Chapter 31- Frozen hearts...will the melt by Deepti

Chapter 31

“HE or SHE ?”, asked Abhay, looking at both of them, confused.

Before Arnav could say anything,  “IT’S HIM”, said Kushi.

“No Kushi…IT’S YOU”, said Arnav looking at her.

“No it’s YOU”, repeated Kushi forgetting the presence of a third person between them.

“Looks like you completely forgot about it. It’s you Kushi…”, said Arnav very casually.

“I didn’t forget anything. It’s you”, replied Kushi. Even it wasn’t for real, her ego didn’t let her accept  that she went and proposed to him. And Arnav who was very well aware about her ego was in no mood to let her win.

“Oh really!! Then let me  remind you. Who was the one who came to my room that evening and asked?”,said Arnav stressing each and every word of that sentence.

“Ya..who came and asked?”, asked Kushi  in a similar tone, missing the hint in his words.

“You should tell that Kushi….my room……..5 minutes time…..door was closed.. does that ring a bell?”, asked Arnav looking at her.

As her brain registered each of those words, Kushi understood what he was referring to.

” Is he black mailing now?”, wondered Kushi, recollecting the events which followed after she went to his room to seek his help.

As Arnav raised his eyebrows with a smirk on his face, Kushi got her answer.

“So now tell me! Who was the one who proposed?”, asked Arnav, tapping his finger on the coffee mug.

“It was me”, replied Kushi surrendering herself in a very low voice as if her total energy got drained.

“I don’t think Abhay was able to hear that. Could you say it a little louder for him?”, asked Arnav making the most out of her situation.

As this triggered her anger. ” IT WAS ME…is this loud enough”, screamed Kushi, whose voice caught the attention of many others in that lounge. As several heads turned in the direction of their table, ” Sorry!!”, said Abhay looking at the people who were staring at the trio.

“Wow!! Now that was quite loud”, said Abhay addressing Arnav. And as the men exchanged a smile Kushi felt like banging their heads against each other.

“Should accept that our society is becoming quite dynamic. A girl approaching a boy and expressing her love…”, paused Abhay.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT”, asked Kushi narrowing her gaze on Abhay.

“Hey Chill!!No offense! I said it in a very positive sense.In fact I appreciate it. How long should  the guys do this proposing thing and all.It’s time for the girls also to take some initiative. Don’t you think so”, said Abhay.

“You and your senseless talk. Will you stop lecturing about who should propose whom”, thought Kushi, giving a fake smile to Abhay.

“Coming back to your love story. So when she proposed, you readily accepted it. Isn’t it, Arnav?”, asked Abhay turning his attention towards Arnav.

“Nope! Actually, I rejected it”, said Arnav placing his coffee mug on the table.

While Abhay was shocked to hear that answer, Kushi just gaped at Arnav with her wide open mouth.

“But why??”, asked Abhay without hiding his curiosity.

” Because, back then I felt that we were too young to get into any kind of relationship”, answered Arnav, with a shrug.

“How old were you both when she proposed to you”, asked Abhay raising his doubt.

“This guy told him only once that I proposed …but this Abhay is chanting it like a mantra! This is what is called as sprinkling salt on the burns. Looks like this fellow is good at it”, thought Kushi looking at Abhay.

“Hmmm I was 17 and she was 14, right Kushi”, said Arnav as if he needed Kushi’s acknowledgement for his statement.

“What!!! 14?? I was in my 9th grade at that time and  was desperate for this grumpy fellow to go abroad. Look how he is cooking up stories”, wondered Kushi staring at Arnav.

As Arnav gave a smirk to her she turned her eyes away from him.

“Oh!!14??? Now that’s a quite tender age to think about love”, said Abhay expressing his opinion.

“Exactly!! “That’s what even I tried to explain her”, said Arnav as if he was stating the fact.

Hearing the conversation between the two men, Kushi wished that she never existed in this world.

“What happened after that??”, asked Abhay curiously.

“Hmmm..After that,I went abroad for my higher studies and phone was the only means of communication between us. So she kept calling me again and again bringing the same topic between us. She tried for about…hmmm… I guess…three years. So finally I had to give up and accept her proposal as I wasn’t able to see her pain”, concluded Arnav.

Kushi’s eyes were ready to pop out of her sockets hearing Arnav’s cooked up story.

“In those three years I never spoke to you, you moron!! Oh ya…I spoke to you once but that was when YOU gave a call. How could you lie like this??”, thought Kushi. She started looking here and there to find something huge with which she could smash Arnav’s head for talking nonsense about her in front of Abhay. But since it was Arnav’s lucky day, Kushi didn’t find anything huge around her.

She looked at him sternly thinking, “ It was much better when he stayed tight lipped and sat like a statue.The moment he opened it all he is talking is pure nonsense. LIAR!!!”.

