"Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?"
Khushi's life was bit hard after Shyam's fiasco was over'but her dreams were shatterd after what Arnav did to her!! She lost all hope..She was left completely heart broken'she asked herself quite a few times.. Why I was in love? He never loved nor trusted me! He used me to get his purpose fulfilled n when I was about to leave, he din,t even bothered to stop me once! How ironic! Hmph' Horrible isn't it? It made me so vulnerable. It opened up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up' but after she came across the above famous saying by Rose Kennedy, she learnt how to deal afterstorm'she learnt the best remedy to overcome your grief is to move on'to move on in your life'
She decided to devote her time completely to something which she loves to do'that's the best way to get rid of all those painful moments'she made her heart to believe that A heartbreak is a blessing from God. It's just his way of letting you realize he saved you from the wrong one'
From the beginning, literature and stories have been the best friend of Khushi... she found books teeming with knowledge' an endless supply of comprehension' and a great companion too! She loved books from the very beginning, especially fairy tales'She would almost be saddened when she finished story after story, thinking that her life was nothing like the ones in her cherished books. Though she loved fantasies, heroics and fairy tales as a child, she stopped reading them now as she realized that life isn't a fairy tale..Prince charmings are always there in fairy tales who by their heroics always save the damsel in distress..but in real life its quite opposite'here the definition of Prince Charming is something different'its some one who comes into your life, charms you, make you fall in love, uses you as much as possible and then when you completely surrender, leaves you unaided, in the darkness to suffer alone!
*Sigh*
On the other hand, Anav was restless'ASR has been doomed somewhere after the birth of a whole new Arnav'Arnav who is now craving for her love, for her soothing touch, her naughty eyes, her inviting lips'for everything he loved'her every possession that made the great shell of ASR to break and Arnav to bloomed out! He was feeling guilty and remorse for breaking her trust'never admitting that he loved her'always hurt her'emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically'the day she left, he dint have enough courage to stop her'he let her go'he gave her sometime to breathe'he gave himself sometime to gain courage to face her'to tell her those unspoken magical words'the he loves her'only her!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Khushi, while sitting alone, remembered the fateful day when she met Arnav'that was one hasty decision, she fell hard for Arnav'she learnt nothing from her past mistake'mistake of trusting a man'and Arnav left her behind after reaching his goal'he never thought, at least once, about Khushi' Arnav left her UN infrmed...he dint even come once to meet her before leaving'that was terrible! Really terrible!
A slight smile graced Khushi's features as she recalled the past.. "That was my entire fault' Arnav never told that he loves me...it was me who initiated the uninitiated! My feelings were one sided...He is a player'he used me as a dot and left after finishing the same... It was me who forgot every thing just for his sake! Its said that if you love some one, you should confess before he gets out of your reach...But I dint! It's not worthy to blame Arnav for my melancholy! I cried'I cried day out and in'but futile'now I have learn how to get over all this" Ranting about how she feels likes she's in a sea of stupidity when dealing a majority of her emotions, but that they are slowly getting better. She forgave Arnav long before.
Earlier in the year, things had been fine. Her own story gave her inspiration to deal with her emotions. Deciding on something for once in her own life, Khushi sat amongst the thousands of books she had read, and finally wrote of her own: Perception...insight into a dark world!
Perception had been a hit. Bookkeepers weren't able to keep the story on their shelf for a few days without it selling out. The printers could barely keep up with the demand. It was more than just a craze!
Khushi had been stunned at all the positive feedback. Fan mail came pouring, praising Khushi's story commenting on the character development, the imagery, the plot, and just about everything that makes a great book. Some even insisted her making a sequel. Khushi had never felt that cheerful.
Time passed, and though letters still continued to come, Khushi felt the high she wrote from her first book fade.
So that's why when Arnav came to visit, he found Khushi in the library surrounded by paper balls littered on the floor and a fortress of paper stacked a few inches high on an oak desk. Currently, the young lady had her head resting on the desk, softly breathing.
His heart skipped a bit..his urge to love her to hold her grew more n more with every step he made inside'his eyes dimmed with grief, but gathered courage to face her and behave as if nothing had happened before'
Arnav chuckled while Payal grunted, trotting over to the fire, coming to rest on a comfy rug.
The silence prevailed for quite a long time n soon Arnav realized that Khushi not gonna wake any time soon. So he himself started, "You know Khushi,"
Khushi's head quickly rose at the sound of his voice,
"if your own writing puts you to sleep that much then maybe you should consider rewriting it or dropping the idea of writing."
The damsel's eyebrows knotted as she pouted, "its not becoz of my story," she smoothed out some of her papers, "Its just coz I want my eyes to take rest."
Arnav smirked, "Really?"
"Yes, really," Khushi said, trying to regain some of her poise.
"Then you already know about the piece of paper stuck to your cheek?"
Khushi frowned, as Arnav smirked and his fingers met the paper sticking her face fiercly.
Khushi swatted the paper away, but Arnav only continued to laugh.
