Chapter 28
[MEMBERSONLY]
Anyway, here's the next update. The start of the past :)
Chapter 22 A
Unforgettable...
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COz25ZFCsz0[/YOUTUBE]
The thing about Lavanya- she never gave
up, and Arnav was secretly glad that she didn't. Had she started hating him
when he behaved so rudely with her after coming to know about her love for him,
he would have lost that one golden opportunity to reconcile with her and get
his crazy friend back.
One look at Lavanya that afternoon told
Arnav everything. She had moved on. She had found someone whom she possibly
might end up with and no more did she care about the nonexistent romantic
relationship between the two of them. How this happened so fast, he had no clue
but from the inside he was celebrating. Finally, someone worthy of that love
had come in Lavanya's life and she would definitely embrace that situation. How
he knew all this? Let's rewind a bit.
Arnav was sitting on the couch reading a
newspaper while his family members were standing near the dining table, ogling
at him. Not that he cared but he knew exactly what was going on in their minds.
They were taken by surprise. They were wondering since when did Arnav actually
started reading the newspaper in the living room. He never did anything in a
place where his family would always be present. He hated any sort of
conversation that might actually crop up when he was in midst of his family and
hence, he went out of the way to avoid it. But today, he was sitting there on
the couch in the living room and reading a paper. Why? Because Anjali had asked
him to wait while she went to get something from her room. His sister's room
was in the ground floor and whatever she had to show him was apparently,
according to her, was heavy and she wouldn't bring it to his room or allowed
him to hers or ask any of the servants to pick it. God only knew why. But it
was pretty useless to argue with his sister and Arnav had already tortured her
enough during his anger phase and he just didn't want to do that anymore.
And that had changed everything for
Arnav. Had he went to his room instead of sitting in the hall, he would have
missed that one expression on Lavanya's face that explained everything and he
would have terribly regretted it. Lavanya's face was radiant and glowing. Her
step had a spring and her eyes were sparkling. He had known Lavanya for a long
time and the only other time this particular expression had appeared on her
face was when she had fallen in love with him. That's how Arnav deduced that
Lavanya had someone else in her life.
And now that he had seen that Lavanya
was happy, it was the time he brought her back into his life. He had missed
Lavanya. He hated not talking to her but he had to do this. This was the only
logical way that had come into his mind to make Lavanya realize that he wasn't
the one for her. What about explaining to her about the situation? Oh don't
ask. Mr. ASR is always known for his rash decisions and he definitely doesn't
have patience or talent to convey with words. Hence, he ran away from that
situation and chose to hurt an innocent person in order to make her see the
actual situation and that wasn't really heroic or noble.
And now he was panicking like a school
girl while NK was trying to control his laughter while the boys waited for
their third musketeer to arrive at the scene. Arnav had really crossed his line
with Lavanya and he didn't how he would mend that broken thread of communication
and friendship and predictably, NK was doing nothing to help him. He was just
standing there, sniggering when Lavanya walked into the studio, staring the
interiors with awe. Another reason to kick himself. He hadn't shown his studio
to his third musketeer. Well, damn it!
NK shrieked in delight and ran to hug
his sister while Lavanya looked dumbfounded. Her eyes were as wide as tea cup
saucers and when NK broke the hug, Lavanya did only thing. She hit him hard on
the face with all the force she could muster and it was the time for Arnav to
crack up.
"Will you shut up?" NK muttered crossly
while rubbing his cheeks. His sister was still glowering at him with all the
fury and Arnav walked up to her, "Why on earth would you slap him?" he asked,
amusement dripping in his voice.
"Who the hell are you to ask me that?"
Lavanya bit out in anger. Arnav took a step back. Oooh! The girl was on fire! He had to do something else and without
thinking he said the only thing that made sense, "I am sorry, Lavanya."
Lavanya stared, open mouthed at the man
who stood in front of her. Gone was the arrogant jerk who pinpointed each and
every mistake of hers and threw insults at her face. In front of her was the
man with a genuine heart, the man who consoled his sister and hugged her that
day, the man who looked worn and beaten yet, his eyes, his glorious chocolate
brown eyes held volumes of emotions out of which one of them glared at her
particularly, guilt.
