Chapter 62- Frozen hearts...will they melt by Deepti

CHAPTER 62

“So you both are good friends??”, asked Mrs.Malhotra, as soon as she and Kushi sat in their respective seats.

“Who?”, asked Kushi, buckling up her seat belt.

“Arnav and you! Who else??”, responded Mrs.Malhotra settling in her seat.

“WHAT?? HE!! Don’t even take his name in front of me, Aunty. I just hate him!”, declared Kushi for which she got a surprised look from the other lady.

“Really! But it didn’t look that way. I thought you changed your mind just because of his convincing”, said Mrs.Malhotra expressing her doubt.

“Is that what you thought! Forget about convincing, Aunty, I can’t recollect even one decent conversation which I ever had with him. Even now, he was taunting me and was glad that I dropped the idea of going to London. And do you know what all he said”, asked Kushi and without bothering to see Mrs.Malhotra’s reaction, she went on talking about Arnav.

Watching Kushi’s interest in talking about the man for whom she declared her hatred just few seconds ago, Mrs.Malhotra couldn’t help but smile. She patiently  listened to the girl who kept talking animatedly and when Kushi was finally done with her complaints about Arnav, she passed her comment which left Kushi flabbergasted.

“I don’t know if you both are friends or enemies nor I’m no one to comment on what you think about him. But all I can say is, had it not been for him, you wouldn’t have been seated in this flight now. And I’m sure that one day you will thank him for this”, said the lady and without waiting for Kushi’s response she picked  up a magazine and got busy in checking the contents.

Though that comment made Kushi gape at the elder lady, she quickly shut her mouth and sat straight in her seat. As the words she just heard started doing rounds in her head, she kept thinking about him and recollected her last conversation with him. And she instantly realized his actual intention behind that conversation. As a wide smile appeared on her face she thanked him in her heart and felt much better as she realized that she finally got to speak with him before she boarded her flight.

Having enough time and privacy at hand she got the opportunity to set straight all her thoughts and was finally all excited about her trip to London.
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On reaching London and after collecting their baggage, the ladies just stepped out of the airport when they found  Mrs. Malhotra’s daughter and son-in-law waiting for them. And as the mom and daughter got busy in exchanging pleasantries, Kushi started looking around. Seeing a man who seemed to be in his mid thirties approaching her, she became all alert but when that man introduced himself as Arjun Shastry, and told her that he was asked by her father to pick her up, she was relieved. Without any further delay Arjun made a quick call to Shashi and after updating him about Kushi’s arrival, he passed on his phone to Kushi, who in turn had a quick chat with her father. After the call she bid a bye to Mrs.Malhotra and her family and finally followed Arjun to get into the car which was waiting for them. Since it was her first time in London, she didn’t waste even a second and kept looking through the glass window as their car raced on the streets and soon  their twenty-minute ride came to an end. On reaching their destination, she hopped out of the car and stared at the fifteen story building which was right in front of her while Arjun updated her that AR owns most of the apartments in that building.

“A few of them are rented by our employees, while the others have been given on lease to families which have nothing to do with AR”, he said as he got her baggage out of the car.

“I knew we were rich but wasn’t aware that it’s…this rich”, thought Kushi as she scanned the tall building which is going to be her residence for the next one year.

As Arjun guided her through the lobby, she followed him silently and once they got inside the lift and he pressed the number 15, Kushi was all excited to know that she was going to live on the top most floor of the building. On reaching the 15th floor they both exited the lift, took a quick right turn and finally stopped in front of a door which had the number plate 1515 on it.

“And this is your home Mam”, said Arjun fishing out the key from his pocket while Kushi corrected him politely by saying, ” It’s Kushi. Please call me Kushi”. Giving her a smile as Arjun unlocked the door and stepped aside pushing it ajar for her to enter, Kushi set her right foot inside the house and jerked seeing the person in front of her.

