He’s Amazing ~ Part 23 {Reloaded}

“Hurry, we have to get everything ready soon, the haldi will be arriving from the Raizada’s any time now!”

“Yes Jiji, we’re ready, don’t worry, if the Raizada’s come we’re ready for them.”

The Kashyap’s were rushing around making sure that all the last minute arrangements had been made for Khushi’s haldi. It was the morning after the engagement and everyone was already tired, but were running on enthusiasm and excitement. It was the first wedding for their family and the first wedding of this generation so regardless of how tired everyone was, everyone was excited to play their part in ensuring that this was the best wedding yet. With the haldi ceremony to start any time soon, Lavanya was left to ensure that all arrangements for the mehendi, which was to take place the same evening, were also done. It was hard work as she was pretty much working single handed, but she didn’t mind it. It was her sister’s wedding and she was so excited that everyone had trusted her with such responsibilities. Once La made sure that all the main arrangements were done, she left her cousin to make sure that all the little details were taken care of and left to go upstairs to get herself ready and to make sure that Khushi was ready. When Lavanya got upstairs, she was releaved to find that Sia had helped Khushi into her haldi outfit and that they were all ready to go. Unable to stop to compliment, Lavanya grabbed her own outfit and rushed into the bathroom to get dressed. She rushed out moments later and was met with a very amused looking Khushi.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“In all the time I have known you, I have never seen to get ready that fast.”

“It can’t be helped. I am the sister of the bride and I have so much work to do, I don’t have the time to get ready slowly. Any way, you look amazing!”

“Thanks La! I was worried that this dress would look to simple and plain but I really like how the overall look is now. Priya and Sia helped me get ready.”

Lavanya gave Sia a grateful smile. Khushi was wearing a simple yellow kameez because Garima had stopped her from wearing the fancy yellow anarkali that she had originally brought. She had stated that it was too fancy for the haldi and that it would just get ruined and Anjali had agreed and offered to send another dress out to wear instead. While both Khushi and Lavanya had been disheartened by the change, they knew now that it was the right decision.

Just as Lavanya was putting her bangles on, the doorbell rang. The Raizada’s had arrived. Lavanya left the room so that she could go to meet the Raizada’s at the door and welcomed the ladies of the Raizada family. Anjali was holding a large taal of haldi which she handed to Garima before turning to Lavanya and giving her a hug. Turning to La, Garima told her to go and get Khushi. Nodding, Lavanya rushed back upstairs and brought Khushi down and gestured for her to sit on the little stool on the floor. Before sitting down, she approached the ladies of the Raizada family, touching nani and mami’s feet before giving Anjali and Payal a hug each. Anjali smiled as she took Khushi’s arm and sat her down, ready for the ceremony to begin. As nani was the eldest of both families, she applied haldi to Khushi first.

“You know Khushi bitya, some of this haldi was applied to our chote first, not all of it, but quite a lot of it and now we are applying it to you.”

Khushi felt herself blush. There was something about the fact that she was being covered in the same haldi that had already been on his body, that just felt so intimate. Bur before she could dwell on the thought, Mamiji was next up to apply the haldi. She made small talk before blessing Khushi and then moving along. Buaji came next, then Garima, then Anjali, then Payal and then Lavanya. She covered Khushi’s entire face with haldi and Khushi struggled to contain her laughter. Once the main family members had had their turn all the other women in the room too came forwards and applied haldi to Khushi. Once everyone was done and the ceremony was over, nani ji told Khushi to go and wash it all off. Lavanya helped Khushi up and then both made their way to their room. Lavanya opened the door for Khushi, but didn’t go in with her. La still had work to do and Khushi was capable of washing herself down. As Khushi shut the door behind her and turned for the bathroom, there before her, sitting on her bed was her groom to be. She almost let out a yelp of shock but contained herself because she didn’t want to bring anyone upstairs. Quickly, she turned back to the door and locked it before turning her attention back to him.

“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here! You can’t see me until the sangeet tomorrow evening!”

“You know how I am; I don’t listen to anyone. If I want to see my fiancé, then I am going to come and see my fiancé, no one can stop me.”

He slowly made his way towards Khushi and she moved back, but was stopped by the wall behind her.

“You didn’t apply any haldi on me Khushi. That’s all I have come for, nothing else, I promise.”

As he closed the distance between them, Arnav took some haldi off of Khushi’s face and then applied it to her nose before resting his nose against hers. The proximity, the joy of being with her, the excitement of knowing that they were soon to be wed caused Arnav to close the last bit of distance between them as he took her lips between his own and gave her a chaste kiss before pulling away once more, causing Khushi to wrap her arms around him in an attempt to pull him back to herself.

“Sorry babe, as much as I would like to carry on, you know we can’t share anything more than this for now… It was your rules after all. We have to save it all for our suhaag raat.”

Khushi laughed as she put a little distance between them.

“When will I see you again?”

“I might just come during the mehendi.”

“But your not allowed!”

“I’m not allowed to be here right now, but I am.”

Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around him once more before dropping a kiss on his nose.

“I love you Arnav.”

“I love you too. As much as it kills me, I should head off now. You need to get ready and we’ll get in trouble if anyone sees me here with you.”

Sighing, Khushi nodded as she let him go. Placing a gentle kiss on Khushi’s cheek, he finally took his leave.

“Wait, how did you get in the first place?”

Smirking, Arnav pointed to the window before jumping out of the window and onto the roof before carefully making his way down to the ground. Khushi watched him go and couldn’t help but feel in awe of him. He really was something else.

*****

It was later the same evening and Khushi was ready for her mehendi ceremony. She was standing before the long mirror in her dark green anarkali suit that they had picked the day that they had gone shopping. She was fully dressed and ready to go when Lavanya came up and to take Khushi downstairs. Khushi’s eyes widened upon seeing the entire Raizada family before her, not just the women. There at the front stood Arnav who was staring up at her, wearing a stunning suit. Lavanya nudged Khushi, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Look at NK, he looks gorgeous right?”

“I still can’t believe you hid that from me for so long.”

Lavanya gave Khushi an awkward smile before trying to distract Khushi.

 “Oh look, there’s Arnav!”

“I’ve already seen him! I know what you’re doing, but I will forever hold it against you that you hid that from me for so long.”

Before either of them could say anything more on the topic, they reached the bottom of the stairs and Lavanya made Khushi sit down on the magnificent chair that was especially for her. Khushi looked around and smiled at the guests who were approaching her, congratulating her on her upcoming wedding. But before she could really converse with anyone, guys started playing the dhol on the sides. Anjali came over to Khushi.

“I hope you liked out surprise! Normally the mehendi is supposed to be a woman’s only ceremony and that’s how we’ve always done it in our family, but we decided that it would be more fun if all of us were here. And then there was chote who just really wanted to come any way. If we told him to stay at home, I know for a fact that he would have found a way to make his way here any way.”

Anjali gave Khushi a knowing smile and for a moment Khushi was almost certain that Anjali knew that Arnav had paid her a visit earlier. She made a mental note to ask Arnav later on.

“I’m glad you all came, you’re right, it’s better this way.”

“I’m sure you’re just saying that because you wanted to see chote as much as he’s wanted to see you.”

Anjali gave Khushi a playful nudge and Khushi felt herself blush. The door bell rang and someone went to open it. There was a pause which was then followed by a squeal of delight as Sia rushed forward and hugged Khushi.

“Sorry I’m late. There was so much traffic. I haven’t missed anything right? I’m such a fool for not bringing my dress with me this morning.”

“No you haven’t missed anything and yes! It was so silly of you to have not brought yours stuff with you. I was starting to worry you weren’t going to come back.”

“Honestly, I almost didn’t come back. When I got home, I did think that maybe I should give this evening a miss so that I could get assignments out of the way so that I could enjoy the rest of your functions in peace, but then I realised that I would regret it so much if I missed this. Khushi seriously though, you have to tell Jiju to go easy on us with the essays! You’d think he’d be in a more lenient mood considering he’s getting married.”

Khushi laughed as she shook her head.

“I’ll tell him for sure, but you should tell him yourself. He’s around here somewhere.”

“I will definitely go and have words with him. But that’s for afterwards. Did I mention you look so beautiful! That colour suits you so well.”

“Thank you!”

