed La before La had the chance to attack her.

 

“La, please don’t say what I know you’re going to say.”

“What, that you and Arnav totally burnt the dance floor and that your chemistry is just mind blowing!”

“Yup, that.”

“Khushi, I told you. He was the one for you!”

 

Rolling her eyes, Khushi took Lavanya’s arm and they left the dance floor.

 

The remainder for the night was a blast, everyone danced and when they were hungry made their way towards the food table. Arnav had hardly let go of Khushi all night. They had danced until there came a point where Khushi’s feet wouldn’t permit her to stand any longer. Sitting down, Khushi took off her heels and Arnav sat down with her. Wrapping his arm around her, he moved in to kiss her, but was interrupted by Pooja.

 

“Oh, sorry guys, am I interrupting anything?”

 

Sighing lightly so that only Khushi would notice it, Arnav moved away from her.

 

“No, not really. What’s up Pooja, are you enjoying yourself?”

“Oh that’s great that I am not interrupting. It means that I can make my request without feeling bad. Arnav come on let’s dance. You haven’t danced with me all evening! You can’t expect me to enjoy myself when you haven;t even danced with me yet.”

“Poo, I’m slightly tired now. I don’t really feel like dancing.”

“Oh come on Arnav! You haven’t danced with me and it’s nearly the end of the night!”

 

Khushi felt bad. She knew that part of the reason why Arnav hadn’t danced with anyone else was because she wanted him to dance with her. Putting her hand on his arm, Khushi urged Arnav to go.

 

“Go Arnav. It’s not fair, you haven’t danced with Pooja yet.”

 

Arnav looked at Khushi and she smiled. She hoped that she was able to convey to him that she wanted him to go and give his other guests attention too. He reluctantly got up and Pooja took his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

Once they hit the dance floor, Khushi noticed how Arnav kept a safe distance from Pooja but she pulled him closer each time. Khushi watched as Arnav kept putting distance between himself and Pooja but she kept closing the distance between them. There was something about this that caused Khushi to feel slightly uncomfortable. She looked away just as Lavanya came and sat down beside her. 

 

“Oh god Khushi, I’m so tired. NK has been keeping me on my feet for ages, all he wants to do is dance! But it’s not all bad, I’ve got to know quite a bit about him. He’s really sweet and kind! Any way, where’s Arnav?”

“Dancing.”

“What, with whom?”

“Pooja.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I told him to go and dance with her. She’s his friend after all and she came here today to spend time with him and celebrate his birthday. It would have been rude if he spent all his time with me and then I still kept him beside me even when I didn’t want to dance any more.”

“I guess you have a point. As long as you’re okay though, that’s all that matters.”

 

Khushi nodded and Lavanya went back to speaking about NK. But Khushi’s eye’s kept making their way back to Arnav and Pooja. Was she really okay with this? Was she really comfortable with Pooja having her hands all over her Arnav?

 

*****

 

“Khushi, I’m so sorry, I really do want to spend time with you. I wanted to come back ages ago, but Pooja just wanted to keep on dance.”

 

Arnav had finally broken free from Pooja and he had finally come back to Khushi. She had lost track of how long he had actually been with her for, but Khushi was certain that he had been with her for about an hour. In that time, she had spent a fair amount of time on her own. The Raizada’s had come over to her to keep her company, but they all left after spending a few moments with her because they all wanted to spend time with their respective partners. La too had spent a fair amount of time with her but she had felt it was unfair to ask La to stay with her when she knew how much Lavanya was enjoying her time with NK.

It had been a bit of a drag but Khushi knew that she couldn’t complain, after all, it was his birthday celebration.

 

“It’s fine Arnav, really. She’s one of your oldest friends, she has rights.”

“I’m so glad you understand. Any way, do you want to go somewhere more private? I mean we could book into a room and spend the rest of the evening there. Just me and you… That way no one else would be able to bother us.”

 

The offer was tempting, but Khushi knew that she couldn’t take Arnav away from his own party.

 

“We cant do that Arnav, I mean what will everyone think. They’re all here to celebrate your birthday and then you go missing. It wont look right.”

 

Khushi looked at her watch. It was nearly 11. She gasped.

 

“Oh god! Arnav I have to get home! Aunty will kill me and Lavanya if we don’t get home soon.”

“Shall I drop you off?”

“No it’s fine. We’ll get an auto.”

“Not at this time of night Khushi. Who knows what these late night drivers are like? There are some really dodgy people out there. I’m not going to risk it, Khushi.”

 

Just at that point Khushi’s phone started ringing. She answered it without looking at the caller ID.

 

“Hello?”

“Khushi, where are you girls!”

 

Khushi jumped to her feet upon hearing Garima’s voice.

 

“We’re still at the hotel, we were just leaving.”

“How are you coming?”

“By auto.”

“No Khushi! Not by auto, it’s not safe! Isn’t there any of your friends there that can drop you off?”

 

Khushi thought about it for a moment and thought about Arnav’s offer to drop them off, but it was too risky. If someone saw her and Lavanya with him, there would be a whole lot of questions that would have to be answered.

 

“No, there isn’t anyone.”

“Tell you what, you’re party is at a hotel right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Fine, you and Lavanya book into a room and spend the night there. Don’t worry about the bill, just tell Lavanya to put it onto her credit card and your uncle will pay for it.”

“Aunty there’s really no need, we’ll come back. We’ve taken autos plenty of times before.”

“No Khushi, just spend the night there. Look I’ll call later, your buaji needs something. Keep safe and don’t leave your room!”

“Ok, bye aunty.”

 

Arnav looked at Khushi and she smiled.

 

“What happened?”

“Aunty said to get a room and then La and I should stay.”

“Excellent! We’re all staying too! Me, Di, Jijaji, Payal, Akaash and NK!”

 

Khushi nodded and Arnav took her hand as they made their way back onto the dance floor.

 

*****

 

By 12, all the guests started to leave. Pooja eyed Khushi and realised that she wasn’t going to leave any time soon. She huffed a little and then left. Only the Raizada’s, Lavanya and Khushi remained. They all sat around a large coffee table in the main hall and talked. Arnav was looking at Khushi the whole time, his eyes not moving at all. Khushi blushed as she felt the heat of his gaze on her.

 

“Hey guys, I have an idea. Let’s play a game!”

“NK, aren’t we a bit too old for games?”

“Payal bhabi, you can never be too old for games!”

“Fine, tell us, what do you want to play?”

“Spin the bottle.”

 

All groaned and protested, but NK remained adamant that they should play. Finally, for the sake of NK, they decided to play. He was as old as all the rest of them; however had the mindset of a child. He pulled an empty bottle out, made sure that the lid was secured and placed it down onto the table. finally, he spun it. Everyone watched it going round and then it began to slow down. It stopped on Arnav.

 

“Ah, Nanav! Truth or dare.”

“You know me; it’s got to be a dare.”

“You have to kiss someone from this circle, full on, on the lips and it has to be in front of us all.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, it is.”

“As you wish. You’ve just told me to do, what I’ve wanted to all evening!”

 

Arnav walked over to where Khushi was sitting and took her hand. He pulled her to her feet and she stood up slowly, and she looked into Arnav’s eyes nervously. His hands slowly reached up to cup her face, and moved in. Khushi closed her eyes, anticipating the kiss. Then she felt his lips. Warm and hard. The kiss started gently, until he pulled her flush against him. This made Khushi gasp and Arnav took this opportunity to push his tongue into her mouth. She tasted so right. So sweet and feminine, nothing compared to her taste. Khushi let her own tongue wonder into Arnav’s mouth. They had completely forgotten about the rest of the family that were still there. Everyone had looked away, blushing slightly. NK mentally cursed himself. After a long while, the kiss slowed and Arnav and Khushi broke away. Staring at each other for a while, they remember that they weren’t alone. Khushi pulled herself out of Arnav’s arms and blushed. However Arnav wasn’t satisfied, the beast within him was still roaring, it needed more.

 

“Akaash, what room am I staying in?”

“Room 45, floor 4.”

“Fine, I’m off then.”

 

He took Khushi’s hand and pulled her away. She looked at Arnav confused and then looked to Lavanya who was equally confused. But she followed his lead. As they approached the lift and as they waited for the door to open, Arnav wrapped his arm around her and whispered into her ear.

 

“Khushi, I can’t hold back any more. I need you!”

He’s Amazing ~ Part 10 {Reloaded}

 

It was nearly half 5 the next evening and Khushi and Lavanya were getting ready to go to Arnav’s party. Dresses were draped over the sofa, the bed and scattered all over the floor. In the end, Khushi had chosen a dark green anarkali suit. The suit that she had picked was a relatively simple one, with a simple dark green and gold boarder running along the bottom of the dress and along the dupatta. Lavanya had picked a similar but slightly more simple one but in blue.

Both were doing their hair and their make up, looking to each other to make sure that they weren’t going overboard.

By half 6 both were completely ready to go.

 

“La, tell me honestly, how do I look?”

“You’re gonna knock him dead!”

“Are you sure? I mean I know you had suggested wearing a western dress, but I’m meeting his siblings for the first time, I just think traditional is a far safer option. I don’t know what his sister is like but from what he said, she sounds pretty traditional and I…”

 

Grabbing Khushi by the shoulders, Lavanya shook her slightly.

 

“Snap out of it, you’re spiralling. You look amazing and you’re going to knock them all dead. You look dressed up without being too dressed up and I’m sure his sister will appreciate the effort that you’ve made. Any way, tell me, how do I look?”

“As always, stunning! I swear you look so much better than I do!”

 

Playfully Lavanya shook her head.

 

“You need to relax and be more confident in yourself. When one feels confident, it shows on the outside. You just need to relax, take a deep breathe and truly believe me when I say you’re looking like fire. So, hhall we leave? It’ll take a while to get to the hotel, you know, its traffic time and we don’t want to be late.”

 

Nodding, Khushi looked at herself in the mirror once more and took a deep breathe as she picked up her purse. She could do this, this was going to be fine.

 

*****

 

A couple of minutes past 7, Khushi and Lavanya reached the hotel. Looking to each other, they asked one another if they still looked fine. Once they were sure they looked good, they made their way towards the hotel. As they entered the lobby and were greeted by NK, who beamed the moment he saw them both.

 

“Ah, Khushi, Lavanya! Come in, come in! I’ve been waiting for you to come for the last hour!”

“Hi NK!”

“Hey NK. Why were you waiting for the last hour, we were told 7?”

 

NK smiled sheepishly at Lavanya’s question and ran his hand through his hair awkwardly.

 

“I guess I was just eager to see you both again.”

 

Before he could say anything more, a voice drifted through the lobby.

 

“NK bhai! Where are you?”

“Di, I’m in the lobby, Khushi and Lavanya are here!”

 

There was a moment of stillness and then four people rushed out from respective areas, coming to greet the new arrivals. Khushi looked from one to another, the two women were both as beautiful as each other, one slightly taller than the other, with the slightly older woman displaying striking similarities to Arnav. The two men that had emerged were absolutely dashing, one displaying a similar facial structure to Arnav but only slightly.

 

“Hi, I’m Anjali! Arnav’s big sister.”

“Oh, er.”

 

Lavanya rolled her eyes at a dumbfound Khushi and put her hands together to greet the people in front of them.

 

“Namaste Anjali ji, I’m Lavanya and this is Khushi.”

 

“Khushi you can speak to me! No need to be shy!”

“Na-na-Namaste.”

“Chote wasn’t joking, you really are very cute.”

 

Khushi blushed and bought up the courage to respond but the other man, the one that looked lightly like Arnav, playfully nudged Anjali aside so that he could be standing in front of Khushi.

