451974

Chapter 54

-Archi-

@-Archi-

Silent Whispers

-EPILOGUE-

Five Years Later

"Someone once said to me that artists need to look soulful, so that their audience can connect with them instantly. At the age of twenty-four, this was the deepest advice I had ever received. It had moved me so much that I started sporting a beard, truly believing that I completely looked the part of a soulful artist. My best friend, who fortunately is eating her husband's head right now in London and not mine, told me I looked nothing less than a chimpanzee."

The crowd laughed.

"So I shaved off the beard and adopted the quintessential angry young man look, thinking that mystery at least will intrigue people enough to view my art. My other best friend thought I was suffering from an early mid-life crisis and even booked me an appointment with Delhi's best psychiatrist."

There were more chuckles from the listening audience.

"Frustrated and mostly desperate, I even tried living as a nomad on the streets, hoping that I can convey the toils of the lesser fortunate more authentically than any other painter before me. Thankfully, my brother intervened and after a good bashing from my baby sister, I stopped being a method artist."

The laughter continued for another round.

"I won't bore you much longer with endless stories of my struggle to reach here, and trust me they are endless, but suffice to say, I have finally learned what it takes. And it's not the looks, attitude or technique. No, in the end, what matters is your heart, because a painting straight from the heart doesn't need luck, connections or advertising. It can shine even without the sun. And thankfully, by this point in my life, I had enough sense to marry the girl who taught me that."

Cheers followed that statement. Akash grinned at the crowd in front of him, and caught a blushing Payal's eye before saying with finality, "Of course, I don't deserve the entire credit for tonight. There are a bucket load of people I have to thank for making this dream come true, but they all know who they are, so I won't tire you with all the names. But I do want to thank all of you for taking the time to come here and see my work. I hope it's much more impressive than my speech."

And with that, Akash stepped off the dais, where numerous photographers instantly surrounded him, all asking for a pose.

Arnav smiled proudly, as a wave of nostalgia hit him. He could still remember bringing home his brother and sister from the hospital the day they were born as if it was only yesterday. And today, they had both grown so big. While one was finally presenting his first ever painting collection, the other was well on her way to be the city's biggest interior designer and not mention, having a baby of her own.

Should his parents be there, he knew they would have been extremely proud.

"Sir?"

Arnav blinked, and saw a waiter offer him a tray of drinks. Picking up two glasses of champagne, he scanned the crowd, searching for the pair of almond eyes that to date never seized to enchant him. He found her standing in a corner, arguing furiously with someone on the phone.

"-no, Ayan, I don't care what they say! We are sending the shipment tomorrow and if I get a single complaint about the material from the client, then god save you and your team!"

Arnav shook his head in exasperation and gently tapped his wife on the shoulder. Khushi looked up, surprised, and signaled him to wait for a minute. He obliged without complaint, wishing he could make the lines on her forehead disappear.

"I don't want to hear any more excuses," she snapped angrily. "I didn't hire you to tell me about problems. I hired you to fix them. So, fix the issue now or come collect your termination letter tomorrow."

And with that, she hung up the phone and took a glass of champagne from Arnav, downing it in one go and then reaching out for the other.

"Should I ask?" Arnav said, watching her in amusement.

"No, don't. I don't want to re-live the sheer stupidity of my staff! I clearly hired a bunch of idiots. Were they always this dumb or do I expect too much? This is the third time he is calling me, telling me there might a problem with the material! Like seriously? Why does he always figure out something is wrong with the material one day before the shipment?! But whatever. I am done with this crap. I am firing him first thing tomorrow morning. Enough is enough!"

Arnav decided to interrupt. "Khushi, you can't keep firing your staff."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do? They don't give a damn about this company-"

"Of course they don't. This is not their company; it's yours. So stop having unrealistic expectations."

"What do you mean unrealistic?" she fumed. "It's common sense I am asking for! I knew how to make a business plan long before I became an intern. But these idiots cannot even figure out the existing plan, forget about making a better one!"

"You were a special case and an unrealistic one too."

Khushi narrowed her eyes. "I was the best damn intern you ever had. Accept it."

"You were an annoying intern birthday girl," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I spent more time savaging your ego than teaching you."

Her mouth dropped open in outrage. "Shut-up! I did everything you asked me to do without a single mistake and more!"

"Exactly," he answered, unperturbed. "You were a know-it-all and no one likes a know-it-all."

"That's because everyone is jealous of a know-it-all."

"So they may be, but my point remains. If I kept standards like you, half the people in A.R. would have been fired ten years ago."

Her shoulders fell in disappointment. "I know... but it's just so frustrating! I am trying to expand the company and all everyone does is try their best to bring it down."

"Take a deep breath... your company is doing beyond well. Now are you going to keep brooding or will you come take a look at the paintings?"

"Do I have a choice? Akash will murder me if I don't. How was his speech by the way? I heard a lot of laughing."

"It was well done I think. It had the right amount of humor, sentiment and point. Did Lavanya really call him a chimpanzee when he had the beard?"

Khushi laughed, remembering the incident in question. "She did, but she was also very drunk and it was her reception party. Akash took it way too personally if you ask me."

"Well I am glad he did," chimed in a new voice.

They turned to see Anjali waddling her way towards them. Despite being seven months pregnant, she was perfectly balanced atop three-inch stilettos. Arnav shook his head, wondering how on earth Shyam let her leave the house with those.

"God I hated that beard. I celebrated for a week when he shaved it off the day after the reception."

"How are you feeling?" Arnav cut-in. "Is your blood pressure under control?"