Time passed and the guests came up and greeted Khushi. After a while, Lavanya sat down beside Khushi and took one of her hands and started applying mehendi to it, while Payal did the other. The dhol people were playing different tunes and people danced. Arnav was sitting talking to Lavanya’s cousins, and sneaked a look at Khushi every now and then. The ceremony went late into the night and when Khushi’s mehendi was dry, Lavanya pulled her to her feet and took her over to the middle of the room. Lavanya gestured to NK to make Arnav to get up. Khushi would have protested, but she wanted to be with Arnav now. It had been hours, but he had simply looked at her from afar. He had been unable to approach her, and now she just wanted him close to her. The dhol players started playing the song ‘Mehendi laga ke Rakhna’ and there was a loud cheet from the guests as Arnav and Khushi danced while Lavanya, NK, Sia, and everyone else sang. Akaash nudged Arnav over and over, prompting him to sing along too, but Arnav drew the line at dancing, he wasn’t about to start singing as well. Khushi laughed at him, but she didn’t mind. The fact that he was happily dancing with her was all that mattered to her.

At the end of the evening, most of the outside guests had left, leaving only family and close friends. Everyone was minding their own business, either getting something to eat if they hadn’t already had their dinner, or were helping with the tidying and preparation for the next day’s festivities. Arnav and Khushi were finally left alone so they could speak.

“Sangeet tomorrow, then the wedding the day after. You excited? Has the reality of it all kicked in yet?”

“I’m nervous! But yeah I guess I am excited. It’s the day I’ve dreamed about all my life. I feel like the reality of it all hasn’t actually kicked in just yet, but it probably will within the next few days. Or maybe it won’t kick in at all until after we’re married.”

Arnav laughed as he played with Khushi’s hands.

“So where do you want to go for our honeymoon? I’ve been looking at a few destinations but I wasn’t sure where you wanted to go.”

“I don’t mind. Where do you want to take me?”

“I was thinking Thailand?”

“Oh that would be lovely, but is there any point going so far considering we would only be there a couple of days? I’ll have to get back to class and you have to get back to work. Maybe we should go somewhere like Goa. At least that way we’ll still be close but we will be somewhere new.”

Arnav thought about it, maybe she had a point. He argued his point that he wanted to take her somewhere special and Goa just didn’t feel special enough for a honeymoon. Khushi didn’t agree.

“Anywhere I go with you will be special, I don’t care where it is. All that matters is that I will be with you and we will be able to spend time together.”

They discussed the topic for a while more, but then Arnav realised that for the first time all night, they were finally completely all alone. Taking her hand, he brought her close to himself as he also moved in slowly. Khushi closed her eyes, anticipating the coming kiss. Just as their lips met, Anjali, Shyam, Akaash and Payal walked it.

“Oh gosh, sorry guys, we didn’t realise! We’ll leave.”

Arnav and Khushi jumped away from one another, Arnav angry at being interrupted and Khushi hiding her face in his arm out of embarrassment.

“There’s no point leaving now, you’ve killed the moment!”

*****

Author’s note:

Hi guys, I hope you’re doing really well. I just wanted to take this moment to apologise again for being late with this and for the delay to ‘Wilted Heart.’ I am really trying my best to get it all done and up soon, but I’ve been really struggling with motivation to work recently. But I promise I will try to get back on track as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

He’s Amazing ~ Part 22 {Reloaded}

The afternoon of the engagement had finally arrived and the make up artist had arrived and was getting Lavanya ready. Khushi had insisted that Lavanya should get ready before her, after all she was the brides’ sister, and she too had to be looking beyond beautiful. Lavanya was dressed in a light blue lengha that she had picked when they had been wedding shopping. Once Lavanya was ready, the make up artist diverted her attention to Khushi and began working her magic. An hour later, Khushi was ready.

“So, how do I look? Okay or should we change anything?”

“You look beyond perfect Khushi, Arnav is going to faint when he sees you.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t get knocked out for too long otherwise I won’t be able to get engaged.”

Lavanya shook her head as she laughed before turning her attention to the mirror and fixed her dupatta.

“You know Khushi, not to toot my own horn but I think I’m looking hotter than you.”

Khushi knew that La was joking and decided to play along.

“Well that won’t do. I’m the bride and this is my engagement, I need to look better than you.”

“But I’m your bridesmaid. And you know Khushi, the bridesmaid is far more important than the bride.”

“Where did you get that idea from.”

“Well think about it, you already have a man, so realistically no one is going to care what you look like, but me and the rest of your friends are unmarried. Who knows which mysterious hunk is going to take a liking to us.”

“You mean which aunty is going to take a liking to you and approach you for your hand for their son.”

Lavanya gave Khushi a playful shove.

“Well whatever it is, the bottom line is that it is vital for me to look better than you today.”

“Fine, fine, you’re more important and you look better than me! I don’t really care; all I care about is that I get engaged to my prince!”

“Someone’s getting impatient now isn’t she!”

Khushi looked away, blushing. She was impatient. Impatient to see Arnav, impatient to have a ring on her finger, impatient to become his. Before she could respond to what Lavanya was saying, there was a knock at the door and Lavanya went to see who it was. There was a squeal of delight and then Lavanya ushered the other person into the room. Sia practically ran into the room and rushed to hug Khushi. Khushi jumped to her feet, completely surprised to see her friend.

“Oh my god, what are you doing here?”

“You may have been trying to keep your marriage quiet, but La told me about everything and I came running here. Did you honestly think I’d miss by best friend and my LECTURERS wedding? No way!”

“I’m so glad you came! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself. Everything has been happening so fast, I’ve been trying to get every in order while trying to comprehend what’s actually happening. It’s all just overwhelming.”

“I understand and don’t worry, I’m not upset or anything that you didn’t tell me. La explained everything to me, so I get it. But I’m so glad that La did tell me because it would’ve sucked if I missed this! By the way, I hope you don’t mind, mom wanted to join me, so she’s here too! It’s been a while since I’ve had any really good friends so she really wanted to meet you and La.”

“That’s not a problem at all, I’m glad she’s here, I’d love to meet her too!”

There was another knock at the door and Lavanya went to the door to check who it was. Khushi heard another squeal from the doorway before Lavanya came back with the guest. Aayaan walked into the room with a huge bunch of white roses and handed them to Khushi.

“Hi!”

“Oh my god, Aayaan, hi!”

“Lavanya and I have been in contact and she told me that you were getting engaged and invited me, I hope you don’t mind.”

“No of course not! I’m so glad that you were able to come! But I though you were going back to London?”

“I was going to, but 2 days before getting on a plane to go back, my girlfriend dumped me, so I decided to stay back to spend time with family.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, I guess she wasn’t the one.”

Sia, who had been paying close attention to the new arrival, was trying to work out exactly who this was but was unable to make any sense of the situation and interaction. As Aayaan turned his attention to speak to Lavanya, Sia gave Khushi a little tap before whispering to her.

“Who is this Khushi?”

“Oh, this is Aayaan, my ex-fiancé!”

“Oh right!”

When Aayaan turned back to Khushi and Sia, Sia smiled to him and held out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Khushi’s friend, Sia.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Khushi watched the interaction closely and from the way Sia was smiling, Khushi could tell that Sia was attracted to Aayaan. She watched as Aayaan and Sia looked at each other shyly, before Aayaan came back to his full senses and turned back to Khushi.

“Ok anyway, I’m off Khushi, got to see Arnav and say hi before the rest of the guests arrive and everything gets hectic.”

“Has he arrived?”

“Yeah! His car was pulling up just as I got in.”

Lavanya and Sia gasped and rushed out of the room. Aayaan said bye, that he would see her again soon downstairs and then left. Before Khushi could actually realised that she was alone, her phone began to rang and she answered it.

“Hi babe.”

“Oh, Arnav, hey!”

“You ready, can’t see you yet, why are you hiding from me?”

“No one’s come and brought me downstairs yet. We hadn’t even realised that you had arrived.”

“We got here a little while ago, but I was greeting everyone first. I’ve finally got a moment alone so I thought I would call you. Are you alone?”

“Yeah, Lavanya and Sia have gone down to see you.”

“Oh, does that mean I can come up and we can have a round!”

“Arnav! What is with you is that all you can think about?”

“Well it’s not my fault that my girlfriend is damn hot and a right temptress!”

“I am not a temptress!”

“Yeah you are.”

Khushi laughed as she shook her head. She knew she could carry on arguing with him about it but decided to drop it and actually talk about something important.

“Arnav, is there a lot of people downstairs? I can hear people but I can’t tell how many people there are.”

