Part 20 - Brothers in arms
'Bhai?'
'Arey! Arnav? What are you doing here?'
'I'm here to pick up the engagement outfits. You seem to be really busy Bhai'
Akash Singh Raizada, the calm and composed brother of Arnav was bent over some material in fine silk on his work desk in his design studio. He was the creative brain behind Raizada House of Fashion and a very talented designer. He had the humongous task of designing everyone's outfits for his twin sister Anjali's wedding and since the wedding wasn't very far away, he was indeed running against the clock. He ran a tired hand through his hair which got Arnav worried.
'Bhai? You seem very tired and I've hardly seen you around the house. Why wont you take any help? This is just too much work for one person to handle in such a short time!'
'Its my Anju's wedding Arnav and that too one we've all been waiting for so long. I know exactly how she wants her jodas to be and I won't have it any other way. I'm only doing her outfits all by myself and I'm just supervising the others. Anyway, all the engagement stuff is ready. You can take them'
'Yeah ok' Arnav said as he eyed the huge pile of colorful and beautiful lehengas, Sarees, bandhgalas and sherwanis. Just as his eyes were roaming around the table for that one saree, there was a knock on the door. Both Arnav and Akash turned around to see Richa, one of their senior designers, with 2 bags in her hand.
'Oh good! I'm glad you both are here. Here you go! I just got these done!' she smiled as she came forward to hand them each a bag. Then she took out the sarees from the bags and placed them on the table along with their blouses and inner wear and the jewelry to go with it.
'Just make sure it's fine. Just let Khushi and Payal try on the blouses and let me know if they need any alterations, ok?' she beamed at them.
Arnav and Akash looked up at each other, surprise evident on both their faces. After they thanked Richa and sent her away, both of them stood there with an awkward silence between them. They were wondering who should break the silence first.
'Yeh kya hai Chotey? Yeh saree kis ke liye banvayi hai tune?'
'Woh, Bhai...wait a minute! Who's that green saree for? P? Tell me what's going on!'
'I asked you first. Beige is Khushi's favorite color isn't it?'
'And that cyber green is P's!'
Akash looked like a deer caught in the headlight. Arnav took one look at his brother's face and burst out laughing.
'You and P? Kab se Bhai? Aap ne mujhe bataya nahin? Kya Di to pata hai?'
'Kisi ko kuch pata nahin hain. Payal ko bhi nahin! I just...just...wanted to give her something special and maybe see if she...I mean, I thought maybe I'll ask her out sometime' Akash almost whispered turning beet red out of embarrassment.
'Oh god! Finally! Please do Payal a favor and ask her out already! Put her out of her misery Bhai!'
'Misery? What do you mean?'
'Oh please! Don't tell me you don't know! She's been smitten with you from god knows how long Bhai. I can't believe it's taking you so long to do something about it.'
'Smitten with me? How do you know Arnav? Has she said something to you?'
'Khush and I have known for so long now! Ever since we've been in high school I think or maybe even before that, I don't know.'
Arnav couldn't help but grin at his brother's boyish smile. he looked so happy all of a sudden that Arnav couldn't help but stride over to him to give him a big hug.
'Good luck Bhai. I'm sure you'll come through this time. You know how much I love P and I couldn't have asked for a better Bhabhi'
'And what is this about you and Khushi?'
'What about us? Don't tell me you don't know that either! I love her Bhai and she loves me too. I was once a fool to have let her go. But not this time. We're having a li'l tiff right now, but I will fix it. And that...' he said pointing to the saree, 'is the first step towards it' he finished off with a smirk.
'I know how well you fix things Chotey. But tread carefully. Don't let your anger ruin your first real relationship.'
'You're the one to talk!' Arnav grumbled as he sauntered out of his brother's workshop, thinking again about Khushi and how to get her to forgive him this time. He dialed a number from his phone and got the information he wanted.
* * * * *
Khushi was beyond exhausted as she walked out of the hospital at 9:15pm. Her fight with Arnav and not having seen him or talked to him in the last 2 days was finally starting to get to her. She was missing him terribly. She just felt like running into his arms and staying there forever. She missed his husky voice, his passionate kisses, his possessive embraces and even the way he held her hands or tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears. And to top the emotional stress, she hadn't slept in 2 days and even her hospital shifts had been extra stressful and tiring with Jamie's major surgery being just around the corner. She was running from pillar to post all day trying to get all his tests done and talking to the donor's family and coordinating with the hospital in Dallas where the heart was coming from. She was thinking about a warm bath and some spicy maggi when she spotted him! He was sitting on the bench near the entrance to the parking lot, gazing at the night sky and seemed to be in deep thought. Khushi's heart soared at the sight of him. Seeing his handsome face felt like finding an oasis in the middle of a hot desert and she had to bite her lip and force herself not to run to him.
Arnav knew the second Khushi stepped out of the automatic hospital doors and he intentionally tried not to look at her. He so wanted to gauge her reaction on seeing him waiting for her, but he knew he had to give her space to compose herself and come to him on her own. So he steadfastly kept looking at the sky, even as he was counting her footsteps as she neared him.
