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Arnav took one last look at Khushi before starting his car. Anjali was with him, on the passenger seat and Akash was in the backseat. Anjali had called Shyam and asked him to come to RM as well. Shyam had gone to court regarding a legal procedure AR was involved in and was hence not in office.
******
Khushi meanwhile was actually looking forward to going back to RM get her vehicle herself. She would've preferred to have a conversation with ASR, without so many people around. But, ASR seemed not quite into the conversation when she asked and she couldn't refuse her to-be brother-in-law when he offered. So, there she was, waiting for Payal to get Akash's car, so they could go home together.
******
Akash said bye to his bosses from the parking lot itself of Raizada Mansion, politely refusing the invitation to go have tea inside. He informed them that Garima would be expecting him back at the Gupta house anytime after Payal reaches. Arnav liked how it sounded. They seemed like a fun family and he hoped to be a part of that family one day.
"Chottey, what was that? How could you rush out like that? You know the humiliation I had to face when Meera showed up and you weren't here?" Ratna asked as soon as she saw her some come inside.
"Ratna come on, let him come inside first." Arvind tried to console his wife. He was now sure soon enough Ratna will be taking the BP pills, giving him company.
"And Mom, You could spare a hi to your daughter, who stays away from you."
"Anjali bitiya, you are here more than you are at your home." Naani reminded her.
"Waah Naani waah. I come here often to check up on my family and apparently you don't want it. Okay. Let Shyam come and pick me up, we will not come back after that." Anjali said crossing her arms in front of her.
"But bitiya, I was just stating the facts. Also, I never said I don't want you here. I have always wanted the both of you to shift here. But since Shyam bitwa doesn't want to stay with his in-laws, we respected his wishes."
Arnav was thankful for his drama queen sister. She was able to take the focus away from him. And so, he tried to make use of that gap to escape to his room.
"Not so fast Chottey, don't think I have forgotten. You need to explain what was that behaviour earlier." he heard his mom call out as he climbed the stairs.
"Let him go change Mom, I will tell you what happened." Arnav gave his sister a grateful smile before going to his room.
******
By the time he came downstairs again, Shyam had reached. And so the story was being repeated. Ratna didn't seem too pleased by it. She decided to not let it bother her though. She'd get more information if required in the future.
Naani and his dad, on the other hand, were having a good laugh at his expense though.
As the family gathered for dinner, they spoke about random topics. Arnav unlike other days, was not entirely focused on his family discussions. His thoughts were about the doe eyed beauty who had come to his house and yelled at him. He admired her courage for showing up at RM and loved her spirit to stand up for herself.
"Arre Chottey, where are you lost?" Anjali shaking him brought him out of Khushi's thoughts. He realised he was making a habit out of this.
"Haan Saale Saahab, you have to tell us where your mind seems to be occupied these days. At least tell us what is bothering you." Shyam gave him a sly wink at the end which made Arnav wonder whether he knew something.
"What are you talking about Shyam bitwa?" Naani asked curious to know what was bothering her grandson.
"It is a specific someone bothering you right?" Shyam whispered to Arnav while the family members waited for Shyam to continue.
"It is nothing guys." Arnav interrupted signalling to his brother in law that they need to talk.
"I don't know what is happening in that brain of yours. You and your secrets." Anjali said shaking her head while Arvind waited for his son to tell him about the party plan for the weekend. The Raizada family wanted to set up a bash after the success of their show the other day.
"Arnav, will you tell us something about it? All we know is that the party is happening here." Arvind asked and Arnav felt guilty that he kept them waiting like this.
"Sorry dad, but yeah. It is happening here in Shantivan. The event organisers will be here starting tomorrow morning. They just need the two days to set up everything. The invites have been sent. I have picked out your outfits as well."
"Mom, Payal or Lavanya, one of them will be here tomorrow with your dress options. In case it needs any adjustments, they will help you with it."
"Thank you beta, you are the best." Ratna said, giving Arnav's hand a squeeze.
Arvind had a few more questions regarding the guests and other things. Arnav patiently answered it all. In between, his mind did wander to Khushi and the fact that he needed to send her an invite as well.