 

“Di, enough, let us meet Khushi too! Hi, I’m Akash and this is my wife Payal.”

 

Akash stuck his hand out and Khushi shook it and smiled at Payal. So this was his cousin and his sister in law. Meaning the man that was now coming towards Khushi was Arnav’s brother in law.

 

“Hi.”

“Hello Khushi ji, I’m Shyam, Anjali’s husband, Arnav’s favourite brother-in-law.”

 

“You’re his only brother-in-law!”

 

Khushi smiled as she watched Anjali nudge her husband, but before anyone could say anything more, NK came back and got everyone’s attention.

 

“Di, Jijaji, Akaash bhai, Payal Bhabi, enough of the introductions, let’s gets into the hall!”

 

The 7 of them made their way over to the grand hall which had been decorated for the event. It had blue lights and cream drapes. It was simplistic but classy, just how Arnav would like it. Khushi and Lavanya looked around in awe.

 

“NK, where’s Arnav, Khushi’s dying to see him!”

“He’s just got called from work, he had an urgent meeting that he needed to attend, but he’ll be here soon.”

 

Khushi felt both relieved and disappointed at the same time. She was relieved because it meant that she would have a little more time to speak to his siblings and get to know them so that she was more comfortable around them by the time he arrived, but she was disappointed because it meant that she would have to wait longer before she would be able to see him again. As Lavanya spoke to NK, Khushi walked over to Anjali.

 

“Anjali ji, haven’t any of the other guests arrived yet?”

“No, they will all arrive after 9. They may even be later if they want to be fashionably late which is what a lot of Chote’s friends like to do.”

“But Arnav said for me and Lavanya to be here by 7.”

“That’s so that we could all get to know each other. If you had come at the same time as all the other guests, it would have meant that I wouldn’t have been able to give you undivided attention as I would have had to make sure that I was attending to all the other guests as well.”

“Oh! Of course, yes that makes sense.”

“Any way, Khushi, please call me Di, seeing as you and chote will soon be tying the knot!”

 

Khushi was thrown off by this comment but before she could respond, Lavanya, who had come back to her side, responded for her.

 

“They will?”

“Of course they will Lavanya. Well that’s after Khushi finishes her degree that it. Marriage is important but that doesn’t mean education should be ignored!”

“I so agree with you! Khushi looks like I should start selecting my dresses!”

 

Khushi looked down and blushed. They were already thinking about getting her and Arnav married! And they didn’t even know her that well yet. She loved this family! But she also felt a knot in her stomach. Was this all going too fast? She hadn’t even thought about marriage at all, let alone with Arnav and now she was being told that this was something that they had already supposedly spoken and thought about?

 

“You know Lavanya, NK was talking about you quite a bit about you the other evening. I feel he’s quite taken by you as well. You never know, we Raizada’s can do anything at anytime, it might just end up being a double wedding!”

 

It was Lavanya’s turn to look down and blush.

 

“Di, Akash! Where the hell are all you people?”

“We’re in the hall Chote!”

 

Startled by his voice, Khushi looked at her dress, checking that she looked nice and took a deep breath. Arnav walked in and Khushi couldn’t help but gasp. He looked amazing. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. He looked totally hot!

Arnav too was blown away looking at Khushi. Slowly he made towards her, holding eye contact the whole time as he closed the distance between them. 

 

“Yo, Nanav, we’re here!”

 

This bought Arnav out of his trance and made him break his eye contact with Khushi. Shaking his head, he looked to Khushi and then Lavanya, smiling as he approached them. 

 

“Hey, Khushi, Lavanya! You’ve arrived.”

“Happy birthday Arnav!”

“Thanks La!”

 

“Ha-ha-Happy birthday Ar-arnav.”

“Thanks, why are you so nervous?”

 

He casually wrapped his arm around her as he pecked the top of her head.

 

“Chote, it’s because we’ve told her about our plans!”

“What plans?”

“Your marriage plans!”

“Oh god, Di, I told you, its way too soon to think like that!”

 

Khushi breathed in relief. She knew she loved Arnav, but marriage was still something she didn’t want to think about. She still wanted to get to know him better, spend some time with him to get to know his little quirks and then, once she had finished her studies, then they could think about moving to the next level of their relationship. But for now she was happy with how they were. 

 

Everyone sat down and talked for a while, waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive…

 

*****

 

At half 9, most of the guests had arrived and everyone was wishing Arnav. Khushi hung back with Lavanya, watching everyone greet Arnav. It wasn’t until a tall, skinny, beautiful girl in a short dress walked in, that Khushi actually began to pay attention to the guests. The girl walked in, looking around at everyone that was there and the moment she saw Arnav, she flew into his arms.

Khushi gasped and turned away feeling stung. Who was this woman?

 

“What the hell! Khushi who the hell is that? She’s got her hands all over your dude! Stop her!”

“Lavanya, it’s probably his friend we can’t do anything!”

“Wanna bet? Yo! NK!”

 

NK walked over to Lavanya and smiled.

 

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

“NK, who’s the girl with Arnav?”

“It’s his childhood best friend, Pooja.”

“And why exactly are her hands all over ASR? Khushi’s feeling insecure and uncomfortable! And you can’t blame her.”

“Of course not, Khushi come with me!”

 

Reluctantly, Khushi followed NK but looked back at La, cursing her for doing this to her. Yeah she was feeling insecure but that didn’t mean she wanted to confront Arnav about it. She didn’t want him to think of her as a clingy, insecure girlfriend. She knew he wasn’t the type of man that would appreciate that. 

 

“Nanav! You left Khushi! She wants to spend some time with you as well you know!”

“Hey Khushi, sorry babes, just got caught up.”

 

“Ahem.”

“Oh sorry, Pooja, this is Khushi, Khushi this is Pooja, my best friend from when we were in kindergarden.”

 

“Oh, hi, I’m Khushi, Arnav’s… I’m his… Student from university.”

“Student?”

 

“Gosh, Khushi, you’re not just my student! Pooja, Khushi is my girlfriend!”

“Oh! Wow! Arnav! You’ve finally found yourself a girl! Aw darling, I’m so happy for you. Khushi you are absolutely beautiful, I’m sure he’s told you that, but really, I’m really happy for you guys. I hope that you have a proper future and not just dating and stuff.”

“Well di and the rest of my crazy lot want us to get married, so let’s see!”

“Wow, you’ve already told Nani, and she agrees?”

“Well no, nani, mamaji and mamiji don’t know yet, but I’m sure they won’t have any problems with Khushi.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they won’t!”

 

Khushi looked around nervously. So everyone in his family knew apart from those who really mattered. And not just that, but he wasn’t even trying to hide their relationship, he was telling everyone about them. What if the elders found out and thought ill of her? What if they didn’t approve. And there was still her family to think about! God, maybe this wont work! There were so many things that could go wrong. Khushi could feel herself spiralling but she couldn’t stop her thoughts. They just kept hitting her, one after the other and she could feel herself starting to hyperventilate a little. But before she completely lost control of her thoughts and her breathing, her thoughts were interrupted by Shyam.

 

“Saale Saab, hurry up, we want to make the official announcement and then we need to get this party started. Oh, Pooja ji, hello, lovely to see you again. Please come through. Khushi ji, come on, you are needed to!”

 

Arnav offered Khushi his arm and she took it gladly. Pooja looked at the happy couple and smiled.

 

“God, you’re both so cute.”

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat. Firstly I would like to thank all of you for joining us today to wish my brother, who is 26 today. Big round of applause guys! Now as per tradition, Arnav bhai will dance with someone of his choice to the first song. Bhai choose your partner.”

“Khushi, will you give me this dance?”

 

Khushi took Arnav’s hand and they made their way to the middle of the dance floor. Pooja saw this and gasped. Every year Arnav had danced with her for the first dance. She knew that he had a girlfriend now, but even in then past when he had a girlfriend, his first dance at his birthday was always reserved for her. It was an unwritten rule. This was wrong. All wrong. How could he dance with someone else instead of her? Pooja knew she shouldn’t feel so strongly and that she shouldn’t let herself get this upset, but she couldn’t help it. This wasn’t right, this had never happened before?#

 

Arnav and Khushi reached the dance floor and the music came on. ‘Teri Meri’ came on and Lavanya silently had a moment. That was Khushi’s favourite song and she had always dreamt about dancing to it with her prince charming.

Khushi’s breathing had stopped when the music came on. Since this song had come out, it had always been a dream that she would dance with her Mr Right on this song and now it was happening? It was actually happening on it’s own accord?# She looked at Arnav who was getting ready. His arms were placed protectively around her and he gestured for her to place her arms around his neck. She did so and thought,

 

“Is Arnav truly my prince charming?”

Unwanted ~ Part 46

Arnav

I sat on the bed as I waited for Khushi. She was in the bathroom taking a pregnancy test. A few weeks had passed since we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby. And when I say we had been trying, I mean we were really trying.

I like to think Khushi and I have sex regularly any way, even before we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby, we were at it at least 4 times a week. Now it meant that we were at twice a day most days. It was great.

I looked at my watch, she should have been done by now. Almost as though she had heard my thoughts, Khushi stepped out of the bathroom.

 

“Well?”

“Negative.”

 

She looked slightly disappointed but not too disappointed. She was only a couple of days late, and we also knew that part of the reason could have been because she was coming off the pill and it would take a while before her body started to find a regular cycle again.

I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

 

“It’s okay, we knew what the chances were, we’ll keep trying.”

“Yeah, we both pretty much knew what the outcome was going to be this time. But it’s still a little bit disappointing.”

 

She shrugged her shoulders and then went back to her wardrobe to pick clothes for the day.

 

“It’s okay, we just need to keep at it.”

 

*****

 

Six months had passed since we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby and so far, nothing. I could tell that it was starting to take a toll on Khushi as she was noticeably getting more and more disappointed each time the results came back as being negative. I too was starting to feel more helpless. We couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening. Neither of us had thought it would be so hard to get pregnant considering our age, but apparently it wasn’t going to be as easy as we thought it was going to be. We had seen the doctor two months ago and she had said that everything was fine with the both of us, but had recommended that both of us start taking supplements, just to booth our chances.

So now, I sat on the bed, waiting for her to emerge, hoping that this was our month.

 

She came out a few minutes later, tears streaking down her face. I went over to her, wrapping my arms around her.

 

“Hey, it’s okay. We tried and if it’s not working then, we’ll go see a doctor and if there’s something wrong then…”

“I’m pregnant.”

 

It took me a moment to comprehend what she was saying, but it finally sunk in.

 

“Wait, what?”

“I’m pregnant!”

 

I couldn’t believe it.

 

“We’re having a baby?”

“We’re having a baby!”

 

Lifting her into my arms, I twirled her as we both let the moment sink in.

 

*****

 

We decided not to tell anyone about the baby until we had seen the doctor and got the news confirmed.

When we saw the doctor and got the news confirmed, we decided to wait until the 20 week mark just to be on the safe side. But we decided to tell Arushi. We both knew this was stupid, telling a child so early when things could still go wrong, but we couldn’t hold our excitement any longer. So we decided to sit down with Arushi and tell her.

 

The evening we got back from the doctors, we both went up to Arushi’s bedroom and sat down with her.

 

“So a while back you told us that you wanted a brother or sister, do you still want a sibling or?”

“I do!”

 

I looked to Khushi and she smiled. We hadn’t decided who was going to break the news to Ari, but I couldn’t contain my excitement and decided to go for it.

 

“Well you’re going to have a little brother or sister soon!”

 

Khushi looked at me shocked, I think she had expected me to ease into it a little more but she didn’t care too much. I knew she was excited as I was to get this news out there.

Arushi looked between us, her eyebrows raised. She was confused. I raised my eyebrows at Khushi, gesturing her to take over.

