Dark Night Dawning Chapter 7

Dark Night Dawning – Part7

Lavanya joined everyone for breakfast and updated them about what she had been up to all these months. She explained that she had joined a fashion house in London and had come to Delhi on business. She also mentioned that if everything went well, her company would soon be doing business with AR fashions as well. Everyone was happy to see that Lavanya had become serious about her career. On a lighter note, she added.

‘Even if things don’t work out for me in London, I think I can always come back to AR fashions, what say ASR?’

‘Do you even have to ask Lavanya,’ said Arnav amicably, ‘Your old job will always be open for you.’

‘Thanks ASR!’ she gushed with pleasure.

‘Hello everybody,’ said NK walking up to the table, coming to stand next to Khushi, ‘what’s for breakfast todayKhushiji?’

He could have asked anybody else at the table, but no it had to be Khushi thought Arnav irritated.

‘You favourite aloopooriNanheji,’ said Khushi smiling at him.

Just as Arnav wondered how Khushi knew about that, he heard his mami say to Payal, ‘So you remembered my instructions …..Khoonbharitaang? It is your duty as bhabhi to take care of your devar.’

‘Don’t worry mamiji, please let me know what needs to be prepared for Nanheji, I will do a better job than jiji’ said Khushi her eyes twinkling. Only Payal understood that Khushi was trying to make it easy for her.

‘See NK? You have anotherbhabhiwho is ready to take care of your whims and fancies,’ said Naniji jovially,‘As a devar, you can take full advantage of that.’

Unbelievable! Why was his whole family pampering that bumbling fool?This whole devar-bhabhidrama was getting on his nerves. 

‘Sorry Lavanyaji,’ said Akash suddenly remembering that they had a guest in their midst, ‘Let me introduce you to NK, short for Nandakishore. He is my cousin from Sydney.’

‘Hi Nandakishore, it’s nice to meet you’ she said raising her hand in greeting.

‘Same here Lavanyaji. Khushiji’s told me a lot about you and please call me NK’ he said,twisting his lips in what he thought was cute smile.

When Arnav saw Lavanya smiling back at him, he rolled his eyes exasperated. Looked like women loved his fair and chocolaty face so much they didn’t notice his foolishness. But, he had enough of this. He got up from his seat abruptly. ‘I should be off to work now’ hegrated, walking toward the door.

‘Wait ASR,’ called Lavanya stopping Arnav’s stride, ‘I have a meeting with the director of SK fashions in an hour. Can you tell me how I can get there?’

‘SK fashions? That is on my way. I could give you a ride if you are ready to go.’

‘Thanks ASR, that would be super!’ Lavanya jumped up from her chair, ‘Give me a minute to get my bag?’

Khushi was in her room arranging her clothes in the ward robe. This morning when Arnav hadleft with Lavanya, she had felt envious of the sophisticated business woman. She was probably the kind of woman Arnav would have preferred to have in his life, she thought ------ a woman who would understand his work, who would be able to give her opinion, help him make important decisions. She couldn’t understand why he had let her go from his life.

But then, she did know, didn’t she?a little voice asked her, as her memories went back to the events that started during Dusshera, the unspoken forces that had drawn them closer time and again ---- their first trip to Nainital where her plan to get Arnav and Lavanya to spend a romantic outing had backfired, with them ending up spending a night at a roadside dhaba, the day before Diwali when he had unwound the Diwali lights from around her quivering body, the tips of his fingers touching her heated skin oh so delicately, as his smouldering eyes had bored into hers with enough intensity to burn her, their tumble on the rangolicolorswhen he had managed to save her by twisting her so that his back hit the ground while he took her entire body weight upon himself,

Then on the fateful night of Diwali -----he had put her mother’s payal on her ankle andthey had almost kissed ----- while Lavanya was officially his girlfriend.

What did Arnav really want in his life? Would she ever be able to figure him out?

Lavanya had come back for lunch and crashed right away as jet lag hit her really hard. When she woke up a few hours later, she found everyone in the living room, looking at some photos NK was showing them. Only Shyam, Akash and Arnav were missing.

‘These pictures are really good,’ said Lavanya as she looked at the photos on the laptop, ‘Did you click them?’

‘Yeah I did, it is sort of my hobby. I dabble in some photography in my spare time’ replied NK glowing under Lavanya’s compliment.

‘He also took videos of the Akash and Payal’s wedding as well Lavanyaji’ added Khushi.

‘That’s wonderful!’ exclaimed Lavanya, ‘I have always wanted to learn photography. But I ended up on the other side of the camera. But I hope I will be able to learn some day.’

‘It is pretty simple Lavanyaji. I will explain the basics to you when you have time. BTW were you a model?’

‘Let’s say I dabbled a bit in that field before I went into the fashion business. Thanks NK for offering to teach me! And please call me Lavanya.’

Later, as Khushi and Payal went into the kitchen to prepare for dinner, Lavanya and NK had begun to talk about the latest English movies.Most of the other members began to disperse by then as they had no idea about what these two were talking about. They realized that they both liked action/thriller/super natural/horror movies and went into detailed discussion about the ones they had watched and liked.

Arnav and Akash had come back from work by dinner time. During dinner, the topic somehow shifted to cricket and NK generally asked everyone which team they thought was the best.

‘India. Bharat.’ Both Arnav and Khushi had spoken in unison.

‘You interested in cricket, Khushiji?’ asked NK surprised.

What the  ____? Even Arnav was curious to know.

‘I am not only interested in watching cricket, I used to play cricket when I was a young girl. I used to be a very good bowler.’ She said smiling happily.

There she goes, thought Arnav as everybody looked at her in disbelief.

‘Actually its true,’ said Payal in her usual soft voice, ‘she used to play with the boys in our neighbourhood and she also used to get them out with her bowling.’

Arnav smirked as he imagined Khushi as a young girl in pig tails bowling to the neighbourhood boys as they got out one after the other. He could see how that could happen.

As Khushi saw Arnav’ssmirk, she continued, ‘Dhoni is my favourite after Salman Khan.’

‘Khushi, Salman Khan is an actor, what has he got to do with cricket?’ asked Arnav incredulous.

‘He is the captain of the Bollywood team in CCL,’ she quipped.

‘What the _____?’

‘Hold on Arnavji, I will explain. CCL stands for Celebrity Cricket League!’ she finished proudly.

Lavanya watched in surprise as Arnav burst out laughing ---- a sight she had probably never seen as long as she had known him.

That night as Khushi stepped into Lavanya’s room to check in on her, she saw mamijileaving the room. When Khushi asked her if she had everything she needed, Lavanya pulled her onto the bed to sit with her.

‘Finally, I get to speak with you alone,’ she said, crossing her legs, ‘tell me Khushi, how did all this happen?’

‘What Lavanyaji?’ asked Khushi trying to stall.

‘You know exactly what I am talking about Khushi,’ said Lavanya, ‘mamiji told me about your wedding. What was with the rush all about? Mamiji told me that ASR’s only reply was that he got married because Naniji had insisted on marriage. Did he not propose to you at all?’

Khushi got off the bed and walked up to the dresser, as she remembered that fateful night before Payal’s wedding when ASR had proposed to her, Tumhemujsheshaadikarnihogi – 6 mahinokeliye, nahi to mein Payal aur Akash kishaadi hone se rokdoonga!

‘He did.’ she said truthfully with a smile on her lips as the pain in her heart began to take form.

‘But why not in front of the entire family?’

Khushi remembered how the wind had howled that night as they stood in front of Devi Maiyya, the temple bells clanging with fury as Arnav had tied the mangalsutra around her neck, pushing her maangteeka aside to smear the sindoor into her partition.Yeh sab cheezentumhareliyebahutmaaaynerakhtihainna, yehmangalsutra, yehsindoor…….yehrahamangalsutraauryehrahasindoor!

