Part 33 Khushi's Declaration
GH
Khushi was having dinner with Shashi and Garima. Akash had not reached home yet.
"When will Akash come?" Shashi asked.
"He will be late," Garima said.
"Would he be late always?"
"Almost..."
"Will he eat at home or will he finish the dinner in the office itself?"
"No, no, he will have dinner at home no matter how late he comes"
"Mmm..." he went to wash his hand.
After dinner, Khushi came to the living room and sat in front of Shashi. Shashi looked at her and asked,
"Khushi, are you alright?"
Khushi looked at him and said,
"I want to talk to you, Babuji"
Shashi nodded his head.
"Tell me, beta"
"I found Arjun..." There was no hesitation in her face.
Shashi looked at Garima who was perplexed. She didn't expect Khushi would talk to Shashi straight away.
"You mean...?"
She nodded yes.
"My previous birth husband..."
"Where did you find him?"
"Outside our doctor's clinic..."
"Did you talk to him?"
"I did..."
"Did he recognize you?"
Khushi nodded no.
"Did you tell him about your previous birth?"
"I said..."
"Did he believe it?"
"He believes ME"
Shashi was thunderstruck whereas Garima was awestruck.
"Means?"
"He could not remember anything related to our previous birth but he believes me"
"That means..."
"Yes, he likes me"
Shashi looked at Garima stunned even though he knew about Arnav slightly. He didn't expect Khushi would have gotten a firm assurance from Arnav.
"I would like to marry him, Babuji..."
"He?"
"He loves me... he made me talk to his mother... she too liked me"
Shashi raised his eyebrows and looked at Garima who was also surprised.
"When did it happen?" she asked.
"Today..."
"Ok, his mother talked to you... Will he talk to me?" Shashi asked smilingly.
"He said he will come to GH one day"
"Mmm... bring him first...! We will talk to him... then..."
"Then?" Khushi asked as she thought Shashi would say, THEN WE WILL DECIDE.
Shashi smiled, understanding her mind.
"Then what? We will fix the wedding date"
Khushi smiled brightly. She stood up and hugged him, slightly bending down.
"Thank you, Babuji..."
"You are always welcome..." Shashi smiled.
"I didn't expect you would agree to this marriage..."
"Why won't I agree if you found your Arjun?"
"Arnav..."
"Mmm?"
"His name in this birth is Arnav Singh Raizada..."
"Mmm... his name sounds majestic..."
Khushi nodded yes with a smile.
"Tell him, your parents agreed to the wedding"
"Don't you want to meet him?"
"Will you accept my decision if I say no after meeting him?"
Khushi was stuck.
"No, right?"
Khushi bit her lip.
"Of course, we will meet... only to fix your wedding"
"But, Bhai..." Khushi hesitated.
"I will take care of him," Shashi said.
Khushi nodded smiling.
That was when the calling bell sound hit their ears.
"Akash came I suppose" Garima went to open the door.
"As of now, don't say anything to Akash" Shashi whispered to Khushi.
She nodded ok.
To their surprise, Anirudh entered with Akash. Both friends were also surprised, to see Shashi in GH.
"Babuji... when did you come?"
"This morning"
"Why didn't you tell us anything?"
"Just to surprise you" Shashi smiled and looked at Anirudh.
"How are you, beta?"
"I'm not fine so far... as you came here, I hope I will be happy from here on," He said, looking at Khushi.
Khushi stood up from the couch and said,
"Babuji, I'm TIRED... shall I LEAVE?" she asked in the double meaning.
They understood she was TIRED explaining her stand and she wanted to LEAVE.
"Go and sleep beta. You have to go to the office tomorrow, right?"
Khushi nodded yes even though she was on leave and left.
Anirudh looked at Akash disappointedly.
"Have you had dinner?" Shashi asked.
"Not yet, Babuji"
"Go, have dinner with Anirudh..."
"That's ok, uncle. Mom will be waiting for me at home"
Shashi didn't stop him.
"Come to our home, uncle. Mom would like to meet your FAMILY"
"Sure... I and Garima will come" Shashi said, making the friends more disappointed.
Anirudh left GH with annoyance. It was clear that Shashi was not ready to entertain him but he didn't know why Shashi didn't even give him a single chance. What was the base? He could not catch up.
"Anirudh is vexed..." Akash said in a low tone.
"Vexed? But, he looked normal..."
"I mean, Khushi is not showing interest..."
Cutting him,
"Because she is not interested..."
"Are you...?"
"I'm not AKASH to entertain Anirudh even after knowing the impossibilities"
"But, Babuji..."
"Akash, you and Khushi are equal in my life. both of your lives are important to me. To make your life shine, I can't destroy Khushi's life"
Akash gulped down.
"It's her life. She is the only authority to decide what she wants"
Akash was highly disappointed as it was clear, that Shashi would not support him in this matter.
"I didn't want to discuss about it now, but you forced me to. Leave it and have dinner"
Shashi went to his room. Akash looked at Garima.
