Chapter 60 Frozen hearts...will they melt by Deepti

CHAPTER 60

As her scream reached the ears of the people who were upstairs,in their respective bedrooms, they rushed out of their rooms to check on her. And hearing the commotion while Arnav quickly  shoved her belonging back into his pocket, Kushi just watched his action with her wide open eyes.

“Kushi! Are you okay? What happened?”, inquired Sakshi who was the first one to come downstairs while the others followed her. But none of her words reached the girl’s ears who seemed to be in shock with her gaze glued to Arnav’s pocket.

“What’s wrong with her? And why is she staring you?”, asked a confused Aarthi following Kushi’s gaze for which Arnav just shrugged and denied any knowledge.

“She must have had a nightmare”, said Rishi rubbing his eyes, looking at his sister who looked so shocked as if she had seen a ghost.

“For god’s sake.. she wasn’t sleeping Rishi. How will she get a nightmare. Not often but at least sometimes do try to use that brain of yours”, said Sakshi, who was worried about her daughter.

Sitting next to her daughter, she rubbed her back and called out, “Kushi!”, for which Kushi jerked and looked at her mother, astonished.

“What happened darling? Why did you scream”, asked her concerned father very softly which made her  look at the worried faces around her. And when her gaze fell back on Arnav, she just stared at him, blankly.

“Why isn’t she saying anything? Arnav, do you know what happened? You were here even before we arrived. Weren’t you?”, asked Aarthi addressing Arnav and as he got ready to finally speak, fearing what he would say, ” I  just had a  nightmare”, blurted out Kushi.

Looking at the astonished faces, she realized what a lame excuse she had given and meanwhile, “Ah! Didn’t I say the same”, responded Rishi giving her enough time to think about a convincing reason.

“Rishi! Will you please keep quite?”, reacted Sakshi and turning to her daughter she said,  “How can you get a nightmare when you weren’t even sleeping, Kushi”, tucking the hair which was falling on Kushi’s face behind her ear.

“I was sitting here and don’t know when I fell asleep,Mamma. Believe me! It’s just a bad dream”, she said pretty convincingly looking at everyone but not at him and they indeed believed her.

“Okay! Now let’s get you back to your room. And if you want I can sleep in your room today”, said Sakshi stroking her daughter’s back. As Kushi instantly declined the offer Sakshi took the responsibility of escorting her to her room and left her alone only when Kushi assured that she was fine.

Once she was back in her room and all alone, Kushi processed her thoughts and was mad at that man who made her have the most embarrassing moments of her life…all in a single day. Not only did he make her lose in the challenge and made her not get the money but also entered her room to fix her  blouse and got a good skin show. And as if all those were not enough, was carrying one of her inner wears in his pocket. Kushi banged her head at the very thought of it. “Damn! He still has it with him”, she muttered and stepped out of her room to get back what was hers that was in his possession now.

He was wondering when and where to return her belonging when he heard the knock on his door and his sixth sense did tell him that it was her. As he opened the door, he found her right in front, and as he stared at her, she looked around to check their surroundings  and ordered,”Step out”!

And following her order when he stepped out, “How dare you!”, she asked coming on to him which made him  step backwards. And though he was glad to see his tigress back in action instead of the helpless girl who had been weeping few minutes ago, he didn’t let it reflect on his face and just shrugged. As his action infuriated her, she moved forward saying, ” You didn’t let me get the money, you didn’t let me win the bet, and you did this all by entering  my room in my absence. How dare you do that!”, while he moved backwards.

As his back collided with the cold wall, he stood still and shrugged gesturing that he did not need dare to do any of the acts which she mentioned.

“And to top it all you rummaged my wardrobe and shamelessly picked up my…”, she paused realizing what she was talking. As shyness took over her anger, her face became all red and she started searching for words, looking away from him.

