Chapter 19

Arnav had a hard time sleeping. He couldn't believe he ACTUALLY kissed Khushi, well pecked would be the correct word, but nonetheless they moved ahead a little, didn't  they? The feel of her soft plump cheeks refused to leave his senses till wee hours of the morning, and his eyes refused to sleep. He kept staring at the ceiling till long, thinking about the beautiful girl sleeping downstairs, wanting to go into her room and and hug her and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. But he reigned in his desires and made do with the feel and smell of her, that his mind has imprinted on itself in the brief second when he kissed her. Oh! she is so delectable, and she is HIS. She herself said he has right to get upset with her. He has RIGHT over her. The territorial man inside him was content beyond measure with this declaration. And he had earned it, did she not say that? THAT was the cherry on the top. He turned and hugged the pillow, smiling contently.

Next morning Arnav woke up late, and was very late by the time he got ready for the office. The clock was chiming 9 o'clock. He rushed to the breakfast table smirking, not wanting to wait to see her reaction about last night.  But to his surprise, there was no one the table when he arrived. He at least expected to see her waiting for him at breakfast like usual if nothing else. Khushi must be in the kitchen, he consoled himself as he sat down to eat. But when Hariprakash came and served him his food, he got alarmed. 

'Where is Khushi Madam?'  he asked the servent.

'Sahab, she is in her room'  he replied.

Arnav nodded grimly. This was the first time after her arrival in Raizada Mansion that she was not at the breakfast table. Is she avoiding him? His good mood crashed down instantly. Its the kiss ... yup it's that kiss. She is avoiding him because of IT. Of course. She did not like it, and is awkward enough to avoid him now. How could she interpret something so beautiful so negatively? Who the hell said women have a sixth sense for all this stuff? HIS woman surely does not possess any such thing. DAMN. What to do now? Are they back to where they started off from?

With a gaping hole in his heart, a dead appetite and helpless anger, Arnav stood up to leave for office. 'Should I talk to her?'  he turned looking at the closed door of her room.  'But what will I say? ... Sorry I kissed you. It will not happen again'  he deliberated. 

Even after standing there for five minutes he could not find it in himself to mock his feelings this blatantly. He was NOT sorry about the kiss and he was definitely not going to promise a non-repetition. With anger simmering in the depth of his heart he made his way to the door. If she wants to avoid him, then guess what, he'll help her by not coming in front of her himself. She can't flip like this, one day he has rights over her, next day he is not worth even a good morning . And all for what? Just a FUC**** peck, not even a PROPER kiss!

As he reached the front door, he saw Savita coming inside carrying a bawling Adit in her arms. He took the baby from her and asked what happened. 

'Sahab, Adit baba wants to goto Khushi Madam. He is crying non-stop and not listening to me. What do I do?'  she replied tensed.

'So then take him to Khushi'  he replied trying to pacify the toddler.

'I can't Sahab. Madam has strictly asked me not to bring kids to her'  she stated.

Arnav's head shot up at this piece of information. This is not possible. Khushi would not neglect kids, not even in her dreams. There is something wrong.

'Why?'  he questioned.

'Madam has fever. She does not want kids to get infection. But Adit baba is not listening Sahab'  she presented the fact.

DAMN YOU ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA! What a self centered idiot you are. Khushi has fever, she is lying sick on the other side of that door and you can not think of anything other than yourself. MORON. He handed Adit back to the nanny, instructed her to keep the baby occupied anyhow, and rushed to Khushi's room. 

He knocked twice on the door, but when no response came he slowly opened it and peeked inside. He saw Khushi lying on the bed, with a sheet over her, shivering. He went beside her and checked her forehead for temperature. She was burning hot like a furnace. Sh**. SH**. SH**. He ran out of the room, yelled at Hariprakash to call the doctor and bring him the thermometer. Inside the room, he went to the cupboard and took out the warmest and thickest comforter he could find, and covered her with it. When the thermometer came, he took her temperature which was quite high, making him yell at the servant to call the doctor again and ask him to come FAST.

All this commotion made Khushi open her eyes and when she saw Arnavji standing in front her, she smiled weakly at him. 

'Khushi, are you alright?'  he asked concerned.

'I am feeling strange'  she replied in a very low tone.

'That's because you have fever. And a very high one on that. Doctor is on his way. Are you cold?'  he asked.

She nodded. Arnav swiftly moved to her side, and made her sit halfway, tucked the comforter tightly around her in order to stop any air touching her. Then he made her lean on himself and hugged her side ways, trying to provide some of his body heat to her body, half laying on the bed. He had seen his Di do that to him, whenever he was sick as a child, so he put that knowledge to use. He also started rubbing Khushi's upper arm and placed his other hand on the side of her face and made her head lean on his shoulder, for extra comfort and warmth. She buried herself some more into him involuntarily, so he gathered that it must be feeling nice to her and continued hugging and soothing her.

When doctor came and checked her, he deduced exposure to cold as the reason of fever and gave Khushi an injection to lower the temperature. He assured a worried looking Arnav Singh Raizada that she will be fine in 2-3 days. Plenty of rest, medicine and hydration will do the trick. Doctor emphasized on keeping the toddlers away from her for those 2-3 days on precautionary basis, lest they catch some infection. As the doctor left, Arnav resumed his position near Khushi and she too leaned in,  seeking comfort in him. After a few seconds though, she straightened herself.

