FF: It's Not Right - Chapter 16
Read the rest of this series over here.
Please note I retain sole ownership of all the works of fiction on this blog so please do not reproduce or alter my work and claim it as your own.
Chapter 16
Khushi woke up early, even earlier than Payal for once. All morning she fidgeted and fussed. She must have re-done her hair 5 times and still ended up with her usual plait. 12 o'clock was so far away and it was so close at the same time.
She had both been looking forward to and simultaneously dreading this day all week. Was it true what Abhi had been saying all week? Did she like Arnav? Had she been so lost in dancing with him that she hadn't heard Jiji or Abhi call her until Abhi had shook her?
Of course she'd denied it every time he'd said it, referring to all her old reasons for hating Arnav Singh Raizada. But as friends always did he continued to bring up the topic and each time Khushi forgot to mention one of her reasons for hating Arnav. By the end of the week her refusal to Abhi had been reduced to 'because he's Arnav Singh Raizada!'
Did she really still hate him? Her reasons for hating him seemed so distant and far away now. If they met today and she ruined a fashion show would he be angry? Would he shout? Would he misbehave with her? Was he still that same man she'd met in Lucknow?
More importantly still, was she the same?
Arnav could wait no longer. There was a feeling of restlessness inside him that he wanted to quell. He'd been waiting to see Khushi all week, he needed to convince himself that the feelings he'd experienced last week were just an anomaly. He'd been parked two streets away from Khushi's house for the past half an hour waiting until it was reasonably close enough to 12 for him to pick her up. He started the car again and instantly the feeling in his stomach started to go away.
Khushi heard the sound of the car as it drove up but she forced herself to wait for the usual horn before she left the house. They didn't say hello or good morning to each other as she got in and he began to drive, not that they ever did, but today it annoyed Khushi. It was like she wanted to talk to him but being unable to think of any other topic other than the party she chose to look at him instead. Khushi had seen Arnav many times but she'd never really looked.
Arnav was well versed in controlling his emotions and not letting them show on his face but as he felt Khushi's eyes turn towards him again and again during the drive he wondered if maybe it was failing him for once.
'Khushi, stop staring at me!'
Khushi gasped and quickly looked away. He hadn't even been looking at her, how did he know?
'He really is a devil! And Abhi thinks I would be attracted to this?' she muttered but she made sure to not look at him at all during the rest of the journey.
***
Khushi stumbled as she came out of the kitchen to see Arnav already sitting in his seat, waiting for lunch. There was nobody else around, Anjali was in her room and Om Prakash and Jai Prakash were both in the kitchen still cooking. He hadn't noticed her as he was typing something on his phone and she was contemplating running back into the kitchen when he looked up. 'Now I have to stay or I'll just look stupid.' She walked slowly towards the table keeping her eyes on the plates in her hand.
Arnav watched as Khushi put the plates in front of each chair on the table, avoiding his gaze. Khushi always helped serve instead of Anjali when she was here, it was oddly domestic and yet he didn't mind, anything that gave his Di a little respite was fine by him. She never served him however, limiting herself to passing items to Anjali to pass to him but she always made sure Nani and Di and on occasion Mama and Mamiji had their food before she ever sat down herself.
Arnav watched her from the corner of his eye as she put a plate on Jijaji's place, which was always unoccupied and so the seat that Khushi normally sat on, and then Di's and then she paused standing behind him with only one more plate in her hand.
Khushi had felt his gaze on her the entire time and wishing to avoid any more of his scrutiny instead of moving around him where she would be in his line of vision she leaned over his shoulder to place the plate on the table. She regretted it instantly as Arnav's hand reached out to hold her wrist. She could see him looking at her from the corner of her eye but she didn't turn her head, unsure of what he was thinking.
'Khushi,' Arnav wasn't holding Khushi's wrist tightly but just enough for her to be unable to remove her hand easily. 'You can look at me now.'
