Sitting
beside a quiet Arnav in the SUV, Khushi stole a glance at him. She was dangerously attracted to this man. She
shook her head, the push and pull of wishes and fears tearing her apart. She felt awash with guilt at the lie they were living. Her
feelings for him were increasing every day, and naïve that she was, she still
could feel herself falling in love with him. Falling in love with a man who
professed to have no heart … who did not know what love meant. Yet he had said
the words to her so easily a little while ago.
And now, this insistence to drive her to Aman’s hotel. Did
he not even trust her this much; first his assumption that she was willing to
marry his brother-in-law, then his anger over Harry this afternoon, and now
changing his plan to escort her? Yet a voice inside her chided her to not think
too much and just enjoy being with him. A voice telling her slyly, ‘you know
you want to be with him … every minute that you can.’
And that was true. Still, she knew she ought
to be resisting all of this.
Lost in her thoughts, Khushi was startled when the car
suddenly stopped and there was a valet opening her door, waiting patiently for
her to get out. Before she could react,
Arnav was beside the door, holding his hand out for her. Too surprised to put up much of a fight, she
quietly put her small hand into his, and let him help her step down gently.
The tinkling of
a water fountain in the lobby greeted Khushi, calming her ruffled nerves immediately.
Forgetting that she still held his hand, she looked about her fascinated by the
cool marble interiors of the hotel lobby. Squeezing his hand excitedly, she all
but dragged him towards the wall of bay windows at one side over looking the
hotel pool.
Arnav looked at
her indulgently, viewing the lobby that he would only cursorily glance at
whenever he came here through her eyes, enjoying her pleasure more than
anything else. He looked towards the coffee shop where he had told Aman they
would meet him.
Khushi was
still, unconsciously clutching his hand, and much as he hated the thought of
stifling her discoveries, he needed to call Aman to let him know that they had
arrived.
‘Khushi’, he
tugged at her hand gently pulling her away, from the pool and towards the house
phones. Realizing that she was hanging on to him for quite some time now,
Khushi pulled out her hand from his with a jerk, stepping back from him a
little.
Staring at her
for minute intently, Arnav turned his heels and walked towards the house phones,
where he had a quick chat with Aman and walked back towards where she was still
waiting.
‘He’ll join us
in the coffee shop,’ he told her holding her by the elbow and leading her towards
the glass doors at the entrance of the lobby they had just entered.
Once inside the
coffee shop, Khushi looked at him while he spoke to the manager, requesting a
table, and stating his preference for one with a poolside view. His handsome
face was tanned and lean and his nose classical in profile. She liked the
humorous gleam in his brown eyes, liked the way his strong fingers still held her
elbow gently, liked the way his collar opened to his muscular chest. A rush of
pride filled her. She was proud to be married to this man.
She did not realize that he had stopped
talking and was now watching her. Their gazes met and the sudden electricity
flared between them. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart began to
beat wildly. Had he asked her something, she mused?
Catching her fluster, he smiled and dropped a quick kiss on
her lips. Her lips tingled, but a small circle of dread began to grow in her
chest. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. This was just getting too
confusing.
‘KAYYYYY!’
Aman’s loud voice distracted her as she turned back
towards the main door a warm smile on her lips. Forgetting where she was and whom
she was with, Khushi rushed towards her best friend instinctively – straight
into his extended arms. He swung her up and around and even though Arnav was
aware of their closeness, he could not help the slight tinge of envy that
rushed through him as he looked at them, a small frown marring his forehead.
‘Arnav!!!’ Aman had put Khushi down and was now walking
towards him, his arms extended, a warm smile on his handsome face. Not being a
very emotional or demonstrative person, Arnav reeled under the onslaught of the
warm embrace that Aman engulfed him in. From over Aman’s shoulder he watched,
surprised, Khushi eyeing them with a similar distracted frown.
‘What’s up dude?’ Aman had moved back a step, still
holding Arnav’s shoulders firmly. ‘All okay between the love birds, finally?’
he whispered, giving a startled Arnav a conspiratory wink.
‘Accha chalo,’
Aman swiftly changed the topic turning back and including Khushi, who had
walked up to join them. ‘Jaldi se baitho
… I want to share something.’
Seated that the table with Aman on one side and Arnav,
disturbingly close on the other, Khushi turned excitedly towards Aman. ‘Haan toh …’ she began, ‘kya keh rahe they...’
‘Diya and I are getting married’ Aman all but shouted
reaching out and clutching Khushi’s hand that was on the table beside him. ‘And
I want YOU … no … both of you to be there next month in Mumbai.’ Turning to
Arnav he added, ‘I’ll mail you the details, dude.’
Khushi stared at Aman open-mouthed for five full seconds before
launching herself at him, almost knocking over the table and Aman himself.
Engulfing her in a bear hug, Aman barely managed to keep them both from falling
over while he laughed ‘…er that is if I don't fall over and break my neck right
now!’
Khushi swatted his arm while settling back into her chair, clasping his hands with both of hers and gushed in excitement ‘So you did it finally… told her you loved her…’
Arnav turned towards her incredulously. ‘What the...’ he
thought to himself. He had just told her he loved her this afternoon. And there
had been no reaction at all from her for that, he muttered to himself irritated
with her constantly rushing to hug Aman.
‘Congratulations’, he muttered instead to Aman, as Khushi
settled back in her chair, bombarding him with fifty-three questions about the
how, what and where of his proposal.
‘Thanks dude,’ Aman muttered instead, looking at Arnav
sheepishly. ‘Ek minute,’ he turned
back towards Khushi, ‘shall we order first, and then I will answer all your
questions.’
Settled with their teas and coffees, Aman detailed the
wedding plans adding that amma and the rest of the family needed to be there
too. He would send out the cards later, but Khushi had to let everyone know the
dates etc. once Arnav received the email.
‘And you both need to come a little earlier, of course,’
he added with a twinkle in his eye, ‘you…’ pointing at Arnav, ‘for my bachelor
party and you…’ pointing at Khushi, ‘for my moral support.’
Bachelor party! Khushi’s eyebrows went up. Adding two and
two, she wondered if a girl’s bachelor party had male strippers, would a boy’s
have women doing the same instead. Her brow furrowed at the thought of her
husband watching some beautiful scantily clad women dancing in front of him. She
felt angry suddenly at the thought.
So lost in her thoughts was she that
she missed Aman and Arnav making a plan to move up to Aman’s room instead of
the coffee shop. ‘Dude, it's late already,
but knowing you, do you have to get back to work? I can drop her off
later, if you want,’ Aman was asking Arnav. ‘No, I don't think there's anything
pressing in office today, we can…’ Arnav started, only to be interrupted by
Khushi.
‘Aman... kal karenge? Bahut der ho
gayi .. ghar pe sab intezaar kar rahe honge..’
Arnav frowned turning towards her
quizzically. Sensing the tension between them, Aman shrugged and said "Of
course ... call me tomorrow... I'm here for another day. We still need to
celebrate my news’. Looking at Arnav, he winked.
Rushing through a quick goodbye, Khushi
started walking towards the entrance, leaving a puzzled Arnav and Aman staring at
her back and then at each other.
‘She seems to be upset,’ Aman mused ‘You
may need to feed her,’ he advised Arnav mock seriously.
Patting Aman gratefully on his shoulders and promising to
catch up soon, Arnav rushed after Khushi, taking long strides
to catch up with her.
