This OS was originally posted here in Nov'2022 for a dear reader's birthday whose lovely reviews make me as happy as her username here, and who has been cheering me up since the time I started writing on Wattpad! This is also for our endless DM conversations whether it was about my blog or a new story! Thank you for being a truly special reader, happy! happyy_me ❤🤗
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Goddess Destiny opened the page, ready to write with her divine ink and a sandalwood pen:
Arnav & Khushi
Sometimes you meet people by accident and then forget them. Sometimes, you cause accidents in someone's life and then connect with them. But in case of one Arnav Singh Raizada and one Khushi Kumari Gupta, Goddess Destiny had written a series of accidents, of every type and format, right from the time they met accidentally on a night of a fashion show to them hating each other enough to kill (!) to them reluctantly falling in love but never accepting it except if you count 'Farak padta hai (it matters) as some sort of 'love confession' and finally to this night when at one minute he was going to propose her and next he walked in to see her and his Jiju in each other's arms! Long story short, things spiraled, and he decided to punish her by marrying her (because marrying him was a punishment, you see?). Maybe he too realized his bizarre punishment, so he added a 'contract marriage' clause. She agreed, her brain had gone in utter shock at his 180 degree turn of behavior!
Amidst this, Goddess Destiny smiled to herself as she knew what was coming up and continued writing the next 'accident' this night was going to see...
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When he entered the room and saw her (beautiful) face, on (his) bed, he found himself in a weird mess of attraction and hatred for his very own wife! So, he decided to turn his back on her and find some solace in the world's oldest source of happiness!
"Ye aap kya kar rahe hai (what are you doin)?" she asked, as she watched him open his cupboard and take out a small bottle which looked like some medicine or cough syrup(!) to her!
"Stop it, Khushi! You have given me a lot of headache already; I need some respite."
"And this will give that?" she asked innocently, thinking it was some medicine to take away pain!
"yes" he said curtly and opened the cap of the Irish Whisky of a medicine.
Just then he got a call from Aman and left the room to pick it up.
Khushi on the other hand stared at the bottle he had indicated as a cure for all the pain! Well, who had the biggest pain in this whole world than her at that moment? An orphan, her foster family too turned their faces away and the only man she thought loved her as much as she did, this to her! Married her yet without telling her why such a hasty marriage! Was this marriage or punishment?
She made a decision and opened the cap of the bottle and gulped the entire content in the next 5 minutes! Bottoms up!!!
And Goddess Destiny chuckled for what was coming up!
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Arnav's call lasted close to half an hour. Aman who had been waiting for Akash's wedding to get over and had no idea ASR himself would get married too, had called to discuss something important. Arnav too didn't tell him about his 'newly married status', it wasn't news worth telling anyway!
Opening the poolside entry door to get back to his bedroom, his face hardened as he noticed khushi. She was huddled on the bed, looking down. For a moment, he felt bad for her. But then he remembered her in shyam's embrace just few hours ago and her saying to Shyam to leave Anjali and Arnav's hatred for her came back with a vengeance!
"Khushi! Get up and get out of my room! You will not sleep here; I can't breathe in the same air as you. Go, sleep at the poolside" he spoke the venomous words and saw her shoulders shake. He assumed it was cries....until she lifted her face from her knees and he stumbled back in shock realizing she was giggling and was drunk!!!
"Poolside pe soye hamari jutti! (Sleeping on poolside? My foot!)" she said, still giggling. And then she hiccupped!
He turned his head and noticed the bottle of Whisky; it was completely empty! Just great!
"Khushi! You are drunk dammit! Yahi baki tha! A cheater and a drunkard!" he said in anger, and she got up from bed at once!
Coming to him on shaky feet, she walked closer and pulled him by his collar.
"Cheater hum nahi aap hai (I am not a cheater, you are)! You have some technical problem in you, issi liye you are sometimes normal and sometimes a rakshas(devil)!" she said, pouting.
"Shut up khushi! and get out!"
"Nahi jayenge (I won't go)! *hiccup* You can't force me Mr. Raizada *hiccup*"
Arnav had enough and moved closer to her to throw her out when she shouted at the top of her lungs "HELP! HELP! Humein bachao(SAVE ME)!"