'Arnav? What are you doing here?'
'I was waiting for you' Arnav said as he finally turned to look at her.
'Why?'
'What do you mean why dammit? To see you...to talk to you...' Arnav snapped at her before he could stop himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to compose himself. As he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Khushi, he staggered back a step in shock! She looked so tired and frail...dark circles around her eyes and shoulders hunched down. Arnav instantly moved towards her and held her gently by her shoulders.
'Khushi! Look at you! What happened to you? Why do you look like this? are you sick sweetheart?' Arnav asked her gently.
His concern and love filled eyes overwhelmed Khushi. As she looked up into his chocolate brown eyes, every harsh word of his, every insecurity of hers and every thought of being without him went out of her head and she found tears streaming down her cheeks. As Arnav slowly wiped them away with his thumbs and pulled her into a gigantic hug, she heard herself whisper
'I missed you Arnav!'
'I missed you so much Khush. I hate it when we fight. All we've done is fight from the past couple of years and I don't want to fight anymore. Please! Can't you bury whatever horrible things I said to you in a corner of that big heart of yours?'
The sincerity of his words touched Khushi's heart and she smiled at him. Arnav felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders seeing her smile. He realized how much he was missing her smile and how badly he wanted her in his arms. He tilted her chin up and slowly bent his head and captured her lips in a toe curling kiss. As Khushi wound her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, Arnav groaned and deepened the kiss. Arnav saw Khushi's flushed cheeks as they broke their kiss and came up for air and he felt a contentment he had never experienced before. He pressed his forehead against hers...
'I lvoe you Khushi'
'I love you too Arnav'
'So does this mean I'm forgiven?' Arnav's eyes twinkled.
Khushi looked at him with a somber expression and took a deep breath.
'Arnav, it's not like I didn't know you before we entered into this relationship. I knew all about your ego, your anger and your innumerable girls. I knew your views about commitment and marriage. And yet I willingly got into this because I love you...with all my heart! I had to take this chance...for my own sanity because I didn't want to live my life wondering 'what if?' And while I don't want to fight like this every other day and be hurt by the harsh words you say out of anger, I am also very sorry about all this. I know I shouldn't try to change you. I love you for what you are! But I also value trust, respect and stability in a relationship. Just as you have reasons not to believe in marriage, I have reasons to very much believe in it. My Ma and Bauji have been incredible examples to Jiji and I. I know you need time to get used to all this, but I want you to know that I will wait for you to grow into this commitment. I am done trying!'
Arnav listened to her with rapt attention and he held her hands and pulled her next to him as he sat down again on the bench. He turned to face her.
'Khush! I realize now that I can't get away with whatever I do by saying I'm new to all this. That's no excuse for my behavior. I know I've hurt you a lot, but trust me when I say this...I've hurt myself a lot more by hurting you! You are a part of me now. And what I do or say will have an impact on both of us and our families too. All I ask is a little more time from you. I promise you that I'll be better...hell! I want to be better...for you! For us!'
He whispered 'I love you...so much!' against her lips as he pulled her in for yet another scorching kiss.
* * * * *
As Arnav drove Khushi home later that night, they both felt at peace. They had talked everything over at length and Khushi felt happier than she had been in years! She glanced at him with a smile as he drove and realized how much she loved him. He was like a drug she was addicted to and she just couldn't get enough of him.
As she got down in her driveway and turned around to say goodbye, she saw Arnav opening the boot of his car and pull a brightly wrapped box out of it. He handed the box to her.
'I got something for you. Open it when you go inside and tell me if you like it'
'Arnav, what is this?'
'Open it and find out yourself. You'll call me right?'
As Khushi blushed and nodded, Arnav bent down and gave a quick peck on her lips. He laughed as a shocked Khushi immediately turned towards her house to see if anyone was watching.
'Daro math, koi nahin hain'
'Arnav! Good night!' Khushi laughed.
'Good night sweetheart. Dream about me.' he winked at her.
* * * * *
A/N:
Not a very long update I know, but this is all I could manage without taking one more week to update.
Updates from now on might be a li'l delayed. I am gearing up for an international move and it's stressing me out. My li'l brats take up a lot of my time during the day and as a result I still have a lot of work to do. So please bear with me. I might be able to manage more frequent, shorter updates in the near future.
Please buddy me for PMs, which means you send me a buddy request and I'll accept you. It's hard for me to keep track of who's in my list and who's not.
I started writing this story after reading tons of FFs/SSs on this forum and wondering if I could write something on my own. It was more of a challenge I took upon myself than anything else. I myself, as a reader, haven't liked/commented on many of the great stories I've read and so I understand if you have no time to spare for my story either. If so, then please bookmark my story and check on it regularly for updates. (That is what I do!) Please don't blindly buddy me and expect a PM. It takes a lot of time for me to PM so many people while I get half as many likes and even lesser comments. I hope you silent readers can understand my plight.
Thanks for reading. Please do come back for more.
Edited by limoncello - 12 years ago
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