Chapter 2

charlotte74

@charlotte74

[MEMBERSONLY]

Distant Horizon Chapter 2

KHUSHI walked toward the stage wearing a beautiful green lehenga with a broad red and gold zari border and a matching red blouse and dupatta with gold buttas sprinkled all over. She wore gold and kundan necklace with matching earrings.

The engagement was being held in a lovey farm house in the outskirts of the city. The engagement ceremony had been completed and the dinner was already underway. The guests were seated at the round dinner tables, that were placed on the lawns.

She took the few steps to the spectacularly decorated stage and picked up a mic to address the guests.

"I would like to welcome you all tonight on the occasion of my best friend Sammy's engagement with her soulmate Anirudh – one the best guys I have ever known."

"Sammy has forced me to dance tonight and I apologize for subjecting you all to this impromptu dance performance. It is called Bahara from the movie I hate luv storys. This was Sammy and my favorite song during our high school -- I hope you all enjoy the performance."

O tora Saajan ayo tore des
Badli badla badla saavan
Badla jag ne bhes re....
Tora Saajan ayo tore des re..e..e..e

As Khushi stood with her hands extended forward, she thought she saw a figure in the shadows, watching her. She stemmed her thoughts as she often had that fantasy and began to move to the music with abandon.

Soyi soyi palkon pe Chalke
Mere sapno ki khidki pe aa Gaya
Aate jate phir mere Dil ke inn hathon mein wo khat pakda Gaya
Pyar ka...
Lafzon mein rang hai pyaar ka
Bahara bahara hua Dil pehli Baar ve
Bahara bahara ke chain tho hua pharar ve

A little later, she stood in the dressing room as she changed into a salwar suit. It had taken her a long time to find her bag in the dressing room and she hoped she wasn’t too late for dinner. She had no idea how she had sailed through the day, first accompanying Sammy to the parlour to get her hair and makeup done and then she thought of what Anjali had said the previous day. The news that she would be working with Arnav on the new project was both exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.

As her phone rang she picked it up. It was her brother-in-law Akash. He had called to ask her if she could stop by the house after the party. The phone call successfully curbed her excitement reminding her of the grave reality of her sister's predicament.

When she came back downstairs, she realized most of the guests had left. She saw Sammy waving her over and she hurried to join her. She was just about to take her seat when she was roughly yanked away by a pair of hands.

"Hey!" she flashed her eyes angrily intending to give a piece of her mind to the person and she froze. In front of her stood a tall lean man with piercing eyes. He had a beard that made him look sophisticated and thick hair that fell across his forehead. His black shirt clung to the broad expanse of his chest and shoulders. She felt warm color wash her cheeks when she realized she had noticed details about him that she normally didn’t.

"Thank God Khushi!" Sammy said, "this kid from the next table just pulled out your chair just as you were about to sit."

"Sorry!" Khushi whispered, "I didn’t realize what had happened." Her heart was beating loudly in her chest.

Khushi felt nervous as he continued to stare at her, his eyes perusing her intently. He let go of her hand and waved to one of the waiters who brought a chair for her to sit on.

"Thanks!" Khushi said, still feeling the warmth of his fingers on her skin.

With an acknowledging nod, he went around the table to take his seat across from her.

As they sat enjoying their drinks, Khushi noticed that those seated at the table were Anirudh's classmates from his engineering days who she had met earlier in the evening. But she didn’t recognize the stranger with the mesmerizing eyes that looked familiar for some reason.

Rohan came up to her. "Hey Khushi, I was looking for you." He turned to the man sitting in the next chair. "Bro, can you move to the next chair so I can sit here?"

The sentence that had meant to be informal came out sounding rude. She wanted to warn Rohan that he should exercise caution while speaking as a few of them were of the aggressive kind.

The man stared at Rohan. "Would you do the honour of introducing yourself first?" It was difficult to miss the sarcasm in his tone. It was also obvious that he was high.