NK came and put a hand on her shoulders,
"Di. We know you are hurt. I mean, Arnav bhai has been a jerk," but before he
could complete his sentence, Lavanya turned to him in annoyance, "bhai?"
Arnav knew what Lavanya was about to do
and before she could slap NK another time, he came and stood between them,
"Lavanya, it's not NK fault. It's mine."
"Just what do you think, ASR?" Lavanya
exploded. There was a limit for everything. For years together, he had hurt her
unceremoniously without any justification and now that he realized that he was
wrong did he actually think that an apology was enough to repair every broken
thing amidst them? What the damn?
But the jerk always had some reason up
his sleeve and as predicted, he dished out one, "Lavanya, I have my own reasons
for behaving with you like that." See,
reasons for reasons for those reasons for that reasons. Darn it!
"Look, I am sorry..." Arnav pleaded. His
eyes told he was genuinely sorry for everything and deep inside, Lavanya knew
there must have been a reason for everything he did. She had discovered it the
hard way only a few days earlier when he had blasted her brother in law for
destroying his life. She knew Arnav wasn't someone who would play with people's
emotions but she couldn't bring herself to accept his apology. It wasn't
enough. She needed assurance and that would take a long time.
"I am sorry, Lavanya..." Arnav said
again, "will you be the third musketeer again?"
She looked at both of them. Her brother
too thought this was the best idea. That son of my mother. He hadn't even told
that he was still chums with Arnav. Darn him, too! In that split second she
made up her mind, "NO!" she said coldly and walked out of the room without
sparing another glance at either of them. She needed some air and it was time
to call her buddy, someone who would actually understand the serious problem of
every girl's life: guys! It was time to call her buddy, Khushi.
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Rinnie...
Rinnie...Rinnie...Rinnie...
Khushi was chanting it like it was her
breath, her elixir. Chris and Diya tried
everything to sober her up but she refused to do it. It was like she wanted to
be drunk; she wanted to be in that happy place where no intruders were allowed.
She wanted to lose herself in that tide and never resurface again.
He had known Khushi for years. But he
wasn't privy to everything in her life. Yet, this name, it nagged him
constantly. While Diya was trying to help Khushi, Chris was racking his brains
trying to make some sort of connection with this name and where he had heard
it. Suddenly, it took him to that moment: that single moment in his life where
he had sort of seen glimpses of Khushi's past.
It was three years ago. Khushi was
extremely exhausted from all the day's gruelling work of deep sea diving,
collecting samples, analysing and what not. Research wasn't simple. She was
lounging on the table when she tried to call her father. After many missed
attempts to his cell phone, she dreaded and called his home number, hoping he
would be in the hall, reading the paper. But to her misfortune, her step mother
had picked her call and hurled some choicest swear words at her and hung up the
phone. Chris could see her shedding silent tears and not long after that, she
had retired to her cabin.
Chris was worried and decided to check
on her. When he had come into her cabin, he had seen her thrashing around the
bed beneath her sheets, mumbling incoherently. She was having nightmares. Chris
had rushed to her and tried to calm her down but had frozen when she had
clasped his hand and muttered, "Rinnie..."
After that one episode, Khushi was even
more subdued when it came to her past. Chris hadn't found another inkling of
any other thing that might lead to find out more about that one word, Rinnie.
After a few failed attempts, Chris had chucked it thinking his bestie would
tell him when the time came.
This was the first time since three
years that Chris heard that name again. But unfortunately for him, Khushi had
fallen asleep in Diya's lap and it was the end of discussion.
"Shit!" he muttered under his breath and
strode over to the duo. Diya smiled at him and muttered, "finally, she's
asleep. But we won't see her drink again in her life time. She's smart. She'll
work it out that we had spiked her drink."
"Yeah," Chris settled down and swung his
leg over the rock. "But it's for good I guess."
"May be," they both looked at each other
and smiled when a song interrupted them. It was What I Have Done from Linkin
Park and it was blaring from Khushi's phone. Diya saw the number and squealed
in excitement, "Hey!"
