This is a one shot that Chicky and Janet wrote together while we were waiting for the inimitable Diwali episode. We're conservatively marking this 18+.
OS: Anklet
- Chicky & Janet
As the day of Diwali progressed, Arnav was getting more and more restless. He had decided to go to work today and convinced himself that it had nothing to do with Khushi probably being off on Diwali. Having waited until lunch to ensure that she wasn't coming, he got dressed and went downstairs to find everyone engrossed in the preparation for the puja in the evening. Seeing him in his work clothes, Anjali walked up to him.
"Diwali ke din koi aise kapde pehenta hai, Chote?"
"Di mai office jaa rahaa hu. Sab chutti par hai aur thoda zaruri kaam hai. Pataako ki aawaaz se ghar pe koi kaam nahi hoga dopahar see. Office would be better."
"Chote tum.."
"Di please. Mai raat ke puja tak aa jaunga."
Anjali was just about to say something with Omprakash came with the anklets that she had bought for Khushi. He handed it over to her saying "Ye wahaa neeche pada that Anjali Didi." Anjali took it from him saying "Oh, shukriya."
Arnav looked at the anklets and was reminded of Khushi's anklet lying in his cupboard. Anjali looked at the anklets thoughtfully and said rather quietly "Ye hum Khushiji ke liye laaye the Diwali ke liye."
Thinking she was upset that she wouldn't be able to give it to her today, Arnav said "Koi baat nahi Di, woh kal aayegi toh de dena usse"
"Nahi Chote, aayengi toh woh aaj bhi, par.."
"Kya?! Khushi aaj aa rahi hai?" said Arnav suddenly. "Er.. mera matlab hai ki.. mujhe laga woh aaj chutti pe hai.. usne chutti bhi nahi li aur itni der tak aayi bhi nahi?"
"Offo Chote, Diwali ke din thodi kaam pe aayengi. Woh abhi thodi der mei mithai leke aayengi humaare liye. Aur puja ke liye bhi rukengi"
"Oh achcha" said Arnav trying not to sound too interested. To cover up, he continued "Toh phir kya problem hai? Aap aaj hi de dena paayal usko"
"Hum toh kal hi denewaale the. Par unhone liya hi nahi. Pata hai Chote, jo payal woh pehenti hai naa, woh unke Amma ki hai toh woh usse apne aap se kabhi alag hi nahi hone deti. Isiliye woh koi aur payal pehengi hi nahi. Unke Amma ki sirf wahi nishaani hai unke paas. Hum samajh sakte hai" said Anjali thoughtfully.
Arnav just stared at her trying to collect his thoughts. He remembered the anklet falling off near the pool. He remembered picking it up and staring at it for a long time, reliving his moments with her. He remembered how the anklet continued to be a part of his ever-increasing collection of Khushi's belongings.
"Chote?" said Anjali, bringing him out of his thoughts "Abhi tumse behas nahi karna chaahte hum. Toh jaldi jaao aur jaldi vaapis aao office se"
"Er" started Arnav "Di mai bhi aapse behas nahi karna chaahta toh mai soch raha hu yahi se kaam khatam karne ki koshish karu. I mean, varna kitne dino tak aap bolengi ki Diwali ke din bhi mai office gaya. Toh' er' mai upar jaata hu"
Anjali stared after him as he quickly went back upstairs. She shook her head at yet another example of his recent randomness.
Arnav paced his room. He was torn between the elation of getting to see Khushi and the confusion of how to return her anklet to her. The moment Di told him about the value of the anklet for Khushi, he knew he had to return it to her somehow. Now, when he reached his room and had the time to think, he wasn't sure how to do it. What possible explanation can he give to her for his having had it in his possession for such a long time. What explanation did he have for having it with him at all in the first place?
He tried coming up with some explanations. "Jaiprakash found it and gave it to me. Yeah, of all the people in this house, he gave me an anklet that he found." Arnav felt like rolling his eyes at himself "Well, I found it and forgot to give it to her." He sighed. "Right. ASR found an anklet and picked it up and kept it with himself. Right." Shaking his head, he realized that his ASR personality killed all the explanations.