Rohan realized his mistake as he looked around the people seated at the table. He quickly recovered with a smile. "I am Rohan Ahuja – I was Anirudh's junior in college."

"I am Rohan's classmate," he drawled as he leaned back in his chair, "who do you think should move?" he asked Rohan, "me or you?"

"But we are not in –"

Khushi caught his arm and tugged at his sleeve warning him not to continue.

"Stop bullying the poor junior Harmeet Aluwalia," a woman in a grey shimmery full-length gown walked up to the table with a dinner plate, "we are no longer in college."

The woman was tall, with shoulder length wavy hair that had been styled with a curling iron. She wore makeup that complemented her dusky complexion.

Khushi noticed Rohan staring at the woman like he had seen ghost.

"Hi La – so nice to see you!" a woman got up and hugged her.

"Same here Gunjan," She sat down on an empty chair. "The seat next to mine is empty. Come over here and take a seat Ahuja."

Khushi felt relieved when Rohan decided to comply and made his way around the table.

"That's reserved for Karan!" Harmeet pointed out.

"Tough luck!" she exclaimed, "Long time no see Rohan – I haven’t seen you in a long time. How are doing?" she smiled at Rohan who had just taken his seat next to her.

"I have been doing very well Lavanyaji," Rohan smirked, "my girl-friend Khushi makes sure of that."

As all eyes turned on her, her eyes darted to the man who was staring at her, his face stoic.

She felt Sammy touch her hand. "I brought some dinner for you," she pointed to the plate in front of her, "they were closing up."

Khushi looked at her and smiled as she nodded.

"How did you both meet?" Harmeet's girlfriend Saba asked the engaged couple.

"It was during a farewell party for the juniors," Anirudh, replied, "Sammy and Khushi gate crashed the party. I don’t remember why. One look at Sammy and I was hooked --"

In hindsight, going to the party was not one of the wisest decisions Khushi thought. Sammy had suggested it so Khushi could surprise Rohan.

"So romantic!" Saba gushed.

"It wasn’t as simple as that," Sammy said looking at Anirudh, "after the party I didn’t hear from him at all. Then two years later, he came to the boutique where I worked -- with his sister --- to get her wedding clothes made."

"She is a fashion designer," Anirudh said, "After I realized she was the one for me, it took me a while to search for her." Anirudh continued. "At my sister's wedding, I proposed to her."

"Hold on!" Harmeet looked at Lavanya, "wasn’t it the same party where you kissed this junior?" He began to laugh, "what on earth made you do that?"

Khushi realized that Lavanya Kashyap was the senior girl who had caused all the mess during the farewell party years ago.

"Stop it!" Lavanya exclaimed angrily, "we are not in college anymore – this is embarrassing --"

"What's embarrassing?" a man joined them, "looks like I am missing something important here."

"You have been replaced Karan!" Harmeet exclaimed, "pull up a chair." He handed him a drink and explained their discussion.

"Come on – why should you be embarrassed?" Karan chipped in, "Everyone knows that this junior had a crush on you since he joined."

"Karan!" Gunjan admonished.

"Chill babe – it's no big deal."

Rohan looked pale now as he had never mentioned this to her.

"Arnav my friend --" Anirudh said louder than it was necessary "since you are back, what are you plans? Are you joining AR constructions? "

"Arnav Singh Raizada?" Rohan stood up and walked up to Arnav and extended his hand. "I am Rohan Ahuja –architect – I look forward to working with you, sir." Despite his situation, Rohan had quickly recovered his composure. Khushi knew that he always liked to be in good books of the higher ups.

Arnav shook his hand without saying anything.

"And Khushi is the lead interior designer," he pointed to Khushi, "but you already know that because of your family connection."

Khushi was speechless. The mysterious man who was making her jittery since the time she had laid eyes on him was Arnav Singh Raizada.

