Entry #2: Holi Hideout

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This is Entry #2 in the IPKKND 10th Holi Contest

It is written by cheers2all

“Where is he?”

When this phone call started with a question instead of the usual pleasantries, Aman knew it is not going to end well. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes in exasperation. He is clearly not paid enough to deal with these kinds of situations.

“I have no idea Khushi Bhabhi” he replied, trying to sound as empathetic as he could.

“Jhooth mat boliye, Amanji. I know you are aware of his every single movement. His phone is switched off too” she complained.

“I swear, Khushiji! After my last year’s disastrous effort to keep his whereabouts a secret, ASR said he doesn’t trust me with his secrets anymore” Aman whined. If Khushi wasn’t so incensed herself, she would have had a hearty laugh at Aman’s sulking tone.

“It’s ok, Amanji. I understand” she tried to make him feel better 

“If it’s any consolation, he is replying to emails. You can try your luck that route” Aman tried to offer help.

“Seriously!? Is this how Laad Governor is playing hard to get?” Khushi mused. 

“Shukriya Amanji! I will try” She then wished him & his family a very Happy Holi and disconnected the call muttering to herself.

“Kahan hain aap?”

That was the subject of the email…and the whole of it. Only one person can send him an email this short and make him feel so loved. Andmissed. His face broke into a fond smile as he opened the mail and wondered what he could reply to rile up his already furious wife.

“Ah! First email from my wife in 10 years. I feel blessed”.He also wanted to add an emoji with a halo, but that would be pushing his luck. 

“Where are you? And why is your phone switched off?” She replied.

Her phone buzzed the moment she hit send. “Miss kar rahiho mujhe?” Arnav drawled

Khushi tried to ignore the effect his voice had on her and answered with a tone that she had mastered over the years knowing well that it had the power to bring the mighty ASR to his knees “One of us had to, because you clearly don’t miss me at all!”

It worked. Like a charm. “Khushi, you know…” he began.

“Don’t you dare “Khushi” me. Aisa koi karta hain kya? You literally sneaked out of your own home in middle of the night to avoid this day” she tried to bring back the irritation in her voice which she was feeling before she heard his voice. “Every year your tactics to avoid this festival goes up a notch. This time it has crossed the limits!!”

“You know me, Khushi. I just can’t handle the madness that comes with this festival. It’s as if everyone has a license to ambush me just by saying – Bura na maano Holi hain! Unbelievable”

Khushi couldn’t help but smile thinking of last year’s Holiwhen all kids had hunted him down and jumped on a perplexed Arnav amidst their collective shrieks of “Dad”, “Maamu” and “Chachu”. They spared no mercy in coloring him from head to toe. It was a sight to behold.

“But this year I have taken extra precautions. This place is as safe as it comes”. She was broken out of her musings with Arnav’s irritated but smug voice.

“Do you hate Holi so much Arnavji, that you feel the need to run away from home?” It was probably the helplessness in her voice that made Arnav finally share his secret. “I don’t hate Holi, Khushi. But I hate the fact that this is the one day that I want to spend with my wife, and my wife,” he sighed, “has time for everyone but me on this day”

Of all the reasons Khushi expected Arnav to come up with,this wasn’t one of them. “Kya?! What do you mean?”

“You probably don’t remember, but 10 years back, this was the day when you asked me a question, which was an answer to several of mine” He smiled, as he placed his laptop besides him and stretched his legs on the bed.

“So, you lied that day when you said you don’t remember?” Khushi reminisced the day when she had, for the first time openly confessed what hisnearness did to her. And it was the first time he had acknowledged she was not the only one who felt it.

“Hamari dhadkanein ek ho jaati hain” he had said.

She had locked those memories in some deep recesses of her heart knowing it was probably the bhaang doing the talking. Over the years she knew he truly meant it, but never had a reason to confront him about it again. Hearing him confess and knowing that those moments were equally important to him made Khushi giddy with joy.

“I am so sorry Khushi…for everything I said, and everything. I didn’t say during those days. No matter how many times I apologize, it will never be enough for the atrocities I committed. I wish I could go back in time and undo every single pain I inflicted on you. I…”

“If you are really sorry, tell me where you are” Khushi cut him off, not wanting him to go the guilt route again. Over the years Arnav had apologized repeatedly, in words and more so by his actions. He is still the arrogant, badass businessman to the world. But for her, he is just her Arnavji.Her Sapno Ke Rajkumar

“Trust you to leverage any situation to your benefit” Arnav crossed his hands behind his head and further relaxed in the bed; his laptop long forgotten.

“What can I say? I have learnt from the best” she replied haughtily

“Good try, Khushi. But I am not giving away my hideout”

“You are not playing fair, Arnavji” she whined

“Alright! I’ll give you a hint” he said. “This place has some good memories even when everything else was wrong in our lives” Arnav almost immediately regretted bringing up the past again. But he shouldn’t have worried. His wife was more focused on solving the challenge he had thrown ather.

“You are at the farmhouse?” Khushi asked excitedly

“No Khushi. But I love the way your mind is working” he smirked 

Khushi colored at the insinuation. “That’s not what I meant….woh bass…”

“If you say so, Khushi” Arnav interrupted. “If you figure out the place, you know where to find me. Now let me get back to work. Bye” And he disconnected the call leaving a fuming Khushi on the other side.

“Samajhte kya hain apne aap ko? He thinks he can run away and relax like a Laad Governor in a Godforsaken place, and I won’t be able to find him? Did he forget I had managed to locate where the kidnappers had locked him? Woh bhi ek nahi, do baar! And I manage to find him on every Holi, no matter where he hides” Khushi muttered to herself as she walked the length and breadth of their room.