“What you’re papa is trying to say is that in a few months, we will be getting a baby, meaning that you will have a little brother or sister.”

 

We watched as Arushi processed the news. It was evident she was still a little confused, she looked between us trying to comprehend. We gave her the time she needed to process the information and then finally she turned to us, a huge smile on her face.

 

“I’m going to have my own little brother or sister?”

“Yes!”

 

We watched as she rejoiced and then she came to hug us, expressing her excitement. The three of us stayed huddled together for a while, speaking of the future and what it would be like when there would be another one of us in the story, we couldn’t wait for the future.

 

*****

 

*6 months later*

 

Things had been going well. We had told the family that we were having a baby and everyone was excited for the wait to be over and for our new addition to join us. Khushi was feeling a little nervous. It had been a while since she had last had to deal with a baby and sure still was unsure about whether she was ready to go through all that again. But she was excited regardless and couldn’t wait to meet our baby.

At the 20 week scan, we had had the option to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, but we decided against it. We wanted to be surprised. It didn’t bother us whether we were having a boy or a girl as long as the child was healthy. It would have helped a little bit as it would have meant that we could have started buying the right coloured baby clothes and we could have started to decorate the babies room, but they were in inconsequential factors.

 

Everything was going well, and then it wasn’t. Khushi’s water broke at 6 and a half months and we had to take her into hospital. We had always been aware that the baby might come early but we hadn’t thought that it would be this early.

 

What happened after her water broke was a blur. I can’t accurately say what happened. All I remember was a whole lot of hullabaloo in the house as we all realised what was happening and what needed to be done. I took Khushi to the hospital, while Payal stayed back to pack Khushi’s hospital bag and then she joined us. Di and Jijaji were responsible for looking after Arushi and Mamiji offered to take over the kitchen to make sure that everyone at home was fed but also so that we at the hospital would also get food, which was delivered to us by Akash. Everyone had their fixed roles and knew what was required of them, but I found that I was struggling to work out what I needed to do.

 

Khushi and I had discussed what we wanted to happen on the day of the birth and whether or not she wanted me in the delivery room with her. I had insisted that I wanted to be in the room, but she had been firmly against the idea. It was just something she didn’t want and although I wanted to be in the room with her, I respected her decision.

So here I was, sitting outside the delivery room, waiting for some news about my wife and our new baby. It wasn’t long before Akash joined me. He sat down beside me, his arm around me.

 

“Weird huh? Your second baby but your first time going through this stress, how does it feel?”

“Stressful.”

 

I wasn’t trying to be funny, but apparently I was because Akash laughed.

 

“Don’t stress too much, it’ll all be fine.”

“I’m just worried because it’s so early. What if the baby is weak and…”

“Bhai, don’t worry about it. Sometimes babies are born up to 5 months early and yeah, they need to be put in an incubator, but they still grow up fit and healthy. You’re baby is only a little bit early, so if all is well, they won’t even need to be put into an incubator.”

 

I know Akash was trying to calm me, but something about the talk of incubators freaked me out. I didn’t want to have to look at my baby through glass, I wanted to hold them in my arms.

 

 

Time crawled by and  I felt myself getting more and more anxious. Akash had resorted to sitting beside me in silence because he realised he was stressing me out more than comforting me. I had called home, just to check on Arushi. She was doing fine but she just wanted to know when she could meet her new sibling. I told her that as soon as they were here I would have someone to bring her and meet the baby,  but for now she should go to bed and get some rest.

I hadn’t even realised that I was tapping my foot impatiently until Akash put his hand on my leg.

 

“Dude stop, you’re making my brain vibrate.”

“It’s taking so long.”

“You know, Payal was in labour for a whole 10 hours before Akshay was born.”

 

I looked at my watch, we had already been there for about 4 hours. If Khushi followed Payal’s example, it would mean that there would be a wait of about another 6 hours. I don’t know if I could wait that long before I saw my baby.

 

I watched as Akash drifted off to sleep in his chair. I too felt myself starting to drift but I was bought back to my senses when I saw a nurse and a doctor come rushing towards Khushi’s room. I got my feet.

 

“What’s happening?”

 

The doctor didn’t stop but the nurse did.

 

“We’ve been alerted by the sister inside that the baby is coming.”

“The baby’s coming?”

“Indeed. Are you the father?”

“I am.”

“Would you like to come inside?”

“My wife said she didn’t want me to be inside.”

“Okay, then please sit tight and don’t worry.”

 

She nodded before she too rushed inside. I listened carefully, it was still pretty quiet inside. I nudged Akash awake and told him that the baby was coming.

He put his arm around my shoulder.

 

“Not long now bhai and then you can meet your new baby.”

“I’m so excited but so nervous at the same time.”

 

Akash looked at his watch and got to his feet.

 

“It’s been a while since we last ate anything, would you like me to get you a sandwich or anything?”

“Yeah if you could just grab me a cup of coffee and any sandwich, that would be great.”

 

He nodded and then walked off and I pulled my phone out and shot Di a text, telling her that the doctor had arrived and that the baby should be coming soon.

Putting my phone back into my pocket, I waited for Akash to return. He got back relatively quickly and we both tucked into our sandwiches. I hadn’t realised how hungry I actually was until I started eating. As we were sipping our coffees Akash turned to me.

 

“So have you guys thought of a name for the baby?”

“We have a few ideas but nothing is solid yet. I guess when we see the baby, a name will just click into place.”

“That makes sense.”

 

For what felt like the hundredth time, Akash and I fell into a comfortable silence as we waited for news. This silence didn’t last long though as the piercing cry of a baby flooded the corridor. I stood up and pressed my ear to the door. It was coming from Khushi’s room! Our baby was here! I wanted to burst in there, but I knew that I had to wait. A few moments later, Payal stuck her head out.

 

“Bhai, you’re baby is ready to see you.”

 

I handed my cup to Akash and then prepared to go inside.

 

“Good luck bhai!”

 

I came back over to him and gave him a hug. I didn’t need to say anything, he knew why I was giving him this hug. He knew how much of a help he had been this evening and how he had kept me from spiralling.

 

I went back to the door and slowly pushed it open…

 

 

*Author’s note*

Hi all, hope you are all keeping safe. This is just a quick note to apologise for any grammatical errors there may be in this post. I just finished writing this today, the day that the post is going up meaning I haven’t had the chance to proof read. As I write this note, there is less than 3 hours until this is scheduled to go up, so yeah.

As always, thank you all for the love and continuous support. I would also like to take this moment to say that this story is almost at it’s end. I have not yet decided how I will wrap the story up but I do know that the next chapter of this story will be the last.

Again thank you all for the continued support and patience you have shown me and I will be back very soon with a new story. 

 

He’s Amazing ~ Part 8 {Reloaded}

 

“Hello?”

“Khushi?”

“No, it’s Lavanya, who’s that?”

“It’s Arnav.”

 

Lavanya raised her eyebrow and smirked. So it was official offical.

 

“Hi Arnav. One sec, I’ll tell Khushi you’ve called.”

“Ok, thank you.”

 

La left the phone on the bed and went and knocked on the bathroom door. Telling her that Arnav was on the line, Khushi told La to tell him to hold for a moment as she gets out of the bathroom.

 

“Give her a minute, she’s in the bathroom.”

“Ok.”

 

“Hello?”

 

Arnav smiled. He could tell, it was Khushi. Her voice was laced with confusion.

 

“Hey, it’s Arnav.”

“Arnav. Hi! Sorry, I wasn’t really concentrating! Took me a moment to get my bearings.”

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing really.”

“Can you come round to my place then?”

“What? You want me to come over?”

“Yes please.”

“Er, ok.”

 

Arnav told Khushi how to get to the teachers quarters. Getting off the phone, Lavanya all but pounced on Khushi. 

 

“What did he say!? Tell me everything right now.”

 

Shaking her head, Khushi went into her wardrobe and starting browsing through her outfits.

 

“Stop playing and tell me what he said.”

“He just asked me to go over to his place.”

“Oh my goodness! Are you really going to his place? That’s so cool! Do you know what this even means? We’re going to have to buy you some sexy outfits! If you’re going to be seeing him regularly outside of class time, you need to look the part.”

“Lavanya!”

“It’s true!”

 

Shaking her head, Khushi laughed and then got dressed as quickly as she could.

 

“Whatever, I’ll be back in a bit!”

 

Khushi left and made her way towards the teacher’s quarters as quickly as she could. She reached Arnav’s door, she paused and composed herself. Feeling that her cheeks had gone back to a normal temperature, she knocked on the door. She only had to wait for about half a moment before Arnav threw the door open, a wide smile on his face.

 

“Hey! Khushi, come on in!” 

 

Khushi walked in to his house and looked around. It wasn’t big; it was very basic, yet stylish. It was minimalistic and she couldn’t say it surprised her. Everything about this place screamed Arnav. 

 

“Please, take a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

“No thanks, I just had something to drink before making my way down here.”

“Oh ok. Well dinners in the oven I’ll be done in a bit.”

“You really shouldn’t have bothered Arnav.”

“I wanted to.”

“Wait you can cook?”

“Yes I can, I have had to learn because at the moment, as you can see, I’m living alone. I’m not an expert, but I try. Need to kept myself feed well. I can imagine trying to live off of junk food or the canteen food.”

“I’m sure it will be lovely!”

 

Arnav had told Khushi to take a seat and wait while he finished up with dinner, but she insisted on coming with him and helping him with anything he may need. In the kitchen, Arnav poured himself a glass of wine and offered one to Khushi which she declined. They made small talk as Khushi watched Arnav put the finishing touches on their meal.

Once dinner was ready, Arnav served and watched Khushi as she took a look at what was on her plate. He watched as her eyes widened as she took in the lasagne that he had prepared and took in all the sides that he had prepared to go along with their main. Khushi was amazed; she’d never seen a man who had been able to prepare food that looked so good. Arnav sat down and they both began to eat. 

Throughout the evening, they made small polite conversation as they finished their food. This was nice, this felt right.

 

*****

 

As time passed Arnav and Khushi simply got closer to each other. They were seeing each other regularly, both on campus and off. They would go out in the weekends, meet at Arnav’s place in the evenings and Khushi would stay back after every lesson without him asking her to.

They would talk, hold hands, hug every now and again and there had been a peck on the cheek almost twice every day. But beyond that nothing else had happened. They hadn’t even shared their first proper kiss yet.

It was now the end of the first semester and Arnav and Khushi had been seeing each other for about 9 weeks now. Everyone who was going home were packing their bags and getting ready. There were only 2 days left and then most people would be leaving to go home.

Khushi had told Arnav that she would be going home for the break, but she hadn’t had a chance to see him before she left yet. Once all her things were gathered and her bag was packed, Khushi made her way down to Arnav’s place to see him. Knocking on his day, Khushi waited for Arnav to open the door.

As Arnav opened the door, he ushered Khushi into the house.

 

“Hey, you all packed?”

“Just about, I have a few more bits to put away and then that’ll be all.”

“I was going to say that you should stay back. We could have gone places together, spent time together without worrying about anyone walking in on us. But I understand that you want to go home and see your family.”

“I would have loved to stay with you. Like you said, it would have been nice to see you without having to worry about other people seeing us. But as per tradition, me and La always go home for the first holiday, no matter what. It doesn’t feel right to tell her that I am going to stay and to send her home.”

“Oh do you and Lavanya live close by?”

 

Khushi looked down at the floor. She had never told Arnav about her parents yet and it hadn’t felt like it was the right time yet, but nowt that it had come up, Khushi felt like she needed to address it.

 

“Well… We actually live in the same house.”