‘Someone who was very important to me was present there,’ she said quietly,‘Isn’t marriage ultimately a union between two people Lavanyaji?’ she asked, her pain increasing with each word, ‘does it matter if it is not in front the entire world?’

‘If you ask me Khushi, it doesn’t matter, but then I was brought up in London. But I cannot believe that of you. I mean, customs and traditions were so important to you, right?’

‘Tell me something Lavanyaji, you said you were brought up in London. Weren’t you willing to adapt the customs and traditions of this house?’ she asked quietly.

‘Oh Khushi, you are so right!’ said Lavanya coming up her to give her a hug, ‘Everything is fair in love and war. I am so done with this third degree now. Let’s move on to nicer things. Tell me about your wedding dress and stuff.’

‘I….I wore a beautifullehengawith a red chunri covering my head, my earringswere so delicate that they tinkled as the wind blew, and my wrists completely covered with dozen of bangles, a maangteeka that was shaped like a moon.’

‘Oh Khushi, I wish I was here to see you!’ exclaimed Lavanya, ‘I am so angry with you guys for not inviting me. I just don’t understand what the big urgency was all about?’

Khushi realized there was one way she could stem this barrage of questions. She lowered her eyes, a shy smile playing on her lips and said demurely, ‘That is something you will have to ask only him,Lavanyaji.’

‘Oh, are you trying to tell me that ASR wanted to make you his wife so badly that he couldn’t wait for a proper date and rituals?’ she asked mischief lacing her tone.

‘Yes.’ She just went with the flow.

‘Is that right?’ said Lavanya her voice low, ‘You know what? I am definitely going to ask him about that. But before that let me tell you something. I saw pictures of your Grihapraveshin NK’s laptop. The one in which ASR carried you over the threshold?  You looked absolutely stunning. But I am curious about the other picture actually.’

‘What other picture?’ asked Khushi a little nervous about the direction this conversation was taking.

‘The one in which you were sitting on the marriage bed. What did ASR ____’

Before she could finish the sentence, there was a knock on the door as Arnav walked in looking at Khushi first and turned to Lavanya.

‘Hi Lavanya, I just came to see if you are comfortable.’

How long had he been at the door?

‘Yes, thank you very much ASR,’ said Lavanya with a wide smile, ‘Your wife has made sure of that.’

‘Then if you don’t mind, I would like to steal my wife from you,’ said Arnav throwing a smile at Khushi, ‘it’s very late.’

‘She is all yours’ Said Lavanya.

She is all yoursThe pain in the region of her heart increased.

That night Khushi’s words played over and over again in Arnav’s mind. She had been mostly truthful to Lavanya’s interrogation. Only he knew what she must have been thinking when she said those words. Guilt gnawed at him as he tried to stop himself from thinking. It was a long time before he could go to sleep.

Dark Night Dawning Chapter 6

Dark Night Dawning – Part 6

‘Khushi, would you please wash my hair today?’

Khushi sat at on edge of the bathtub on one end, placing both her legs inside. Arnav sat with his head leaned back, just in front of her on the floor of the tub. She checked the temperature of the water with her fingers before raising the shower head to his hair. After wetting his hair thoroughly, making sure she didn’t wet his face too much, she took some shampoo on her palms and rubbed them to together. She massaged the shampoo into his scalp, running the tips of her fingers in small circular motion. She then ran her fingers through his hair, from the roots to the tips. She switched on the shower to rinse the shampoo off his hair, all the while raking his hair from the hairline to the nape. She switched off the water and continued to rake her hands until she had removed excess water from his hair. She then repeated the same with a conditioner, emulsifying the hair and then rinsing it off with lukewarm water. She took a towel and gently patted his hair dry, running her hands through his hair to check for wetness.

He loved the feel of her fingers in his hair. No masseuse in the world could match up to the magic in her fingers. The tingling sensation that arose in his head, moved all the way down his body ending in his toes.

‘Huh?’ He realized the sound had come from Khushi who was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. Then her eyes moved to his right hand. He looked down at his hand to see that it was cast-less. Damn! The cast had come off yesterday and he had forgotten all about it.

It was almost two weeks since the incident in the hotel where he had injured himself trying to save Khushi. The bruises on his back had almost healed and the cast on his right hand had come off the previous day. In the first week, Khushi had helped him bathe, dress, eat and had also managed to help him in his office work by typing out whatever he had needed. In the second week, his body had become stronger as he healed. He could bathe and dress himself to an extent, but still depended on her to do several things that included usage of both hands ----- washing hair being one of those things.

Arnav swore under his breath as he picked up his towel and rushed into the bathroom. He banged the door shut and closed his eyes to erase the memory of the shampoo day dream he had just had.

Khushi saw Arnav walk into the bathroom and remembered the first time she had bathed him.She had given him a bath seating him on a stool. The next day he had informed her that he would prefer to use the bath tub and had taught her how to use the hand shower. It was definitely very comfortable for him as he could lie down in the tub and lean back his head on the head rest. But not for her. This way, brought her closer to his molten brown eyes that kept boring into hers as she went about her chore. Khushi preferred to call it a chore in her mind as it made it easier for her to complete her task without becoming too flustered.

Ten minutes later Arnav walked out of the bathroom in his trousers and walked up to the wardrobe to pick up a shirt. The moment he put his arms through the sleeves he turned around just in time for Khushi to come up to him and button him up. Khushi finished doing the last button his collar to find Arnav staring at her, waving his left hand in front of her face. This time, she had forgotten about his cast and had unconsciously helped him button up like she had done for the past two weeks.

Arnav came down for his morning breakfast to hear excited chatter from the table. He was wondering what it was all about when he heard a familiar voice.

‘Nannav! How are you?’

No it can’t be! What was he doing here?

‘Hey NK, You are back’ asked Arnav drily.

‘Yep, I couldn’t stay away from you guys for too long’ he said happily.

‘We missed you too Nanheji!’ Khushi said happily.

Arnav’s irritation began. Did she have to make it so obvious? Shouldn’t she learn to tone down her enthusiasm now that she was married? But why was it only him who was bothered by all this? How come no one else seemed to notice this?

‘What to do Khushiji?’ he said apologetic, ‘I had to go and visit my other relatives, otherwise they would feel bad. But now I am done.’

‘NahiNanheji _____,’ When Arnav heard Khushi correcting NK’s hindi, his irritation increased, ‘So, when do you leave for Sydney?’ he asked, sure that NK did this just to get some attention.

‘Not any time soon I hope NKbhaiyya,’ said Anjali, ‘we would like you to stay for some more time.’

‘Ummm Di, I am actually exploring my options at working here in India for some time. I have a degree in MBA. I am planning to apply for jobs here.’

‘That’s wonderful NK bhaiyya! And you don’t have to apply anywhere. I am sure there is a job at AR industries, right Chotey?’

His house was beginning to resemble la-la land right now ---- Anjali behaving like his company was some kind of a Dharamshala for losers, mamiji doting on her favourite nephew while her son was doting on his wife as usual, NK continuing his silly antics with wrong hindi while Khushi untiringlycorrected him. The only person at the table who didn’t seem to want to participate in this revelry was the sour faced Shyam who was staring unhappily at Khushi and NK.

He was wondering if he could escape from answering his Di, when he realized that all pairs of eyes were trained on him, waiting for his reply. Just then, his cell phone rang and he jumped up from his seat saying ‘Excuse me’. Whew! Saved by the bell!

A few minutes later Arnav was back at the table. ‘That was Lavanya on the phone. She is coming to Delhi on a business trip. She will be staying with us for a few days.’

As the group exchanged uncomfortable glances, NK asked the obvious question, ‘Who is Lavanya?’

