Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Gosak, Here We Come!

Khushi sat on her bag and tried to zip it. But her clothes spilled out from the other side once again! She pushed all her stuff to the centre of the suitcase, patted it down and tried zipping up the suitcase again. This time she emerged victorious! Thankyou Devi Maiyya! I can now go far away from that obnoxious creature who goes around by the name of ASR, she scowled.

Khushi took one last look at her bedroom and apartment with moist eyes. "I will miss you" she whispered, "But not you" she said in a hurt tone to her special bed. "You don't belong to me anymore. Soon they will take you away to that rakshas'smahal (demon's palace)! I hope you enjoy your stay there!" she said with a sarcastic smile.

She dragged the suitcase out of the apartment and locked it. She checked her watch. The hired cab would be arriving in five minutes time. The only problem was that the lift was not working. She had called Ramlal Guardji to carry her suitcase downstairs. Why was he taking so much time, she frowned.

Let me call Neha in the meanwhile she thought and dialled Neha's number.

"Hey Neha, I am all set to go.Please ensure that the showroom people remove the bed from the apartment."

Neha spoke at the other end, "Okay. Take care Khushi ! And please do rethink your hasty decision of marrying NK !"

Khushi sighed and disconnected the phone. She did not want to get into another argument with Neha.

She was lost in thought when an angry voice grazed her ears like sandpaper, "Where the hell are you going?"

Khushi turned slowly and came in contact with a pair of burning eyes and flaring nostrils and a grimly set jawline.

"What business is that of yours Mr. Raizada?" Khushi said irritatingly, wondering why he did not just let her be.

Arnav covered the short distance between them in one long stride and grabbed her upperarms in a tight grip.

"Don't talk to me like that Khushi and what is this latest Mr. Raizada thing?"

Khushi hissed, "Chhodiye humme varna... (Let me go or...)

"Varna? (Or?) What what will you do?" Arnav smirked tightening his hold on her.

"I will scream!!!" Khushi retorted, her face red with anger.

"Go ahead!" Arnav challenged her with a glint in his eyes.

Khushi opened her mouth to scream and Arnav immediately clamped down his hand on her mouth, and said through gritted teeth, "You drive me up the wall Khushi ! I had come here to tell you not to go anywhere unless I have all the information of Shyam's whereabouts. He is dangerous you know. But talking to you is utterly useless! I have piles of important work and I am wasting my time with you!"

Khushi brushed away his hand from her parched lips and shrieked her temper soaring, "Mr.High and Mighty Raizada who asked you to come here in the first place? Did I ?"

And then stepping away from him she grabbed the handle of her heavy suitcase and started dragging it down the stairs. The suitcase tethered precariously at the edge of the stair and landed on Khushi's foot with a loud thud !

"Ouch!" yelped Khushi. Arnav jumped to her rescue but Khushi glared at him to halt in his tracks! She balanced the suitcase against her legs and leaned against the bannister. Then with renewed determination she tugged at the handle again!

"Stop it, Khushi!" Arnav cried out alarmed. "You will hurt yourself badly! Look, let me carry it for you, okay?"

And before she could answer in the negative he lifted her heavy bag easily and started walking down the stairs! Ten storeys of them!

Khushi stared after him and as a thought struck her she smiled to herself ! That khadoos Laad Governor had come to stop her from leaving and now he himself was carrying her suitcase to the waiting cab ! Mazaa aa gaya Devi Maiyya(Good fun, DM) !" Khushi chuckled in glee.

They had almost reached the bottom of the stairs when Ramlal Guardji came sauntering towards them. He saw them and exclaimed,

"Arrey Madamji! Main to aapka bagwa lene aa hi raha tha! Bechare sahib to paseeney paseeney ho gaye!" (Oh! Madam I was just coming to pick up your suitcase! This poor gentleman is sweating profusely!)

Arnav wiped the sweat from his brow and cocking his head to one side remarked sarcastically "Really? I thought the guards in this building are perennially on leave!" Were you at another wedding this time?" Ramlal's jaw fell.

Khushi admonished Arnav, "Don't be mean Mr. Raizada!" Then she turned to Ramlal and seeing a fuming Arnav from the corner of her eye, deliberately laced her words with sugar when she spoke to the guard, "Achha, now that you have come Ramlalji, please keep my bag in the car standing outside." The security guard happily snatched the suitcase from Arnav and hurried towards the car.

Khushi turned to Arnav. He had taken off his coat. The white shirt clung to his sweaty body outlining every muscle of his broad shoulders and hard chiselled chest. Khushi tried to suppress the sudden passion that rose in her body mixed with a sense of loss for having to let go the man she had inadvertently fallen in love with!

