Chapter 50- Frozen hearts..will they melt by Deepti

Chapter 50

They reached the jewelry store in no time and met their mothers who were already seated at a table, looking at the designer sets which the salesman was showing. Anjali and Devyani took the two empty seats next to Aarthi, leaving no other option for Arnav and Kushi  except for the two empty seats next to Sakshi. And while an excited Kushi quickly pulled the chair next to her mother and sat in it scanning the diamond sets in front of her, Arnav too took a seat next to her. Since the chairs were closely packed,in that process of sitting, his leg brushed with hers which made her frown at him.

“What?”, he asked not understanding what that frown was for.

“Nothing”, she replied, pulling both her legs closer, and moved her chair close to her mother’s to increase the space between their chairs. And as her actions brought awareness in him, Arnav rolled his eyes and did the same by moving his chair in the opposite direction, to increase the gap further.

For the next two hours the ladies were  engrossed in checking the jewelry while Arnav was totally occupied with  his phone.  Sakshi and Aarthi finalized their sets but it was Anjali who was having a tough time. With such  wide options  in front of her it became hard for her to just choose one. And that was when Kushi came to her rescue by picking a medium length heavy diamond set from the bridal collection. Anjali tried it on along with the ear rings and everyone agreed that it would be perfect for the occasion. Though she liked the set, when she checked the price which was much higher than what she had expected, she fell in a dilemma whether to take it or leave it.

“What do you think of this set, Arnav”, she asked showing the set to her brother for his opinion.

Arnav looked at his sister and as if he read her mind he said, ” Don’t think too much about it, Di. Just take it if you like it.It looks good on you.”

A convinced Anjali smiled and confirmed that she would go with that set.

“What about you, Kushi? Did you find anything for yourself?”,  asked Sakshi addressing her daughter which drew Arnav’s attention towards the girl who was scanning all the sets in front of her.

“No, Maa! All these are too heavy”, complained Kushi feeling disheartened that she didn’t find anything that interested her.

Hearing this the salesman  suggested Kushi to have a look at the other section of the store where they had the finer designer sets and asked his colleague to assist Kushi. And Kushi vacated her seat and eagerly followed that guy hoping that she would find something for herself.

Meanwhile Arnav got a call on his cell and since the signal was not so good, he excused himself from the group and came out of the store to take the call. He walked past Kushi to exit the store but she didn’t notice this as she was too busy in looking at the sets. She was looking at each set, one after the other when a particular set caught her attention. It was a diamond choker necklace with floral pattern. The flowers in the necklace were connected with fine curvy vines which were highlighting the design and it came with matching dangler earrings which were about two inches in length. There was a spark in her eyes as she was thoroughly impressed with that piece and this didn’t go unnoticed by the man, who was taking his call, standing on the other side of the glass door.

Kushi asked the salesman to take that set out of the box so that she could try it on. And when the guy  obediently followed her instructions, she placed the choker necklace on her neck and checked herself in the mirror. On the other hand, Arnav who was done with his call, came back into the store and stood still watching her. He liked the necklace on her swan like neck and from the look on her face, he understood that she had made her choice.

“I want to show this to my family”, said Kushi, addressing the salesperson, taking the necklace off her neck.

“I can get it for you, Mam”, responded the guy taking the necklace back from Kushi. And while he got busy in putting it back in the box, Kushi excitedly went back to her group to let them know that she was successful in her quest.

The others were glad that she finally found something and since they were looking at the ruby sets in the absence of Kushi, they asked her opinion on the sets that they shortlisted.

“Dhadhi chose this one. Don’t you think it will go well with the lehenga which you designed for the sangeet?”, asked Anjali moving the set towards Kushi.

Kushi agreed with Devyani’s choice and the next ten minutes rolled by as Anjali tried the set and the rest gave their opinions. In between, Kushi tried to look for the guy who was supposed to get her set, but since that section of the store was not visible from the place where she was sitting, she gave up, and waited patiently.

After ten more minutes when there was no trace of that guy, Kushi asked the salesman who was showing the ruby sets to check on the other guy. He passed on this duty to another person who went and brought the guy along with him.

Looking at the guy whose hands were empty, ” Where were you? And why didn’t you get that set. Please go get it”, said Kushi, without giving him a chance to speak. And when she noticed the change of colors on his face, “What happened?”, she asked raising from her seat.

“Actually….. sorry Mam. That set got sold”, replied the guy  very politely.

“What? When? You never mentioned that when I was trying the set. Moreover, you did say that you will get it here, right?”, Kushi questioned him.

“I did, Mam. But unfortunately, the moment you left from there, there came a Sir who insisted on buying that set”, replied the salesman.

“And you sold it to him? Just like that? Without even asking me if I was going to take it or not?”, inquired Kushi.