“Sorry Mam! I didn’t intend to startle you”, said the lady who seemed to be in her early forties, seeing the shocked expression on Kushi’s face.

“She is Stella and she will be taking care of your needs”, interfered  Arjun giving a quick intro of the women.

“Hi!”, reacted Kushi giving a sheepish grin to her and said, ” He used a key to unlock the door. So I wasn’t expecting anyone inside”, trying to give an explanation for her reaction.

“That’s okay Mam. I get it”, replied Stella taking the baggage from Arjun’s hand while Arjun said, ” Actually there are three sets of these keys. One is with her and one is with me. She usually drops the keys at my home when she is done with her work here and picks it up when she comes in”.

“Oh! So you too live here??”, asked a surprised Kushi, who was pleased to know that there would be at least one known face around.

“Yes. My apartment is on the 6th floor. I live with my wife and my five year old daughter”, replied Arjun hearing which Kushi was all excited. As she prolonged that topic inquiring him about his daughter, it didn’t occur to her that he still didn’t tell her who had the third set of keys and as their conversation moved on, Kushi totally forgot about it, though he gave her both the sets of keys.

“Since it’s your first day here, Sir had asked Stella to stay here for the night, but her actual  work hours are from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. She can stay for longer hours on any day you need her to but for that, you need to give her a prior notice. She lives few blocks away and is always a call away. She will take care of the home, cooking, laundry and anything and everything which you want her to. You father made sure that you get the best and Stella is the best we have”, said Arjun giving a detailed report about Stella and her efficiency.

While Stella flashed a smile towards her, Kushi reciprocated that smile and thanked her father silently for taking care of everything. She was glad that he had arranged  some company for her on her very first day and that was not because she was scared to live alone in that apartment. She had never lived alone till now, and having some one around on her very first day there was like a relief as she could  peacefully sleep without worrying about anything .

As she shifted her gaze from Stella and looked around the  hall, she realized that it was no small apartment as she had expected it to be.  The hall she was standing looked quite huge as if it can accommodate more than fifty people and as she  stepped forward she got a better view of the place. There was a  large LED TV mounted on the right wall of the hall with a L shaped modern white sofa in its opposite direction and seeing the white daisies which were popping out of the cyan blue flower vase that was placed on the coffee table near that sofa, a smile lit up on Kushi’s face. She instantly liked the place which she can call her new home and was excited to explore the other rooms when Arjun applied a break to her thoughts saying, ” Shashi Sir asked me to deliver this to you. It’s activated and he has your number.If there isn’t anything else which you need, I will take leave and let you rest”, passing on a new  iphone to her.

As there was nothing else which she could think of she let Arjun go and decided to explore her apartment. She walked past the sofa to reach the end of the hall while Stella went into the modular kitchen which was adjoined to the hall. As there was no wall separating the kitchen from the hall, she could see what Stella was up to and seeing the lady taking out a juice cartoon out of the refrigerator, Kushi shook her head and went ahead to check what was beyond the crimson curtains. As she moved the drapes asides she was fascinated with the sight in front of her and as she stared at the city through the glass doors, “The view from the bedroom is much more beautiful”, said Stella  interrupting Kushi’s thoughts.

“Is it!”, reacted Kushi taking the juice glass which Stella brought for her  while Stella smiled and said, “Here, this way”, guiding Kushi to the other  part of the apartment. The small passage from the middle of the hall led them to two rooms whose doors were right next to each other. And as they  entered the first room, Stella moved the curtains aside and seeing the view in front of her, Kushi was elated. She could see London eye and Thames river right through the glass doors and not able to hold back her excitement she rushed to the doors and slid the french door to enter into the balcony. Once she set her foot outside and looked at the moon in the sky and its reflection in the river, she made up her mind and said, “THIS is going to be my room for the next one year”. She stood there for few minutes looking around and  finally stepped inside to check out the interiors of her room and out of nowhere a question popped in her head. “Was this HIS room during his stay in London?”