"Go, and get fresh..." she said.
"How many days will Babuji be in Delhi?"
"He will be here from here on..."
"Means?"
"He got transferred to Delhi"
Akash got stuck.
"He said nothing to me about it"
"Did you give him a chance? You were so interested in washing his brain... then how would he talk to you relaxing?" Garima went to the kitchen, leaving Akash in distress.
In the meanwhile,
Khushi came to her room and dialed Arnav's number but it was out of coverage area. Khushi frowned. She didn't know where he was.
How did she get the line if his phone was in flight mode?
Arnav landed in Hyderabad at 10:30 pm. After coming out of the terminus, he changed his phone's mode. His phone immediately beeped with a notification of Khushi's missed call. He sat in the cab and dialed her number even though he was not sure whether she would be up. His call was attended.
"Hello..."
"Did you call me, Khushi?"
"Haan... I called you"
"Tell me, Khushi,"
"Babuji is here in Delhi"
"Oh... when did he come?"
"This morning"
"That's nice. So, your two days' leave will pass with your father..."
"Mmm..."
"How many days will he be in Delhi?"
"He will be here forever..."
"Means, did he come to Delhi on his transfer?"
"Yes..."
"Wow... that's good"
"Why?"
"It will be easy for us to talk to him about US..."
"What do you talk to him?"
"What else, about our marriage..."
Khushi smiled.
"Do you think, it's so early to talk about marriage?" he asked.
"I don't think so, because I already talked to him about US"
Arnav was stuck.
"Did you really talk to him?"
"Mmm"
"What did he say?"
"He would like to meet you"
"Wow... really?"
"Yes, will you?"
"Of course, I will meet him soon... by the way, will he like me?"
"Who won't like you?"
"Khushi, just because you liked me, it's not necessary for your father to like me"
"I don't care who likes you..."
"Won't you?"
"No..."
"What will you do if your father doesn't agree to this marriage?"
"What will YOU do?" She asked.
"I will ask you to come with me..."
"I will come to you"
Arnav smiled.
"Hope for good... I will try to get a place in your father's heart. Don't worry"
"Do you really like me, Arnav?"
"Who won't like you?" he asked the same question she asked.
"Don't you think I'm crazy?"
Arnav chuckled.
"That's true... but I like your craziness..."
Khushi smiled.
"I will meet your father this weekend. Is it ok?"
"Ok..."
"It's already late... go to sleep. We will catch up tomorrow"
"Ok, Good night"
"Good night"
"Arnav..."
"Mmm?"
"Thank you... for everything..." She disconnected the call.
Arnav kept his phone in his pocket smilingly.
He checked into the room which he booked online. It was near Charminar. He got fresh and fell on the bed. He was curious to know what this city stored for him.
The next morning
Arnav got ready and left the Hotel without even having breakfast. He decided to have it on the Charminar's premises. He wanted to see whether anyone recognized him. Though he wanted to have breakfast before that he wanted to know if Farida's Bangle Shop was still there or not.
He intentionally stopped an old man and asked,
"Where is Farida's Bangle Shop?"
"Sorry, sir, I'm new to Hyderabad," The man said and Arnav was disappointed.
He walked running his eyes on the nameboard of the shops. There were many Bangle shops on the premises with glittering lights to show their bangles impressive. He wanted to interact with old age people. Arnav thought if Arjun had been frequently coming to this place, people should have known him.
He completed searching on the left side and came to the right side. He saw a man in his sixties dusting the things outside his shop.
"Excuse me..." Arnav called him.
"Yes..." he looked at Arnav and his facial expression changed.
"Arjun..." he murmured inaudibly but Arnav understood what he uttered.
"May I know where is Farida's shop?" Arnav asked with a smile.
His hand automatically rose towards the next shop. He was none other than MEERAN, the next shop owner. The one who shouted at the boys who teased Indhu when she met Arjun for the first time.
Arnav saw the shop's name board that had faded. Meeran was gazing at Arnav unbelievably.
"Thank you..." Arnav entered the shop.
Meeran was looking at him gulping down. Arnav saw a middle-aged guy in the shop.
"May I meet Adhil?" Arnav asked.
"Adhil uncle would be at his home. He won't come to shop"
"Oh..."
Arnav looked at the entrance and Meeran pulled his head and hid. Arnav came to him and asked,
"Do you know me?"
"Who are you, sir?" Meeran asked stammering.
"Arjun..." Arnav said, making Meeran shock.
Composing himself, Meeran nodded NO slowly.
Arnav was about to say something, but he stopped hearing,
"Arjuuun..."
Arnav looked at the woman who was looking at him shockingly. In no time, she hugged him and burst out crying.
"Arjun... I never thought of meeting you in this birth... I thought you died but Allah brought you in front of me again...you didn't die... you didn't die..."
Arnav looked at Meeran who was gulping down. She was none other than Farida's mother, Parveen.
To be continued...