Arnav gave her a smile, which mounted her anger to its peaks.

“I think he had enough of your story…”,  said Kushi. Adjusting her throat she corrected herself and said, ” I mean our story . Now shall we make a move?”, addressing Arnav.

Arnav never expected that this meeting would turn this entertaining. And he was in no mood to end it abruptly.

“What’s the rush… when we  finally came here and when Abhay actually gave us an opportunity to talk about our story,which we haven’t shared with anyone till now, why do you want to leave? Aren’t you enjoying???Recollecting all those past days”,  questioned Arnav enjoying Kushi’s inconvenience.

Kushi moved in her chair as if she was seated on some thorns and gave a fake smile to Arnav, saying, ” Of course! I am”, as she noticed Abhay’s eyes on her.

“So  you guys are in love since then”, stated Abhay continuing the topic.

“Yup……so much in Love…Isn’t it  Kushi”, said Arnav looking at her.

“Ya so so much in love”, replied Kushi giving a sweet smile to him, though she wanted to strangle him for speaking all nonsense about her.

“Why doesn’t your family know about you both??? Why didn’t you guys tell them???”, came the next question from Abhay.

Kushi hoped that Arnav would answer that  question, since he was the one who had been doing all the talking. But to her astonishment there was no response from him.
As she looked at him who was sipping his coffee, he signaled her with his eyes, pushing the ball in to her court.

Kushi gaped at him thinking, “Oh! So he will answer only those questions which are favorable to him and leave all the difficult ones to me…smart!!” .

“Kushi….Abhay is asking something…”, said Arnav diverting her attention from him.

Understanding that it was now her turn to take the charge, ” We didn’t tell our family because the moment they will come to know about us, they will immediately start our wedding preparations. But as I have told you earlier I don’t have…I mean…we don’t have any plans to get married so soon….at least till I settle in my career. That’s the reason we couldn’t share this to anyone”, said Kushi.

Abhay was very much convinced with her answer.

“Now,you are the only one on this earth who knows about us. I hope you understand the situation and don’t disclose this to anyone…not even to Karan Jiju….”, said Kushi, pleadingly.

“Smart move”, thought Arnav looking at her.

“No no…not at all…I will not tell this to anyone”, said Abhay.

“Actually, we don’t want our family to know about us from anyone else. Coming from an outsider, they might feel terrible  that we hid such a big thing from them. When time comes we want to tell them everything ourselves”, said Kushi with a very sad face. She looked at Arnav to take it from there.

“Emotional blackmailing!! Not bad!!”, thought Arnav who looked at Abhay and said, “I hope you understand Abhay”.

“Hey Dude…I  completely get it. I will not discuss your matter with any other person and your family will not come to know about you both from me. You can trust me on this. You have my word…don’t worry”, said Abhay.

“I really appreciate it Abhay”, said Arnav.

Kushi sighed with relief and said, ” It’s getting late…Maa will be worried. Can we leave??”, addressing Arnav.

“Ya!Let’s start”,said Arnav raising from his chair. He extended his hand towards Abhay saying, “It was nice meeting you, Abhay”.

“The feeling is mutual, Arnav. I feel like I made two new friends today. And soon this friendship is going to turn into a relation”, said Abhay as he shook hands with Arnav.

As Arnav and Kushi looked at him blankly, ” My  cousin is soon going to get married to your sister right…that will make us relatives”, clarified Abhay.

“Oh ya!”, said Arnav while Kushi thought, “God! I was worried for a second”.

“Had a really nice time talking to you guys and knowing about your love story”, said Abhay looking at the duo.

” You must have got enough information by now to write an epic on us!!”, muttered Kushi who was desperate lo leave from there.

Abhay turned towards Kushi and said, “When I asked you to bring your lover, I had other plans in mind. But after I met you both and came to know about you two, I no more have any such plans. Sorry to bother you, Kushi”, very genuinely.

“That’s okay! I understand”, replied Kushi.

“But I should accept one fact guys. You both make an amazing pair. What do people say…hmmm…ya….MADE FOR EACH OTHER…that’s what you both are”, said Abhay who had no idea that in reality they were MAD AT EACH OTHER.

As such a compliment was kind of alien to them, both didn’t understand how to react. While Kushi looked here and there, Arnav diverted the topic saying, ” See you Abhay.. Got to go”.

“Ya…bye guys. See you soon at  Karan’s engagement”, said Abhay who walked them to their car to send them off.

As they got into the car Arnav slowly drove it out of the hotel premises.  Within a minute they reached the main road and since now there was no Abhay anywhere around, Kushi got the opportunity for which she had been waiting for the past thirty minutes.

“WHAT WAS THAT???”, she yelled at Arnav, turning towards him.

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-Deepti©