Khushi
was conscious.
Very
conscious.
Arnav
was lost.
Very
lost.
She
looked breathtakingly beautiful, drop dead gorgeous, out of the world
pretty and the dictionary could very well get exhausted..
she
looked up at him and blushed..
for
Arnav Singh Raizada looked very well handsome himself..
the
sherwani complimented him, his height, his looks and that smirk on
his face..
then
quickly tried to 'un-blush' while he struggled to 'un-drool'
The
Guptas met the Raizadas as two families soon to be related
meet..warmly and gracefully.
Anjali
greeted Nihal who himself looked exceptionally handsome..and
exchanged smiles..
Arnav
bore holes with his eyes into them
"stop
it" Khushi whispered into his ears..
"what?"
"stop
boring holes with your eyes into my brother just because he smiled at
your sister"
"i
am not bo-"
"yes
you are"
"i
am not"
Payal
tapped their shoulders from behind..
"excuse
me..but it's your engagement today. Can you behave please?"
"but
jiji-"
"Khushi
shut up. And take blessings"
Arnav
and Khushi exchanged looks as they bent down individually to take
blessings..then Arnav escorted her to the rest of the guests..
LATER-
Anjali
did some hushed whispered discussions with Payal and Mrs Gupta and
then walked up to the stage holding the mike..
"A
very good evening to all of you present who have been so kind to
grace this very special occasion for us with your lovely presence. I
guess all sisters present here would very well understand when I say
how overwhelming it is when after years of shouting day in and out into your brother's ears to get someone other than his laptop to spend his
life along with him by his side, he finally takes a step in that direction. But then, I guess, love comes knocking when it has to-"
at
this Arnav and Khushi literally flew their eyes in each other's
direction...and then with the same speed, flew it away..
she
gulped
he
wondered what was wrong with the AC systems in the hall..
Anjali
continued- " and we have ample proof of it in the form of the
beautiful couple in front of us...who we wait for , to exchange rings
and prove yet again, that love indeed, makes the world go round"
Payal
held Khushi's arm (which was a good thing since she was having a
hard time figuring out whether she was levitating or not), her mother
and Nihaal by her side, as they led her up the stage..
Arnav
accompanied by Aakash walked up from the other end joining nani and
Mrs Raizada already there...
They
finally stood before one another...
and
looked into each other's eyes..
he
could see before him a Khushi Kumari Gupta...
panting
for breath stopping him from entering AR..
"i
for one am not done"
"and
why should I bother whether you are done or not?"
"because
I have an appointment"
if
only he had known the duration of this 'appointment' back then...
she
looked him in the eye..
"OUT!"
the image of the same man clenching his fists at her floated in her
mind..
"huh..only
a lunatic would dream of having your company..out? My pleasure!"
her own voice resonated in her ears..
and
we all know just how 'Out' they went out of each other's lives after
that..
she
raised her hand slowly and he held it in his, the eye contact never
breaking-
as
the sleek golden band slipped into her finger and the light from the
studded diamond danced with pleasure on her face..
Khushi
Kumari Gupta, fianc of, Arnav Singh Raizada
the
sound of applauses filled the air as he extended his hand in her
direction while she nervously passed the ring through his finger...
camera
flashes blinded them as the professional photographer present for
the occasion captured every moment..
Anjali
threw her arms around Arnav in joy, then turned and gave Khushi a big
bear hug. Nihaal had a light sideway embrace with Arnav and then
literally squeezed the life out of Khushi-
"My
lattu is engaged! My God! Someone tell me I am dreaming! Lattu!!"
Khushi
blushed as she was soon surrounded by the rest of the family..
which
was followed by taking blessings from nani, Mrs Gupta, Mrs Raizada
(who gave the most sophisticated blessing possible)...
They
were stopped by the camera person just as they were about to part.
"A
photo of the couple sir"
Arnav
and Khushi exchanged glances as they stood beside each other-
"um..closer
sir if you don't mind"
Arnav
stepped closer and snaked his arm around Khushi's shoulder who
audibly gasped..
before
nervously smiling at the camera again..
picture
perfect.
Peace
o heart! Breathe in..breathe out..
She
slipped her arm into Arnav's and together they slowly moved around
the hall, meeting guests, accepting congratulatory wishes..
Arnav
felt a strange pride as he escorted her to each guest, a strange
glow..which he tried mighty hard not to acknowledge..
LATER-
The
party was on in full swing, but nobody had noticed ,when ,a certain someone
had quietly withdrawn from the gathering and was now standing by the
poolside as she stood staring emptily at the clear water of the
swimming pool.
It
was her brother's engagement and she was elated about it..but the
settings, the surroundings made memories come rushing over, of her
own..the man who she...no. You will NOT think about him. Anjali drew
in a deep breath as she tried to fight back the choke in her throat..
