FF: It's Not Right - Chapter 33

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Chapter 33

‘And where have you been?’

The screech of her Aunt’s voice caused Khushi to wince and hold her head in pain. The hour long walk home in the rain had only exacerbated her headache and done nothing to lessen her heartache.

‘Hayre Nand Kishore, now you’re mocking me as well?’

Khushi looked at her Aunt holding her head in the same way she was and instantly pulled her hands down. ‘No Buaji, of course I wasn’t. I’m sorry I just have a...’

‘Sorry? You come home an hour late, dripping wet for no reason at all and start disrespecting me as soon as you come inside and all you have to say is sorry?’

 ‘But Buaji, if you would just give me a chance...’ Everybody else had come out of their respective rooms now and Khushi looked pleadingly at her father for some relief.

‘Jiji, let her come inside and get dry at least or she’ll get ill.’

‘Of course she’s going to get ill, look at her hair all soaked through. I told you not to give her too much freedom but you didn’t listen to me did you Shashi? And now this is what you get?’

‘Get what Jiji? She hasn’t done anything, she’s just a little late that’s all.’

‘That’s all for now! One day she’ll come home with some man’s child in her stomach and then what will you do? Only then will you realise what a big mistake you made by bringing this orphan home!’

‘Jiji!’

‘Buaji!’

The reproachful cries of her sister and father to her Aunt never reached Khushi. Instead she only saw her mother duck her head towards the floor as if in acceptance of Buaji’s harsh words. Khushi turned abruptly, tears swimming in her eyes intent on running back out into the rain and giving it another chance to wash away her pain.

‘Bitya!’

Khushi turned back and time seemed to slow down and speed up all at the same time. She watched helplessly as her father staggered towards the couch, clutching his chest and the pain in her head exploded as she rushed forward to help him.

---

‘All because of you... My poor Shashi babua... How can I ever forgive myself...’

Even as Payal pulled Khushi away from Buaji to another set of seats in the dismal hotel corridor Khushi could hear the words following them, taunting her. All evening the diatribe had continued, even in the presence of the doctor Buaji hadn’t stopped.

‘Khushi? Khushi? Khushi, look at me. It’s not your fault. You know what Buaji’s like. She doesn’t mean the things she says. You shouldn’t take it to heart.’

Khushi listened silently, nodding her still throbbing head in the appropriate places but there was only numbness inside. She had forgotten about Buaji, about Arnav as soon as she had seen her father stumble. Nothing else mattered, except the man lying on a hospital bed two feet away from her. She jerked her head in attention when she heard a familiar name. ‘Abhi?’

‘I was just thinking, if he came he could take Buaji and Amma home in his car rather than going in a Taxi so late at night and we’ll wait here. Would he come?’

‘Of... of course he would come Jiji, I just...’

‘What? What’s wrong?’

Khushi shook her head, trying to shake off the awkwardness that had suddenly overtaken her. ‘Nothing’s wrong. I’ll just call him now.’

---

‘Why didn’t you call me earlier? I would have come straight away. What did the Doctor’s say?’

‘Heart attack. Nothing to do, just eat better and less stress... but if he has one again...’

‘Shhh, nothing like that will happen okay? There’ll be no stress, you and Buaji need to sort out your issues calmly and we’ll put him on strict healthy diet, which means you need to stay stress free as well so you don’t make jalebis and force him to eat them.’

Khushi’s lips turned up in the faintest smile against his chest and she closed her eyes in relief at hearing somebody else, rather than her overworked mind saying that Babuji would be fine. However, the usual comfort that Abhi’s embrace would have provided was dimmed slightly by the questions hanging over her head. ‘Abhi?’

‘Yeah?’

Khushi resisted the urge to look up at his face, feeling her own begin to heat with embarrassment. ‘Do you... have I...’

‘What is it Khushi?’

‘Have I given you the wrong impression? I mean we’re just friends right? So why would anyone think differently? You don’t think that do you? Although I suppose you could, when that’s what everyone else thinks. I know Buaji and Amma do too. And what should I expect, if I stand in the middle of a public hospital hugging you and still don’t stop even while I’m saying this?’ She said it all in one breath, finally feeling a weight lifting on her chest that she’d felt placed upon it during the afternoon.

‘Huh? Just friends? Of course we’re friends, Khushi. Where is this coming from?’

‘A... Arnavji said... he said... he thought I was cheating on him. With you.’

'What? He said that to you? Today? Why?'

'I don't... I don't know. He said he saw us and that I cut my hair for you and then we had a fight.'

Abhi sighed and put his hands on Khushi's shoulders pulling her away before wiping her tear stained cheeks gently. His right hand lingered on her cheek and he softly rubbed the backs of his fingers along her face, moving aside her fringe.

Khushi looked from Abhi's hand on her cheek up to his face where he was looking at her as if h'ed never seen her before. Her earlier nervousness about calling him began to return and she put her hand over his on her cheek, stopping his movements but not removing the hand altogether. 'Abhi?'

Abhi smiled and sighed again, moving his hand away to hold both of Khushi's shoulders gently. 'Khushi, you are amazing, funny, so beautiful... I could so easily be in love with you. It's true. I think... I think that maybe that's what he sees when he sees us together. But... I'm not. I know what's not what you want from me, that's not how you feel about me. So yes, we're just friends. No matter what Arnav Singh Raizada or your family or the entire world thinks, we will always be friends. Okay?'

His words hung in the air as they stared at each other, trying to find familiar ground in decidedly unfamiliar territory. Khushi couldn't deny the brief moments of contentment when her mind conjured up images of her and Abhi as a couple but the raging beating of her heart in protest soon quashed down the images, replacing them with memories of their friendship that gave her a far greater sense of happiness. She finally nodded, smiling widely and pulling him into a hug again.

'I mean if someday you want to be more than just friends, I won't have any objections,' he said with a grin as he hugged her back.