Chapter 38
[MEMBERSONLY]
Chapter 30
Eye of the storm...
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjbj51SRgys[/YOUTUBE]
Damn this woman gave him head ache. Trust her to completely screw
things up for him when he was trying so hard to find some footing in a role
that was completely new to him. He felt totally alienated as he wasn't used to
running behind girls. Usually opposite was what happened. But today, searching
the damsel in distress fell completely on him as the other two were utterly
wasted from the local alcohol they slurped. Bottles together. He would never
know how NK managed to snag a couple of local booze. His brother always
surprised him.
Not that he didn't drink, but that stuff was pure vile and one sip made
him close to vowing that he would never touch alcohol, which of course would be
broken. Now that he was completely sober, fortunately or unfortunately, he had
noticed Khushi running out from her tent into the wild and while he was
convinced enough that she would be fine as she was made of stronger stuff, it
didn't seem right that she would have the urge to go frog hunting in the middle
of the night. Sighing to himself, he had got up and ran behind her to see where
she was going.
The night was calm and peaceful but somehow he couldn't shake the
feeling that this was the eye of the storm and he would soon be hit with the
incoming blizzard like a freight train. Even then he ventured alone into the
trial that most probably Khushi had taken, mulling over why he was so affected
by what she was doing.
After three weeks of spending time with her, giving his pure attention
to the smallest nuances of her, he had developed something massive for her that
he was unable to give a name. It just existed, in the deepest corner of his
heart. The place that no one had right to be except his Chippu...
Once the thought came into his mind, the realization hit him like a
truck. This woman was startlingly similar to the image he had of his Chippu if
she would have lived to this age. May be that's why he was getting pulled to
her like the opposite of a magnet.
The guilt resurfaced again but it was pushed down with equal urge and
intensity. He didn't know the reason but he found himself looking forward to
spending time with her but she still resolutely avoided him, but that made the
chase even more exciting. What was the fun in going behind something that you
could easily attain. Her playing hard to get was the indication that she didn't
give a damn about his name, fame or wealth. That itself was a huge certificate
of her character. Pure, golden and one hell of an amazing one.
He looked up to see a star brightly twinkling and thought it was the
approval of his Chippu. He knew he was doing right. He had earned the right to
give himself some happiness and ironically, she was it. He liked her...well,
there was it. He admitted it. He was fascinated by her no nonsense personality.
He was enthralled by her boyishness. He sincerely admired her simplicity and he
was totally attracted to her smile which melted all his worries like fire
melting ice. She was sent to make his life green again and he wasn't about to
lose that chance...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The water below her shone like glass in the moonlight. It was tranquil,
serene unlike her mind, turbulent. She often came to places which reflected the
exact opposite of her mindset. It gave her a sense of reality and positive
reassurance. Something that was needed every now and then in a situation like
this.
Not that she went to a graveyard when she was ridiculously happy. No
she wasn't that morbid. Sometimes when she felt she needed some peace of mind,
she came to places close to her heart and sat there, contemplating and
assessing her thoughts and moods and it mightily helped her to understand and
reason her situation better and help find a solution to the problem.
Though, presently, she was at a loss to do anything.
Because a certain young man didn't vanish from her mind at all...
She was unable to get his laughter, the twinkle of his eye out of her
mind and unless she was completely Arnav free, she couldn't think the possible
solutions to the problem. Arrgh! Why was that man so damn insufferable.
She was so deep in thought that she was completely oblivious to her
surroundings and quite obviously jumped a mile when Arnav said, "there you
are!" and fell into the water with and loud splash and an almighty shriek.
"Oh freak!" Arnav yelled before jumping into the water himself. He
didn't actually stop to consider that Khushi probably knew swimming, good thing
as his entry had completely startled her and she wasn't still out of that zone
to actually save herself from drowning, even though she knew swimming.
She was still spluttering and struggling to breathe when he reached her
and held her waist tightly to stop her from sinking further. Kicking his legs,
he pulled them both to the damp grass lining the lake and Khushi collapsed into
a fit of coughs. Arnav got up, cursing, but crouched again when Khushi didn't
seem to stop coughing. Worried, he placed a hand on her back and rubbed it,
"you okay?"
Khushi who realized that Arnav was helping her, beat his hand and
scrambled away from him screeching, "get away from me...!"
Arnav stared at her incredulously, "are you mad?"
"No you are," she replied scathingly, eying him with all the annoyance
the world had. He narrowed his eyes. Seriously? He had just saved her from
drowning and this is how he gets the gratitude. Now he was starting to get
annoyed. "oh really? I wasn't the one who stood on the edge of the parapet to
get startled and promptly fall into the water..."
"Did I ask you to come here?" Khushi snapped as she tried to get up,
shivering madly.
