FF: It's Not Right - Chapter 27
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 27
Arnav smiled to himself as he heard her voice on the other end of the line. He'd been busy all week and longing to hear her voice but he'd forced himself to wait, wanted her to call him. Desperation was never good and it would have showed weakness if he'd called her that same night as he'd wanted to do. He'd promised himself to wait until the following Monday to call her again but by the time Friday came around he couldn't stop himself any more. He needed to see her again and none of his hints to Di had indicated that she'd be coming to their house this weekend which meant he'd have to take the first step.
'I can pick you up from work again when I finish in about an hour.'
Khushi looked up quickly at Abhi who avoided her gaze. She honestly didn't know what to do and would have preferred if Abhi could somehow make the decision for her but he'd been pretending to be engrossed in playing a game on his phone since she'd picked up the phone.
Khushi had felt restless all week, itching for the time to pass faster, her phone was almost glued to her hand as she waited for a text, a call any indication that he'd meant it when he'd said they would go on another date. She was determined that she wouldn't be the one to call him, he would have to call her but by Friday she felt her resolve slipping away slightly.
She couldn't help the thought that kept pushing its way slowly into her mind that he wasn't attracted to her and had hated the date. She especially couldn't forget the fact that he hadn't even kissed her! Maybe it really would be better to just leave it at one date. She'd been trying to make a conclusive decision all week and failed every time.
Work was the only thing that had helping to distract Khushi from thoughts of Arnav Singh Raizada. Abhi was a big fan of what he called 'delegation' and so he hardly ever had any work for her or himself to do and he spent most of the week telling her stories trying to distract her and make her laugh. He had been telling her a story about one of his old college friends when Khushi's phone rang and her heart had done a flip when she'd seen the number.
'Erm... okay. That's fine.'
---
Khushi circled the rim on her mug of tea, her other hand supporting her head as she leaned to the side slightly watching Arnav's forehead crease in concentration as he typed something on his phone. His stubble had grown back long ago and his hair was now starting to lose some of the harshness it had had at first. They were sitting in their usual seats in the corner which Khushi preferred because of the soft armchair seats where she could put her feet up as she drank her tea.
She supposed she should be annoyed that he was paying more attention to his phone than he was to her but strangely ir made her feel happy. They'd seen each other at least twice a week, sometimes more for the past month and most of the times he'd been impossibly polite and courteous and he still hadn't tried to kiss her.
Sometimes she felt like she was dating somebody who just looked like Arnav Singh Raizada, not Arnav Singh Raizada himself. Today however, he'd been terse and blunt, shouted at her twice already and practically ignored her for the past two hours. This was what she wanted. The real Arnav Singh Raizada, imperfections and all, not the watered down version he'd been presenting to her.
Arnav slammed his phone facedown onto the table and picked up his coffee cup looking at Khushi over the rim as he brought it to his lips. 'I'm sorry about that. There's just a problem with one of our orders.'
Khushi only nodded slightly, she had a small smile dancing around her lips, lips that he ached to kiss, ached to taste. He'd taken her to numerous times; mostly to dinner, a couple of movies once out shopping because he'd needed to buy a gift for Di but his favourite had to be dates like this. Dates where he drank his coffee slowly while drinking in the sight of her as she talked and talked, gesticulating with her hands, laughing at her own jokes and making him laugh in turn.
Dating Khushi was so different to dating anyone else. She was so different to anyone else. All of his dates with Lavanya had only ever been dinner or parties where he'd been bored out of his skull. And the one time she'd taken him shopping had ended with him practically throwing his credit card at her and then abandoning her in the mall to do her own shopping. Coffee dates had never even been a possibility. The idea of having to sit and listen to her talk about Pam and Sim or her nail polish colour for more than 10 minutes made him shudder.
He would never admit it out loud but almost every time he dropped Khushi off at her house he feared that it would be the last time. He'd never before curbed or censored his personality for anybody except Di but with Khushi he felt he had to be on his best behaviour all the time. Even if he did occasionally lose his temper with Di he knew she'd still be there at the end of the day. Khushi however wouldn't and Arnav remembered how she'd planned to move to Lucknow, how she'd avoided him after Lavanya left, after he'd shouted at her for planning his wedding and even recently after everything with Shyam.