*snap
* a pair of fingers snapped in front of her and she swirled around..
someone
had been noticing after all..and knew...
"oh
Nihaal! Hey!"
"hey!you
here?"
"ya..just..i-"
"forget
it. I guess your reason is the same as mine"
"wh..what
reason?"
"emotions.
Bad memories. All stirred up by these settings...I will share mine
with you. You know, I was in university back in the states, and I had
this HUGE thing for this girl, so I wrote a letter in blood-"
"BLOOD??!!!"
Anjali exclaimed..
"um..no,
actually it was ketchup. Diluted tomato ketchup. I thought she
wouldn't figure out it wasn't blood, for come on! Who would shed
blood for such a thing, but it seemed 'romeo-ish' so I did it
anyway-"
"you
thought writing a letter to a girl with ketchup was 'romeo-ish'??
poor romeo"
"hold
on. I thought she would think it was blood and THAT would be
romeo-ish"
"and
then?"
"then?
She smelled it. I wonder how I was foolish enough to overlook that vital
loophole-"
Anjali
had already begun grinning..
"and
of course she knew it was ketchup, and that day, I realized why you
women wear sandals with such long heels"
Anjali
placed her palm over her mouth as she burst into laughter-
"You
are the limit!" she gasped..
"you
find it funny?? I was heartbroken!!" he said, smiling himself..
"oh
yes I am sure!"
"you
know, but I still wonder why she smelled it in the first place if it
looked like blood..that is a habit I have heard being attributed to
vampires, in which case, I have been lucky,,"
she
shook her head in exasperation and giggled away as the two turned
around walking back into the hall, laughing, joking and rolling eyes
at each other..
The
function on the stage had commenced with professional singers and
artists gracing the occasion-
Arnav
and Khushi sat next to one another..
the
biggest problem currently on their problem list.
For
they had been moments ago declared as fiances who had reportedly
'proved' that 'love comes knocking when it has to' and could 'make
the world go round'..
(seriously,
matchmakers aka the media not being called for engagement, break up
plans aka all the more bigger matchmakers not being given even a
mention in the entire speech, and all the credit goes to this
comes-out-of-nowhere love!! sigh..the world has never been fair..)
Khushi
was fidgeting with and inspecting her lehenga as if she would soon be
asked to duplicate it herself..it's ok Khushi. Evolution has
recommenced but you will deal with it..he is right next to you,
perfectly alright..the trick lies in watching the singer. Yes. Lovely
voice. He just looked at you, but you will not hyperventilate. You
will certainly NOT remember the picture clicking.Breathe in..breathe
out..
Arnav
was silently praying that some miracle would stop her from fidgeting.
He
was trying to distract himself. Why did she have to make it SO DAMN
DIFFICULT!!!
fidgeting
with her lehenga, fidgeting with her hair..control.control.control.
It's simple Arnav just look away...better, wow what a song! Super
talented singer. Beautiful. No way he was getting distracted. She was
right beside him. No problem. Cool, so she is again fidgeting with
her hair...singer Arnav, look at the damn singer!
He
placed his hands on the sofa on which they sat at the same time she
put hers there resulting in his hand covering hers completely..
Khushi
made golf balls out of her eyes as she shot a look at him while he
withdrew his hand as if he had just touched fire..
she
looked left he looked right...
she
turned back to look right and said-
"um..Arnav"
"yes?"
"i
need to talk to..jiji..i am just..coming"
To
hell with 'talking to Payal'. She needed water. Very very cold water.
And some privacy.Desperately.can't go upstairs. Kitchen.
he
nodded his head. "yeah fine.i am here"
to
hell with 'I am here'. He needed water. Very cold water. And some
privacy.Desperately.and this was just the opportunity to slip away.
Can't go upstairs. Kitchen.
Khushi
leaned against the fridge as she gulped cold water down her throat..
WHAT
was wrong with her. WHAT WHAT WHAT THE HELL was wrong with her..
relax
Khushi..relax..breathe in...breathe out..breathe in..breathe
out..fake..everything is fake..
Arnav
stormed inside the kitchen and widened his eyes at the sight before
him..
Khushi
coughed on the water..
"YOU!what
are you doing here?"
"i..i
had to use the restroom"
Khushi
roamed her eyes around the kitchen then spoke..
"um..i
think you are slightly mistaken..this does not look like-"
"shut
up! I don't need to explain why I am here. This is MY house. I can be
anywhere I like. What are you doing here?i can't see Payal anywhere"
"i..i..wanted
water"
"i
see. Perhaps the dozen staff members in the entire hall couldn't help
you with it"
"i..i
wanted c..cold water"
"every
drink being served is happens to be sufficiently chilled. I guess
boiling water is not on the menu"
"what
is your problem if I stay here for a while?'
"nothing"
silence...
"Arnav?"
"what?"
"you
came all the way here to tell me you wished to use the restroom?"
