Khushi was seated on the bed silently staring at the room that never became hers, it was painful, all those memories came rushing back. She came here thinking this was going to be her new home, she was going to share this room with her husband and life was going to be perfect, but nothing really turned out like she had expected.
Arnav walked out of the bathroom after taking a really long shower, as usual he had a towel wrapped around his waist and his body little bit wet, it was such a beautiful sight, only that the sight no longer belonged to her.
She looked away immediately and then stood up to leave.
"I'll let you get dressed." She said.
"It nothing you haven't seen before, you can stay, I am not a shy person." He said, Khushi nodded as she sat down once again but she decided to look at the opposite side and let him get dressed, once he was dressed, he walked towards her and sat down beside her.
"Thank you for coming here and supporting me, I don't know how I would have done all this alone. The funeral, the..." He broke down while he was speaking, it was still difficult for him to believe that Anjali had left him.
He hoped it was just a nightmare and he was going to wake up and everything was going to be fine.
"Be strong Arnav, we can't change what happened." Khushi looked at him sadly.
"She was the only family I ever had Khushi, now I have no one to call mine." He wiped off his tears, he never liked being weak in front of anyone, but Anjali's death had left him completely shattered and no matter how hard he tried to stay strong, he just couldn't.
"Once upon a time, I wanted to be your family Arnav, you pushed me away." Khushi said.
"Please don't go there. I appreciate that you came here and cared about Anjali, but things between us would never change." He said.
"Do you really think I came here to change things Arnav? I have some self-respect okay? I won't just come back running here, I have made my life, I love living on my own and I am happy where I am right now.
I came here because Anjali passed away, she meant something to me, and no matter how horrible things between us are, I still care about you and honestly I hate that I care about you." She said as she stood up angrily.
She knew very well how broken he must be after Anjali's death, she only came here to support him and be by his side in such tough times, not to get back with him once again.
"You never really objected what I said, neither did you try to explain anything Khushi."
"You know when a person believes something blindly, no amount of explanation is ever enough, so no matter what I said, you would still believe what you believe and I wouldn't want to do that to myself, explain things to someone that doesn't need me in their life.
I was once a naïve little girl, you know why? Because my aunt kept me away from the world, I dint know what I was going to face outside there, but now that I've faced the world, I've changed, I've become stronger and I've learnt to stand up for myself and know that I shouldn't stay where I am not needed." Khushi said.
Arnav just looked at her sadly not knowing what to say, one part of his heart really wanted to believe that things were different, but how could he? He saw what happened with his own eyes, how could they lie to him?
"It's time for me to leave Arnav, Anjali's funeral is done, I think you will learn how to live without her with time, and I hope the pain goes away." Khushi said as she grabbed her things and headed towards the door.
Kyun Khuda ne, di lakeerein, jisme zaahir naam nahin tera...
Likh raha hoon dard saare, yun to shayar naam nahi mera...
"Will you come back again tomorrow?" Arnav asked.
"No Arnav. I came here for the past couple days because you dint have anyone by your side, I was just being human. I can't be here forever and we were done for good anyway. It's time for us to start our new lives away from each other." Khushi said.
"Please come back tomorrow. Just for one last day. I promise after that I won't ask for anything."
"Why do you need me to come back Arnav? You've always hated me anyway."
"Because I am selfish, and I just... feel better when you are around. This house doesn't feel empty. When you leave, it feels like I'm trapped in a jail." He looked at her pleadingly.
"Why don't you call Lavanya then? You were sleeping with her while you were married to me, clearly she can help you better than I can."
Itna bhi kya bewafa koi hota hai, yeh soch kar raat bhar dil yeh rota hai...
Asal mein... tum nahi ho mere... tum nahi ho mere... nahi ho mere...
"I never slept with her Khushi." Arnav said in a very serious tone. Although she dint want to believe it, she just somehow did.