Arnav sensed the change in her mood and advanced towards her with a pleading look in his eyes. Khushi backed away till she hit the wall.Arnav continued to move closer till there was just an inch between them and said huskily,"You don't want to go away from me, do you Khushi?"

She memorized his brown eyes, the scar on his eyelid, the slant of his nose, the stubble on his angular jawline and said in a sad voice, "Yes I do or you will continue hurting me." And with that she pushed him away and ran towards her waiting car.

As the car started on its journey to Gosak she let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, clutching her heart which was still dhak dhaking with the close encounter with him.

"Forgetting him will not be easy. But I will do it, Devi Maiyya," she said aloud in a soft but determined voice.

The phone rang. It was her Babuji.

"Khushi bitiya are you on your way to Gosak?"

"Yes, Babuji." Then abruptly she said, "Babuji pleased don't tell NK or his family about my decision now. Just let me come to Lucknow. Anyway, I want to talk to Amma, Buaji and Jiji first."

Shashi Gupta sensed his daughter's unease once again and said calmly, "Achha bitiya. Khush raho." (Okay dear, be happy.)

Khushi disconnected the line with a heavy heart. She had left behind her past. Her future was awaiting her in Gosak and Lucknow.

Her heart warmed up instantly as she stepped out of the car. Children of ages two to twelve were staring at her with eager eyes and welcoming smiles. "Didi aayi, didi aayi (Sister has come) !" they chanted.

A tomboyish looking woman with very short hair, bright eyes and a huge grin made her way towards Khushi. She extended both her hands in greeting and grabbing Khushi's hand said, "Welcome to Gosak, Khushi Gupta. I am Shalini Sood. Everone calls me Shaila. I will be leading the NSS team on Malnutrition Among Children. I will introduce you to your other team members. I hope you will enjoy your stay in Gosak. "

Khushi nodded her head and winking at the children she followed Shaila to a makeshift camp. There she met her other team members, Tasneem, Nandini and Rohit who were also students of her age. They seemed nice and Khushi was happy to meet them.

She was eager to immerse herself in work and forget that rakshas (demon) as fast as she could! So when the rather plump Nandini approached her with a report she was preparing, Khushi agreed to help her immediately. Nandini and Tasneem took Khushi to her tent which she was sharing with the latter. It was clean and had all the basic amenities and Khushi nodded her head in approval.

"Hey what have you packed in this suitcase, boulders?!" A cheerful voice rang out behind them. A lanky boy of her age was dragging Khushi's suitcase towards the tent. Only a few hours back another man with dark angry eyes had carried her suitcase ! Khushi shook her head. No she would not let him enter her thoughts and turned her attention to Tasneem who was saying,

"That is Rohit. Since he is the only guy in our team we treat him like a donkey." Tasneem grinned at Khushi.flicking back her beautiful long hair.

Shaila who had joined them, rolled up her eyes and digging her hands in her jeans pocket said in a matter of fact voice, "That's what men are anyway...donkeys and fools."

Khushi suppressed a smile and said apologetically to Rohit, "Sorry, the suitcase is rather heavy. There are tonnes of things I couldn't leave behind, like my Devi Maiyya's murti, jholas, mojris, my gotewala suits, chanas...the list is endless."

Shaila thumped her on the back."You seem an interesting character Khushi. I am glad you are in the team."

From the moment he had seen her car moving further and further away from him, a sinking feeling had bogged down Arnav. He had a sleepless night and his insides were still in turmoil when he went down for breakfast the next morning at theRaizada mansion.

Anjali was sitting at the breakfast table chirping excitedly on the phone. She finished her call and turned to her younger brother, "Chotte Nani is feeling better and wants to go to one of the nearby villages and help the village people again, like she usually does. I too will make some contribution from my charity fund. Is that okay, Chhote?

"Di, the money is yours , do whatever you feel like, why do you ask me everytime?" Arnav sighed.

Suddenly an idea struck him.

Di, Aman has found out that this village called Gosak is not very far from Sheesh Mahal. Why don't you concentrate on that place. And since it is so close to Sheesh Mahal Nani can always take rest. I don't want her to strain herself, you know. And I can also visit both of you easily."

Anjali smiled at her brother lovingly, "Okay, no problem. How much you care for us. Gosak it is, Chhote!"

Arnav hugged his Di and walked out of the door with a spring in his step "Round One might be yours, Miss Gupta but Round Two will be mine! Getting away from the Raizadas is not so easy, Khushi Kumari Gupta! What will you do now?!" he smirked.

Hey friends, do press the Like button😃, that is, if you liked the chapter😃 and please leave your comments while you are at it!😃 🤗