Chapter 29 - Consoling Each Other, Always
After returning home, Arnav tried to call Khushi for several times, but all his efforts were useless. Khushi had switched off her phone, and Arnav was worried and angry at the same time. Arnav didn't know what he had to do. He understood that Khushi needed sometime alone, but that didn't mean she could just ignore him like that. But after thinking, he realized that he had done the same thing before, when he had hid himself from the others on the day of his mother's death anniversary. So he made up his mind, and thought of talking to her tomorrow at the office. Arnav also decided that he wouldn't tell anything about what happened at Khushi's place to his family, because it was a problem at her house.
Next day, Arnav woke up early in the morning and left for office earlier than usual. All night his sleep was disturbed by the thoughts about Khushi. He was worried like hell. He wanted to know, whether she had her dinner, whether she cried all day, how she was doing, did she sleep at all, etc. But he couldn't call her as well. As he arrived in the office he saw that Khushi was talking with another employee about something. As he didn't want to push her too much, he silently went towards his cabin. At least Khushi had arrived for work today, and that made him glad.
It had been two hours after Arnav arrived in the office, and still Khushi come to his cabin. He was feeling restless, he really wanted to see her. He thought of calling her into his cabin or even going into her cabin, but he stopped himself. Arnav knew Khushi wouldn't like that. So he thought of giving her some more time. Just as he was about to resume with his work, he heard a soft knock on his cabin door.
"Come in", Arnav said. He was still staring on his laptop screen, when he heard the voice he was longing to hear since last night.
"I need you to check these designs ASR. And if you feel they are good, tell Aman to send these to the client he was talking about". As soon as Arnav heard the words being muttered in a cold, firm manner, he froze for sometime. This wasn't his Khushi. He felt himself melting from inside due to the anger that was raging within him. She was ignoring him. "What was wrong with her? Why is she talking to me like that? What did I do wrong?", Arnav thought to himself. He couldn't be patient anymore. He stood up from his chair and walked towards her in a fast pace. He roughly grabbed her from her shoulders and started to spit out the words in anger.
"What the hell is wrong with you Khushi? How dare you switch off your phone like that? Do you have any idea how worried I were for you?".
"Really? What's the difference in the way I acted, from the way you acted on your mom's death anniversary day?", Khushi said, without thinking how hurt her words would make Arnav.
"Wow, is this the way of you changing the topic? Great. Stop trying to point the finger at me. You can't just ignore what happened yesterday Khushi, you should at least open up to me or Payal", Arnav said, shaking Khushi slightly hoping that she would show some kind of normal reaction.
"There's nothing to say Arnav. And who do you think you are to just barge in to my house and blame Chachu and Chachi about their daughter's character? How do you think they must have felt? You are no different from them", Khushi said, while shaking his hands off from her and running out of the cabin.
Arnav was shocked to hear her words. After all that happened she was blaming him and that too to the way he pointed the finger at Lavanya. Who was this girl? She surely couldn't be a normal human being. Because no human being could be like her. She could forgive the people who said she was characterless without a second thought? She surely must be a god's messenger. Normally, if someone else talked to him the way Khushi did, he would have surely blasted off by now. But this was Khushi, and he realized that he was wrong in the way he acted at her house. After-all, Mona and Rajiv were elder than him and also they were going to become his in-laws. So he knew he had to apologize to them. But right now, although he wanted to go and console Khushi, he had to leave for an urgent meeting. So he left the office, hoping he would be able to talk to Khushi later in the evening.
Later that evening, at around 5.30pm Arnav arrived in the office after the meeting. Just when he was about to enter his cabin, he saw a faint light in Khushi's cabin and he figured out that she hadn't still left. He thought this was the right moment to talk to her, so he went towards her cabin. As soon as he opened the door to enter her room, he was astonished to see what he saw right in front of him. She was sitting down on the floor and was hiding her face between her knees. It didn't take time for him to realize she was crying. He reached towards her and made himself comfortable beside her.
When Khushi felt someone's warmth beside her, she realized it was non other than Arnav. She didn't want to move away from him, because she knew her words would have hurt him a lot. She wanted to apologize to him, but she didn't have the strength to do that. She was grateful and angry at the same time for what he did for her yesterday. She was grateful that he stood by as he always had promised. But she didn't like the way Arnav lifted his finger towards Lavanya, in front of her Chachu and Chachi. So instead of apologizing, she thought of holding back. And since the time she had blurted out at Arnav, she had been crying all day long.
"Khushi, look at me", Arnav said softly.