“There is a fair amount of people here. But I don’t think everyone is here yet. I just heard you aunt saying that your family from Mumbai haven’t arrived yet and I know that some of our family are arriving within the next few minutes.”

“I feel so nervous, I mean, there’s so many people and they’re all going to be watching us and… I just feel so nervous. Your family and mine are all there… What if your family don’t like me?”

“You already know my family like you. As for my extended family, we hardly see any of them any way so it doesn’t even matter what they think. And yeah there are a lot of people are here, but babe, the only people that matter are me and you. Don’t even think about anyone else. Just think about me and the fact that I am going to be by your side very soon.”

“How do you always know how to make me feel better?”

“It’s my job to make sure I know how to calm you, and I promise, I’ll always make sure that I am able to cater to all your needs. Any way, as much as I’d love to carry this conversation on, I can see you two sidekicks approaching me.”

“You should put the phone down before they start teasing you in front of everyone.”

“Come down soon, I can’t wait to see you.”

“I think they’ll call me down very soon. So I’ll see you very soon.”

“I love you Khushi.”

“I love you too.”

As Khushi disconnected the call, she knew that she had the largest smile on her face and she knew that it wasn’t about to leave her any time soon…

*****

After what felt like forever to Khushi, Lavanya and her cousin Priya finally came up and told Khushi that it was time for her to go downstairs. Priya looked to Khushi and hugged her tightly.

“All the best Di, you look amazing! Jiju’s going to fall for you all over again!”

“Thanks Priya. Are you sure I look ok?”

“You look amazing and that colour suits you so well!”

Khushi looked at herself in the mirror and realised that Priya wasn’t lying, midnight blue looked amazing on her. She looked at her empty ring finger and smiled.

Lavanya noticed this and nudged her.

“Only a little while longer and that finger will have a gorgeous ring on it.”

Khushi smiled and thoughts of Arnav rushed through her mind. It still seemed so surreal that she was about to get engaged to Arnav. That her crush on him had brought them here already. Khushi stopped herself from reminiscing over their entire relationship because she knew that if she started going down that rabbit hole, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself back out of it.

She turned her attention to Lavanya and Priya, gesturing to them that she was ready to go down. Each sister took one arm carefully and guided Khushi down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, they were met by Shashi and Garima who took over from the girls. They walked Khushi over to the stage like area where Arnav was already sitting down, waiting for her. He smiled up at Khushi, who gave him a small smile as she blushed.

Once Khushi was seated, the elders announced that it was time for the ceremony to begin. The whole thing happened so fast and Khushi felt like she couldn’t quite focus on anything. All she really could pay attention to was when Anjali passed Arnav the ring and he slipped it onto her finger. She looked at it and really took it in. She had wanted to see it before, but Arnav had refused to show her, stating that he wanted it to be a surprise for the day. Now that she was looking at it, she couldn’t take her eyes off the huge diamond that was set in the middle of the ring with a few smaller ones set around it. It was gorgeous and it sparkled at the slightest of movements. It caught the light and she could see just how clear the diamond was and she knew that it was by far one of the most expensive rings she had ever laid her eyes on and now it was on her finger, hers, binding her to the man she loved.

Lavanya came forward and handed Khushi Arnav’s ring. Arnav extended his hand and she slipped it on, meeting his eyes briefly before looking down once more.

Everyone cheered and clapped for the new couple.

Arnav took Khushi hand and placed a gentle kiss just over the ring which led their guests to coo at their cuteness.

Ring exchange done, the guests came to greet the couple before turning away from them as the food was served. When everyone was busy eating, and no one was really paying attention to the newly engaged couple, Arnav took Khushi’s hand and pulled her up the stairs.

“Hey! What are you doing, where are we going?”

“I’m clearly taking you upstairs.”

“You know this is my house!”

“And I am the son in law; I have every right to go where ever I want! And right now, I want to go upstairs so that I can spend some time alone with my fiancé.”

Khushi laughed and shook her head. He was hopeless but she wasn’t about to object to his plan either, she wanted to spend some time alone with him too but she knew that they couldn’t go to her bedroom, that would be the first place that anyone would come to find them. She thought about it for a moment and then pointed towards the guest room and said they should go in there. Arnav pushed the door open and pulled Khushi in. But before they could actually settle down and enjoy their moment alone, they realised that they weren’t actually alone.

Lavanya and NK jerked apart, clearly startled.

“What the!”

“Nanav?”

“Khushi!”

“Lavanya?”

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Nanav, allow me to explain. Lavanya and I… Well… We recently started dating. We met and there was definitely something between us and then during this time of planning your wedding, we realised that we were really fond of each other and we just…”

“WHAT!”

Khushi looked between Arnav and Lavanya and NK, unable to respond. She didn’t know what to say or think. On one hand she was so happy that La had found someone that she had liked, but at the same time she was so mad that La had hidden this from her. How could she not tell her something so huge? Especially when the person in question was her brother-in-law to be.

“Khushi I should have told you, but I felt so shy. how could I tell you that I was seeing your to be brother in law?”

“How long have you been… How long have you actually had feelings for one another?”

“Well, Khushi, er, we’ve known that we’ve had feelings for each other for a while. Maybe since just after Nanav’s birthday. But nothing actually happened between us until a few weeks ago.”

“You have to be joking! NK you didn’t tell me anything either!”

“Nanav, I was going to, but then all this started happening and you got busy…”

“Ok, ok, fine. This isn’t over, we all have to discuss this at a later time, but right now, I want to spend some time with my fiancé!”

Lavanya and NK left the room and Arnav shut the door behind them. He wanted to talk to Khushi about what they just witnessed but at the same time he just wanted to make the most of being alone with her. Pushing all thought of La and NK away, he pulled Khushi against himself and kissed her neck.

“Arnavvv…”

“Hmmm?”

He continued to kiss her neck as she tangled her hands into his hair, pulling him closer to herself. Moving up from her neck, he took her lips between his and kissed her. Khushi held onto Arnav, fearing that her legs would give way under the intensity of their kiss. They continued kissing for a while, but finally pulled away, in desperate need of air.

“God, I cant imagine how I’m going to live until the wedding.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“What if I sneak in in the middle of the night?”

Arnav wiggled his eyebrows at Khushi and kissed her once more before letting her go. Sorting his hair out, he realised that they should get back downstairs before people started to realise that they were missing. As they made their way back down, Khushi couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him sneaking into her room in the middle of the night. She knew it couldn’t happen, but she knew that she wanted it to happen. Maybe they would be able to pull it off… Just maybe.

*****

Author’s note:

Hi guys! So as you can see, this update is actually a week (?) late and I am posting it on the wrong day. It is because, as I started in my previous note, I had been busy with work and studies and didn’t have time to write and edit and it had a knock on affect on this story as well. I still have not had the time to finish writing the next chapter of ‘Wilted Heart’ so that will not be up on Sunday, but I will try my very best to have it up for next Sunday.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this and I will make sure that the next chapter of this story is uploaded on time and on it’s scheduled day of Friday.

He’s Amazing ~ Part 21 {Reloaded}

Khushi woke up the next morning with a aching head. She wasn’t used to not sleeping in her own bed, and it was because of that that she struggled to get to sleep last night. That and the fact that images of naked Arnav kept coming back to her. Getting out of bed, she made her way back to her own room and found that Lavanya was already dressed and ready to go downstairs. Turning her attention to Khushi, La raised her eyebrow and gave Khushi a suggestive smirk.

“So?”

“What?”

“What happened?”

“Nothing, we were just talking.”

“Then why did you have to go?”

“Privacy! Is it a crime to want to speak to my fiancé in private?”

“Ok, okay, I believe you. Any way, Anjali just called, you have to get ready, we’re all going out so that you can choose your outfits!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, we’re going somewhere where they sell all exclusive stuff designed by AR.”

Khushi rushed into the shower and showered in record time before rushing out and getting dressed. Once Khushi was ready, she and Lavanya both rushed downstairs and sat down for breakfast. Garima laughed as she watched her daughters wolf down their food. They had barely finished their food when there was a knock at the door. Khushi looked to Garima who gestured for Khushi to go and open it and so she rushed to the door and threw it open to reveal Arnav standing before her.

“Hey babe.”

Khushi felt breathless as she took him in. He looked absolutely normal, the way he did every day, but there was something about him, something that was knocking the air out of her lungs.

“Hi. You coming in?”

“Yeah, why not. Are you and Lavanya ready to go.”

