Best foot forward (completed)

2. In your shoes

When Khushi agreed for an elopement marriage with Arnav, she had two thoughts, one was of course marrying the man who had been living in her heart despite his high headedness and second reason was keeping Shyam away from her. That psycho man's daring was increasing day by day and when Arnav proposed tonight, it felt like a good opportunity to use for her. Who knows if and when he would have said that again? So she tried to hit 2 birds in 1 stone!

But in all this, she was still upset that Arnav believed she had an affair with Shyam! Shyam, of all men! Isse accha zeher na de de usse (wouldn't it have been better to just kill her than this)?

"then why do shyam's words mean more to you than our married life? What are that man's vicious lies doing between us on our marriage night? Why do you want to have distances between us?" her questions were clear, she hoped.

But Arnav didn't know what to reply to her. Was she saying, what he thought she was?

"No I was just... thought to wait, for you, I mean, I know I haven't.." he stammered. He needed to apologize to her, make it up to her but she was also right, this was like Shyam was still there lurking between them...

"I want to know." she asked breaking his chain of thoughts

"what?" he frowned. What did she want to know now?

"I want to know what he told you." she said folding her hands on her chest. She needed to know this, even if it killed her inside, it was needed to know what exactly that snake told Arnav and how could he believe it. If she wanted to move forward, she had to close the door of past.

"No, Khushi! We don't have to go through it again!" he vigorously shook his head in denial. " I now know that it were all lies." he added. Those were the toughest moments of his life when Shyam had proclaimed his love for Khushi and then went on to claim she also reciprocated it. He had felt like someone had chocked him to death, when he heard that.

But now, when he knew the truth, he knew how evilly Shyam had set a trap, and used the opportunity to create misunderstanding between them, Arnav felt like kicking himself, for ever believing Shyam, for even thinking of accusing Khushi of adultery, for blackballing her-

Thank goodness his Khushi was much more levelheaded, much smarter, as she ended up telling him everything, about shyam's real face, his dirty motives for her and -

"I am still waiting." she said, reminding him and he decided to tell her everything. She had a right to know. And then he will face whatever penalty she had for him, he hoped.

Khushi listened as he bent his head down while telling her everything and her blood boiled hearing how Shyam had maniacally told Arnav that Khushi too wanted shyam- disgusting! Arnav wasn't able to meet her eyes, he couldn't imagine how it will feel like to hear all this, for her.

Khushi found it much more difficult to hear than she had thought, and most hurtful was, Arnav had bought those lies, at one point. He had thought she was really involved with..

"How could you, Arnavji? Why? Was it so easy to trust something like that against me? You know, you are making me doubt my decision of marrying you, a man who believes any random person's claims without verification over the woman he claims to love." she said with accusatory gaze and he couldn't stand there watching himself fall in her eyes like that

"Please Khushi, punish me any way you want, hit me, make me sleep on the floor, make me beg you for forgiveness but please, don't look at me with accusing eyes, I cant bear that. You really mean everything to me, please trust me." he pleaded to her as she had turned her face away, as if not trusting him, or his words.

And he realized how she must have felt when he accused her that evening. How it felt to be in her shoes, to be accused of something when you were not guilty, and here, he WAS guilty. He had trusted someone's claims against her, believed a half heard version of the truth