Arnav
quickly grabbed the jug from the table as if water was what had drawn
him to the kitchen..
awkward
silence..
Khushi
who had begun fiddling with the knife in the spoon stand in her
clumsiness cut her finger
"OUCH!
Oh shit!"
needless
to say Arnav singh Raizada was by her side before you could even say
'what the!'
"WHAT?"
"nothing..i
just..cut.." she moved her finger to put it in her mouth when Arnav
pushed it away from it
"Are
you a vampire?"
"what?"
"then
don't drink blood"
"i
was not drinking blood"
"yes
you were"
"i
wa-"
"Khushi
shut up"
he
took out his handkerchief as he wiped the blood off her finger...
she
looked at him and he looked back into her eyes..
and
then it happened..
the
weird,the strange, the God knows what of a silence..
as
he slowly stopped wiping her finger and yet she didn't pull it back..
he
stepped forward..
she
blinked and open her mouth to say something..then shut it up..
he
placed a hand on her shoulder
she
gulped..
and-
"I
CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" Payal and Anjali exclaimed together "WHAT
are you two doing here?? here?? there is an entire function dedicated
to you going on in the hall and- by the way, what were you doing?"
Khushi-"cooking"
Arnav-"wiping"
(accompanied
by flying away from each other). reaction- raised eyebrows.
Khushi-
"i mean moving, moving utensils"
Arnav-
"i mean wiping..blood"
very
raised eyebrows with additional popped out eyes
Anjali
spoke at length-
"i
see. Khushi was moving utensils while you chotte were wiping blood.
And here we were thinking we had an engagement in the house! How
silly of us right Payal?"
"you
bet. Now if you two are done with this very important 'moving
utensils' and 'wiping blood' can we have you in the hall? The guests
are wondering"
Hard
to say, who flew out first..
The
party in all its grandeur, continued till late in the Raizada
mansion. With two very very lost souls.
Night
at RM-
Arnav
Singh Raizada could not stop it.
'It'
being thinking
'thinking'
being something to do with blankly staring at any random inanimate
object in the room and focusing thoughts on a particular 'Khushi
Kumari Gupta'
and
Arnav Singh Raizada was fast approaching madness. He had tried
everything-
Singhania
files- check
Mehta
deal files- check
AR
annual report- check
calling
Aman- check
end
result- thinking about Khushi Kumari Gupta.
This
was insane. Arnav Singh Raizada CANNOT lose control over himself.
Should he google for help? He'd be damned if he did! Arnav Singh
Raizada did not need any google to help him. If he didn't want to
think of something, BANG ON! He didn't..
half
an hour later-
Google
search
how
to stop thinking (yes, Arnav singh Raizada searches 'how to stop
thinking', attention everyone.History is being written here)
1st
result- (this is an actual google search result)
Osho - How to stop Thinking
Osho on how to Stop Thinking -
THINKING cannot be stopped. Not that it does not stop, but it cannot
be stopped.
ok.
so this clearly doesn't work...something else..
just
as he was about to type something else his eyes rested on one of the
searches-
thinking
continuously about someone? Can't seem to stop? Are you falling in-
curiosity
got the better of Arnav Singh Raizada as he clicked open the option.
Falling in what dammit?
While
he waited with bated breath for something like mental retardation,
psychological disorder this is what flashed on his screen-
Are
you falling in love?
And
then an entire article on- What is love
Arnav
read the entire article and as very expected his next search was-
how
to stop falling in love
because
this was what Arnav Singh Raizada had made out of the entire thing-
it was more dangerous than morphine, it made you mad, stupid, and a
complete idiot. A bunging fool.
NOBODY
could make Arnav Singh Raizada a bunging fool..not even
this..this..whatever..
1st
result ( again an actual google search result.)-
How to Stop Falling in Love: 8 steps - wikiHow
1 Aug 2012 ' How to Stop Falling
in Love. Whether it is with multiple or repeatedly loving the
same person, it can be hard to put a stop to falling in love.
DAMN
IT!!!
Arnav
Singh Raizada did not need a STUPID GOOD FOR NOTHING google (yeah
google, go have a party)to know how to prevent a disease (yes, a
disease). As it is he had not caught it (oh yes, we agree Mr Raizada,
of course you have not!) and hell if he did! He would just talk to
her. A little more. Perhaps that was the problem. He always
shut her up so maybe if they would talk he would realize all the more
how stupid she was and fall out, (wait! He never fell in!right?) Ok,
and stay away from this..this..morphine!!
yes..that's
it..as much as it would make him mad. He would just talk and
everything would be fine. And fake. Like it was. Period.
NIGHT
AT GH
Khushi
threw the bedcover from herself as she moved out of bed..there was
something very wrong going on here..this was beyond evolution! This
was...
help
. She needed some help.
Payal
Gupta be you prepared..
(picture credit- google images)
Zabardast..
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