Journey towards Love

Chapter 33

Khushi had no clue where she was heading to with Arnav's driver. He had messaged her the car number and hence Khushi got in without much contemplation. After a drive of about one hour, their car sped into the countryside where numerous independent houses were lined up, with beautiful gardens embellishing their beauty, and various lights adding up colours, presenting a pleasant picture to the eyes! The atmosphere was a total opposite one to that of the city with no hustle bustle, tranquility flared across, refreshing the minds of people!

Slowly, she entered a secluded area with few villas lined up here and there, each one screaming lavishness from the exterior, when the car stopped at one such villa! Khushi was mesmerised with the sight would be an understatement as she stood awestruck, drinking in the beauty of it!

'Mam, Sir is waiting for you inside', she heard the driver speak, when she saw her husband coming out himself to welcome her inside.

Arnav saw Khushi wearing a Pink suit and just like every other time, she managed to captivate him with her simple yet elegant attire.

'Whose house is this?' Khushi asked, frowning. Her curiosity always took the upper hand.

'Ours!' He said, shocking her. The word 'ours' had much meaning held onto it.

'You have a house here in New York?' She asked, willing to not ponder over the meaning of his earlier statement, while the two walked inside together.

Smiling, he answered, 'Actually two. One in the city and this one!' He said pointing to the place they were standing in. 'The one in the city is more like a workplace for me, when I come for business purposes!' He added.

'And this one?'

He was slowly losing his calm with her continuous questions, as the purpose for which they were there was completely different. But knowing Khushi, he knew she wouldn't rest without extracting all the answers.

'This house is more like my let go! Whenever I need some peace from the outer world, I seek solace here', he mentioned.

'May I have a tour of this house?' She requested.

'Of course!' He happily agreed.

He showed her every corner of the house, and she was enthralled by each and every detail that was put into its architecture.

'This is so beautiful!' She exclaimed in awe!

Nodding his head, Arnav said, 'I know. Dad wanted everything to be perfect in this house! After all, it was his first gift to me!' Though Arnav was elated in telling the facts to her, Khushi could find pain immersed in his tone!

Before she could analyse what was going on in his mind, she was led into another bedroom, that she had not seen yet! The walls were painted in white, the dark coloured curtains contrasting them, and a french door on one side that led to a balcony. Khushi noticed a huge portrait of a man and woman hung over the wall near the bed, and immediately recognised them to be of Arnav's parents. That was when she remembered that she hardly knew anything about them. All she knew was, they were dead when Arnav was a teenager, but knew no details about their death! She never asked Dadi, to avoid her thinking about her demised family, neither Arnav ever wished to speak about them. She decided, Arnav would let her know when he felt comfortable sharing it!

'They are..' he started, lump forming in his throat.

'Your parents!' She completed for him when he moved his gaze towards her. With a smile, she whispered, 'I know!'

Acknowledging with a nod, he shifted his eyes back to the photo.

'Papa died when I was sixteen!' Arnav said, tracing his fingers through his father's photo.