Chapter 26: Frozen hearts..will they melt by Deepti
Chapter 26
As it was his first day at AR, Arnav’s schedule was completely packed with meetings and introductions. He came home by 7 in the evening and by then he was totally exhausted. He took a soothing hot shower and was all set to relax when he heard a knock on his door.
He opened the door and found her standing right in front of him, biting her nails.
“WHAT”, he asked, quite surprised to see her at his door step.
Kushi who wanted to vanish from there, gathered some courage and finally managed to say , ” Nothing!!”, not understanding what else to say.
He stared at her for a brief moment as if she belonged to a different species and then slammed the door, right in her face.
She jerked involuntarily and patted herself to calm down her nervousness. ” Don’t be afraid, Kushi. When you have finally approached the lion’s den, what’s this delay for. Just ask him what you intended to. At the most he will yell at you. That’s it!Be prepared for that and knock on the door”, she motivated herself as she gently knocked on the door.
Arnav got irritated on getting disturbed for the second time.
“WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM??”, he barked as soon as he opened the door.
“I need to talk to you”, Kushi replied instantly, as she fidgeted with her dupatta.
His irritation got converted into curiosity on hearing those words.” About what??”, he asked looking suspiciously at her.
“Not here…can I come inside”, asked Kushi as she checked the surroundings.
“Will this girl ever stop amazing me??Now what is she here for??”, wondered Arnav as he moved aside and gave her way to enter into his room.
As her nervousness took a complete toll on her Kushi found it hard to start the conversation.
” So what do you want to talk?”, he asked looking keenly at her as it was evident from her body language that the matter was quite serious.
“Hmmm…I..I…..th…that….hmmmm”, responded Kushi stammering.
“I don’t have all the time in the world to listen to your nonsense. Speak up dammit!!”, yelled Arnav impatiently.
“Will you stop yelling at me… do you know how difficult all this is for me and on top of that your shouting … to hell with it”, said Kushi yelling back at him.
“WHAT THE!! You are the one who wanted to talk. If you have nothing to say why don’t you just get lost from here”, barked Arnav as his temper took a hike.
“It’s my mistake to come to you. I have nothing to say to you and I’m leaving”, retorted Kushi as she almost marched out of his room.
“WHAT!! Is she insane??”, mumbled Arnav staring at her.
Kushi reached the door step when reality hit her.Slapping her forehead for forgetting her mission, she took a deep breath.” See Kushi.. this is really important to you. You are the one in need. So for time being let go of your ego and make a deal with him. Once your mission is accomplished, you can have all the time in the world to fight with him”, muttered Kushi, convincing herself.
Arnav was flabbergasted looking at the walking wonder who was now in conversation with herself.
He opened his mouth to say something but on seeing her close the door, ” Why are you closing it?”, he asked baffled.
“See….I really need to talk to you…can you patiently listen to me for five minutes …without interrupting”, asked Kushi in a very pleasing way.
Looking at her pleading eyes, Arnav couldn’t deny her request.
He gave a glance to his wrist watch and said,”I’m listening.Your time starts now!”
Kushi started rehearsing the numerous ways in which she could put her problem in front of him and as she was busy rephrasing her words, her time started running out. And by the time she came to a conclusion she was left with only a minute of her allotted time. As she looked at him who was checking his watch, “Look at him!! Waiting like an examiner to snatch away the answer sheet from the poor student”, mumbled Kushi.
As he lifted his right hand, while his eyes were glued to his watch, Kushi observed him blankly not understanding what he was up to. As he started closing his fingers one after the other, she realized that he started the countdown and as he was about to close the last little finger, ” I NEED YOUR HELP”, blurted Kushi.
“WHAT???”, asked Arnav, not sure of what he just heard. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” he asked looking incredulously at her.
“Look!! He started now itself…. wants me to beg him for his help”, thought Kushi as she said, ” I said, I need your help!!”
“Surprising!! Did the Sun rise in the west today?? How come the mighty Kushi is seeking MY help?”, asked Arnav arching his eyebrows.
“Nothing is wrong with the sun. It’s my planets. Looks like they are not moving in the right way. Made me approach you”, muttered Kushi.