Khushi's eyes immediately flew to his and she felt the same hypnotism she had felt a week ago at the party. This time however there was a sense of power in being taller than Arnav for once, she was the one looking down at him not being looked down upon. His lips were close enough to hers that she could lean down and kiss him if she wanted to. And she did want to very much. The thought shocked Khushi and she pulled her hand away and stepped back from Arnav who looked similarly dazed.
Khushi rushed back to the kitchen and stood against the sink with her head in her hands. Attraction was nothing new, Khushi found lots of men attractive. Admittedly most of them were on TV or in films. But even in Lucknow when there had been one or two guys she thought she would have liked to eat jalebis with she had never wanted to kiss any of them.
No, no. There was nothing special about Arnav. He just seemed to intrude on her personal space more than anyone else ever had. That's it. That's why she had thoughts about him and nobody else. That's all it was. That was the only reason she was having such thoughts. Khushi spent a couple of minutes convincing herself before she picked up a bowl and cautiously made her way to the dining room. Thankfully she could hear the sound of Anjaliji's voice which gave her some confidence to go through.
Arnav wasn't listening to anything Di was saying, his gaze fixed in the direction that Khushi had left. He didn't know what was happening to him, all he seemed to want to do lately was touch Khushi, provoke her, look at her, and when she wasn't there all he did was think about her. This was nothing like he'd felt for Lavanya or anyone else. He liked his privacy, he liked being on his own. He'd always kept his girlfriends at arm's length, not allowing them to invade his space and that's where they stayed. Very rarely had he ever even thought about a girl if she hadn't been in front of him at the time. But Khushi, there was no getting away from her, she was always there at the forefront of his mind.
As she brought in the rest of the food with OP and JP and the rest of the family made their way to the table Arnav tried to control the amount of times he looked at Khushi. He knew full well how it would be interpreted by the inquisitive nature of the female members of his family should they notice anything.
Once Khushi sat down Arnav felt bizarrely jealous of Akash who got to sit opposite Khushi and could look at her freely whereas he sitting on the same side as her with the added obstacle of Di being in between them was unable to.
Please note I retain sole ownership of all the works of fiction on this blog so please do not reproduce or alter my work and claim it as your own.
Chapter 16
Khushi woke up early, even earlier than Payal for once. All morning she fidgeted and fussed. She must have re-done her hair 5 times and still ended up with her usual plait. 12 o'clock was so far away and it was so close at the same time.
She had both been looking forward to and simultaneously dreading this day all week. Was it true what Abhi had been saying all week? Did she like Arnav? Had she been so lost in dancing with him that she hadn't heard Jiji or Abhi call her until Abhi had shook her?
Of course she'd denied it every time he'd said it, referring to all her old reasons for hating Arnav Singh Raizada. But as friends always did he continued to bring up the topic and each time Khushi forgot to mention one of her reasons for hating Arnav. By the end of the week her refusal to Abhi had been reduced to 'because he's Arnav Singh Raizada!'
Did she really still hate him? Her reasons for hating him seemed so distant and far away now. If they met today and she ruined a fashion show would he be angry? Would he shout? Would he misbehave with her? Was he still that same man she'd met in Lucknow?
More importantly still, was she the same?
Arnav could wait no longer. There was a feeling of restlessness inside him that he wanted to quell. He'd been waiting to see Khushi all week, he needed to convince himself that the feelings he'd experienced last week were just an anomaly. He'd been parked two streets away from Khushi's house for the past half an hour waiting until it was reasonably close enough to 12 for him to pick her up. He started the car again and instantly the feeling in his stomach started to go away.
Khushi heard the sound of the car as it drove up but she forced herself to wait for the usual horn before she left the house. They didn't say hello or good morning to each other as she got in and he began to drive, not that they ever did, but today it annoyed Khushi. It was like she wanted to talk to him but being unable to think of any other topic other than the party she chose to look at him instead. Khushi had seen Arnav many times but she'd never really looked.
Arnav was well versed in controlling his emotions and not letting them show on his face but as he felt Khushi's eyes turn towards him again and again during the drive he wondered if maybe it was failing him for once.