 

Arnav paused for a moment and Khushi watched as he scrunched up his forehead processing the new information.

 

“Oh, you’re cousins! I never knew that! I thought you were simply friends!”

“Actually, we’re not cousins. I’m her adopted sister. Her parents adopted me after…”

 

Khushi fell silent and looked away from Arnav. She wasn’t prepared to talk about this just yet. But now that she had opened her mouth, she knew that she had to finish what we had started. Arnav could tell that Khushi was struggling so he moved over to her, and sat down beside her.

 

“After what Khushi?”

“After… After my parents were murdered!”

 

Hiding her face in her hands, Khushi did her best to keep her tears back. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. Gathering Khushi into his arms, Arnav held her close.

 

“Oh god, Khushi. I’m so sorry, I never knew!”

 

He hugged her tightly, inhaling her hair. He knew this moment was about her, but he felt it was the right time to share his story with her too. 

 

“I didn’t realise you were like me.”

“Like you?”

“My parents… They died when I was young too…”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok.”

 

They held on to one another. Allowing themselves to feel sorry for themselves and for each other, Arnav and Khushi held onto each other.

 

*****

 

It was the next day, the day that everyone was leaving. Khushi rushed over to Arnav’s house and knocked on the door. Arnav opened the door and Khushi flew into the room. As he closed the door Khushi wrapped her arms around Arnav and hugged him tightly.

 

“Hey there…”

“I’m going to miss you! I didn’t think I’d miss you this much, but I couldn’t sleep all night. All I could think about was how much I’m going to miss you and how I can’t wait to be able to see you again.”

“It’s only 2 weeks. And I’ll be calling you all the time any way so we’ll be able to keep in touch. And seeing as we’re both in Delhi anyway, we might get to meet up. I wasn’t going to go home but I decided that I’m going to go home as well. Everyone at home wants me to go.”

“But still, 2 whole weeks. We don’t know what it’s going to be like when we get home, we might not even be able to see each other.”

“I’ll video call you! That way we’ll be able to see each other.”

“I’d like that.”

“Maybe you can come and see my office one day! I think it’ll be so cool if you can see me in my natural habitat.”

“Yeah! I’d love that! That would be so cool.”

 

There was an awkward silence after that. Neither of them really knew what to say next and what to do next. Arnav looked into Khushi’s eyes and there was a surge of something between them. The sexual tension in the room was tangible. And before either knew what was happening, Arnav had pulled Khushi into his arms once again and Khushi too had pulled Arnav up against herself. Their lips found each other and fused together in a furious kiss. Arnav wrapped his arms around Khushi’s waist and her hands slowly travelled to around his neck, pulling him closer. The kiss slowed and then they broke apart, gasping for air.

Arnav pulled Khushi back, closer and pushed her back against a wall. He looked at her face, she had her eyes shut tightly, waiting for what happens next. Arnav drew circles on her neck with his thumb, making her smile at the feeling of his hands on her sensitive skin. Closing the distance between them once more, he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her. Gently praising her lips apart, he let himself gently press her tongue into her mouth and sought hers out. Arnav hands began exploring her body, travelling down her body, then back up to her rib cage. His hands slide to the sides of her breasts and she gasped as he squeezed her breasts slightly. She broke the kiss.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I got caught up in the moment and I…”

“No, its just… I… This is all new to me. I’ve never let a man so close, I’ve never let a man touch me like so, or kiss me. It’s all so new, I’m so scared, but I… I like what you do to me. I like the way you were touching me…

“I love you Khushi. I love you so god damn much and I want to make you feel special. I ache to touch you but I’ll never do anything you don’t want me to do. I’ll wait for you, we’ll take this slowly… We’ve got all the time in the world to explore each other…”

“I love you Arnav. I love you so god damn much too…”

 

*****

 

“Mom! Dad!”

“Aunty, uncle! We’re home!”

 

The girls put their bags down and were looking around the house, trying to locate their family members.

 

“Khushi! Lavanya! My darlings! You’re home!”

“Mom! I missed you so much! But I think Khushi missed you more, on the train all she was talking about was you!”

“My babies, I missed you so much!”

 

“What’s going on? Garima, are the girls back?”

“Yes, they’re home!”

 

Shashi ran from the other room and hugged his daughters.

 

“God, the house is always so quiet when you’re not around!”

“Where is Buaji?”

“She’s gone out, she’ll be back soon!”

 

“Hai re Nandkisor! Shashi babua, come and take these bags!”

 

Khushi and Lavanya ran forward and took the bags off their elderly aunt and put them aside, before attacked her with their hugs.

 

“Ah, I see my angels are back!”

“Buaji, we missed you so much!”

“I know how much you missed me. It was obvious from the amount of calls I was getting from you two!”

 

Buaji turned her back to the girls. They bend down in front of her and pull their ears. This always worked. Buaji couldn’t resist them when they did this.

 

“Sorry buaji.”

“It’s ok, it’s ok. You two go and rest before dinner and start unpacking anything you’re going to need, but remember don’t take too much out, because before Sunday you’re going to have to start packing again!”

 

Lavanya and Khushi grabbed their bags and made their way to their room. Once inside, both dumped their bags onto their sofa and sat down on the bed.

 

“Tell me now Khushi, what happened? You went to say bye to Arnav andyou took forever to come back. And then when you did, you were as red as a tomato and you wouldn’t say anything. Tell me what happened! And don’t tell me nothing happened because the whole world could tell something happened.”

“I… We… Well…”

“Khushi, tell me!”

“We kissed!”

“What! No way?! How did you not tell me this already that’s so mean. You should have told me before!”

“I just didn’t know how to say it.”

“Well you were just able to tell me, so… But whatever, I want all the details. Tell me how it all happened?”

“I don’t really know. It was so quick I mean, he pulled me towards him and I pushed myself up against him and then, I don’t really know. The next thing I knew, we were kissing. It all just happened so quickly.”

“How did it feel? Kissing him I mean.”

“Amazing, like him! It was just… Mind blowing.”

“More, tell me more!”

“Lavanya! This is between me and him!”

“Shut up, Khushi. I am your sister and best friend, I told you about me and Karan, now it’s only fair, tell me Khushi!”

“His lips were so soft and warm… The way he held me, he’s so warm. And then he touched me and I just… Is it possible for me to want more already? It’s like, he barely touched me and I’m already addicted to him.”

“Of course it is Khushi. I mean, it’s totally normal that you want more from him! If you told me you didn’t want to kiss him again, that’s when I would have said there is an issue here.”

“No, Lavanya, it’s not just that. I mean it’s not just the kissing… I don’t know what it is, but I just want to be closer to him. To touch him. I don’t know Lavanya, its so confusing!”

“Khushi, I think I know what you’re thinking, but give it some time. I know he loves you and you love him, but give your relationship more time before you DO anything more. Don’t let your feelings overwhelm you and cause you to rush into something you aren’t sure you’re ready for.”

“Ok.”

 

*****

 

The entire were sat around the dinner table, having their meal and making small talk.

 

“So tell me, what have you girls been doing this term. I hope you’re studying properly!”

“Babuji, don’t we always study hard!”

 

“Khushi, you know Mrs Chadda?”

“Mrs Chadda? The fat one?”

“Yes her.”

“Why buaji.”

“Well she wants us to meet her nephew. She wants you to marry him. Personally I have seen the boy, he’s a gem and the Chadda’s are a close family friend. I think it might work.”

 

Khushi looked up, her eyes wide as she turned to Lavanya.

 

“No buaji. I don’t want to marry!”

 

With that Khushi excused herself and ran into her room, shutting the door behind her. Thoughts of Arnav flooded her mind.

Picking her phone up, she dialled Arnav’s number. She waited as it rang for a while before he picked it up.

 

“Arnav I’m missing you so much. We’ve only been back a while and buaji’s already talking about getting me married to someone else! I don’t want to marry! But I don’t know what to say. I…”

“Erm, excuse me, who is this?”

 

Reality flooded Khushi as she realised that the person she was talking to wasn’t Arnav. Looking at her phone, she made sure that she had called Arnav. She had. The person on the other side of the phone spoke again.

 

“Hello? Who is this?”

“I… Er well…”

 

“Akaash, give me my phone. Thanks for answering it. Yeah, hello?”

“Arnav…”

“Khushi! Have you got home, are you ok? How’s La?”

“We’ve got home fine. Arnav I miss you.”

“I’m missing you too.”

“Who was that, that answered your phone?”

“My brother, Akaash.”

“Arnav, I think I’ve made a mistake, I thought it was you and I said that I was missing you and I was saying that buaji wanted me to get married! I don’t want to get married!”

 

Khushi was rambling, but Arnav had caught everything that she had said.

 

“Shhh… It’s fine Khushi, I’ll explain to Akaash, he’ll understand. It’s ok. Buaji wants you to get married? To who?”

“To a family friend and yes, she wants me to marry but I’m not ready and I don’t want to!”

“I understand Khushi. I know it’s going to be a hard conversation, but just tell buaji that you’re not ready. I’m sure she will understand and I’m sure they won’t force you into something that you aren’t ready for. Can I add something else? As I was driving home, I was just thinking about us and I thought…You know there’s something about you, I can actually imagine living with you. I can imagine how my family would react to have you around. It’s weird and so soon for me to say this, but I can imagine us together, a proper couple… I’m not saying I want something right now, but I have a good feeling about us and I just… I’m just thinking out loud. Any way, Khushi, would you like to come to my office tomorrow, we can have lunch or something afterwards. Really discuss all of this.”

“Yeah, I’ll come! But Lavanya, she said she wanted to see your office as well. May I bring her too?”

“Bring her along; I’ll get Akaash to keep her company.”

“Why, we’ll be with her.”

“I want you to myself as well. I want to expand on what we started the other evening.”

 

Khushi blushed, muttered that they’d meet him at half 10 and then put the phone down.

 

He’s Amazing ~ Part 4 {Reloaded}

“Akaash, I need your help.”

“Hey Bhai! Nice to hear from you too, how can I help you? What’s up?”

 

Arnav rolled his eyes at his cousin’s sarcastic tone. He knew that he should call home more often, or at least text his siblings, but life got busy and these little things just skipped his mind. Pushing aside his thoughts, he remembered why he had called in the first place and resumed the conversation.

 

“Tell Nani, I won’t be able to come home this weekend. I’ve got loads of work here and I’ve got a really important presentation on Saturday and I can’t miss it for the world.”

“Why do you always get me to break the tough news. You get saved but Dadi bites my ear off. But sure bhai, I’ll tell Dadi, but you know, she and di were really excited about you coming home. Mom was too. She had everything ready! They’re all going to be so disappointed. It’s been ages since you came home.”

“I know Akaash, it sucks. I don’t do it on purpose, I just hadn’t realised how much work it would be and how little spare time I would have. But being here now, I’ve realised it’s a lot more work than I had anticipated. You know I barely get time to meal prep properly. I’ve been eating pot noodles the last few days. But don’t tell anyone at home that, they’ll just get hyper. But enough about me, how is mamaji? And how is Payal?”

“Dad’s fine and Payal’s good too! Everyone’s just been missing you but otherwise, it’s been pretty normal around here. Oh my god, bhai did you know NK’s coming soon!”

“NK! He’s coming!? That’s great, how long will he be staying?”

“Well for now he isn’t sure, he wants a long break from Australia, and he was missing home. I hope he stays for a while, it’s always so much fun when he’s around right? By the way, bhai, dadi’s selecting girls.”

“Girl’s for whom?”

“For you!”

