Part 40 Arjun and Arnav
"Did you meet her?" Arnav asked Khushi.
"Many times. I could not forget the first meeting with her... how furious, how aggressive she was that day..." Khushi gulped down thinking about the day.
"Why? What happened?"
"Leave it, Arnav. I don't want to remember her"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Khushi but I would like to know what made Pradeep aggressive and Pradeepa commit suicide. Just tell me about her and Pradeep"
Arnav wanted to know about them because Aadhil's family was also scared of him. So, he wanted to know what happened then.
"That day, we went to Golkonda. We always preferred Golkonda because we had empty places there to talk freely. That day also we were talking, leaning on one another's shoulders. Suddenly, we heard someone shouting, Arjuuuunnnn... we jerked and looked at the girl who was looking at us furiously. I didn't know who she was but you became embarrassed to see her."
"Was she Pradeepa?"
"Mmm... 'What are you doing here?' she asked you but her eyes were at me. without answering her, you said 'Let's go, Indhu' Clutching my hand, you started walking. She came in front of you and blocked your way. 'Who is she?' she asked glaring at me. 'She is Indhu, I'm going to marry her' you said"
"Oh... really?"
"Mmm... 'Whaaaat?' She clutched your collar furiously. You pushed her away. Taking a big stone, she tried to hit me. This time you pushed her forcefully and she fell to theground. I was scared and asked you, 'Arjun, who is she?' you said, 'She is mad' She started shouting, ' Yes, I'm mad... I'm mad about you, Arjun...!Why don't you understand? Why don't you like me? I will give you anything you want. I can't live without you. I will die if you marry someone"
"What I said?" Arnav asked.
"You said, 'I will die every day if I marry you. How could I live with the girl who I don't like?' you shouted at her. She asked, 'Why don't you like me? Am I not beautiful? What did you see in her that I don't have?' You replied, 'She won't behave mannerlessly in the public place like you do' She stood glaring at me. you dragged me from the place"
"What after that?"
"After that the problem became severe. Pradeep dealt with your parents directly and said he was ready to give them whatever they wanted if they got you married to his sister. Your parents spoke to you about it but you denied marrying her and told them about me. They said they would accept me as their daughter-in-law only if my parents gave the same dowry Pradeep agreed to give them. You fought with your parents because you knew my parents didn't have that much money. So, you got ready to leave everything behind to marry me. We got married. Pradeepa committed suicide on the same day of our wedding. Pradeep fired our house the same day night. That was our first night" She stopped.
Arnav gave her time to compose. He knew she would get disturbed whenever she thought about the incident. She again continued.
"Pradeepa loved you so much. I don't know about it. You didn't tell me about her because you didn't give heed to her. If I got to know about her love, I would not have accepted your proposal"
"Did you tell this to me...? I mean, to Arjun?"
"I did"
"What did I say?"
"You were upset with me. you didn't talk to me for the whole day for saying that"
Arnav chuckled.
"Didn't you try to console me?"
"I did... but you got consoled only when I apologized for saying so and promised I would never say that again"
"You loved him so much... didn't you?"
"STILL..."
Arnav smiled.
"Could you promise me something, Khushi?"
"I promise..."
"I didn't even say what I wanted, before that, did you promise?"
"I will give you anything... even my life... a simple promise is nothing to me when it comes to you"
Arnav was stunned.
"I don't want you to think of our past... I mean the saddest part... Pradeep, Pradeepa and all..." he said.
"Mmm"
"And, I don't want you to promise without knowing the content no matter who wants the promise"
"Mmm"
"By the way, Khushi, how about Arjun? How much will you give him out of TEN?"
"I will give him TEN out of TEN"
"Oh... that means I should work hard to reach the rating..."
"No need... you have already reached..."
"Whaaaat...? Khushi, we just started talking to each other... I think we have to go miles and miles... How could you rate me without thinking?"