“Why do I keep thinking about him”, she said aloud shaking her head and seeing Stella getting her baggage into the room, she shut her mouth and went to help her. Once she was left alone,  ” It might have been his room but NOW it’s MINE”, she muttered as she placed one of her suitcases on the bed and after taking out a night dress out of it, she went to take a shower in her bathroom which was attached to the bedroom.

A hot shower after the long journey pampered all her muscles and feeling fresh as a flower as she stepped out of her room to pamper her tummy which was growling for food, she found the dinner served on the dining table. Seeing the hot rotis and panner curry waiting for her to attack, she beamed with happiness and enjoyed the dinner appreciating Stella’s cooking skills and was glad to know that her personal chef was an expert in more than six international cuisines.

Post dinner she retired to her room and as she was really tired neither that new place nor the new bed  bothered her much and she instantly fell asleep as soon as she crashed on the bed.

As the first day of her college was on Wednesday she had two full days in her hand and as she had nothing much to do to kill the time,she spent the first half of Monday unpacking her stuff. She called her mom as she started unpacking the suitcases and  by the time she was done with that call, she was done arranging her stuff too. In the evening she was invited for dinner by Arjun and so picking up some chocolates which she had brought for herself, she went to Arjun’s apartment which was on the 6th floor after asking Stella to leave for the day.   She received a warm welcome from Arjun’s wife Nidhi and their cute little daughter Siya and though she felt that their apartment looked much smaller compared to hers , she soon realized that their hearts weren’t. She instantly got bonded with the little one and didn’t realize how the time flew as she sat with their family. After having a yummy dinner and very good time with Arjun’s family she finally went back to her apartment and slept  peacefully on that night too.

On Tuesday, she spent most of her time making calls to India and spoke to all her dear ones which included her three friends and by the time she was done with all those calls she started sensing a slight pain  on the right side of her head. Talking on the phone for hours without switching sides did give her a bad head ache and by noon she had to take a nap to get at least some  relief from that pain. And in the evening though Arjun and Nidhi offered to give her a little tour of the city, she had to postpone that offer as the throbbing pain in her head kept bothering her.

After having an early dinner she felt like sleeping  immediately but as Stella wanted to complete her chores before leaving, Kushi had to wait until she left. Locking the main door she went to her room to sleep but as her afternoon nap affected her regular sleep pattern she had to  toss and turn for a long time on the bed before she finally went into a deep slumber around 11 p.m.

As she felt thirsty, she woke up around 3 am and extended her hand to get a hold on the bottle which she had kept on the side table without opening her eyes completely. And as she raised the bottle to take a sip from it she realized that it was empty. Cursing herself for not keeping a full bottle there, she got off her bed and went towards the kitchen without opening her eyes completely as she feared that doing so might keep her awake for the rest of the night. Without turning on any lights and with her eyes half closed, she somehow managed to reach the kitchen  and after picking up a bottle from the fridge, she had some water and turned around to get back to her room.

In her semi sleep state she walked past her room and went into the room which was adjacent to hers. And as that room too was dark like hers,  she walked straight inside and tried to feel for her bed with both her hands. On figuring out the bed she went and slept on it and pulling the comforter over her head she snuggled in it and  fell fast asleep unaware of the fact that she wasn’t in her room. As  minutes rolled by she went into a deep slumber and as she rolled in her sleep she felt her head rest on something hard. Missing the comfort of her soft pillow as she stirred in her sleep and pressed her left cheek against that hardness, the sound of a faint heartbeat reached her ears. Thinking that it was just her dream, she stayed still for a minute but as the throbbing continued she was awakened from her sleep. Becoming conscious as she pressed her ear against the hardness, the sound of the heartbeat became prominent in that silent room and this made her shot open her eyes. Fearing the worst as she sat upright on the bed ‘click’ came a sound and the next moment the room was filled with room.

Staring at the figure next to her while she screamed as if she was seeing a ghost, “WHAT THE!”, reacted Arnav on finding her  on his bed.