'Khushi, stop staring at me!'
Khushi gasped and quickly looked away. He hadn't even been looking at her, how did he know?
'He really is a devil! And Abhi thinks I would be attracted to this?' she muttered but she made sure to not look at him at all during the rest of the journey.
***
Khushi stumbled as she came out of the kitchen to see Arnav already sitting in his seat, waiting for lunch. There was nobody else around, Anjali was in her room and Om Prakash and Jai Prakash were both in the kitchen still cooking. He hadn't noticed her as he was typing something on his phone and she was contemplating running back into the kitchen when he looked up. 'Now I have to stay or I'll just look stupid.' She walked slowly towards the table keeping her eyes on the plates in her hand.
Arnav watched as Khushi put the plates in front of each chair on the table, avoiding his gaze. Khushi always helped serve instead of Anjali when she was here, it was oddly domestic and yet he didn't mind, anything that gave his Di a little respite was fine by him. She never served him however, limiting herself to passing items to Anjali to pass to him but she always made sure Nani and Di and on occasion Mama and Mamiji had their food before she ever sat down herself.
Arnav watched her from the corner of his eye as she put a plate on Jijaji's place, which was always unoccupied and so the seat that Khushi normally sat on, and then Di's and then she paused standing behind him with only one more plate in her hand.
Khushi had felt his gaze on her the entire time and wishing to avoid any more of his scrutiny instead of moving around him where she would be in his line of vision she leaned over his shoulder to place the plate on the table. She regretted it instantly as Arnav's hand reached out to hold her wrist. She could see him looking at her from the corner of her eye but she didn't turn her head, unsure of what he was thinking.
'Khushi,' Arnav wasn't holding Khushi's wrist tightly but just enough for her to be unable to remove her hand easily. 'You can look at me now.'
Khushi's eyes immediately flew to his and she felt the same hypnotism she had felt a week ago at the party. This time however there was a sense of power in being taller than Arnav for once, she was the one looking down at him not being looked down upon. His lips were close enough to hers that she could lean down and kiss him if she wanted to. And she did want to very much. The thought shocked Khushi and she pulled her hand away and stepped back from Arnav who looked similarly dazed.
Khushi rushed back to the kitchen and stood against the sink with her head in her hands. Attraction was nothing new, Khushi found lots of men attractive. Admittedly most of them were on TV or in films. But even in Lucknow when there had been one or two guys she thought she would have liked to eat jalebis with she had never wanted to kiss any of them.
No, no. There was nothing special about Arnav. He just seemed to intrude on her personal space more than anyone else ever had. That's it. That's why she had thoughts about him and nobody else. That's all it was. That was the only reason she was having such thoughts. Khushi spent a couple of minutes convincing herself before she picked up a bowl and cautiously made her way to the dining room. Thankfully she could hear the sound of Anjaliji's voice which gave her some confidence to go through.
Arnav wasn't listening to anything Di was saying, his gaze fixed in the direction that Khushi had left. He didn't know what was happening to him, all he seemed to want to do lately was touch Khushi, provoke her, look at her, and when she wasn't there all he did was think about her. This was nothing like he'd felt for Lavanya or anyone else. He liked his privacy, he liked being on his own. He'd always kept his girlfriends at arm's length, not allowing them to invade his space and that's where they stayed. Very rarely had he ever even thought about a girl if she hadn't been in front of him at the time. But Khushi, there was no getting away from her, she was always there at the forefront of his mind.
As she brought in the rest of the food with OP and JP and the rest of the family made their way to the table Arnav tried to control the amount of times he looked at Khushi. He knew full well how it would be interpreted by the inquisitive nature of the female members of his family should they notice anything.
Once Khushi sat down Arnav felt bizarrely jealous of Akash who got to sit opposite Khushi and could look at her freely whereas he sitting on the same side as her with the added obstacle of Di being in between them was unable to.
~hugs~
ReplyDelete~sri
now jealous on akash too?????
ReplyDelete