"Arnav, you're terrible!" Khushi cried out.
Khushi's jaw dropped when she heard a few doggish snorts follow Arnav's loud laughs.
"You too, dear!" Even Payal, her sister, was making fun out of her' The girl, unhappy with being the center of their joke, crossed her arms and slumped in her chair.
When Arnav finally gained control of his laughter, he walked over to Khushi, "We were only joking with you, Khushi."
He glanced at some papers that had a few sketches of people, written with neat cursive handwriting. Some sentences had been crossed out and others had notes written in the margins.
"What are you working on?"
"why to tell you, you'll get bored," Khushi replied indignant.
Arnav smirked, "Oh! That will be fun then..It had been ages since I got bored!."
He reached out for one of the pages, yet he had only managed to grab one before Khushi snatched up the rest of her story.
"Arnav, don't!"
Arnav looked up from the page at Khushi, "Why?"
Khushi began to stammer, "B-because, because'" her eyes lit up, "because you needn't n that's it!!"
Arnav studied Khushi suspiciously, "O really!, huh?"
"Yes, " Khushi replied, nodding vigorously, "Now if you would just hand that back to me'" Khushi reached for the parchment in Arnav's hand when he suddenly pulled it out of reach.
"Khushi, I think I shud read it as you know I am a good critic!" Arnav as usual pretend to be careless n started reading it carefully
Khushi couldn't find anything to say, "I g-guess that wouldn't hurt, but I would really appreciate it if you didn't'" It was too late. She could already see Arnav's eyes darting across the page.
Her stomach twisted into knots. Before she had fallen asleep, she had been writing a romance scene between two of her main characters. Khushi had modeled the two characters after Arnav and herself respectively as the hero and heroine. It was much like her feelings on her own adventure that she had excluded , knowing that if Arnav read it he could easily figure out which character was which, thus revealing Khushi's feelings for him. But in this book she had made up completely different characters in a different plot, hiding her true emotions.
"Maybe he won't notice?" Khushi shook her head at the thought, "Who am I kidding! I described the hero's looks and personality traits so that they fit Arnav's perfectly!" She wanted to curl up into a ball and hide, "And the girl fondof making jalebis! It will be obvious that the heroine is me! He basically reading a romance scene about us, and he probably doesn't feel the same way! He will probably think I am ill.Shit!!"
Khushi could feel her hands shaking as Arnav looked up. She expected to see taunting eyes gazing at her, but instead Arnav's eyes held a sort of gentleness in them.
They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Arnav broke the gaze, coughing somewhat awkwardly.
"W-well, it's well written," a slight blush dusted his cheeks.
Khushi's blush was much worse, her face was a boiling fire, "T-thank you. Your opinion means a lot to me." She responded a little put off that was all he had to say. Maybe he hadn't realized that it was about the two of them.
Arnav, sensing her disappointment, skimmed over the page again and continued on, "Yeah it's great. I could really feel the emotion and depth behind the writing, almost like it was coming alive. You are a very talented writer, Khushi. I could almost see it unfolding right in front of my eyes," Arnav paused for a moment, "but'"
Khushi looked up in surprise, "But? But what? I thought you said it was great!"
He chuckled a little at her reaction before answering, "It's all great, Khushi, except for one thing."
"Yes?" Khushi asked curiously.
Arnav bent down a little so that his head was level with Khushi's, "You have the hero deny the heroine. Why would you do that?"
Khushi was a little nervous under his steady gaze, "Because I didn't think he felt the same way."
"But it's obvious that he loves her as much as she loves him."
It didn't seem like they were talking about the story anymore.
"What? How do you know that?" Khushi asked shocked.
Arnav gave a small smirk before explaining, "Well he had an image of flirt and Casanova, he loves to play with emotions, loves to be the center of attraction..but whenever he is around that girl, he behaves normally, just like any other..he never flirt with her, respected her feelings, never took chance of the weaker moments, even he saved the girl from her obsessed lover, who try to trouble her quite at times! She's basically a bunch of trouble for him, but he never blames her," Arnav smiled, he handed over her the page, "If that isn't love then, I don't know what love is."
Pink eyebrows furrowed as Khushi began to think, "But he never told her his feelings."
Arnav shrugged, "He didn't need to. He told her every day by his actions. Besides," Arnav's face once again had a light shade of pink across it, "he's obviously not good with that kind of stuff. Goes in contrast with his cynical nature."
"So basically they are both in love with each other, but neither one knows it?"
"I guess." Arnav answered playing with one of Khushi's gold plated pens.
"Well, how would you write this scene?" Khushi's eyebrows raised as Arnav dropped the pen, almost like her was nervous.
"Well," Arnav said searching for words, "I would give them a break."
"A break?"
"Yeah, I mean the heroine just got some pretty big news. She needs some time to think, plus it gives a little suspense to the reader, thinking that they might just end up apart."
Khushi smiled at his creativeness, "Okay, what else?"
