Chapter 62

shrattila

@shrattila

Hello Everyone

Tired and exhausted. With the book almost complete, I feel as if a big part of my existence over the last if finally leaving me. I know it's been a long journey and I've performed numerous disappearing acts but to the ones who stuck around till the end, a big Thank You.

I need help with two things - editing and promoting the work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to leave your comments and please follow me on Wattpad to continue reading my work.

Thank you all once again.

Love

S

58

This is the last and final call for passengers flying Alitalia Airways AZ 770. Please proceed to the boarding gate.

Khushi rushed towards the boarding gate dragging her hand luggage along. The flight coming in from Milan had been delayed by an hour, allowing her to barely make it to her connecting flight to New Delhi.

The announcement boomed again. Alitalia Flight AZ 770 for New Delhi is now boarding. Passengers kindly make their way to the terminal.

Her steps picked up pace. She ran faster. She didn’t care about the weird looks she received as she constantly bumped into other passengers in her rush to get to her flight. She could not afford to miss the flight. Her family needed her. They had been there for her when she needed them the most. It was her turn to repay the debt.

*****

It was two hours since the flight had taken off. Khushi had already refused the first round of food that had been served. She could barely eat or sleep. Her thoughts kept oscillating between the situation at home and what she had left behind in Milan.

It was midnight past midnight and Arnav was still not back. How did Khushi know? Because she had knocked on his door every fifteen minutes since the clock struck 9. Her mind continuously replayed his confession, her heart unable to decide whether it should be angry at his audacity, indignant at the way he chose to express his feelings or happy that her emotions were reciprocated. At midnight, all those feelings had been replaced by fear. Arnav was not responding to phone calls and text messages and no one knew where he was. What if something had happened to him? She cursed herself. If only she had talked to him. She went back to her room, intending to check back in another 15 minutes.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, absently scrolling through the apps on her phone, Khushi heard a door close. ASR was back. He behaviour was irresponsible and she was angry.

Marching upto his room, she forcefully knocked. When the door didn’t open, she continued banging on the door. “Open the door Arnav or I’ll keep banging till you do!” On her third rap, the door opened and a disheveled Arnav greeted her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked worried, gently pushing him into the room. She checked his forehead and was relieved that he was not running a temperature.

“Did you eat something?” she asked pouring him a glass of water and picking up the phone to dial room service.

“Khushi, why are you here?”

His question startled her. She put the receiver down.

“What do you mean?”

He looked sad and defeated. “Leave me alone Khushi. I can’t take much more of this.”

“Much more of what?”

“This. Your kindness. I don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve it.” Clutching his head in his hands, he looked desperate and vulnerable.

Suddenly visions of ASR in his three piece designer suit, forcing her to become his mistress crossed her mind and she smiled. Unknowingly she had turned the tables and brought him to his knees.

She crossed over, sitting beside him, she freed his hand and held it between two of her own.

“If all you want to know is my boyfriend’s name, you simply need to ask.”

He looked at her, pain, anguish and desperation evident in his eyes. Without his realizing, she had become his anchor, her presence calmed him, her soothing touched calmed him. He hated her tears. Through his pain he smiled. His karma had finally caught upto him. For the first time he wanted something for himself, but he had ruined it all.

“Go on, tell me”, he said wistfully. “I deserve it. I deserve to know in no uncertain terms that you don’t want to have anything to do with me.”

And because he couldn’t face her when she spoke, he got up and poured himself a generous splash of whiskey.

“It might be better if you sit down,” she told him tentatively, biting her cheek to hold back her smile that was threatening to ruin the charade. He obliged, taking a large gulp of the searing liquid to help him through the pain he knew would follow the confession.

She walked upto him, sitting right next to him on the sprawling sofa, turned her face and whispered in his ears. “I love you too dammit!”

Arnav looked at her in disbelief, his glass arrested midway in the air.

“Khushi”, he said, unsure of what she’d said, what he’d heard. She got up to make her way back across the room, when he tugged on her hand and she landed softly on his lap.

“Khushi”, he whispered, his eyes glittering with relief and unshed tears. “Say it again, please.”

She didn’t. She instead gently turned his face towards him and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. He had his answer.

The dam broke. And emotions he never felt he was capable of experiencing came gushing forward. He held her, rubbing her hands, placing soft kisses on her forehead, eyes, along her jaw bone, her ears, her neck. She angled to give him better access. He threaded his fingers through her luscious hair taking in the its revitalizing orange-ginger scent. Her inexperienced hands roamed freely through his hair while he bombarded her being with tittilating sensations.

He looked up, their eyes briefly meeting. She knew the look in his eyes. She was sure it mirrored hers. And so she conceded, placing a soft kiss on his lips. That was all the encouragement he needed. He bit her lower lip, coaxing her to open up to him. She sighed, and he entered her mouth, tongues fighting to dominate one another, speaking a language only their souls could understand. They separated, gasping for breath, foreheads touching each other, only to come together again. Arnav moved away from the mouth back to her neck, making his way back to her forehead. Having overcome her initial shyness, Khushi held his head in her hands and was about to kiss his forehead, when her phone rang.

Startled, she got up and ran to her phone, putting the much needed distance between them. Arnav chuckled at her innocent behaviour and went to pour himself yet another drink. What had begun distressingly had turned into a celebration. He smiled, a full fledged smile that for the first time reached his eyes and turned to look at the wilful girl who’d changed the course of his life’s direction.

What he saw instead was Khushi, her face drained of all colour.

Without another word, she simply left his room.

*****

“What the hell, Khushi”, he exclaimed, ten minutes later as he entered her room. Her actions had left him perplexed. He stopped, when he saw her thrusting her clothes and things into her suitcase. The anger he felt a minute ago was replaced by concern.

“What happened Khushi?”

When she didn’t respond, he gently forced her look up and repeated.

Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and she suddenly lunged forward, hugging him, crying. “Babuji”, she whispered.

“Calm down”, he told her, pushing her suitcase aside to make room for the two of them to sit on her bed. “Tell me what happened.”

“I need to go back immediately, Arnav. Babuji has had a heart attack!”