Chapter 42-Frozen hearts...will they melt by Deepti

Chapter 42

“What shall we do now?”, asked Anjali looking helplessly at Arnav.

“What else will you do? Just wake her up”, replied Arnav.

“Do you think that’s an easy task?”, questioned Anjali and on getting a quizzical look in response, she said,  ” You don’t know her, Arnav. It’s impossible to wake her up when she is asleep. If you want, give it a try”.

As Anjali moved  away, giving him more room,  “Kushi”, called out Arnav, pretty softly, placing his arm on the top of the car.

“Arnav! Even I won’t wake up if you call that softly. Louder”, said Anjali.

He opened his mouth to call her name loudly but seeing  the innocent face of the sleeping beauty, he didn’t feel like disturbing her.

“You do it,Di”, he said  moving away from his place.

For the next five minutes Anjali tried her level best to wake up Kushi and as a last attempt she literally shook up the girl who was lying like a lifeless doll in that car. But on failing miserably in her attempts, she gave up and said, ” No other option. We have to carry her inside. Go and call Rishi so that we will have an extra hand”.

“Di!! Just look at her! Do you think we need an extra set of hands to carry her. I alone can manage it”, said Arnav.

“Are you sure? Do you think you can carry her all the way to her room all by yourself?”, asked Anjali with a dubious expression on her face.

Arnav rolled his eyes in response and  bent his frame to get into action. He stared at Kushi’s face for a brief moment and  then slipping his left hand under her neck and the right one under her thighs, he lifted her in one swift motion. Once he balanced the weight in his arms and stood upright he looked at his sister who was watching him with a wide open mouth.

“What?”, he asked for which Anjali shook her head, shutting her mouth.

Though she was in her deep slumber ,as soon as he took a step, Kushi wrapped one of her arms around his neck and this made Arnav  to stop in his tracks and stare at her.

Anjali giggled knowing what her brother might be thinking and clearing his doubt she said, “Don’t worry, she has no clue what she is doing. It’s her reflexes.”

He stared at Kushi’s face for few seconds and after making sure that she was indeed asleep, he started walking towards the porch stairs with such an ease that amazed his sister.

“Wow Arnav! Looks like you are making a good use of our gym”, said Anjali, following him.

“You don’t need to workout in any gym to carry her ,Di. I bet even you can lift her. Want to try?”, he asked on a teasing note.

“No way! I don’t want to break my back. You can have her all by yourself”, said Anjali, whose words made him look at his sister. Understanding what other meaning her words could have Anjali quickly diverted the topic saying, ” You know Arnav, once she slept like this in the car when we returned from a wedding. Babuji and Papa somehow managed to carry her to her room. But the next morning when she woke up, she had no clue how she landed on her bed”.

Arnav stared at the sleeping beauty as he continued walking wondering how could someone sleep so peacefully while being carried like that. As they entered the house, Anjali closed the main door and as she turned around, she was filled with a sense of happiness seeing Kushi  cradled in her brother’s arms. She looked in the direction of her grandmother’s room as she thought, “Wish you were awake, Dhadhi.. You are missing such a magnificent scene. Don’t worry! I will fill you with the details”, as a smile crossed her lips.

As they continued walking, Anjali filled him with various other incidents where people struggled to wake up Kushi from her sleep. Soon, they took the stairs and on reaching Kushi’s room, Anjali opened the door and held it for the duo to enter. As he placed the lady in his arms delicately on her bed, he heard his sister say, ” And you know what, don’t even ask me how I tried to wake up this madam on your graduation day. She was wide awake while I was setting up the system to watch you live. But the moment your ceremony started streaming, she fell asleep. Dhadhi and I watched the entire show, while she slept like a log, right next to us”.

As the latest piece of information made him get lost in a thought, he moved aside and watched, as his sister pulled over the comforter, over the sleeping beauty. And as Anjali tucked her in, Kushi stirred in her sleep and grabbing the teddy which was lying next to her, she hugged it and slept peacefully.

