Lil confession: I had to steal the Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai scene. It's one of my favourites and I was way too tempted :P.
Keep in mind that only Arnavs memory of what happened is explained in this chapter, you'll have to wait to see the full picture ;). So before you jump to conclusions and ask why Khushis still his friend and all that all comes up later :).
Arnav stirred in his sleep, a slow ache arising from the back of
his neck as he placed his hand infront of his face to block the piercing rays
of the sun. He squinted his eyes, attempting to toss onto the other side when
his knee hit something and he tried to open his eyes. Blinking several times he
managed to finally groggily pull himself up, stretching his arms as he
attempted to relax his neck then suddenly sat bolt upright as he took in his
surroundings. He had been lying asleep inside his car, which was still where he
had parked it the night before. Panic quickly rose in his mind once more as he
attempted to place Khushi but that too died off, instead being replaced by a
slow smile as he watched her sleep on the backseat, bundled up in a fetal
position. How drunk had he been? How drunk had she been? And how the hell did
they even manage to get back into the car? He smirked at himself, happy that
bits of his old life were gradually coming back with the arrival of Khushi. They
had too many forgetful nights to count and this would add to yet another one.
And for what must be the umpteenth time he wished he could undo what he had did
all those years ago, not once but over and over again because his heart was too
stubborn to understand what she had held out.
A memory:
"Arnav!"
Khushi exclaimed waving her hands in front of his face. "Earth to
Raizada!" He flickered his eyes towards her, sighing heavily,
"hmmm," then continued to scan the club, still not quite drunk enough
to drown his sorrows. Things weren't going well back home, the only person that
had consistently stood by his side was now withering away on a bed and he
wasn't even able to go home, be by his side. He could foresee a changing
future, one he would not be welcome in. Alcohol was oblivion, a way out and
when that wasn't enough a woman could always satisfy his needs.
"Arnav,
it'll all be okay," she reassured him resting her hand on his. He looked
down at her hand then back up at her face and gave her a slight smile which did
not quite reach his lips then continued to twirl the glass on the table
top.
--
Someone shoved
past Arnav, knocking him into an already tipsy Khushi and he put his arm around
her, catching her fall as they both collided against each other, their sudden
irruption of laughter echoing throughout the vast empty road. He put a had out
and steadied himself then slowly started to move away only for their loud
laughs to fade in to little hiccups of laughter then stop altogether as melted
chocolate brown eyes met clear hazel ones, they both stood, seconds ticking by,
gazing into each others eyes, the smile still present on their lips. He blinked
slowly as he took in her mesmerising soft eyes, her little button nose and
finally rested on her soft petal lips. He began to move forward as she moved
her head back, her smile gradually fading, his breath against her, her breasts
heaving against his chest. He moved a stray hair off of her face, cupping her
face in his hands as she closed her eyes, he took in the light tremble of her
lips as he moved in closer, when suddenly Arnav's phone broke the silence,
snapping Khushi's eyes wide open. Arnav froze, his eyes widening in horror, he
moved away immediately, dropping his hands to his side, then looked away.
Khushi continued to watch his face, slightly dazzled and without thinking
extended her arm, placing her hand in his. She watched his face in anticipation
as he looked at her hand in his then back at her face. She smiled at him
lightly, her eyes glistening with passion but he quickly looked away, breaking
his hand away from hers then walked away, leaving a baffled Khushi
behind.
He had refused to
accept his feelings for her all those years ago and when he had finally
realised what he had done it had been too late. Too late.
****
Arnav sipped his
coffee as he sat with his feet up on the coffee table, glancing through the
files the hacker had been able to unearth from both Arundathi and Aakash's
laptops, a slow smirk spreading on his lips. "Well well look who's been
busy," he commented scrolling through Arundathi's files which consisted of
several copies of different power of attorneys; each and every single one
transferring something or the other Arnav owned to her name. He chuckled
lightly at her stupidity, wondering to himself how long she had been making up
these papers for. Aakash's lovely facebook conversations with Payal, very cheesy
and cringe-worthy also came up. He copied all of them onto another disk,
saving them to use to his advantage later. Clicking through, his eyes suddenly
narrowed as one of Arundathis e-mail conversations opened up, exchanged between
a Shyam Jha. Arnav put the coffee mug on the table, taking his feet off of it
and sat up, adjusting the laptop so that he was concentrating fully on what had
been sent. Slight understanding flashed across his face as he read brief
messages of a job, 5 lakhs and a will. He then closed the laptop, after taking
out the flash drive and his own disk which he pocketed to put in the vault.
Picking up the finished mug of coffee he sauntered out of the room, that
satisfied smirk back on his face.
****
Garima and Arnav
sat in silence, as Arnav ran his finger over the rim of the coffee mug thinking
over what Garima had said properly, trying to comprehend the situation clearly.
Garima watched his concerned face, his eyebrows knotted and his eyes distant as
he thought things through. If only Khushi had had the sense to choose the right
brother, Garima thought to herself.
"So uncle is
adamant on Khushi marrying Aakash?" Arnav finally broke the silence, still
quite unable to fathom that a father could do such a thing.
Garima nodded back
silently, disappointment clear in her face, "and this is what I can't
understand, even for the sake of money could you do that to your own
daughter?" She questioned as if she was saying it to herself.
"Okay."
He said suddenly adjusting himself on the chair and rubbing his palms
together. "This is how we are going to go about it." Garima moved in
closer to listen. "We need to find out what uncle's plan is before we do
anything," he said matter-of-factly. "And then we decide our plan of
action," he stated, his eyes studying her reaction.
Garima nodded,
slightly unsure, "but what do you mean? How are we going to do that?"
She questioned, confused by what he meant exactly.
"Well first
aunty I need your word that you'll help me in any way possible," he
studied her face again and his mind relaxed as he watched her start nodding her
head instantly.