‘Lavanya is the girl Arnav bitwa was supposed to marry before this phatisaadi,’ said mamiji in her usual loud voice.

‘Manorama!’ gratedNaniji giving her a stern look.

An awkward silence filled the room.  Then, Khushi spoke up.

‘Nanheji, Lavanyaji is a very nice person. She is a lot of fun. You will see when she comes here.’

Arnav sat at the office thinking about what Khushi had said. He realized that she had meant what she said. He remembered how Lavanya was the one who had hired Khushi at AR industries. She had disliked Khushi immensely in the beginning. Then, Di had decided to hire Khushi to help Lavanya adapt herself to traditional ways as per his Nani’s wishes.Adecision that had changed the course of his life for ever.He had no idea how Khushi had managed to turn Lavanya’s dislike into a deep friendship that had resulted in turning her from a shallow person into someone his entire family including his Nani had begun to like and accept.Unfortunately for him, she had tried to turn Lavanya into herself, a girl for whom values and traditions were a high priority. So much so that Lavanya, who was a modern girl willing to live-in with him, had suddenly demanded the commitment of marriage much to his chagrin. He also remembered the chain of eventsthat had led to his hasty decision of announcing his engagement with Lavanya followed by their mutual decision to break up. He had been truly amazed at the maturity with which Lavanya had handled the situation, when she had told him that she knew this was coming, making him feel guiltier than he already was. Khushi was right. Lavanya was indeed a very nice person.

Khushi seemed to have an ability to win people over. First, his family, Lavanya, NK, his office staff, and …….. he didn’t want to think about that right now, he had a lot of work at the office. His injury had impeded his work and now it was time to get back into the grind.

That night at dinner, Arnav announced that Lavanya’s flight was landing at Delhi early in the morning, and that she would be here before breakfast time.

‘I will make sure the guest bedroom is ready’ said Khushi as she served some rice onto Arnav’s plate.

‘If you need any help with that please let me know Khushiji’ said NK putting on what he thought was a cute puppy dog face.

‘I don’t think anybody needs to do anything about it,’ said Arnav irritated, ‘We have Hariprakash to take care of things like this.’ He couldn’t understand why NK jumped at the chance to be near Khushi.

‘Some things need to be attended to personally,’ countered Khushi, ‘I know Lavanyaji’s tastes and I will make sure everything has been set up according to her liking.’

Of course she was going to do as she liked, thought Arnav. ‘Alright then, I will come along with you. After all Lavanya was my ……..er…friend before you.’

Arnav watched as Khushi went about setting up the guest room for Lavanya. He was on the phone with Aman but all his concentration was on the Khushi who was suddenly very quiet, lost in thought. Khushi felt like someone had punched her in her heart. It had not registered in her mind until he reminded her that Lavanya was his ex ------ his UK-bred, ultra-modern, sophisticated and fashionable ex-girlfriend. She remembered the first time she had seen them together in his office, standing intimately close. Later, when she had come to Shativan to help Lavanya adjust to the traditional ways of the house, Lavanya had treated her with hostility. But in due course this hostility had turned into friendship when Khushi had covered up for Lavanya’s mistake and had saved her from Nani’s wrath. But friendship came with certain obligations and Khushi had felt that it was only right to enlighten her new friend about the importance of marriage vows, explaining to her in graphic detail about how without marriage, Arnav would discard her for younger girls in the years to come. She also remembered how she had to double her efforts when Arnav had not taken lightly to this and it had resulted in a bitter quarrel between the two, ending with Lavanya walking out of the house. In all this time she had never felt intimidated by her even once.

Then, she remembered another time ----- the day Lavanya had hugged him after her plan to get them back together had succeeded. Her heart had felt a similar punch,a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked at the two of them in an embrace. Afterward, she had endured the agony of watching them together time and again, when Arnav had put her in charge of the preparations for their impending engagement.Only difference was that she had not understood it then.

Later that night back in their bedroom, Khushi ‘s silence had begun to bug Arnav as he sat on the recliner working on his lap top. She had quietly changed into her night suit and lied down on her side of the bed and gone to sleep.  He wasn’t really happy with his jibe at Khushi about Lavanya. But her exuberance toward Lavanya,who used to be his ex,had irked him and it had just slipped out. Well, it was her fault. She always made him do things that he regretted later.Then, why was he still feeling uneasy? He walked to his side of the bed, lied down on and turned to look at Khushi’s face until his eye lids drooped and he fell into a restless slumber.

The next morning Arnav returned from his morning jog to see Khushi bustling about in the kitchen. He was relieved to see that she was back to being in a chipper mood this morning.

‘Here is your tea,’ she said handing him a cup, ‘I think you should take a quick bath and get dressed. Lavanyaji will be here very soon.’

She was definitely back to normal he thought as he took the stairs to go up to his bedroom.

‘Lavnayaji!’ exclaimed Khushi as she saw Lavanya at the doorstep. She had heard the door bell and rushed to open the door.

‘Hi Khushi!’ shouted Lavanya as she came in opening her arms, ‘It’s so nice to see you again!’

Arnav watched as the two friends hugged each other happily. The entire family had come down after hearing the excited shouting.

‘I am glad you are staying with us Lavanyaji,’ said Anjali as she hugged Lavanya.

‘Congratulations to you and Shyamji!’ she said touching Anjali’s stomach.

‘Belcome Miss Kasyap’ said mamiji who had always thought of her as an ally.

Lavanya then touched Naniji’s feet with respect, something she had learnt from Khushi during her training days. Next, she congratulated Akash and Payal on their wedding.

Finally, she stopped in front of Arnav, smiled at him and gave him a hug as well. As Khushi looked on, the uneasy feeling in the region of her heart returned. When she saw Arnav staring at her intently she quickly lowered her eyes.

‘Hello ASR!’ she exclaimed, ‘Congratulations to you and Khushi on your wedding.’

‘Thank you Lavanya,’ said Arnav a smile on his lips.A hush had spread over the excited group. ‘Why don’t you freshen up first? We can catch up over breakfast.’

‘Sure.’

‘I’ll show you to your room, Lavanyaji,’ said Khushi as Anjali asked Hariprakash to takeLavanya’s luggage to the guestroom.

‘It’s nice to see you settled well Khushi,’ said Lavanya as soon as they had reached the room. ‘I can’t believe ASR finally got hitched! You have to tell me all about it!’

‘Lavanyaji I think you should freshen up first,’ said Khushi smiling at her, ‘Everyone is waiting for you at the breakfast table. We will talk later.’

As Lavanya went into the bathroom, Khushi turned around to leave the room, her face pensive. Talk later? What was she going to tell her?

Dark Night Dawning Chapter 5

Dark Night Dawning – Part 5

‘So Khushiji, Arnav tells me that you were suffering from a panic attack when you got stuck in the lift.’ Anjali asked unable to hide the mischievous smile that stole into her lips.

Khushi had just joined the rest of the group for dinner after freshening up in the rest room. She went red with embarrassment when she heard Anjali’s question. She looked at Arnav who seemed to be suddenly very busy with his food.

‘I ….I am a little afraid of darkness Di.’ she said, trying to swallow her food as quickly as possible.

‘A little?’ said Arnav sarcastically, ‘You were hysterical!‘

Khushi looked at Arnav shooting daggers with her eyes. He looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘Well its true!’

‘It was good that you were there to take care of Khushiji then, wasn’t it?’ said Anjali enjoying herself immensely.

Arnav looked at Khushi’s flushed face and hoped this ordeal would be over as soon as possible. Soon the conversation moved to a different topic and Arnav heaved a sigh of relief for having been spared from further embarrassment.