"I rated you only after thinking a lot. I and you had an unbreakable bond between us in the previous birth. We loved each other, we spoke timelessly, and we got to know each other. In this birth, we didn't do any of that. Yet, you understood me. you tolerated my madness. You worried about me when I made a blunder. You are not less than Arjun... in fact, better than Arjun"
Arnav was overwhelmed. He smiled mildly.
"Do you feel bad that I can't remember anything?"
"Mmm... no... I like to tell you our story. It feels so good"
"OK, tomorrow I want you to tell me about how ROMANTIC Arjun was. Ok?"
Khushi smiled biting her lip.
"Are you there?"
"No, I won't tell you that..." She said.
"Why?"
"I don't want you to IMITATE Arjun nor do I want you to compare yourself... that's why"
"Then, how do I know how I made you flat?"
Khushi chuckled.
"It's not necessary. Be like Arnav..."
"Mmm... okkkkay..." he wsighed
"Go to sleep. Good night"
"Will see you in the office tomorrow. Bye"
"Bye..."
They disconnected the call smilingly.
On the other side, Akash was thinking about how to console Anirudh. It was clear that he could do nothing in Khushi's matter as she found her Arjun. She was so stubborn even before she met him. Then trying to change her mind would be like banging his head on a rock. He decided to tell the truth to Anirudh because he didn't want him to be in the hope of marrying Khushi anymore. He dialed his number. Anirudh attended the call.
"Akash, why did you call me at this time? Did uncle agree to get Khushi married to me?" he asked curiously.
"I'm sorry, Anirudh. Please make yourself up"
"Make myself? Why? Why should I make myself?" His tone was rough.
"Anirudh, please calm down"
"How could I be calming down when I sense you are going to say something that I never want to hear?"
"You have to... you have no choice"
"What? Tell me what the hell are you going to tell me"
"Khushi found Arjun"
"Whaaaaat?"
"Yes, she found her Arjun. She made him understand her. He too is in love with her and would like to marry her"
"How do you know?"
"The man with whom you saw Khushi on the bike is Arjun. Arnav Singh Raizada is his name in this birth. He works in the same office with Khushi. In fact, Khushi joined his companyonly for him"
Anirudh sat on the bed with the thud. His eyes tear up. He fisted his fingers.
"So... my waiting went in vain...! I can't get Khushi. Why has my life become hard...? Why should I meet her? Why should I love her? Why should she fallon the same day of our engagement? Why should she remember her previous birth?"
"Aniruth, please try to come out of it. please forget Khushi"
"Do you notice one thing, Aaksh?"
"What?"
"It was me who wanted to bring her to Delhi. If she hadn't come to Delhi, she would not have met him, right?"
Akash gulped down.
"It was me who brought them close. It was me..." he laughed like a mad.
"I should have understood the seriousness when the doctor warned me. I was so confident that meeting her previous birth husband would never happen but it happened...! What shall I name this, Akash? Fate?"
Akash was silent.
"Yes, this is what fate...! bloody fate...!It used me as a BRIDGE to connect them...! it made me bring her near him. Without any effort, he easily abducted her from me"
Akash felt helpless.
"by the way, did you see him?"
"Mmm"
"How is he looking?"
"Anirudh, please listen to me..."
"Tell me... is he more handsome than me?"
"He is handsome"
"Oh... so, he is leading me in the outlook... what about his business?"
"He is working in Khushi's company as a Chief Programmer"
"See, in this also fate is not favoring me. Even though I'm leading in Money it's useless. Do you know why? It's because your sister never gave heed to money. Have you ever met such a woman in your life? I too have not met any... that's why I loved her so much but, she is not mine...!She is someone's...!What'shis name...? Haan... Arnav Singh Raizada... right? Is not his name itself vibrating?" he laughed.
Akash didn't know what to say.
"As a friend, what do you want me to do now? Tell me"
"Please forget Khushi and..."
Akash heard the call disconnecting sound. He sighed.
The next day
Doctor Avinash leaned on his seat, seeing Anirudh standing in front of him. It was not hard for him to understand why he was there. He made up himself to answer him.
To be continued...