 

Arnav rolled his eyes and balled up his free hand. He knew this would be a topic that would come up again, but he didn’t appreciate dadi trying to select a girl for him behind his back. He was sure he would go home and he would be presented an extensive list and if he didn’t select anyone from it, there would be hell to pay. But it wasn’t even fair because he hadn’t had a say in the shortlisting process. He would have to have a word with di later and get them to back off.

 

“Akaash, I told you people, I’ll get married the day I find the perfect girl for myself and when I am mentally prepared for marriage. Tell nani to tell all the families of the girls that Arnav isn’t interested at the moment. If they still want their daughters to marry me, tell them to contact me again in 10 years time! And tell nani that she needs to stop going behind my back and pulling these stunts because she’s just wasting everyone’s time. When I am ready, either I will find myself a girl or I will tell nani what kind of girl I want and then she can start her search. I don’t appreciate her and di doing their own thing and acting like it’s the best for me when it probably isn’t.”

“Bhai, chill! I get the point, I’ll tell dadi, don’t worry. Bhai. I mean she will probably give you an angry phone call and you’ll have to deal with that yourself but I’ll pass your message on for now. Also, before I forget, I wanted to tell you, that me and dad have finalised a deal with Malhotra and sons. For their new hotel opening they want all their staff to have matching outfits. We have said we will do some designs for them and send them on. We’ve also said we’ll finalise the prices once they have looked at our original designs. I’m sending you a file regarding it through email. Please check it and tell us if there’s anything you want changing.”

“Akaash, you and mamaji know what you’re doing, you don’t have to ask me every time your signing a new deal.”

“I know, but it’s your company.”

“Mamaji has more of a right to it than I have. He’s been handling it for years now. I trust you guys to know what you are doing and to make decisions that will positively impact the business. I trust you guys, just go ahead with it.”

“I know but still, I like making sure that you approve. This company is your one true love after all. Anyway, look bhai I have to go. I promised Payal we’ll go out for dinner tonight and she’s getting cranky now. Apparently I’ve been on the phone too long.”

“Bye Akaash.”

 

With that Arnav disconnected the call and turned his attention back to his work. On his desk in front of him was Khushi’s assignment that he was going to use. He flicked through it, taking in all her graphs and diagrams, making sure that everything was up to scratch. He knew it would be, but there was a thrill in checking her work. Going through it and just appreciating the brilliant mind behind the report.

 

“Amazing work.”

 

*****

 

“Khushi, hurry, you’re making us late today!”

“La let me get dressed! Any way, class doesn’t start for another 15 minutes; we don’t need to get there so early! Why are you so hyper for this morning, who are you so impatient to see.”

 

Khushi smirked and raised her eyebrow at La. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, Lavanya ran her fingers through her hair, making sure it was still tangle free.

 

“Arnav doesn’t like it when we’re late!”

 

Rolling her eyes, Khushi laughed and went back to applying her lip balm.

 

“I knew it. You’re rushing me so you can sit and stare at Mr Raizada before the class starts. You have noticed that he never turns up this early any way. He walks in just a minute before class starts. He probably tries to avoid all you pervs.”

 

Lavanya feigned shock at being called a perv, picked up a pillow and threw it at Khushi’s head.

 

“I’m not a perv, I just like appreciating good looking men.”

“Pervvvv.”

“Shut up you, hurry up! Look at the time!”

“If you’re so impatient and want to get to class 13 minutes before we need to be there to stare at a wall, then you go on ahead. I’ll join you in a bit. I’ll be there before class starts.”

“It’s ok for you, he loves you! You won’t have to worry about getting told off if you’re late!”

 

Putting her lip balm down, Khushi laughed and turned her attention to Lavanya. Her poor friend really had the biggest crush on their tutor and it was clear she wasn’t handling it that well.

 

“He doesn’t love me La; he just respects me because I pay attention to my work, not him! But okay miss moody, I’m ready. Let’s go and sit and stare at an empty room for 12 minutes.”

 

Lavanya pretended to be mad and puffed out her cheeks.

 

“Fine! Whatever! Let’s go!”

 

*****

 

“You’re all failures and none of you will get your degrees unless you concentrate! I don’t understand what is wrong with this class. I have seen your marks from before and you all had been doing relatively well and now all of a sudden your marks are taking a dive? Are we not taking final year seriously enough any more? Or are you guys not taking me seriously enough? If you would much rather have a more senior member of staff taking this class, please let me know because I don’t want you all tanking this class and then you all blaming me. Mr Malhotra, please stop texting your girlfriend! This is precisely the issue!”

“I wasn’t texting my girlfriend!”

“Whoever, just stop! As I was saying, none of you are pulling your weight. Your quality of work is what I would expect from first and second year students. This isn’t third year quality at all. I know for most of you just passing is enough, but I really need you to understand that if you are putting yourself through school, it is far more beneficial that you put that little bit of extra effort in and securing those top grades. They are far more useful to you and your futures than weak pass grades. I have photocopied Miss Gupta’s last assignment for you all to look at. It’s perfect in every way. Read through it and compare it to your own work. If your work is anything close to this, then it means you are on the right track, otherwise learn from Miss Gupta! Please take notes from her work so you can see what she is doing and what you are not doing. Only then will you clearly be able to understand what you need to do in order to improve your work.”

 

Khushi looked down and blushed. No one had ever praised her work so much before. Not only was her work being praised, it was being used as a benchmark for other people. It was such an overwhelming feeling.

She looked up at Arnav and gave her a small smile before turning back into the strict lecturer.

 

“Miss Gupta, can you stay back again please. I have got some extension work for you. Seeing as you have completed this assignment there is no point holding you back with the rest of the class. Doing this extra work will mean that you can work towards an additional module which will help you to increase your GPA.”

 

Khushi nodded and the looked away again. Lavanya smiled and shook her head. It was so clear that Arnav was attracted to her! And he wasn’t just in awe of her work but in her as a person too. But obviously Khushi was oblivious to it. Lavanya knew what was cooking but should she tell Khushi? Would Khushi even believe her or would she just brush her off again as she had done every other time?

The clock struck the hour and the class filed out of the room. Khushi held onto Lavanya and wanted her to wait for her outside. She would have much rather La wait with her in the room, but Arnav had a strict policy where he liked to speak to his students one on one so that their conversations could remain confidential. It also gave students the freedom to express their feelings without feeling worried about what other people thought.

Khushi had hoped that Lavanya would wait for her outside the way she had that first time, however Lavanya said that she had told Karan that she would be waiting for him at the common room. She couldn’t be late because they were going to go and grab some food before his next class. Khushi nodded sadly and remained seated while everyone and La filed out.

Once everyone else had left, Arnav closed the door and walked towards Khushi and sat down on the desk next to hers.

 

“Khushi, are you ok?”

“Yes sir, I’m fine thank you? Why?”

“Are you doing anything Sunday evening?”

“Erm, no.”

“Well then, how would you like to go out for dinner with me then?”

“Dinner? To discuss my work?”

“Well… Yes! To discuss your work!”

“Ok then.”

“Great, will you be able to meet me at the back entrance at 7:30? And please try not to tell anyone. I don’t like that thought about everyone knowing that I took one of my students out for dinner. I’m sure you can imagine the kind of rumours that it would fuel.”

 

Khushi felt her cheeks heat up. She looked at Arnav, who was looking down at her with a serious expression. She nodded and then looked away before speaking again.

 

“Can I tell Lavanya? She… She’s my roommate and if I don’t tell her where I am going, she’ll worry.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sure Miss Kashap will understand. But again, please make sure she doesn’t tell anyone else. I’d rather this didn’t cause more of an issue then it is actually worth.”

“I understand and yes I will tell La.Thank you for understanding why I need to share this information with her.”

“Not a worry. Well then, I guess I’ll see you Sunday evening!”

“Bye sir.”

“Bye Khushi.”

Jalebi ~ Part 40 ~ Last Part

Wrapping her arms around her husband, Khushi snuggled up to Arnav and smiled to herself.

 

“Happy second anniversary baby.”

 

It was unbelievable. Khushi still couldn’t believe that she and Arnav had already been married for two years now.

Over the last two years they had faced a number of hurdles, nothing major but just little bumps in their journey. For example, for extended periods of time, they were apart due to work. Only last month, Khushi had to go to England due to issues in her main office and Arnav couldn’t accompany her because he had to attend to business in Mumbai.
And even if they were in the same city, there were multiple times when Arnav got home so late that Khushi was already asleep, or sometimes Khushi would get home so late that Arnav was already asleep.

But they we’re grateful for the time that they did spend together and they understood the issues they had regarding timing. It was something that they had come to terms with over the years and had learnt to deal with.

Other changes that had taken place over the years was that Arnav had made Khushi co CEO of AR Designs. This meant that for any major decision that needed to be made, Khushi had an equal say in them. Initially she had straight up refused to accept his offer, but Arnav wasn’t prepared for her to say no.

Picking her phone up, the latest iPhone, gifted to her by Arnav on her birthday, Khushi checked the time and saw that it was still only half 5. Putting her phone back, Khushi pressed herself into Arnav, her body pressed into his. Taking his arm, she placed it on her waist and snuggled closer.

 

“Khushi what you playing at?”

“Are you awake baby?”

 

Turning in his arms, Khushi smiled as she took in his face.

 

“Hi.”

“Good morning. When did you wake up?”

“The first time you snuggled up to me and wished me a happy anniversary.”

 

Pushing himself up onto his arm, Arnav placed his free arm on Khushi’s waist and pressed a light kiss on her lips.

 

“Happy anniversary to you too baby.”

 

They both settled back down, holding each other close and allowed themselves to fall asleep again for another few hours.

 

*****

 

“Arnav can you please tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll see any moment now! Be patient.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Khushi sat back in her seat again and looked out of the window, trying to work out where they were headed.

After a relatively quiet morning with the family, Arnav was now taking Khushi to a secret location where they would celebrate their anniversary alone. All Khushi had been told about their little get away was that she didn’t need to pack anything at all as everything they needed would already be there.

 

“You said I’d be able to see any moment. I don’t see anything mr Raizada.”

“You’ll realise right about… Now!”

 

Turning quickly, Khushi looked out of the window. It took Khushi a moment to take in her surroundings, but soon she realised, they were at the Raizada farmhouse.

Turning back to Arnav, Khushi watched as he smirked and she too couldn’t help but smile. They had only been here once, many many years ago. But the memories of their last visit were still fresh and very much treasured by them both.

As Arnav parked the car, Khushi looked at Arnav questioningly.

Once the car was parked, Arnav got out of the car and made his way to Khushi’s side and opened the door for her.

 

“Arnav why…”

“I wanted us to go back to London, to that hotel where we expressed our love for each other and where we spent our first night together, but the room we stayed at was booked and I didn’t know if it would be the same if we stayed at another room. So I thought I’d bring you here instead. After all, this place too holds special memories for us.”

 

She knew exactly what he meant and knew he was right. This place was special. More than special.

Taking hold of Arnav’s arm, he led them into the house. The moment they stepped inside, Khushi gasped as she took in her surroundings.

 

“Happy anniversary babe.”

 

His voice was low and husky, his desire evident. But Khushi didn’t notice. She was too busy taking in all the red drapes and the big balloons and the roses scattered all around.

 

“When did you…?”

“I got Akash and Payal to do it earlier today.”

“You got my pregnant sister running chores for you?”

“She offered!”

“Of course she did Raizada.”

 

Feigning anger, Khushi turned away but Arnav realised what she was trying to do. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Arnav held her close to himself and kissed the side of her neck.

 

“Either you can stop pretending to be mad at me, or I can take you to bed and you’ll forget all about your fake anger that way.”

 

Turning in his arms, Khushi playfully slapped Arnav’s shoulder.

 

“So what arrangements do you have for us?”

“Well first I have a cake for us to cut and then for you to eat.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll eat you later for dessert, don’t you worry.”