As that action brought a smile on the siblings’ face, ” Isn’t she adorable!”, said Anjali, looking fondly at Kushi.

“Yes”, came a reply from behind which amazed her. As Anjali turned around and looked incredulously at him, Arnav realized what he just uttered. Without giving further chance for his sister to dig into the details, he escaped from there,  saying, “Good night, Di.”

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Once he changed into his night clothes, he washed his face and came out of the bathroom. Dabbing his face with the towel, he walked towards the balcony. Looking at the dark sky with a full moon and few stars scattered here and there, he left a deep sigh. As the night chill kissed the exposed skin on his arms, he tugged the towel closer to his body and wrapped his arms around it. And as that action reminded him of the hug he shared with her, a warm feeling  filled his senses and involuntarily he closed his eyes.

“What’s happening to me? What are all these new feelings?”, he asked himself.

“Am I attracted to her?”, he added. ” Don’t you know?”, the voice in his head questioned back. Of course he was. He can’t deny that fact. “Then what about her?”, came the next question. Nothing from her side ever showed such an emotion. And his sister’s words just a while ago seconded his opinion. Anyways, why would she  develop an attraction towards him when all the while they grew up as rivals? ” Valid point”, he said as he unwrapped his hands and grabbed the railing with both his hands.

So does that mean he was  behaving like an idiot? Of course he was. If not why would he not let her go when she banged against him in the party? Damn!! “What is going on with me? If she considers me still as her enemy then why am I not? When and why did I develop this soft corner for her?”, he asked himself and found no answer for it.

“This is not good. This is so not good. The equation between us has never been good and I don’t think she ever want’s it to change. Then why am I trying to change it?”, he said aloud.

“The attraction I’m developing is going to lead me nowhere. So,  it’s better if I get a hold on myself and put an end to it right now before it grows into something huge and takes over me”, he thought as he tightened his grip on the railing.

“I need to talk to her and clear few things before she jumps to any conclusion”, he thought as he went inside to sign off for the day.

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It was past 11 in the morning when Kushi’s eye lids finally parted. As her eyes got used to the light that filled the room, she become conscious and stretched her arms. The ten hours sleep did do the magic and she felt much better as she sat upright on the bed. As she stretched her limbs she noticed that she was still in the dress which she wore for the party.

“How come I slept without even changing my clothes?”, she wondered as she got down the bed and the next instant the events from the previous night came back to her. The last thing she remembered was his gaze on her and after that she had no clue when and how she dozed off in the car.

“Then how did I land on my bed?”, she said as she placed her index finger on her chin.

“Poor guys! Must have struggled to get me here”, she said amused as she visualized Anjali and Rishi carrying her on the stairs.

She walked towards the wardrobe with a smile on her face and pulled a dress from it when something hit her. “Wait a minute! Did HE also?”! As that thought crossed her head the dress in her hand, slipped onto the floor.

She spent the next half an hour in getting ready but that one question never left her head. She was curious to find the answer but didn’t understand whom to approach to get her doubt cleared. Kushi checked the time and since it was almost noon, she didn’t fear about facing him. “He must have long gone to his work”, she mumbled as she walked out of her room and took the stairs.

She was coming down the stairs when she noticed Anjali and Devyani  chatting in the living room. But the moment the duo  noticed her, they stopped talking and tried hard to control their giggles. As Kushi looked at them suspiciously, ” Look who is finally awake!”, said Anjali.  Ignoring her remark, ” Were you both talking about me?”, asked Kushi.

While Anjali denied saying, ” No! Not at all!”, Devyani turned her face to the other side to hide her smile.

“Then why did you both stop talking as soon as you spotted me and why is Dhadhi trying hard to hide her smile?”, asked Kushi as she placed her hands on either side of her waist.