Then, he stopped pacing and realized that that was just the solution. He was ASR. He owed no one any explanations. Normally, no one would dare ask him for any explanations. But, Khushi wasn't normal and so would obviously question him like always. A glare or two and a walkout should do the trick, he told himself.
Arnav walked to his cupboard and took the anklet out. He ran his fingers over it and closed his eyes reliving some moments with her. Pocketing it, he realized he felt oddly unhappy at the prospect of having to part with it.
He just opened his laptop when he heard the door bell. Curbing the urge to run down to open the door, he got up and tentatively stepped out of his room. By the time he could see the door, there was no one there. He could hear Anjali complimenting Khushi on how beautiful she looked in the red saari. Red? Saari? He needed to see her. He balled his fists to stop himself from going downstairs as he reminded himself that he needed to give her the anklet and he couldn't do that downstairs.
Suddenly, he saw Omprakash walking out of the front door, closing it behind him. He waited for a minute and then called out loudly "Omprakash! Meri davai zara leke aana. Aur ek glass juice bhi." He knew that Khushi was not going to let his Di climb up with the glass and the medicines.
"Arre Omprakash ko toh humne baahar bhej diya" said Anjali "Ye Chote bhi na, apni davai kaise bhool jaate hai. Hum hi leke dete hai."
"Hum leke de denge Anjali ji" said Khushi when she saw Anjali start to get up from where she was sitting on the floor near the puja area. "Thank you Khushi ji" smiled Anjali. She pointed to a packet on the table near by and said "Uss packet mei se hi davai deni hai"
Khushi nodded and went to get a glass of juice from the kitchen. She picked up the packet and headed to Arnav's room. "Devi Maiyya, aap bhi naa. Omprakashji ko isi waqt bahar bhejna tha aapko? Ab Anjali ji ko toh hum ye sab leke upar aane nahi de sakte the na?" she muttered on her way up.
"Arnav ji?" she called out from outside his room as her hands weren't free to knock. Not hearing a response, she tried pushing the door with her shoulders and it opened. Stepping inside cautiously, she called out again "Arnav ji?" But, the room was empty. She looked around and saw him standing near the pool, his back facing her.
She considered leaving the juice and the medicines on the table and leaving. Suddenly remembering him fainting the other day, she decided that she needed to make sure he took his medicines. She stepped out of the room towards the pool side at the same moment that Arnav turned around from the other end of the pool.
Arnav swallowed deeply, and knew he was in deep trouble the moment he set eyes on her. Khushi was beautiful. He knew that. She always looked beautiful. Having been blown away once seeing her in a red saari during the photo shoot, he was expecting her to look particularly beautiful tonight as well, especially after hearing his Di's comments. But, nothing had prepared him for the kind of emotions that surged through him as he saw her walk towards him slowly in the gorgeous red saari, which, he was sure was so gorgeous only because she was wearing it.
Just like every other time he was enthralled by her, he forgot his surroundings and the fact that he was staring unabashedly at her. Khushi stopped walking as she felt his gaze on her. Her heart thudded in her chest as she saw the way his eyes were devouring her. She struggled to hold on to the glass and the medicines as she felt her hands tremble. His eyes scorched their way up right from her toes, pausing a bit at her bare waist, then at her neck, on her lips, before they finally met her eyes.
She always got flustered when he looked at her like that. Like he had a right to. Like only he had a right to. Pushing the thought aside, Khushi took a deep breath and continued to walk towards him. She stopped a couple of feet away from him and said "Arnav ji" His only reaction was to look at her lips as they uttered his name and then look back into her eyes. Flustered, Khushi said a bit more loudly "Arnav ji?"
Arnav blinked as if coming out of a stupor and cleared his throat before saying "Tum yahaa kya kar rahi ho?"
"Woh Omprakashji bahar gaye huye hai toh hum aapki davai leke aaye hai," said Khushi holding out the medicine packet.
His mind suddenly went back to the temple on Teej when he had seen her stumbling up the stairs with a plate in her hands. He had not been able to take his eyes off her, and from the first moment he had seen her, he had been drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Sighing deeply, he tried to compose himself when he finally came to a stop directly in front of her. He greeted her in a low husky voice that he almost didn't recognize as his own ' 'Khushi'' Without taking his eyes off her face, Arnav took a step closer to her and brought out the anklet from his pocket holding it out to her.
