PART 3. PLAN No. 2. HUM TUM EK LIFT MEIN BAND HO!

Khushi bit her lip nervously as she looked at the man in standing beside her. He was pensively looking ahead. Feeling her eyes, he turned to look at her and she looked down with a jerk. After few seconds, she slowly raised her eyes and looked again at the man beside her. She smiled shyly as she remembered the feeling of being in his arms. The man beside her gave her glance and frowned at her shy expression. He nudged her and looked at her curiously. She shook her head and gave him an uneasy smile. Arnav rolled his eyes and looked back ahead. Khushi pouted at his annoyance and then smiled shyly again.

Today Arnav and Khushi got out of the house at the same time to go for Office and seeing this Anjali asked Khushi to go to Office in Arnav's car instead of going with Aakash as she usually did. Arnav grudgingly agreed to take her and soon they were driving towards their Office. Many times their hands touched while Arnav changed the gear and that made Khushi remember the way she felt when she was held in his arms in the party and also in his cabin on her first day of office. And that was why now while travelling in the lift alone with him made her glance at Arnav every other minute. Through her peripheral glance, she noticed Arnav fiddling with his phone but did not take much stock of it.

Suddenly, the lift jerked into a stop and Khushi lost her balance. Luckily for her, Arnav was able to grab her. Arnav had grabbed her by her waist and Khushi felt a tremor run through her body at his touch making her heart race wildly. She turned to look at Arnav and her eyes were arrested at the way Arnav stared at her intensely. Khushi gulped nervously and continued to stare at him. Their stare fest stopped when the light went off making them come out of trance.

"Hey Devi Maiyya! Arnavji! Yeh kya ho raha hai?", Khushi whispered in worry.

Arnav patted her back in an effort to comfort her, "It is ok Khushi! Kuch nahi hua! Lift kharaab hogayi hogi! Aur kuch nahi! We will be out soon!"

Khushi nodded but every second ticking made her worry more.

Khushi's gripped tightened when the lift jerked a bit. She hid her face into Arnav's chest in fear. Arnav stiffened first and then he placed his hand on her hair which soothed her a little bit. She took a deep breath trying to calm her wildly beating heart which was now beating fast in fear. She looked up at him with fear filled eyes when suddenly the lift started moving down with racing speed. Khushi let out a wild scream and gripped Arnav's arms tighter making her knuckles turned white. If Arnav was hurt by her grip, he did not show. Suddenly, the lift stopped to jerk and the lights came back up.

"Shaayad lift theek hogaya hai! Thode der mein darwaaza khul jaayega!", Arnav told her and Khushi heaved a sigh of relief. She looked at Arnav with tears filling her eyes and then she hugged him tightly. She was fine! They were fine! Arnav hugged her back tightly, she assumed, in relief. They remained like that for few moments when Khushi slowly opened her eyes. She took a sharp breath as she realised how close to Arnav she was. Every part of her where Arnav touched her felt like it was burning in fire. Her heart thumped wildly in chest as shiver went through her body. The feelings running through her body seemed alien to her and she was unable to understand them.

The door opened and the crowd alarmed at the lift problem gathered around the door but Khushi was too lost in her feelings to care. She continued to revel in those new feelings which Arnav made her feel. They were alien to her and yet they made her heart soar and her body sing in happiness.

It was only Aakash's voice which brought her out of her trance.

"Khushi! Bhai! Aap dono safe ho! Aap baahar aa sakte hain!", Khushi pulled away from Arnav and looked at Aakash. She tearfully looked at him and then running towards him, she hugged him tightly and started sobbing. Aakash comforted her and soon Khushi was made to sit nearby by Aakash. She looked up and her eyes locked onto Arnav's eyes which were staring at her with concern and something which she could not discern.

The whole day, Khushi did not remember anything happening around her. Khushi did not remember being made to drink some water by Aakash. She did not remember being taken to Aakash's cabin to relax. She did not remember being sent home after a while as Aakash realised that she was in shock. And she definitely did not remember Paayal, Anjali and Naaniji comforting her and then sending her to sleep after feeding her. All she remembered was the look in Arnav's eyes as he stared at her and the sensations she felt when hugging Arnav tightly and being hugged by him similarly.

FIVE YEARS LATER...