Arnav who was trying very hard to control until then, lost it
completely as he saw the irritation in Khushi's eyes. He grabbed her wrist and
pulled her to him, making her crash on his chest, "No but I did...so get the
point!"
Khushi inhaled sharply as the statement met home. Her eyes widened in
surprise as the found the blazing ones of his. They had so much fire, so much
passion in them that she felt weak to her knees just by looking at him. His
face was so close to hers, his breath fanned her face. His jaw was ticking,
stating plainly he was beyond annoyed this time and somewhere, in the back of
her mind, a voice was warning her about the last time he had been this riled
up. The memory of his lips crashing on her burned into her mind, completely
engulfing her as they both stood, breathing heavily, shivering against the cold
wind that was blowing. Thunder boomed far in the sky and Arnav chose to break
the agonising silence between them, "Why?
Khushi gulped. She freaked out completely as she realized she perfectly
understood in what context he had asked the question. Uncannily, somehow, they
were connected and could read each other perfectly. That unnerved her to no
ends. Even though she knew what he meant, she decided to play smart, "What?"
Arnav gave her an odd look, confirming her theory of reading each
other, but he still asked his question anyway, "Why do you run away from me? Do
I intimidate you so much? Why can't we be friends?"
"I am not sure whether what is going on between us can be called
friendship," she said meekly, trying hard to pry him away from her and her
life. She had had enough of suffering already and didn't need more to shatter
her heart.
He made an aggravated noise, "come
on Khushi! Why do you have to be so stubborn about everything?"
Her head snapped up at the comment and the demure Khushi took a
backseat, "look who is talking... I am stubborn?"
"Yes, you are..." Arnav said smoothly, "you are so stubborn that even
though you have noticed me staring at you like an idiot you chose to avoid me."
A gasp escaped her lips before she realized her mistake. He knew it? He
knew she knew? How did he know? He seemed so concentrated on getting himself
not caught by her, how did he notice the knowing? Shit!
"Are you surprised?" he asked, his voice unpredictably benign for
someone who was ready to steam a few moments ago.
Her silence was enough to answer his questions. His hands found her
face as he cupped her chin and angled it so that she stared at him, "I notice
everything about you. I am not an idiot to believe what you want me to believe.
I knew long before that you knew. Yet you chose to be indifferent. Why?"
Khushi struggled to escape from his grip but his hands found hers once
again and he twisted them behind her and held in it with his hand while the
other crept back to her chin, tilting it upwards so that she had no escape,
"answer me..."
"Can we please not have this conversation?" she begged when she
realized she was out of ways to escape him and simply wanted nothing more than
to avoid this confrontation.
"No..." he said resolutely, all the while staring at her with his
molten chocolate eyes. They were absolutely captivating.
"Please..." she begged again.
"No. I want to know what is bothering you," he said simply, "I want to
know why you act so unconcerned about me when we both know that is not the
case. You observe me exactly the way I do. So suck up your attitude and answer
my question. What about me makes you want to run a mile away even though half
the time you are busy staring at me, trying to analyse me."
"I don't stare..." she whispered. Arnav scoffed, "oh please, Khushi
Gupta. Try using your lies on someone else. Not me."
"I don't want to answer anything," she said again, harshly and tried to
escape from his clutch again, but the hold just got stronger. He was staring at
her with such intensity that she forgot to breathe. She was practically
plastered to him, with no space between them even for air. Her eyes met his,
once again and got lost.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thunder boomed again and lighting accompanied it this time. The
troubled, lost souls just stood there, staring at each other when it began to
rain. Even though drenched to skin, Khushi didn't feel the cold as the warmth
from the man holding her was enough. Oddly enough, this moment reminded her of
the first rain dance she had shared with her Rinnie back all those days when
they first learnt dancing. She was eight. He was twelve...what days they were.
The memory was enough to trigger her emotions and without her
realising, her tears mixed with the rain water as they flowed down. It was
raining so hard that it was almost impossible to tell that she was crying yet
somehow, he knew. His thumb rubbed her eyes as he posed the question, again,
"what is bothering you. Why do you always run away from me."
She had no answer. She just knew she wanted to stare at the heavenly
eyes of his forever. She just knew she wanted this because she felt home in his
arms like she did the night they both shared a kiss. She knew somehow that this
was meant to be.
"I don't know..." she whispered, in spite of herself, "I don't know...
I really don't know but I do know that I can't run anymore."
He smiled, a genuine heart warming smile, "then don't..."
"I guess I won't..." she whispered again, standing on her toes to reach
his forehead and angled hers against it.
Arnav closed his eyes in sheer bliss this moment brought to his
troubled heart. Her head against his symbolized something very deep. The way
Chippu met his forehead after the first dance. He smiled as left her hands and
moved apart. Khushi looked at him, questioning, as he extended his hand, "can I
have the pleasure of a dance?"