When his words reached her ears, she looked up after few seconds. Arnav didn't have words to explain how he felt, when he saw her beautiful hazel coloured eyes filled with tears. Her eyes were all red and he realized that she had cried out the whole day.
"I'm sorry Khushi, I shouldn't have talked to your Chachu and Chachi in that way. They are elders and I should have respected them. But I'm not sorry for standing by you. I agree I did the wrong thing by talking about Lavanya like that, but at least now they will realize what the other people think about her. At least now they will try to mend Lavanya a little. I have come across so many girls since Sheetal, and they were all beautiful, talented, wealthy, ambitious, everything. But, why do you think I didn't fall in love with them? It's because they don't have the one thing you have. The character. A girl's character tells who she is from inside. And if there is one thing I cannot bear people blaming you about, that would be your character. No one, not even my family have the right to point their finger at your character. And if one day even if they would do that, my reaction would be the same as yesterday. So I'm not sorry for the way I acted yesterday, but I will apologize from Chachu and Chachi for the way I accused Lavanya", Arnav said, hoping to make her understand what kind of thoughts that were going within his brain.
Khushi was surprised at the way he talked, and never in her dreams did she believe that she would get such an understanding partner. And now she was feeling more guilty for the way she acted with Arnav in the morning.
"I'm sorry Arnav. I didn't mean to. I don't know what made me talk to you like that", Khushi said, while sobbing. She couldn't still stop crying.
"Ssshhh... Come here", Arnav said, while taking her in for a warm hug. Khushi felt much better being wrapped around in his arms. She felt as if there was only Arnav and her in this whole world. But the reality struck her, and she knew it was not only them. She had to face the people around her eventually. Since last night Khushi hadn't met her Chachu, Chachi or Lavanya, as she left early in the morning from the house. And she knew Arnav was telling the truth. She could bear any accusation from the whole world, but not when someone accused her of her character. She had been trying to neglect the accusations she got from her Chachu and Chachi since last night, hoping that she could be strong from next morning. But her efforts went in vain. Now she knew if she didn't open up to someone, she would go crazy.
"Arnav, why does everyone hate me? What have I done wrong? I didn't make my parents leave this world, god did. It was his fault, that I became an orphan. But thanks to god, I got a house to live. Although they didn't shower me with love, I got all I wanted. And if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have agreed to marry you. I'm really grateful for them, I really am. But I don't know how else I am supposed to show them my love. If I show them my love in open, they would laugh at me. So I thought of just to show them how much I care, but it's all useless. Let's say they really love me and they doesn't know how to show it, but at least I thought they would trust me. But after what they said to me yesterday, I realized that they don't trust me at all. I have been trying all night to think that it was just because they were angry, that they shouted at me like that. But every time when I remember they indirectly implied me to a characterless girl, I feel as if my heart is being squeezed by a pair of large hands. And I feel as if I would stop breathing at that very moment", Khushi said, while tears went on rolling down her cheeks.
Arnav was so glad, as Khushi had opened up to him and this was the first time she had actually talked about how she felt about her Chachu and Chachi. He knew that the way Rajiv and Mona talked to her was wrong, but he was grateful for them for keeping her alive all this time without letting her be brought up by total strangers.
"Khushi, listen to me carefully. I know the way they talked to you was wrong. And if I were you,god knows what I will do. I would surely do something I would regret later. But you are thousand times different and better than me. So don't ever think of putting negative thoughts in to your mind about them. Even though they are not your own parents, they gave you everything you need. May be they are not the type that showers love openly, but they were there. But look at my dad. He left for another woman, and he never for a second thought of looking back. So when compared to me, your lucky. I know you don't hate them and you can never do that, because your Khushi. But you should talk to them, directly. Try and open up to them. Tell them what you feel".
Khushi was amazed at the way Arnav was trying to console her. She felt as if he was a total stranger. Today he was the mature one in their relationship, and she felt that all the words that came from his mouth was true.
"I will try", Khushi said, softly.
Khushi's crying had stopped by now, and Arnav was relived to see Khushi was feeling much better after their conversation. He was surprised when she suddenly stood up as if she was ready to leave. He quickly pulled her, and Khushi fell on him with a soft shriek.
"What are you doing Arnav?", Khushi asked, as she was surprised with Arnav's sudden pull.
