"Arnavji, will you please forgive me for not trusting you..?"
Arnav remained silent.
"Maybe I shouldn't come today..."
As soon as Arnav heard that, his head snapped up..."Yes you will. I may be angry Khushi, but YOU are my wife. And despite how furious I am, I do love you..."
His eyes burnt her heart as she saw him rush past her and out of their room...
Khushi felt her heart begin to crush as he walked away from her...
She felt like she was always in the background...that even though he loved her, his words were full of false hopes.
...
The basketball game was now over.
She had sat quietly watching as her husband and Sheetal played, and had fun...
"He mistrusted me so easily about Shyamji...and I never gave him ANY
reason to! And now..."
She glanced back up...
Sheetal and Arnav had grabbed a bottle of water and as they laughed, they squirted water all over each other, making Aarav giggle...
But when she saw Sheetal swallow, her heart nearly stopped.
"He...He broke her fast."
The rest of the family had instantly noticed the same thing...
"Chote!"
Arnav looked up at Anjali ..."Di? What's..."
His gaze wandered to the other family, and finally...on Khushi.
As if in slow motion, he turned back to Sheetal and saw the water dripping from her chin...
"Oh no..." he whispered...
...
"Our first...and he..."
Khushi's saw Arnav stare at her, but when he turned back to Sheetal, Khushi
finally broke...
Not wanting anyone to follow her, she quietly escaped from the court and slowly walked away.
Her eyes were clogged with tears.
Her heart was slowing instead of speeding up.
As the world around her began to feel muddled, she heard someone speak...
"Are you alright?"
The words sounded fuzzy, the voice distorted...
Was someone talking to her?
"Talk to me? You don't look very well?"
There is was again...someone WAS talking to her...
Khushi came to a halt and gradually turned around, but as she did, the world began to blur, and she collapsed...
...
"Khushiji?! Khushiji!!! Oh God!"
Nk had arrived late to the basketball game and saw Khushi walking towards him as if in a trance...
As he tried to talk to her, he saw her become dizzy and lose consciousness...
Instantly dropping his sports bag, he reached out and caught her easily...
"Khushiji...?!!" he looked up and saw that no one had followed her out..."Oh God! Khushiji!"
Tapping her cheek lightly, his hand suddenly stilled on her damp skin...
"She's...crying?"
NK began to hear loud voices drifting over from the courts...
"How could you do that!?" Anjali's voice?
"What's the big deal!? It doesn't mean anything!" Nanaav's voice?
"It holds GREAT
meaning to break a woman's fast!" Nani's voice?
"I didn't mean it to happen like that! I...Where is Khushi...?!"
NK looked down at Khushi...
Just then it hit him...
"Nanaav broke Sheetal's fast? And..."
NK saw how pale Khushi was...
"You're always having to some second to everything..."
Khushi began to stir and moan...
"Khushiji...It's NK...It's alright..."
Her shaky hand rested on her pounding head...
She could barely focus, barely talk...
"Enough of this..." NK sneered as he reached into his bag...
Holding his bottle of juice at her lips, NK gently helped Khushi drink...
Her hands stilled for only a moment, and then rested on his as she drank deeply...
Finally, Khushi took a long breath...
NK watched as she slowly looked up at him...
Her pain-filled eyes tore into his heart...
Like bad heartburn, an unfamiliar lividity rose up for the general male population until he could aim it at the one who deserved it.
Helping her sit up straighter, he spoke softly..."Khushiji...I am your friend...so you can tell me...are you alright? With Sheetal being here..."
The impact of what had just happened slammed into her...
She began to stutter..."No no...Everything is fine...I was just...Someone had..."
"Did someone say something to hurt you?"
Khushi closed her eyes as dizziness still wracked her head...
"Tell me who he is and what the hell he did," NK growled.
"N...Nahneji...I..."
"Khushiji, You tell me who made you cry and why, or I promise, I will find out on my own, hunt him down, and kick his teeth down his throat for putting that look on your face."
He almost regretted throwing down the harsh threat when her face blanched, but if that was the only way he could get her to open up, then so be it.
When she opened her mouth to brook an argument, he narrowed his gaze to show her he wasn't kidding.
"Well...Arnavji..."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"
A loud yell interrupted them...
NK's eyes shot up.
Arnav...completely overtaken with fury.
"What the HELL! NK!"
Arnav was by Khushi's side in an instant and angrily prying Nk's arms away from his wife...
But this time, NK held on...
Arnav's stare became deadly..."Get your hands off my wife..." he growled through clenched teeth...
Khushi could no longer speak...
The confusion, the pain, the heartbreak...
There was no possible way for her to bear it all any longer...
"Naanav, You've
hurt her enough!"
Feeling primal, and filling with brutality, Arnav yanked at Khushi's body, pulling her away from NK...
"SHE is MY wife! How DARE you think you have a right over her!"
NK stared at Khushi's sorrowful expression...
"Naanav, can't you see how much she is hurting...while you were adding fuel to her concerns, by paying attention to Sheetalji, YOUR wife, was fainting into MY arms..."
Arnav stared down into Khushi's face...
"While YOU were thoughtlessly breaking HER fast, I was here feeding your COLLAPSING wife juice! YOU missed the moment!"
Unwilling to hear anymore, Arnav, holding on tight to Khushi, stormed past NK and the congregating crowd...
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