Chapter 38

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34

Akash & Khushi.

Akash AND Khushi..

AKASH AND KHUSHI...

!!!!!!!!!

Had the Raizada women gone out of their mind?

Arnav paced around his room restlessly as he waited for Khushi's call. He had called her right after the revelation of the sacred plan of his Di and Nani. She had not been able to talk and had told him she would call back once she was alone. And it had been half an hour since then. She had not called yet and with every passing minute, Arnav's feeling of devastation was intensifying more. He was not sure what exactly he was feeling. Shocked, outraged, frustrated, panicked .. scared? Why did it seem as if the whole universe was plotting against them being together ever since her return to Delhi?

First, it was her gluey boss. And now his own crazy family. Why couldn't they just leave them in peace? Why were they after Khushi? Didn't they have anything better to do?

Aaargh!!!! Arnav punched his own hand. It was high time he made it clear to the world that he and Khushi were together. He had never bothered about what the world was saying about him and his companion. Every time he had walked into a party with a woman in his arm, the press had gone mad speculating. He was well aware of the ample coverage of his relationship with Lavanya. He had never cared. Interestingly, none of the women had complained too. They had often gushed on the publicity or were highly concerned of the quality of the printed image; most of the times, as they would claim, the images did not do any justice to their apparent beauty. No discussion had ever been done beyond that. Also he never had bothered to explain anything to anyone.

Arnav was well aware it would not be the same with Khushi. She was not like the models or the socialites he had been paired with previously. The interest from press or the public would affect her. And perhaps he, more than her, cared about protecting her image. It mattered to him what she thought about the publicity. Or her family. And he did not want anyone to have any wrong idea about her or her relationship with him. They had been careful about keeping their relationship a secret till now without any discussion but it was time they talked about it. With Khushi, secrecy of their relationship came naturally, without any conscious thought. But now, with Khushi so much in demand, he was even ready to hold a press conference, if needed, and declare Khushi off-limit to the rest of the world.

For now, he would tell his family about them in the morning, he decided. He knew they would start pestering him immediately to get married but he was more than ready to deal with it than seeing them planning the decoration of Akash and Khushi's suhaag raat. And he would tell Khushi to drop a hint to Abhishek. If that did not work, he would be more than willing to tell that touchy-feely guy to back off.

The ringing of his phone stopped him in his track. He checked the screen and sighed a breath of relief. He slumped on his green recliner as he received the call.

"What took you so long?"

The impatience in his voice took Khushi by surprise and it made her feel good too. He was waiting for her. This was not new anymore; yet it always spread a feeling of warmth across her. She felt .. needed, wanted, desired .. waited for .. if not loved.

"Buaji and I were just catching up." She replied smiling.

"Oh!" Arnav paused. "You want to call later?"

"Nope. I'm already in bed. Buaji is fast asleep I think."

"Oh."

Khushi waited for Arnav to continue. Since he remained silent, she probed.

"You said you have something to talk about?"

"Hmm. Yes." Arnav paused. "You invited Di and all to your sister's wedding."

"Yes." Khushi frowned. "Any problem with that?"

"No. No problem. It is just that they are very excited about it."

"They are? So am I! It will be so much fun to have you guys attend Di's wedding."

"You have not invited me."

"You need an invitation?" Khushi asked incredulously.

"What made you think I will attend Payal's wedding uninvited?"

"Oh." Khushi paused, a bit taken aback.

Did Arnav mind that she invited his family? Should she have asked him first? Was he offended? Or did he not like the involvement of his family with her?

Khushi's heart sank slightly.

"Arnav .. I am sorry .. I .. I should have asked you first.."

"Forget it." Arnav brushed the topic off. He had something more important to discuss. He was not sure how Khushi was going to react but he had to do it. It was the best thing to do. For all of them.

He took a deep breath and gathered up his thoughts.

"Khushi.. would you like to get married to Akash?"

"What?" She sounded confused as if she had not heard clearly what he had said.

"Akash. My brother." Arnav explained patiently. "Would you like to get married to him?"

The question was followed by sheer silence from her side. Arnav waited with anticipation for her reaction and he finally heard her after an eternity.

"Arnav Singh Raizada."

Her voice exuded such chillness that Arnav instinctively sat tight on his recliner.