Looking at his tigress who was now in her kitten avatar, he grabbed her shoulders and in one swift moment switched positions with her. As her bare back touched the cold wall a chill ran down her spine and she flushed looking straight into his eyes. And as he looked intently at her she felt her heart thudding and not able to bear the gaze which was making her insides melt, she lowered her gaze and let it rest on his chest.

“Came to get it”, he asked huskily after few seconds for which she gently nodded.

“Take it. It’s in my pocket”, he whispered, without taking his hands off her. As she looked at him, he looked back at her  encouragingly and she hesitantly lifted her right hand to reach the left pocket of his sherwani. Slipping her hand into it while she tried to feel the thing which she was looking for, he didn’t let his gaze move away from her face. As she struggled to fish out the thing she moved a bit and this caused the hair tucked behind her ear to fall freely on her face.

Her eyes sparkled as she got a hold of her thing, noticing which, “Found it?”, asked Arnav. As she shook her head and pulled it out of his pocket, he didn’t move an inch nor let his eyes wander anywhere away from her face. He blew the fringe which was falling on her face and as his hot breath tickled her skin, she crushed the fabric in her fist and stood still looking back at him.

She was always aware of his good looks but seeing him today that close she felt she knew very little about those chocolate brown orbs which were taking a deeper shade now with each passing second. She was mad at him for the past few days for many reasons and was trying to keep herself away from him to fight back the catastrophic attraction she was having for him. But with him now so near she  didn’t feel like fighting back anything and letting go all her inhibitions she stood still while his gaze was fixed on her features.

Keeping himself away from her had really been a big challenge for him after the evening’s incident and only he knew how much self control he had to exhibit to keep his hands off her when he had helped her with her blouse. But now with her, back in his hands, he didn’t feel like letting her go. While her crimson red cheeks were throwing an open challenge to him, his gaze traveled from her almond shaped eyes whose thick, curvy eyelashes were fluttering like the wings of a butterfly depicting how nervous she was,to her luscious pink lips which were  quivering. He remembered her wearing a lipstick on them but now even without any additional coating of color, they looked quite rosy to him and in her nervousness while she wet her lips, his insides moaned and he was tempted to feel the softness of her lips with his.

As he tilted his head bringing it closer to hers, she tightened both her fists and shutting her eyes waited for him to calm down the feelings which were creating havoc in her.  Seeing her tightly shut eyes he was no more sure of his actions and he brought himself to a sudden halt as he was not sure if she too was ready for that kiss as much as he was.

Lost in that thought while he loosened his grip on her, she opened her eyes and looked surprisingly at him. He knew that staying at such a close proximity to her might make him end up in doing what he had been waiting to do, irrespective of what she wants or doesn’t and fearing this, he took a step backwards and said, “Leave, before I change my mind”.

Though he didn’t provide any details  as if she knew what he had in mind, she rushed and ran into her room without looking back.

Locking the door while she rested her back against it, she could feel the pounding of her heart and it took her a while to calm down. ‘Leave before I change my mind’, his words resonated in her head and somehow she wished she should have stayed to witness what he had in his mind. And slapping on her head for getting that thought she walked towards the wardrobe to put her belonging back in its place. As she pulled out the middle drawer and placed it in there, it came back to her that he had been carrying it in his pocket  since evening. Covering her face with her hands , “Why in the world do I keep getting such weird ideas. Why did I have to pick this place of all the others to hide those sandals!!” ,she asked herself.

“Confidence… no no…over confidence.Over confidence that no one will find them here. But did I think even for a second how awkward it would be if someone finds them here…in my drawer. No! Why will I!! When I’m such a dumb confident idiot!! Of all the people had HE had to find them here!!Damn!! Looks like my time itself is terrible today. If not why will I call him to fix my blouse”, she said looking at the image in her mirror as she started untying the threads at the back of her blouse. And when she looked at her bare back in the mirror she visualized him watching her like that and blushed. She stood still recollecting the moments she spent with him throughout the day and the flashes of him fixing her blouse, hiding in her bathroom due to her aunt’s visit to her room, she pushing him into her balcony, Arnav coming out of her room and getting caught by his grandmother, the way he cornered her on the stairs, his flower shower and on top of all…the encounter which she just had with him, played in front of her eyes and she couldn’t help but smile. Did she just think her time was terrible today. Of course it wasn’t. If not why would she be smiling thinking about all her encounters with him? Curling her hair with the tip of her index finger as she got lost in her thoughts her eyes suddenly fell on the clock and she blinked and realized how late it was.