The day he was asked to prolong his stay in New York, he made up his mind to pay her a visit on his way back home and hence giving an excuse that he needs to check something important in their London office, he got a ticket booked to London. His flight landed in London Heathrow airport at midnight and by the time he checked out and reached the apartment it was around 1 in the night. As he  had the master-key to the flat he preferred not to wake up the girl who was sleeping inside and entered the apartment at that odd hour without making any sound. Locking the main door behind him he waited for few seconds to become familiar with the darkness and as the moonlight seeping through the ‘drapes gave him enough guidance he started walking towards the room which was once his. As he tried to turn the knob on the door, he realized that it was locked from inside and this didn’t surprise him a bit. ” Why would she take any other room when this one offers the best view”, he thought as he stood still in front of that door and wondered if he should make her aware of his presence. It had been ten long days since he last saw her and every part of him was craving to have one glimpse of her. He lifted his hand to knock on the door but stopped midway as he didn’t feel like disturbing her sleep.

“I waited this long. Can’t I wait for another 5 or 6 hours?“, he asked himself and gave up the idea of waking her up. Entering the room which was right next to hers he sighed and hoped for the sun to rise soon, but little did he know that there was no need for him to wait that long.

After taking a shower and changing into his night tracks, he went to the kitchen in search of something that could take care of his hunger pangs and on finding some fruits in the fruit basket, he settled with two bananas and few grapes.  Without making any sound he came back to his room and by the time he fell fast asleep it was close to 2 a.m. The journey and the previous days work did push him into such a deep slumber and he slept like a log until he felt a weight land on his chest. As seconds rolled by he got used to that weight but when he felt a pressure being applied on his chest he shot open his eyes.  As his hand extend towards the switch board he felt the weight lift off his chest and as he turned on the light he found her right next to him, staring at him as if he were a ghost.

Seeing the girl who was screaming on top of her voice he jerked and shut her mouth in a reflex and stared at her hazel brown orbs which were in turn staring at him.

“Mmm… mmm”, she moaned asking him to set her free but seeing his eyes which held some intense emotions in them, she stopped fighting back and stared at him. For an instant she wasn’t sure if it was a dream or if he was indeed next to her. But his touch on her lips and his eyes which were holding numerous unsaid words cleared all her doubts and made her relax.

He read all the emotions which reflected in her  eyes in those few seconds but as they transitioned from fear and shock to a sudden calmness, he noticed something new in those hazel brown eyes which captivated him for the next few seconds. Not bothering to take off  his hand away from her mouth as he stared at her trying to  figure out what was that new feeling which she was holding in her eyes, he found her scanning his face.

She was bowled. Bowled, thrilled, excited and what not. The moment she figured out that she had company on that bed, she was engulfed in fear. And the moment the room was illuminated she was shocked to find him on the bed. But from the moment she got drowned in those pools of chocolate, her heart started jumping with joy.

She couldn’t lie to herself and accepted the fact that she indeed was happy to find him there. As her eyes scanned the rest of his face, seeing his disheveled hair which  was falling carelessly on  his forehead and a day or two old stubble on those chiseled cheek bones, she had to accept that the man in front of her was one devilishly handsome fellow. If not which being on earth would look so good  when they are in that semi sleep state. And as she got back to those  pools of chocolate which still held some tiny traces of sleep in them, he looked super delicious to her and at the very thought of it, her lips quivered and eyelids flickered.

” Delicious!!! Where do I keep getting such thoughts from?”, she frowned looking at the man who was driving her crazy with his rugged good looks and this indeed break the spell in between them. Sensing the quivering of her lips against his palm he so wished for his lips to be in place of his palm and  at the very thought of it, he came back to his senses and pulled his hand away from her mouth. Both took few seconds to compose themselves and then breaking the silence which prevailed between them, ” What are you doing here?”, asked Kushi with surprise filled in her voice.

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Am really sorry for my late update.

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