"If you are trying to be funny, let me tell you that that was the worst possible joke you could have made. And if you meant it, I have only one thing to tell you. Go. To. Hell."

Arnav was not surprised that she hung up on his face.

Khushi mentally threw her phone away, smashed it on the ground, stomped on it and then kicked aside the remnants in a far, far corner of the room. Well, it was very much uncharacteristic of her to be so destructive even when her blood was boiling with anger. So she sat silently on her bed, fuming and mentally raising a ruckus around her room hoping to have her temper cool down but only in vain. What the f**k was Arnav trying to convey? Only he could spoil her mood with such lameness after a wonderful evening. Was he joking? How could he sound so serious if he was joking?

Her phone buzzed.

"What??" She barked and her voice did not have the slightest hint of anything but resentment and anger.

Arnav sighed.

"We agreed never to hang up."

"Really? That is what you expect me to remember after you ask something so stupid?"

Arnav sighed again. He was just trying to make a point. She could have waited for his explanation before unnecessarily reacting like that. Women!

"Hear me out first, Khushi. There is no need to get so mad."

"Right!" Khushi sneered. "So tell me. Which date and venue do you have in mind?"

Arnav could feel himself being slowly worked-up. He was not really famous for being patient, especially against unreasonable tantrum. He decided to go straight to the point fearing he would lose his temper any minute and things would only worsen as a result.

"Nani and Di are planning to ask your hand from your parents. For Akash."

"Great. And you seem super happy about that."

Arnav swallowed down the rising annoyance.

"No." He replied patiently. "I am not happy about that and I think it is time we stopped people from dreaming of getting you married to any random guy. Unless .. you are interested."

"Oh." Khushi's voice suddenly mellowed. She paused, a little taken aback.

"Yes. Oh. Do you get it now?"

"Yes." Khushi replied slowly and paused for a while.

"Arnav, you really need to learn how to start an important relationship conversation. Your business communications skills are rather detrimental to the health of our relationship."

Arnav silently echoed her last sentence once and he could not but smile. Well, perhaps it had not been the right way to start. Still she should not have reacted that way.

"Hmm. Perhaps. But you too should stop drawing conclusions so early."

"Well, I choose to believe I was not wrong but given it is you' we are talking about here, I will try to be more compromising next time."

Arnav smiled and wondered if it was possible for him to have a conversation like this with anyone else. Well, no. No one dared talking like that to him. No one. Except his family - his Di, Nani and Maami. Khushi had somehow made her place into that special list silently and effortlessly. And it felt good.

Damn he loved her.

Arnav sighed in contentment.

"So what do we do about it? I tried telling them that you would not be interested but I don't think that would douse their enthusiasm."

"What did you tell them exactly?"

"The truth."

"What truth?"

"That you love someone else." Arnav said matter-of-factly.

"Oh."

Arnav could bet blush had crept up her beautiful creamy cheeks. He wished he was there to taste the mix of the warmth and softness. He could feel the sudden rush of excitement to certain parts of his body. He straightened. Control, Arnav! Not now.

"Well.." He cleared his throat. "Since they did not believe .. I was thinking of telling them the name of the man you love."

"Arnav .." Khushi protested meekly.

"What?" Arnav asked bemused. "You want to tell them yourself?"

"No! Is it .. is it necessary to tell them?"

"What else do you suggest?" Arnav mocked. "They talk to your parents and your parents happily give their consent?"

"They will not agree without consulting me."

"Ok. Then we let them talk to your parents and then you deny? That does not sound bad."

"But this will not be fair to your family." Khushi sighed. "We should not let it go that far. I guess .. you better tell them."

"That you love me?"

"Arnav!" Khushi protested again. Arnav smiled knowing she was blushing again.

"Ok. Let me deal with them. I just wanted to know if you are okay with me telling my family about us. I will figure out what to say."

"Okay." Her voice was still meek with shyness.

"Now discussion number two."

"There is more?"

"Yes. And I will go straight to the point this time." Arnav said seriously.

Khushi laughed. "Go on."

"I think Abhishek wants to marry you."

"What??!!" There was nothing but pure shock in Khushi's voice.

"Yes. I am sure that is what he wants and so I think we have to do something about him too."

"Come on, Arnav! There is nothing like that. Abhi has no such intention."

"He does."

"No! Give him a break, Arnav. I guarantee you .. you don't have to be worried about him."