“No Mam. I did tell him that you were expecting me to get that set to your table. But he said that he was in a rush. So.. I had to…”, paused the guy, who was scared to meet Kushi’s eyes.

“I don’t know what you are going to do. Go and get it from him”, ordered Kushi in a threatening tone.

“Sorry Mam. It’s too late. He already left the store”, replied the guy cautiously.

“Don’t you have  a similar set?”, intervened Sakshi, trying to save the guy from Kushi’s fuming gaze.

“No Mam. Everything in this store are exclusive designer pieces. We don’t replicate our designs”, announced the first salesman.

” But you do sell the designs which we have finalized to someone else.Don’t you”, retorted Kushi.

“I’m really sorry, Mam. You said you wanted to show it to your family. So I thought you just wanted them to have a look at it. Didn’t know that you were intending to buy it”, said the sales guy in an attempt to calm down Kushi.

“So did you think  we are here for some window shopping”, Kushi retorted and turning towards the ladies she said, ” Maa, Mamma..let’s go. Enough of this insult. In spite of selling something which I chose to someone else, this guy has the audacity to say that we have no intention to buy this jewelry”.

“No Mam. I didn’t mean that”, the salesman instantly responded while the ladies looked at each other not understanding what to do.

As the argument drew the attention of many other customers, the salesmen tried their best to calm down the issue. They got scared that they might lose their jobs if their manager comes to know about the issue. And while Kushi was encouraging the others to walkout from the store, both the guys tried their best to convince the ladies to not leave their seats.

“What’s going on here?’, asked Arnav intervening between the groups and seeing the man who entered the scene, the color from the second salesman’s face literally drained.

“Sir!!”, he exclaimed for which he got a glare in response.

Anjali quickly gave an overview of what exactly happened hearing which, ” So? What’s the big deal?”, questioned Arnav.

“How can you say that?”, responded Kushi. “It might not be a big deal for you. But it is for me. Do you know how much I liked that set? You don’t. So it would be better if you don’t say anything in this context”, she added.

“Oh come on! This isn’t the only store in the entire Delhi which sells diamonds. You might find what you are looking for in some other store”, said Arnav taking the matter into his hands.

“Just tell me one thing. Why should we not take the jewelry which we have already finalized”, he asked and when she didn’t respond, he said, ” Just because you didn’t get what you want, you can’t force others to give up what they liked”, hitting a raw nerve.

“I don’t have any such intention”, replied Kushi whose anger was now directed towards the man who was accusing her of something which she would never even think about doing.

“But that is what you are doing”, he said  enlightening her, hearing which Kushi sank back into her chair.

“Arnav, will you stop it now”, Aarthi warned him and addressing Kushi she said, ” If you don’t want us to buy anything from this store,that’s okay with us. Like Arnav said, this isn’t the only store in the entire city.We might find something better than this too”, showing the sets which were already finalized. Kushi looked at the boxes which sat proudly bearing the elegant diamond and ruby sets and as the rest supported Aarthi’s words, she felt she was being very silly.

“It’s okay. No one has to sacrifice anything. Let’s buy what we like from here and move on to the next store”, she finally said, relieving the salesmen from the tension.

“Are you sure?”, asked Arnav for which he got a glare in response along with a ‘YES’.

While he left from there to settle the payment, with a victorious grin on his face, Kushi didn’t understand what to make out of it. “What an obnoxious person he is! He is happy just because I didn’t get something I wished for. Stupid, idiot, moron….”, she went on with the list until she felt little better and then looked at the salesmen who were biting each others ears. From the very look of it was  evident that they were discussing about her. “ Must be about the drama which I just created”, she thought and tried to ignore them as they got busy in packing the jewelry boxes.

Since Sakshi and Aarthi accompanied Arnav to deal with the billing , the rest three waited at the table until the jewelry was ready to be handed over. And when handling the last bag to Kushi, the second salesman couldn’t help but ask, ” Mam, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Yes I do. But still… ASK”, responded Kushi who was curious to know what it was.

“Is that Sir your husband or fiance?”, he asked shooting out the question which had been bothering him for a while, pointing his hand at Arnav. Hearing this while  Devyyani and Anjali burst out laughing, Kushi’s mouth fell open looking at the man who was busy at the billing counter.

“I’m saying that he is your husband while my friend here thinks he is your fiance. So we just wanted to confirm which one of us is right”.

“No one”, replied Kushi glaring back at them.

“Then is he your brother,Mam?”, inquired the guy which made Kushi literally jump in her seat.

“He must be yours. Not mine. Okay”, she replied fuming with anger and pushing the chair backwards, she raised from her seat and walked away from there while the giggling duo followed her silently.