"Raizadas are all about keeping it within the family," Arnav said without batting an eye-lid. "I am surprised they even hired you." His tone was laced with sarcasm.

"Yes," Rohan said looking a little nonplussed, "if you will please excuse me I have an important phone call to make." Rohan walked away from the table.

Khushi was too caught up with the revelation to go after Rohan. Was he aware of her relation to Akash? His face didn’t give away anything.

Soon the men began to discuss cricket and Khushi couldn’t wait anymore. She grabbed Sammy's hand and took her to a safe distance from the table. "Sammy –" she whispered, "why is Arnavji here?"

"Arnav was Anirudh's classmate in boarding school. But they hadn’t met in years. Anirudh had emailed him the invite but was surprised to see him today. I met him when you went to change your clothes."

Khushi had never imagined meeting Arnav here of all places.

"Oh God Khushi I completely forgot to tell you what Malina didi told me on the phone last week. Remember you told me you met a man called Abhay at our homestay when we were all at the hospital? Didi told me that the man was Arnav Singh Raizada."

She knew there was something familiar about him. "Oh my God!" Her heart was racing at an unbelievable speed.

"Why is didi telling all this only now?" Khushi couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

"I don’t know Khushi," Sammy said, "Since Astha bhabhi's delivery had gone into complications, all this went out of her mind and after that she got married and went to live in Nepal and then to the US. You know how difficult things have been for her."

Due to financial difficulties, Malina hadn’t been able to visit her family in the last six years. Only her mother had traveled when Malina had given birth to her two daughters.

"I am sorry Sammy." Khushi apologized.

"She recalled this only because didi asked about Payal and I told her about her wedding to Akash Raizada.

"She said that Arnav left in the morning before the Raizadas came back from Lachung. He'd requested her not to tell his family that he had come to Sikkim to surprise them. Looks like she took it seriously." She joked.

"No wonder jeejaji didn’t correct me when I asked him about Abhay," Khushi said,

He had told her that he had a friend called Abhay but he was quite sure he couldn’t have come to Sikkim as he was away holidaying in Goa.

"Didi told me that Aranvji asked about you the next morning," Sammy said, "she thought it was Lucky who had made dinner for him."

And slept next to him …

Khushi's thoughts went back to the night six years ago. In the wee hours of the morning, she had opened her eyes to see his face not too far from hers, his hand holding hers

"I think Anirudh is looking for me." Sammy said.

"You go ahead I need to use the washroom." Khushi told her friend.

She used the toilet and was just about to unlock the door of the stall, when she heard a familiar voice, "How could Anirudh choose someone like Samyukta?" Gunjan whined, "she looks so – different."

"Get over him Gunjan," Lavanya advised, "you are with Karan now, aren’t you?"

"Are you over him then?" Gunjan demanded, "you kissed Rohan at the party because you were angry about your break up."

Gunjan was implying that Lavanya had kissed Rohan on a rebound.

"Of course –thank God!" Lavanya exclaimed, "we'd dated only for six months. He was such a cold-hearted guy."

After the two girls had stepped into the stalls, she quickly walked out of the washroom. She found Rohan seated at one of the empty tables in far corner.

"Rohan?" she approached him, "are you alright?"

He looked up at her, his face clearly telling her that he was upset. "How can I be alright after the way they behaved Khushi?" he asked her, "it has always been like that with these seniors."

"Let it go Rohan," Khushi said gently, "forget about what he said. It all happened a long time ago."

"Didn’t it bother you?" Rohan asked her, "what they said about –"

Khushi interrupted. "Do you think that I am that kind of a person?" She paused, "so what if she was your first love?"

"It was more of a crush --" he muttered.

"Why didn’t you tell me back then?" She asked gently.

"After I met you, I got over her," he confessed, "there was nothing to tell -- she'd already graduated and I hadn’t seen her for two years. You have to believe me."

"I believe you." She gave him a reassuring smile.

Rohan leaned in to kiss her and Khushi leaned back in surprise.