Arnav rolled his eyes at Khushi's smugness, "Then while the heroine was on her break the hero would show up out of the blue, telling her that he needs her."
Khushi blushed a bright red, "I thought you said he would never admit his feelings to her."
Arnav raised his hands nonchalantly, "He has enough sense to swallow his pride when he misses her that much."
"What would he say?"
Arnav kneeled down to Khushi's height as she sat in the chair, "He would say that he's crazy about her, and that he misses the time, they spent together, even if she was a little bubbly, loud, crazy' she was always a sweetheart."
Khushi crossed her arms, "I don't think the heroine would respond well to that."
"That so?" Arnav questioned.
She nodded sophisticatedly, closing her eyes.
"Well, if she wouldn't except that," Arnav leaned in closer, so that his face was mere inches away from Khushi's, "he would just have to show her how much he loved her," his voice faded to a whisper, "with a kiss."
Her eyes shot open, "A'" Khushi never had chance to finish. Arnav's lips were already on hers.
Now Khushi had never experienced this kinda kiss before, she had only read about them in stories. And from what she was feeling right now, what was written in her books were nowhere close to the happiness that had engulfed her.
Her shaky hands had stopped shaking and were now on Arnav's chest, but one traveled up further to his shoulder, his hair tickling her fingers. Butterflies that were in her stomach seemed to be set free, spreading to this rest of her body. Her eyes were closed, but her other senses went into overdrive. She could smell grass and a tree breeze along with the smoke from a campfire. Underneath her hand, she could feel his rapid heartbeat and warm skin. Khushi was astonished when she heard Arnav groan, pulling her further into his embrace all the while deepening the kiss.
His lips were chapped, but Khushi didn't care for she could only feel a tingling sensation on hers. Everything was ten times as sensational and perfect than anything she had read in her story books.
It was only when they both needed air, did Khushi part.
Arnav smirked at Khushi's flustered face, "If she didn't respond to that, he would probably just keep kissing her until she did."
Khushi's eyes were on her finger as she traced his lips.
"And what if she did? What if she enjoyed his kiss?"
Arnav smirked and whispered, "Well, then he would kiss her again then too."
Arnav seized Khushi's lips once again, but this time he pulled her so that they were both on the ground hidden if some was to walk in. A few minutes into their kiss, there was a knock on the door.
"Bhai, what you doing'open the door!" It was Akash's voice, who left them for some intimacy
Khushi's eyes flew open. She hurriedly pushed herself off of Arnav to stand, smoothing out her wrinkled clothes and messy hair.
"Enter." Khushi called out, her voice squeaking and heart pounding.
Akash opened the door, and look suspiciously at the fallen mounds of paper.
"Is everything all right, Khushiji? Where is Bhai? Has he left?"
Khushi quickly answered, "Yes, of course! Everything is fine! N yes Arnav has left" she said hastily, trying to change the subject.
Akash shook her head in dismay.. "O! I thought we gonna have dinner here tonight..any ways you enjoy with ur paper-n-pen friends !" Akash left as Khushi took a deep breath
Once the doors were close, Khushi let out a sigh of relief before collapsing in her chair.
Arnav stood from the floor, "Well, that was close. But I missed the dinner!"
Khushi smiled, n once again they were about to get closer, they heard some one coughing'they turned only to foud Payal behind them'they were so much involved that they forget that Payal was with them in that room!
"Y-you were here jiji!" Khushi was embarrassed as she realized that Payal might have witnessed every thing'her face turned pink n so as Arnav's!
Payal smiled a bit as both were trying to get apart' "Yeah I was here..But don't worry I haven't seen any thing as I was hiding behind the curtains when you two started getting cosier! My job was to bring the lovebirds together, not to depart them! You can carry on!" Payal smirked as she went off to Khushi and hugged her "I am too happy for you dear..now enjoy your life with your new found joy" Saying this she left the room leaving behind the newly formed cum long lost couple..
Now they were all alone..Arnav cupped Khushi's face, but she pulled away.. "You never did tell me how the story would end!"
Arnav shrugged, "I made up most of it. You give it a try, Miss. Writer's Block."
"I love you." She confessed hesitantly, with her eyelids facing down
Arnav cupped her cheek, "I love you, too."
"I think I'll end it with 'they lived happily ever after.'"
Arnav shook his head, "Nope, you can't do that."
"Why not?" Khushi pouted.
He placed a small kiss on her lips, "Because that was only the beginning."
Khushi smiled. He was right this was only the beginning for them, filled with many more adventures to come.
"Right, the beginning." Khushi wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.
"I guess I don't have writer's block anymore. And if I ever do again, I know who to go to for a good romance scene." Khushi thought smiling up a Arnav, who smiled back before pecking her on the forehead and returning the hug. A start of the next chapter in her story, and it was going to be an adventure all its own.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*END*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you ppl like this...its a request, if you dont have time to comment, then please at least hit the like tab, that too will encourage me to write more n more...Hope you enjoyed reading!
Have a nice time🤗
Cricket
Hindi TV Shows