"Of course
beta!" She said quickly, "that is why I'm here. I'm sick and tired
and my daughter will not be sacrificed!" She stated with a finality. "You have my word," she said
looking him straight.
"Good! So
basically I want you to watch your husbands every move, find out where he goes
who he meets and what he talks about, and don't miss out on anything when you tell me about
it." "Something is going on behind the scene here and that's what we
need to find out." "I'll let you handle it for a week and if you find
nothing then I'll take over." He finished off finally, his sharp eyes not
once leaving her face.
Garima breathed
out heavily, acknowledging everything Arnav had said and finally her lips
parted to a tiny smile as she agreed, "I'll keep you posted on everything."
****
"Lavanya,
I've changed my mind. I want you to fly straight to Mumbai," Arnav
instructed into the phone, quite relieved that he had come up with this new
change of plan. More time away from the annoying secretary.
"But
ASR," she moaned, "why?"
"Don't ask
questions Lavanya. Just do what I'm telling you to do!" He snapped, his temper
rising once more.
"Okay okay
sorry ASR. I'll change my flight booking," she assured him.
****
Khushi tossed and turned scrunching her closed eyes, then slowly opening them and taking in the
blurry surrounding of the room began stretching, taking in the comfort of her
bed then sat up with a start. The blur of her sleep suddenly disappearing, she
looked around with wide eyes at the familiar items of her room. "What the hell?
How did I get here?" She mumbled to herself, knotting her eyebrows
together. "Shit! How drunk was I?" She grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.
She slowly climbed
out of her bed, looking down disapprovingly at her clothes from last night. She
looked up to her clock and her eyes widened in horror. "2 o'clock? Shit!
Shit! Shit!" She screamed then grabbing her towel quickly ran into the
bathroom.
Finally having had
a long shower, letting a night of too much booze and lost memory completely
wash off of her body she stepped out and changed into her comfy harems and a peach
top then began brushing her teeth. Scrubbing away and stopped mid-stroke, her
eyes widening at herself in the mirror, the brush still on her teeth.
"I need
you Arnav."
Her brush slipped
out of her hand and fell into the sink. "Shit!" She washed the brush
again, squeezed the toothpaste out with trembling hands, trying to control the
storm raging inside of her. She wasn't supposed to go out drinking with him for
a reason. She resumed her brushing, her mind going over all of the
possibilities of what she could do, reverting back to every other time she had
said something she hadn't wanted to in a drunken state. And almost immediately
a slow calm spread over her, on remembering all those time she had gone through
this process of worrying only to find that Arnav never really remembered what
she said when he was equally as drunk. And for a second she wished that he
sometimes could remember, maybe, just maybe it wouldn't have caused her to
arrive at these crossroads.
"Arnav,"
she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Yes?"
Came a husky voice
from behind her, she turned around instantly only to be faced with Arnav,
leaning against the door frame, clad in a grey shirt, black tie and waistcoat.
She turned back round to the sink quickly and washing out her mouth and face,
turned back towards him, grabbed the towel and walked past him. "Have you
just randomly started appearing in places now?" She asked, annoyed, facing
away from him. The frustration of what always seemed to happen still clouding
her mind.
"Well I
gained new special powers," he said from behind her, amusement in his
voice.
She rolled her
eyes again as she grabbed the brush and began running it through her hair.
He started walking
towards her, the words from last night reverberating through his mind,
"I need
you Arnav."
He remembered the
desperation in her voice, her innocent troubled eyes.
How his arm
had instinctively wound her close to him, how right she had felt in his
arms.
He was losing it
all over again, falling for her madly once more and he couldn't even distance
himself from her this time, this time he had to be there.
He knew that once
this Aakash fiasco came to light, he would have his chance again. That she'd
fall back onto him and he wasn't even sure if he could walk away from it this
time round. But the truth of it all was she deserved better, she deserved a man
who wasn't tainted with a disgusting past and an almost impossible future. She
deserved a man who wasn't broken, a man who could respect her feelings without
trampling on them over and over again. The truth of it was he didn't think he
was worthy of a person who could never harm anyone, she deserved a lot better
than a beast who was fighting to keep an identity that he wasn't born with.
He sighed deeply,
bringing himself back to the present. "Anyway," he finally said
stopping, "I just came over to check up on you," he said quietly,
sensing her foul mood and turned round to walk away.
"Hey!"
She ran after him and grabbed his arm, annoyed with herself for ignoring his
efforts. "Don't go. I'm bored!" She said for nothing better to say,
pouting.
He turned back
round smirking at her. "Then get your ass back to Aberdeen and get back to
your job!" He retorted.
"Shut up! I
have things to do here and I have a job break for 6 months!" She
half-shouted back. "Speaking of which, you were complaining about your
interior designer yesterday right? I could help you," she piped up,
grinning.
He appraised her
for a minute, a smile playing at his lips.
"Please
Arnav! I'm so bored," she whined.
His smiled
widened, acknowledging the perfectness of this opportunity.
"Okay okay!
Fine! You can work with me till you're here," he replied pretending to
have given in, I fired my designer this morning anyway."
"Oh god!
You're such a grouch! And yeyy!" She yelled jumping up and down.
He rolled his eyes
at her antics. "You start tomorrow! And be ready on time, I'll come get
you!" He ordered then strode off.
She watched his
retreating back making a face. "Grouch!" She shouted at his back and
resumed brushing her hair.
****
Arnav watched
Payal as she stopped mid-way down the steps, took her handbag and re-checked it
to see if she was was missing anything, then fixing her hair and skirt
continued down the stairs. He smirked, downing the last of his scotch.
Then placing the glass on his table strode out of his office. Preparing himself
for his next move. The game just got interesting.
superb :)
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