'Arnavji, you should also not sit so close to me. You can catch infection too'  she warned weakly, coughing.

After looking at her incredulously for a few seconds, he pulled her gently towards himself, hugged her again and whispered  'I bloody don't care'.

'But I do'  she tried to pry his hand off her face and raise her head, still coughing.

'Well, I can't stop you. So please continue'  he replied nonchalantly, rubbing her back now and placing her face back into the crook of his neck.

Too weak to argue, Khushi gave in. And it was feeling good too. She slept off in few minutes due to the effect of the injection. 

When she woke up, it was mid afternoon. There was some noise of typing coming from nearby, so she craned her neck to see the source of the sound. She was surprised to see Arnavji sitting near her bed on what looked like a chair dragged from her study table, with his legs perched up on her bed, near her knees. Sans his tie and blazer, with top two buttons of his dark blue shirt open and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, in a dark gray vest and trousers, shoes and socks kicked off, he was engrossed in his laptop. Before she could make sense of this sight, he looked up from the screen towards her, as if sensing that she is awake. And when he saw that she is, he hurriedly put the laptop on side table, and came towards the head of the bed and placed his hand on her forehead checking the temperature.

'How are you feeling now?'  he asked.

'Better'  she replied.

'Hmmm. Temperature has come down too. I was waiting for you to wake up. You GOTTA eat something right now'  he said in a single breath.

Khushi opened her mouth to ask her question, but before that he started calling Hariprakash to get some soup and crackers for her.

'Are you still cold?'  he diverted his attention back to her.

She shook her head.

'Good. Do you wanna sit?'  he asked and when she said yes, he helped her to it.

'Arnavji, why are you here? You should be in the office no'  she finally asked as she sat.

'You are sick Khushi. How can I leave you alone? As it is you did not tell anyone that you were not feeling well. How were you planning to deal with this by yourself?'  he accused her.

'I took a fever reducer. I always do. It brings the fever down'  she replied defiantly.

'I had no idea we had a doctor in the house'  he taunted.

'I did not want to trouble you and the fever reducer works for me'  she replied hesitantly.

'Trouble me? If I remember correctly I have earned a few rights over you, haven't I? And I protect and take care of everything and everyone who is MINE. So as long as I am here, you can stop playing doctor doctor, and let me take care of you without creating a fuss. Is that understood?'  he said sternly.

Before Khushi could reply, Hariprakash came in with her lunch. Arnavji took the soup bowl in his hands and brought the spoonful to her mouth in order to feed her. She tried to take hold of the bowl, as if saying that I can do it myself. But as soon as Arnavji narrowed his eyes dangerously, she without further delay complied and ate the lunch from his hands like an obedient child.

Rest of the day passed in the same manner. Arnavji taking care of her every small need, talking to her if she was unable to sleep, catching up on his work while she took a nap here and there, feeding her and monitoring her medicines. He even neglected work and played with Adit and Adya for some time, as they were missing their Bua and were getting restless being with only Savita the whole day, and he did not want Khushi to be disturbed or them to catch fever. 

 

Khushi was forced to think about how he was taking care of her. She has been sick before, and had always managed on her own. Shyam bhai was not allowed to stay with her or take her with him according to bal niketan rules. Anjali bhabhi once took care of her very lovingly when she had fever, and for her that was ultimate care she'd ever received. But this time, it is so different, it feels like tender love and care on ANOTHER LEVEL. Arnavji is treating her like precious porcelain doll. His sole attention on her. Feeding her using his peculiar stern brand of cajoling, sitting in her room, waiting on her and what not. And he missed office for her, like seriously? He was all dressed to go to office and yet stayed back, taking care of HER. His concern was making her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and all the hugs and rubs, they're feeling heavenly to her weak body.  BUT no matter how good all this is making her feel physically, these casual touches of his are  taking their toll on her fragile senses and definitely not doing any good to her poor heart.

Arnavji. He is so ... so ... ummm ... DIFFERENT now. YEAH. What else?  Taking her to dinner, sending her flowers, taking care of her so devotedly right now and then that ... ummm ... kis ... kiss, she blushed. It had kept her awake till late last night. Her FIRST kiss. Who would have thought that her first ever kiss will be from Arnavji. He is behaving like her dream man. Caring, protective and romantic. He takes her opinion on everything including the household, kids and even his own matters nowadays, like a true family. He is demanding like only a close one could be, and giving like only a man in love could be.

Just a second. LOVE? Where did THAT come from? Arnavji and her is like hundred and ten percent impossible.  Right? He does not even believe in the Love word. Is she reading too much between the lines? But it does not feel like that . Arnavji IS behaving more than a friend towards her, isn't he? What to make out of it? And why the hell is she dwelling into this periphery of thoughts,  when she is clearly not equipped to cope with any answer? Why did God make it so difficult to handle tender emotions? She did not once falter dealing with a rude Arnav Singh Raizada, but now this sweet and caring Arnavji is messing up with her mind and heart.  And she has NO freaking idea how to deal with all this, with him.

 

'Oh God! He has got to stop doing all this' she mumbled inaudibly in desperation. 'There is only so much I can resist. I am also human after all'.