“Arnav!”

 

Once again, Khushi slapped Arnav’s arm and he laughed.
Taking Khushi’s hand, Arnav led her over to the table where the cake was waiting for them. Khushi looked down at the little chocolate cake and smiled at it.

Picking up the knife that was sat beside the cake, Arnav put it in Khushi’s hand and then held it himself as they cut the cake together. Arnav leaned in and took a bit of the cake and fed it to Khushi. Just as she swallowed the cake, he pulled her into himself and pressed his lips between hers, kissing her deeply. He could taste the chocolate cake that she had just eaten.

As he pulled himself away, Khushi giggled and hid her face in Arnav’s chest.

 

“I love this, all of this! It’s perfect.”

 

Arnav held his wife close to himself, smiling because he knew he did a good job. As they broke their hug, Arnav picked up a big brown envelope and handed it to Khushi.

 

“What’s this?”

“It’s your present.”

 

Taking it from Arnav, Khushi looked at it highly confused. Slowly, she peeled back the flap and carefully took the papers out. Arnav watched as her eyes moved down the paper, taking the information in. Her mouth kept dropping the more she read.

 

“No way Arnav, no way in hell. I can’t…”

“You can.”

“But this isn’t you’re decision to make. Nani ji… Mama ji…”

“I held a family meeting and consulted with everyone before I made this decision, they had no objections.”

“Arnav, this is too much I can’t…”

 

Going back to the papers, Khushi couldn’t help but feel slightly stressed but overwhelmed at the same time. According to these papers, the property they were stood in, was now hers. Arnav had gifted Khushi the Raizada farmhouse.

 

“Arnav…”

“The farmhouse was in my name before, now it’s in yours. Everything that’s mine is yours anyway so I didn’t see the issue to make this property officially yours.”

“I can’t…”

 

Taking the papers out of her hands, Arnav took Khushi’s hands into his own and pulled her towards himself.

 

“You can. I told you, I spoke to everyone and they have no objections. I know Shantivan is our family home, but in time I want to sign it over to mama ji and Akash so it’s officially their home. Whereas I want to keep the farmhouse for ourselves and Di.”

“But then Di’s name should be on the deeds too.”

“I did speak to Di about that, and she said she doesn’t feel that her name needs to be on these papers. She trusts you enough to know that there will always be a place for her in this house.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“Don’t say anything, just kiss me and let us enjoy our anniversary.”

 

Khushi wanted to argue, to explain why she couldn’t accept this gift but then she actually thought about. Arnav was right. Whether it was in his name or her name, it would be theirs. After all, Arnav and Khushi were one.

Wrapping her arms around him, Khushi kissed Arnav, bringing him closer to herself. His hands moved under the folds of her sari as he started to push the layers away, getting to her skin. Khushi too let her hands move under his shirt, feeling his toned back.

Breaking the kiss, Arnav lifted Khushi into his arms. Squealing, Khushi held onto Arnav as he properly gripped onto her and slowly made his way up the stairs. Tucking her head into his chest, Khushi smiled and she recalled the last time they had been upstairs in this house. They’d spent the night together and then had a steamy shower together at ungodly hours. But Arnav didn’t take them to his bedroom, he carried on, taking them both up to the terrace.

 

“Arnav…”

“You didn’t think I was taking you to the bedroom were you? I mean I will take you there, but only after we recreate our last encounter that we had up here.”

 

Biting her lip lightly, Khushi hid her face back in his chest as she slowly made his way over to the canopied area and sat Khushi down on top of the silk sheets. He moved back in, slowly beginning to unravel her sari and letting it fall down beside them.

The act of undressing Khushi wasn’t as smooth as Arnav wanted it to be and he needed her help to take the pins out, but soon enough, Arnav was left with a semi undressed Khushi. She slipped out of her underskirt and then let Arnav take her blouse off.

Moving back slightly, he took Khushi in, sat there under the fairy lights in nothing but her satin underwear. He loved it when she wore black lingerie, it made her milky skin look absolutely pearly.

Stripping out of his own clothes, he watched Khushi and he put each item of clothing aside. When he had taken even item of clothing off except his boxers, he watched as Khushi’s eyes moved over his body and he smirked seeing her bite her lip.

Leaning in, Khushi captured Arnav’s lips between her own and she moved into him, resting her hand on his thigh while he gripped hold of her waist.

Getting a good hold of her, Arnav lay Khushi down against the silky sheets, his hand roamed over her body, feeling her exposed skin, nearing the waistband of her pants to remove them. Khushi broke their kiss and pushed Arnav off of herself.

 

“Hey…”

“Wait wait! I need to give you you’re present!”

“I can wait…”

 

Arnav was ready to move back in, to resume what they were doing, but Khushi shook her head and pushed herself off of the floor and grabbed hold of a blanket. Wrapping it around herself, she got to her feet.

 

“Give me in minute!”

 

Arnav was ready to protest but Khushi was already halfway down the stairs. Laying back, Arnav looked at the top of the canopy, waiting for Khushi to return.

She came back a few moments later, her handbag in her hand. Still holding onto the blanket, she kneeled down next to Arnav and opened up her bag and fished out a large brown envelope.

Smiling, Khushi handed over the envelope, pressing a kiss on his cheek at the same time.

 

“Happy anniversary baby.”

 

Taking the envelope, Arnav looked at it.

 

“What’s this?”

“Open it.”

 

Slowly opening the envelope, Arnav pulled out the file that was waiting for him within. It was a file with the Khushiyan branding on it.

Looking up, he looked at Khushi was confusion in his eyes before slowly opening the file.

He skimmed through the first page and then quickly flicked to the next, and then the next.

 

“Khushi…”

 

She’d signed over 51% of Khushiyan.

 

“Khushi…”

“You can’t say anything. You made me co CEO of AR and the owner of this house. The least I can do is…”

“But Khushi…

 

Taking the papers out of his hand, Khushi set it aside on the little patio that was beside them. Dropping the blanket that she was using to cover herself, Khushi slowly made her way into Arnav’s lap. Settling herself into his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a light kiss on his lips. Arnav placed his hands on either sides of Khushi’s breasts, giving them a slight squeeze.

 

“I’ve not done this as a return for what you’ve given me, I’ve done it for my own reasons. A few months back, you said you wanted us to start our family, and I said I wasn’t ready for that yet. Well…”

 

Blushing, Khushi bit her lip as she slowly took Arnav’s hand and held it in her own.

 

“I… I’m ready for us to start our family now.”

“You are?!”

 

Hiding her face in Arnav’s chest, Khushi nodded shyly.

 

“I’m ready for us to start trying for our baby. And if I do fall pregnant, then I don’t want to have to be worrying about the business, or looking for someone to step in and take my place for me. And when we are blessed with a baby, I want to give all my attention to the baby, I don’t want to have to be worrying about needing to get back to work.”

“I get all that, but 51%?”

“If I left it as 50/50, then whenever you need to make decisions, you’d need to consult with me. This way, you won’t have to bother me.”

 

Arnav took in all the information that she was providing him with and thought about it all. She had a point and it was all making sense.

 

“Again, this is something else we can forget about today. Now, we should make the most of our anniversary.”

 

She was right, but Arnav knew there was no point discussing this at a later date. Khushi was exactly like him, once she had decided on something, nothing would make her change her mind after that.

Taking hold of Khushi once more, Arnav slowly lay her back down on the sheet and moved over her, his hand on her waist as he kissed her once more. He touched her over her underwear, getting a good feel of her before attempting to take her underwear off. It came off in one go and Arnav pulled it away and threw it aside.

Moving down her body, he trailed a line of kisses down her neck all the way down to her bellybutton. Khushi arched back, holding onto him a little tighter. He dropped his hand back down to her thigh and then let it slowly make its way to her inner thigh. He let himself carry on, feeling her shiver under his touch. Khushi held him closer, her nails biting into his skin as she pressed her face into his shoulder, her arms around him tight.

 

“Arnav…”

 

Her moaning his name was the undoing of his patience. Pulling away, he stripped her of her underwear and pulled away his boxers.

It was over two year ago when they had first made love, but to this day, every time they did it, it still felt like the first time. The feelings they felt, the way their bodies reacted… It always felt like the first time.

As they came together as one, Arnav and Khushi both sighed, the satisfaction of being joined so intimately taking over all other feelings. This was all that mattered. Them, their love, their being one… All of that mattered far more than wealth and their businesses.

 

Once they were hardheaded business people, concerned only about success. Now all they needed was love. Love and to be together.

 

~ The End ~

Jalebi ~ Part 39

Arnav and Khushi rushed around their bedroom as they made sure that they had all their things together.

 

“Come on Khushi, we have to be there in half an hour otherwise it’s going to mess up our air-plan.”

“I’m ready I’m ready, let me just check I put my bag of necessities in my bag.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Arnav stood by the door and waited for Khushi.

 

“Okay it’s there. I’m ready to go.”

 

Hari Prakash and Om Prakash came and grabbed hold of the luggage and followed Arnav and Khushi down the stairs. Getting into the hall, Arnav looked around.

 

“Where are Akash and Payal?”

 

Looking around too, Khushi spotted Payal and Akash’s bags by the door.

 

“We’re here bhai.”

 

Rushing down the stairs, Akash apologised as he came and stood by Arnav.

 

“Payal couldn’t remember if she packed our wardrobe key. So we had to go back and check.”

“Listen bro, I’m already sharing my honeymoon with you, don’t make me regret it.”

 

Laughing, both sets of Mr and Mrs Raizada made their way down to the car. Once they were all settled and all the luggage was in the car, they were off for the air field where the private jet was waiting for them.

Payal gasped as her eyes fell on the jet.

 

“Bhai, this is your jet?”

“Yep.”

“Wow! This thing is amazing.”

 

Placing her hand proudly in her husbands Khushi beamed up at him before replying to Payal.

 

“The outside is impressive, but wait till you see what it’s like inside.”

 

As the cabin crew took the bags away from the couples and loaded them into the jet, Arnav led Payal and Akash into the jet and gave them a quick tour. He explained how they’d have to sit in the proper seats during take off and landing, but after that they were free to move as they wish around the jet.

 

“Bhai you and Khushi Bhabi can have the bedroom section of the jet.”

“I wasn’t planning on giving you the bedroom but thanks for offering it up.”

 

When directed by the crew and the captain, the Raizada couples took their seats. Khushi laced her fingers into Arnav’s as the jet prepared for take off. She didn’t have an issue with flying, but there was something about everything that was happening that made her feel oh so nervous. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she was married and was about to go on her honeymoon, or maybe it was because she knew how much her life had changed, but something made her feel on edge.

Arnav locked Khushi’s fingers with his and then let their hands rest on his lap.

Payal squealed as the jet took off and Akash chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her.

As the plane stabilised and the cabin crew let them know that it was safe to come off their seats, all four made their way into the living area of the jet and took a seat. Arnav and Khushi sat together on one side, whereas Payal and Akash sat opposite them on the other.

Picking up the remote, Akash flicked through the channels before settling on a film. Payal cuddled up with him and placed a blanket over them.

 

Arnav turned to his side to find Khushi staring at the tv too. Leaning towards her, he whispered, “do you want to stay here and watch a film with these two or should we take things into the bedroom?”

 

Blushing, Khushi looked to Payal and Akash, who were completely absorbed by the film and then turned her attention back to Arnav. Locking her hands in his, she gestured towards the bedroom area with her eyes. Holding her hand tightly, Arnav got to his feet and pulled Khushi up with him.

 

“We’re going to go to the bedroom. See you guys before we land.”