"Aur yeh thi tumhaari papa aur humaari pehli Romance waali jhappi!", Khushi giggled and hid her face in her hands as her face turned red. Arushi giggled from the cradle.

Arnav smiled smugly as he looked on from behind the door. That is not the way I remember things!

FIVE YEARS BACK...

"I don't care how you do it! But I want it to happen. Jab main tumhein message karun, the lift should jerk into stop. Phir light off honi chaahiye! Aur thode der baad lift should jerk and with high speed it should come down and stop at the ground floor. Samjhe? I don't care how you do it but I want it done! Got it?", Arnav said in his phone. The man on the other side agreed to do the task as long as Arnav paid the money. Arnav talked few more minutes and then he cut the phone.

Arnav sighed as his plan seemed to be in motion. He had called an electrician who regularly serviced the company lifts to assist in his plan. Now all Arnav had to do was make sure that Khushi and he were the only persons getting into the lift. He smirked as he called Aman and ordered him to display Out Of Order' sign outside the main lift few minutes before Arnav arrived and to remove it the moment Arnav came near the lift and make sure that no one entered the lift except Arnav and Khushi. Aman was confused but knowing that asking questions would make him the target of Arnav's anger, agreed to do as asked.

Arnav's idea behind his order to Aman was that everyone would use the other lift and the main lift will be free for his plan. Now Arnav's next job was to make sure that Arnav and Khushi went to office the same time. How to do that? He narrowed his eyes thinking and then smirked.

An hour later, Arnav narrowed his eyes from his hiding place as he observed the scene in front of him. He smiled as he noticed Khushi saying her goodbyes to Anjali, Naani and Paayal. Arnav took a deep breath. Di! Please mere plan ki laaj rakhna! Arnav's next move in his plan was hinged on Anjali's reaction to his action. As far as Arnav knew, Anjali wanted Arnav and Khushi to get married and Arnav hoped that her dream will push her to do what he wanted her to do.

Taking another deep breath, Arnav walked out of his hiding place and passed by them nonchalantly. Just as he expected, Anjali asked Arnav to take Khushi with him to Office. Arnav smirked; daily Khushi would go with Aakash to Office as Arnav had early morning meetings which made him go early. But today he made sure all his morning meetings were cancelled and also made sure that him having no meetings and going to Office on normal time reached Anjali's ears by announcing it to Paayal during breakfast.

As predicted, Anjali acted just like he wanted and today Khushi was sitting in his car waiting for him to drive them to Office. As he sat by her, he noticed her hand lying nearby the gears. He smirked as another idea entered his head. He started the drive making sure that his hand touched Khushi's hand. She jerked her hand in shock and looked at him with wide eyes. Arnav noticed her reaction but did not look at her, acting as if he was focusing on driving. The whole drive Arnav made sure that his and Khushi's hand continued to touch in one way or other making Khushi unsettled and Arnav grin inwardly.

Soon they reached the office and entered the lift. He sent a message to the electrician as a signal to start the lift problem. All went according to Arnav's plan as few minutes after the plan started Khushi was very close to him. But what surprised him was the tight hug Khushi gave him at the end of the plan. He had so not expected that. Till then, Arnav was in control of his actions. Every move he made was calculated and precise. Even when Khushi hid her face in his chest, he stiffened only for moment before comforting her, but he continued to remain in control. But Khushi hugging him was totally unexpected. It was so unexpected that it made him forget all his plans and he hugged her back not even noticing the lift opening. Infact, if his brother had not interrupted them, he was sure they would have stayed just like that forever.

The next moment, Khushi was hugging Aakash and Arnav felt jealously bubble in his heart. He had to console himself saying that it was him who would marry Khushi one day. His heart swelled at the thought of his marriage to Khushi and his whole body vibrated with love for her. The intensity of his feelings must have shown in his eyes as Khushi seemed startled by what she saw in his eyes. Arnav felt hope bubble in his heart when she did not look away and continued to stare at him. The day passed with him working non stop. He attended meetings, worked on some projects, and visited a photo shoot but whenever his mind was free from work all he remembered was Khushi in his arms and Khushi staring at him.

PRECAP:

Glass on the floor! Hey Devi Maiyya! What to do?

No problem! Arnav to the rescue!

Or is this just another plan?

Thanks for reading, take care and have fun,

Kalpana

Kalpana_Writer2014-11-02 10:33:07