She picked up a night dress and before getting undressed she went and checked the balcony door. “By now he must have gained enough experience in using this route. I have no plans to give him a full show not to mention the half one I gave him already”, she muttered while locking the french door and pulling the blinds. She changed her dress  while his thoughts kept popping up in her head and no matter what she did until she crashed on her bed, he was in her thoughts. And finally when she closed her eyes and fell asleep he was still there…. in her dreams.

In the room next to her, Arnav was having a hard time to fall asleep. He took a shower and changed into his night tracks as soon as he entered  his room to calm down the feelings which were torturing him. But her thoughts didn’t leave him alone even for a second  after she left him in the hallway and ran into her room.  He lied on his bed and started recollecting all the moments he spent with her and realized that the various visual treats which she had offered him since evening were still fresh in his memory. He got to witness her in all her moods in a single day and oh boy, he was mesmerized by those eyes which reflected all her emotions.Starting from the fear in her eyes when she had discovered him in her room, the shock in them when her aunt was at her doorstep, the dare in them when  she had challenged him on the stairs, the fire they emitted when he didn’t let her win the challenge, the jealousy which was so evident in them when he was communicating with her friend, the fake anger they exhibited when he showered flowers on her, the shyness they expressed when he tried to remind her where he found the sandals, the sorrow they carried while she recollected the moments she shared with Anjali, every emotion of hers captivated him.

As he thought of the  anger she tried to depict when he showered flowers on her, a smile lit up on his face and as the image of her running  away from him when he tried to talk about  the sandals flashed in front of his eyes, that smile grew wider. Each and every emotion her hazel brown eyes displayed got permanently registered in his mind and he fell in love with all those emotions except for that one which made tears dwell in her eyes. The image of her shedding tears kept disturbing him and he tossed and turned on the bed as he couldn’t get it off his head. One thing became very much clear to him and that was….he can bear anything but not those tears in her hazel brown eyes. And that was the moment he decided never should HE be the reason for her tears.

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The next morning, he was having breakfast with the others while she was nowhere to be seen. Her father’s inquiry helped him in acquiring knowledge about her whereabouts and  he wasn’t surprised to know that she was still asleep.

He had been waiting to get a glimpse of her from the moment he woke up but little did he know that the wait is not as short as he had anticipated it to be. The call which Aakash received brought some major changes in Arnav’s plans  and he was surprised to know that he had to leave to New York as soon as possible to attend a meeting which was actually scheduled for next week .

“But isn’t that the meeting which babuji is supposed  to attend?”, asked Arnav expressing his doubt.

“Yes it is.It was supposed to take place on next Friday but due to some complications on the client’s front they want it to be expedited and now it’s on this Wednesday. It’s Monday today and an entire day will go in travelling. So we need to leave today and keeping Kushi’s  travel in mind, I don’t think Shashi should travel to the US today. Though the meeting is on Wednesday, it might take a day or two to straighten other things there and I don’t want him to be caught up between that mess when he should be here, spending some time with his daughter. I need to take care of many things here because of which I can’t go in his place. That’s leaves only you who can take care of this matter”, explained Aakash. While Shashi was glad to know about his friends reasonable thinking, Arnav wasn’t.

“Kushi’s travel? When? Is it in a weeks time or what?“, he wondered and not able to keep his doubts to himself, “When is she leaving to London?”, he asked pretty casually.

While Devyani was extremely glad to hear that, ” Don’t you know? This Sunday”, responded”, Sakshi serving him a bread toast.

