Chapter 8

Adit and Adya's temple visit went fine. Arnav did not believe in God so he stood watching as Khushi made the kids bow to take blessings from the almighty. Khushi prayed for the well being of Raizada family and eternal peace for Shyam bhai and Anjali bhabhi. For herself, she asked God to guide her in her decision to believe Arnav or not. It was high time she decides something about his very obvious hints towards peace making. 

The very same day at night time, naniji had trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital. It turned out to be a minor infection but doctor still advised her bed rest owing to her old age. With naniji confined to her room, it became impossible for Khushi to stay aloof from day to day running of the household. Though she was perfectly fine with taking up this responsibility,  Arnav's past disapproval on the matter made her very nervous. Well this time Arnav did not voice any objection on her running the household, mostly because Khushi was the best available person to do it and also he wanted to use this opportunity to convey that he did not mistrust her and seriously welcomed her into their lives. At last she also decided that if he wants to make things better between them, she'll not resist. She was never the one to keep grudges, and she is not going to start now. 

Over the next month they gradually became friends. Not the sharing-everything kind of friends. But you-can-count-on-me kind of friends. With past bitterness fading and initial awkwardness vanishing, Arnav surprisingly found himself opening to Khushi more than he had expected. Khushi behaved in the same respectful manner as earlier, but smiled more and made efforts to include him in her life.

Arnav too made efforts from his side. He opened the doors of poolside adjoining his room for her. She was also given the permission to enjoy the garden that he so diligently maintained. This was the first time Arnav had allowed Khushi into his personal sanctuary, and him being such a private person, this particular gesture spoke volumes. Up till now she had seen only family members go there. After this, somewhere her heart finally stopped doubting his sincerity about burying the hatchet.

In order to thaw the ice between them, some of Arnav's charms came in handy. He started praising the coffee and food that Khushi made at every given chance. And it did wonders. She was a novice in kitchen and was looking for patrons. So much so that after a while Khushi started to wait for his verdict on her cooking like a movie producer waiting for box office results. Needless to say, according to her charming patron she was a hit, everytime.

Khushi had always seen Raizada's eat together. With naniji taking her meals and medicines early these days, she tried to keep the tradition going by waiting for Arnav on dinner. Arnav in turn started keeping her informed about his arrival timings.

They had a very different outlook and perspective on things. Their opinions seldom matched. The more they interacted the more Arnav realized it. He was intrigued by the way Khushi dealt with the situations around her. She was worldly and wise, but not at all complicated. For her things were in shades of gray where as he had conditioned himself to see the world in black and white.

As the days went by, Arnav saw the patience and cheeriness in her reactions towards any situation. In spite of her past, which of course he knew everything about thanks to his investigations, she was very positive towards life. Something he failed to be in his life. This one thing made him actually like her.

On the other hand, even Khushi was amazed to see this side of Arnav. He could be quite nice when he chooses to be.

 

She discovered that he was not very good with words until and unless he has some specific agenda. All these years she thought that he did not want to speak with her, well yes that too, but even now she was the major contributor in their conversations. She also liked his efforts with Adit and Adya. He was trying to accommodate and do justice to new relationships in his life, while mourning the lost ones. It goes to show how strong he is as a person. In the past he was very rude to her and that is why she avoided him at all times. But now if she thinks as his friend, she knew she can't blame him entirely for his biases. Khushi was aware of Raizada family's past. Fame and Shame of rich people is always very public. Like any other person who was aquainted with Raizadas, she too knew a little about Late Arvind Mallik. Shyam bhai had also mentioned few things about the family to her. These nice people were decieved badly. Arnav was just looking out for his family, she understands that. 

She too had been hurt by so many people in her life, her father, stepmother, mausi and her family, even strangers who knew she can do nothing to them. Of them all, Arnav has been the only one who had hurt her but has come back to mend things. He was the only one who spared a thought to the fact that he might have done her wrong. Agreed he has his own reasons to do so, but it still means a lot to her. She was anyways indebted to Shyam bhai and Arnav had enough power to alienate whole Delhi city to her. He needn't come and befriend her to make her do what he wants. He had other means too. But he chose to do it in a dignified manner. And that counts for something. She has seen the ugly side of the world at a very young age and she can make out that Arnav was basically a good person. A good person with a fierce mind and a short temper, as far as she could gather.

After intial trial and errors, Khushi got a hang of managing things around Raizada Mansion and it was a smooth sailing from there on. Only issue was that she used to get dead tired at the end of the day after taking care of naniji, kids and the household. It was during their family time one night, that nani brought up the topic of Khushi's work overload. Arnav also agreed that she looked quite worn out. Khushi assured them that she was fine, and in fact she was enjoying doing all this as she never got to do such stuff ever before in her life, but if naniji or Arnav think that she is not doing things properly she is fine with backing out. 

Naniji looked lovingly at Khushi and said 'Bitiya you are doing great. I don't know what we would have done without you.You have put your career on hold for this house. I am worried about you and nothing else'.

'It's nothing naniji and I am fine' Khushi smilingly reassured.

If only her Chotey were not so against getting married, she would have made Khushi her daughter-in-law and kept her here forever, rued Devyani. At havan that day ladies showed a lot of interest in Khushi, and why not, she is a gem of a person and very beautiful too. She decided that if some good proposal comes for her, Raizada's will marry her off properly. She made a mental note to talk to Chotey about it. Who knows how long she is going to live, so she better make sure that her wishes are adhered to after her. And nani did not believe in wasting time at all. So as soon as Khushi left her room to settle the sleepy twins in their cribs in nursery, she got Chotey off his laptop and in front of her.

'Chotey, I want you to keep aside a decent amount, a few lakhs, in the name of Khushi' she ordered. And Arnav being Arnav started working his brains overtime.

'Why?' he doubtfully questioned.

'When Khushi bitiya gets married I want that money to be used in her wedding. Such well mannered and beautiful girl should not settle for anything less than the best due to lack of money' nani replied.

NOW THAT WAS UNEXPECTED.

'OH!...Ohhh...I mean...Ummm...Does she want... I mean is she seeing ...You know...Is...Is there a proposal for her?' Arnav fumbled. His faculty of coherent speech seemed to have taken an immediate leave after hearing Khushi and HER wedding in the same sentence.

'Not right now. But some time in future she will ofcourse want to get married. Not everyone is stubborn like you. Use this money then, okay? Even if I am not around that time, make sure nothing is lacking on her big day. You will do this much for me, right?' nani tried to extract a promise from her grandson.

However, instead of making any promise to his nani about making Khushi's wedding a grand affair, Arnav made a huge fuss that she will not talk about dying and will always be there for him, and left the room hurriedly a few minutes later.

KHUSHI'S WEDDING? Where did that come from? Did she not want to study? How can she change her life plans like that? He will have to talk with her. Career is very important, right? Now that he has taken Khushi under his wings he will make sure that she does not rush into things. She should apply for her foundation exams NOW and appoint a nanny for the kids. With Khushi around he was sure there will be no compromise in their care. Yes. This is what should be done. Marriage? Where does nani get these weird ideas from? Khushi herself would not want this, or would she? NO NO NO. He will make Khushi see sense. She has done so much for them. He will not let her ruin her career. Of course not. He will talk to Khushi A.S.A.P.

It was a VERY LONG night for Arnav Singh Raizada that day, for reasons unknown to him!