"I am sorry!" he apologized. When Khushi remained silent he said, "I think you are angry with me."

"No Rohan – it's just that –" she hesitated.

"It's okay – I get it. Khushi -- I am really tired," Rohan said, "shall we leave?"

"Sorry Rohan," Khushi said, "I have to help Sammy with packing up. You go ahead."

"Right – I understand," he said, "I will leave then."

"Will you be okay to drive?"

"Don’t worry I didn’t drink that much –" he paused, "I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have come here without an invite." He walked away toward the parking lot.

Khushi thought about when he had said that he was over her when they first met. When she had seen them kissing at the farewell party, Rohan had not resisted or pushed her away. Now she knew that although he might not have intentionally cheated on her, his old feelings had resurfaced making him momentarily vulnerable to Lavanya's transgression.

An hour later Khushi sat in the passenger seat of Arnav's BMW convertible on the way to the Raizada house. Since she had mentioned to Sammy about Akash's call, her friend had suggested taking ride with Arnav.

She had been feeling jittery since she he had started to drive, but he hadn’t said a word during the entire journey. He didn’t seem to have recognized her. Was it because she had put on a little weight or was it because of her hair or maybe he had just not noticed her enough when they had met?

When they reached the house, he stepped out of the vehicle and waited for her until she came around to him.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I am looking forward to working with you -- Arnavji."

"I don’t know who gave you the idea – but that's not happening," He said dryly, "Good night." He walked away, his back rigid.

Khushi was surprised. The way he had been looking at her from across the table had been unnerving but just now he had been curt. What had changed?

Raizadas are all about keeping it within the family….

Was that before he realized who she was? Did he also think that she had secured her employment because of family connections?

Her elation of having met her idol Arnav Singh Raizada and discovering that he was Abhay diminished.

Arnav walked to his balcony overlooking a central courtyard with a lush garden and a fountain in the center. He wanted to assimilate his chaotic thoughts. His grandfather had expressed his wish to bury the hatchet during his stay in the US. As far as he was concerned there was never really a need for that. In the last couple of years, he had realized that his grandfather was just old fashioned in his ideas and had not deliberately set out to cause him trouble. His grandfather and he were bound by his mother to whom they were both emotionally attached to and her loss had caused a different reaction in each. Neither had they expected to lose her like they did. The realization had come a little late he thought in frustration.

Suddenly he noticed Khushi standing in the balcony on the opposite wing, across from the courtyard. She must have decided to stay in the guest room for the night.

The evening had turned out to be something he had not expected. After he had arrived at the venue, looking at the crowd, he'd had second thoughts and had wanted to leave. Just as he turned around, an enchanting voice had stopped him from leaving. He had been compelled to turn around and after seeing her he had stood mesmerized. She was a vision to behold. Once she had started dancing, every single move of her body had created an inexplicable sensation in him. She looked even more beautiful than she did when he first laid eyes on her.

His thoughts went back to the homestay in Sikkim when in the middle of the night he had heard her shivering behind him. He'd turned around, covered her with the blanket that she kicked away, and of its own volition his hand had moved to cover hers.

After he had returned to Delhi, thoughts about her hadn’t left him for a while. He couldn’t deny that she had affected him like he had never been before.

A few months later, he had made a call to the homestay.

Lucky no longer works here – she went back to her hometown to get married

After that phone call, he had felt foolish.

Like he had foolishly ogled at her during the party forgetting the fact that the girl had a boyfriend. Such things hadn’t bothered him in the past but this girl was family and was off limits.

In the last few years he had learnt that it was good to be free of strings. Thanks to his grandfather, he had come back into the house where he had never been welcome. But this was temporary arrangement to cater to an old man's dying wish. The sooner he could get back to the US, the better. He didn’t belong here.

As she turned around, stepped into her room and closed the door he thought he too should do the same and shut the door on the past – some memories are best forgotten.