Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai | ArShi Short Story

Chapter 2

Khushi flinched at the roar of his voice, letting out an uneasy breath as her eyes brimmed with tears. Seeing her reaction to his wrath, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm himself. He opened his eyes with a new intent, he pleaded, "Khushi can you please hear me out? It's important!"

She slightly nodded as she met his eyes. He sighed and continued, "What happened at the poolside, there's something between us, you and I..."

She bit the insides of her cheeks as tears threatened to spill over, the sound of him saying us burned her, she felt the betrayal of her best friend weighing on her shoulders. She thought to herself, 'there's no us. Lavanyaji and you are together.'

He leaned in closer as he tried to catch her gaze, "I care about Lavanya, I do, but I don't think that I ever- things are not always what they seem or as simple as they look... I am in a relationship; I'm not supposed to feel this way for you if I-"

She whispered as tears began spilling down her face, their history and her insecurities rising to the surface, "I know I'm not the same class as you, you have always reminded me of this. People like you cannot be involved with people like me." She felt a knot forming in her throat, "You're right, you're not supposed to feel-."

His heart broke a little more, seeing the hurt written all over her face. 'This is a train wreck; she was misinterpreting my words.' He shook his head as he desperately tried to clarify, "Khushi that's not what I meant. I was saying that if I'm in a relationship with Lavanya, I should not see past her, but that is not the case, because I feel something for you...I care for Lavanya, but with you, it's different. What I feel is different. I've been fooling myself that it does not matter, that you don't matter to me, and that I am in a relationship with Lavanya but, the truth is that you do matter to me. You always have. I tried fighting it but every time I do, I find myself being pushed towards you even more than before. I have tried to suppress everything for so long but I'm losing a battle with myself. In the midst of it all, you both got caught in the crossfire, which wasn't fair to either of you..."

She shook her head. I'm the reason for everything, everywhere I go, I cause calamity. I ruined it then, now. How was she named happiness when she was always the source of others' misery? Her parents, her jiji, her adoptive family, and now-. She felt sick, "Please stop ..."

He held her hand, "Khushi listen..."

She pulled her hand out of his grasp, "No Arnavji you listen to me, Lavanyaji loves you and you two are right for each other. End. Of. Story. It was a mistake!"

He asked in just above a whisper, feeling defenseless after baring himself in front of her, "And what about me? How I feel...do my feelings matter in this-?" When she replied with silence, he hesitated for a second before probing further, "What about you and your feelings? Don't they matter too?"

She looked away and hastily said, "I don't have any feelings for you!" distress laced in her voice.

He clutched her shoulders, pulling her closer, barely inches away from his face. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. "Then why'd you kiss me back dammit? Why didn't you push me away? Or why didn't you tell me off right there?"

"Let me go..." She whimpered as she writhed in his grasp. But he continued his interrogation, "Say it to my face Khushi! I want the truth. Tell me that you don't have any feelings for me. That it was all a mistake... LOOK AT ME AND SAY IT KHUSHI, JUST SAY IT DAMMIT!"

Khushi met his bloodshot eyes and yelled, "I DON'T- I DON'T HAVE ANY FEELINGS FOR YOU!" She lowered her voice, "It WAS a mistake. The kiss- I kissed you back because isn't that what you wanted me to do? I was scared, that you would...I-... Are you content now? Please let me go!" She pushed her hands against his chest, trying to free herself.

He winced feeling each word slice through his heart. He immediately released her from his hold, and she turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself as she pressed her body against the passenger door, making a painful distance between them.

Just like that, it was over before it started. He closed his eyes as he tried to compose himself.

He pushed away the lone tear that flowed down his cheek. "You've made yourself clear, I- I'm-..." He paused, feeling bile rise in his throat, he took a deep breath before continuing, "If it wasn't what you wan- I would never- please know that... I- I'm sorry." She had not turned to face him, but he could hear her sniffles. He started the engine and gripped onto the steering wheel as he merged into the lane once again.

The deafening silence in the SUV was back with vengeance, this time, two halves of a mangled heart bled after having just been ripped apart.

Being in the same proximity with her felt like torture. All he wanted to do with hold her in his arms, comfort her, but he couldn't, not after what she said. He just needed her away from his sight, so he accelerated way above the speed limit to lessen the distance to her home.

Khushi's heart ached, she hadn't meant to say what she did, but how could she take it all back? The hurt in his eyes were etched in her mind forever now. What had she done? Their worlds were light years apart, how could they ever be together? It didn't matter how she felt because he would never really have feelings for her, how could he? He wasn't thinking straight. He was merely infatuated. She was Khushi and he was Arnav Singh Raizada, CEO of a big company with a beautiful girlfriend, her friend, she didn't deserve to be betrayed or abandoned... especially not because of her. A girl from Lucknow who quite literally fell into his life. A girl who destroyed everything she touched since she had been born. She was never anyone's first choice; she had always been an ill-fated burden. He would realise it too. As if the doomed car ride could not get worse, suddenly she felt him increase the speed of the car.

Out of habit, Arnav glanced over and saw her clutching onto the dashboard, holding on for dear life. He then remembered that she was scared of fast cars because of the accident that claimed her parents' lives.

To her surprise he slowed down for the remainder of the drive and relief soon washed over her as she saw her house. As soon as the car stopped, she turned to him as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "Arnavji I-"

He didn't look at her but instead said with a broken voice, "Just gooo please!" She nodded and bit back a sob as she hurriedly got out of his SUV. He had not bothered to wait for her to close the door, as he leaned forward and pulled it shut. Without waiting any longer, he immediately drove off, not sparing a glance at her distraught state.  

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Thanks for reading! Would really appreciate it if you can click on the vote button and leave me a comment. Chapter 3, coming soon! 

Overwhelmed & feeling blessed. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be welcomed back into the writing world with such an amazing response and so many new followers. A huge thank you to those who encouraged and inspired me to write and to everyone who followed my account,  read, liked, commented on this story and my other work. It means everything to me! Will reply to everyone's comments on Chapter 1 later today!

- Sarita