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Chapter 40

-Archi-

@-Archi-

Hello,

I'm here with the next chapter! I know i'm two days late, but hey - it's better late than never

Thank you for all the wonderful comments! I'm glad you guys enjoyed reading ArHi romance just as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Silent Whispers

-CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT-

The Small Things

"Thank you so much for coming man! It was nice to finally meet the girl who managed to steal your heart - for good."

Khushi smiled warmly in response, while Arnav shook his head and said, "Stop ruining my reputation Arjun - the media is in a desperate need of gossip these days."

Arjun laughed. "Aren't they always? I'm just surprised you even found her. I mean looking at your track record, I was convinced you would forever be alone and single."

"At least it was better than your nonexistent one."

Arjun grimaced. "Easy there. It's my wedding."

"That was me being easy."

Khushi sighed. It was a waning Saturday night in Delhi where she was attending the lavish wedding reception of Arnav's close friend, Arjun Basu. Of course, when he had first invited her to the function with him, stating that the latter will murder him if he showed up without a date, Khushi had refused point blank. She hated weddings, let alone appearing in one as Arnav Singh Raizada's girlfriend.

But when had she ever won an argument against him?

After endless bombardment, she had no choice but to relent. To her great surprise, however, Khushi found the party quite enjoyable. Arjun and his newly wedded wife, Shruti welcomed her warmly, while other guests kept up a continuous string of never-ending stories about Arnav in his college days. By the time they had to leave, Khushi had collected enough ammunition against him to last her for a lifetime.

"Sorry to interrupt," Khushi breaking up the two men, both snickering at a joke she missed. "But what do you mean by "track record"?"

A mischievous smile lit up Arjun's face. "Oh, you only had to ask."

"Time for us to go," Arnav cut in, snaking his arm around her waist.

"You have my number right?" Arjun jokingly asked her.

Khushi grinned and gave him a thumbs-up as Arnav firmly led her out of the reception hall towards the entrance of the seven-star hotel.

"Well that wasn't suspicious," she said sarcastically, after he instructed the valet to bring his car.

Arnav winked shamelessly in answer. "Some things are meant to be in the past. Besides, haven't you heard enough stories about my life at Harvard already?"

"You were the one who forced me come here, remember?"

"Yes, I do. But I'm starting to reconsider that given how rivetingly you got along with Arjun."

Khushi smirked. "Jealous?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Liar."

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Are you kidding me? The guy is married. Why on earth would I even think about being jealous of him?"

They were interrupted by the arrival of his sleek black BMW. Khushi waited until they were safely speeding away from the hotel, before replying:

"Marriage means nothing. Look at the man who gave birth to me."

"Khushi," Arnav said, seriously. "If I had to rank all the people I know based on their likelihood of cheating, you wouldn't even be on the list."

She looked at him, not following his point.

"An alcoholic's son will never drink," he explained. "The same way a cheater's daughter will never cheat on someone - they know too much about being on the other side."

Khushi felt oddly reassured to hear that, even though it was nothing but an objective comment.

He pressed on: "But more importantly, I know you won't cheat on me because there is nothing another man can give you that I can't."

She scoffed. "Oh please! Don't even think you are perfect."

"Of course I'm perfect! You don't have a single complaint against me."

"In what universe?"

He glanced at her rather serious face. "Okay, let me rephrase - you don't have a single valid complaint against me."

"Let's start with the obvious then - you are cocky as hell."

"Not if I have a solid reason to be."

"Name one thing that can possibly justify you being a stuckup?"

He looked at her, his eyes almost on fire. "I have you."

A jolt of electricity shot through the air. Khushi felt her stomach knot as an unnatural heat settled in between them. Unable to keep his scorching gaze, she turned away to stare at the empty streets.

Arnav cleared his throat. "Any other complaints?"

"You don't pamper me."

"Excuse me?"

Khushi grinned, knowing that she caught him off guard. "You don't pamper me," she repeated. "Like you don't say nice things to me, or send me romantic messages or pretend that I am the best thing that happened to your life... in short, you are not boyfriend material."

He snorted. "I just introduced you to all of my closest friends as the love of my life. Do enlighten me birthday girl - what about that is not boyfriend material?"

"You took me as a date to a friend's wedding. So what? That doesn't mean anything."

Arnav hit the brakes; they had reached her house. "How doesn't that mean anything?"

How was it time to go already? Unwillingly, she stepped out of the car. "Because everyone takes someone to weddings simply for the sake of saving themselves from sheer boredom."

"I highly question that," he replied, following suit. "But fine. Just tell me what will mean something."

"I don't know... you work it out."

"I'm not the one raising doubts on how good of a boyfriend I am."

She ignored his jibe and simply kept walking to her porch, fishing for her keys in her too full of a purse. Her fingers had just closed around them, when she felt Arnav's hand on top of hers. She halted in her steps and looked up, confused.