“We were talking about something else, Kushi. Between, you woke up at lunch time. Aren’t you hungry?”, asked Anjali diverting Kushi’s attention to her favorite topic.

“That reminds me, I’m starving”, said Kushi who took the route to the kitchen.

While Anjali and Devyani relaxed with her exit and made a plan, Kushi returned in no time with a plate filled with puris and potato curry. As soon as she took the seat next to Devyani, Anjali coughed and picking up the signal, ” So how was yesterday’s party, Anjali?”, asked Devyani.

“It was great Dhadhi. But do you know what’s the most interesting and unbelievable thing that happened there?”, asked Anjali.

Though she already heard the previous evening’s happenings from Anjali, wearing an innocent expression on her face, Devyani shook her head.

“KUSHI  AND  ARNAV DANCED TOGETHER”, said Anjali as she watched Kushi keenly.

“Is it necessary to remind , Di”, thought Kushi, who tried hard to swallow the puri piece in her mouth.

“Is it?? This two.. and together? Now that’s a miracle. But they must have looked lovely, together”, said Devyani , trying to sow a new seed in Kushi’s head.

While Kushi got carried away with those words, the duo exchanged a smile and to get back  the attention, ” So when did you guys return home?”, asked Devyani, little loudly.

“Around 1.30 Dhadhi”, replied Anjali  loudly, which made Kushi to almost jerk and come out of her thoughts.

“Oh! So late? You all must have felt sleepy by then”, said Devyani bringing the topic onto the right track.

“We did. But it was Kushi who couldn’t control her sleep. She fell asleep in the car while we were returning home”, replied Anjali.

“She did! Then it must have been nearly impossible to wake her up”, said Devyani looking at Kushi.

“Oh Dhadhi! Don’t even ask about it. I tried everything but couldn’t wake up our sleeping beauty”, replied Anjali as she moved her hands animatedly in the air.

“Then how did she come inside? Did you all carry her like your fathers did, the last time she slept in the car?”, asked Devyani.

While Kushi was all ears to know the answer, ” What’s the necessity for all the three of us to lift her Dhadhi”, said Anjali taking a pause.

“Thank God! Then only Di and Rishi must have taken the trouble”, thought Kushi who breathed a sigh of relief.  But before she could relax completely Anjali dropped the bomb saying, ” Arnav alone managed to carry her all the way from the car to her room”.

The piece of puri, which she was about to stuff in her mouth, slipped from her hand and fell in the plate and as her eyes grew wide in her face , “WHAT!!!!”, said Kushi.

“What what?? Don’t you know that Arnav carried you?”, asked Anjali with innocence all over her face while she tried hard to hide her smile.

With the shocked expression still on her face, “No”, said Kushi.

“Right, how will you know when you were in deep sleep”, said Anjali. “That reminds me! Do you know what you did in your sleep?”, she added after a pause.

“How will I know, Di”, asked Kushi, helplessly.

“True”, said Anjali without giving her the actual information.

“Now, what did I do Di?”, asked Kushi hoping that she didn’t do anything crazy.

“You wrapped your arm around Arnav’s neck”, replied Anjali without showing any emotion.

“DID I?”, asked a shocked Kushi.

“Yup! For a moment he doubted if you were awake or not”, said Anjali giving the additional info.

Kushi felt like banging her head thinking what he might have thought about her at that moment.

“But, I told him that you were in a deep sleep and  have no clue about what you were doing”, said Anjali.

“Thanks Di!!!”,thought Kushi as she looked at Anjali.

“Hmm. But we should accept that our Arnav is pretty strong”, said  Devyani appreciating her grandson.

“That, he is! You should have seen the ease with which he carried Kushi and climbed all these stairs”, said Anjali pointing her hands at the stairs.

While Kushi’s cheeks became red, visualizing herself being cradled in his arms, Anjali and Devyani smiled as their mission was accomplished. Leaving the blushing Kushi alone, they both dispersed from there.

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-Deepti©

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