******
After dinner Arnav retired to his room citing some pending work as the reason.
"So Saale Saheb, tell me, do you need my help?" Shyam said knocking on Arnav's door.
"Arre Jeejaji, come on in."
"Tell me what is bothering you, you know I am here to help. Before you deny it, I know there is something going on with you." Shyam said sitting down on the recliner and looking directly at Arnav who took a seat opposite him on the bed.
"No jiju, why would you ask that?"
"I thought I told you not to deny it. Anyway, let me rephrase then, WHO is bothering you?" Shyam asked.
Arnav was caught off-guard. How did Shyam know?
Shyam waited for a moment for Arnav to speak. But, he still seemed lost.
"You don't seem like you are going to tell me. So let me take a guess. It is Khushi right?"
"Howw... how did you.. I mean... Is it... not..."
"Arre Saale Saheb, look at you. The mighty ASR is unable to form coherent sentences. And you say nothing is bothering you."
At that statement, Arnav composed himself.
"How did you know?" Arnav finally asked. He knew that question meant he was confessing to Shyam something he was yet to admit completely to himself.
"Well, I am a lawyer after all. Plus, when it comes to people I care about, I pay attention."
Arnav did not say anything, so Shyam continued.
"I was right next to you the first time you laid eyes on her. The way you looked at her gave away a lot. You probably hadn't realised it yet. Again, I noticed the disappointment when you heard she left before you could give her the cheque. Then today you went out of your way to send her a gift. That is so unlike the ASR I know." Arnav just nodded at what he heard.
"Then when all that confusion happened, instead of just telling her it could be a mistake, you took your time and took her to AR and cleared all the confusion. Like you wanted to prove to her that your intentions are pure."
Was that why he did what he did? Arnav wondered.
"Then we have the zoning out which you seem to do a lot these days." Shyam concluded.
"Am I right?" Shyam asked and Arnav did not want to lie to his brother in law.
Arnav had always admired Shyam for his personality. He was a very straightforward person and had a lot of love and respect for the people around him. Arnav was grateful to Anjali for bringing Shyam into their lives.
"Yes." Arnav said and Shyam gave him a genuine smile.
"Then what is the problem?"
"Well, for starters,I don't know anything about her. I have barely had a proper conversation with her."
"That is not a huge deal. You can always talk to her. Invite her to the party."
"I was thinking of doing that. Anyway she has to be there. After all she was the showstopper and people will want to meet her." Shyam laughed at Arnav's response, earning a weird look from him.
"Saale Saheb, I meant invite her as your date."
"Noooo..." The no came out of pure instinct
"Why not?"
"Because, as I just told you, I have barely spoken to her. I can't just do that."
"Okay fine. See, the first thing you need to do is admit to yourself that you like her. Next thing, talk to her. Be her friend. Listen to her. And slowly figure out if she'd be open to a relationship with you. If you think she would be, then tell her. I am not going to lie to you and tell you it will be easy. You need to dedicate yourself. Relationship takes time, trust, honesty and a lot of other factors. Do you get me?"
"I understand what you are saying, but, howe do I figure out if she would be open to a relationship, like you said?"
"Well, you'll need to talk to her for that. I just told you, listen."
"I know. Then there is this thing with Mom. She is trying to set me up with some random friend's daughter."
"Leave that to me. I will talk to them and buy you some time." Shyam said standing up.
"You are the best jiju." Arnav said hugging him.
"Well, take my advice and talk to her. But first, invite her to the party personally. Don't just send the invitation card."
"Yeah." Arnav chuckled.
"Arre, what is going on here?" Anjali said coming inside Arnav's room.
"Nothing. Just thanking him for tolerating you and keeping you away from us." Arnav said earning a glare from Anjali.
"Whatever Chottey. I know he keeps me around because he loves me." She said side hugging her husband.
"That I do." Shyam agreed, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Oh, get a room you two." Arnav said rolling his eyes.
"Haan haan, we are leaving. Enjoy your alone time." Anjali said as she pulled Shyam along with her.
"Don't forget what I said." Shyam called out before exiting.
"Ji jiju." Arnav said as he closed the door behind him.