Khushi didn't have any obligation to him and if he did get angry at her or say something he regretting later she could just suddenly turn around and say: 'I'm sorry Arnavji, this isn't working out, I don't think we should go out anymore.'
'It's okay; you can have a bad day sometimes. You know, I haven't seen you get angry in ages, I was worried your body had been taken over by aliens.'
He smirked wryly as he put his cup down and relaxed in his seat. 'Don't tell me you missed it?'
'Of course! You wouldn't be you if you didn't get angry over silly things every once in a while.'
'Silly things? Khushi, they're saying we didn't deliver a shipment of our new lines on purpose!'
'Okay baba! I know you'd never do something like that. Sorry,' Khushi's smile grew as he admonished her for the third time that day. She quickly looked around at the dimly lit cafe checking that there was nobody watching before she leaned forward in her seat and pressed her lips to his lightly before sitting back and picking up her mug again.
Arnav's eyes had widened in shock at the brief but blazing touch, he brought his fingers up to touch his lips softly unsure if it had actually happened or if he had imagined it. 'Khushi?'
Khushi tried to look nonchalant despite her rapidly beating heart and shrugged as she sipped her tea, 'It's been nearly a month, I figured we should kiss already.'
He controlled the urge to grin at her naivete and innocence. All this time he'd been holding back, controlling his overwhelming desire for her because he didn't want to scare her away, didn't want to rush her and it seemed as if there'd been no need at all. 'That was not a kiss Khushi,' he said as he leaned over the small coffee table separating them.
Khushi swallowed heavily before she put her mug down on the table and leaned towards him similarly until their faces were only a few inches apart. 'Show me then,' she said almost in a whisper, shocked at her own courage.
Arnav's eyes moved quickly from her eyes to her lips and back again, watching as her tongue darted out quickly to moisten her lips and he raised his hand ti her cheek pulling her closer, replacing her tongue with his own and showing her exactly what a real kiss was.
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 27
Arnav smiled to himself as he heard her voice on the other end of the line. He'd been busy all week and longing to hear her voice but he'd forced himself to wait, wanted her to call him. Desperation was never good and it would have showed weakness if he'd called her that same night as he'd wanted to do. He'd promised himself to wait until the following Monday to call her again but by the time Friday came around he couldn't stop himself any more. He needed to see her again and none of his hints to Di had indicated that she'd be coming to their house this weekend which meant he'd have to take the first step.
'I can pick you up from work again when I finish in about an hour.'
Khushi looked up quickly at Abhi who avoided her gaze. She honestly didn't know what to do and would have preferred if Abhi could somehow make the decision for her but he'd been pretending to be engrossed in playing a game on his phone since she'd picked up the phone.
Khushi had felt restless all week, itching for the time to pass faster, her phone was almost glued to her hand as she waited for a text, a call any indication that he'd meant it when he'd said they would go on another date. She was determined that she wouldn't be the one to call him, he would have to call her but by Friday she felt her resolve slipping away slightly.
She couldn't help the thought that kept pushing its way slowly into her mind that he wasn't attracted to her and had hated the date. She especially couldn't forget the fact that he hadn't even kissed her! Maybe it really would be better to just leave it at one date. She'd been trying to make a conclusive decision all week and failed every time.
Work was the only thing that had helping to distract Khushi from thoughts of Arnav Singh Raizada. Abhi was a big fan of what he called 'delegation' and so he hardly ever had any work for her or himself to do and he spent most of the week telling her stories trying to distract her and make her laugh. He had been telling her a story about one of his old college friends when Khushi's phone rang and her heart had done a flip when she'd seen the number.
'Erm... okay. That's fine.'
---
Khushi circled the rim on her mug of tea, her other hand supporting her head as she leaned to the side slightly watching Arnav's forehead crease in concentration as he typed something on his phone. His stubble had grown back long ago and his hair was now starting to lose some of the harshness it had had at first. They were sitting in their usual seats in the corner which Khushi preferred because of the soft armchair seats where she could put her feet up as she drank her tea.