"Did I tell you how stunning you look tonight?"

A small smile spread across her lips. "If you are trying to make up for your lack of boyfriend skills, then let me tell you, it's working."

He was deaf to her comment. "If I knew you would look this good in a saree," he murmured, running his hand along the length of her face. "I would definitely pay to get my hands on more wedding invites."

"Trust me Arnav, you wouldn't have to pay anyone for a wedding invite. They would give it you for free."

He cracked a crooked smile and wrapped his arms around her, pushing away the unnecessary space in between them. And just like that, he was suddenly leaning in, sealing her lips with his. Khushi felt her body seize up in a feeling so foreign that she was almost knocked out of her breath. She felt her free hand climb up into his perfectly combed hair, while her mouth opened to his advances.

"I love you," Arnav whispered when they finally broke apart, heaving.

She felt her cheeks burn with desire. "And you know how to a kiss girl goodnight."

He didn't reply, watching her with an unknown passion through his long lashes. It was the first time in almost six months that Khushi felt it - the burning they shared only once before when they kissed in his office late one night. And even though their love was no longer forbidden, it pulsed with more fervor than she had ever known.

* * *

"Shyam?!" Anjali exclaimed, sitting up from the covers of her bed. "What are you doing here?!"

Shyam grinned in answer and walked inside her thankfully clean room. "Meeting you."

She stared blankly at him. It was an unusually quiet Saturday evening in Shantivaan. Arnav was out attending a friend's wedding, while Devyani, her grandmother, was visiting their old haveli in Lucknow. And as much as she wanted otherwise, Anjali had no choice but to remain in her room, being under strict orders for complete bed rest. Her leg, apparently, wasn't healing as well as it should.

"You didn't think I would leave you here all by yourself, did you?" Shyam continued, stopping in front of her bed.

"I don't know what other choice you even have. My leg has been in this stupid cast for three months."

"Which is why, you need a change of place."

Then without warning, he scooped her up into his arms as if she weighted ten kilos instead of sixty, and began to walk out her room.

"Shyam!" she called, shocked. "What are you doing?!"

He didn't answer.

"I'm serious! What-" She broke off, upon realizing he had turned towards the staircase that led up to the terrace. "Why are we going to the terrace? Put me down! You will get hurt-"

It didn't matter. Before she could even get all the words out, they stepped onto the grand rooftop of Shantivaan; at least whatever was left of it.

"Happy anniversary Anjali," Shyam murmured, watching her expression closely.

She was dumbstruck.

The terrace was decorated beautifully with countless candles and sparkling fairy lights. A cozy red mattress covered in cushions was pushed against the wall while a big TV stood in front. Lying next to it were two plates and a few parcels of food.

"You did this?" she whispered, slightly recovering from the surprise.

"Well, I had some help from Hari Prakash."

Anjali couldn't believe her eyes. It was one thing to know you had a good companion, but it was a whole other to know that he loved you.

"What are we even celebrating?" she asked, once they settled on the mattress and served themselves dinner.

Shyam raised an eyebrow. "You forgot?"

She averted her eyes. Truth be told, she had lost track of time being under house arrest. Every day was the same: wake up, be bored and go back to sleep. Her brothers had taken the doctor's orders so seriously that she wasn't even allowed to walk two steps to the bathroom without someone being present to help her. Her accident was becoming more cumbersome than she expected.

"Six months since the day we met," Shyam answered. "I thought you could use a little celebration."

"I'm sorry," she replied, ashamed for forgetting such an important day. "I didn't know we were keeping track."

"We aren't. I was just looking for an excuse to spoil you."

Anjali smiled.

"How did you plan all of this anyway?" she asked. Having finished dinner, they were curled up on the cushions, attempting to watch a movie.

"Meeti told me she and Arnav were going to a wedding reception. So I figured you would be alone."

"I keep forgetting how sneaky you can be."

He grinned. "I'm lawyer sweetheart... it's kind of-"

"-your job to be sneaky. I know. But how did you convince Hari Prakash to help you?"

"It's surprising what people can do to see someone they care for happy."

She understood that only too well. "I should tell Bhai to give the poor guy a raise. He works too hard."

Shyam laughed. "I may have already tipped him off for arranging all this on short notice and that too without your brother noticing. Of course, it was another thing that it took him forever to accept it..."

She wasn't surprised. The servants of Shantivaan were very faithful to their employers.

As they settled into a comfortable silence, Shyam engrossed in the movie, Anjali gazed at the twinkling stars in the clear night sky. It had been weeks since she stepped outside the four walls of her room. She felt she had placed enough burden on everyone without asking to be wheeled around the house just for a change of atmosphere. But in her haste to cope with her sudden disability, she hadn't even realized what she was missing.