“You were telling that he was the one who bought that choker set. And she is telling that he is not at all related to her”, said the first salesman to the second one, as soon as the women were out of sight.

“That is what is bugging me. Why would anyone buy something worth twenty lakhs for someone when they both are not related”, replied the second salesman scratching his head.

” It must be for someone else whom he didn’t want his family to know about”, replied the first salesman, who got busy in clearing the table.

“May be… but did you see how he managed. Had it not been for him we would have lost our jobs today”, said the  second one expressing his gratitude towards Arnav.

“Had it not been for him, all this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. That madam would have bought the set and we both would have been  saved from all this trauma”, corrected the first one. “That’s true”, agreed the second one who extended his hand to help the first one.

***********************************************************************************

Their next stop was at an equally famous store that was well known for it’s diamond jewelry and as soon as they were assigned a salesman, Kushi gave him the details of the choker set which she had in her mind. But even after spending an hour when she didn’t find what she was looking for, the clan moved on to a different store.  Kushi tried her luck there too and was disappointed when she didn’t find anything which was at least close to what she liked earlier.

“It’s getting late. May be we should return tomorrow and check in others stores too”, suggested Sakshi who felt bad seeing Devyani getting tired with the shopping.

Kushi was all set to give up her quest when the salesman displayed something which caught everyone’s attention.It was a necklace with a combination of natural untreated cushion shape rubies and diamonds. Each ruby was surrounded by small diamonds and they were connected to each other with a large diamond. The danglers also had a large ruby which was surrounded with diamonds and though that piece was neither a choker nor had a floral pattern, it pleased everyone including Kushi.

Sakshi made her daughter try it and when  Kushi wore the whole set, including the danglers, Arnav couldn’t help but wonder, “ How come everything looks good on her”.

“This is so beautiful, Kushi. Take it”, said Aarthi and the rest agreed with her.

Kushi took the hand mirror and checked herself.The set indeed looked great on her and this pushed her into a dilemma. Looking at the girl who was lost in a thought, “Now what is bugging her?”, thought Arnav ,who wanted her to take that set.

“How much will this cost?”, asked Kushi addressing the salesman, and Arnav got his answer. After making some calculations the salesman said ” Around twelve lakhs, Madam.  If you are interested in buying it you can talk to our manager. He will be able to give you the final price”.

“No. I don’t want this”, replied Kushi whose expression changed the moment she heard twelve lakhs.

“But I thought you liked it”, said Sakshi who didn’t understand why Kushi was not interested to buy it.

“I do like it Maa. But I liked the one which I found in the other store, much more than this. And it looked quite expensive too. If we spend twelve lakhs on this one, I won’t be able to buy that choker set even if I find it somewhere. Babuji might not appreciate it if I spend so much on jewelry”, said Kushi explaining the facts which were bothering her.

“Silly girl! Your father wouldn’t mind  if you buy even two more sets”, responded Sakshi who told the salesman to get the final bill for that set.

“But, Maa.. Don’t you think it will be too much. “, said Kushi who stopped the salesman from following her mother’s instruction.

“I don’t understand why are you even thinking about the price. By God’s grace we have more than enough. Just take it, Kushi”, said Devyani intervening between the duo.

“But, Dhadhi…What will I do with two diamond sets”, replied Kushi. And before anyone else could react, Arnav jumped into the conversation saying, ” Take it. You can think about the other one when you find it. Technically speaking you have only one set in front of you, that can me made yours . And always, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. What if you don’t find the one which you are looking for  and what if this one also gets sold by then? Will you compromise and buy something which  you really don’t like?”

While his words made Kushi think, the other women were quite surprised to see Arnav intervene in that matter. Kushi weighed her options and she didn’t mind taking Arnav’s advice as his words made sense to her.

“Okay.. I will take it”, Kushi finally announced which made the others sigh with relief. While the salesman went to get it billed, the others followed him.  Sakshi and Aarthi stopped midway at a table to have a look at the bangles there, while the other three women walked behind Arnav, towards the billing counter.

“You weren’t ready to get it when we tried to convince you. But when Arnav did, you readily agreed? Is there anything behind it which we aren’t aware of?”, asked Anjali as if it was some innocent question, though the tease in her tone didn’t go unnoticed by the duo who were her subjects.

While Arnav smirked without turning around, ” There is nothing behind it, Di. Had I got the same reasoning from that little one instead of your brother, I still would have got convinced”, said Kushi pointing her hand towards a one year old baby who was in her mother’s laps.

Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing and when Arnav turned around and looked at the baby, he said, ” Babies of that age can’t give you  the kind of reasoning which I did.”

And when Kushi ignored his comment looking elsewhere, ” Oh ya! How will you know about them when you yourself are one”, he remarked.

As Kushi gaped at him with a wide open mouth, he walked away from there giving her a loop sided smile.