"Sup buddy?" she heard Lavanya ask her,
"Where's Khushi? I needed to talk to her."
"Oh, Khushi Di's in a bad state," Diya
chuckled, "We spiked her drink in the party tonight. She's out."
"Oh crap," Lavanya laughed, "I missed
it! Damn it!"
"Hahah! You bet," Diya chuckled,
"anyway, any important message?"
"No, nothing," Lavanya said, "just
wanted to ask her something about her work. I have a friend who is pursuing science.
He was asking. It's fine. I'll call in the morning after she's come back..."
"Okay," Diya smiled, "Lets meet up
sometime soon..."
"Sure," Lavanya said as she reached RM,
"tomorrow over a cup of coffee?"
"Sure thing," Diya replied, "text me the
details. Mind if I get a friend?"
"Oh, not at all," Lavanya smiled, "I'll
meet you tomorrow and your sister. I want to hear the whole tale of her zonked
out because of booze."
"Yeah, okay," Diya laughed, "text me the
details."
"Sure" and Lavanya hung up.
"Who was it?" Chris asked as he took a
sip of lemon juice. His head was pounding because of all the alcohol in his
system. The only downside of drinking. Pretty nasty hangovers.
"A friend of ours," Diya replied,
"she'll meet us tomorrow in the cafe. She's all excited to hear about Di's
zonked out day."
"Oh that's cool," Chris chuckled. "How
many are wishing to see Gupta get drunk."
"You bet," and they both waited for the
sun to rise.
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It was almost four in the morning when
Payal trudged into her house, totally exhausted. Although there were perks of
being one of the hotshot models of AR fashion shows, there were lot of
downsides as well and one of them was slogging your ass off. Payal still
couldn't understand how people worked in that firm. They practically skinned
employees alive.
She threw her bag and asked the servant
to get a glass of juice for her. She settled on the couch and took out her
phone to call Shyaam. No luck. He was seriously pissing her off. It was days
since he had called her. She had visited his apartment, no show. She had left
him voice mails, nothing. She had left him emails, nothing. Not one bloody
contact from days.
Sometimes she did wonder why she was
hanging out with him. He wasn't rich, he wasn't handsome. But he was the one
who made her modelling portfolio free of charge and he was kinda useful in all
menial jobs that were required for her to do in this industry. That was one of
the main reasons why she had him as his boyfriend.
But now he seemed to have vanished from
the face of this earth. Not that she cared but he was supposed to tell her more
about that acting offer. Anyway, chuck it,
she thought. Who cared about the fish when they had caught a whale! In front of
her handsome prince charming Arnav Singh Raizada, this Manohar Jha guy seemed
like an unwanted patch of kelp in the ocean. Hah! The irony. Arnav meant ocean.
Shyaam meant black. Ha!
As she was happily thinking about Arnav,
her mother came out of the room in anger. Payal was surprised. Her mother
usually wasn't awake this early. What had happened, "Mom? What's the matter?"
"Diya hasn't returned home yet," Garima
huffed in anger. "Your dad said they were sleeping in their friend's house
coming in the morning. But I am pretty sure that useless Khushi has taken your
sister somewhere else. She's going to ruin my daughter."
As Payal tried to say something scathing
about Khushi, they were interrupted by Shashi, who stormed down the stairs,
glaring at her mother, "enough is enough! Garima! How many times do I have to
tell you not to blame Khushi for everything! Diya took Khushi to that party.
Khushi didn't take Diya anywhere. For everything happening around, you somehow
manage to put the blame on Khushi, don't you?"
"But..." Garima tried to retaliate but
Shashi didn't give her any chance, "one more word Garima and I swear. First
warn your daughter here about when to return home, and then comment on Khushi."
He turned to his daughter, "is this the
time?"
"Dad," Payal started to explain, "I had
work. This modelling thing for AR. Tomorrow's the show so today was the final
rehearsal. The venue is so far that it took so much of time to drive all the
way here."
"I don't care," Shashi blasted. "One
more time you are late, Payal. You are grounded for life," and without giving
her any chance to speak, Shashi went and banged his door, leaving the mother
daughter duo flustered.