Khushi stared at him and then slowly down at his extended hand, in which her lost anklet twinkled in the candlelight. 'Yeh toh humari '' she whispered startled.
The air between them fairly crackled. In spite of his repeated decisions, in spite of knowing now that his only hope for self-preservation was to get away from her, his body was the traitor. It had started behaving as if it had a mind of its own.
Seeing her hesitate and look down again at her own hands holding out the medicine and glass of juice, Arnav placed the anklet back into his trouser pocket and reaching out to gently hold her by her shoulders. It was as though an electric shock jolted everything alive inside her. She looked up into his eyes and knew that she was lost.
'Aap '' she said breathlessly, meeting his intense gaze with one of her own.
'Shhh'' he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers, as he gently pushed her onto one of the deck chair that surrounded the pool. Lowering her on to the chair he quietly took the glass and packet from her nervous hands, placing them carefully on the table beside.
Khushi watched in wide-eyed fascination as he slowly pulled out her silver anklet from his pocket and knelt in front of her on one knee.
Arnav could not take his eyes of her radiance. He longed to taste the soft skin of her nape exposed above the neckline of her blouse. Feather his lips across her collarbone. Feel the weight of her against him, uninhibited by clothing' He swallowed, and shut his eyes for a second, controlling his wayward thoughts. Ever since the day she had tangled herself in the diwali lights, he had felt the attraction that in some dangerous way was more than physical. What had started out as an innocent untangling of the lights from around her, had turned into something neither of them could control. He had watched, fascinated, as she had shut her desire filled eyes, whenever his hand brushed her skin. This attraction was different from any attraction he'd ever had for any other woman. What was it? He asked himself repeatedly.
Khushi watched tongue tied as he shut his eyes and opening them suddenly, reach down slowly to slip her foot out of the confines of the gold sandals. He then gently placed her foot on his extended knee, and chained the anklet on her bare ankle. She shuddered against the power he held over her from just looking at her and was tempted to close her eyes to shut him out, but couldn't.
Task complete, both of them watched the anklet glitter and nestle against the satin skin of her slim ankle.
Khushi, in a daze as to what had just happened, drew an unsteady breath, as she watched him again reach out to hold her ankle, as if drawn to it unwittingly. Her startled gaze followed his warm fingers as they drew gentle circles on the shapely contours of her foot. Her body stiffened, then relaxed as any thought of resisting him was destroyed, and she felt herself give in to the intoxicating feelings that his touch was arousing in her. Her head fell back against the sloping backrest of the chair, and she shut her eyes as unfamiliar sensations took over.
Khushi didn't know what happened next. One moment she was staring at him playing with her foot, and the next moment she felt his warm mouth devouring her sensitive toe.
Her eyes flew open in shock, as she watched his tongue explore the perfectly shaped toe, making her weak with desire and her body consumed with need she had never experienced before.
As he continued to suck her toe, a throaty moan escaped her lips, 'Arnav'' she groaned, not realizing if it was a plea for him to stop or to continue.
His name on her lips, and the throaty sounds she was making sent shivers of excitement racing down his spine. If he were truly honest with himself, he'd admit to his growing desire to take her into his arms ... to gaze deep into her eyes ... to kiss her lush mouth. To find out if he could ever claim her heart.
His name said aloud, brought him back to his senses. She had never called him by his name, he mused. Chiding himself, for losing control as he had just done, he released her foot placing it back on his thigh. He watched, her also realize the enormity of what had just happened. Her innocent mind shocked at her own wantonness.
Sliding her foot off his thigh slowly, she stood abruptly, lowering her gaze in embarrassment. What was she thinking' was this also a sign from devi mayyiya that she had been looking for. Her body had responded of its own accord to his ' his' Khushi blushed and looked towards him distraught.
Seeing her discomfiture Arnav gently reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm, brushing his thumb across her soft skin. Again Khushi felt herself move closer and closer to total surrender.
Sensing her dazed state, Arnav held on to her face for a few moments, till she gained composure, then whispered, "Happy Diwali."