"After doing a counselling session for such a long time, you are going to leave? Just like that? What about my payment?", Arnav asked, with a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Khushi's eyes became the size of saucers at the word "payment", and she knew what Arnav was hinting at. A small blush was now clearly visible in her cheeks. She slowly leaned her head down and took in his lips for a passionate kiss. Arnav was taken in by surprise, as he expected her to give a kiss on his cheeks. But now he realized that she was the soon-to-be Mrs.Raizada, and she was clearly like him. Doing the right thing at the right time. They continued their passionate kiss and Khushi could feel the accelerating speed of her breathing. She could also feel butterflies in her stomach. As their tounges entered each others mouths, they started to taste every nook and corner in their mouth. They would have drifted off to a world of passion, but they knew this was not the right time. Finally both of them stopped and took a deep breath. Both of them realized that neither of them wanted to stop, but they had no choice.
After their passionate kiss, Arnav had left towards his cabin to get his stuff to leave. Khushi took her hand bag and waited downstairs until Arnav joined her. Once Arnav joined her, both of them left the office together. In the car park, Khushi was about to leave after saying good bye, but Arnav stopped her.
"Hey Khushi, I need to talk to you about that contract I wanted to tell you yesterday. But today was not the right day. So we will talk tomorrow, shall we?", Arnav said.
"Sure, no problem", Khushi said. But she realized that it was not all Arnav wanted to talk about. "What is it Arnav? What else do you want to talk about?".
"Lavanya. But we will talk about her later as well", Arnav said thoughtfully. He placed a butterfly kiss on her cheek and bid her goodbye. Khushi nodded and smiled at the way Arnav always remembered to leave a sweet memory before leaving her every time.
After reaching home Khushi realized that the whole house was silent. She went to the kitchen and asked Rama to bring dinner to her room, as she was dead tired. Khushi had a warm bath and changed in to her pyjamas. After sometime Rama had brought in her dinner. She enjoyed the meal, but she felt alone. She normally had the dinner with Chachu and Chachi. Most of the nights Lavanya was out with her friends, so it was normally three of them at the dinner table. She was thinking about what Arnav had said, when a sudden knock on her door brought her back to reality.
"Come in", Khushi said. Khushi was surprised to see the person that had entered. It was Mona. As soon as Khushi's eyes came in contact with her Chachi's, Khushi realized that Mona had cried as well. Her eyes were red and there were dark circles around her eyes, indicating that she hadn't slept as well. Khushi quickly went towards Chachi, and took her hand in hers.
"Chachi, what happened? Why are you crying? Come here", Khushi said, while making Mona sit beside her on her bed.
"I'm sorry Khushi", Mona suddenly uttered the words she had been waiting to tell since last night.
Next day, Arnav woke up early in the morning and left for office earlier than usual. All night his sleep was disturbed by the thoughts about Khushi. He was worried like hell. He wanted to know, whether she had her dinner, whether she cried all day, how she was doing, did she sleep at all, etc. But he couldn't call her as well. As he arrived in the office he saw that Khushi was talking with another employee about something. As he didn't want to push her too much, he silently went towards his cabin. At least Khushi had arrived for work today, and that made him glad.
It had been two hours after Arnav arrived in the office, and still Khushi come to his cabin. He was feeling restless, he really wanted to see her. He thought of calling her into his cabin or even going into her cabin, but he stopped himself. Arnav knew Khushi wouldn't like that. So he thought of giving her some more time. Just as he was about to resume with his work, he heard a soft knock on his cabin door.
"Come in", Arnav said. He was still staring on his laptop screen, when he heard the voice he was longing to hear since last night.
"I need you to check these designs ASR. And if you feel they are good, tell Aman to send these to the client he was talking about". As soon as Arnav heard the words being muttered in a cold, firm manner, he froze for sometime. This wasn't his Khushi. He felt himself melting from inside due to the anger that was raging within him. She was ignoring him. "What was wrong with her? Why is she talking to me like that? What did I do wrong?", Arnav thought to himself. He couldn't be patient anymore. He stood up from his chair and walked towards her in a fast pace. He roughly grabbed her from her shoulders and started to spit out the words in anger.
"What the hell is wrong with you Khushi? How dare you switch off your phone like that? Do you have any idea how worried I were for you?".
"Really? What's the difference in the way I acted, from the way you acted on your mom's death anniversary day?", Khushi said, without thinking how hurt her words would make Arnav.
"Wow, is this the way of you changing the topic? Great. Stop trying to point the finger at me. You can't just ignore what happened yesterday Khushi, you should at least open up to me or Payal", Arnav said, shaking Khushi slightly hoping that she would show some kind of normal reaction.
