Chapter 24

She landed in Arnav's waiting arms. Her breath left her in a whoosh at the impact and she stared at his face with shocked eyes.

As she watched, the soft lines of his face hardened. The tenderness in his eyes vanished and a cold, calculating light entered them.

His dangerous and focused eyes moved to her trembling lips and lingered there.

Khushi shuddered in his arms, the look in his eyes hurting her to the core.

The muscles of her tummy cramped at his touch. Lights flashed all around her. Loud gasps and the footfalls of security guards running towards them could be heard. She drew in much-needed oxygen through her parted lips.

His heart aching at the distress on her face, Arnav steeled himself to walk the next step. With force, he threw her away from him.

Khushi landed on her feet and staggered back, her shocked eyes looking at the man who had transformed before her eyes from a gentleman in to a monster.

Arnav in ASR form yanked Khushi closer to him by tugging her arm. He twisted her arm behind her and forced her chest to collide with his.

Khushi gasped, "Ar... Arnavji..."

He caught hold of the pearl dori crisscrossing her back and pulled hard.

The dori broke, scattering the pearls on the floor of the room. As the sound of pearls rolling on the floor stopped, there was perfect, absolute silence.

Khushi stared at Arnav, her eyes wide, moist. Images whirled through her head.

Sheesh Mahal at night.

She was on the rackety milk scooter. The models walking in a line on the stage. The lights were hurting her eyes... all were staring at her.

And then his eyes.

They had bored in to her, stripping her off her clothes and her skin, burning every nerve end...

Her head hurt.

She clutched her head with both hands.

"Khushi?" came the soft empathetic query.

She looked in to the same eyes.

The same eyes but different. These held a tender light and all the love in this world. The past and the present blended seamlessly to confuse her further.

"Arnavji..." Khushi whispered as she collapsed against him, her head in the crook of his neck. Arnav closed his arms around her, hugging her as tight as he could. He wished he could bear the pain for her, but...

Khushi slipped in to deep sleep, held in his arms. Arnav laid her down carefully on her bed and sat by her, watching her sleep.

Had she remembered their past? he wondered, his heart thundering away. And if she remembered, how much of it had she recalled? He would know the answer to this only when she woke up.

A couple of hours later, her eyelids flickered and her eyes opened. She looked at the drawn face of the man sitting by her.

She sat up in bed, wanting to leave its confines. He helped stand up.

"Khushi, tum theek ho?" The husky voice caressed her like a thousand loving fingers.

Khushi leaned against him.

"My head hurts," Khushi whispered. Her eyes were shut; her heart was thudding against his.

"Don't try hard to remember, Khushi," he murmured.

She lay silent against him, hugging him tightly as though he were her only anchor in the sea of disjointed memories.

A long time later, she lifted her head from his shoulder. He helped her stand and slowly led her to her chair. He too sat down.