Khushi nodded as Arnav followed her inside and greeted the Kashyap’s individually.

“Would you like to join us for some breakfast?”

“Maybe another time Aunty. I’ve already eaten and we actually have to leave any way as we don’t have a lot of time.”

Arnav made small talk with the Kashyap’s as Lavanya and Khushi finished up with their food, grabbed their bags, hugged their parents and then left. The other Raizada’s were standing outside the car and smiled upon seeing Khushi. Khushi hugged Anjali and Payal and greeted Akaash, Nk and Shyam. Getting into the car, Lavanya was seated next to NK and Khushi looked to sit next to La at the back and noticed there wasn’t space for her.

“Khushi, sit at the front with chote.”

Khushi hesitated for a moment and then nodded. It felt a little strange, her getting to sit up front with Arnav when there were people older than her and much larger than her having to crush together in the back, but she didn’t verbalise her concerns. She sat next to Arnav who smiled at her but say anything more. Once everyone was settled, Arnav started the car and they were off.

Everyone made small talk with one another. Anjali informed Khushi about what was happening at the Raizada camp. She told Khushi that Arnav had wanted to get all Khushi’s outfits designed specially for her, but their simply wasn’t enough time to do so. But her wedding lengha would be designed especially for her. Khushi smiled as she turned to Arnav, but one look at him, and she could sense that something was wrong. She wanted to take his hand into her own and ask him what the matter was, but she just didn’t feel comfortable to do that in front of everyone just yet. She made a mental note to herself to speak to him as soon as they got a moment to themselves.

Before Khushi could think about it any more, Arnav stopped the car and told everyone that they had arrived. Khushi looked at the grand looking shop that was named ‘AR Boutique.’ Getting out of the car, they entered the shop. The assistant came rushing forward and shook everyone’s hand.

“Sir, is everything ok? You could have told us to come to you if you wanted to see us!”

“Relax, we just thought it was a better idea for us to come down here instead of asking you guys to bring all the stock to us. Now take the ladies and show them the best and most exclusive stuff.”

Lavanya, Payal, Anjali and Khushi followed an assistant who led them over to a rail of some of the newest pieces that they had to offer. After filtering through the first rail, they moved over to the next and then the next and then the next. Once they were done with all the rails, Anjali requested the assistant to show them the catalogues of the other designs, the ones that weren’t on display but were available in the stock rooms. Arnav watched as the ladies looked at dress after dress and made their selections. He turned his attention to the manager of the store.

“Whatever they choose, write down how much they’re on sale for and you will receive the money as bonuses.”

“But sir… The money is supposed to go to you and the company!”

“I know, but it’s my wedding and as a way to celebrate, I would like to give you guys these bonuses. Besides, a few dresses wont make a loss for me and my company, but I know how much of a difference it will make for all of you. I keep all my workers in mind, you know that.”

“Thank you sir, thank you so much, you’re right, these bonuses will make a huge difference to us. Thank you…”

“You’re very welcome. Also, I forgot to say, you are all welcome to attend to my wedding next week.”

Many hours later and after many outfit changes, the outfits were chosen and everyone was happy with their selections, but Khushi’s selection still wasn’t done. No matter how many outfits she picked, Arnav and Anjali found some fault with it because they just felt that there was definitely something better out there for her, something that fitted and complimented her figure better. After a long time, she finally had a selection of outfits that she and everyone else was content with. They had finalised a midnight blue lengha for the engagement, a baby pink one for the sangeet, a heavy green anarkali dress for the mehendi and a simple yellow dress for the haaldi. They had also set aside a white sari for the cocktail party and a black sari for the reception, but Arnav was not 100% with them and had said that he would send her over a few pieces from the newest collection that had not yet been released.

Everyone was sitting around waiting for Khushi to take off her last dress. There was a knock at the door but before she could say anything, the door flew open and Arnav came in. He locked the door to the little cubical and stared at his Khushi, who was standing in front of in her underwear.

“Arnav what are you doing, I was coming out! And what will…”

Before she could finish what she was saying, he pressed himself up against her and kissed her. Though momentarily shocked, Khushi found herself letting her hands find their way around his neck and pulling him closer to herself. Arnav ran his hands along her body, going from her neck to her waste and then resting on her back. They carried on for a while before he finally broke the kissing, desperately needing air.

“God, I need you so badly, last night was such a bad idea!”

He took off his jacket and shirt and threw it aside, making Khushi gasp.

“What are you doing? We can’t… What if someone comes?”

“Finishing what we started last night. And they won’t come, they’re all distracted.”

He moved back into her, taking his lips between hers once more as he unclipped her bra and threw it aside. he felt Khushi gasp against his lips, but she didn’t pull away, nor did she protest. He pulled away from her once more as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small foiled packet. Khushi gasped and jumped a little further away from him.

“Not here!”

“We have to! You don’t understand how desperate I am for you. But if you really don’t want to then I understand.”

Khushi thought about it for a moment and knew that she should say that they should wait until they were in a better place, but she could understand his desperation and she was feeling the same way. Last night had been a bad idea and it had left him wanting him to badly. Wrapping her arms around his neck once more, she pulled himself towards herself.

“Let’s do this, but we have to be quick, I don’t want anyone to come looking for us.”

Nodding, Arnav pushed away his trousers and boxers and then pulled her panties away. He touched her intimately and smiled upon realising that she was so ready for him.

Taking her lips, he pushed Khushi up against the wall and then lifted her slightly.

“Wrap your legs around me.”

Khushi giggled and complied.

“It won’t work!”

“We can try though.”

And with that, he joined their bodies in the most intimate manner and Khushi gasped out loud. She had thought it wouldn’t work, but it did, and something about the way and the situation just heightened the entire sensation. Once they were done, he slowly let her down and he let himself slid down on to the floor, gasping for air. Khushi grabbed her underwear and quickly put it back on before sitting down beside him.

“God, I don’t like quickies as all. Before you can enjoy it, its over.”

Khushi laughed as she pecked his lips.

“This is why I say that we should wait. Then we can enjoy each other in peace. And besides, you know how I feel about sex before marriage.”

“I know babe and I have been trying my best, but the sexual tension you know, I couldn’t hold it.”

“Well I hope your satisfied now, because the next time we do it will be on honeymoon. I won’t let you suck me in again.”

“Wait, why our honeymoon, what about our suhaag raat?”

“This counted as that.”

Before Arnav could protest, Khushi quickly pulled her clothes back on and ran away, laughing to herself.

*****

Clothes shopping done, the Raizada men, except Arnav, had all decided that they were going to go and check out suits someplace else, while Arnav was left to drive the ladies around. It was when they had decided that they were going to make their way home, that Khushi realised that there was something she needed to do still. She asked Arnav to drop them off at the local mall.

“Are you guys sure you want us to drop you off here?”

“Yes di. We don’t have time left and I need to buy some stuff.”

“Khushi, would you like me to join you?”

“NO! Arnav it’s fine!”

“Touchy, why don’t you want want me to go shopping with you?”

Khushi looked to the rest of the Raizada’s and gave them a sheepish smile. Anjali realised what Khushi was trying to say and stepped in to help her.

“Chote, I think she wants to go shopping for some personal items. Stop being so needy. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her purchases after marriage any way.”

Khushi blushed and the rest of the group laughed.

“Ok, jokes aside, Khushi, Lavanya we will see you tomorrow for the engagement. Enjoy your shopping!”

Everyone said bye to Lavanya and Khushi as they got out of their car and then made their way into the mall.

“So what do you need to buy?”

“I need sexy nightdresses and lingerie.”

“Oh! I totally forgot about that! Come on, let’s go!”

Lavanya took Khushi’s hand and they dodged around the crowds as they hurried towards the store that Lavanya wanted to take Khushi to. They then stopped in one of the largest and best lingerie shops around.

They walked in and looked around at all the masses and masses of items that they had. An assistant walked up to them and asked how she could help.

“Well my sister’s getting married, so she wants some utterly sexy pieces so that he husband goes mental over her.”

“Ah, right, we have the perfect stuff then!”

She led them to a different part of the store and showed them a huge range.

“This is our hottest and latest range, perfect for a new bride.”

“Thanks, we’ll call if we need any more help.”

The assistant walked away and Lavanya looked at the shelves.

“Go on, you should be looking!”

Khushi looked and picked up a few pieces. After a while she showed Lavanya what she had chosen.

“Are they the only ones you like?”

“No there’s more, but I think that I’ve already gone overboard.”

