UE part 31

It was past half an hour when Arnav descended the stairs..

"we should really be leaving now" Payal eyed her watch..

"i know.." Khushi glanced at her wrist watch too.. "i wonder what's taking..."

while Khushi glanced at the main door Anjali who was just about to speak was interrupted by her brother-

"di I'll drop them home"

Anjali arched her brows high at Arnav as a mischevous smile played on her lips..

"will you chotte? I thought you were off for a-"

"i am" he broke in , pretending to be totally oblivious of the tongue rolls Anjali had now resorted to.. "but it's on the way so I thought of-"

"of course of course I understand.."

"you leave it bhai, you must be busy, i'll drop Khushi and Payalji home" akash called from behind..

so basically it was a 'make hay while the sun shines' scenario in the Raizada living room..

Anjali desperately wished to grab hold of a popcorn cone from somewhere to relax on the sofa and enjoy the drama unfolding..

"no Aakash it's fine, i'll manage"

"but bhai I-"

"Aakash-"

"hey everyone!! wassup??" Nihaal called from behind..

and there the sun stops shining, even before the hay making could commence..

Nihaal got pleasant looks from all except two brothers who had a little too firm handshakes with him..

Nihaal had a high five and light hug with Anjali and Arnav flinched..Khushi caught him flinching and was confused for a moment, then smiled..Payal caught Khushi smiling and gave a confused look, Aakash caught Payal giving a confused look and raised questioning eyebrows, Anjali caught Aakash raising questioning eyebrows and blushed, Nihaal caught Anjali blushing and winked, Arnav caught Nihaal winking and flinched, Khushi caught Arnav flinching again and grinned..thus completing the 'expression cycle'..

Nihaal whispered in Anjali's ears..

"i told you I have a way with women"

Anjali pushed him away..

"oh yes! I have seen your 'way' with women alright"

"Look if this is anyway pointing to what happened at the showroom you better remember-"

"tea?" Anjali ended the talk then and there seeing the direction it was taking...

"another time for sure!" he grinned "me and Lattu have er..some..plans for today.."

News Today

page 3

report by- Dibaker Sinha

Twist in the fairy tale?

Pallavi Khandelwal threw a totally unexpected bomb yesterday night as she opened up on her relationship with the soon to be engaged business tycoon Arnav Singh Raizada. Pallavi claims to be the ex flame of the tycoon, who has always chosen to remain reticent with regards to his personal life ,his relationship with Ms Khushi Kumari Gupta,as we know, being totally an exception. Pallavi claims, that Mr Raizada recently sought a reunion, vehemently stating his current relationship to be a complete farce. Is this another publicity gimmick thrown by a struggling B-town actress to grab spotlight or do her claims hold water enough to endanger the much hyped engagement of the two love birds the day after? Mr Raizada, as well as Ms Gupta, unfortunately remained unavailable for comments. Keep your eyes glued to the column for more haps!

Also read- why does Shah Rukh Khan hate noodles? Fahion police on Priyanka chopra @ red carpet, Salman Khan got a haircut-exclusive report on why he shouldn't have (entertainment time; cover page)

Khushi had the newspaper spread out before her..the article glaring at her as she, still in her bed, blinked , shocked at it...then picked it up and re-read, and re-read, and re-read till she had almost memorised the article by heart...

Payal gave her a confused look..

"Khushi..what's it?"

Khushi burst into laughter...

"oh my God jiji!! you've GOT to see this! OH how I wish I could see his face right now! OMG!" she held her stomach and burst out laughing again as Payal gave the article a read..

"Khushi..what's there to laugh in it??"

"WHAT is there to laugh in it? Jiji cement pile would NEVER ever think of-"

"do you know of his past?"

"well..no, but-"

"then how can you be so sure? Khushi you told me last night you two are still not sure of this whole thing and a break up still stands a chance! Suppose he indeed had an ex who wants to reunite! Or it could even be Mr Raizada's idea of a breakup plan.."

Khushi's laughter got wiped from her face like the sunshine from the clouds...

"What have you been reading lately?" she charged at Payal "seems like dozens of 'ex meets ex and live happily ever after non existent in real life, mushy, ridiculous stuff to me!"

Payal coolly looked at her..

"it's plain logic Khushi, in fact, now I think you should be the one who should be worrying over why the idea is SO disturbing to you"

and she walked out of the room...

Khushi eyed the article once again and felt a pang inside..before the green eyed monster took over Khushi Kumari Gupta..

That..that Pallavi of a- ..looked foolish, dressed funny, who wore a screaming red lipstick with a nude colour gown? Lacked brains, lacked fashion sense, and a big mouth! Fine! If this is who he wished to be hooked up for the rest of his life so be it! She didn't give it a damn! Not one damn! Congratulations to him! Might as well get up in mornings and have this 'miss whatever' the first thing he sees for all she cared!! yes, early in the morning!! without all this..this fake makeup! Yes..fake make up!! and..and a bad hair day!! he would scream and no one would hear! And it would be too late!! then he would realize what he threw himself into! But it would be too late! This money monger would run after him and he could very well 'what the' and 'dammmit' at her amoeba sized brain for the rest of his life!!! she didn't give a damn!!!

yes, she was currently on the verge of tears, yes she was painting a beautiful 'happily ever after' picture for Arnav, yes she choking in the throat, yes she wanted to kick Pallavi Khandelwal into oblivion, but of course,of course, she didn't give a damn...