But Shyam did; he somehow understood what she needed before she did herself. So, hours later, when he gently carried her -half-asleep- back to her room, she murmured:

"Don't leave me. Ever."

* * *

"Finally," Khushi muttered, slamming her laptop shut with excess force. "Stupid report!"

It was a busy evening in RKG Fabrics, which despite the hour was packed with employees. With the month soon approaching its end, Khushi found herself hard pressed to finish endless sales reports and inventory counts. It was both mundane and tedious. To make matters worse, the company's server caught a bug that apparently was unfixable. While the IT department scrambled to fix the issue, she was forced to do most of the work manually, which did nothing but add to her stress levels.

Needless to say, Khushi was beyond relieved to finally pack up for the day. She was looking forward to a nice long shower and a warm dinner cooked by Jaya.

No sooner than she stepped out of the building, however, Khushi's plans for the evening fell away without a warning. Leaning on his signature black SUV was Arnav, sleeves rolled up, hair ruffled in and sunglasses covering his eyes. He looked nothing less than magnificent under the setting sun. And just like that, Khushi's tiredness vanished as she ran up to him, positively beaming.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Arnav opened the front door and pulled out a glorious cup of coffee.

"For me?" she said, hazily stretching out her hand.

He smiled. "For the unnecessarily long day you had."

She didn't even know what to say. And like always, it seemed he didn't need one, for he simply kissed her softly on the lips before opening the door to the passenger seat. She got in without another word.

"Where are we going?" she asked, when he turned left instead of right, heading to the highway away from the city.

"Well, since you don't seem to believe I am boyfriend material, I thought maybe I should show you that I am."

Her stomach dropped. "Show me?"

He flashed her an impish smile. "You will see."

She didn't press for details. As the ride stretched out, Khushi felt her eyes drooping as she drifted off into soundless sleep. The only thing she felt next was a gentle shake of her shoulder. She groggily opened her eyes to see Arnav's face loom over her.

"We are here," was the only thing he said, before stepping back to reveal an astonishing sight.

A vast field occupied the scene before her, spreading across acres and acres of land. The lean city buildings stood in the far left, while a dark mass of tall trees crowded the right. The endless sky was almost dark, save for a few rays of sunlight peeking from the horizon.

"Wow," Khushi murmured, sliding out of the car. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find any better words to describe the view.

Arnav clasped her hand and tugged her a few steps into the field, before dropping down to sit on the soft grass, his back to the highway they just drove off of. She followed, watching the dying embers of the sun with serenity.

"Not what you were expecting?" he asked quietly. "Of course, if you want, I am more than happy to do whatever you were anticipating earlier."

Khushi unwillingly blushed. "You are going to have to do a lot more than this if you want me to get into bed with you."

He laughed. "And I wouldn't want it any other way."

She stared at him, surprised. "You wouldn't?"

He met her gaze. "I love you. You must be tired of hearing me say that, but every time I do, it only becomes that much more apparent that it's true. I know you have a lot to work through still, but to be completely honest, I have no complaints with that because my feelings aren't going to change with yours. So, to answer your question, no, I wouldn't want it any other way because I want you to be sure of what you want before we are sure of anything."

Khushi was awed. How easily he worded his feelings as if he was simply commenting on the day's headlines! If only she could do that.

They watched the last of the sunshine disappear into the darkness, welcoming innumerous stars to shine innocently down at them, when Arnav lazily stretched out on the grass, crossing his arms behind his head to gaze up into the night. Unable to resist, Khushi mirrored him.

"I don't have my car for tomorrow morning," she said suddenly. "We left it at the company."

"And what makes you think I don't know that?"

She stifled a grin. "So tomorrow is also a part of the plan then?"

"I definitely incorporated it somewhere. So I'm afraid you will just have to wait and see."

She thought that over for a second. "I can't be late to work."

"I know."

When she didn't receive an elaboration, Khushi resumed looking at the stars, recalling his words from before with inexplicable glee.

"It's not a lot you know," she said, casual. "The things that I have to work through. It's actually very little."

"Tell me then - maybe I can help."

"That would defy the point of me working through them alone."

He didn't reply.

"But I think it's safe to say that my feelings won't change either."

She could almost see the corners of his mouth pull up.

"So basically," she concluded, turning on her side to face him. "What I really want to say is that I will never mind hearing you say "I love you", even if it is a million times every day for the rest of my life."

A smile brighter than all the stars combined unfurled across his handsome face. And for the rest of the night, it was the only thing Khushi could keep her eyes on.

________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you guys continue to like this side of Arnav and Khushi! There were originally supposed to be a few more scenes, but the chapter was already so long that I had no choice but to push them off to the next one.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Archi

P.S. - Chapter 39 will be up in a week, give or take a few days