“Khushi, you’re getting married! You need lots and lots of sexy pieces so that you can drive Arnav crazy every single time. Besides, underwear is actually a really big factor for guys and has a huge impact on their sex drive. So buy loads of nice ones and dazzle him every time!”

“God, you’re so embarrassing La!”

Khushi chose a few more and then selected a few nightdresses as well. When Khushi was content with her purchases, they paid and decided to go and grab something to eat. It was while they were having their very late lunch that Arnav called.

“Hey!”

“So what did you buy?”

“Nothing much.”

“Anything that will turn me on?”

“It’s a secret, I can’t tell you!”

“Okay fine, I’ll let you keep your secret for now. Anyway, I was just calling to thank you for our encounter in the changing room. I really needed that!”

“I did too. And you don’t need to thank me. Your pleasure is my responsibility, so I am happy to oblige.”

“Does that mean we can have another round soon, preferably before the wedding.”

Khushi knew he was smirking, she could literally hear it in his voice.

“There are some terms and conditions and I have made it clear to you what one of the main ones is.”

“So if we can’t do that again, do you think we can have another web cam round tonight?”

“NO!”

Khuhsi heard him laugh and she smiled to herself as they concluded the call and she hung up on him. He was a crazy one, but he was her crazy one and she couldn’t want to spend the rest of her life with him.

Wilted Heart ~ Part 5

 

Khushi had been at her maternal place for 5 days and she had been calling Arnav regularly but he wasn’t picking up her calls, nor was he replaying to any of her text messages. She knew something was very off but she couldn’t work out what the matter was. But she knew that they would be able to work it out and things would be fine when she got back home. It was then the courier came through…

 

“Khushi bitya, there’s a letter here for you, a big one.”

 

Looking at Payal, Khushi was confused. She had changed her address for most things, and very rarely did any post come for her here. Regardless, she got to her feet and went to her father who was holding the large envelope. Taking it off him, she made her way back to her bedroom and opened it.

As Khushi pulled out the papers and started reading through, she couldn’t believe what she was reading. How was this real? How could this actually be happening. Feeling her legs give way, Khushi crumbled to the bed, tears pricking her eyes.

Divorce papers…

 

*****

 

The day passed excruciatingly slowly and Khushi was still in disbelief that this was actually happening. She knew there was something wrong between them but she had never thought that the issues were that deep that he would want a divorce. Heck, she didn’t even know what the issues were. She had tried to call him, but each time his phone either went to voicemail or he rejected the call. She had left a multitude of messages too, asking him to call her back or to answer her calls. She knew she had to speak to him properly before doing anything else.

The days passed by and he didn’t get back to her.

Khushi felt confused and broken. She couldn’t understand why this was happening, everything had been going great between them. Then why all of a sudden… It just didn’t make sense.

The days passed on by, and Khushi was feeling more and more disheartened. He wasn’t calling her back, he wasn’t replying to her messages, he wasn’t taking her calls. She didn’t know what to do. As Khushi lay in bed, crying over it all, her phone started ringing and she jumped to answer it. It must be Arnav. Only he would get back to her at this hour, Without even checking her caller ID, she took the call.

 

“Arnav, finally. I’ve been calling you for days, why haven’t you been taking my calls I…”

“Khushi it’s me, Manav…”

 

Falling silent, Khushi removed the phone from her ear and looked at the caller ID. Indeed it was Manav calling. Sighing, she composed herself before speaking.

 

“Manav I told you I don’t have anything to say to you, please stop contacting me.”

“Can I meet you?”

“No. I have enough on my plate right now. I cannot be dealing with you on top of that.”

“Is everything okay? What’s going on?”

“I really have to go.”

 

Disconnecting the call, Khushi threw her phone aside and buried her face into her pillow. She hadn’t yet told anyone about the divorce papers but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hide it for. Curling up into a ball, Khushi tucked a photo of Arnav into her chest and let sleep take over.

 

*****

 

Early the next morning, Khushi was awoken by her phone ringing. Looking at the clock, she was confused to see that it was only 5am. Who would call her so early in the…

Arnav? Picking her phone up, her suspicion was correct when she saw his picture and name flash up on her phone. She answered the call.

 

“What the hell Arnav, I’ve been calling you for days and now you…”

“Nani has been put on a ventilator and we think you should be here. Doctors are saying… They’re saying this is it.”

 

All other thoughts left Khushi’s mind as she jumped out of bed.

 

“I’ll be there in a bit.”

“I’ve already sent a car for you. It should be there soon if it’s not already there.”

“I’ll see you in a bit. And Arnav, stay strong, Nani will be fine, I’m coming.”

 

She disconnected the call and began rushing around to get dressed.

Over at Raizada house, Arnav put his phone back into his pocket and exhaled. He hadn’t even realised he’d been holding his breath but he had. After days of putting distance between himself and Khushi, he now had to call her back himself. But he knew it needed to be done. He’d never be able to live with himself in something happened to Nani and she wasn’t here. Regardless of their issues, she needed to be here for the sake of Nani.

Leaving his bedroom, he went back to nanis room. The doctors were still attending to her and the rest of the family were waiting outside, but they all knew that the time had come when they would have to say goodbye to Nani. Her health had been deteriorating again for days and it just felt like the end this time.

Arnav was glad that he hadn’t mentioned getting a divorce from Khushi yet. If they did lose Nani, he didn’t want her to know that this was happening.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang and Hari Prakash went to open the door. Arnav braved himself. This was it. She would be back and she would have so many questions for him. Arnav heard Hari Prakash greet Khushi and then heard him tell her that they were all upstairs. He heard her shoes before he saw her, but there she was. She looked tired, the bags under her eyes darker than he had ever seen them, and the moment she saw him, he saw the tears that welled up in her eyes. Before he could move though, Anjali noticed Khushi and ran to her, giving her a tight hug.

 

“Thank goodness you’re here.”

“Of course Di. There was one where else I would rather be. How is Nani?”

Anjali broke the hug and took a step back from Khushi.

“She’s not good. They’re saying she has very little time left. A few hours at the most.”

 

Anjali broke down and Shyam came and gathered her into his arms and walked away with her. The tears Khushi had been holding back fell as she slowly approached Arnav. He knew he should’ve stood his ground and kept his distance, but seeing her, knowing what was happening to Nani, he felt weak. Before she could reach him, he walked right up to her, holding his arms out to her and then crumbling in her arms.

 

“Thank you for coming.”

 

His legs gave out and he fell to his knees. Kneeling down with him, Khushi took him into her arms as he broke down. She stroked his hair a she finally let out all the tears that he had been holding back. Most of them were for Nani, but some of them were for him, for them.  This was all he wanted, to stay in her arms but he knew this was a short lived reality. Soon they would part ways and her arms would be for someone else again. Perhaps her arms were never for him any way. He was running on borrowed time and now all that time had come to and end.

Helping Arnav to his feet, Khushi guided him over to the sofa and sat him down. She then rushed to their bedroom and got him a class of water. If she hadn’t been in a rush to her back to him, she would have realised that he had her picture on his bedside and that in bed was one of her favourite pyjama tops.

Holding the glass for him, Khushi told Arnav to drink and he did so obediently. Putting the glass down, she sat down beside him, taking his hands into her own.

 

“You need to be strong Arnav. I know how hard that is for you, but if anything happens to Nani, everyone is going to need you to be their rock. You can’t let yourself become weak like this.”

 

Nodding, Arnav wipes away his tears and turned to Khushi.

 

“Thanks for coming.”

“You don’t have to thank me. Regardless of what’s happening between us, this family is as much mine as it is yours.”

“I appreciate that.”

“But Arnav, we do need to speak at some point.”

“I know, and we will but…”

 

Before he could finish his sentence though, Mama ji and Mami ji came out of Nani’s room, head down, tears streaming down their faces.

 

“She’s gone.”

 

*****

 

That night was one of the longest nights of their lives. It passed by in a blur for Arnav, but Khushi was fully aware of everything that was going on and made it her responsibility to stay strong for everyone else.

Preparations for the funeral began and Khushi watched as Arnav made all the necessary arrangements with a heavy heart. As night fell she became acutely aware of the fact that she didn’t know what she was meant to do now. If she went home, it would look bad with everyone else, but she didn’t know if she was welcome to stay. Arnav had been civil with her, but she could tell he was still keeping his distance as much as he could.