“Mrs Malhotra is travelling to London  this Sunday to visit her daughter’s family and we thought it would be better to send Kushi along with her rather than sending her alone. So got Kushi’s ticket booked with Mrs Malhotra’s”, explained Shashi.

“Great! And no one cared to even mention it to me“, he thought breaking the toast into pieces with his fork.

” As if you  were concerned!  Knowing the equation you both shared, who would have though that you would be bothered?”, questioned his inner voice.

“But of course I am!!”, screamed his heart.

“I will talk to our travel desk and will ask them to take care of  your tickets, Arnav. But you better be prepared to leave in the evening. And ya… collect the files and necessary information from Shashi”, ordered Aakash, before leaving the table. Though he nodded his head in response, Arnav was quite restless with all the sudden happenings. Wrapping up his breakfast, he informed Shashi that he would meet him in the office, and walked out of the house grabbing his car keys.

As he raced his car on the main road he couldn’t help but mutter, ” What’s the need to send her off on 14th when her course is going to start on 21st.  Just because she will be getting some company do they have to send her a week early? How ridiculous! Is she a baby or what!” He was thoroughly  frustrated but had no idea with whom in particular.

“Dammit!!! Why is she leaving that early??”, he asked himself banging his palm on the steering wheel.

“May be, she wants to run away from you as soon as possible??”, his mind tried to poke him.

“Shut up”, he barked.

“No that’s not it. She must have thought it would give her  ample time to settle down before her college actually starts”, he muttered and tried to calm down to think little reasonably. If he was the one who made all this possible, then why is the news of her sudden departure affecting him this badly? He asked himself and after some thought found an answer.

He wanted to be beside her when she would be taking the first step to pursue her dream and he wanted to spend some time with her before she leaves to London.  He wanted  to give her a proper send off but with this sudden trip of his, which is  posing a threat to both his wishes, he realized the cause for his frustration.

He made some mental calculations muttering, ” If the meeting is on Wednesday…. and if I can wrap up things by Friday…. I can still make it home by Saturday…… and send her off on Sunday”.

“Perfect! That’s it”, he said aloud feeling much relaxed with his planning, and by that time he reached his office. With a pretty hectic schedule ahead of him, he didn’t get any breathing time till evening and since his tickets were booked for the night flight for which he needs to be at the airport by 8 p.m, he left from work at 5 p.m.

He reached home and hopped out of the car, hoping to see that one person whom he wanted to meet before he left to New York. But as he entered the house and looked for her, there was no trace of her. The quietness in the house told him that she was not at home and there was no way  he would  inquire others about her whereabouts as it  would lead to unnecessary attention. So, instead of wasting time, he went directly to his room to pack his bags, hoping that she would be home before he left and  left his bedroom door ajar so that he would know  if there was any slight movement in her room. He didn’t have time to ponder over why he was so desperate to see her but what he knew was he needed to see her. He spent the next ten minutes to pack his stuff and once done, he checked the files and placed them in his briefcase. Since it would take him twenty four hours to take his next shower, he decided to take one right now, to keep himself fresh and relaxed and once done with it, he got ready and checked the time while slipping on his watch on the wrist. 6.15 it read and yet there was no trace of her.

“DAMN!! Why can’t she be at home??”, he said all frustrated and as his eyes landed on the Rolex watch on his wrist, the memory of how she gifted that to him filled his thoughts and a faint smile danced on his lips. Leaving a deep sigh he dragged his  trolley suitcase with one hand and holding his briefcase with the other, he came out of his room.

“Need some help??”, asked Rishi who was coming out his room, spotting Arnav in the hallway.

“Nope! They  aren’t that  heavy”, he replied taking the stairs and on reaching the living room, leaving his baggage near the main door, he came and sat on a couch where the ladies were already seated.