"There's no music..." she whispered.
"You don't need music when you dance with all your heart," he whispered
back, extending his hand again. She smiled slightly as her hand met his and he
pulled her to him, again and they began to waltz around the lawn, with the rain
water and the thunder providing them with music. It felt so perfect, so
magical, so pure that she didn't protest even a heartbeat this time when his
lips met hers in a slow, languid, full of emotion kiss.
She didn't know how long they stayed there, neither did Arnav. Time
stopped as the two childhood sweethearts met again against all odds and even
though they didn't know at the moment what the other was to them, they revelled
in the presence of the other. The burden was finally off their hearts. They
truly had become close to each other...
PRECAP:
Feels good...to be talking my heart out...
You should do that more often...
Stop staring at me like that...
I cant...you are too beautiful to take my eyes off you...
How did you like today's update? I didnt want to include anything else...because it would become too much...simple yet effective :D Do leave your comments :)
Your reaction
Nice
Awesome
Loved
LOL
OMG
Cry
Continue Reading next part >
Comments (41)
🥳 cant wait to read further!!
9 years ago
I'm a new reader of this story And I'm do excited about this story line Can't wait to read further
9 years ago
Updating on 3 December
9 years ago
Amazing and wonderful update😊
9 years ago
Hey I PMed you to read this story long ago. And you replied that you will read it soon. 😛I know i have a sharp memory :P
9 years ago
First of all, how did I miss this story? This is one amazing piece of work. You really have done a wonderful job! This is a master piece👏Coming to the story, Arnav & Khushi's characters are what I love the most in this story. their minds are in a turmoil, yet the way both reacted is completely different. But the way both came together slowly was beautifully written, and I was totally glued to it.The other characters are well penned down, especially, Lav, NK and akash's ones. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story with us 🤗I read the chapters so far in one go, and I loved it a lot! And I'm pretty sure that I will love the future updates even more❤️Eagerly waiting for the night to continue😉Update soon😉
9 years ago
I have noticed your write up a note before update and in some of them you have said there are very few likes and less comments Your story is very very good and it has lots if potential to grow in so many direction it's very strong story line ... But I really hate my self right now for saying what I'm going to after reading such a good story but ... It'll be 2yrs in few wks from the first time you posted the prologue .. Readers understand you have personal life and lots if other commitment plz don't mind my saying .. But some people kind of fall out of the flow due to the length of time in between updates ... Unlike me I just started reading two days ago and finished it in one go but ..You have 30 amezing parts here for usI'm truly apologizing if this offended you in any way 😕
9 years ago
Very very was in story line I just loved readin all the parts in one go I can't belive I didn't know about this story before Any ways ... I just loved your writing style and the plot .., but I have one question .. How come Anjali is married to Vinay .. Aren't they supposed to be cousin ... Or is it allowed from where they are from ... I feel sorry for akash that he isn't one of the three musketeer ... I like the relationship Arnav share with NK and Lavnya ... So Arnav and Khushi was together and closed sence they were born ... But Arnav was adopted first? how did he agree to live Khushi behind.. So the orphanage was demolish by Vinay was after Arnav was adopted or how did he came in too Anjali's life .. Cuz I read that Arnav helped Anjali came out of grief of her parents death .. And after he became Raizada ... I'm confused about Arnav ... Arnav was there when the building was demolished and he ran away just like other kids did? Cuz that's how sashi had found Khushi right ? I can't wait till Khushi finds out that Arnav is her Rinnie ... I just loved her attitude and spunk ... It cracks me up whenever this two comes face to face ... I just love this time they are having in the jungle ... And Chris is like a dream come true for a friend ... And diya is just so amezing ... I even line Anjali here who is sticking out to her brother over her husband ... So it was Shyam who Anjali was seeing before and Vinay gat mad ... And now it's Shyam again who is after diya and had hurt akash just like he had killed Anjali's parents ... Why don't they tell Arnav that why Vinay did what he did .. That this guy had killed his and Anjali's parents who was from that orphanage .. It don't justify vinay's action but Arnav need to know the whole truth and not the half truth .. Half truth is more deadlier ... For it Anjali's and vinay's relation is strained .. And Arnav hates them ..Pl pm me And update more plz
9 years ago
part 30awesome dear...excellent...Arnav's voice made her fall in the water...and Khushi too is so equally affected by him...Arnav is smart...wow finally indirectly hi sahi they have told their feelings and accepted it too...lovely...cont soon dear...
9 years ago
I found this story yesterday I just finished reading all the 30 parts now and it's 2:30am here .. So I'll write up my thoughts tomorrow :-) now off to sleep
9 years ago