"WHAT THE F*? KHUSHI!" he looked aghast, totally unexpected that she would do something like this and stepped away from her.
But it was too late. As by then, entire Raizada family gathered outside their room.
And Goddess Destiny grinned at this poor fellow's predicament!
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"Chote! Chote, open the door! What happened? Why did khushiji shout like that?" came his Di's voice.
"Arnav bitua, open the door pileej(please)" came his mami's voice and before he could, Khushi opened it.
There stood Anjali, Mamiji, mamaji, Nani and SHYAM!
Shyam immediately stepped near khushi, his eyes showing concern which disgusted Arnav but more than him, it disgusted Khushi!
"Khushiji, aap thik hai (are you ok)?" Shyam's sugar-coated voice came, he was about to touch her too as much as he could in front of the family, and she slapped his arm!
"Door rahiye (Stay away)! Ajeeb wahiyat insaan hai aap (You are one weird man)! Aapko sharam nahi aati (don't you feel shame)? Kitni baar bola hain humse dur rahiye! Samjhte nahi aap (So many times I told you to stay away but you don't understand) *hiccup*" She spoke much to a HUGE shock to every Raizada. First, Khushi seemed heavily drunk and second, she was speaking to Shyam as if they were having some long-lasting issues!
"Aap- hatt, kahe ka 'aap'? TUM! TUM DUR RAHO humse! Samjhe?" she shouted once again, and then making a way for herself, went downstairs, in the direction of the kitchen!
All Raizadas followed her in confusion, shock, anger, and embarrassment!
Hearing the chaos, Garima and buaji who were with Payal for some time, too came out, along with Akash!
"Hari prakash ji, I am hungry, do we have something to eat?" she asked HP and Mamiji couldn't control it.
"Chote, what ijj(is) going on? Your wife looking for chakna with daaru (munching with drinks)!?"
"Khushiji, what are you doing?" Shyam, meanwhile, once again tried to go near Khushi and called for his trouble!
"BAS! Not a word more! Jab dekho apni ghatiya awaz mein 'khushiji' 'khushiji' karte rehte ho. (You are always going on saying 'Khushiji' in that sick voice of yours). Yuck!" Khushi made a disgusted face saying that much to Shyam's anger and everyone's horror! Just what had gotten into her?
But she had only just begun!
"You lied to us that you were single and had no family. Then you always kept roaming around me trying to get close to me, even when I had no ratti bhar ka(an ounce of) interest in you! and then you managed to convince buaji to force me to marry you? How much lower can you fall? *hiccup* chullu bhar pani mein dub kyun nahi jate?" she blurted the whole truth as Guptas looked shocked while Raizadas too numb to react. This was like a nightmare!
"Jiji, you know everything, you also tell na?" She said to Payal who looked too shocked to say a word. But Guptas' silence confirmed what Khushi was saying was truth! Akash looked at Payal in utter disappointment while Naniji felt her heart going out to Khushi bitiya... Mamaji and Mamiji were looking at Shyam in such an extreme anger, if looks could kill, he would be a dead meat!
In the meanwhile, Goddess Destiny was having a gala time. This was so much more fun to watch than she had written!!!
Arnav stood dumbstruck! No, scratch that. He stood like the dumb idiot he had been! Why did he decide to punish her without verifying the whole truth, damn it? Khushi was clearly disgusted by Shyam and from her drunken words (which he knew were true as people speak truth when intoxicated), it was clear that she had been trying to get away from Shyam! She was innocent and Shyam had framed her and fooled Arnav! That swine Shyam was the culprit!
"And then, this man! Laad governor!" Khushi marched to Arnav and held his collar, "He first made my life hell by always creating problems for me. But then he also came to save me. So, I thought chalo (let it be), he has a caring side too! In jiji's wedding rituals he kept flirting with me, giving me kisses and what not!" khushi was rambling on while Arnav was completely mortified now while rest were still looking at her wide eyed.
"And just when I thought he wanted to confess his love, he asked me to marry him for 6 months! 6 months as a contract or else he will break jiji's wedding! Aise kabhi hota hai (does this happen)? He married me without even a love confession! Toh sun lo (then listen) Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada. Humein ye zabardasti ki shaadi manzoor nahi hai (I don't agree with this forced marriage)! I don't consider this as marriage." She declared. Guptas felt utter remorse hearing that. Khushi had done all this for Payal's sake! Akash threw an angry look at his bhai! How could he do this?
