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Skyline Apartments, New Delhi
9.00 pm
Khushi opened the main door hearing the knock.
"You?" she asked frowning.
Aman smiled faintly and Khushi asked, "How did you know that we're here"
"I knew Aarav would contact Shreya. So I called her" Aman said shrugging.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I just came to see you" Aman said.
Khushi moved away from the door and let him in.
Aman walked into the apartment and sat on the couch. Khushi sat opposite to him and said, "If you're here to sing praises about your boss, the door is still open for you"
Aman chuckled and said, "Why would I sing praises about him?"
"I don't know, you tell me" Khushi said angrily, "You're always with him, by his side. Supporting him....for EVERYTHING"
"Bhabhi" Aman said sharply, "I don't support him for EVERYTHING. And if anyone cares, I came to know about Ishaan just two days ago"
Khushi looked away and he said, "I just wanted to tell you that whatever decision you take, I'll support you!"
"I thought you're his side!" she said frowning.
"I'm on no one's side! Why does everyone feel that I'm ASR's side?" Aman cried, "I came to know about the boy but I didn't tell you. Yes. Because it was not my place to tell you bhabhi. He should tell you. It's his job not mine! I'm no one to interfere in that! So I asked him to tell you."
"In front of the family? In front of guests?"
"No, in private. He wanted to tell you tonight after pooja but....Lavanya blasted and he blurted it out!" Aman said.
"He loves him a lot right?" Khushi asked leaning back. Her voice cracked and she said, "I envy him. He got to have a kid of his own! His own blood!"
"Isn't Aarav your own kid?" Aman asked slowly, "Blood doesn't matter bhabhi. Bonds do! Love does! Trust does! You and Aarav have the best mother-son relationship ever!"
"You didn't answer the question. Does he love his son a lot?" she whispered.
"I don't know. He is complicated. At a moment he says that he hates that kid. He is a nuisance! He is breaking my home! And the next moment he enrolls him in a good college, gives him his name....I don't bhabhi. I don't know what he feels about Ishaan. But he doesn't hate him, I know that!" Aman said honestly.
"Have you seen her? Shalini?" Khushi whispered in tears.
Aman sighed and nodded, "Years back at Rajasthan!"
"Is she pretty?"
"Bhabhi..."
"Is she pretty Aman?" she whispered.
"Yes" Aman nodded.
"Prettier than me I guess" Khushi said smiling sadly.
"Not really. She just resembled you at some angles" Aman said.
"Don't try to make me feel better" Khushi whispered.
Aman sighed and said, "He thought it was you"
"It wasn't me" Khushi said chuckling, "It was never me. I was never the woman who carried his child. I couldn't give him a kid!"
Aman was about to say something when Khushi cut him in, "I know. Aarav. He is our child. But what if we didn't have Aarav?"
"I know you're hurt. Very hurt and angry. And you have the right to be angry!" Aman said, "But before you take a decision, I think you should talk to him!"
"Talk?" she scoffed.
"Isn't that how it works?" Aman said smiling sadly.
"I'm confused over you Aman" Khushi said smiling, "Who are you supporting? Me? Him? Or Ishaan?"
"You got me there" Aman said smiling, "Ishaan"
"I knew it"
"I have met him. I've talked to him. He has opened up to me" Aman said smiling sadly, "At first he was the illegitimate son of ASR but now....I wish he was my son! I would have given him the world!"
Khushi looked at him and he said, "He is a very good person. He deserves happiness!"
"And don't I?" she whispered.
"Yes you do. Everyone does! But sometimes, not all can be happy!" Aman said looking away.
"Will you fight for his happiness, even if costs my, your bhabhi's, happiness?" she crossed her arms.
"I don't know bhabhi. It'll depend on who's right! Or in better words, who, I feel, is right!" Aman said.
Khushi sighed and nodded.
Aman stood up and said, "Whatever decision you'll take, I'll support you. But do think about....Ishaan...."
"Why should I think about him?" she asked.
"A whole childhood not knowing who his father is; A whole life with people calling him fatherless, bastard and all sorts of name; And now the feeling of guilt he has when he sees the family that broke because of him" Aman said chuckling and looked at her, "I think he deserves a peaceful life!"
The door opened and Aarav walked in. He looked at Aman and then at Khushi.
"How are you Aarav?" Aman asked smiling.
"Let me see" Aarav appeared thinking, "Hmm....knowing that my father has a son with another woman, then walking out of the house with my mother, then breaking my relationship with my so called father...I think I feel great!" and he walked inside the room, shutting the door with a slam.