"um..hey partner in crime"

"witness to crime"

"redeemed crime..by the way, what's this explosion all over in the papers? What on earth is your brother doing??"

"oh my brother? He is currently being shown the google image search results of who is pallavi Khandelwal by Aakash"

"you mean-"

"i mean he has as much clue of who she is as he has of the fact that why Shah Rukh Khan hates noodles or what was wrong with Salman Khan's new haircut.."

"what"

"that was below the article on them"

"you do read page 3 carefully, don't you?"

"oh very. And so does your sister. So basically, he is absolutely clueless about this 'emerges from nowhere ex flame'..."

"so I take it the engagement will be the way it is"

"why won't it?can you just..oh leave it..you must be at work"

"um..actually I am not. The 'sliding down the stair bannister' thing resulted into a tiny..accident here" he spoke eying the sorry state of his foot once more..

Khushi kumari gupta in the meantime was doing this- using Adobe photoshop to try out how various moustaches and beards would look on Pallavi Khandelwal. In one fine picture, she even put devil horns..

the message popped up before her-

save B-town-bimbo.jpeg?

Saved!

And the satisfaction it gave Khushi Kumari Gupta to look at the picture of Pallavi Khandelwal with a beard and devil horns on her desktop..

bliss!

She heard the phone ringing beside her and picked it up..

cement pile calling..

her heart did a loud 'thud'...this was the moment of truth...

"who is this Pallavi Khandelwal or whatever's her name??"

straight to the question.no hello. Nothing. Happens when you are too anxious..

Arnav himself was surprised at her almost barked out question..

"Khu-"

"you had an ex and you didn't even tell me about it?"

"why shoul-"

"you didn't even care to share the plan with me? I get to know from the papers that you-"

"Khushi SHUT UP!"

silence..

"i..i am sorry Mr Raizada..of course..it's..it's your personal matter..it's not that I..i want to barge into your relationship with your ex..it's just that.."

"Khushi?"

"yes?"

"if you are done can you lemme finish?"

Khushi in any case had to stop speaking at the moment..the reason not being his anger, rather the rising lump in her throat..

she was mad at herself..mad at having the strong desire of making complete use of the 'buy one get one free' tissue box sets she had bought in the afternoon, mad at herself for wanting those photoshopped images of Pallavi Khandelwal suddenly turn to reality..

mad at herself for being mad at the person she was currently on line with when she had no concrete reason to be mad at him..

the lump in throat just got a little bigger..

while Arnav wondered what magic got Khushi Kumari Gupta to for the first time comply with his 'lemme finish'..

"i don't even know who she is dammit!"

Khushi's eyes suddenly lit up..

"what?you..you mean she is not your ex-"

"Arnav Singh Raizada has done better things in his life than hooking up with hair brained good for nothings"

Khushi involuntarily grinned..she would have to remember that one.. 'hair brained good for nothing'

"oh.."

"seeking damn publicity"

"Exactly! How gross" Khushi vehemently agreed "absolutely cheap!"

"but I was thinking.."

"what?"

"that this could be a good excuse for the breakup..it sounds believable, no extra effort required , she has already said all that could be said and all that's needed now is just agreeing.."

"you..you mean then you'll get linked to her-"

"i mean I would dump her the instant our breakup is confirmed.."

"oh..and I will..i will say-" Khushi trailed away..

"you don't have to say anything! Just don't comment. Since you...so desperately want to be over and done with the breakup"

Khushi shifted restlessly in her place..

"I want to be done and over with the breakup??"

"well..you do don't you??"

"no..i mean yes..i mean.. so do you!"

silence..

"so.."

"hm.."

"so i'll make the announcement next time the press approaches.."

the rising lump in her throat was making it so difficult to speak..hell, WHAT was wrong with her!!

she nodded her head as she said "ok then.." and was about to disconnect when Arnav interrupted..

"Khushi!"

"yes?"

"di wants to know the..the dress you finally chose for the...engagement"

"what sense does that make now?"

"i'll have to explain the situation to her. Till then just mail any dress to me"

Khushi was in no mood to argue..depression hormones were taking a toll on her...

"fine"

"ok then.."

"hm.."

call disconnected..

After she had disconnected the call, Arnav kept staring at the pool, hands inside his pockets for long...

this was not Khushi..a girl who blabbered at the rate of infinte blabberings per minute had just said 'ok' or 'fine' the entire conversation..could it be..could it be even remotely possible that she didn't want the breakup? Or was it just that she was plain sick of the entire thing and wanted to be over and done with it as soon as she could..somehow the former option created a strange glow within him..

an unexperienced, happy warmth..

damn you Arnav Singh Raizada..he shut his eyes in disbelief..what the hell was wrong with him! Why would she not want the breakup..hell why would HE not want the breakup???

he tried reassuring himself...of course he wanted the breakup..he just..he just didn't want it this way...

