Arnav-Khushi: Perfectly Imperfect - Last Part [12/04] Note-Page 50 :D - Page 5

The mere mention of the word party' was enough to get Lavanya excited in the most tiresome way possible. Her exact words were "O-M-G! It's one of those super exclusive parties swarming with the who's who of the town! None but the absolute VVVIPs will be there. What will you wear? Oh, and hair and makeup! Gosh, we only have, like, two days to plan it all."

Khushi smiled at her as she began to empty her entire closet on the bed, "Don't worry, Lav. I know what I am going to wear."

"Really? Because I literally have nothing that is good enough for you to wear! I was just about to suggest we go shopp- Wait, why are you smiling like that? You are plotting something, aren't you?"

"Not at all."

But Lavanya knew that look too well. Of course Khushi would not let go of any opportunity to bring that Raizada to his knees. This was war.

And in the spirit of the said war, much to Lavanya's dismay, Khushi insisted on wearing a gaudy kurta gifted by her Bua that she hated and never wore, but that she had packed in her suitcase by mistake. A happy, fortuitous mistake, as it turned out! To be fair, the kurta was not that bad actually, so make matters "better," she had herself stitched pom-poms and flashy embroidered ribbons on the said kurta the previous night. It had been a most painful exercise. But her hatred for all these housewifely Payal-type activities was easily overpowered by her love for getting on Raizada's nerves.

"What the -" the said Raizada had spluttered on seeing her, "The party is at a posh club, for goodness's sake!"

"But you said you liked me in traditional wear," she said, innocently.

"I didn't say I liked it. I said Nani would have liked to see you in traditional wear on the day you went to meet her. But she won't even be there at the birthday bash! Besides, I definitely never meant wear a patchwork of curtains, or whatever that is! And what's with all the ribbons and dangling things? You look like a Christmas tree!"

"It's traditional gota work from Lucknow!" Khushi said, trying her best to look hurt. Arnav rolled his eyes, seeing right through the pretence.

"If you're so fond of Lucknow, why don't I tell Mr Kashyap that I am your boyfriend, so he can call your family and parcel you off to that arranged marriage suitor who's waiting for you over there?"

"Why indeed?" Khushi smiled triumphantly, "Oh, quit bluffing, Raizada. Can't believe I took so long to figure it out... but the truth is, you can't blackmail me because you know very well, that if I leave Mumbai before you are able to establish our so-called love story and your subsequent heartbreak, your spectacular plan will most likely be a flop. And you might soon be parceled up into an arranged marriage yourself."

The look on Raizada's face said it all. Point to Gupta.

And throughout the birthday bash, her points only kept accumulating.

Lavanya had been right to be excited when Khushi had told her where she would be going. NK had booked a luxurious glass-walled lounge overlooking a huge lake mirroring millions of specks of city lights. The view was magnificent, the food exquisite. Sadly though, Raizada could enjoy none of it.

For starters, Khushi chose to introduce herself to NK by detailing their honeymoon plans in some god-forsaken village,

"We've even looked at where we will stay. It's this hut quite literally in the middle of nowhere. It was the cheapest place we could find. We got a really good deal, you know. If Arnav helps them with herding, we get free meals. I bargained like anything. I even managed to get them not to charge us for electricity, because anyway electricity only comes for eight hours in the day. Now why would we need electricity during the day? Arnav was so impressed by the place, you wouldn't believe it! He was actually looking to buy a plot of land and we have even looked at the school where our children would study. It's got a computer. We can all live there happily forever and ever. So romantic, na?"

NK's eyeballs looked ready to jump out of their sockets. Manorama had been right. Love had definitely changed Arnav, once the suave, sophisticated debonair.

"Of course, baby," Arnav said, forcing himself to smile. To contradict her then would have aroused NK's suspicions and the latter had always been a bit of a tattle-tale. The last thing he needed was for Nani to come to know about his contract fiance scheme.

Arnav glared at Khushi, once NK had left. If only looks could kill.

"What?" she said, at her angelic best, "I was only getting into character. Kuch zyaada ho gaya kya?"

She then proceeded to tail him wherever he went and chattered away, uninhibited, about cow dung cakes and the escalating prices of vegetables. She complained loudly about the non-Indian food being served at the party. She sermonized the mini dress-wearing girls about the need to dress as per the dictates of Indian culture, and found it necessary to add that her jaanu only liked girls who wore traditional Indian clothes.

Arnav sighed as the girls went away, one by one, scowling at him. The girl in the pink dress had been giving him "the look" and he had found her attractive too. And now, instead of checking him out, she was looking down at him. It was almost heartbreaking.

Khushi caught the look on his face, and for some reason, it made her uncomfortable. Was she going too far? Wasn't the whole idea of having fun at his expense childish, and a tad unnecessary?

But she was quick to dismiss such thoughts and reduce them to irrational nothings.

This was Arnav Singh Raizada, a shameless casanova with no respect for girls, and even less so for those whom he called the behenji type of girls. What was she to do? Allow him to strut around with that oversized ego and believe himself to be superior to all else? Submit herself to his orders, whims and fancies, just because she had signed a contract, and that too, somewhat by force? Of course not. She was Khushi Kumari Gupta after all. And he was just an insensitive self-centred brat.

And most importantly, what was life without a bit of fun?

She turned to grin at Arnav but he had disappeared.

Meanwhile, just a few metres away, Arnav leaned confidently against the bar as he introduced himself to the girl in the pink dress. ASR was back in the game. Bachna ae haseenon.

"Sheetal," she replied, gracefully swiveling on the bar stool to meet his eyes. She had decided that this Arnav Singh Raizada was not all he was made out to be. But of course, seeing him so close to her, with that charming lop-sided smirk, did tweak her perspective to a significant extent. She smiled, slightly out of breath.

"Care to dance, Sheetal?" he asked, tending out his hand.

And just then, before she could respond, Akash appeared, completely uninvited, and like the retarded idiot that he was, he said cheerily, "Bhai, where's bhabhi? There's a designer at the party who wants to meet her to discuss what she would wear at your engagement party."

Sheetal's smile faded away, "Bhabhi? Engagement party? So, you and that... girl, are in a serious relationship?"

Arnav wished the sky would just crash upon him, then and there. Khushi was right, he must have been adopted. How could that moron, Akash, actually be related to him?

And to confirm the adoption theory even further, Akash proceeded to rave on about how Arnav was so besotted by Khushi that he insisted on doing everything for her and would not even let her get up to get herself a drink.

Arnav could do nothing beyond imagining himself emptying his glass of wine on Akash's face. It only felt mildly satisfying for a second.

When Sheetal left (rather quickly), he turned to Akash and growled, "You know this whole fiance thing is fake, right? So why did you have to behave as though I would actually get married to that stupid Gupta?"

Akash made a humungous effort to suppress his smile, as he replied, "Because NK was watching you. Nani has her spies all over the place. You really should be careful, bhai."

To this, Arnav had no response. He knew that Akash was right, infuriatingly so. What the hell was happening to his life? Arnav Singh Raizada drew a lot of pride in the fact that everything in his life went as per his plans. And now, with the arrival of Khushi, his plans were going awry. In fact she epitomized the very concept of plans gone awry. He had intended her to be a mere standby for whenever his Nani needed somebody to play saas-bahu with. And there she was, infiltrating into the other parts of her life, as though she actually was his fiance. There had to be a way of putting her in her place!