Finally, the dinner was done and it was time to get back home. As they entered the lift once again, Khushi felt some of the fear return. Then, she felt herself pushed to one corner of the lift and her left hand being taken into a larger warm one. It was Arnav. She felt all her fear melt away at his touch. But as his thumb started making circular motions, her dhak dhak began and warmth began to suffuse through her entire body. 

Arnav had wanted to shield Khushi from the prying eyes of Shyam, who had been in a strange stupor all through dinner. When he looked down at Khushi, it seemed like she was breathing hard and suddenly realized that he had been unconsciously caressing her hand. He felt desire surge through him at her response and he tightened his hold on her.

When the group got off the elevator, Anjali wanted to use the rest room. Khushi offered to go along with her while the rest decided to wait in the lobby. As Khushi waited for Anjali outside the ladies room, Shyam came walked up to her and said, ‘You are looking beautiful tonight, Khushiji!’

‘Don’t ever talk to me like that jeejaji!’ said Khushi in anger.

‘Don’t call me that Khushiji,’ he pleaded trying to touch her cheek, ‘Remember the good times we used to have?’

‘Stop it!’ Khushi turned and ran, tears streaming down her cheeks, not looking in which direction she was heading. She yanked open a door and kept running. After a few minutes, she found herself in a construction zone. It looked like the rooms in the hotel were being renovated. The ceiling looked like it would cave in any minute as it seemed to be supported with tall bamboo sticks. There was water everywhere on the floor. She knew that she was lost when she kept coming back to the same place she had started. She just couldn’t find the way out. She realized she had forgotten to bring her cell phone with her. Soon she began to panic. She called out for help.

When she thought that she was going to be stuck there the entire night, she heard someone calling out for her. It was Arnav. Joy surged through her. He had come looking for her!

‘What the ____?’ Arnav was angry.

‘Arnavji!’ she was relieved to see him.

When he reached her, he grabbed her hand and began to drag her. Khushi tried to keep pace with him but suddenly her pallu got stuck on a nail on one of the bamboo sticks immediately displacing it and some of the bricks it was supporting came crumbling down. Arnav quickly pushed Khushi to the floor, covering her with his own body. He then covered his own head with his arms.

“Arnavji!’ Khushi screamed in panic.

‘Let’s get out of here before the whole place comes down,’ said Arnav helping her to her feet.

They finally managed to find their way back when the hotel staff found them and lead them back to the lobby, where Anjali, Akash, Payal and Shyam were waiting for them.  Anjali’s relief on seeing them turned into worry when she saw Arnav’s injured hand.The fingers on his left hand were swollen and his face was contorted with pain.

‘What happened Chotey?’ she asked worry creasing her forehead, ‘Is Khushiji ok?’

‘He hurt his himself trying to save me Di,’ said Khushi in a small voice, eyes filled with tears, ‘He needs to see a doctor right away.’

‘Di, please go home with jeejaji. I will take bhai to the hospital. We can have Mohan pick up bhai’s car later.’ said Akash.

‘No Akash,’ said Anjali, ‘I will follow you to the hospital.’

‘Di, please do as Akash says,’ pleaded Arnav, ‘It’s just a scratch. I will be absolutely fine,’ he added to put her to ease.

Anjali agreed reluctantly while Akash drove to the hospital with Arnav, Khushi and Payal in tow.

When they reached the hospital, they went to the Emergency department where only one member was allowed along with the patient. Akash asked Khushi to go in with Arnav and told her that he and Payal would wait for them outside.

In the emergency room, a nurse had taken Arnav to the examination table and drawn the curtains. A doctor had stepped in to examine Arnav. After a few minutes when the curtain opened, Khushi saw the nurse applying a topical ointment on his back. She was shocked to see several bruises on his back that were just turning into an ugly blue colour.  The doctor told her that his bruises looked external and would heal but had recommended an x-ray just to be safe. After the x-ray reports came in the he told them that it there was no fracture but his left had suffered a tendon injury which would have to be splinted in a cast for two weeks. When the doctor saw Khushi’s upset face, he told her there was nothing to worry and that the he would heal fast as long he rested well. He wrote a prescription for pain killers, telling them to return in two weeks for a follow up.

On the way back Khushi sat next to Arnav thankful for the darkness as tears streamed down her cheeks. Arnav had laid his head back and closed his eyes sedated by the injection that the nurse had given him at the hospital.

When they returned home, Anjali came up to Arnav her face full of concern. Akash had called her from the hospital and explained everything.

‘You will have to take care not to strain yourself Chotey,’ said Anjali, ‘You are not going to office for the next two weeks.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ asked Arnav still groggy, ‘I should be fine after a night’s rest.’

‘No way!’ said Anjali and turned toward Khushi ‘Khushiji, it will be your responsibility to make sure he gets plenty of rest.’

‘Yes Di,’ said Khushi quietly, ‘I will take care of him. Please don’t worry.’

‘By the way Khushiji, how did you happen to get lost in the hotel?’ asked Anjali.

‘I … I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten my cell phone at the restaurant. In a hurry, I failed to see where I was going and got lost.’ She finished in a small voice.

She looked up to see Arnav staring at her intently. She hated lying like this.

After entering the bedroom, as Arnav headed straight for the bed and lay down on it, he winced with pain and sat upright.

‘Arnavji,’said Khushi coming up to him, ‘I will re-apply the ointment on your back so it soothes you.’

‘I think I can manage without that,’ he said his voice hoarse with pain.

‘I don’t think so,’ she said firmly. She bent over him and began to pull the tails of his shirt out of his trousers.

When he tried stopping her by holding her hand with his good hand, she firmly moved it out of her way. She began to unbutton his shirt. Arnav wasn’t sure which was more painful --- the bruises or the touch of her fingers searing his skin as each button came undone. As she peeled his shirt off his shoulders, he swore under his breath as pleasure mixed with pain at the touch of her fingers on his shoulder and arms.

When her fingers moved to the belt buckle he was shocked, ‘Khushi, what are you doing?’

‘How will you sleep with your belt on?’ she asked softly, ‘You will be more comfortable in your pyjamas.’

After she removed the belt, she gently placed her quivering hands on waistband of his trousers and undid the hook.

‘Khushi, just get my pyjamas I will manage.’ He didn’t want to feel so helpless in front of her.

‘Please Arnavji, I have seen you in less so cut the fuss and just let me help you.’

Khushi was shocked to hear the words that her come out of her mouth. So was Arnav.

‘Is that right?’ asked Arnav his voice low, making a mental note of that for future reference. He removed his trousers and put on his track pant not without some degree of difficulty.

‘P…Please lie down on your stomach, so I can apply some ointment on you.’ she stammered not knowing how long she would be able to keep up her bravado. She began to apply the ointment on his bruises, gently rubbing the ointment in a circular motion.

Her hands felt so good that Arnav fought the lethargy that was overtaking him but he had to know something first.

 ‘How did you get lost Khushi?’ he asked her, his voice low.

‘I …I told you earlier, I wanted to get my cell phone and in a hurry I lost my way.’ Khushi was shocked at his sudden question.

‘Is that right?’ he asked her enigmatically.

‘I….Yes.’ She said in a whisper as she continued her ministrations on his back.

Why won’t she tell me? He wondered. He had seen her talking to Shyam from the end of the corridor. He had also seen Shyam about to follow her when Anjali had stepped out of the ladies room. They had both returned to the lobby after that. When Khushi hadn’t returned in a few minutes he had gone searching for her in the same direction she had taken and found her in the construction area. His thoughts began to turn hazy when the pain killers kicked in numbing his body into relaxation and finally sleep claimed him.

