Say it Arnav ji...
"I lo- I love pizza," Shit.
"Heh? Pizza?" Khushi frowns, irritated and confused.
Arnav has always known his own love for Italian food, but this was definitely not the moment to declare that.
"No, no. I meant... I l-"
"Maybe you're trying to say Laad Governor? Because that's exactly who you are," She teases, scrunching her nose.
He squints his eyes at her remark, when his phone begins to ring.
"You should pick up. Aman ji ka phone hoga," (It must be Aman ji) Khushi says, her tone filled with sass.
Arnav clenches his jaw in annoyance and picks up. With one last look at her sinfully beautiful face, he walks out.
"Hello, Aman..."
"Hey boss. Bad news,"
"Bad news?" Arnav's eyebrows form a line of concern.
"We need you to drop by the office for the next few days," His assistant says meekly, knowing very well the response he is about to receive.
"Why damn it? I told you I won't be able to go for at least the next two weeks!" He whispers angrily, trying to control his rising temper at the thought of not being able to see Khushi every day, especially at a time like this.
Aman audibly gulps. "Akash Sir has been coming regularly but due to this important deal we need your presence around the client to secure the contract,"
Arnav sighs in frustration, understanding the reasonable request. Making deals and putting work first have always been his primary goals. Now, however, the biggest deal of his life lays on a hospital bed. He wishes to abandon all duties and stay with her, by her side... but he knows that has to wait.
"I'll be there tomorrow. Keep the files ready."
With a beep he cuts the call, looking towards her, finding her to be gazing at him already. She looks away then, visibly flustered at him catching her blatantly staring at him this way as he hides his amused smirk.
She folds her arms in a rejective action when he slowly walks inside the room, slightly awkward from their previous conversation which led to the utterly ridiculous confession of his love for pizza.
"I, uh..."
"Have you come here to elaborate on your love for pasta now?"
He looks up at her, slightly shocked at the sharp sarcasm. Yet somehow, he loves this sassiness directed at him rather than being annoyed.
Arnav smiles guiltily.
Khushi's heart jumps. Did he just smile?
"No. Actually, I... I have to leave for work so I won't be around for some time, I don't know how long,"
The fire in hazel dims out into void. She refrains from speaking her thoughts out loud, from voicing her desperate plea to beg him to stay.
So she stays silent, hoping he takes his words back.
"I just came in to say that," Arnav starts to walk away when she hears him say her name in that butter meltingly soft tone. "Khushi?"
"Hmm?"
"Take care, okay?"
She nods like a lost child, watching him give her a last look before disappearing around the corner of the doorway.
---
Five days. It has been exactly five days since he has seen her beautiful face, heard her angelic voice or looked into those sparkling eyes. He buttons up his waistcoat in a hurry, expressionlessly ecstatic about finally being able to visit the hospital after securing the contract at work.
Quickly grabbing his car keys, an idea comes to him. He smiles. Khushi will love it.
---
Arnav walks down the hospital hallway, suddenly aware of his erratic heartbeats when he sees a familiar face.
"Mrs. D'Souza, how's Khushi doing?"
"She's doing much better my son." The old lady replies, the calmness of her aura soothing his nerves. "By the way, Nandakishore is almost ready to go home, after the nurse takes of his cast."
He nods politely and thanks her, before continuing on his way to her room, making sure to hide it behind his back. The door is closed. He knocks at first, eventually pushing it open when there was no response.
She must be in the bathroom.
He wonders why there isn't anyone aiding her when she's bandaged with casts and tied to crutches. What if she falls? What if something happens? He almost starts to go to her to help, but decides against it as logic kicks in. It's not his place to do so... yet.
He uses the time of her absence however, to arrange what he had been hiding behind his back, the gift he had bought for her on his way to the hospital. A crystal clear, glass vase sits on the tabletop by her bed, but now it isn't empty anymore.
"Arnav ji?! When did you come?" He hears her say in surprise as she walks out of the bathroom.
"Just now. Forget that, why wasn't anyone here to help you damn it? What if something happened?" His features are visibly indignant.
Khushi tries to hide her increasing happiness at finally seeing him in front of her after so many days. Here at the hospital, five days seemed like fifty without him around.
"I'm fine, it's okay. And anyway, Jiji was here from the morning with me. She just left a few minutes ago to go take care of Babu ji since Bua ji and Amma have to go to the bazaar. So I just helped myself,"
In a hasty movement her foot strikes the corner of the bed as her body contorts in pain.
"Careful!"
Within milliseconds Arnav is by her side, holding her in support. One arm around her shoulders while the other circles her waist, he can feel every soft curve and slight dip of her form.
The air becomes heavy and awfully still, their breaths shallow. Khushi grabs his shoulders as a reflex and tries to move, slightly embarrassed because of her physical weakness. A hiss of discomfort leaves her lips when her foot twists due to the sudden movement, and she feels him hold her with purpose now.
"Wait... don't move," He whispers by her ear. Her eyes flutter close.
Arnav kneels down and before she can protest, lifts her up in one swift move, carrying her to the bed. She can feel her cheeks heat up to an unbearably scorching temperature as he lowers her onto the white sheets, his face sinfully near hers.
"Shu-Shukriya," (Thank you)
He nods silently in response, slightly disoriented from the seemingly innocent yet evidently intimate contact.
"I uh- I bought some lunch," He quickly states in a desperate need to dissolve the tension in the air. "For you,"
Khushi looks up in surprise.
"For us," He restates, holding up a brown paper packet.
She decides not to question him, her heart full from the sweetness of such a gesture, her mind still dubious of the fact that this man standing in front of her truly is Arnav Singh Raizada.
"Is it pizza?" She giggles mischievously.
He smirks unabashedly. "Unfortunately not. It's Chinese food,"
"Chinese?! How did you know that's my favorite cuisine apart from Desi (Indian) food?"
He shrugs, internally laughing at her childish squeals. "Just took a lucky guess,"
Opening the sealed bowls of noodles and stir fried vegetables he hands her a fork when she stills completely, looking at her wrapped arms in dismay.
He sighs, understanding her concern. What he does next shocks her completely.
She watches him wrap a portion of noodles around the fork, after which he lifts the morsel towards her mouth.
Is Laad Governor trying to feed her?
When she doesn't react he urges her to eat with his eyes and a small, almost invisible smile. And then she does. As if lost in a trance she opens her lips and he feeds her, her gaze stuck to him the entire time.
"Excuse me, Mr. Raizada?" A knock on the door brings them back.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Nandakishore is all ready to go home, Sir,"
"Alright, thank you,"
Arnav looks towards Khushi, before slowly putting the fork down in the bowl.
"I'll go drop off NK," He says, standing up, watching her nod formally, almost disheartened. "And then we can finish lunch?" He adds quietly. The glowing beam returns to her gaze and he wishes he could capture that look and keep it safe forever.
"Bye," Khushi calls out before he leaves.
"Bye."
In a few seconds she is alone in the room, smiling to herself like a fool, when something catches her eyes. How did she not see this before?
There, inside the crystal clear glass vase, sits an exquisite bouquet of red roses.
---
A/N: I LOVED writing this chapter. Hope you loved reading it too. Something else I love is reading your lovely comments! Keep 'em coming <3
- Rain