“What did you say”, asked Arnav.
” It’s nothing”, replied Kushi giving a sheepish grin to him.
“Whatever!! Now spit it out”, said Arnav picking up a file from the coffee table.
“What??”, asked Kushi not understanding what he meant.
“The HELP which you need from me”, he said enlightening her, as he raised his right eyebrow.
She felt like banging the flower vase on his head hearing the way he uttered HELP. But since her hands were tied up, she said,”Actually…I want you to…. I want you to…..”, not able to complete the sentence.
“You want me to?”, asked Arnav looking intently at her, trying to read her mind.
“I want you to….”, repeated Kushi and paused trying to frame the next words.
“What’s after that? You want me to do what, Kushi?”, shouted Arnav as he threw the file in his hand on the bed.
His voice was so intense that Kushi jerked in reaction and blurted, ” I WANT YOU TO ACT AS MY LOVER!!”
“WHAT??”, said Arnav, as he looked at her as if he was watching the eighth wonder of the world.
“Are you in your right mind? Do you any idea on what you are blabbering??”, he continued, not able to believe what she just said.
” I’m perfectly alright…it’s my time which is really bad….not bad but baddest”, she said clarifying his doubt.
“BADDEST??? There is no such word in the dictionary”, said Arnav trying to correct her.
“I’m aware that there is no such word… to be more precise, there is no word in any language which can describe my current situation.It’s far more than horrible. Okay! Now will you please stop interrupting and let me tell you what I want to”, said Kushi without taking a pause.
Folding his hands across his chest, he gestured her to continue her speech.
“Actually..You have to act as my lover in front of that Abhay”, came the next sentence from her which thoroughly confused him.
“ABHAY!!”, uttered Arnav as if he was talking to himself.
“Ya.. Abhay… that Abhay Kapoor”, replied a restless Kushi.
“Now this is not making any sense to me. Why do you want me to act in front of that guy?”, asked Arnav throwing his hands in the air.
“Because I don’t want to marry that guy, while he is hell-bent on marrying me”, replied Kushi.
As Arnav looked at her inquisitively, ” Let me explain. I have no intention to marry that guy. To be more precise any other guy… for the next couple of years”, said Kushi.
Though he felt good hearing her statement, Arnav preferred not to acknowledge it and listened to her keenly.
“Yesterday when I spoke to him, I told him the same and asked him to drop this proposal. But he said he will wait for me…no matter how long it takes”, said Kushi with a worried face.
As the image of her talking to Abhay flashed before Arnav’s eyes, he now understood why she was so desperate to talk to that Abhay.
“I did not know what to do to make him give up his plans. So I had to lie that I have a boyfriend… I mean lover”, said Kushi correcting her last words.
As things started to make more sense to him, she said, ” But I think he didn’t buy my lie.He said he needs to meet my lover to back off from this proposal. And if I don’t arrange this meeting he warned me that no one can stop him from waiting for me”.
Arnav thought for a moment analyzing whatever she just said. Everything became very much clear to him except for one fine detail. Why did she choose him for the act, when she can get help from anyone.
” Why me?”, asked Arnav, expressing his doubt.
“Ha??”, reacted Kushi not understanding what he meant by that.
“Why do you want me to act as your lover when you can get help from any other guy… one of your friends or classmates”, said Arnav.
“I CAN’T. If I take help from an outsider, he might use this drama against me and blackmail me”, replied Kushi, as she innocently put her point in front of him .
The word BLACKMAIL caught Arnav’s attention. And not realizing what ideas she was giving to him, Kushi continued her speech.”What if he spreads the word that I asked him to act as my lover…what if that Abhay or our family come to know about this.I can’t take any chances. So keeping our family’s reputation in mind I thought it would be better if you”, paused Kushi without completing the sentence.
“Better if I…???”, prompted Arnav with a smirk on his face as he sensed her uneasiness in completing the sentence.
“Better.. if YOU do the acting”, said Kushi skipping the LOVER part. She had said it earlier multiple times but she was not comfortable to say it now…looking straight into his eyes which now had a hint of naughtiness hidden in them.
Arnav gave a loop sided smile seeing her nervousness and said, “Hmmmm…So you want my help to get out of this mess”, looking at her in the eye.