She supposed she should be annoyed that he was paying more attention to his phone than he was to her but strangely ir made her feel happy. They'd seen each other at least twice a week, sometimes more for the past month and most of the times he'd been impossibly polite and courteous and he still hadn't tried to kiss her.
Sometimes she felt like she was dating somebody who just looked like Arnav Singh Raizada, not Arnav Singh Raizada himself. Today however, he'd been terse and blunt, shouted at her twice already and practically ignored her for the past two hours. This was what she wanted. The real Arnav Singh Raizada, imperfections and all, not the watered down version he'd been presenting to her.
Arnav slammed his phone facedown onto the table and picked up his coffee cup looking at Khushi over the rim as he brought it to his lips. 'I'm sorry about that. There's just a problem with one of our orders.'
Khushi only nodded slightly, she had a small smile dancing around her lips, lips that he ached to kiss, ached to taste. He'd taken her to numerous times; mostly to dinner, a couple of movies once out shopping because he'd needed to buy a gift for Di but his favourite had to be dates like this. Dates where he drank his coffee slowly while drinking in the sight of her as she talked and talked, gesticulating with her hands, laughing at her own jokes and making him laugh in turn.
Dating Khushi was so different to dating anyone else. She was so different to anyone else. All of his dates with Lavanya had only ever been dinner or parties where he'd been bored out of his skull. And the one time she'd taken him shopping had ended with him practically throwing his credit card at her and then abandoning her in the mall to do her own shopping. Coffee dates had never even been a possibility. The idea of having to sit and listen to her talk about Pam and Sim or her nail polish colour for more than 10 minutes made him shudder.
He would never admit it out loud but almost every time he dropped Khushi off at her house he feared that it would be the last time. He'd never before curbed or censored his personality for anybody except Di but with Khushi he felt he had to be on his best behaviour all the time. Even if he did occasionally lose his temper with Di he knew she'd still be there at the end of the day. Khushi however wouldn't and Arnav remembered how she'd planned to move to Lucknow, how she'd avoided him after Lavanya left, after he'd shouted at her for planning his wedding and even recently after everything with Shyam.
Khushi didn't have any obligation to him and if he did get angry at her or say something he regretting later she could just suddenly turn around and say: 'I'm sorry Arnavji, this isn't working out, I don't think we should go out anymore.'
'It's okay; you can have a bad day sometimes. You know, I haven't seen you get angry in ages, I was worried your body had been taken over by aliens.'
He smirked wryly as he put his cup down and relaxed in his seat. 'Don't tell me you missed it?'
'Of course! You wouldn't be you if you didn't get angry over silly things every once in a while.'
'Silly things? Khushi, they're saying we didn't deliver a shipment of our new lines on purpose!'
'Okay baba! I know you'd never do something like that. Sorry,' Khushi's smile grew as he admonished her for the third time that day. She quickly looked around at the dimly lit cafe checking that there was nobody watching before she leaned forward in her seat and pressed her lips to his lightly before sitting back and picking up her mug again.
Arnav's eyes had widened in shock at the brief but blazing touch, he brought his fingers up to touch his lips softly unsure if it had actually happened or if he had imagined it. 'Khushi?'
Khushi tried to look nonchalant despite her rapidly beating heart and shrugged as she sipped her tea, 'It's been nearly a month, I figured we should kiss already.'
He controlled the urge to grin at her naivete and innocence. All this time he'd been holding back, controlling his overwhelming desire for her because he didn't want to scare her away, didn't want to rush her and it seemed as if there'd been no need at all. 'That was not a kiss Khushi,' he said as he leaned over the small coffee table separating them.
Khushi swallowed heavily before she put her mug down on the table and leaned towards him similarly until their faces were only a few inches apart. 'Show me then,' she said almost in a whisper, shocked at her own courage.
Arnav's eyes moved quickly from her eyes to her lips and back again, watching as her tongue darted out quickly to moisten her lips and he raised his hand ti her cheek pulling her closer, replacing her tongue with his own and showing her exactly what a real kiss was.
You go girl!!
ReplyDelete*fistpump*
~hugs~
~sri
Brave khushi
ReplyDeleteAbout time to!
ReplyDelete