Her mood was too off for her to actually pay heed to what designer dresses she was attaching to the mail..the pictures folder open before her, the recently photoshopped image added to the 'my pictures' list, but her mind in some far away land..

Mind still occupied with break up, Arnav, past moments, confusions, she blindly attached one link after anther..

links attached-

manishmalhotra12.jpeg

hiteshSidwani.jpeg

dressmeasurements.doc

B-town-bimbo.jpeg

(yes, you read the last one correct)

technology yet again ditched Khushi Kumari Gupta as she pressed the send mail button to ASR@ARgroup.org ..how she would have wanted to save a particular file from going into the mail..

you've got mail

1 new mail from kkg@gmail.com . Open?

Arnav wondered whether to even bother opening the mail..after all, she must have randomly attached any dress to the file..

after a few minutes of wondering, he nevertheless opened it-

Manishmalhotra12, hiteshsidwani.jpeg,dressmeasurements.doc..hold on...what?

B-town-bimbo.jpeg...

he opened the file-

google images had failed to apprise him of what popped up before his face..a bearded, horned Pallavi Khandelwal..

this was the second time she had done this..he remembered the earlier sms fiasco..

and then Arnav Singh Raizada leaned his head on his seat and smiled..then eyed the image once more ,his mobile levelled with his face.. and the smile slowly, involuntarily, grew wide enough to escape as a light chuckle..

His car took a halt outside the AR office..

In no time ,the media had surrounded him pouring questions from all sides..suited bodyguards started clearing the crowd around for him, as he walked with firm steps towards the main door..

"Who is Pallavi?"

"Mr Raizada should we take it that the engagement is off??"

"Mr Rai-"

Arnav stopped walking, then turned to face the dozen cameras facing him as he, a complete cool reigning his face, took off his avaiators and handing them to a guard by his side spoke out-

"The engagement is very much on"

"Mr Raizada who is Pallavi??"

He looked staright into the eyes of the reporter and spoke curtly...

"you tell me"

before heading back straight for his office again, the dozens of questions that followed all falling on deaf ears..

He had hardly reached his chamber when his phone started buzzing in his pocket..

He didn't need to be a psychic to know who it was..

Khushi calling

"what?"

"WHAT was that?"

"what was what?"

"oh don't you 'what was what' me! I just saw the tv..you..you confirmed the engagement!!"

"yes"

"yes?? last we talked, it was all about 'convenient breakup' and what not and you suddenly did a U turn and-...what of the breakup???"

"of course there will be a breakup..but Arnav Singh Raizada doesn't need a hair brained spotlight freak to do it"

"oh..ok..i see..yeah..bringing her in all this"

"hm.."

"fine then.."

"Khushi" he spoke just as she was about to disconnect..

"yes?"

"nice pictures those"

"huh?"

"the ones you mailed me...specially the last one"

"pic-..oh those!! I hadn't thought you'd even see them!"

silence..

"fine then! Since I am super busy right now,i will talk to you later-" she continued and glanced the morning article before her for one last time and then suddenly grew silent..

Arnav who was already jumping around at her 'I am super busy right now, talk to you later' and was just about to give her a nice long lecture with puffed nostrils on being 'super busy' sensed the dead silence at the other end and stopped..

"Khushi?"

"OH SHIT! SHIT ! SHIT! SHIT!" Khushi exclaimed..

"Khushi..Khushi you fine?"

"OH NO! " she groaned "IT'S RUINED!!"

"Khushi what's the matter dammit?? are you ok? Should i-" he began panicking..

"SALMAN CUT HIS HAIR!!"

"WHAT?"

"SALMAN KHAN!! Can you believe he changed his haircut!!! HOW did I miss this in the morning??"

How Arnav wished mobile phones had the facilty to strangle the person at the other end..

"You shouted.so loud.because some damn fellow had a haircut" he literally breathed into the receiver..

"EXCUSE ME! Who are you calling a damn fellow! Oh yes! Why would you be bothered about Salman Khan? You must be busy reading what the fashion police has to say about Priyank-"

your call has been disconnected.

Khushi frowned into her mobile..cement pile! This man needed a lecture or two on how to formally end her calls.

Khushi Kumari Gupta never realized when she was smiling at her ceiling in the room..a blooming, budding , beautiful, smart, posh bollywood actress ( readers kindly note the change in words Ms Gupta chooses to implement) and he calls her a 'hair brained spotlight freak' in front of her and announces his engagement confirmed...smile.smile.smile.

Arnav had a last look at the picture of a photoshopped Pallavi Khandelwal before he switched off his bedside lamp..slim chances of him ever deleting that one..

of course they would break up, but not this way...yes ,yes, we believe them, * cough * *cough * of course we do..