Arnav looked around the room, which hadn’t changed much in the past 10 years. The idiot’s poster was now replaced with their sangeet picture of him proposing Khushi on one knee, but everything else was still the same. He smiled to himself as he thought about how much he has changed from the moment Khushi stepped into his life. They had created their own choti si duniya, which wasn’t that choti anymore, he chuckled to himself.Aarav now had twin sisters, Arya & Shreya. They followed him like puppies,and he was unsurprisingly very protective about them. With Di’s son and Akash & Payal’s kids, the “shanti” in Shantivan was replaced with shrieks and chaos.Add Khushi to the mix who was no less than the kids in any department. But he wouldn’t want it any other way. The man who used to stay glued to his work for hours, now finds excuses to return home early. Today, being the only exception.As much as he hated staying away from his family & kids, this day has its own special relevance. His reverie was broken by the buzzing in his pocket.Think of the devil…”Kya hua biwi? Not having fun playing Holi without me” he teased.

“I just wanted to tell you that you still look very dashing and handsome in white” Khushi purred

“Is that right? Looks like I must run away from home regularly to get a decent compliment from my wife. We…wait a minute. How do you know I am wearing white?” He whirled around swiftly, losing his balance in the process. Khushi was by his side the next instant. Holding him by his arm, shewinked “Hum aapke baare mein har khabar rakhte hain”. Dressed in a white suit herself, and her waist length hair flowing unbridled in the wind, she looked nothing less than angelic.

“Tum white color mein bohot acchi lagti ho…aur khule baalon mein bhi” words said by him in the same room from a lifetime ago reverberated between them.

Arnav left no time in pulling Khushi in a bone crushing hug.“So, you found me” He murmured as he pressed her closer in his arms. It had only been few hours, but it felt like he hadn’t seen her since ages.

“I found you” She nodded as she snuggled more into his chest.“I don’t like it when you leave like this without telling me. Even after all these years, I cannot let go of the fear that I felt when you were…when you had left for London” Arnav felt like kicking himself for putting her through this…again.Never again, he promised himself.

“But I love it when you find me every single time”, he tried to make light of the situation. Brushing an errant lock of hair over her ear,he peeked at her and continued “No matter where I hide, you always find me. I don’t think anyone has the power to keep me away from you. Me included”

“Yes, keep that in mind the next time you decide to abscond”she replied sternly and gently extracted herself away from his embrace. Before Arnav could react, she pulled some gulaal from a concealed packet and generously applied on his jaw, spilling some on his pristine white shirt and repeated the process on his other cheek “Happy Holi, Laad Governor”

Arnav kept staring mesmerized at the eyes that looked at him with such love and longing. It surprised and excited him in equal proportion every time he realized that 10 years had done nothing to change the way he felt around his Khushi. She still had the power to slay him with a single look and as light touch was all it took for him to catch fire. Still in trance, he pulled her towards him once again and murmured in a husky tone “Not fair, Mrs. Raizada. You get to color me while you stay spotless?”

“Then you should have planned better, Mr. Raizada, knowing that I will find you eventually. Why didn’t you get some gulaal for me?”she mock complained

“After all these years you should know Khushi, I don’t need to prepare for anything when it comes to you” Arnav said as he languidly brushed his right cheek on her left. Staring into her eyes, he then brushed his left cheek to her right in the same unhurried way, as if he had all the time in this world “Happy Holi to you too, Khushi” his eyes twinkled. The very next moment he swooped her in his arms and took her lips in a toe-curling kiss. He poured every emotion he was feeling into the kiss letting her know what his words couldn’t. Khushi matched it all and then raised some.

Long moments later they finally broke off from the kiss and rested their foreheads against each other. “You really did miss me” Arnav teased. Khushi pushed him, not so gently this time and sat on the bed with a pout.

“So how did you find me?” Arnav was curious “I am very sure Amma & Babuji wouldn’t have spoken a word”

Khushi’s heart warmed every time Arnav referred to her mother as “Amma”. It hadn’t been easy for him to come to terms with dealing with his past, but he has managed to do it over the years.

“Oh Amma-Babuji wouldn’t tell on you even if their life depended on it. They are in Lucknow anyways with Buaji. Plus they adore you way too much. They seem to have forgotten that I am their daughter, and you are the son-in-law” she complained good naturedly.

“That’s true!” Arnav agreed. Another aspect that he was grateful to Khushi for. “So, if it wasn’t them, how did you know I was here?” he asked her again “I purposely didn’t get my car and didn’t tellAman either. Aman is losing his sense of loyalty anyways” he added, feeling betrayed.

“Don’t bring Amanji into this. Poor guy was almost in tears thinking you no longer trust him” Khushi spoke up in Amanji’s favor “Kya Laila-Majnu ki jodi hain” she rolled her eyes.

She then settled comfortably on the bed and tapping on it said with pride “The only one who didn’t betray me is this bed”

“Excuse me?” Arnav was more amused than curious by this statement

“Teak wood. It stayed with Buaji for fifty long years, and now it led me to you” Khushi said as a way of explanation.

“Huh?” the Harvard return was still having issues following the workings of his wife’s mind.

“Aap bhool gaye? Hamari taraf waala bistar aawaz kartahain” Khushi wriggled in her place to make her point. “I heard it over ourcall. I can recognize this squeak from any part of the world. Ergo, I knew where you were” she concluded proudly

“Ah! I see” Arnav said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Looks like I have forgotten what ruckus this bed can cause. How about I reacquaint myself with it?” With that he started walking towards her with a predatory glance. Knowing the look very well, Khushi squealed and jumped from the bed trying to make a headway towards the door. But Arnav was too quick for her. He grabbed her by the waist and plonked her back on the bed. And for rest of the afternoon, Arnav showed Khushi exactly how much ruckus this bed can cause.