"There's nothing to say Arnav. And who do you think you are to just barge in to my house and blame Chachu and Chachi about their daughter's character? How do you think they must have felt? You are no different from them", Khushi said, while shaking his hands off from her and running out of the cabin.
Arnav was shocked to hear her words. After all that happened she was blaming him and that too to the way he pointed the finger at Lavanya. Who was this girl? She surely couldn't be a normal human being. Because no human being could be like her. She could forgive the people who said she was characterless without a second thought? She surely must be a god's messenger. Normally, if someone else talked to him the way Khushi did, he would have surely blasted off by now. But this was Khushi, and he realized that he was wrong in the way he acted at her house. After-all, Mona and Rajiv were elder than him and also they were going to become his in-laws. So he knew he had to apologize to them. But right now, although he wanted to go and console Khushi, he had to leave for an urgent meeting. So he left the office, hoping he would be able to talk to Khushi later in the evening.
Later that evening, at around 5.30pm Arnav arrived in the office after the meeting. Just when he was about to enter his cabin, he saw a faint light in Khushi's cabin and he figured out that she hadn't still left. He thought this was the right moment to talk to her, so he went towards her cabin. As soon as he opened the door to enter her room, he was astonished to see what he saw right in front of him. She was sitting down on the floor and was hiding her face between her knees. It didn't take time for him to realize she was crying. He reached towards her and made himself comfortable beside her.
When Khushi felt someone's warmth beside her, she realized it was non other than Arnav. She didn't want to move away from him, because she knew her words would have hurt him a lot. She wanted to apologize to him, but she didn't have the strength to do that. She was grateful and angry at the same time for what he did for her yesterday. She was grateful that he stood by as he always had promised. But she didn't like the way Arnav lifted his finger towards Lavanya, in front of her Chachu and Chachi. So instead of apologizing, she thought of holding back. And since the time she had blurted out at Arnav, she had been crying all day long.
"Khushi, look at me", Arnav said softly.
When his words reached her ears, she looked up after few seconds. Arnav didn't have words to explain how he felt, when he saw her beautiful hazel coloured eyes filled with tears. Her eyes were all red and he realized that she had cried out the whole day.
"I'm sorry Khushi, I shouldn't have talked to your Chachu and Chachi in that way. They are elders and I should have respected them. But I'm not sorry for standing by you. I agree I did the wrong thing by talking about Lavanya like that, but at least now they will realize what the other people think about her. At least now they will try to mend Lavanya a little. I have come across so many girls since Sheetal, and they were all beautiful, talented, wealthy, ambitious, everything. But, why do you think I didn't fall in love with them? It's because they don't have the one thing you have. The character. A girl's character tells who she is from inside. And if there is one thing I cannot bear people blaming you about, that would be your character. No one, not even my family have the right to point their finger at your character. And if one day even if they would do that, my reaction would be the same as yesterday. So I'm not sorry for the way I acted yesterday, but I will apologize from Chachu and Chachi for the way I accused Lavanya", Arnav said, hoping to make her understand what kind of thoughts that were going within his brain.
Khushi was surprised at the way he talked, and never in her dreams did she believe that she would get such an understanding partner. And now she was feeling more guilty for the way she acted with Arnav in the morning.
"I'm sorry Arnav. I didn't mean to. I don't know what made me talk to you like that", Khushi said, while sobbing. She couldn't still stop crying.
"Ssshhh... Come here", Arnav said, while taking her in for a warm hug. Khushi felt much better being wrapped around in his arms. She felt as if there was only Arnav and her in this whole world. But the reality struck her, and she knew it was not only them. She had to face the people around her eventually. Since last night Khushi hadn't met her Chachu, Chachi or Lavanya, as she left early in the morning from the house. And she knew Arnav was telling the truth. She could bear any accusation from the whole world, but not when someone accused her of her character. She had been trying to neglect the accusations she got from her Chachu and Chachi since last night, hoping that she could be strong from next morning. But her efforts went in vain. Now she knew if she didn't open up to someone, she would go crazy.
"Arnav, why does everyone hate me? What have I done wrong? I didn't make my parents leave this world, god did. It was his fault, that I became an orphan. But thanks to god, I got a house to live. Although they didn't shower me with love, I got all I wanted. And if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have agreed to marry you. I'm really grateful for them, I really am. But I don't know how else I am supposed to show them my love. If I show them my love in open, they would laugh at me. So I thought of just to show them how much I care, but it's all useless. Let's say they really love me and they doesn't know how to show it, but at least I thought they would trust me. But after what they said to me yesterday, I realized that they don't trust me at all. I have been trying all night to think that it was just because they were angry, that they shouted at me like that. But every time when I remember they indirectly implied me to a characterless girl, I feel as if my heart is being squeezed by a pair of large hands. And I feel as if I would stop breathing at that very moment", Khushi said, while tears went on rolling down her cheeks.