"He follows you around everywhere." Arnav's voice rose a bit.

"No, he doesn't!"

"He DOES. Stop defending him. And he is always poking his nose into your business. Where you are going .. how you are going .. what does all this have anything to do with him?" Arnav did not try to hide his irritation.

Khushi halted as she could clearly read the frustration in his voice. He seriously thought Abhishek was interested in her and he was not happy about it. Men and their possessiveness! Khushi smiled a little. Even Arnav Singh Raizada could be unreasonably jealous and whine about it. The thought was .. rather amusing.

She decided to be patient.

"Arnav. Trust me when I say this. Abhi just cares as a boss and a colleague. There is nothing else. I am alone here and in a different city and as his employee, I am his responsibility. So he is just concerned about my security and well-being. He does not have any other agenda and I have not seen him making any inappropriate gesture till date. So stop worrying."

"Have you seen me behaving that way with any of my female employees?" Arnav charged.

Khushi smiled.

"You and Abhi are not same, Arnav. Well .. you are generally not a very friendly person. I am sure you would agree. Your leadership style is different from Abhi's. It is not that you do not care for your employees but you'll probably never personally interact. That's ok. But that does not necessarily mean Abhi has personal interest, right?"

"I don't like him." Arnav declared stubbornly.

Khushi smiled again.

"Ok, baba. Don't like him. But trust me, at least. A woman understands very well when a man is interested in her. And I am telling you .. relax."

"Do you know his parents are looking for his match?" Arnav tried building his case.

"No. But I am not surprised. He is a bachelor and the right age. So it is very natural for his parents to want him to get married."

"What if they want you to marry him?"

"What else? I will decline."

Arnav was still not satisfied. He had no idea how deep was the root of his insecurity. The fear of people trying to separate them had his reasons blurred. And the feeling of panic did not go. What if, somehow they managed to take her away from him? The thought terrorized him so much that he started to feel dizzy.

"Khushi." His voice had an urgency that was impossible to miss. "Can we make ourselves .. public? I would like to take you to some event or we can just make an announcement .."

"You should know that I have no issue with the whole world knowing about us." Khushi said sincerely. "But .. I really don't want to trouble Amma and Bauji. It will not be good for them .. especially .. if .. when .. we go our separate ways .."

"We will not separate." Arnav declared sternly.

Khushi smiled. "Perhaps. But you do know what my family will expect, right? You can probably handle your family. They probably value your opinion too much. But I cannot do that, Arnav. My values and my family's values are the same and when I know their expectations are valid, I cannot play with that."

Arnav sat helplessly not knowing how to respond. He knew very well what Khushi was referring to and he hated how the topic had been smoothly diverted to that uncomfortable zone.

Khushi understood his dilemma.

"Mr. Raizada." She joked. "Don't blame others for wanting me to see as a bride. I am that beautiful. So get used to it."

Arnav could not laugh. Neither could he find the right words to reply. She was beautiful. And more than anything else, who knew better than him, how admirable she was. Abhishek was just one guy. His family was just one of the many families. She was right. There were probably more to come.

Khushi could almost understand his thoughts.

"But yet, you don't need to worry, Mr. Raizada." She assured him. "Because, despite everything, I love you only."

"I love you, too." Arnav's whole being screamed but his voice failed him. Why was it so difficult to say the three simple words? They loved each other. He wished only that were enough.

As Arnav lay silently on his bed after few hours, he was in a better state of mind. They had changed topics and continued their phone conversation for another hour. It had not only helped him relax but also had cleared his mind. He had realized going public was not an option. And also he had realized that with Payal married, Khushi would face family pressure for marriage besides the obvious interest from the potential grooms and their families. And all these meant, his peace of mind was not to return too soon. And he had no intention of bearing indefinitely the tension of losing her any moment to any random guy. And he wanted her for him only. Forever and always.

So.. hell with everything. His fears. Her values. His inhibitions. Her convictions.

Damn, she was right.

"We all are scared of losing Arnav. But one day you will get past that fear. And despite the possibility of things getting wrong, you would want to marry me .. That is the day you will know you love me."

Arnav's lips quirked into his most beautiful smile.

"I love you, Khushi Kumari Gupta. Absolutely."

-Reviewed By: Ritz (iritz) & Dips (bs_deeps)