At the end of the night, Khushi entered their bedroom and found Arnav slumped on his recliner, fresh tears steaming down his face. Tentatively she went and sat down beside him and placed a hand on his thigh. Brushing her off, he stood up, wiping his eyes.

 

“I can’t… I can’t deal with this, us, right now. So please just stay away from me while you’re here. I haven’t told anyone about the divorce yet, and now isn’t the right time, and until then you can stay but please, just stay away.”

 

He finished his monologue and retreated to the bathroom before she could say anything else. She wanted to ask him why, to grab him by the shoulders and demand to know what was going on, but now wasn’t the time and she knew that.

Sighing, she went over to her wardrobe and pulled out her pyjamas and waited for him to come out of the bathroom so she could go in.

As he came out, she went in and when she came back out again, she found that Arnav had taken the duvet and his pillow and had settled down onto the recliner.

 

“Arnav…”

“I’m not going to get any sleep any way. So you take the bed, I’m fine here.”

“That’s fine but you can rest in bed too…”

“No I can’t. I’m fine here.”

 

He turned away and settled down on the recliner and Khushi felt deflated. Nothing made sense, she couldn’t understand why he was behaving like this with her, but she knew better than to push him now. He had just endured one of the biggest losses of his life and she didn’t want to add to his problems. There would be time for them to speak afterwards.

Sighing, Khushi got into bed and turned the lamp off. She was aware that Arnav was still awake, but she didn’t want to say anything to him. Time ticked by slowly and Khushi let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, begging for sleep to take over. But her effort were futile. As she tossed and turned in bed, Arnav watched her every movement. Sighing, he sat up.

 

“Khushi, you still up?”

 

Khushi stilled in bed as she thought for a moment. She wanted to talk to him but was now the time? She decided to just speak to him seeing that he was actually wanting to talk to her. Sitting up, she turned on the bedside lamp.

 

“Yeah… I can’t seem to get to sleep.”

“Me either, there’s just so much going on in my head right now.”

 

Leaning back against the headboard, Khushi pulled the sheets up to her chest and settled against the pillows.

 

“Hey Khushi, thank you for being here and for just being so normal about it all.”

“Of course I would be here. This is my family too and I have a responsibility to be here.”

“I know but… Just with everything going on between us…”

 

Arnav trailed off. He didn’t want to talk about them or about Manav. But he’d opened the box and he knew Khushi wasn’t just going to let it slide.

 

“I still don’t understand what happened between us.”

 

She moved the sheets away and got out of bed. She hesitated as she approached him on the recliner, but she pushed aside all doubt and sat down beside him.

Placing her hand on his knee, he looked down at her hand and watched as she stroked his knee slightly with her thumb.

 

“What happened Arnav? I don’t understand. Everything between us was going perfect and then… I don’t understand.”

 

He could see the hurt in her eyes and it pained him so deeply. Still focused on her hand, he tried to push all other thoughts away and just focus on her, on them. But no matter what he did, thoughts of Manav came to mind. Her with Manav, what he had seen and heard that day.

Khushi watched him closely, she could clearly see that his mind was working overtime. She didn’t want to have to seduce him to get an answer out of him, but perhaps appealing to him in that manner may help her get an answer out of him. She let herself move her hand further up his thigh, her face close to his.

 

“What we had was perfect. And it still can be, if you just tell me…”

 

His eyes met hers and his hand involuntarily find her face. Cupping her face, he scooted closer to her. She moved closer to him.

 

“Just tell me.” She whispered against his lips.

 

His hands found their way to the back of her neck and ever so gently he pulled her towards him, his lips finding hers. But before either of them could settle into the kiss, Arnav returned to his senses and moved himself away from her.

 

“This was a bad idea. I’m just going to go sleep in the guest room.”

“Arnav…”

“No. No I can’t do this. I have far too much on my mind right now and I will not let you take advantage of me.”

 

Khushi got to her feet and crossed her arms in front of her defensively.

 

“I’m not taking advantage…”

“Coming close to me, touching me, knowing how you affect me, and you say you weren’t taking advantage of me?”

“I just wanted…”

“Just leave me alone.”

 

Finally feeling herself reach the end of her tether, Khushi snapped.

 

“Okay you know what, I’m done. I won’t ask you what’s wrong, I won’t try to come close to you, I won’t bother you. After the funeral tomorrow, I am leaving and I won’t return or call you until you sort yourself out. But if even for a moment you think I’m going to sign those divorce papers, you are mistaken Mr Raizada. If you have such an issue with me that you can’t even bare to be around me, you can tell me what it is. Then and only then will I sign the papers.”

 

She exhaled and turned away from him, making her way to the bathroom. She needed to get out of the room because she knew she was going to start crying, but she didn’t want him to see.

As the door shut behind Khushi, Arnav too turned away and left for the guest room. Once she was sure he was gone, she came out of the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. She knew that she shouldn’t have lost her tempter, that she shouldn’t have snapped at him. After all, he hadn’t been wrong to accuse her of trying to take advantage of him. She knew what she was doing and she had hoped that in his state of vulnerability, she would be able to soften him and get the truth out of him. He had been right and it was because of how well he knew her that it had made her snap.

 

*****

 

The next day, the funeral went ahead without any hinderances and as she had said, she stayed far away from Arnav.

In the evening, she left to go back to her maternal home with her parents. Anjali asked her to stay back, but one look at Arnav and Khushi knew there was no point her staying here. It would just further fuel the tension and she wasn’t sure how much she and Arnav would be able to keep it under wraps. With a heavy heart, she left Shantivan.

 

*****

 

Weeks passed and Khushi stayed true to her word. She didn’t call Arnav, and when she came to Shantivan to check in on everyone, she always made sure that she arrived after he left for work and was gone again before he came home. At first Anjali didn’t say anything, she had assumed they had gotten into a lovers tiff and they would sort things again soon, but as time ticked on and the situation didn’t rectify, she felt the need to intervene. But her efforts had been futile. Neither Arnav nor Khushi were willing to speak about what had happened and ultimately, Anjali realised she needed to leave the situation alone. It was something Arnav and Khushi needed to work through themselves.

At Khushi’s house, her parents had started enquiring why she wasn’t going back, and she didn’t want to stress them out by telling them anything that had happened. So she gave it to them in the most basic way she possibly could. She had simply stated that her and Arnav had had an argument and they had both thought it would be best if they took some time apart.

Manav had been around the house a few times. It was safe to say his presence wasn’t appreciated in the Gupta house. Khushi has no interest in speaking to him and her parents couldn’t quite understand why he did what he did. So though they let him into the house, they weren’t happy to have him there. But Manav remained persistent and came by regularly, hoping that Khushi would take him back.

Late one evening when the rest of the Gupta’s had gone out of town for a wedding, Khushi stayed back. She didn’t want to have to lie to her relatives and tell them that her life was great when quite frankly, it was a complete and utter mess. Curled up on the sofa, Khushi chose to take the time to enjoy tv shows that she hadn’t had the chance to watch yet. To her dismay, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sighing, she paused the tv and went to open the door.

 

“Hi! I heard you were alone so I thought I’d come round and keep you company.”

 

Before Khushi could protest, Manav had walked into the house, put down the jumbo tub of popcorn that he had bought with him and sat sown on the sofa. Sighing, Khushi shut the door and went back to sit down.

 

“What are you doing here Manav. I told you, I’d rather you didn’t keep dropping by like this.”

“I know what you said, but I know you hate being alone so I thought I’d come and keep you company for a while. And maybe we could talk about us…”

“I’ve said this to you a million times, there is no us. There stopped being an us when you purposefully stayed away from me for 2 years and then came back into my life only because you thought I would fleece my husband and run off with you.”

“No offence Khushi, but what husband are you talking about? You’ve been here for weeks, no husband in sight.”

 

His words stung because she knew he was right. She hadn’t heard from her husband in weeks, hasn’t seen him and didn’t even know why he was behaving the way he was. Seeing that Khushi was distracted, Manav went over to the sofa that Khushi was sitting on and sat down beside her.

Wrapping his arm around her, he shuffled closer, his other hand on her knee. Khushi looked at his hand and raised an eyebrow. Shrugging him off, she put some distance between them.

Cocking his head to the side, Manav shuffled closer.

 

“It’s just me Khushi, you don’t have to put so much distance between us.”

“Yes I do. I don’t appreciate you putting your hands on me.”

“Come on now Khushi, I know you’re mad but you must remember, you’re still my wife. If I want to put my hands on you, I can. But more importantly, why are you acting like I’ve never touched you before?”