Arnav was so glad, as Khushi had opened up to him and this was the first time she had actually talked about how she felt about her Chachu and Chachi. He knew that the way Rajiv and Mona talked to her was wrong, but he was grateful for them for keeping her alive all this time without letting her be brought up by total strangers.
"Khushi, listen to me carefully. I know the way they talked to you was wrong. And if I were you,god knows what I will do. I would surely do something I would regret later. But you are thousand times different and better than me. So don't ever think of putting negative thoughts in to your mind about them. Even though they are not your own parents, they gave you everything you need. May be they are not the type that showers love openly, but they were there. But look at my dad. He left for another woman, and he never for a second thought of looking back. So when compared to me, your lucky. I know you don't hate them and you can never do that, because your Khushi. But you should talk to them, directly. Try and open up to them. Tell them what you feel".
Khushi was amazed at the way Arnav was trying to console her. She felt as if he was a total stranger. Today he was the mature one in their relationship, and she felt that all the words that came from his mouth was true.
"I will try", Khushi said, softly.
Khushi's crying had stopped by now, and Arnav was relived to see Khushi was feeling much better after their conversation. He was surprised when she suddenly stood up as if she was ready to leave. He quickly pulled her, and Khushi fell on him with a soft shriek.
"What are you doing Arnav?", Khushi asked, as she was surprised with Arnav's sudden pull.
"After doing a counselling session for such a long time, you are going to leave? Just like that? What about my payment?", Arnav asked, with a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Khushi's eyes became the size of saucers at the word "payment", and she knew what Arnav was hinting at. A small blush was now clearly visible in her cheeks. She slowly leaned her head down and took in his lips for a passionate kiss. Arnav was taken in by surprise, as he expected her to give a kiss on his cheeks. But now he realized that she was the soon-to-be Mrs.Raizada, and she was clearly like him. Doing the right thing at the right time. They continued their passionate kiss and Khushi could feel the accelerating speed of her breathing. She could also feel butterflies in her stomach. As their tounges entered each others mouths, they started to taste every nook and corner in their mouth. They would have drifted off to a world of passion, but they knew this was not the right time. Finally both of them stopped and took a deep breath. Both of them realized that neither of them wanted to stop, but they had no choice.
After their passionate kiss, Arnav had left towards his cabin to get his stuff to leave. Khushi took her hand bag and waited downstairs until Arnav joined her. Once Arnav joined her, both of them left the office together. In the car park, Khushi was about to leave after saying good bye, but Arnav stopped her.
"Hey Khushi, I need to talk to you about that contract I wanted to tell you yesterday. But today was not the right day. So we will talk tomorrow, shall we?", Arnav said.
"Sure, no problem", Khushi said. But she realized that it was not all Arnav wanted to talk about. "What is it Arnav? What else do you want to talk about?".
"Lavanya. But we will talk about her later as well", Arnav said thoughtfully. He placed a butterfly kiss on her cheek and bid her goodbye. Khushi nodded and smiled at the way Arnav always remembered to leave a sweet memory before leaving her every time.
After reaching home Khushi realized that the whole house was silent. She went to the kitchen and asked Rama to bring dinner to her room, as she was dead tired. Khushi had a warm bath and changed in to her pyjamas. After sometime Rama had brought in her dinner. She enjoyed the meal, but she felt alone. She normally had the dinner with Chachu and Chachi. Most of the nights Lavanya was out with her friends, so it was normally three of them at the dinner table. She was thinking about what Arnav had said, when a sudden knock on her door brought her back to reality.
"Come in", Khushi said. Khushi was surprised to see the person that had entered. It was Mona. As soon as Khushi's eyes came in contact with her Chachi's, Khushi realized that Mona had cried as well. Her eyes were red and there were dark circles around her eyes, indicating that she hadn't slept as well. Khushi quickly went towards Chachi, and took her hand in hers.
"Chachi, what happened? Why are you crying? Come here", Khushi said, while making Mona sit beside her on her bed.
"I'm sorry Khushi", Mona suddenly uttered the words she had been waiting to tell since last night.
Will Khushi open up to Mona? What does Arnav want to talk about Lavanya? What's so special about the contract?
Thanks for post. It will be very useful information for everyone.
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