FF - Plot twist

Chapter 28 - Her surprise

"But why?" whined Khushi, hitting the dashboard.

"You don't know the route," said Arnav, rolling his eyes at her childish behaviour.

"You can give directions!"

"I don't trust your driving ability, Khushi, since I have never seen you drive before," explained Arnav calmly.

"You are refusing to let me drive just because I am a woman? You are a sexist!"

"Call me whatever you want but I still won't allow you to drive. And no, I am not biased towards women. In that case, Di drives better than I do."

They ranted halfway to their destination until Khushi gave up and began enjoying the route, greenery that surrounded them, and the beach-side driveway.

It was 6 in the early morning, and they now got onto the ghat road. Squealing, Khushi rolled down her window and stuck her head out, ignoring Arnav's reprimands. When looking out they could see spectacular views of fog suffused environment, the sun rising from between mountains, as they were ascended about a mile on the ghat road. Pretty soon, Arnav set off down the mountains and drove a few miles until they entered a small town.

"Arnavji, where are we going?" asked Khushi.

"Just see," he responded.

Her spirits went high again as she spotted the beach down a steep he was driving into. Mesmerised at the rise and fall of the tides, she did not notice Arnav stopping until he came over to her side and opened the door.

"Are we going to play in the water again?" she shrieked excitedly, beaming at the beach.

Shaking his head, Arnav caught her jumping form and whirled her around so that she faced the building in front of her.

"Hey Devi Maiyya!" she gasped, eyes went wide and mouth formed an 'O'.

"Yes, Khushi. This is your villa."

She gaped at the not-so-recently-built building before her; the paintings were worn off, trees grew wildly on either side, glasses cracked on the front elevation; to say bluntly, not the greatest looking house. This was Arnav's choice for her and she knew that he always picked the best out of all when choosing something. But what got her confused was why would he buy this 'old-villa' for her which was hundreds of miles away from their home.

"I.. It's beautiful.... But this looked a bit different in the picture you showed me," she whispered, eyes narrowed.

"Come," he simply said, taking her towards the house.

The more she drew nearer the building, the more ill-defined memories stirred inside her. Arnav brought her closer to him as he opened the front door.

"Do you remember anything now?" he asked.

Khushi looked around the battered, wooden-floored, large room, and suddenly, she saw a picture of it all clean and illuminated in her head.

.

.

.

.

"Khushi!" yelled her father. "Priya, come here right away!"

Priya came running to the hall with the 4-year-old Khushi hiding behind her.

"What happened, Pradeep?" she asked.

"Ask your daughter!" he growled, glaring at the chuckling Khushi.