Chapter 18- Frozen hearts..will they melt?
Chapter 18
Everyone stared at the duo who just reacted. While Kushi’s reaction seemed quite expected, no one understood why Arnav reacted in that manner. Kushi gave a puzzled look to him not understanding why he said ‘WHHHat’ with her, in unison.
“What happened to YOU? What do you mean by that ‘Whhat’ , Arnav?”, asked Devyani, breaking the silence in the dining hall, hearing which Arnav choked on his food.
He started coughing profusely not understanding what to reply. “I think I had a chili”, he said between his coughs as his mother started patting on his back.
“Or did something get stuck in your throat.Here, have some water first”, said a worried Aarthi offering him a glass of water.
“Is it the food that’s not passing through your throat or the news of Kushi’s wedding”, mumbled Devyani looking suspiciously at Arnav.
Though no one heard her, Arnav noticed the suspicious look which Devyani gave him.
“No Mamma. It’s just the chili. I bit on it and the taste was so terrible. That ‘Whhat’ was my reaction for that awful taste”, said Arnav giving an explanation for his reaction.
Everyone including Kushi were satisfied hearing his lame explanation but not Devyani. She had her own doubts but saving them for the later, ” What were you telling Shashi?”, she asked, turning everyone’s attention towards Shashi.
“Ya… I was talking about Kushi’s wedding…”, said Shashi who was interrupted by his daughter.
“MYYY wedding Babuji???? Are you serious??”, asked Kushi, who still couldn’t believe what she just heard.
“Let me complete it Kushi.Have some patience”, answered Shashi. Then turning towards Devyani and Aakash, he said, “Just now I received a call from Arjun Kapoor from the Kapoor Industries. He was asking our Kushi’s hand in marriage for his son Abhay Kapoor”,
“This Kapoors are related to the Oberoi’s.. aren’t they”, asked Aakash raising his doubt.
“Exactly….Arjun Kapoor is the elder brother of Karan’s mother. I was told that his son saw Kushi at some wedding and had been trying to trace her whereabouts since then. But yesterday, when Anjali went to meet Karan, Abhay saw Kushi with them and got all her details from Karan”, said Shashi.
“OH!! Now I get it! So it’s HIM”, said Kushi , talking to herself.”What do you mean by HIM? Do you know him”, asked Anjali on hearing this.
“Yes…No… I mean… Earlier I have seen him at my friends sister’s wedding and yesterday I saw him again at the hotel. Though his face seemed familiar I couldn’t recollect where I have seen him earlier”, replied Kushi, confusing everyone around her.
As Arnav understood who she was referring to, his jaws tightened recollecting the face of the man who stared at Kushi at the hotel .
“Arjun Kapoor was saying that his son passed an ultimatum that he wants to marry only Kushi”, said Shashi.
“WHAT!! He saw me only twice and took such a decision?? Is he mad or what? And look at me. I didn’t even realize that he was interested in me. Took him for any other random guy who stares at every other girl. Had I known his intentions, I would have given him then and there. Forget about marrying me… I would have made him swear to not think about marriage for the rest of his life. Kushi, what should I do with you. Why doesn’t your brain work when it’s supposed to. Now the damage has been done. What will you do now?”, thought Kushi who was lost in her thoughts.
“What did you tell him”, asked Aakash addressing Shashi.
“I told him that I need some time to think about it”, replied Shashi.
Coming out of her thoughts with her father’s answer, “But how can you even think about MY marriage Babuji??I’m just 21 and I’m still studying. And you do know that I have plans to study further.Don’t you”, said Kushi.
“Ya, True. What’s the need to get her married so soon when she is not even done with her studies”, asked Devyani supporting Kushi.
“I told him the same Maa. I told him that she is still studying and I don’t have any plans to get her married this year or any time soon”, replied Shashi hearing which Kushi felt better. But the words which soon followed his speech made her restless.
“But he was telling that they are in no rush for the wedding.They just want a positive answer from us.Further, he also mentioned that tomorrow when Karan’s family visit us, they will be accompanied by Abhay and his mother,”, said Shashi dropping the bomb. Though the bomb was one, it created an explosion in the heads of three people.
While Kushi was all set to faint hearing that Abhay was coming to see her, Devyani despised every word which Shashi just uttered. She was totally against the idea of Abhay visiting Shantiwan to meet Kushi and her dislike was clearly evident on her face.
But more than these two it was Arnav who had a greater impact of the explosion. “WHAT THE HELL!!! Is he gonna come here to meet her”, thought Arnav whose blood boiled as he recollected the way Abhay looked at Kushi.
“Now the matter became sensitive. Since they are related to Karan we can’t even object their visit”, said Sakshi talking for the first time.
“That is the reason which didn’t let me say NO to him. I kept quiet and asked him some time to think about this alliance”, replied Shashi.
“What should I tell the Oberoi’s when I call them”, said Aakash who was in a dilemma.
“What else will you tell. Invite them home to meet our Anjali. Abhay and his mother will accompany them. But that should be fine”, said Shashi trying to put his friend at ease.
“But Babuji… I don’t want to meet him”, said Kushi, looking helplessly at her father.
Her words sounded so sweet to Arnav though he had no idea why he was so relieved to know her opinion.
“But Kushi…Arjun Kapoor didn’t ask my permission to come tomorrow.He declared that his family will be visiting us. So there is nothing we can do now. Let them come beta. We will see what happens later”, said Shashi trying to calm his daughter.
“Yes Kushi….meet him.Nothing will happen if you meet him once. Moreover we all will be around you. So don’t worry about anything”, said Sakshi who didn’t want any kind of disturbance in Anjali and Karan’s alliance. She felt that there is no harm in letting the Kapoors meet Kushi and hence tried to convince her daughter.
“What’s wrong with these people? When she clearly told them that she doesn’t want to meet that Abhay,why are they forcing her to do something which she doesn’t like??”, thought Arnav who became restless seeing Sakshi and Shashi trying to convince Kushi.
On the other hand, Kushi became utterly silent after Sakshi’s convincing talk. Staring at her plate, she started eating the food in it as if she had nothing to do with the rest of the world. And soon everyone completed their dinner amid the wedding discussions except Kushi.
While Aakash and Shashi left the table continuing their discussions, Devyani and Rishi retired to their respective rooms. The women soon got busy with the cleaning while Arnav and Anjali went to wash their hands, leaving Kushi all alone at the table.
Arnav came back after a minute and stood rooted to his spot gaping at the sight right in front of him.
“What happened?”, asked Anjali who soon joined him, on seeing her brother standing like a statue.
Arnav lifted his right hand and pointed his index finger in the direction of Kushi. And when Anjali’s eyes followed his hand, she saw what he was seeing.
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