Khushi changed into her night suit and settled on the recliner watching him sleep.  It was all her fault. If she hadn’t run away so impulsively Arnav would not be hurt. When he had asked her earlier why she had run off like that she almost tempted to spill the truth. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t exactly sure about where they stood in their relationship and whether he would understand if she made such a big accusation. Earlier she had thought that Shyam would change if she gave him a chance. But now it did not seem very likely. But, now would not be the right time because Di will not be able to bear it in her condition and it might harm the baby growing inside her. She would have to bide her time. In the mean time she would have to make amends in her own way.

The doctor had told her that the painkillers lasted only 5-6 hours and that he might require another dose after that. She came awake to hear Arnav’s moan and realized that the pain had woken him up. She checked the time to see that it was 5 hours since he had gone to sleep. She took the pain killer and some water and gently woke him up.

‘Arnavji, please get up and take this tablet.’

When Arnav accidently used his right hand to push himself to a sitting position he winced with pain.

‘Arnavji, let me help you up.’ Khushi immediately put down the glass of water and held him by his shoulders. She realized he was too heavy for her to manage just with her hands. She went closer and used the body strength to pull him up. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for countless seconds and then there was flash of pain in Arnav’s eyes. Khushi realized that she was practically lying on him and suddenly she shot upright and gave him his tablet and water. He took it and was ready to go back to sleep. She went back to her position on the recliner.

In the morning she went down to the kitchen to help in the morning breakfast. She assured everyone that he was doing okay and proceeded to make tea for Arnav.

When Khushi took up Arnav’s tea she saw that he was sitting up with his back against the head board.

‘I brought your tea Arnavji,’ she said, ‘Would you like me to help you with anything?’

‘Uhh…,’ he said slowly, ‘Could you just bring me my lap top?’

‘You are not supposed to work,’ she said immediately.

‘I am just going to check e-mails,’ said Arnav, ‘It’s very important Khushi.’

Khushi brought him the lap top and said, ‘I will go and get your breakfast while you get ready then.’

‘That won’t be necessary. I will come down for breakfast.’

‘But ____’ she protested.

‘I said I will be fine. It’s just a small injury. I am not handicapped ok?’ he said firmly.

Arnav had worked for an hour looking at e-mails and then on the phone with Aman. He craved for a bath right now but the pain in his body was too much for him manage one. Just then Khushi walked in with his breakfast.

‘I said I would be coming down for breakfast,’ he said though he was relieved for not having to walk down.

‘Well…. everyone has finished eating. You might as well eat here.’ she said bringing his tray up to him.

‘Leave it here. I will take my breakfast after I take a bath.’

Khushi went into the rest room and came back after a few minutes. She came back and stood next to him.

‘Come on,’ she said,‘Your water is ready.’

‘What?’ he asked her incredulously.

‘I have a lot of work. Please come with me without wasting more time.’

When had she become this authoritative he thought to himself. But he was too weak to argue and he really wanted a shower. Inside the bathroom he found a plastic stool and a bucket of water. Khushi then looked down at his track pant indicating him to take them off. Arnav shook his head at her absurdity, but conceded. Once he had stripped down to his boxers, she directed him to sit on the stool.

Khushi took a mug of water and poured it on him making sure no water fell on the cast. Arnav closed his eyes as the hot water soothed his bruises and hurts. She then took a wash cloth, took a blob of shower gel on it and began to rub it on his shoulders in circular motions. Sensations assailed him in spite of the pain. Her hand had moved to his chest, continuing down to his flat stomach, his waist and around to his back. She was extremely gentle making sure not to hurt his bruises. God! If she continued like this, he would need a cold shower instead of a hot one. She then moved in front of him and moved the wash cloth over his hands, first the right and then left. If he hadn’t been in intense pain she would be in big trouble right now. Then she bent down and did his legs. Did she know what that was doing to him? Her hands then moved to his face. She had discarded the wash cloth and was using her bare hands now. A memory of their previous encounter in the bathroom came back to him and as he looked at her eyes he realized that she was remembering it too. She quickly poured the remaining water on him washing away the foam from his body. She took the towel from the holder and began to dry him.

Back in the bedroom, Khushi went up to the wardrobe to pick out a t-shirt and track pant for Arnav. She closed her eyes and composed her quivering body. She hoped he would be fit soon enough. She didn’t think she would be able to endure this for long.

She quickly gave him his painkiller and escaped out of the room unable to look into the intense eyes boring into her.

After Arnav ate his breakfast Anjali, Akash and Naniji came to meet him and he assured all of them that he was doing okay. After they left, Arnav switched on his laptop, checked his meeting schedule and found that he had a meeting right away. He dialled in. Once the meeting was done he called Aman to brief him about follow up. Aman also reminded him that he was supposed to send an e-mail to a very important client. He began to type. Just then Khushi entered the room. Seeing him slowly typing on his lap top with one hand Khushi went up to him.

‘Let me do it for you.’ she said.

‘That’s ok I will manage.’ He said curtly.

‘Just dictate. I will type it for you.’ she said.

Arnav was irritated but began his dictation in usual fast paced manner.

‘You know, we have already done this before. I can record your voice and go over everything word by word. OR…..you could dictate a little slower and make this easy.’ She said looking into his eyes.

Arnav conceded and in the next one hour they had progressed a lot when Khushi had typed at least a dozen e-mails for him and sent it out on his behalf.

After lunch, Khushi had cajoled Arnav to sleep for some time and he had agreed. By evening he was feeling much better and had gone back to attending some more meetings. He had to send a few more e-mails for which he would wait for Khushi to come up after dinner. She had come up with his evening tea and then gone back ----probably to her tuition class. He was not in a big hurry.

After dinner, Khushi had gone up to Anjali’s room to give her the badam milk she liked so much.

‘Khushiji, please go up and take some rest. I know you haven’t slept yesterday night.’

‘No Di. This is the least I can do for him as it is all my fault that he is in so much pain. He was unable to go to work today. You know how much that bothers him.‘ Tears started to well up in her eyes and she quickly left the room.

Shyam stepped out the bathroom relieved that Khushi had not said anything about their encounter previous night.

‘It is so nice to be in love, isn’t it?’ Anjali asked Shyam a little wistfully.

‘What do you mean, Rani sahiba?’ he asked her surprized at her sudden comment.

‘I am talking about Khushiji. She loves Chotey so much.’

‘What?’ he exclaimed, then softened his tone and carefully asked, ‘How can you say?’

‘The way she has taken care of Chotey in the last 24 hours. And I am sure Chotey does too. He doesn’t express it but I have been seeing it in their eyes since they returned from Nainital.’

‘Is that so?’ he asked in a low voice.

‘Yes. I think my surprize for them worked out really well.’ she said happily.

‘What surprize?’ he asked her unable to stop himself.

‘I had booked them a honeymoon suite in the hotel they were staying and on the last night I had the hotel staff light candles and put flowers all over the room,’ she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

No! It cannot be! Shyam’s face began to twitch.

Back in the room, Khushi watched Arnav sleeping on his stomach again. She had applied the ointment on his bruises. She knew he would be alright tonight. She went to her side of the bed and lay on it. Sometime in the middle of the night, Khushi woke up to feeling of someone touching her. She opened her eyes to see that Arnav’s head was resting on her arm, his face snuggled in the crook of her neck, with his arm around her waist. She raised her hand to run her fingers through his hair, and closed her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips.

Dark Night Dawning Chapter 4

Synopsis: As you can see, Arnav does make it to the dinner. Read on to find out what happens when they reach the restaurant.

Dark Night Dawning – Part 4

Khushi realized it was not her imagination when the safety pin she was trying to pin her pallu with poked her, making her wince as it slipped out of her hands. What was he doing here?