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Khushi groaned and fluttered her eyes
open with great difficulty. Her head was pounding like someone was hitting her
with a jackhammer. She didn't know partying would result in such splitting
headaches. No wonder. As she got up, she got acquainted to her surrounding and
her mouth turned a perfect o in surprise and awe. In that blissful morning
light, her favourite place in Delhi looked a miniature paradise. She was still
basking in that beauty when she heard a slight cough and turned to Chris
holding out a cup of coffee to both Khushi and Diya. Diya was sitting next to
her, Khushi noted.
"How did I end up here?" Khushi asked
sipping the coffee gratefully. Diya and Chris looked at each other and the
silent conversation wasn't missed by her. "What?" she asked again.
"We thought of coming here after the
party," Chris said as he sat on the bonnet of the car. His eyes were wandering
and Khushi knew she was being lied to. It didn't take a genius to figure out.
Not remembering the party, splitting headaches, spending the night outskirts of
Delhi. Khushi wasn't an idiot. She knew these two morons had spiked her drink.
"You bloody bas***ds," she muttered in shock while Diya and Chris rolled on the
floor, completely cracked up.
"You spiked my drink, you!" Khushi launched
herself on Diya, completely bonkers while Chris tried to yank her out of the
vice grip. "You!" Khushi screamed and launched herself on Chris, mock
strangling his neck, "I know you are the mastermind behind all this. You, son
of aunty!"
"Khushi, I assure you, it was your
sister's idea to spike your drink with gin," Chris winked at Diya who was
staring open mouthed at the blatant lie, "Damn you, McKinley!" she shouted and
now both the siblings were hitting Chris black and blue. After a while, when
Khushi was completely out of the initial shock of getting drunk, she asked,
"how bad was I?"
"You were epic, Gupta!" Chris said as he
hugged her from behind, "I never thought you were so wild when you had some
booze. You should have seen yourself on the dance floor. Shame you don't
drink!"
"I danced?" Khushi was scandalized. If
there was one thing she was absolutely mortified of trying, it was dancing. It
was like she had two left feet. Whenever she had tried to dance, it always
ended in total disaster and sheer embarrassment. She had completely lost her
confidence to try and dance again and now Chris was telling her that she had
danced when she was woozy. Oh my god! I
must have looked like a joker!
"Please tell me I didn't make a fool of
myself," she whimpered in shame. Diya glared at her, "Are you kidding me? You
were hot! Totally sexy! Half the bar had stopped dancing and took to staring at
you when you were grooving for Hips Don't Lie. You'll be kidding if you say you
can't dance for heaven's sake."
"I don't believe it," she cursed. "What
else did I do?"
This time, Chris was tired of beating
around the bush. He had seen his best friend mop around enough, trying to heal
her wounded heart. Her past was her bane. It had snatched her peace, her
happiness, her confidence. Everything. Now probably was the time to end it once
and for all. He wanted his Khushi to openly accept her past, let out all her
grief that she had been bottling up for god knows how many years. It was
probably the time for Khushi to completely let go of her inhibitions. Chris had
made up his mind that this time he was going to make sure he wasn't going to
take her silence for an answer. He had to make sure that she came out of that
web of pain that she weaved around herself while trying to run away. It was
time that he broke all her emotional fortifications and truly free her from her
bonds.
"Khushi, I am going to ask you something
directly," he said solemnly, holding her hands. "And I am not ready to accept
your silence or your vehement no's for an answer. Who is Rinnie?"
He could see all the colour from her
face drain out in an instant. Fear clouded her eyes and she whimpered, trying
to escape from this situation but he didn't let her go, "Khushi. Enough running
away from your past. Please for my sake, for your sanity's sake, let it all
out. I beg of you."
Tears made their way down her cheeks
relentlessly as she was forcefully pushed into the pained regions of her life.