And then she went to Anjali who was crying hearing all this, Khushi held her hands "Di, forgive me for hiding this about your husband, but you were in vulnerable state. But di, he doesn't deserve you. You are very sweet, even after being Arnavji's sister! But don't worry, I already told this man to leave you-" she reiterated what she had told Shyam sometime before and Arnav connected the dots. That is why she had asked Shyam to leave his Di. And he misunderstood everything! These last 5 hours changed his otherwise happy story into a sad one, and he himself had done it. What a stupid person he was! How he wished he once, once talked to her too!
Will he get a chance to correct it? He will give ANYTHING to redeem himself.
Goddess Destiny just pursed her lips.
Meanwhile, all this heated confrontation made Khushi lightheaded, and she was about to lose her balance. Arnav caught her before she could fall and held her securely.
Taking advantage of this ruckus, Shyam tried to sneak out but Aakash and mamaji were too fast for him. They held him tightly. His game was finished! Anjali walked to him and slapped him tight across his face. Mamiji too followed the suit by slapping him on both sides! And Arnav decided to ensure he gets to kick Shyam *where it hurts* before he gets a third degree in the police custody!
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Next day morning
Arnav hadn't slept a wink the whole night. Hoping desperately that when Khushi wakes up, she doesn't hate him...or maybe hate him just enough to forgive him when he begs at her feet!
Guptas had stayed by her bed too.
And then she opened her hazel eyes and adjusted her vision. Upon seeing Arnav, she frowned for a second, before remembering her 'drunk ramblings'. And then she sat straight on the bed, her eyes big in the size of tennis balls!
"Arnavji, I saw a very bad dream...I – I saw I was on terrace and shyam-"she stopped midway and then said, "you forcefully married me- for -for 6 months and I – I don't remember next-" she said disappointedly, trying to make sense of what had happened previous night. Nothing was making sense to her, as she tried to distinguish between reality and dreams. Arnav marrying her forcefully? Obviously, nightmare!
"Khushi! shh! Nothing wrong happened! You saved everything from getting ruined" he said, his voice breaking at the end. He knew he could tell her everything right away, but she needed some rest after that painful evening he had made her go through. There was a devilish voice in his head telling him to let her illusion that it was all nightmare, be as it is. But, if he had to ensure he had her love rightfully, he had to be truthful. He will confess everything soon and let her decide.
"Why am I here?" she asked, not getting anything. Why was he looking as if he had been hit by a truck? Why were her amma, buaji and jiji looking at her with guilt? Hey devi maiyya, what was going on?
Her head started spinning again and she held it, and her family immediately came to her side.
"You need to take rest bitiya!" Garima said in the same remorseful voice and clutched her mouth with her saree to hide her tears.
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It was later that evening, when a well-rested and a well-fed Khushi was told what had happened the previous night! She was shocked to know it was indeed her wedding night! What she thought of as a dream was in fact an ugly truth of that night. But thanks to her -with a pinch of help from destiny, it ended much earlier. And then Arnav begged at her feet asking for forgiveness.
She of course didn't. Neither did she forgive her amma, buaji or jiji.
She instead enrolled in a full-time hotel management course the very next week and moved to a hostel.
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It was after a year of Arnav's constant efforts of convincing her of his changed behavior, his deep love as well as deeper regret that she agreed to give him a chance. She also forgave her amma and buaji when jiji told her how they kept crying every day and night regretting their behavior. She then decided to let bygones be. But never returned 'home', rather decided to make her own! Arnav begged her to let him be a part of her 'home' and she finally relented after her graduation and a good job in a five-star hotel. They married 2 years later and then, as they say, lived happily ever after!
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In the meanwhile, Goddess Destiny smirked to herself as she looked down at this couple whose 'wedding night' indeed had a very different story originally where they wouldn't know the truth for months and get a chance to salvage their love. But she changed that Wedding Night. Because, well she too had been too much in love with these two to let them be in any more accidents!!!
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A/N – Got delayed in archiving it here, but as promised it is available to read now. Pls feel free to re-read and review it once again if you'd like to :)