He made a call to his sister to update her about his sudden trip but didn’t inquire how her  first day at her in-law’s place was as Anjali’s voice said it all. Hearing her chirpy voice he felt content and after ending that call, he made couple other calls to his staff. And by the time he was done with all those calls it was 7 pm. He looked at the main entrance and as if she read his mind,   “Where is Kushi? Did she not return??”, asked Devyani addressing Sakshi.

“She said she will be back by 6 but there is no trace of this girl.She isn’t even picking her phone. Don’t know what to do with this girl. She never keeps her word and comes on time. She and her  friends”, complained Sakshi.

As his mother served him dinner he went towards the dining hall after giving a glance to the entrance and had his dinner in  silence. He didn’t utter even a single word as he was busy scolding that one girl in his mind, who was the cause of his misery.

“Of all the days does she have to go outside today only. She doesn’t even have college. Where could she have gone? Friend’s place or shopping! But still.. can’t she return on time? She wasn’t awake when I left in the morning and now this. It’s been more than 20 hours since I last saw her and wonder when I will see her again! Damn, this girl”, he thought as he finished his dinner and kept the plate in the sink.

He checked the time for the umpteenth time and as  he was getting late, giving up the hope of meeting her before his departure, he took the blessings of the elders and walked out of the house.

Sitting in the car as he waved his hand  to the people standing there, ” If only she was here!“, cried his heart.

“ As if she would wave her hand and say a sweet bye to you“, teased his mind.

With a heavy heart he left his home and after an hour checked in at the airport to take his flight to New York.

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She came back around 8.00 pm and was all prepared to hear her mother’s scoldings. Not that she didn’t inform her about the delay but the blunder she made was, she was little late in informing her. Okay! Not little late…to be precise, she called at 7.40 saying that she will be home by 8 and here she is keeping her word… back on time.

How can she be blamed for coming late when she indeed intended to come home by 6 at the time she stepped out of the house. She went for shopping in the afternoon with her three friends and just when they were about to wrap up their shopping and return, they met few old buddies from school in the mall. Being in the same city, since they lost touch with each other there was a lot to catch up and hence they had to hang out. Sitting comfortably in KFC and enjoying the chitter chatter along with the food there, she lost track of time and realized that she got late only after they paid the bill and came out of the mall. She gave a call to her mother to inform her about her whereabouts but the change in her mother’s tone did tell her that she was not going to get a great welcome.

And now when she entered the house keeping her  right foot inside, she took a peek into the living room to check if her mom was there  and on not finding her anywhere around, she confidently stepped inside and moved forward to escape to her room before her mother catches her and gives her a big lecture. She reached the staircase and was about to set a feet on the first stair when she spotted Sakshi coming out from the kitchen and as her gaze met with her mother’s she stopped in her tracks and gave a sheepish grin to her.

But when Sakshi completely avoided her and went to set the plates on the dining table, Kushi realized that her mother was really mad at her. Leaving the packets in her hand on the floor she rushed towards her mother and hugging her from behind, ” Sorry Sorry Sorry”, she apologized.

As Sakshi slapped on her hand to set herself free from her daughter’s grip,”Ouch!! Maa… it hurts”, complained Kushi rubbing her one hand with the other.

“What hurts? What is the time now?”, asked Sakshi, demanding Kushi to answer.

“8”, muttered Kushi, hiding her gaze from her mother.

“And at what time did you promise to return??”, she asked again.

“Six! But maa.. this is cheating….I never made any promises.I did say that I will be back by 6, but it’s just that we met a couple of our school friends at the mall.We went to KFC and started chit chatting and didn’t realize when two hours went for a toss”,  explained Kushi.

“Ya.. its ‘just that’ for you. But what about me? You said you will be back by 6 and I have been waiting for you since then.  Had you told 8, I wouldn’t be waiting for you wondering what’s taking you so long. And on top of it you never even answered my calls”, complained Sakshi.

“I’m so sorry for that Maa. My phone was on silent and I realized it only when  I took it out to call you”, apologized Kushi. And when Sakshi shook her head and looked away, “Now please excuse my mistake and give me a smile. I’m assuring  that I won’t repeat it”, said Kushi.