“Di, I’m warning you. One day or the other, I’m going to do something with this brother of yours”, said Kushi crumpling the end of her dupatta with her fist.

“Sure, Sure. Even we are waiting for that day”,  muttered Anjali in response making sure that it wasn’t audible enough for Kushi.

Soon they returned home in two different cars and when Shashi saw the group entering the house, he welcomed them saying, ” Is there any balance left in our accounts or is it a clean sweep?”

“You keep cracking jokes like this and this daughter of your’s will literally take them seriously”, replied Sakshi walking towards him.

“Why? What happened?”,  asked Shashi, concerned. And when Sakshi told him what happened at the store, he called Kushi to his side and said, ” What am I hearing, Kushi? What made you think that I wouldn’t appreciate if you spend money on the jewelry? Whatever we are earning is to keep you all happy.  If our kids are not able to buy something which they really like to,then that’s like a failure for us. Please don’t ever think like this, Kushi. Whatever we have is for you kids to enjoy”.

“Is it ,Babuji? Then why are you not buying the sports car which I have been asking you to?”,  asked Rishi, trying to make the most out of the discussion.

“Because, I didn’t want him to. Knowing about your rash driving I’ll never let your father buy that car for you until you complete your studies. First you complete your graduation and pass with distinction and then talk about that car “,replied Sakshi, who took a seat in the couch and started taking the jewelry boxes from the bags.

“But Maa..what will I do with a sports car after graduation. Don’t you think it will be cool if I have one now and ride it to the college everyday”, asked Rishi, imagining the steering wheel of his favorite car in his hands.

“Oh ya.. so that you can give lift to your gir…”, stopped Arnav as Rishi signaled him not to let out his secrets.

“Anymore discussion about that car and I’m going to snatch your bike keys from you”, threatened Sakshi, hearing which Rishi was horrified.

“No Maa, please don’t take such violent decisions. See, I zipped my mouth”, replied Rishi enacting the zipping action with his hand. Everyone laughed seeing his actions while Shashi resumed his lecture to Kushi. “Okay okay Babuji. I get it. I will go shopping tomorrow and buy ten more diamond sets. If you are not happy with that, I will buy ten more. Okay!Now, please leave me. I’m starving. Don’t want to fill my tummy with your lecture”, said Kushi. As Shashi pulled her ear fondly Kushi screamed and said, ” I was just kidding, Babuji”. And when Shashi left her ear, she hugged his hand and leaned onto his shoulder while her mother passed the jewelry boxes to Aakash and Shashi.

Arnav, who adored the bond which  the father and daughter shared, was watching them keenly when Rishi asked him, ” Didn’t you get bored, Arnav? Shopping and that too with the ladies! Must have been a miserable experience for you”.

While Anjali threw a pillow at Rishi, Arnav just smiled and said, ” What to do… didn’t have a choice”, drawing a line on his forehead with his right thumb. And when he got a slap on his shoulder from his sister,  ” Ouch! I was just kidding, Di. Anything for you”, he said to his sister

“So how much was the final bill? Is everything settled, Arnav?”, asked Aakash after checking Anjali’s diamond set.

Arnav responded with a nod and raised two fingers.

“That’s it? We expected it to be much higher”, said Aakash looking at Shashi.

“Don’t worry… it is going to go higher. We are not yet done with the shopping”, remarked Aarthi.

“Why will we worry? Buy whatever you people want.Who is stopping you”, teased Aakash.

“No one. And even if someone tries to stop, we wont”, taunted Aarthi exchanging a smile with Sakshi.

Once the display of the jewelry was done, everyone had their dinner and retired to their respective rooms. But when Kushi entered her room, the encounter which she last had with him in that room, flashed in front of her eyes.

“You better don’t think about it”, she warned herself and went to freshen up. After changing into her night dress she thought of checking her email but on second thoughts she crashed on the bed muttering,” First of all it wasn’t a great day. Lost in that fellow’s hand and couldn’t even get the set which I wanted to. So I shouldn’t expect anything good to happen today”.

She kept tossing and turning on her bed for couple of hours and when she failed in falling asleep, she sat crisscrossed on the bed and opened her laptop. She clicked on her inbox and waited crossing her fingers and as her eyes traveled along the laptop screen, a scream escaped from her mouth.

Right next door,”WHAT THE”, reacted  Arnav, hearing the scream. Throwing the file which was in his hand, he jumped off his bed and rushed towards Kushi’s room.

“Kushi! Kushi!”, he called out knocking on her door, in that night which was filled with silence except for his voice.  A few seconds later the door was opened and before he could say anything, Kushi threw her hands up in the air and hugged him tightly, relaxing her head on his chest.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016

-Deepti

Please Like, Comment & Share :)