Arnav was mesmerized. He had come up thinking which colour of the rainbow she would have chosen to wear tonight. But, when he saw her he was zapped. She was draped in the most beautiful wine coloured saree. But all he could see was her back. Except for the two narrow strips of cloth brought together by a jewelled clasp, he could see her entire back. There was something very sexy about her back. His body hardened just looking at that sight. One day she was driving him up the wall with her pativrata avatar. The next day she was a siren. Which one was she? Whatever it was, he’d better get her out to that restaurant fast or else he would be tempted to drag her to their bed right now and that was closer!

‘Khushi, hurry up, will you?’ he said, his voice rough, ‘We are already running late.’

Khushi quickly pinned up her pallu, surprized at his sudden change of behaviour. One moment, it looked like he was going to devour her and the in the next, he was ordering her about.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked anger rising at his tone, ‘I thought you had an important meeting.’

‘I am Arnav Singh Raizada,’ he said haughtily, ‘I don’t revolve around meetings, it’s the other way around. So if you are done with your interrogation, we should be on our way.’

Khushi sat in the car miffed with Arnav. She had disliked the tone in which he had talked earlier. Why did he have to be such a Laad Governor all the time?

‘Where is Di?’ she asked looking around for Anjali.

‘Di left early so that we don’t lose the reservation,’ he said, ‘God knows how much more time you would have taken to dress up.’

‘The reason I was running late was because Di asked me to go back and change from my suit into this saree.’ she explained irritated.

So Di had planned all this, he thought. She just won’t stop meddling, will she?He had called her in advance to let her know he was joining them for dinner.After thinking about it the entire day at work, he had finally decided that he had to go to this dinner at any cost. He would have to pull a few strings to reschedule that meeting but he’d be damned if he let Khushi go all alone anywhere in the vicinity of Shyam. He remembered how his hands had itched to punch him right in the face when he had slyly persuaded Anjali to bring Khushi along for the dinner. The slimeball!

**

When they reached the hotel building, he called Anjali to let her know that they were in the parking lot and would be up in a few minutes. They got in the elevator and pressed the button to the 13^th floor. When they went up to the 2^nd floor, a little boy got into the elevator all by himself. They were wondering if he was lost when suddenly he pressed a bunch of buttons from 3 to 9. Just when Arnav was about to ask him what he was doing he got off on the 3^rd floor and ran away.

Arnav was so irritated with the little boy when the lift started stopping at each and every floor. Finally after the 8^th floor, the lift gave a lurch, and began to creep upward.

‘What’s happening?’ asked Khushi, when the floor beneath her stuttered, swayed and stopped.The door remained closed.

‘I think the lift is stuck between two floors,’ he returned. He tried pressing the alarm button and checked the signal on his phone.  ‘The alarm button doesn’t seem to be working and there is no signal here. We will have to wait until someone comes along to fix it.’

He went to the far corner of the lift and stripped off his coat jacket. He had worn a white shirt inside. Khushi loved to see him in white. He looked very sexy. She wished she could walk up to him and run her fingers through his hair and undo couple of his buttons……. What was she thinking? She remembered what she was going to tell him.

‘What? No way! We can’t just wait until someone comes,’ she said her voice shrill, ‘Can we not try to climb out of this lift?’

‘Are you crazy?’ he asked her incredulously.

‘I have seen it a movie,’ she insisted.

‘For God’s sake Khushi, this is India. Look up. Do you see a exit door anywhere? No! They don’t make those kinds of lifts here. OK?’

‘Ok, ok there is no need to yell Laad governor,’ she muttered under her breath.

‘Is this some kind of family tradition?’ he asked her.

‘What?’ she asked surprized.

‘Giving nick names to people. This Laad Governor, and then your buaji calls you sanka devi, parmeshwari, titaliya.’ He particularly loved titaliya. It suited her. He wished she would just stop talking and fly over to him right now.

So he notices my nick names ha? He should be one to talk. She realized she had said that aloud when he said ‘Excuse me?’

‘I have heard that someone used to be called Archie in his college days.’

‘How did you know?’ he was glaring at her, the glint in those deep brown eyes like a danger signal.

Before she could say anything he realized, ‘Ah let me guess. Karan* told you, didn’t he?’

‘Yes.’ She couldn’t help the mischievous smile that stole into her lips. ‘He also told me why.’

‘I don’t know what he told you,’ he began, ‘But it was definitely not because I was like that Archie character.’

‘If you say so.’ Her expression told him that she didn’t believe him one bit.

‘Look. The real reason was that, there were these two girls who had proposed to me at the same time. They apparently had a fight with each other. So, my friends started calling them Betty and Veronica. Then the nickname Archie got stuck on me. That’s it.’

Khushi began to giggle slowly at first and then it turned into an uncontrollable laughter.

‘Shut up Khushi,’ snapped Arnav, ‘I am so glad I could be of some entertainment to you.’

‘So?’ she asked giggling, ‘Who did you choose?’

‘What? No way. I wasn’t into that!’ he snarled.

‘Why?’ she asked looking at him doubtfully.

‘Oh God!’ he rolled his eyes, exasperated, ‘I just wasn’t into those girls.’

‘Oh I see’ she said nodding her head.

‘Not that I was a saint or anything,’ he said sheepishly. That grin, the little boyish thing that pulled at one corner of his mouth was back again.

‘Don’t I know that!’ she muttered under her breath.

‘It’s just that I couldn’t afford to waste my time in such frivolities.’ He said grimly.

Khushi thought she saw a flash pain in his eyes, but it was gone so fast, masked again by the glint that she had seen earlier.

‘Arnavji, look!’ Khushi stood up, pointing to a small square junction box at one corner of the roof of the lift, ‘Maybe there is something in that, which will help us.’

Arnav decided to just sit where he was. He wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his hands off her if went close to her tonight. Moreover, her hair-brained ideas only ended up causing more trouble

‘Ok looks like I will have to do it myself then’ she said irritated. She tried reaching but realized it was way too high for her. She also realized it would be way too high for Arnav even if he tried. There was only one way.

‘Arnavji?’ she asked softly, ‘Could you please lift me up so I can reach up to that box?’

‘Damn!’ He groaned inwardly. Why couldn’t she be quiet like normal wives? Only the day before, she was in that ugly saree wearing a ghoongat on her head. And now, here she was in her sanka devi avatar.

‘Please Arnavji,’ she pleaded, ‘I hate closed spaces.’

She had batted her eyelashes again. Gosh! Did she know that was his weakness? He stood up and walked up to her staring at her intently. She briefly closed her eyes as he put both his hands on her waist and lifted her high up in the air, holding the position by pressing his elbows to her hips.

‘A little higher Arnavji’ she gasped, using her right hand to reach the box, while the other hand rested on his shoulder for support.

Arnav swore under his breath. She was unbelievable! It was hard for him already his face being in level with her breasts, and here she was asking him to lift her higher! He loosened his hands so she slid down him gently, his face brushing the valley between her breasts in the most feathery of touches. As her feet touched the ground, Khushi looked at him nervously with luminous eyes in a way only she could, her lips trembling a little, her hands on his shoulders. Then suddenly, he lifted her higher this time, holding her in place with his hands wrapped around her thighs. This way, he was at kissing distance with her midriff. Khushi found that she was able to open the door of the junction box. Inside she found a bunch of switches.

‘Arnavji,’ she called out to him, ‘There seem to be so many switches here. What should I do?’

‘Khushi, just don’t touch any of them,’ he warned her, ‘I am getting you down now, ok?’

Khushi didn’t want to let it go without trying. She pressed them all one by one. Suddenly the lift gave a lurch and was plunged into complete darkness! Arnav lost his balance and they both fell in a heap, with Arnav cushioning Khushi’s fall.

‘Arnavji!’ screamed Khushi, ‘What’s happening? Is the lift falling? Are we going to die?’

Arnav realized that Khushi was having an anxiety attack because of her fear for darkness and closed spaces. He took her in his arms and made her sit on his lap.

