One Day At A Time

Chapter Twenty Three - Through The Wringer(2)

Arnav fought hard but lost the battle to his heart and turned his head to look at her against his will. The intention was to have a quick glance and look away, but his eyes drank her in. Her flawless face was glowing in the setting sun as he watched her saunter gracefully towards the rest of them dressed in a knee-length black dress. There was that natural shyness to her body movements, and he felt his heart race in the way it always did whenever she was in front of his eyes. But the painful tug of his heart demanded his attention, and he looked away immediately.

"Arnav, come join us." Akash urged him, and Khushi looked at him expectantly, but he evaded her eyes without responding to him.

A quarter of an hour passed by as Khushi sat with the rest of them, stealing glances at Arnav, hoping to catch his attention. She had no idea what was going on in his head, and it was making her restless by the minute. By now, everyone had figured out something was wrong between the two, and initial excitement for the concert had begun to die down slowly. It was during one of these moments that their eyes met and Arnav's lips lifted upward and a dimple crinkled. Before Khushi realised it, he had started walking towards her as though with a purpose. Her heart gave an involuntary leap watching him approach her and extend his hand towards her. She grasped it like it was life itself and walked along with him towards the huge rock at the edge of the plateau.

Arnav stood still for a few moments without looking at her and heart hammered disquietingly looking at his stance. "Looks beautiful...this thing." He said finally as they both stared at the horizon.

Khushi swallowed in an attempt to ease her throat, which had constricted the moment she heard his voice after a long day. "Yes. The colours of the sky and the earth seem to have melted into each other. I can't see the defining horizon anymore." She whispered as she stared into the crimson skies.

He fought the warmth which came with her words, eager to breach the stone around his heart. He turned to look at her once and looked away again. "Why didn't you tell me, Khush?"

She drew in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes when she felt the pain in his voice. His words tugged at her heart, squeezing it painfully enough to stifle a sob in her throat.

"I am struggling to control my anger, and I know I am failing miserably." He glanced at her. "But I don't think I want any explanation from you now. I don't want you to say anything. You had your chance, but you blew it."

She stood still, silent, desperately trying to suppress the sobs that were promising to wrack her chest.

"Sit." He said softly, but his eyes sparkled ominously as they scanned her face. "Kabir told me everything yesterday night, Khush." He threw the words at her and watched her face turn white as a sheet. His heart skipped a beat as she stumbled while she was about to sit on the rock. "And you know exactly how I must have felt to hear about it from him. He almost laughed at the expression on my face only because the woman who claims to love me chose to keep me in the dark for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom."

Khushi was still looking ahead towards the horizon without meeting his eyes, and the glum expression on her face said it all. She had followed her instincts months ago and gotten herself into this situation, but her heart had no idea just how hard this was going to be when it all went wrong.

"My head is messed up, Khush. I have a few questions. Will you please answer them honestly, in a yes or a no for my sanity?"

She finally looked at his serious face for a moment with dread filling her veins and nodded.

"Did Kabir tell you he had fallen for you before I left for London?"

Her heart sank. She was suddenly drowning in the realisation that he now knew everything about the only incident she was hoping to hide from him all these months. It felt like she was trying to breathe under the weight of it and she needed that superhuman effort to break the surface and rise above it to utter words which would, in turn, drown him in a sea of anguish and despair. She forced herself to look up into his eyes to confront the slight frown that creased his brow. "Yes."