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Chapter 137

rulama

@rulama

[MEMBERSONLY]

[NOCOPY]

(Thanx a million, Naughtymallu!)

FINDING KHUSHI

Part 35

Lisa fumed at her agent, Ashok Batra.

"How dare they?" she bit out.

Batra looked at her impassively.

"How dare they cancel my contract? I will show them..."

"That might be slightly difficult." Batra said. "No one is willing to hire you."

"What...? How...?"

"Apparently you were your nasty self to a certain Khushi Kumari Gupta who is all set to be Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada...?" Batra asked.

Lisa's mouth fell open. "That..that rotten upstart!"

Batra smiled. "The next time you speak your mind, maybe you could ensure that you are not doing it to the honewali wife of ASR and the new friend of Anamika." he said with relish.

Lisa fell into her chair. "What on earth...? I was gone for a few weeks and..."

"The world turned topsy turvy. Especially your world. No one will employ you, Lisa. Absolutely no one." Batra smiled, not hiding his glee.

Lisa jumped up, grabbed a vase and threw it at the wall.

Batra looked at the tiny smithereens of glass, water, and scattered flowers on the floor with no particular change of expression. He was used to this and more.

Lisa picked up her phone to call ASR.

"ASR is supposed to be waiting for your return." Batra smiled.

Lisa looked at him uncertainly.

"By the time he is done with you, I will have to scrape you off the floor of his office." he said, his cheerfulness unabated.

Lisa spit fire at him.

Batra smiled. "If anything is left over, Anamika will take care of that. Right now, you have been blacklisted from the modelling circles in India. If you open your mouth further, you won't be hired to sweep floors in this country."

Lisa stared at him, wanting to tear him to pieces.

"You have three options. One, stay and starve in India. Two, stay and marry some rich fool, if you can find one. Three, go abroad and start anew."

Lisa screeched, the sound piercing Batra's eardrums.

Batra stood up. "I have e-mailed you my resignation."

"Get out!" Lisa threw a paperweight at Batra. He ducked. He had lots of practice at it. The paperweight hit a mirror on the wall and cracked it.

"It is always a pleasure to obey you!" Batra chuckled as he left Lisa's flat for the last time.

Arnav walked into Buaji's house in Laxmi Nagar, and was greeted by the sight of Buaji and Amma dancing to Fevicol Se. He stood still, staring at them.

"Arnav babua, daro nahin, Nandkisore! We have not become mad by staying with Sanka Devi for years. We are practising for your sangeet tomorrow." Buaji laughed.

Arnav looked down to hide his smile.

Amma chuckled. "I will bring you tea."

"And pakoras." Arnav said, smiling.

Buaji & Amma laughed. "And pakoras. Khussi made them just before she went to the kirana store for sugar." Amma said. "Did she know that you were going to visit her?"

Arnav shook his head in the negative.

"Our sanka devi has learnt how to read your mind, Hai Re Nandkisore!" Buaji laughed. "And I thought she would never grow up to know her own mind!"

Arnav stood on the veranda, looking out at the street, waiting for Khushi. It was evening. Children were playing on the street. Women were collecting water at the hand pump. Happy Singh and his men were working in the garage. Channawala and chudiwala were selling their wares, calling out to the crowd. Men and women were going to and coming from the temple nearby. He could hear the temple bells and pigeons cooing. He drew in a deep breath.

A gentle breeze was blowing Khushi's dupattas hung to dry on a clothesline on the veranda on to his shoulders and face. Arnav smiled. Wind had blown her dupatta off her neck and on to his head when they had been locked in the storeroom at his office. How flustered she had been! And how he had panicked when she had declared her intention of leaving him and returning to Lucknow. It had seared his soul. He had had nightmares of her leaving him, waking up with her name on his lips... And he had still not understood that he had fallen in love with her!

Arnav smiled at his own folly.

His mind had been filled with thoughts of one Khushi Kumari Gupta to the exclusion of everything else. His cabinet had been filled with her pearls, her resignation letter, a piece of her broken chudi, a strip of her torn dupatta... and he had still not known why he had hoarded the things she left behind, why he had obsessed about her, why he had longed to see her, why he had pushed her away when he saw her, why she had aroused such fury in him, why he hadn't been able to keep his hands off her... why seeing her crouched in his wardrobe had relieved him no end... why he had known where she was and what she was doing every moment of the day when she had been working at his house... why he had heeded her requests every time after refusing Di's & Lavanya's... why each tear that he had caused her to shed had burned a hole in his heart, why each time she had walked away from him, he had felt his breath stop... Arnav caught her dupatta in his hand, gently crushing the material between his fingers.

He looked out at the road, hoping to see her.

There she was! Khushi was walking home, a small cover in her hand, stopping to chat to some aunty who was gathering clothes from her clothesline. Arnav smiled. How could Khushi be friends with everybody? He watched her joke with the kids who were playing cricket, and then jump over the small puddle on the road with a naughty smile on her face. She waved at Happy Singh, and turned towards Buaji's house to see Arnav standing there, watching her.

Arnav watched her face light up.

"Arnavji! You got out of office early today?" She walked towards him on eager feet.

Arnav nodded, smiling at her.

She came to stand close to him, her face suffused with the joy of seeing him. Arnav swallowed. A few strands of her hair had slipped her clip, and were lying against her cheek. He gently moved them behind her ear with his fingers, touching the sensitive skin behind her ear lightly.

She shuddered. The strands fell back against her face.

Arnav looked at Khushi's open face.

"Khushi, I am sorry." he whispered.

Khushi frowned at him. "For what?"

"Khushi... I... I..." Arnav struggled to get the words out.

"You don't want to get married, Arnavji?" she asked softly.

"Khushi!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"You are feeling trapped? As though we are forcing you to do something you never wanted to do?" Her voice was mild, her expression kind.

Arnav's mouth remained open.

"It is alright. You talk to your family and cancel the sangeet and the other functions. Later, when you feel better..." Khushi offered him his freedom on a silver platter.

"Khushi!" he found his voice. "Khushi, I want to marry you. I haven't changed my mind. I want to marry you at the earliest. Now, if possible." He held her by her shoulders, scared that she would slip through his fingers like sand.

"Acha? Then why did you apologise to me?" Khushi was curious.

"For hurting you. For every hurtful word I spoke to you. For every stupid action of mine that hurt you." Arnav explained.

"Oh, that! I had almost forgotten!" Khushi said, smiling. "Did you have tea? I made pakoras hoping you would come, Arnavji."

Arnav looked at her, at his wit's end.

"Khushi, why do you think that I don't want to marry you?" he asked, trying to figure out the workings of her convoluted brain.

Khushi smiled at him. "Because happiness never lasts. At least not in my life. Just as I begin to smile, something happens to make me cry."

Arnav stared at her.

"And I am very happy now. More happy than I have ever been in my life. That is why..." Khushi paused, looking away.

Arnav caught hold of her chin, and gently turned her face towards him.

"Khushi, I promise you. We are going to get married on the 15^th, and we are going to live happily forever." he said.

She looked at him solemnly.

"Do you know why I can promise you this, Khushi?" he asked softly.

Khushi shook her head.

"Because if you leave me, I will die." He stated the truth with little drama. "I won't be able to breath, Khushi. Or smile. Or work. Or live. Without you, Khushi, life is not worth living."

Tears filled Khushi's eyes.

Uncaring that some neighbour might see them, Arnav folded Khushi into his arms, hugging her tight. Wind blew a pink dupatta over them, giving them some privacy.

Part 34: 84071760 Part 36: 84254136

rulama2013-05-30 02:48:04