‘Ssh…. Khushi, it’s ok,’ he tried calming her down, ‘I am right here. I won’ t let anything happen to you.’

‘I am not able to breath,’ gasped Khushi hyperventilating, ‘Please do something Arnavji, get me out of here!’

Arnav had heard that people who had anxiety attacks could be calmed down with distraction. And he decided to do just that in the only way he knew how. He brought his lips down on hers.

His tongue ran lightly across the line of her mouth, trailing intoxicating fire from corner to corner. Against her will she felt every muscle in her body relaxing, her arms beginning to slide around his neck, one hand finding the crisp warmth of his thick hair.

Her lips parted voluntarily under the passionate, gentle insistence of his. Suddenly it was as though some unbelievably wonderful firework had exploded in her mind, showering brilliance and colour through the darkness. She found her back arching upwards, thrusting her breasts against his hard chest. Her fingers clenched in his hair ---- and then she was lost in a kiss more utterly sensual, more bone-melting, than anything she had ever dreamed of. His body was fierce and hard against hers, their mouths locked together in a sweetness that was scalding, enveloping like fire …

As he drew away from her, she clung to him with confused passion, offering her face to his kisses ----passionate, dizzying kisses that came like scalding rain on her eyelids, her cheeks, her mouth ….

As his hands unclasped the jewel at the back her blouse to claim the shuddering skin, her own fingers slipped into his shirt to dig into the firm muscles of his chest, and she met his kiss with a blazing passion that had them both gasping and dizzy.

‘God,’ he whispered fiercely, ‘I need you so much, Khushi! You are so beautiful ----‘

‘Arnavji!’ Khushi looked up at him her eyes luminous and their eyes locked for countless moments. They didn’t realize that door had opened until they heard familiar voices penetrate through the haze.

‘Bhai? Chote ! Khushi!’ All voices spoke at once. They looked up, their eyes still glazed to see two guys who looked like technicians, a manager, Payal, Akash, Anjali and Shyam staring at them their mouths open.

Arnavrealized that how it must look to them, withKhushi sitting on his lap with their arms on each other, their hair mussed up because of the tumble they took in the dark, his top two shirt buttons had popped off when Khushi had clutched at it while she fell and her lipstick was totally gone, not to mention the flushed look she had on her face. Arnav helped Khushi up and stood up in one swift movement. He picked up his jacket that he had discarded earlier and as Khushi tried to rush off, he pulled her back, and she clashed against his chest. At her gasped shock, he placed the jacket on her back, bending toward her to whisper in her ear.

‘Go to the rest room with Payal and fix your blouse first.’

She turned a deeper shade of red if that was possible, as she grabbed Payal’s hand and walked away as fast as her legs could take her.

Apologizing for the inconvenience, the hotel manager explained to everyone that the lift often got stuck if the 9^th floor button was pressed as that floor was not yet operational. He also explained that the lift boy had stepped out for an emergency. After the manager left,Anjali told Arnav how they had asked the hotel manager, when he and Khushi had not come up even after 10 minutes. The manager had figured out that they were probably stuck in the lift and brought the technicians to fix the problem. They had all waited there while the technicians worked until they could get the lift doors open.

‘This is not what it looks like,’ Arnav turned toward his sister, ‘I can explain.’

‘I am sure you have an explanation just like the one you gave us for the bathroom incident,’ she said mischievously.

‘What bathroom incident?’ asked Akash, ‘No one told me anything about it.’

‘Don’t worry Akash,’ said Anjali playfully patting Akash’s back‘Let’ go back to our table. I will explain what happened the other day. But first I want to hear from Chotey.’

‘What you doing here?’ Arnav asked Akash hoping to distract him, ‘Weren’t you supposed to take Payal to a movie tonight?’

‘We couldn’t get tickets to the movie we wanted to watch, so we decided to join Di for dinner. I am so glad we missed that movie. We got to watch a better show here.’ He added tongue in cheek.

These two were not going to let it go, thought Arnav desperately trying to prepare his explanation.

As the three siblings walked together engrossed in their own world, the loner left behind on his own watched them with simmering resentment, his face twitching. He wrung his hands in frustration thinking that things were getting out of hand.

Dark Night Dawning Chapter 3

That evening, when Arnav came back home from work, he was extremely tired. He had another call scheduled in the next fifteen minutes. He sat on the living room sofa, laid his head back on it, closed his tired eyes and yelled at Hariprakash for a cup of coffee.

He opened his eye when the aroma of freshly brewed coffee reached his nostrils. ‘What the _____?’

He saw Khushi standing in front of him with a cup, a smile on her lips. There was something different about her. She was wearing a saree. There was nothing wrong with wearing a saree. He even liked them. The women in his house wore sarees. But he had seen nothing like this one.  It was in one of the oddest shades of pink with a bright gold border which she had pinned up on one side and then brought the pallu over her head in a ghoongat. No one except naniji did that in this house.

Then something caught his eye beyond her. He turned his head to see a bunch of kids staring at him.

‘What’s the hell is going on here, Khushi?’ asked Arnav.

‘Your coffee, Arnavji’ answered Khushi demurely.

‘I know that!’ he exclaimed rolling his eyes, ‘I am asking about them,’ he said pointing to the kids.

‘Oh, they are my students, Arnavji,’ explained Khushi, ‘When I came out to make coffee for you, they just tagged along.’

‘Tell them that this is not a circus and that they should wait for you in the room,’ said Arnav impatiently, ‘Moreover why did you come out here to make coffee. Where is Hariprakash?’

‘I told Hariprakashji that I will be taking care of all this from now on,’ she said, ‘Would you like me to take your laptop bag upstairs?’

‘What?’ asked Arnav incredulous, ‘No!’

‘Alright,’ she said, ‘If you don’t need anything else I will go back to my tuition. Please let me know if you need anything else Arnavji.’

Khushi walked back taking her students along with her, leaving Arnav totally confused. What was she up to?

Couple of hours later, Arnav on call with a client, paced about the room, deep in conversation. Suddenly, he found Khushi standing in front of him. Why had she crept up on him like that? She made a sign that it was time for dinner. He made a sign for her to go away. He resumed his meeting. In about 5 minutes she was back. After this process repeated two more times, he put the phone on mute.

‘Khushi!’ he exclaimed, ‘Can’t you see I am in a meeting? Leave me alone.’

‘It is very late Arnavji,’ she said firmly, ‘You will have to eat you dinner now, so that you can take your medication.’

‘Are you serious?’ he asked her anger rising in him.

‘Yes!’ she said coming up to him, she took his blue tooth device and threw it on the bed.

‘Do you know what this is going to cost me?’ he asked her with an incredulous stare, ‘This client is very important.’

‘So what?’ she said nonchalantly, ‘Ask them to call you tomorrow.’

‘They are overseas,’ he said with gritted teeth, ‘Do you even know what that means?’

‘Whatever!’ she said, ‘Health is more important.’

‘Go down Khushi,’ he said gritting his teeth, ’I will be there in 5 minutes.’

When he came down 10 minutes later, he saw Khushi standing by his chair. He realized that she was determined to continue with this drama. When he sat on his chair, she began to serve. After 5 minutes, Arnav began to pray for this ordeal to be over. To begin with, she was hovering about while he ate. He hated that. Then she began to talk about people he had no idea about. She told him about some funny incident about a relative from Lucknow who happened to be a theatre actor.

When he saw his Di walk up to them, he heaved a sigh of relief.

‘Khushiji, why don’t you have your dinner along with Chotey?’ she asked Khushi.

‘I wanted to serve Arnavji,’ she answered demurely’, ‘I will have my dinner after he is done.’

‘You don’t have to do that in this house Khushiji,’ explained Anjali, ‘Chotey, why don’t you tell her?

