Chapter 5

ShikhaKhushi

@ShikhaKhushi

He caught her from behind and pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on her neck. She [jewellery] giggled and tried to free herself but he only tightened his arms around her and flicked his tongue hungrily on her skin, making her shudder and shrink against him, her eyes falling close as his fevered desire enclosed itself on her too. "Someone will come," she whimpered.

"Let them," he whispered hoarsely, trailing a hand over her bare waist. She sighed and fell her head back on his shoulder to give him more access. "I have missed you." He turned her around brutally but without hurting her and slowly started to untie the back of her blouse. She gasped, her eyes wide. "Arnav! Not here! There are so many people downstairs! And do you even realise we had just finished a puja?" He laughed and nipped her earlobe. "I don't care! I want you, right here, right now. They are downstairs, not here in your room, and you know how much I believe in this stupid stuff. Why did you lure me up here, then?"

She pouted and shook her head. "No. Leave me right now. I didn't lure you up here, mister, you followed me. Please! Mamma asked me to fetch the chain she had told me to keep so that Bhabhi would not see it before the puja. It's her birthday gift. Let go before someone comes looking for me!"

His face fell in feigned disappointment and he dropped his arms to his sides. Giggling, she pulled his cheek and walked away to open her drawer, but he caught her again, flush against him, his eyes gleaming with mischief. She gulped, nervous from the closeness, while he brushed his lips against her jaw-line briefly and she felt the back of her knees go weak. She bit her lip to prevent herself from moaning and gripped his shoulders for support.

When he pulled away, he did not kiss her as she had wanted and expected but his eyes were drugged with promises that she could only, for now, imagine. He gave her a mysterious smile and released her before leaving the room. Khushi stared at herself in the mirror, taking minutes to recover. A grin erupted on her face when she realised his trick; Arnav Singh Raizada had dazzled her momentarily just so he could tie the dori of her choli back...

***

She sat up violently, gasping for air. Her vision was blurred and her brain a mess, but she could find herself. And now that she had found herself, she needed to find him. Half-grinning, half-weeping, she leapt out of the bed, Garima Gupta and Anjali held her at once.

"Khushi!" her mother chided gently as she tried to bring her back to rest. "Don't get up like that, gudiya. You just fainted. How are you? Where are you going?"

All she could do was smile. "I have to see him now, Mamma!"

***

He looked as dishevelled as her when he opened the door, his tie loose around his neck and the first button of his shirt undone, his hair messy, his eyes tired and sunken. He must have just gotten back from work. She bit her lip hard, feeling her eyes water. She had missed him so much it made her whole being ache. How could she ever have forgotten this man? He frowned at her confusedly and his lips parted wordlessly as he tried to say something.

"You have been avoiding me," she rasped, her throat burning with suppressed tears. His face hardened and his eyes went darker. He thinned his lips and looked away from her. "What are you doing here?"

She sniffed and inched closer. "I came to find some answers."

"I told you I cannot help you, Khushi," he spoke without looking at her. Her sigh forced him to drag his eyes back on her and she caught a glimpse of his shattered soul before he could hide it. "You have to remember yourself."

Khushi inched closer yet. "I... I remember..." she whispered, dropping her gaze to his lips. "I remember this..." Raising herself on her tip toes, she gently pressed her lips against his and slid her arms onto his shoulders. Her eyes were closed but she felt him stiffen. She was scared he would push her away but he didn't. He didn't kiss her back either. He stayed there, frozen in indecision. When she pulled away, his eyes were wide and flooded with emotion. He stepped away and looked down.

"You don't remember everything, Khushi. If you did, you wouldn't be here." A lone tear made its way out of the corner of his eye, down his cheek, into his stubble, but he wiped it with his fist before it could touch his jaw. "Go away, Khushi. And don't ever come to see me again, because I deserve only hatred from you but I won't be able to see that in your eyes for me."

She frowned, hating the distance he was putting between them. "Why?" she crossed the threshold to stand in his apartment, closer to him. "Why should I hate you?" His hands balled into fists at his sides. Anyone could have thought he was getting angry, but she smiled. Knowing Arnav, he was most probably fighting with himself, trying not to give in to the temptation of touching her. "Because I hurt you in the worst ways possible," he breathed painfully, still refusing to look at her. "I broke you heart and your trust so much you stopped caring for your own life."

Khushi snorted. "You know what? You are right. You broke me completely," he looked up at her in surprise. "I told you, I remember everything, Arnav Singh Raizada. When you did that to me, I wanted to hate you so much. But I could not. I couldn't even forget you. I thought that going away would help but it did not. There was nothing in Africa that scarred me as bad as you did. You were like a cancer in my system, and when the tsunami was coming down on me the only person I could think of was you. Even then, I almost wished I could hate you but I realised that maybe you needed time, maybe this was all too sudden for you. But then, I did not have time."

"And today, when all of it came back to me, I still wanted to hate you... but then, I remembered your voice... It was you. You kept dragging me out of that darkness, you were asking me not to die, you wanted another chance. As much I wanted you hate you, Arnav, I could not because you loved me too much for that. I can't live without you but I cannot die either. I have to be with you! Whatever it, takes, I need to be with you." She furiously wiped the tears off her cheeks as he gaped at her with something incomprehensible. "It doesn't matter if you don't want to marry me, Arnav. I understand that commitment scares and I will never ask for it. I'll do anything you say. Just don't leave me, please. I beg of you."

His hands instantly flew to her face, cradling her cheeks. "What are you doing? I should be the one begging to you. Stop doing that. I'm so sorry, Khushi. I was so scared. Sometimes marriage changes a lot in the love two people may have and I was not ready to lose that with you, but I don't want to lose you, most importantly. I'm really sorry. I have been an idiot. The biggest idiot ever..."

A ragged sob, and she pulled him down by the collar to kiss him again. This time, he wrapped his arms tight around her and anchored her to him, kissing her back as if tomorrow would never exist. She came up for air with a big grin. "I feel like I have just woken up after sleeping for ages," she laughed breathlessly. He smiled at her sadly, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned to rest his forehead against hers. "Me too, Khushi. You cannot imagine how static and dead my life can be without you. I cannot afford that again. I can't afford losing you again. I need you to be mine, in every possible way."

"I am already yours," she ran her hand into his overgrown hair, but he shook his head firmly. "Not officially. Who is at home, at your place right now?" Her brow knitted together in confusion. "Papa, Mamma, Dada, Bhabhi, your parents... everyone..." He nodded and released himself. He went inside his room for a few minutes, while she stood there, not quite understanding, and he returned, looking neater, with his car keys. He took her hand and pulled her out to his car without saying anything.

"What are you doing?" she wanted to know.

Arnav paused to smile at her. "I am doing things the right way and staking my claim on you. I am going to ask for your hand. I want to spend every remaining day and night of my life with you. Is that fine with you, Khushi?"

In response to that, her eyes filled up and she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He smiled, letting his tears flow, and held on to her, promising himself he would never let go again...