OS: Anklet
- Chicky & Janet
As the day of Diwali progressed, Arnav was getting more and more restless. He had decided to go to work today and convinced himself that it had nothing to do with Khushi probably being off on Diwali. Having waited until lunch to ensure that she wasn't coming, he got dressed and went downstairs to find everyone engrossed in the preparation for the puja in the evening. Seeing him in his work clothes, Anjali walked up to him.
"Diwali ke din koi aise kapde pehenta hai, Chote?"
"Di mai office jaa rahaa hu. Sab chutti par hai aur thoda zaruri kaam hai. Pataako ki aawaaz se ghar pe koi kaam nahi hoga dopahar see. Office would be better."
"Chote tum.."
"Di please. Mai raat ke puja tak aa jaunga."
Anjali was just about to say something with Omprakash came with the anklets that she had bought for Khushi. He handed it over to her saying "Ye wahaa neeche pada that Anjali Didi." Anjali took it from him saying "Oh, shukriya."
Arnav looked at the anklets and was reminded of Khushi's anklet lying in his cupboard. Anjali looked at the anklets thoughtfully and said rather quietly "Ye hum Khushiji ke liye laaye the Diwali ke liye."
Thinking she was upset that she wouldn't be able to give it to her today, Arnav said "Koi baat nahi Di, woh kal aayegi toh de dena usse"
"Nahi Chote, aayengi toh woh aaj bhi, par.."
"Kya?! Khushi aaj aa rahi hai?" said Arnav suddenly. "Er.. mera matlab hai ki.. mujhe laga woh aaj chutti pe hai.. usne chutti bhi nahi li aur itni der tak aayi bhi nahi?"
"Offo Chote, Diwali ke din thodi kaam pe aayengi. Woh abhi thodi der mei mithai leke aayengi humaare liye. Aur puja ke liye bhi rukengi"
"Oh achcha" said Arnav trying not to sound too interested. To cover up, he continued "Toh phir kya problem hai? Aap aaj hi de dena paayal usko"
"Hum toh kal hi denewaale the. Par unhone liya hi nahi. Pata hai Chote, jo payal woh pehenti hai naa, woh unke Amma ki hai toh woh usse apne aap se kabhi alag hi nahi hone deti. Isiliye woh koi aur payal pehengi hi nahi. Unke Amma ki sirf wahi nishaani hai unke paas. Hum samajh sakte hai" said Anjali thoughtfully.
Arnav just stared at her trying to collect his thoughts. He remembered the anklet falling off near the pool. He remembered picking it up and staring at it for a long time, reliving his moments with her. He remembered how the anklet continued to be a part of his ever-increasing collection of Khushi's belongings.
"Chote?" said Anjali, bringing him out of his thoughts "Abhi tumse behas nahi karna chaahte hum. Toh jaldi jaao aur jaldi vaapis aao office se"
"Er" started Arnav "Di mai bhi aapse behas nahi karna chaahta toh mai soch raha hu yahi se kaam khatam karne ki koshish karu. I mean, varna kitne dino tak aap bolengi ki Diwali ke din bhi mai office gaya. Toh' er' mai upar jaata hu"
Anjali stared after him as he quickly went back upstairs. She shook her head at yet another example of his recent randomness.
Arnav paced his room. He was torn between the elation of getting to see Khushi and the confusion of how to return her anklet to her. The moment Di told him about the value of the anklet for Khushi, he knew he had to return it to her somehow. Now, when he reached his room and had the time to think, he wasn't sure how to do it. What possible explanation can he give to her for his having had it in his possession for such a long time. What explanation did he have for having it with him at all in the first place?
He tried coming up with some explanations. "Jaiprakash found it and gave it to me. Yeah, of all the people in this house, he gave me an anklet that he found." Arnav felt like rolling his eyes at himself "Well, I found it and forgot to give it to her." He sighed. "Right. ASR found an anklet and picked it up and kept it with himself. Right." Shaking his head, he realized that his ASR personality killed all the explanations.
Then, he stopped pacing and realized that that was just the solution. He was ASR. He owed no one any explanations. Normally, no one would dare ask him for any explanations. But, Khushi wasn't normal and so would obviously question him like always. A glare or two and a walkout should do the trick, he told himself.