 

And with that, Arnav pulled Khushi into the bedroom area. Looking around, Khushi found the bedroom area to look exactly the way it had done so the last time she had been in here. Turning her attention to the bed, she smiled as she recalled how she and Arnav had fallen asleep together. That had been first time they had shared a bed.

Pulling Khushi into his arms, Arnav placed his hand on her lower back, and used the other to push away stray hairs. Khushi wrapped her arms around Arnav’s neck and moved closer to him.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Cupping her face, Arnav leaned in and pressed his lips between Khushi’s, coaxing her lips apart gently. Patting her lips, Khushi gave Arnav the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Moving his hands round to the back of her neck, Arnav pulled her back ever so slightly, causing her lips to part further. Running his hands down her body, he let them come to rest on her waist, and he pulled her closer still, making her hips touch his. Khushi placed one hand on the side of his neck and the other slipped under his shirt, touching the planes of his muscular back. She too slipped her tongue in between his lips, meeting his halfway.

As their kiss intensified, Arnav pulled Khushi even closer to himself to the point where there was absolutely no space between them. He moved his body against Khushi’s, pressing his groin against her pelvis.

As they came up for air, Khushi looked into Arnav’s almost midnight black eyes. Lifting Khushi up in one swift motion, Arnav placed her down on the bed and then pulled back so he could strip himself of his own clothes. Khushi’s eyes widened as he took his clothes off.

 

“Take your clothes off too.”

“But jiji and jijaji?”

“We’re on honeymoon. Who cares if they know what we’re doing while they’re in the next room.”

“But…”

 

Climbing onto the bed, Arnav silenced her with a kiss as he started fumbling with her clothes. To begin with, Khushi was apprehensive, but soon melted into the moment and allowed Arnav to undress her while she pushed away at his clothes.

Once all her clothes were off, Arnav lay Khushi back in the bed while he walked over to where he’d had his hand luggage put and opened it up. Khushi lifted her head and watched as he rummaged around in his bag. After a moment or two, he found what he was looking for, opened the box, took out whatever it was that he was looking for and then closed his bag up again.

As he came back to Khushi, she noticed what he was holding and smiled. Moving back over her, he placed a light kiss on her lips before covering her body with his own….

 

*****

 

Sitting close together with their arms around each other, Payal and Akash enjoyed the films that the jet had to offer. Payal rested her hand on Akash’s knee and looked up at him.

 

“Babe.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

 

Turning his attention to Payal, he looked down at her face and smiled. How had he not accepted her whole heartedly from the start? How had he been so fixated on Khushi and revenge that he’d almost neglected the amazing woman in his arms. Turning the tv off, Akash placed his finger under Payal’s chin and tipped her head up.

 

“I love you too.”

 

They moved in towards each other, their lips inches apart. But a loud moan made them jerk apart.

 

“What on…”

 

“Arnavv…”

 

The moaning subsided, and was replaced with other noises.

Payal and Akash looked at each other with wide eyes before Payal looked away blushing.

 

“Are they really…”

 

Payal hid her face in Akash’s jacket. The thought of her little sister doing what she was doing in the next room was something Payal wasn’t entirely comfortable with. And it was worse that Akash had to hear it too.

 

“Sounds like they’re having a good time.”

“Akaaaash! Can you not.”

 

Laughing, Akash pulled Payal into his arms and held her close. This was going to be a good couple of days, he could feel it.

 

*****

 

Lying spent, Khushi curled up into Arnav’s side, her face buried in his chest. He ran his hand along her arm, making her shiver ever so slightly at the sensation.

 

“Did you ever think we’d make love in the sky?”

 

Arnav smiled as he felt Khushi shake her head. He stretched his limbs out while Khushi snuggled up closer, feeling sleep start to take over her body.

 

“Go to sleep for a while, I’ll set an alarm so we wake up an hour or so before we have to prepare to land.”

Almost as soon as the words had left Arnav’s lips, Khushi was fast asleep. Tucking her in properly and making sure she was comfortable, Arnav swung his legs out of the bed and pulled his trousers back on before making his way over to his laptop bag and pulling out his laptop.

After briefly checking over all this emails and responding to all that that needed his attention, he switched the laptop off again and stowed it away. Pulling his trousers back off, Arnav got back into bed and pulled Khushi into himself. This was how things should always be, this was the good life.

 

*****

 

As the plane prepared to land, Khushi cuddled up to Arnav in her seat. After getting intimate, Khushi needed to be close to Arnav. He too understood this need for intimacy and wrapped his arm around Khushi and held her close to himself.

The jet landed and both couples prepared to get off and get their honeymoons started.

As both couples got off the jet, they were met with a gust of hot air. For someone like Khushi who had spent most of her life in England where the hottest it ever really got was about 30°c, the temperature in Dubai was a bit too much. She flapped her hands around her face, trying to cool herself down.

 

“Babe you okay?”

“I’m fine but it’s so hot! I’m sure it wasn’t this hot the last time we came.”

“It was a little cooler but it was roughly like this.”

 

Khushi wasn’t the only one that was struggling with the heat, Akash and Payal too found it very hot. But they weren’t about to let that that have a negative impact on their holiday.

 

*****

 

As their car pulled up at Grosvenor House, both couples looked up at the building in awe. This hotel was just another tall building, but the design of it was stunning, really something to be looked at.

Taking the lead, Arnav took Khushi’s arm and led them all into the hotel and got them booked in. To Arnav’s pleasure, he and Khushi had been placed on a completely different floor to Payal and Akash.

He hadn’t done this entirely intentionally, but he hadn’t wanted them to be right near them either. Once both couple were fully checked in, they made their way over to the lift and pressed the bottoms of their respective floors.

Payal scooted over to where Khushi was stood and spoke quietly.

 

“Make sure you guys keep it down when you get busy, don’t want the neighbours to hear.”

 

Eyes wide, Khushi head snapped back slightly as she looked at Payal.

 

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, keep it down! Me and Akash could hear you really clearly on the flight.”

“No!”

“Yup!”

 

Burying her hands in her face, Khushi felt her face go completely red with embracement.
When the lift pinged, Akash and Payal got out first, leaving and Arnav and khushi by themselves. The moment the doors closed, Arnav moved over to Khushi, covering her from the view of anyone else who may have got in.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Placing one hand on her waist and another on the wall behind her, Arnav leaned in and pressed his lips against Khushi’s for a slow and drawn out kiss.

 

“So we’re officially on honeymoon.”

“Finally!”

 

*****

 

Three days later when Arnav and Khushi finally arrived at their tree house in Chewton Glen, they couldn’t help but take in the difference. Dubai has been blisteringly hot, but here in England, there was a chilling breeze. In Dubai they had been surrounded by glamorous tall buildings, here, all that was around them were tonnes and tonnes of trees and the next tree house was miles away.

Once inside the tree-house, they both took in everything around them, enjoying the little touches that had been made when decorating the place.

 

“Okay, is it bad that I actually prefer this place to the hotel in Dubai?”

“No. This place is great!”

 

After exploring the storehouse a little, Arnav found Khushi in the little kitchen area making some tea. Wrapping his arms around her, he stood close to her, pressing kisses on her neck.

 

“Arnav… Tea…”

“It’s been hours, let’s go to bed.”

 

She knew exactly what he meant, and knew he didn’t want to sleep. Blushing, Khushi turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips between his as she gave him a playful kiss.

 

“What do you want to do in bed?”

He raised his eyebrow before leaning in toward her ear.

“How about I show you?”

 

His voice was low and husky, sending a shiver down Khushi’s spine. His intention were clear as day and she had no objections towards them.

Taking his hand, Khushi led the way as she made her way towards the bedroom area, her tea lay completely forgotten…

 

*****

 

“Khushi have you seen outside! It’s snowing!”

“Yes, I’ve seen the snow!”

 

Looking out over the forest, Arnav took in all the snow and how beautiful it looked outside.

 

“How are you so calm? Look at how amazing it looks.”

 

Walking over to the large window, Khushi sighed as she took in the snow.

 

“Arnav, I’ve spent years of my life in this country, I’ve seen snow plenty of times. And yeah it looks pretty, but now we can’t go into the hot tub like we planned.”

 

Arnav’s attention shifted to the little hot tub that was out on the balcony. It had snow all over the cover on the top.

 

“We can still go in, the water will be hot and I know how to warm you up any way.”

 

Khushi wasn’t even slightly shocked or taken aback by his suggestive comment. Since they’d been here the last couple of days, his bold statements came out constantly. And his statements were also constantly being backed up. Even Khushi had a sex drive, but Arnav’s was something else altogether. He constantly wanted it. But she couldn’t complain, she was enjoying it too.

Playfully slapping his shoulder, Khushi walked away.

 

*****

 

It was a little later the same evening and the snow was still falling. Arnav had gotten a fire roaring in the fireplace and was sat on the faux fur rug, looking into the fire.
Khushi came and sat down beside him, placing her hand on his thigh.

 

“Hi.”

 

He smiled as he turned his attention to her. She’d had a shower and so her hair was still wet. And instead of wearing her own clothes, she’d opted to wear one of Arnav’s t-shirts and seemed to have forgotten to put some pants on.

 

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I was hoping you could warm me up. You know, the way you wanted to earlier on.”

 

Arnav smirked as he pulled off his own t-shirt and pushed her down onto the rug.

 

“Arnav! I didn’t mean right here!”

“Why not right here?”

“Because…”

 

But her argument was forgotten about as he slid his hand under her shirt and squeezed her lightly, all the while kissing her neck. He let his hand trail down her body and came to rest on her inner thighs.

Shuddering at the feel of his hand on her, Khushi held onto him tighter, kissing him more intensely. Wrapping a leg around his waist, Khushi moved her body against Arnav’s, the wait to become one was starting to kill her.

Pulling off her shirt and pulling off his own clothes, lowered Khushi back onto the floor and slowly let himself touch her. The way her body reacted, one would think he inserted a live wire into her.

A fine layer of sweat lay on Khushi’s skin. The heat from the fireplace, the warmth from the rug and the intensity of Arnav’s actions were causing to make Khushi feel as though her entire body was on fire.

 

“Arnav… Bed…”

 

He was well aware of what she meant and what she wanted, but he knew neither of them would actually be able to move now.

Stripping himself of the last of his clothes, Arnav caressed Khushi’s body and checked one last time to make sure she really was ready for him. She was.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

Wrapping her arms around his more tightly, Khushi’s eyes fluttered open as she gave a little nod.
Arnav lowered himself over Khushi and kissed her slowly as their bodies joined in the most intimate manner, Khushi let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as they carried on kissing.

As the act of love and passion took place, all either of them could think was that this was how their life was meant to be, how it was meant to be spent. Wrapped together so they couldn’t tell where one ended and the other started.

This was how life was and how it should forever remain.

 

*****

 

Author’s Note:

So I just realised that I had finished writing these chapters years ago and though I don’t like them as much as I did at the time, I have decided to just post them so that the story is complete for you guys.

I will be uploading the last part of the story within the next few weeks. 

Jalebi ~ Part 37

Taking in Rohan’s words, Arnav didn’t know if he should feel happy or if he should feel sad. It was obvious Rohan cared about Khushi. But Arnav knew that he definitely cared about Khushi more than anyone else ever could.

 

“I’ll take my leave.”

“No. No you have to stay.”

 

Unable to understand why Rohan would make him stay, Arnav tried to argue with Rohan. But he wasn’t having it. He wanted him to stay.

 

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

 

The way Rohan spoke, Arnav realised that there would be no use arguing. He had to sit through the wedding, he would have to watch the woman he loved become someone else’s.

 

*****

 

Returning to the main hall, one of Rohan’s cousins approached him and told him that the auspicious time had arrived and that he needed to make his way over to the mandap.