‘I don’t think there is any need for that Di,’ he said frustrated, ‘She knows _____’

‘NoDi…..I wanted to make sure he eats properly,’ she said lacing her voice with concern, ‘See how thin he is. I don’t want his sugar level to go down again.’

Half an hour later, Arnav was working on his lap top trying to send out an important e-mail when Khushi came into the room. He was thinking hard about a particular point he wanted to make when the sound of “Dinka Chika Dinka Chika” filled the room, disturbing his train of thought.

‘What the ____?’

Khushi had a small CD player next to her, while she sat arranging her clothes in the ward robe.

‘Shut the music off Khushi!’ he yelled, ‘I am working here.’

‘I like to listen to Sallu’s songs every night Arnavji,’ she said a small smile playing on her lips, ‘I am working too you know.’

‘I don’t care,’ he said harshly, ‘shut it off, now!’

When  he heard “Mausam hai suhana, kapde jodne ka hai bahana, what the, what the’, he got up from his seat, picked up his lap top and went out to the pool side, shutting the door behind him.

Khushi smiled to herself as she thought that life was so strange with her husband. Most husbands would be happy to have a wife who would wait on them day and night. But not her Laad Governor! He runs.

At breakfast he found Khushi dressed just like the previous day. She was doing it again. The hovering. No one seemed to notice how irritating it was. She ignored everyone and never left his side. He saw amused smiles from everyone at the table with the exception of Shyam who looked like he had swallowed a bitter pill.

When he got up to leave, she asked him ‘When will you be back from work, Arnavji?’

‘What!’ No one asked him what time he would be back unless it was an emergency.

‘I was asking so that I can cook hot dinner for you,’ she smiled showing her pearly white teeth.

Arnav was sure she had batted her eyelashes when she had said that. He walked away before he gave in to the urge to break something.

The disaster run continued for the next few days. The moment he opened his eyes, he would find a cup of tea in front of his face. After tea, his towel and cologne were neatly laid out on the bed. When he came out of shower, his suit was kept out along with his tie, wallet and kerchief. Even his shoes were kept out. Each day, he would discard the one laid out for him and choose another one just for the heck of it.

One night, Arnav came back from work late and in a foul mood. One of the junior executives had cost them a deal because of his incompetence and he had to step in to fire fight. In the middle of all the tension Khushi had called him number of times. Everyone at home knew that he hated taking personal calls at work. Since he hadn’t picked up her calls, she had left messages with his secretary which was becoming embarrassing forcing him to take the calls himself. She wanted to know if he had lunch and his meds, then one time she wanted to know where the spare key to the ward robe as she had misplaced the original one, then she wanted to know what time he was coming back home. As he stepped inside the house he saw Khushi waiting for him at the dinner table.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked harshly.

‘I was waiting to serve you dinner.’

‘Stop this nonsense right away,’ he yelled, ‘I want to have my dinner in peace. So just leave me alone.’

‘But ______

‘Just get out of here. And I don’t want to see you wearing these stupid sarees anymore,’ he continued, ‘Do you understand?’

Khushi nodded her assent quietly and left.

When Arnav entered the room after his dinner, Khushi was fast asleep. He hadn’t meant to yell at her like that. But he was worked up because of the deal and she had it coming for a few days now. She had been bugging him with all her “extra” attention. Coming to think about it, Khushi had done nothing wrong. She had behaved like any dutiful wife would do. But he was allergic to that kind of stuff. Maybe Khushi would be happier with someone who would appreciate all her efforts ----- unlike him. He preferred to be left alone in his own world.He wasn’t husband material. That is exactly why he hadn’t wanted to marry in the first place. But he had to, hadn’t he? The memories came flooding back. He had decided to put it all behind him, when he had told her that theirs would be a permanent marriage. But he wondered about his decision. Though Khushi had revealed her feelings to some extent in Nainital, he couldn’t be sure because she hadn’t said anything specific. In fact, he didn’t even want to know. He didn’t deal with emotions very well. It was a long while before he could go to sleep.

Sleep eluded Khushi as well. When Arnav had come in to the room, she had been pretending to be asleep. She had sensed his restlessness and had begun to feel the same restlessness overtake her. When she heard him breathing steadily, she calmed down and fell into a deep slumber.

Anjali couldn’t sleep as well. She had watched since the past few days how Khushi had been trying to take care of Arnav and how he had resisted. She guessed she would have to be blamed for that. She was the one who had advised Khushi about giving attention to Arnav when she very well knew that he hated such things. She had hoped that Khushi would be able to get him out of his old habit eventually. Of course Khushi had taken it up a notch with the saree and ghooghat but that was no reason for Arnav to behave that way. When they had returned from Nainital, she had thought something had happened between them over there. She couldn’t be sure, but it was the way they would look at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking, their body language toward each other and most of all it was the way Khushi had positively glowed. She had finally looked like a newlywed bride. But now they were bickering again. She had to do something about it.

The next morning Arnav woke up again with the aroma of hot tea. However he was relieved to see that Khushi had abandoned those gaudy sarees for her suits which he had started to appreciate overnight. He heaved a sigh of relief. It looked like her madness was over.

When he came down, he saw the entire family was seated at the breakfast table. Payal and Akash were deciding which movie to go to in the evening and Khushi was back at his side -----hovering. He was about to say something when Anjali spoke up.

‘Khushiji, please sit down. I am sure Chotey will manage.’

When Khushi took her seat, she said in her usual chirpy voice, ‘I have heard that the new restaurant 13^th floor is pretty good.’

‘Do you want me to make reservations?’ asked Arnav buttering his toast, ‘ A table for two should not be a problem.’

‘Yes Chotey, and come home soon so you can pick up Khushiji,’ she said quickly.

‘What? I thought it was for you,’ said Arnav taken aback.

‘I thought it will be a change for Khushiji’

‘No way,’ he said firmly, ‘I have meetings scheduled at that time all week.’

‘Can’t you reschedule your meetings?’ she pouted.

‘Impossible Di, my meeting with this client didn’t go very well the last time, I have to work on damage control,’ he said looking pointedly at Khushi.

‘Why don’t you go instead Di?’ suggested Khushi looking at Anjali’s disappointed face.

‘Yes Rani Sahiba, that will be a good idea,’ interjected Shyam, ‘We could take Khushji with us.’

Arnav felt like slapping him right there.

‘No Di!’ exclaimed Khushi, ‘I mean, I don’t want to be kabab mein haddi.‘

‘No Khushiji, you won’t be,’ persuaded Shyam, ‘Don’t you think it will be good change for her Rani Sahiba?’

‘Please don’t say no Khushiji,’ pleaded Anjali, ‘Please make the reservations for us Chotey. I wish you could come as well.’

That night, Khushi was getting ready for the dinner. She really did not want to go to this dinner with Anjali and Shyam. She was worried about the way he had shamelessly insisted that she should go along. She wished for a moment that Arnav could come along. At least with him around Shyam would keep away from her. Was that the only reason? Who was she kidding? But it seemed her strategy to keep him away was working very well. But after sensing his uneasiness last night, she was wondering if she could keep up with the drama.

She was running late as Anjali had made her go back and change. She had wanted her to wear one of the new sarees that she had bought soon after the wedding. It was a wine coloured georgette, with stone, bead and glass sequins on the border and a frilly lace in steel grey attached to it made it look unique. The blouse, also in steel grey had the same work as the border of the saree. It had a square neck in the front and the back had a deep square cut with a narrow strip of material put together with a jewelled clasp. Khushi remembered that day almost a month ago when she stood in front of the mirror outside the trial room and had seen Arnav’s eyes staring back at her.

She was so lost in thought about Arnav that when she saw his refection in the mirror she thought it was her imagination!