Arnav walked to his cupboard and took the anklet out. He ran his fingers over it and closed his eyes reliving some moments with her. Pocketing it, he realized he felt oddly unhappy at the prospect of having to part with it.
He just opened his laptop when he heard the door bell. Curbing the urge to run down to open the door, he got up and tentatively stepped out of his room. By the time he could see the door, there was no one there. He could hear Anjali complimenting Khushi on how beautiful she looked in the red saari. Red? Saari? He needed to see her. He balled his fists to stop himself from going downstairs as he reminded himself that he needed to give her the anklet and he couldn't do that downstairs.
Suddenly, he saw Omprakash walking out of the front door, closing it behind him. He waited for a minute and then called out loudly "Omprakash! Meri davai zara leke aana. Aur ek glass juice bhi." He knew that Khushi was not going to let his Di climb up with the glass and the medicines.
"Arre Omprakash ko toh humne baahar bhej diya" said Anjali "Ye Chote bhi na, apni davai kaise bhool jaate hai. Hum hi leke dete hai."
"Hum leke de denge Anjali ji" said Khushi when she saw Anjali start to get up from where she was sitting on the floor near the puja area. "Thank you Khushi ji" smiled Anjali. She pointed to a packet on the table near by and said "Uss packet mei se hi davai deni hai"
Khushi nodded and went to get a glass of juice from the kitchen. She picked up the packet and headed to Arnav's room. "Devi Maiyya, aap bhi naa. Omprakashji ko isi waqt bahar bhejna tha aapko? Ab Anjali ji ko toh hum ye sab leke upar aane nahi de sakte the na?" she muttered on her way up.
"Arnav ji?" she called out from outside his room as her hands weren't free to knock. Not hearing a response, she tried pushing the door with her shoulders and it opened. Stepping inside cautiously, she called out again "Arnav ji?" But, the room was empty. She looked around and saw him standing near the pool, his back facing her.
She considered leaving the juice and the medicines on the table and leaving. Suddenly remembering him fainting the other day, she decided that she needed to make sure he took his medicines. She stepped out of the room towards the pool side at the same moment that Arnav turned around from the other end of the pool.
Arnav swallowed deeply, and knew he was in deep trouble the moment he set eyes on her. Khushi was beautiful. He knew that. She always looked beautiful. Having been blown away once seeing her in a red saari during the photo shoot, he was expecting her to look particularly beautiful tonight as well, especially after hearing his Di's comments. But, nothing had prepared him for the kind of emotions that surged through him as he saw her walk towards him slowly in the gorgeous red saari, which, he was sure was so gorgeous only because she was wearing it.
Just like every other time he was enthralled by her, he forgot his surroundings and the fact that he was staring unabashedly at her. Khushi stopped walking as she felt his gaze on her. Her heart thudded in her chest as she saw the way his eyes were devouring her. She struggled to hold on to the glass and the medicines as she felt her hands tremble. His eyes scorched their way up right from her toes, pausing a bit at her bare waist, then at her neck, on her lips, before they finally met her eyes.
She always got flustered when he looked at her like that. Like he had a right to. Like only he had a right to. Pushing the thought aside, Khushi took a deep breath and continued to walk towards him. She stopped a couple of feet away from him and said "Arnav ji" His only reaction was to look at her lips as they uttered his name and then look back into her eyes. Flustered, Khushi said a bit more loudly "Arnav ji?"
Arnav blinked as if coming out of a stupor and cleared his throat before saying "Tum yahaa kya kar rahi ho?"
"Woh Omprakashji bahar gaye huye hai toh hum aapki davai leke aaye hai," said Khushi holding out the medicine packet.
His mind suddenly went back to the temple on Teej when he had seen her stumbling up the stairs with a plate in her hands. He had not been able to take his eyes off her, and from the first moment he had seen her, he had been drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Sighing deeply, he tried to compose himself when he finally came to a stop directly in front of her. He greeted her in a low husky voice that he almost didn't recognize as his own ' 'Khushi'' Without taking his eyes off her face, Arnav took a step closer to her and brought out the anklet from his pocket holding it out to her.
