Khushi stood out on the foyer, feeling completely perplexed as she watched Arnav take long strides into his house, As his frame got further and further away from the doorway, Khushi realised that this was possibly the last time she would ever lay eyes on him, the interaction they just had, where she was purposely trying to push his buttons to get him to fight with her, would probably be the last conversation they ever have. She swallowed the lump that was fast forming in her throat, and blinked profusely to stop tears from forming. 'Kya iss waqt unse iss tarha baat karna zaroori tha Khushi?' (Was it really necessary to talk to him in that manner now?) she berated herself as she watched Arnav walk away without so much as a glance back at her. Once he was out of her sight, she slowly made her way out, her heart getting heavier and heavier with each step.
A gust of wind blew as she stepped outside the gates of Shantivan, she brought up her left hand to move the strands of hair that flew over her eyes, when the ring sitting on her left hand ring finger glimmered under the rays of the sun. A plethora of memories came rushing to her.. not of the man that put the ring on her finger, but of the man who had walked away from her just a few minutes ago, she shut her eyes and willed the memories away,
'hum kisi aur ke mangetar hai..' (I am someone else's fiancé) she reminded herself 'hume Arnavji ko bhoolna hi padega.. unke khayaal ko humaare mann se nikalna hi padega.. shayad yeh jo bhi ho raha hai.. humaare bhalai ke liye hi ho raha hai.. Arnavji se jitne dur hum rahenge.. utna acha hai humaare liye.. aur humaare aage ki zindagi ke liye' (I will have to forget Arnavji.. his thoughts have to be removed from my mind.. Maybe what ever is happening now.. is happening for my benefit.. The further I am from Arnavji, the better it is for me and my future) With that naïve thought, Khushi made her way to the temple, she felt like spending sometime talking to her best friend in solitude, before going home and facing her reality.
***
A fortnight later.
Using the money she got from Arnav, Khushi set up a small sweets stall in the eatery that Payal worked at. The business was going steady, the money that both Payal and Khushi made was enough to run the house smoothly.
At home, Madhumati had been waiting for Shyam to return home from his "Work Trip" to bring up the topic of Khushi's marriage again, but to her disappointment, every time he spoke to her, he told her that the case was dragging for longer than he had anticipated and he couldn't give her an exact date for his return.
However the truth was that Shyam was making the most out of the situation, he had sorely missed living in the luxuries of Shantivan, and now that Arnav's engagement was broken, he was most assured that Khushi wouldn't be dropping by unannounced, and hence there was no risk of him being found out.
On the other hand, Arnav threw himself into his work, to try and ignore the void his heart felt every time he stepped into his house. He missed Khushi and her presence more than he cared to admit to himself. Both Anjali and Devyani started to worry about him, as he started to withdraw himself from the family, barely spending any amount of time at home, any conversation he had with them barely lasted a minute. The only person in the family that got to see him the most was Akash, but the young lad was too busy trying to come up with plans to woo the lady who had stolen his heart, that he failed to notice the changes in his elder brother.
***
Khushi had come to drop off an order of sweets, she recognised the area, heaving a sigh at the memories that the place evoked, she sat on her scooter, just as she placed her hands on the keys to ignite the engine, "Chamkeeeliiiiii" she heard Lavanya call out to her in a sing song voice, she whipped her head around and saw her friend rushing towards her from the opposite side of the road. A wide smile spread across her face as she got off her scooter, as soon as Lavanya reached her, she pulled Khushi in for a bone crushing hug
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Seeing the Light
फैनफिक्शनArnav learns about Khushi's engagement and he is shattered. He has questions but will Khushi answer them? Garima wonders if she was being fair with Khushi by forcing her to marry someone she clearly doesn't have feelings for. Will she be able to con...