She nodded her head as she prayed, “SAY YES SAY YES”.
” See… this is entirely your problem and I have nothing to do with it”, said Arnav taking a pause.
“I knew it..he will never accept…stubborn, arrogant..grum..“, she stopped the list when she heard him say, “Still… I will help you”.
Before Kushi could jump with joy for making the lion accept her proposal, he said, ” I will get you out of this mess. But what’s in it for me?”.
“I knew it!! Would have been surprised if he did it for free. God knows how much he is planning to extract from me for this small favor”, thought Kushi. Fearing that he would quote a lump sum amount, ” Ten thousand!!”, said Kushi.
“What??”, said Arnav not understanding what she meant by that.
“Is it very less”, she asked biting her nails and on second thoughts she said, ” Twenty thousand”.
“What twenty thousand”, asked a confused Arnav.
“Okay ..let’s make it twenty five. I won’t give even a rupee more than that. It’s final”, declared Kushi.
He gaped at her as he finally understood what she meant and yelled, ” I don’t want your money dammit!!”
“REALLY! Thank God!! My twenty five thousand are safe in my account”, thought Kushi as a smile danced on her lips.
“So are you going to help me for free”, she asked, enjoying the very thought of it.
“I never said that”, his voice came like a warning.
“Then?”, asked Kushi, not understanding what he was up to.
“If I help you, I need to be profited in one way or the other…”, paused Aranv.
As she opened her mouth to interrupt him, ” Don’t even think about it. I don’t need your money”, said Arnav sensing what she was planning to say.
“Then what do you want?”, asked Kushi.
“Think”, suggested Arnav.
As Kushi looked here and there her eyes fell on his wardrobe. Something struck her and she said “Now I get it. Okay! No problem. I will design new suits for you. But only five of them. Deal??”
“What???”, asked Arnav not understanding what nonsense she was blabbering.
“What WHAT? I know everything. You don’t have to explain. You just started going to work and you do need formal suits. Since Di and others praised my designing skills you want me to design couple of suits for you. But since your ego won’t let you, you don’t want to ask for this favor. Don’t worry. I will design those suits without you asking me. Will that do?”, asked Kushi who spoke as if she is aware of all the facts of the world.
“OH SHUT UP KHUSHI…open my ward robe and have a peek. I have more formals than required”, replied a frustrated Arnav.
“Really!! If that is not what you want… I can’t think of anything else. Why don’t you just tell me what you want. I will give it”, asked an impatient Kushi.
Seeing the confusion which flickered in her eyes, his frustration got erased and the smirk was back on his face hearing her last words.
“Are you sure?”, he asked as he walked towards her.
“Ya…”, replied Kushi, who was pretty sure of it.
“Okay! So here is my condition….Once I help you, you have to do one thing which I ask you to do. You shouldn’t deny it and should do it without questioning further. Do you get it”, asked Arnav as he kept moving towards her.
“Now what will he make me do??”, wondered Kushi and she asked him the same.
“You are curious to know. Aren’t you”, asked Arnav coming closer to her.
Kushi nodded her head as she took a step backwards to increase the distance between them.
“Should I tell…”, he asked when he was only two feet away from her.
Kushi gave a gentle nod and took one more step backwards, only to feel the hard wall against her back.
He covered that two feet distance in one long stride and stood close to her. As she tried to move to the right, he placed his left hand on the wall, blocking the way and when she tried to move to the left, he repeated the same with his other hand, trapping her between his arms.
He was so close to her that she could smell the cologne from his after shower. Though she liked the fragrance, she was in no state to enjoy it.
“Are you ready to know?”, he asked moving more closer,trying to close the gap between their faces. As his voice came like a mere whisper, Kushi nodded her head though her heart kept racing with his each action and the blood from her entire body rushed to her cheeks giving them a deep red color. He watched her for a moment as he enjoyed the sight and then titled his head bringing his face slowly close to hers.
As she felt his warm breath on the side of her neck, Kushi closed her eyes in fright not understanding how to react.
As his breath started its journey from the side of her neck towards her chin, Kushi stood like a deer who is trapped between the lion’s paws
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