Khushi stared at him and then slowly down at his extended hand, in which her lost anklet twinkled in the candlelight. 'Yeh toh humari '' she whispered startled.
The air between them fairly crackled. In spite of his repeated decisions, in spite of knowing now that his only hope for self-preservation was to get away from her, his body was the traitor. It had started behaving as if it had a mind of its own.
Seeing her hesitate and look down again at her own hands holding out the medicine and glass of juice, Arnav placed the anklet back into his trouser pocket and reaching out to gently hold her by her shoulders. It was as though an electric shock jolted everything alive inside her. She looked up into his eyes and knew that she was lost.
'Aap '' she said breathlessly, meeting his intense gaze with one of her own.
'Shhh'' he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers, as he gently pushed her onto one of the deck chair that surrounded the pool. Lowering her on to the chair he quietly took the glass and packet from her nervous hands, placing them carefully on the table beside.
Khushi watched in wide-eyed fascination as he slowly pulled out her silver anklet from his pocket and knelt in front of her on one knee.
Arnav could not take his eyes of her radiance. He longed to taste the soft skin of her nape exposed above the neckline of her blouse. Feather his lips across her collarbone. Feel the weight of her against him, uninhibited by clothing' He swallowed, and shut his eyes for a second, controlling his wayward thoughts. Ever since the day she had tangled herself in the diwali lights, he had felt the attraction that in some dangerous way was more than physical. What had started out as an innocent untangling of the lights from around her, had turned into something neither of them could control. He had watched, fascinated, as she had shut her desire filled eyes, whenever his hand brushed her skin. This attraction was different from any attraction he'd ever had for any other woman. What was it? He asked himself repeatedly.
Khushi watched tongue tied as he shut his eyes and opening them suddenly, reach down slowly to slip her foot out of the confines of the gold sandals. He then gently placed her foot on his extended knee, and chained the anklet on her bare ankle. She shuddered against the power he held over her from just looking at her and was tempted to close her eyes to shut him out, but couldn't.
Task complete, both of them watched the anklet glitter and nestle against the satin skin of her slim ankle.
Khushi, in a daze as to what had just happened, drew an unsteady breath, as she watched him again reach out to hold her ankle, as if drawn to it unwittingly. Her startled gaze followed his warm fingers as they drew gentle circles on the shapely contours of her foot. Her body stiffened, then relaxed as any thought of resisting him was destroyed, and she felt herself give in to the intoxicating feelings that his touch was arousing in her. Her head fell back against the sloping backrest of the chair, and she shut her eyes as unfamiliar sensations took over.
Khushi didn't know what happened next. One moment she was staring at him playing with her foot, and the next moment she felt his warm mouth devouring her sensitive toe.
Her eyes flew open in shock, as she watched his tongue explore the perfectly shaped toe, making her weak with desire and her body consumed with need she had never experienced before.
As he continued to suck her toe, a throaty moan escaped her lips, 'Arnav'' she groaned, not realizing if it was a plea for him to stop or to continue.
His name on her lips, and the throaty sounds she was making sent shivers of excitement racing down his spine. If he were truly honest with himself, he'd admit to his growing desire to take her into his arms ... to gaze deep into her eyes ... to kiss her lush mouth. To find out if he could ever claim her heart.
His name said aloud, brought him back to his senses. She had never called him by his name, he mused. Chiding himself, for losing control as he had just done, he released her foot placing it back on his thigh. He watched, her also realize the enormity of what had just happened. Her innocent mind shocked at her own wantonness.
Sliding her foot off his thigh slowly, she stood abruptly, lowering her gaze in embarrassment. What was she thinking' was this also a sign from devi mayyiya that she had been looking for. Her body had responded of its own accord to his ' his' Khushi blushed and looked towards him distraught.
Seeing her discomfiture Arnav gently reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm, brushing his thumb across her soft skin. Again Khushi felt herself move closer and closer to total surrender.
Sensing her dazed state, Arnav held on to her face for a few moments, till she gained composure, then whispered, "Happy Diwali."
hey i am new to your FF... kindly let me know... where did u updated after chapter 30 ...
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