“Of course you wouldn’t. How would you when you will be thousands of miles away from me in less than a weeks time. Be it six or eight, there will be no one to question you there. Enjoy your freedom in London without my nagging”, said Sakshi sniffing and Kushi understood what’s bothering her mother so much.

Figuring out that her mother has already started missing her and is  worried about her leaving to London, Kushi shook her head and looked at her mother fondly. And on the other side Sakshi was trying her best to mask her emotions with a fake anger.
She was feeling helpless as she has to send her daughter away in five days  and those thoughts have been disturbing her from a while now. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Kushi, before she leaves to London, but with her daughter being busy with her shopping and spending time with her friends, she was worried if she would ever get any time with her, before she leaves. Isn’t she her friend? Can’t she go out with her?? Not able to hold back her insecurities she spilled them out in different way and said, ” Do what ever you want to. Who cares! Hang out with your friends, go shopping with them and come home whenever you feel like. Who am I to ask. Now it’s your friends and later it would be your husband, kids, your family, career, etc etc. You are still not a baby to roam around catching an end of my saree pallu. So who am I to care. You are a big girl now so do whatever you feel like.”

While  the ladies watching the drama understood what’s was going on with Sakshi, Kushi too totally got what’s wrong with her mom.

“Hello Hello! Hold on Maa! Now where did this husband and kids come from? Just because I was late by 2 hours and didn’t inform you about the delay do you have to play a reel of my entire life? And why do you think I’m still not a baby. Of course I am. Be it 5, 25 or 55, I’m always your baby,Maa. And I also don’t mind holding this pallu while roaming around you. But you see,people might mind. And that’s the only reason why I don’t hold it anymore”, said Kushi picking up the end of her mom’s saree pallu.

While the other three ladies giggled seeing this, Sakshi pulled her saree pallu back and faking an anger she said, ” Enough of your drama, Now go and freshen up. Dinner is ready”.

Though amused to see her mom’s reaction, Kushi was equally concerned. “Maa..”, she called out looking at her mother and when Sakshi  looked into her eyes, she was all melted.

“What? Now can’t I have dinner with you?”, she asked  for which Kushi smiled and said,    ” Of course you can. Not just today’s dinner but let’s do it this way. Why don’t you join me for  the shopping  tomorrow. We can have our lunch outside and may be, we can also watch a movie. How does that sound?”, excitingly.

“Seriously! What about your friends then?”, asked  a surprised  Sakshi.

“What about them?”, asked Kushi.

“Don’t you want to go with your friends?”, inquired Sakshi.

“Of course I’m going with my friend. Aren’t you my friend?”, countered Kushi hearing which Sakshi beamed with happiness.

“What about us?”, asked the other ladies for which Kushi turned and said, “You ladies are most welcome to join”.

“May be on some other day. We will let the mom and daughter spend some quality time together “, announced Aaarthi on behalf of the other two ladies too.

Since the program for the next day was finalized Kushi went o freshen up and by the time she returned she found the men too return from their work.

“Now where is this guy?“, she wondered taking a seat next to her father and blushed as the previous night’s encounter with Arnav crossed her head.

While serving the roti’s in her plate Kushi’s eyes twinkled seeing a bowl of jalebis on the dining table and she grinned looking at her mother as she picked up a jalebi from the bowl.

She must have taken a bite when she heard Aarthi ask , ” Did Arnav give a call?? Is his flight on time?”, addressing Aakash.

“Flight?? Where did he go??”, Kushi couldn’t help but wonder, forgetting to chew the piece in her mouth.

While Aakash gave a positive nod in response to Aarthi’s question, “When will he be reaching New York?”, asked Devyani. Hearing this while the sweet in Kushi’s hand slipped  into the plate, the piece in her mouth tasted bitter to her…. or was it the news which she just heard.

“New York!!!”, she mumbled looking into the space.

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Deepti © myriad of my dreams- Never stop dreaming