Anjali gritted her teeth. "Yes Bhai! For the last time, I don't have high blood pressure! It was just that one time."

"That's not what your reports say. Is Jaya adding less salt to your food?"

"Leave that poor girl out of this. You scared her off pretty bad already!"

"I am just trying to be precautionary."

"Yes, I know. You and Shyam both! I can hardly breathe between the two of you."

"Well that's my baby girl you are carrying," said Shyam, who just joined their conversation. "We can't take any risks."

Anjali frowned. "For the last time Shyam, it will be a boy."

"We have been through this before Anjali. There is no guarantee it will be a boy."

"And there is no guarantee it will be a girl either!"

"Yes, there is-"

"Oh please, don't bring up that stupid superstition again-"

"I am just saying, if you look at all the evidence, it is very clear that-"

"This is not court Shyam! I am the one carrying the baby remember? I know it's boy!"

Arnav decided to interrupt. He had enough experience with his sister's heightened hormones to know that the argument was soon going to with her tears. "Okay relax, both of you still have two full months to contemplate about the gender of the baby."

"But Bhai-"

"Anju look, Akash is calling you."

Sure enough, Akash was waving for their attention. It seemed he was giving a journalist a tour of his collection. Shyam smiled in understanding, and winked at Arnav, thanking him for the distraction.

"Oh lord," Anjali groaned, completely oblivious to the exchange. "He wants me to tell that story about the ferris wheel. I told him not to include that painting in the collection!"

"Why not? It's sweet!" Khushi said.

"It's not sweet when you keep getting asked about it a hundred billion times!"

Nonetheless, she began shuffling her way through the crowd, Shyam protectively in tow, leaving Arnav alone with Khushi once more.

"Who do you think will win? Bhaiyya or Anjali?" Khushi asked, watching them with an endearing smile.

"Shyam will."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because fathers always know," he replied simply.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. You are just supporting Bhaiyya now to make way for yourself when it's our turn."

His heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she had said anything about having a child. He had always just assumed it was a no, given how rough her own childhood was.

"See, you are not even denying it," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"There is nothing to deny baby," he replied with a wink, his heart swelling at the thought of having a mini-Khushi running around Shantivaan.

"Okay fine then, tell me oh-great-fortune-teller, who will we have first? A boy or a girl?"

Arnav laughed and wrapped his arm around her bare waist, courtesy of the sheer red saree she was wearing. Ever since he had let slip how much he adored her in them, she wore sarees everywhere she could. It was both torturous and appealing.

"How about we give it a try now?" he whispered in her ear. "And we will know in nine months."

"I am serious!" she muttered, though her cheeks had turned a nice shade of pink.

Arnav let his shoulders fall in mock disappointment. "We will have a girl."

"How can you be so sure?"

"We will have a girl," he replied pointedly looking deep into her chocolate colored eyes. "Because we are going to name her Garima."

Shock flitted across her face. "Garima?" she whispered in awe.

He nodded. "Maybe then you will resist the temptation to make jalebis every time something important happens."

A look of indignity covered her eyes, but there was no point. She couldn't stop the smile spreading up her face, as she too was filled with the idea of having her mother back with her. She regained her composure with the shrill ring of her cell phone.

"Rude Mr. Raizada. My jalebis are delicious and you know it. Maybe I will invest in a halwai shop... obviously my business is not going to run much longer with these bunch of idiots working for me. Look- Ayan is calling me again!"

Arnav quickly slipped the phone off her hands and answered instead. "Hi Ayan, I am sure the world is burning down right now, but trust me there is nothing my wife can do about it this very second. So why don't you call her first thing in the morning instead?"

Then without even waiting for a reply, he ended the call and sweetly handed her back the phone. "It was nothing important," he added with an innocent grin.

Khushi stared at him in disbelief. "You are impossible Arnav... he probably wanted to update me on the shipment!"

"Exactly, nothing important." When she didn't appear to relent, however, Arnav leaned down and pecked her lips. "You know you can't be pissed at me for too long Mrs. Raizada, so why do you even try?"

She bit her lip.

"You promised me tonight," he reminded fervently. "So let's go make Akash and Payal happy as quickly as possible and get out of here."

Then slipping his hand into hers, he began walking towards his brother, when she said, "You know something?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Arnav's heart quickened. This was probably the millionth time she had said it, he had lost count after the hundredth, but every time he heard it, it was just as exhilarating as the first.

"I love you too... to the moon and back."

____________________________________________________________________________

Three years, fifty chapters and god know how many words... it has been an incredible journey. Thank you all for sticking to me and this story. I hate that this is goodbye, but all of you know how addicted I am to this crazy couple called Arnav and Khushi, so fikar not, I will probably have another story cooking in my head by this time tomorrow .

Lots of love, hugs and kisses

Archi

P.S. - I still want to know what you thought about the last chapter and the whole story, so do this girl a favour and leave a comment below

-Archi-2017-02-13 20:50:33

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Comments (19)

not to be revealed @ihtruda

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Awesome.. matured writing

2 months ago

0 0 Reply

SoniRita @SoniRita

+ 40

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Love love love this FF. I hope you write more in future.

1 years ago

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SoniRita @SoniRita

+ 40

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Khushi came a long way in this FF. What growth she had wow. She owns her own company now. And is married n wanting to have a baby too wow

1 years ago

0 0 Reply

SoniRita @SoniRita

+ 40

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You are really talented writer. You have a way with your words. Your characters it feels like we r actually seeing them live. You created amazing characters esp ASR, Anjali n Shyam in this story.

1 years ago

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