Chapter 5

The drive to Delhi was going to be a long one. He had bought a car seat for Shaila and had strapped her in giving her some toys he had also bought for her. When Khushi got into the back rather than the front with him, he felt anger rising, he clenched his fists in an attempt to control it.

"Khushi what do you think your doing?"

She looked at him emotionlessly but said nothing.

"khushi...who do you think I am? I'm not your stupid driver...get in the front!"

"Mr. Raizada...I'm sitting with my daughter...I don't care what you think of yourself" she spoke defiantly.

He couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her out...he seemed to ignore her protests when his grip was too tight.

He pulled her and sat her in the front and despite her many attempts to move out of his hold...he held her rigidly. He was much stronger than her. After forcefully strapping her in, he moved to his own seat. Through this whole episode, Shaila was too busy amongst her dolls and had noticed nothing.

It was a tense drive with the constant mutterings of his daughter and Khushi's lack of speech and emotion. She looked out the window and even though he turned his gaze towards her every few minutes, she never looked at him once. His gaze fell to the harsh hand marks on her arms and then it hit him...he had so roughly pulled her in here. He had hurt her once again. Dammit. DAMMIT. DAMMIT. He slammed the steering wheel causing a hesitant Khushi to look towards him. He continued driving with his gaze set on the highway before him.                 He had a tensed expression on his face and looked on the verge of tears. When the slightest water like drop appeared at the corner of his eye, khushi resisted the urge to wipe it off.

She looked back towards the window before doing something stupid and giving into her silly fantasy. Why? Why did she still care for this man? After all he had done why couldn't she hate him? He hated her and made that clear to her whenever he possibly could but why...why couldn't she? She tried so much but her stupid, nave heart would always beg for him.

A few hours in Shaila began to get restless and soon after let out a full fledged wail. Arnav looked at Khushi unaware of what to do. Khushi looked back at him with fire in her eyes. He gulped,

"Uhh Khushi what does she want?"

"She wants to be fed"

"The give her some food"

"She already ate"

"Then why is she still hungry?"

"Mr. Raizada...she wants to be fed by me" she tried saying as vaguely as possible. How the hell was she supposed to explain to him? Didn't he know that this two year old still breastfed? Yes she ate other food now but still...how was she supposed to tell him?

He looked at her confused. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"By her mother..."

After still not understanding, khushi sighed heavily.

"Stop the car" she said to him

"WHAT THE HELL KHUSHI? Why would I do that?" Im not letting you leave!" he shouted

"I NEED TO FEED HER! ARE YOU STUPID? IM NOT LEAVING ANYWHERE!" she shouted back at him.

And finally...it occurred to him. He mentally slapped himself and brought the car to a halt so Khushi could get in the back with their daughter.

"Don't worry the windows are tinted." He said to her. She nodded.

She got in the back and took the wailing Shaila out of her seat. She sat her in her lap and was about to adjust her kameez so she could lift it up but then she suddenly remembered...he was here. How was she supposed to do this now? She looked up at the rear mirror and saw him staring at her.

When he noticed she wasn't doing anything he spoke,

"Khushi hurry...Shaila is crying"

"I can't...not when your there"

Arnav was furious. " OF COURSE YOU CAN. YOU ARE MY WIFE DAMMIT."

"No Im not" she whispered

He couldn't have this conversation right now. He sighed and spoke more calmly.

"Well...Khushi your going to HAVE to feed her so I don't know...do something"

Khushi sighed...she knew he was right. She had to do something.

She took her duppata and wrapped it around herself and the baby. Thankfully the dupaata was a heavy material unlike her usual flimsy, see through ones. She had covered herself up successfully and now fed her baby.

Arnav watched this to much amusement whilst also trying to keep focus on the road. Once Khushi was done, she set a peacefully sleeping Shaila back in her seat and remained in the back.

"Khushi come to the front" Arnav said quietly when he noticed khushi was still at the back. When khushi didn't reply, he said more calmy.

"Khushi...please. Just come to the front" ...she looked at him through the mirror. He didn't get angry! What?? They continued to look at eachother through the mirror and then he said something which surprised her immensely.

"I-...Im...im sorry for pulling you earlier. I was too harsh" he said to her.

She was stunned to hear him apologizing to her. She had not expected this. And before knowing what she was doing, she willingly moved to the front seat earning the most gorgeous smile from him. She forced herself not to smile back at that most contagiously stunning smile which made him look so young and happy.  Somewhere deep in the burrows of her heart, a light started glowing. A ray of hope had shined on that dull part of her heart and caused it to light slightly.

She looked at the window once again. Soon it was nearing 2 pm and they had been driving for almost 6 hours. She realized there were still 2 hours left of the drive. She sighed inwardly. The she remembered how Arnav had driven there and back and then the same the next morning last night when he came.

She had to ask...how?

"Mr. Raizada...how did you drive to and from Delhi and back last night? I mean it's a really long drive"

Arnav was even surprised to hear her talk to him.

"Uhh...umm I didn't. I stayed a hotel nearby. I couldn't leave" he said after some time, once the shock had turned down.

She nodded and looked away back at the window thoughtful. After a while he spoke,

"its Arnav...not Mr. Raizada" he said while looking at her

Khushi looked at him but turned around again without saying anything. He continued staring at her but was interrupted by a loud growling noise. KHushi looked down at her belly flushed. Arnav had to suppress a chuckle but couldn't help smirking.

He stopped at highway side gas station and got some snacks for them. Once inside the car he passed the bag to Khushi who hesitated at first but then with the next growl of her stomach, she decided to eat whatever was in there.

Finally the last two hours had passed and Arnav was parked in front of a large 5 star apartment building. Khushi let out a sigh that she had been holding for almost the past 10 minutes unknowingly. Arnav looked at her and knew this would be hard for her considering what had happened.

He shook his head as to get rid of the thoughts. After passing through security and checking in, Arnav led them to the room and held a still sleeping Shaila in his arms while a bellboy dealt with their luggage. He unlocked the room and let Khushi enter

(Can't upload the photo of the place...it's on the blog for those of u who wanna see. www.arshiforever123.wordpress.com)

She walked in awe and gasped at what she saw. It was beautiful. It wasn't just the plain balck and white she was expecting but it was cozy. It had a homy feeling to it which Khushi loved more than anything. Though she decided to hide her appreciation in front of Arnav who was closely inspecting her reaction. He went into a room which was more colorful than the rest of the house and had a crib. He set his daughter down lovingly in the crib and left the room to where Khushi was. She was still secretely admiring the place. He smiled.

"Do you like the place Khushi? First I asked Aman to arrange a hotel but then I changed my mind and brought you to AR apartments. It was already furnished but I asked Aman to personalize this room according to your liking. He did a pretty fast job"

Khushi smiled to herself but Arnav noticed it. As she went to tour the rest of the apartment, Arnav took off his coat and made himself comfortable on the couch and turned on the tv. Khushi came back into the room and was surprised to find him there sitting as if he owned the place...which he technically did. But still wasn't he going to go home?

All work copyrighted by arshiforever123. Do not copy..