"Well unlike you, I'm not heartless, so I will come back tomorrow, but it's for the last time. You need to get up and start going back to work Arnav, you won't move on if you stay at home, and I also have to get back to work, I can't keep coming here daily."
"Thank you." Arnav smiled faintly as Khushi nodded and walked away, it did hurt, walking away from him like this. The love she had for him, was always going to be there, maybe buried down deep inside her heart, but it was still going to be there, and it hurt knowing that, she wasn't ever going to be able to do anything about it.
They had parted their way, they both had signed the divorce papers and submitted them, so that was it, it was the end of their relationship for good.
Aasman se, kya khata huyi, tara uska toota kyun...
Log mujhse puchte hai, saath apna choota kyun...
Kya majburiya, kaisi yeh dooriya... dil yeh samjhe na...
Hote hai pyaar me aise bhi imtehan maine ab jaana...
She stopped at the door and looked at the entire mansion, how she came here happily, how Anjali welcomed her here and she felt so happy, that he life was going for be perfect, she was finally married to the man she loved, what more could she ask for.
Now all those dreams were shattered, and the only place she could see herself being with Arnav was in her dreams. She wiped off the tears falling of her eyes, inhaled a deep breath and walked away.
Khwab hi bas rehgaye hai, jinme ho tum humsafar mere...
Asal mein... tum nahi ho mere... tum nahi ho mere... nahi ho mere...
Arnav looked at her from the window of his room as she got into a car and drove away, he dint even know why he felt hurt, it wasn't like he wanted her to be here forever, yet it was hurting, so much.
Was it because he had just lost Anjali and he needed someone, or was it because he actually missed her, how she would always look at him innocently, how she would address him as Arnav ji, instead of just Arnav, how she took care of him, and his sister.
It was like he was missing her when he shouldn't, everything was finally over between them and that's what he wanted since the beginning, yet somehow his heart longed for her, a part of him wanted her to come back and live with him and the other part hated the idea of it.
How was he ever going to come out of this trap that his mind had set for him?
Kaash tum phir laut aao, mit jaaye saare ghum yeh jo mere...
Asal mein tum nahi ho mere... tum nahi ho mere... nahi ho mere...
*****
As Khushi stepped out of the elevator, trying to find her keys from the bag, she noticed a girl standing outside her apartment.
"Shit. I forgot you were to come see the apartment today. I am really sorry, I hope I dint keep you waiting much." Khushi apologized to her.
She had posted an advertisement online looking for a roommate and the next days he received a call from a girl who was interested, they talked over the phone and decided to meet up today so she could look around and decide whether she wanted to live here or not, but she had gotten so busy with Arnav, it completely got out of her mind.
"How did you know it was me?" The girl smiled.
"No one else was going to wait outside my apartment obviously, I just saw you and guessed it." Khushi smiled as she finally found the keys, she unlocked the door and they both walked in.
"What did you say your name was?" Khushi asked as the girl followed her inside looking at the apartment with a huge smile on her face.
"Tara." She replied.
"Okay, so Tara, this is the apartment, come I'll show you the room and then you can decide whether you want to live here or not." Khushi smiled at her as she showed her around the house.
"I love this house, why are you even renting out a room." Tara asked.
"I just don't like living all alone, besides what would I do in such a big house alone?"
"That's true also, so I think I really love it and you even told me about the rent which is okay with me, I would live to move in here tomorrow, if you're okay with that."
"Sure, such come with a police clearance certificate and copies of your documents like your ID and all. It's just a formality, you can't know people nowadays so..." Khushi said.
"I understand, I'll bring the documents tomorrow."
"Great then, make sure you're early, I have to go somewhere, so once we're clear about the documents, I can leave you they keys of the house and go."
"Okay done. It's going to be great living here." Tara smiled at her excitedly. Tara did seem like a good person and Khushi too was kind of excited about this, maybe they could become friends given that she dint really have any.
Things finally seemed to be falling in place, tomorrow was her last day with Arnav, once it was over, she could finally move on with life and just keep looking ahead.