Khushi looked at the door and then at Aman. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Take me to him"
"Him?"
"My husband's son" she said gritting her teeth.
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Salkara Restaurant, New Delhi
9.45 pm
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"You can leave Aman" Khushi said calmly. Aman looked to and fro between Khushi and Ishaan. "Aman" Khushi called out warningly. Aman stood up and nodded. Patting Ishaan's back he walked out of the restaurant.
Ishaan bit his lip and looked around at the posh restaurant and then at the person before her.
"Did you have dinner?" she asked looking at the menu.
"No" he said slowly taking a look at her appearance. She was no longer dressed in the red sari that she wore a few hours ago. Dressed in a dark blue ankle length kurta and white leggings, her hair tied in a loose braid, she hardly looks above 40!
The waiter came for order and Ishaan buried his head in the menu. Looking at the long list of unknown dishes, he looked at Khushi, flushed and nervous. Khushi looked at him and then at the waiter.
"Schezwang momos and hard rock coffee for me and..." she looked over the menu and said, "Pasta and Belgium chocolate for the young man"
"Yes mam" the waiter took order and walked away.
Khushi kept the menu away and leaned back on the seat. Ishaan sat up straight, nervous, and drank the glass of water kept there.
"It's okay" she said smiling, "At your age, I didn't even know that the white packet that come along the coffee was actually sugar!"
He smiled nervously and nodded.
"You're 19 right?" she asked and he nodded.
"You completed your 12th at the age of 17. What did you do for one year?"
"I worked in a garage back in Rajasthan" he said.
"Didn't you want to study further?" she asked.
"Yes but we didn't have money!" he said.
"So your mother got money to treat her cancer but not to get admission for her son!" Khushi scoffed.
Ishaan looked away not responding and she pressed, "How selfish of her. She wanted to treat herself even after knowing that she is gonna die! She couldn't get her son enrolled for engineering!"
"She wasn't selfish! It was I who asked her not to beg in front of others for my education" Ishaan said curtly, "I don't want anyone's charity fund to study. Even if I don't go to college, I can be a good mechanical engineer by working in workshops"
"If so, why didn't you deny when my husband enrolled you in college?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
"Your husband is my father" he said slowly, "And that was the first thing he willingly did for me. I was happy, not because I got admission. I was happy 'coz he had his name on the column for father's name"
Khushi clenched her jaw and looked away, preventing tears.
"How do I know that you're Arnav ji's son? What proof do you have?" she asked.
Ishaan looked at her and asked, his voice laced with anger, "So you mean my mother is a slut who sleeps with many men?"
"Yes"
"Fine" he said angrily, "I'll tell you the biggest proof. Your husband couldn't even look up at your face when you were questioning him. That, Mrs. Raizada, is the biggest proof that he is my father!"
"Mam, sir" the waiter smiled as he brought food. Ishaan took a deep breath and looked at Khushi as the waiter kept the dishes on the table.
Ishaan looked clueless at the pasta before him and hesitantly took the spoon.
"Fork" Khushi mumbled and he looked at her. "Take the fork" she said.
He kept the spoon down and took the fork.
"Ishaan" Khushi said slowly, chewing the momos, "Whatever it is, I can never ever forgive your mother!"
Ishaan hummed and looked down to his pasta.
"She ruined my home"
He looked up at her and said, "She never wanted to ruin your home. If yes, then she could've done that earlier!"
She took a deep breath and said, "Just because she's your mother and she's dead doesn't mean that she was a good person!"
"And just because I'm your husband's illegitimate son and doesn't match his or your status doesn't mean that I'm a bad person" he whispered.
"I'm not here to argue with you" Khushi said sighing.
Ishaan hummed and looked down.
"What should I do about you?" she asked.
Ishaan looked up and said, "I've told him and I'm telling you now, you don't have to do anything for me. I don't have anyone, that's true, but I don't want to be with you and your family"
"I thought you loved your father" she said crossing her arms.
"I do" he whispered, "But I don't want to break his family. He hid this because he loves you more than anything in this world. He cannot imagine you and Aarav bhai being away from him!"
Khushi hummed and looked at him. Ishaan pushed the fork into the pasta and gradually lifted a huge bulk of it. He looked at Khushi and dropped it on the plate embarrassed. She smiled faintly and said, "You remind me of myself!"
"Huh?"
"Back during my days....when Arnav ji used to bring me here, even I used to behave like you do!"
He smiled sheepishly and said, "I haven't been to a place like this before...so..."
"It's okay. Take your own time" she said and leaned back sipping her hard rock coffee.