Silent Whispers

Chapter 41: Silver Lining

"Arnav! Are you listening to me?!"

Khushi stared furiously at the man she was hopelessly in love with. It had been a good eleven months since they were together, since he had said those three magical words out loud and yet it felt like eons had passed. She couldn't remember what life had been before him. All she knew was that it wasn't nearly as fine as it was now and that was enough for her to never want to remember it ever again.

However, at that particular moment, on a glorious Friday afternoon when she was off from work, Khushi couldn't feel anything but annoyance. It was almost an hour since she arrived and Arnav hadn't even moved an inch from the couch; he was staring dedicatedly at the television, listening for an important announcement she didn't give a damn about.

"ARNAV!"

He glanced at her –finally!– his eyes dazed. "Hmm?"

"Are you going to switch off that stupid TV or should I leave?"

He brandished her favorite crooked smile and patted the seat beside him. Slightly elated to see him pay some attention, she sat down. However, to her great disappointment, his eyes flickered back to the news.

"You know," she said, letting out a dramatic sigh. "Sometimes I wonder how we ever worked out."

"What makes you say that?" His eyes were still trained on the screen ahead.

Smirking to herself, Khushi confidently pushed him into the cushions and climbed onto his lap, her back to the TV. Although slightly taken back, Arnav habitually wrapped his arms around her waist, acting as if she weighed fifty pounds, instead of fifty kilos. 

"Because," she whispered, stretching out her hands to shuffle his hair. "You clearly think the stupid news is more important than me."

"That would be an unfair assumption seeing how this is the first time I have ever watched anything other than you in your presence."

"So you agree that you are ignoring me?"

"I never said I stopped watching you while I was watching the news."

She grinned. "Very clever Mr. Raizada. But tell me – are you going to keep arguing or are you going to take advantage of the fact that I am literally two inches away from you?"

He smirked. "I was trying to be a gentlemen."

She enticingly nuzzled him. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" she murmured. "Especially after dinner yesterday?"

He paused breathless, failing miserably at ignoring her advances. "Well-"

She didn't let him finish. Capturing his lips with hers, she pushed all his unnecessary explanations out of the way. She felt him respond, slowly pulling her closer as his tongue danced against hers. She didn't even know when, but all of sudden his warm hands were underneath her shirt, sliding up her scorching skin.

Desire pooled deep in the pit of her stomach. It was strange how need worked; you can't miss it if you didn't know it and you can't forget it if you did. Or maybe it wasn't desire at all; maybe this was her body telling him just how much she loved him and his way of returning it.

Whatever it was, Khushi wasn't complaining. With his lips skipping along her jaw and his unusually soft hands against her bare skin, all she cared about was he and nothing else.

"What?" she asked winded, when he unexpectedly leaned back to gaze at her. "Please don't tell me you have to watch the news again."

"Marry me."