“First of all, I am not your wife. Our marriage ceased to exist when you left me for 2 years and when I married Arnav. And secondly, I’m not acting like you haven’t touched me before, I’m just saying I don’t appreciate you touching me now.”

“Have you forgotten our wedding night? How you basically begged me touch you? How you pretty much undressed yourself because you were so eager for us to have…”

“Stop. Stop it, just stop. I’m not denying what happened between us before, I’m not denying that at one time I craved to be intimate with you, but time has changed and I don’t want that any more.”

 

He moved closer, one hand taking hold of her hands, the other on her cheek.

 

“One kiss Khushi and it’ll all come back to you, one kiss and you’ll remember why you were so enthusiastic to sleep with me on our wedding night.”

 

Before she could protest, his lips were on hers, her back pinned against the sofa. He let go of her hands and he felt them move to his shoulders. She wasn’t pushing him away. Smiling against her lips, he nipped at her lip, pushing his tongue into her mouth. His hand moved along her thigh while the other found its way under her clothes and onto her breast. It was at this she came to her senses and pushed him away with all her might.

 

“What the fu**!”

 

Jumping away from him, Khushi straightened out her clothes and took another step away from him.

 

“I said no!”

“You weren’t saying no when I kissed you, nor did you push me away.”

 

He stood up and took a step towards her. Putting her hand out in front of her, she maintained a distance between them.

 

“You caught me off guard and it took me a moment to respond. I’d already told you I didn’t want you to touch me and you…”

“You’re behaving as if nothing has ever happened between us before, like this is all new.”

“No I’m not and it’s not that. You know what the issue is. The issue is I don’t want you to come near me like this any more.”

 

Taking a step away from her, Manav really paused to think. It was the first time he really took the moment to think about all of this.

 

“You… You’re in love with him?”

“I’m sure I’ve already told you that.”

“You have but… I just didn’t know if you cared for him as your husband or if you were genuinely in love with him and you… You’re really in love with him?”

“Yes I am.”

“Have you slept with him?”

“Manav we had this conversation in the coffee shop that day. I’m not going to talk to you about it again…”

“How often do you sleep with him? Is it a regular…”

“That’s none of your business! I told you that day and I’m telling you again, what’s between me and Arnav is our business and it has nothing to do with you.”

 

Letting out a scoff, Manav turned away.

 

“I mean I knew you were fond of him but I just hadn’t realised that… Stupid of me really.”

“What?”

“Despite everything you said, I really thought maybe you just cared for him because he cared for you. That perhaps you were with him because he’s your husband and not because you actually loved him… Was it really that easy for you to get into bed with someone else when you and I only got one night together?”

 

Khushi felt as though she had been slapped. The question completely threw her off and it took her a moment a compose herself.

 

“How dare you? Might I remind you, you were the one that left me and stayed away from me because you weren’t sure about what you wanted. I thought you were dead. There was no sign of you. Did you just expect me to keep my life on pause for you?”

“You could have waited a little longer.”

“I wanted to. But there was no sign of you and everyone wanted me to be happy, to get on with my life. And then Arnav came into my life and he just…”

 

Khushi trailed off as she remembered how hers and Arnav’s relationship had started. How they had gotten to know each other, how she had started letting herself get to know him and open up to him. How she could tell he was falling for her but he was being respectful and keeping his distance from her. How they finally came together…

 

“I thought I had experienced love but Arnav… He blew me away in a way I never realised I could be blown away.”

“Our relationship didn’t have the time to be nurtured. Give me another chance Khushi, give me an opportunity to blow you away too.”

 

Khushi shook her head as she played with her ring on her finger.

 

“That kind of feeling only happens once and I think I felt it with Arnav. I can’t imagine feeling that way about someone else.”

“What are you saying Khushi?”

“I’m saying, I want you to leave and I want you to not contact me again. I don’t think we can be friends but we can’t be more than friends either.”

 

Everything was happening to quickly and it was all so confusing. Manav stepped towards Khushi once more, his hand on her face.

 

“Just give me one chance. Let us start again. I can make it all right, you can learn to feel for me.”

 

Gently removing his hand, Khushi shook her head.

 

“There’s also another thing you said, you said you thought I slept with him because he was my husband. I think that shows your mentality more than anything. I feel like in your head, when you think about me and him, you assume that I felt I had to get into a physical relationship with him because he’s my husband and he would have shown a sense of entitlement towards me the way you did earlier. But he didn’t. For months he didn’t come near me, he gave me the space that he needed. Even when I knew he was developing feelings for him, he kept his distance. Our relationship progressed from that because I too started developing feelings for him. I respected him more than anyone else ever before. I fell for him, then and only then did I willingly enter a physical relationship with him.”

 

She knew it was strange talking about her sex life with her ex husband, but she knew it needed to be out there. She needed him to understand her feelings for Arnav and why she was essentially choosing Arnav over Manav. Manav listened patiently. He still was trying to comprehend being rejected but it stung less knowing that there was a legitimate reason for her to pick Arnav, and that it hadn’t been instantaneous, that she had waited for him but he himself blew it my taking such a long time and to come back.

Silence fell between them as they both processed all that had been said, and Manav realised that there was no coming back for him. She wasn’t about to take him back.

 

“So there’s no future at all for us?”

“Even if Arnav and I don’t work out, there’s no future for me and you now. That ship has sailed and sunk.”

 

Manav nodded and hung his head.

 

“So I guess this is the end of a road for us?”

“Our journey ended a long time ago, but yes, I think this is the definitive end for us.”

 

Moving in to give her one last hug, Manav dropped his head and turned away. Khushi watched as he left. She was sad to see him go, there was so much history between them, but this had to be done. There was no future for them and they both needed to move forward with their lives. It was the end of the road for them.

 

*****

 

It had been a few weeks since Khushi and Manav’s encounter at her house. Khushi hadn’t heard from either men since. Manav had finally realised that it was time for him to bow out and Arnav still wasn’t reaching out to her. She had kept her word and she hadn’t gone running after him either, nor had she been desperately trying to reach him any more. She left it all up to god. If it was to work out between them, then it would, she couldn’t fight any more. It was exhausting and at the end of it all, she was just getting hurt over and over again.

One evening, as Arnav left the office and went into his local cafe to pick up a coffee before he headed to another meeting, a person on the other side of the street caught his attention. The stopped in his tracks and took a good look at the other person. Manav.

Shaking his head, Arnav was ready to walk away and carry on with his day, but Manav saw him and called out to him, stopping him in his tracks again. Arnav thought to himself, should he rush away and pretend he didn’t recognise Manav or should he actually see what he had to say. Before Arnav could finish pondering over his choices, Manav had approached him.

 

“Hi…”

 

Arnav was still confused. What was he meant to say, how was he meant to react.

 

“We’ve not met before but I’m… I’m Manav.”

 

Manav pauses. He thought that upon hearing his name Arnav would react but when he didn’t, he realised he had to say something more.

 

“I’m Khushi’s… Khushi and I…”

“I know who you are.”

 

Arnav’s response surprised himself. It came out far harsher than he thought it was going to. But at the same time he didn’t care. He didn’t need to fake pleasantries with this guy.

 

“I just saw you across the street and I thought… Well I just thought it would be nice to say hi to you…”

“I’m busy, I have to get going. Excuse me.”

 

Arnav brushes passed and it took Manav a moment to realise what had happened. He couldn’t quite understand why Arnav had reacted so badly towards him. As it had been a while since he had last seen Khushi, he had assumed that things between Arnav and Khushi were fine again and so he didn’t think that Arnav would react so badly to him.

 

“Hey hold up.”

 

Arnav halted and Manav rushed back up to him.

 

“Listen dude…”

“I really don’t want to speak to you.”

 

Manav felt as though he was being rejected by a woman he was interested in. It didn’t make sense to him why Arnav was reacting so badly when he was just trying to be nice.

 

“Can I take you for a coffee and maybe we can…”

“Manav, I’m not your friend. We don’t even know each other. I don’t want to go to coffee with you. I’m sorry, excuse me.”

 

Arnav made to walk away once more but Manav blocked his path. Arnav could feel his temper rising. He clenched his hands at his side and hoped that Manav would move out of his way before he lost his temper.

 

“Look here buddy, I’m being nice to you, the least you can do is listen to me.”

“Listen buddy, I have nothing to say to you.”