A life which was perfect before it shattered into nothingness. A life which
gave her everything before snatching it brutally in a brink of a second. Wounds
inflicted on the innocence, naivety, childhood was deeper, intense and took
longer time to heal. Somewhere in the back of the mind, one tiny worry nestled,
springing panic attacks every now and then, fearing for the rebound into the
hell. Khushi had bared the brunt of the society and its cruelness at a very
tender age and she was sure she couldn't handle anything appalling in her life,
even so much as revisiting the memories. She had had enough.
Though, some part of her sane mind told
her that she was being absolutely ridiculous holding ages long pains in her
heart and groaning about it. If there was one thing nature had taught her when
she had comfortably nestled in her arms was to let it free. And here she was,
doing exactly the opposite. Going against the nature and trying very hard to
grab the sand of memories in her fists and never let it go. She wasn't supposed
to do that. And honestly, she didn't have the strength anymore. She was aware
of Chris's kind intentions and her sister's concern for her and she owed them
the truth for sticking with her and bearing her trivialities with patience and
love. She had to give them answers. She had to let them into her life, into
that corner which was reserved only for her, for it contained those memories
which were more valuable to Khushi than her own life. For that steadfast
loyalty, she had owed them that much.
She wiped her tears and muttered,
"Rinnie...he was guardian, my best friend, my life. Nobody has still managed
to conquer his place in my heart. Rinnie...he was," but she couldn't continue
anymore. She let out a guttural cry and crashed into the arms of her
understanding best friend, seeking solace in his warmth.
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Anjali turned around in her bed,
restless and sleepless. In a few days, her life had taken a nosedive and she
wasn't sure she was able to anchor it anymore. Torrent waves of her brother's endurance
threatened to drown her while sharp jagged rocks of Vinay's conscience
terrorized to tear her down, break her into pieces. She was caught in a storm,
unable to go anywhere, turn to anyone for help. She couldn't choose.
Vinay's folly had crashed her hopes of a
perfect life. She was scared when Vinay would give into his anger again and
destroy more lives in order to keep her happy. She felt absolutely ashamed of
herself for becoming the reason of so much destruction, horror and despondency.
She felt herself standing in the shoes of those countless innocent children,
whose home was ruthlessly destroyed by Vinay without giving a moment's thought
of the repercussion. How could she bear to forgive herself? How could she look
into his eyes without feeling horrendous and mortified? How could she be
magnanimous, ever?
These cold thoughts suffocated her and
when she couldn't take it anymore, she got up and walked out of the guest room
she had momentarily taken refuge in. She wasn't sure if she could be with her
husband anymore without killing herself in the process. She wasn't sure if she
would give him another chance. But one thing she was certain of, her brother
had scratched her husband out of his life. There was no chance of emancipation
for all the mistakes of Vinay from Arnav. He would never include Vinay in his
life again. She hated that irreparable crack in the relationship of the two
most important people of her life and she hated herself for not being able to
mend it.
As she silently descended down the
stairs into the living room, a dark silhouette caught her attention and she
looked down to see someone curled up on the couch, uncomfortable. A closer look
told her it was Vinay. Bile choked her. All that anguish, sadness, suffocation
threatened to burst out of her. She ran, unable to tolerate it anymore. She
ran, from herself, from her worries, from her melancholy. From everything that
ruined her life for her. She ran until her legs could carry no more and
collapsed in a heap in the darkness, in the middle of the woods of Raizada
Estate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Give her some time," NK smiled ruefully
at Arnav who was still frozen near the door, looking crestfallen and shocked at
the same time. NK honestly didn't think his sister would immediately agree to
paint their lives in rainbow colours, not after Arnav had been a complete
douche with her for such a long time. No matter what explanations Arnav had, it
wasn't just enough for any girl to go through this much and forget it in a
blink. To top that, for someone like his sister, for the hot headed she was, it
wouldn't surprise NK if Arnav took all eternity to beg her forgiveness. Lavanya
was one tough woman.
Arnav seemed to realize this much and
nodded silently. He knew he had to wait for some more time, give that assurance
Lavanya deserved. His actions were bad, plain bad and one apology definitely
didn't suffice enough. He sighed resignedly and walked out of the studio to get
some fresh air and clear his thoughts. NK followed his brother, feeling awful.
