Dark Night Dawning

Chapter 22

'Are you sure?' she asked him doubtfully.

'Why?' he countered, 'Will that be a problem?'

'Of course not.......I thought you might get bored.' Khushi said as she picked up phone to check where Palak was.

Khushi led the way into a shop called the Saree Bhavan. The place was over crowded with people. He realized why Khushi had tried to discourage him from coming here. He had never seen so many people in such a small area before. The weather was pretty hot and this small room was making him even hotter. As he wiped the sweat off his forehead, he saw that Khushi had squeezed her way through the people and managed to get to a spot next to Palak and Suraj. As Khushi looked at the choices Palak was showing out to her, his phone rang and he stepped out to receive the call.

When the returned after half an hour, he realized Palak had managed to choose a couple of sarees for herself. Khushi had simply put the pallu of a saree on her shoulder and looking at herself in the mirror. It was a bright teal green saree with heavy silver work all over it. It was so not Khushi's colour. When he turned to look at Suraj he caught an appreciative gleam in his eyes and realized that he had suggested this saree to Khushi. Just as he was hoping Khushi had not planned to buy that saree, a salesman came up to him and showed him a red saree.

The moment he saw the saree, Arnav knew that it would look incredibly beautiful on Khushi. It was a dark red georgette saree with partial chikan embroidery in gold and bronze. But it was the blouse that was spectacular. It had rich chikan embroidery again in gold and bronze and all over it. He told the salesman to drape the saree on Khushi.

When the salesman brought the saree and told her that Arnav wanted the saree draped on her, Khushi turned back to look at him. Arnav looked at her from across the room, his eyes reflecting his desire to see her in the saree. She complied. She accompanied the sales girl to a corner of the room, as there was no trial room in the shop. Once the saree was draped on her she came back to where Arnav was and displayed the saree to him.

Though the saree was draped on her suit Khushi looked stunning. He knew red was her colour – as well as his. As Khushi stood looking at him, he realized she was remembering a previous time they stood looking at each other like this --- when he had forced her to dress up for the calendar shoot. That was the first time he had felt the stirrings of desire for this fiery beauty. As she had stood draped in the gorgeous georgette with sequined border, her eyes demurely downcast, huge silver studded earrings dangling from her ears, her hands delicately pushing her loose hair behind her ears – his heart had skipped a beat. The moment her eyes met his eyes, an emotion akin to fear had entered them. And she was right to feel that way. The way she had looked that day, had made dangerous feelings enter into his very being and his eyes had reflected that. In a room full of people they had been aware only of each other. That had marked the beginning of a journey they were destined to take together.

When the sales man asked Arnav if he could pack the saree, Khushi declined before Arnav could say anything. She continued to decline even as Palak insisted that she should buy it. 'Come on Khushi, you looked absolutely gorgeous in that saree,' Palak pleaded unable to believe that Khushi refused to buy that beautiful saree, 'why don't you want it?'

'Because I don't like it! 'Khushi said curtly as she handed the saree over to the salesman, 'Moreover, we are here to shop for you and nor for me.'

As Khushi looked back at Arnav, he seemed very cool as spoke on the phone. But his eyes were icy cold as he stared at her. Khushi turned away as she joined Palak and Suraj at the cash counter.

When Arnav found out that Palak planned to continue shopping, he cited an important meeting and excused himself.

It was 3'o clock by the time Khushi got back home from shopping. She entered the house with Palak in tow. Since she was absolutely sure that Arnav would have skipped lunch, she made a quick snack along with tea. As they sat sipping their tea, Khushi sensed that Arnav was irked. As Palak was busy chattering, she got a call and it seemed that something had gone wrong. After she finished the call, she informed them that the venue where she was supposed to be getting married had a wall cave-in and would be closed for renovation. It was an old building which had a history behind it. Suraj and her dad had been making calls trying to get another place but it would be next to impossible to get a similar building at such a short notice. Her face fell as she realized that her dream of marrying in that beautiful building was not going to come true.