“Yes you do. You’re sleeping with the love of my life and then you have the audacity to speak to me like an asshole.”

 

The mention of Khushi in this manner didn’t do Manav any favours. It further angered Arnav.

 

“I’m not sleeping with anyone at the moment but even if I was, it’s none of your business. You’ve got what you wanted. She picked you to start with, she waited years for you, and when she finally started accepting me, you came back and she picked you again. So I’m sorry I’m not prepared to be best buddies with you.”

“Wait… What crap are you saying? When did she pick me?”

“Cut the shit out. I heard you two.”

 

Arnav recapped what he’d heard that night when he’d followed Khushi, what he’d seen on her phone… Manav listened, and he felt his jaw drop.

 

“You absolute idiot, you have it all wrong.”

“How dare you…”

“Did you actually talk to her about that evening? Did you actually ask her what actually happened and what she said.”

“I…”

 

Manav shook his head and laughed.

 

“She cares so much for you and you haven’t even given her a chance to tell you what happened? You didn’t even care to try and find out from her.”

“I…”

 

Suddenly everything that Arnav had felt sure about seemed muddled and he was confused. Manav realised that Arnav was thrown and gestured to a Starbucks a few meters down the road.

The two men walked to Starbucks in silence, Arnav trying to recall all that had happened and Manav preparing himself to tell Arnav all that had happened. At one time, Manav had thought that he could manipulate Arnav, turn him further against Khushi so he could get Khushi back. But then he thought about Khushi and knew that no matter what happened she wouldn’t be happy with him anymore. She wanted Arnav now.

 

Upon arriving at Starbucks, Manav told Arnav to pick a table while he placed an order.

 

“Manav I’m really confused.”

“I can tell.”

 

The coffee arrived and Manav began to tell Arnav everything. He started his story right from when the accident took place and then carried on right to present day. Arnav listened as he took it all in. Manav explained to him how Khushi had no idea he was alive, that she hadn’t really been willing to give him the time of day. He told Arnav about how distant Khushi had been with him and how she had flat out rejected his plans to leave Arnav.

Arnav felt his heart drop. He had mistrusted Khushi and had thought the worst of her. He had thought Khushi was cheating on him and was going to leave him. He was so wrong…

When Manav finished telling Arnav everything, he paused and waited for Arnav to respond.

 

“I’ve fucked up man.”

 

Arnav sat back in his chair, recalling all the things he’d said and done in the last few months. How he’d denied her, how he’d pushed her away. And for what? A misunderstanding. Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he contemplated calling her, but before he could call her, Manav took his phone off him.

 

“What the…”

“Go to her! She’s a 15 minute drive away. GO TO HER.”

“What if she doesn’t want to see me?”

 

Manav put Arnav’s phone down between them again.

 

“If you love her, and you want her the way I think you do, that’s a risk you’re going to have to take. Go to her. Fight with her for her. Don’t get out of it easy by just calling her. Go to her dude!”

 

Arnav got to his feet and grabbed his phone. Before he rushed off her turned back to Manav who was still sat at the table. Walking back to the table, Arnav placed his hand on Manav’s shoulder.

 

“We didn’t start off right, but thank you.”

 

Manav got to his feet and gave Arnav a small smile.

 

“I feel it’s quite natural for both of us to be passive aggressive towards each other. But the reality of the matter is that she wants you and she wants to be with you, so there’s no point me trying to get between you both.”

“Thank you.”

 

Giving each other a meaningful nod, Arnav rushed off again. It was finally time to set things right.

 

*****

 

“What are you…”

 

Khushi stopped in her tracks. There he was. After so long. Here he was.

 

“Can I come I?”

 

Khushi hesitated for a moment before stepping aside and letting him in. Arnav looked around the house, it seemed awfully quiet. We’re they home alone?

 

“Where is everyone?”

“They’ve gone to Lucknow to see Buaji. Arnav… What are you doing here all of a sudden?”

“May I sit?”

 

Khushi gestured for him to sit down and he patted the seat beside him. She refused to sit down and stood to the side, her arms folded over her chest. Sighing, Arnav stood up and moved over to him, gently touching her arm.

 

“Please sit down.”

 

Sighing, Khushi took a seat in one of the armchairs and Arnav took his seat on the sofa.

 

“I know you’re mad…”

“Mad is an understatement Mr Raizada.”

“I know, just hear me out.”

“Arnav I don’t even know what to say to you. You shut yourself off from me and then send me divorce papers, refuse to speak to me and tell me what actually happened and now you’ve turned up at my door with your tail between your legs, asking me to hear you out. I’m sure you can see why this is all madness in my opinion.”

“I know… I can’t even begin to excuse my behaviour but at least let me explain.”

 

Arnav sighed as he prepared himself. He began telling Khushi everything that had happened. Khushi listened intently and Arnav watched her expression as he explained. She was hard to read. She wasn’t giving anything away but he carried on.

 

“So you see… I messed up and I can’t even tell you how ashamed I am…”

“I just… I don’t know what to say Arnav.”

 

He got off his seat and moved over to where Khushi was sitting and dropped to his knees in front of her. Placing his hands on her knee, he looked up at her, desperation in his eyes.

 

“I know what I did was unforgivable, I really should’ve spoken to you and just cleared things up with you, but I was an idiot, and I was insecure and I thought… I just thought, given the opportunity to go back to your first love, you would go back to Manav.”

“But if you knew when he returned… I mean the day I met him, I came home to you that evening and I asked you to make love to me. And we did  and I…”

“I know and when I found out about Manav later and when I thought back to that day, I just thought you were trying to convince yourself of something, I don’t know what I thought but…”

“You didn’t trust me to respect you and our relationship.”

“Khushi…”

 

She pushed his hands off of her lap and stood up.

 

“There’s no two ways about it, you didn’t trust me. I realise it was my mistake too for not telling you as soon as I knew Manav was back, but at the same time I didn’t really get the opportunity to tell you because by the time I was prepared to do it, you had already closed yourself off from me.”

“I know I just…”

 

Khushi turned to face Arnav, took his hands and helped him off the floor.

 

“We could go round speaking about this for days, and we would get nothing out of it. At the end of the day we were both wrong, but at least I tried to speak to you about it all instead of pushing you away. You should’ve given me the opportunity to speak to you, or you should have spoken to me about it. Either way I think this shows that we both need more time to get to know one another.”

 

Arnav listened as she spoke. He knew she was right, there was no point interjecting.

She took a step closer to him, her hand on his cheek.

 

“I don’t want to draw this out longer than necessary and so I will say we should just drop this topic here…”

 

Arnav sighed a sigh of relieve and wrapped his arms around her.

 

“Thank you Khushi, I promise you I’ll never…”

 

She pulled away from him, shaking her head.

 

“Let me finish please. What I was saying is that we will drop this here now. Mistakes were made but we should learn from it and move forwards. Arnav, I care deeply about you and I know you about me, but I feel we need to take a step back in our relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I am willing to come home with you today, if that’s what you want, but I want us to take our relationship slowly. So that means I want us to start sleeping separately again and I would like to hit pause on our physical relationship until we are in a better place in our relationship.”

 

Arnav paused and really let it sink in what she was saying. He didn’t like the thought of having to stay away from her again but if this was his only option then he was going to take it. He knew that what she is saying made sense though. 

 

“I accept. I will respect your wishes and we’ll sleep away from each other, anything. I just need you back with me so I can redeem myself for being a fool.”

 

He held out his hand to her and she took it. She thought about it for a moment but then found herself wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight hug.

 

“I missed you, so much. I really thought that that was the end of our relationship.”

“I’m sorry I put you through that Khushi. I promise you I’ll never put you through that again. Ever.”

“You better not… I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it another time. I love you… So much.”

 

Khushi felt Arnav still in her arms and she bit down on her tongue. She told him she loved him, for the first time. She hadn’t wanted to tell him that yet, she wanted to wait until he said it first. She pulled herself away from him and tried to break out of his hold, but he held onto her, his eyes locked onto hers. Hand reaching up to her cheek, he cupped her face and smiled.

 

“I love you too. I have done for a long time now. And I know I haven’t behaved like a man in love recently, but I do. I really love you.”

 

She placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed the side of his face with her thumb as she rested her forehead against his.

They had a long way to go in their relationship, but this was the start of a long and beautiful journey. Despite all that had happened between her and Arnav over the last few months, her heart felt really alive. It had a reason to pulsate again. She was finally on her way to her happily ever after..

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.”