Well, know if Khushi would be open to a relationship with him. Not a difficult task, was it?
******
"Khushi, you went to Raizada Mansion and yelled at Arnav Singh Raizada?" Garima couldn't believe her daughter did that.
"Ji Maa. It was a misunderstanding. Everything got cleared now. Sach me." Khushi's hand flew to her throat, a gesture she often did when she swore she was saying the truth.
"But Khushi, Payal and Akash works for that man. What were you thinking? What if it affected their jobs?" Shashi asked, concerned for the other two.
"No Papa. Knowing ASR, I think he probably liked Khushi as a person for being straightforward. He likes honest and courageous people." Akash told him.
"Even though I believe Khushi should have talked to me first before going to the Raizada house, I agree with Akash regarding ASR. It is a good thing that she went directly to him and sorted it out. That is so much better than having a misconception about him as a person."
"Of course, you all go and support Khushi. No one here cares about my opinion. All of you just gang up on me." Garima complained.
"Aww my filmy Maa." Khushi said hugging her. Garima loving held her head.
"Ye lo, Maa was against Khushi first and she is angry at us for supporting Khushi. Now Khushi is supporting her." Payal sighed.
"Chalo Garimaji, leave it. All is well that ends well." Shashi said.
"I completely agree." Akash said raising his water glass. The Gupta family too raised their glasses in agreement.
******
As Shyam and Anjali came down from Arnav's room, Ratna and Arvind greeted them downstairs.
"Shyam beta, I think Arnav would talk to you about anything. Can you please tell him to meet Meera once?" Ratna asked.
"Ji, I was talking to him regarding his future right now. I think we should not force our choice upon him."
"But beta, what is the harm in meeting her?" Ratna was insisting on this alliance, Shyam figured.
"I am just saying that we should leave it upto him. Arnav is smart. He understands his responsibilities and roles in this family. Having said that, I know for a fact he hates having to stand up against his family's opinion. We just need to make sure he doesn't feel pressurised. I am sure he will tell us when he is ready to meet Meera or anyone else we tell him to meet. Or if he wants to find someone for himself, we should be okay with that as well. Anjali got to do that." Shyam said reminding Ratna about Shyam and Anjali's relationship. Ratna agreed she couldn't have found a better alliance for Anjali.
"Okay, I will back down for the time being. Only because you said it so nicely." Ratna said.
"Thanks Mom." Anjali said hugging her mom. She knew the conversation between Arnav and Shyam was intense and she loved her husband for standing up for her brother like that.
******
Later that night Khushi lay awake in her bed. Her mind kept wandering to Arnav Singh Raizada and his chocolate brown eyes. Those pair of orbs expressed a lot. One glance at them and she had decided she needed to give him a chance to prove himself not in the wrong. An d she had been proved right. The way those eyes held hers as she waited for her jiji to get the car, Khushi felt she could do that all day. She got up from her bed and started packing the length of her room.
"I should not have let jiju get my scooter for me. I should have gone to RM and apologised to his mother and grandmother personally. What would they be thinking? A random girl comes and shouts at the son of the house. How embarrassing that would've been for ASR. I should have gone to RM and apologised. Should have said NO to Anjaliji when she said she'd tell them." Khushi said to herself realising the after effects of her actions.
"Do I call him and apologise?" She asked herself as she sat in front of the mirror and applied moisturiser to her hands.
One look at the clock and she decided against it.
"Raat to ek baje aun call karta hai. Nah" She convinced herself to not call ASR at this ungodly hour.
But, she did instead pick up the saree she got from him as a gift. It was really beautiful. Definitely something she would choose. Not something she could easily afford though, she reminded herself. She picked up the card that was next to the saree and stared at the phone number in it.
She decided to save the number to her phone. She checked WhatsApp to check if he was on it and unsurprisingly, he was. His display picture was not visible to her, well, because her number was not saved on his phone. His last seen showed he had been inactive for three hours. She decided to leave a message. He would read it when he wakes up.
Sorry for overreacting - Khushi Gupta
It was already late and she decided it was time to go to sleep. Probably because she felt a little relieved after sending the message, sleep finally came to her.
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