The night had been uneventful. Tomorrow
was its complete contrast. They needed some time to pull themselves up from
this lethargy and refresh themselves for the mammoth task. Especially Arnav. He
had a huge day ahead of him and he was glad that this night was peaceful.
But all the hopes came crashing down for
the boys as they saw Anjali collapsed in the middle of nowhere, unconscious and
deathly pale. Panic rose and their hearts frantically beat as they both ran
towards her, fear and anxiety taking a toll on them.
"Di!" Arnav shrieked, trying desperately
to wake her up. Her skin was cold and her lips were turning blue. Arnav looked
at NK in absolute terror before picking his sister up in his arms and sprinting
back into RM, yelling for NK to call a doctor.
PRECAP:
Di! Everything starts and ends with Di
for you. No one other than Anjali Di exists for you!
NK, shut up!
You, shut the eff up, Vinay! I am not blaming
Di here. I am blaming you! The whole family. You don't see anything beyond Anjali
Di. You have no idea how many people you have hurt just to make sure Di had a
smile on her face. It is because of this overwhelming possessiveness that Di
isn't brave. She can't take care of herself. I am so glad you didn't focus on
Akash. Else, he would have also turned out to be like her, weak, sensitive and
emotionally unstable!
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Comments (14)
part 22 Aawesome dear...lovely...well La is right at her place...now shes happy...but Arnav has to do something to console her...NK understand Arnav and La too...so Arnav has realized his mistakes and also La being happy now...seriously is Paayal's mom so blind?well Paayal is gonna bring her so much disgrace then shall see how she reacts to this and Khushi and Diya...hope Khushi's father gives a bitter punishment to this Paayal...who is this Rinnie?Chris is a true friend...oh these people are gonna be surprised...cant wait for the gang to meet...cont soon dear...
10 years ago
Lovely update. Stil m waiting for Arshi's meet desperately.
10 years ago
awesome and mind blowing updateloved reading itTHANKS FOR UPDATING EARLY 🤗Shashi was angry on garima for blaming khushi 😃😊 Happy he is supporting her and more happy that he scolded Payal 😆SUPERB amazing partLav outburst on Nk and Arnav was lovely😆😆Khushi trying to open up with her sis and friend but still it mystery for us waiting to know about rinnie mest be ARNAV 😉waiting for next update eagerly with arshi moments😉try to update that sooon too😳
10 years ago
Arnav realized la is moving on n he wanted his friend back but what about that pain hurt she'd to go through he has no idea if she was in in love what was her fault there were other ways to deal but he choose the harsh one now pay the price dear khushi was totally out that was awesome rinnie is Arnav if im not wrong n both r missing eachother payal has high dreams but grapes are sour baby nice update no arshi that's not fair I can't wait for their project to start
10 years ago
loved the updatethe precap was to die forthis was something which have been going on in my head for a long time
10 years ago
loved the update nd precap sounds amazing.
10 years ago
hey welcome back... n tht was a brilliant update...so finally khushi is sharing her past with chris n diya... im so glad she opened up :Doh n arnav's apology to la... n her saying No was awesome... i agree with NK u cant just wipe out all the hurt with one apology...oh poor anjali.. feel bad for her... its confusing to feel happy tht ur husband loves u so much or feel sad tht he can take such steps to keep u happy n destroy other peoples lives... its overwhelming ...n payal.. shyam used u n now will take reveng...suites u right... n oh Arnav is never going to be urs...All the best for ur english exam...oh n i dont htink anything is wrong with ur story i guess its just the delay in updates... i guess once u start updating frequently readers will stick around...but be assured... im never going to leave this story no matter when u update :Dpls update soon!
10 years ago
very nice update...m sure Arnav & Khushi has some connection since their childhood!!!!!!!!!
10 years ago
amazing you r awesome you rock baby awesome update
10 years ago
very interesting update !!! khushi finally let her best friend and sister a peep into her past which she have always treasured and holds high value in her life.. Rinnie.. her best friend.. will be looking forward to know more about it.. lavanya was simply great.. but felt bad for anjali.. loved the update..thanks for pm 😊
10 years ago