Taking his seat at the mandap, he waited for Khushi to come over.

Offering Khushi her hand, Payal gave Khushi a little smile.

 

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Jiji I…”

 

Starting to panic slightly, Khushi realised the greater implications of what was happening. She was about to marry Rohan. Actually marry him. She would have to live with him, share a room, a bed with him…

 

“Jiji I cant!”

“What?”

“I can’t marry Rohan.”

 

Payal and Khushi were using hushed voices, but they caught the attention of all those around them. Rohan looked over, and he saw Khushi still at her seat.

 

“Now is not the time to get cold feet Khushi. You’ve had so much time to change your decision, you can’t do it now.”

“I know… But honestly Jiji I can’t.”

 

Feeling at a complete loss, Payal moved back slightly, trying to think of what to do.
Wanting to know what the delay was for, Rohan got to his feet and made his way over to Khushi. Putting his hand out to her, he waited for her to take it.

 

“Rohan…”

“Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

“I…”

“You’ve watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai right? If you don’t come on, I’m going to drag you to the mandap.”

“I can’t…”

 

Realising exactly what Khushi was thinking, Rohan took Khushi’s hand and dragged her over to the mandap.

 

“Rohan…”

 

Those who hadn’t been paying attention before were paying attention now. Anjali saw what was going on and nudged Arnav.

 

“What’s happening?”

“Did he ask me to stay so I that he could make me watch him forcefully marry her?”

 

Khushi tried to get her hand out of Rohan’s, and struggled even more when she saw the mandap getting closer to them.

 

“Rohan please…”

 

She saw the mandap approach and she realised… This was it. She had made her decision and now there was no backing out.

But much to Khushi’s surprise, they walked straight passed the mandap and only stopped once they were a little further down. Arnav looked up again, trying to make sense of what was happening.

 

“What are you…”

“Today Khushi, I realised what love is. True love is when you are ready to sacrifice your happiness and what you want so the other person can be happy. I learnt that from a man who up until now I didn’t like at all. He made me realise that if you truly love someone, you should let them go if that’s what is going to make them happy. Arnav… Arnav taught me that.”

 

Turning her attention to Arnav, Khushi gave a little smile.

 

“Arnav is ready to let you go because he loves you truly and he thinks you marrying me is what you want and he just wants you to be happy. But I think we both know you’re only marrying me because you think that if you said no now, you’d be betraying me.”

 

Tears fell from Khushi’s eyes because Rohan was right. He was spot on.

 

“I’m sorry…”

“No I’m sorry. I should have realised and I shouldn’t have been so pig headed when making you choose. I knew the truth and I decided to overlook it for my own selfish reasons.”

 

Khushi felt her head spin as she took in Rohan’s words. What was the meaning of all this? Feeling slightly light headed, Khushi raised her hand to her head and tried to keep herself stable. She felt herself sway slightly and then the next thing she knew, she had a strong pair of arms around her.

Turning to her right, she saw Arnav stood beside her, holding her tightly.

 

“See, he was stood all the way on the other side of the room and he knew you needed him. I was stood right here and I didn’t realise. This is why you should make him your life partner. Put the guy out of his misery.”

“Rohan…”

 

Taking Khushi’s hand in his own, Rohan carefully pulled the engagement ring that he’d put on her off.

 

“I set you free.”

“I don’t know what to…”

“You don’t need to say anything to me Khushi. Turn to the saint of a man next to you, and ask him for his hand.”

 

Giving a little smile and mouthing her thanks, Khushi turned to Arnav and took his hand into her own. Looking at her, Arnav smiled before brushing away the tears on Khushi’s cheek.

 

“I screwed up Arnav. I thought I was doing the right thing but I… Will you marry me Arnav? After everything that I have put you through, do you think you can forgive me and marry me? I think we both know that I am yours. Only yours.”

 

Reaching into his pocket, Arnav pulled out the velvet box that Anjali had given to him a little while ago. Opening it and carefully taking out the ring, Arnav gently put it on Khushi.

 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to put this ring on your finger.”

 

Taking her hand, he pressed a light kiss on her hand.

Smiling, Rohan mentally pat himself on the back. He did the right thing. As much as it hurt and as much as he wanted to marry Khushi himself, he knew he did the right thing. She was never his and she never would have been.

 

“Now now, let’s not get too caught up in the moment, there are still tonnes of people watching you.”

 

Taking her hand out of Arnav’s, Khushi wrapped her arms around Rohan and gave him a big hug.

 

“Thank you so much.”

“We’ve been friends for the longest time, if I didn’t have your back, who else would?”

 

Taking his turban off, Rohan walked to Arnav and placed it on his head.

 

“Be good to her bro.”

“I promise you, I’ll never let her or you regret this decision.”

 

*****

 

After giving the bride and groom a few moments to freshen up and to allow their families to take in everything, Arnav and Khushi’s marriage ceremony was well on the way.

The Raizada’s and the Gupta’s had been overjoyed by the change in events. Anjali had called Hari Prakash and asked him to quickly go out and get the supplies that she needed.

 

*****

 

Wedding done, bidaai done, Payal helped Khushi into the back of Arnav’s car as Akash got into the drivers seat.

Pulling Khushi into his arms, Arnav brushed her hair out of her face as he took her lips between his own and kissed her as though he’d never kissed her before. Taking hold of his collar, Khushi pulled him closer to herself as she kissed him back with the same level of intensity. His hands dropped to her waist as he pulled her onto himself, needing to get closer.

Breaking apart to come up for air, Khushi ran her hand along Arnav’s face and placed a little kiss on the end of his nose.

 

“I never thought… I thought we… I thought I lost you…”

“Sh, we’re together now, we’re married. That’s all that matters now.”

“I love you Arnav. I’m so sorry I…”

“Shh. I told you, it doesn’t matter any more. This is a new start.”

 

Cuddling up to Arnav, Khushi tucked herself into him and closed her eyes, feeling peaceful.

 

“Hey Khushi, remember the time we made out here. How about…”

“Don’t even think about it bhai!”

 

Laughing, Arnav reached over and poked Akash in the back of his head. Snuggling back down, Khushi tucked herself into Arnav and simply inhaled his scent.

Finally peace had been restored.

 

*****

 

After being welcomed into the Raizada house as the new Raizada bride, Arnav and Khushi were sat on the sofa with the family, waiting to be granted permission to go to their room.

 

“Whatever happens, happens for the best. And all that matters now is that Khushi bitya is home.”

“I told you Nani, I’d sort it and I would get her back.

 

Before anyone could say anything more, Anjali re-emerged from wherever she was and came to collect Khushi.

 

“Come on Khushi, I’ll show you to your room.”

“There’s no need Di, I can show Khushi to our room.”

“Hush chote. It’s a rasam. I showed Payal to her room after the wedding and I’m going to do the same with Khushi.”

 

Helping Khushi to her feet, Anjali turned away, leading her up to Arnav’s room. Arnav too got to his feet but was stopped.

 

“No Chote, wait. I will tell you when you can go up.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Arnav sat back down and was met with a whole lot of teasing from Shyam and Akash for being too eager.

Helping Khushi up the stairs, Anjali turned her attention back to her.

 

“How are you feeling?”

“So nervous and overwhelmed.”

“Are you happy though?”

“Of course.”

 

Teaching Arnav’s bedroom, Khushi gasped as she looked around the room.

 

“Di when did you…”

“Just because you and Chote got married at the last minute, doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have made sure that everything was perfect.”

 

Looking around the room, Khushi took in the beautifully decorated room with flower petals and candles.

 

“But so quickly…”

“I got Akash to take a detour. Don’t think you and Chote realised that though did you?”

 

Blushing, Khushi looked down. No, she hadn’t realised. She hadn’t gone to sleep in the car, but she had drifted off slightly. It had been so long since she had last felt so content and at ease, that it was so easy to just zone out.

Leading Khushi over to the bed, Anjali was ready to help her onto the bed when Khushi stopped her.

 

“Di, I’ve been in this outfit for so long. I know it’s not the norm, but can I please get changed before he comes up?”

“Of course it’s fine. I completely understand. Would you like me to call Payal to help you get changed”

“No no, I’ll manage.”

“Okay, you get changed. I’ll send Chote up in half an hour. And I won’t come up with him so I won’t see you.”

 

Anjali gave Khushi a suggestive nudge with a cheeky wink, causing Khushi to want to curl into herself because she felt so shy.

 

Anjali left, leaving Khushi alone in Arnav’s bedroom. Well hers and Arnav’s bedroom. Khushi hadn’t had the intention to dress to impress Arnav, but now that Anjali had hinted at it, Khushi decided that she wanted to wear something special for him.

Picking up her suitcase, Khushi placed it onto the bed and went rummaging. She hadn’t brought many pieces of sexy nightwear because she hadn’t seen the need for it. But things were different now. She was married to Arnav.

Picking out what she wanted to wear, Khushi took hold of it and made her way to the bathroom to get changed.

 

*****

 

Sat back on the bed, Khushi had draped her dupatta back onto her head and had pulled it around her shoulders. She knotted her hands together as she waited for her husband to arrive.

A little while passed and then the door was pushed open and Arnav walked in. Quickly turning around, he locked the door behind him. With the door locked, he pulled the curtains on the doors to the poolside and then finally, slowly made his way over to his bride who was waiting on the bed.

Sitting down beside her, Arnav places his hand on hers.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Keeping his hand on hers, Arnav leaned in and placed a kiss on Khushi’s cheek before pulling away again. Slowly, he raised his hand to her dupatta and pulled it off her head carefully, letting it fall around her shoulders.

As soon as her dupatta was off, his eyes fell on the red sindoor that he had placed on her, marking her as his. He also saw that she’d taken off all her jewellery except her mangalsootra and her ring.

Clutching at the dupatta, Khushi tried to pull it around herself, suddenly feeling self conscious about her attire underneath.

 

“I can’t believe I have you in my bedroom, on my bed, as my wife. When I woke up this morning, all I could think about was how this evening you’d be married to someone else, but now…”

“I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”

 

Biting her lip, Khushi blushed as she reached out to him. Shuffling closer to her, Arnav took hold of her dupatta and slowly pulled it away from her, revealing what she was wearing underneath. Or more correctly, what she wasn’t wearing underneath.

 

“Khushi…”

“I thought you would appreciate it if you didn’t have to take so many layers of clothes off of me.”

“You know me too well baby.”

 

Completely pulling the dupatta away and dropping it down the side of the bed, Arnav took Khushi in. Here she sat, on his bed, in nothing more than a deep red bra and panties. Taking her in, Arnav gulped.

 

“Shit.”

 

Feeling super self conscious, Khushi looked around her, trying to find something to cover herself with. But before she could reach out, Arnav had moved into her, pushed her against the pillows and his lips were on hers, his hands on her exposed waist.

Moving over her, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt and attempted to push it off. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Khushi pulled Arnav into herself, hooking her leg onto his, letting herself feel his body move on hers.

Keeping one arm around his neck, Khushi’s other hand found its way into Arnav’s hair, massaging his scalp with her fingers as they carried on kissing.

Pulling apart for air, Arnav pushed his shirt off, and then moved over Khushi once more.

 

“Arnav…”

 

Whatever she wanted to say was forgotten about as he started kissing her neck, all the while touching her breasts. His hands moved over the silk and lace and he could feel her pebbled nipples on his palms.

Arnav pulled back, and looked at Khushi who’s eyes were half closed.

 

“Khushi…”

“Hmm?”

 

Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with Arnav’s dark molten orbs staring into her soul.

 

“Are you ready for tonight?”

 

Wrapping her arms back around him, Khushi pulled Arnav to herself and whispered into his ear.

 

“Yes.”