Be Mine, Khushi...

Feelings and Errors

Khushi trembled with disgust as she walked from the terrace.

That man...chi !  How could he be so shameless , after we all warned him to behave himself?

Lost in her own thoughts , she ran headlong into his firm chest . 

And as always, his strong arms steadied her .

"Are you okay?" A husky voice whispered.

Khushi looked up , her face, which was so pale and ashen from her earlier encounter with Shyam, was now adorned with a beautiful hue of pink. His warm brown eyes , looking down at her with concern , as he supported her petite frame.

"Ji. " she murmured , trying to extricate herself from the cage of his arms.

But she didn't want to . It felt so safe and warm . So...close to her fluttering heart. 

She had realized her attraction was slowly morphing to love for her laad governor long ago ~ even before he had so rashly declared his  engagement to Lavanya .

But she knew it was impossible . Some dreams remained dreams ~ the ground to sky gap between her and Arnav could never be ignored. Even though the rare flashes of his concern confused her , such as now, it couldn't be denied that Arnav couldn't tolerate her presence . He himself clarified that a million times before , and it was self explanatory in the way he always searched for excuses to yell at her .

"Khushi ?" Arnav shook her slightly , snapping her out of her trance .

"Yes..I'll go help jiji .." She mumbled to herself , stumbling towards the stairs .

Arnav stood there, confused by her behavior. He stopped himself from walking up to her , supporting her as she pitter~pattered down the stairs delicately , wondering what's up with her.

He really wanted to talk to her about his feelings.

Yes , his feelings. He'd finally come to accept the  sweet torture his heart was tolerating since the day she fell into his arms in Sheesh Mahal . He'd argued with himself , fought with those treacherous feelings that threatened to break down all the walls around his heart ~ he'd tried his best to break Khushi , make her hate him , make her go away, but she'd continued her assaults on his heart with the littlest of things ~ a smile , a wink, a prank , an absurd theory of her goddess , an antic , and an irrefutable charm .

He'd hurt her , in an attempt to prove himself unaffected by her . When he didn't succeed , he went mad at her. And when he did succeed , he became mad at himself for hurting her , for being the cause of her tears .

What a trepidation !

Yet , even now the words that he meant to say were stuck in his throat . How would she react? would she run away , frightened, or would she come close ?

With Khushi , he could never predict anything . Her Buaji was right ~ she indeed was a butterfly . Beautiful , restless , and unpredictable. 

He never knew if she was concerned for him because she was being attracted to him or because she was being Khushi , the Khushi who cared for everyone and everything.

Would she even believe him if he said he loved her for along time now?

She'd probably think it was a joke ~ or would she? ASR never joked . She knew that , right?

Arnav sighed . He walked into the terrace to catch some fresh air, and was surprised to see his jija ji standing there with an angry expression . 

" Jija ji ?" Arnav  asked.

Shyam looked up , his heart leaping . One look at Arnav's face was enough to assure him his secret was safe .

"I'm worried, Saale sahab ! Anjali hasn't returned yet !! "

Arnav's heart warmed seeing his love for his beloved Di .

"Oh. Don't worry , she's back. There was a minor mishap and she has a few scratches, but otherwise she is fine." Arnav replied, even as his pulse quickened thinking how close he was to losing his precious Di today .

"What ?" Shyam  didn't have to fake his surprise. 

Rani Sahiba is alive???

" How did this happen ??"

"Di said Mohan checked the car and found a few leakages . Something probably went wrong from there."

Shyam was stupefied . 

Leakage ? But he had disabled the breaks !!

"I'll go  check on Rani Sahiba !" saying thus , he quickly hurried out. 

Arnav sighed as he looked up at the stars . He was reminded of Khushi's ridiculous theory .

How can dead people end up as stars??

Yet , as he looked up at the bejeweled sky and imagined the brightest  jewel to be a remnant of his mother , he felt a strange sense of peace. 

Maybe she's right . Maybe she's wrong. But if this gives her comfort, I'm ready to believe in it.

And suddenly , he missed her . Missed watching her as she fluttered around , tripping over things and smiling at people .

He walked out of the terrace and down the stairs , craning his head to search for her among a sea of people . 

Where are you , Khushi ? 

 Spotting Nani , he walked up to her and asked " Nani have you seen Khushi ? "

Nani' s eyes twinkled as she smiled . " Why Chotte ? What do you need with her ?Shouldn't you be searching for Akash ?"

Arnav looked away , embarrassed , as he quickly thought of an excuse . " Um..I ..she..She had ..uh..borrowed..something..Ya  she  took something from me. " Arnav finished .

Nani suppressed  her laughter as she asked " Took what ?"

My heart . My sleep. My peace. My sanity. What not ?

" Nani ! Do you know or not ? "

Nani laughed now , happy to see him impatient for her Khushi bitiya .

" She went home to get some of the gifts for baarat . She'll return soon."

"What the ?! How dare she go alone ? How could you let her go just like that? She shouldn't get on an auto alone , not today ! She looks so beau~"

His hands flew up to cover his mouth. What the hell are you saying , dude ! Nani is laughing already !

" I meant .."

"Relax , Chotte. I told her to take one of our cars . Ramesh went to drive her ."

Arnav scoffed . "Yeah right Ramesh went to drive her ~ how's that supposed to make me feel better ? "

Some random Ramesh wouldn't know how to handle his crazy Khushi !

Shyam widened his eyes as he saw Khushi getting into the car meant for Anjali .

How in the world did this happen ? wasn't Rani Sahiba supposed to take this car ? Why  didn't she? WHY WAS KHUSHI GETTING IN IT ??

He tried to think of something ~ anything , to stop her . 

But he could only stare in horror as the car eased out of the driveway into the road. 

 Hey guys ! How did you like the first chapter ?

Do tell any suggestions that you may have ! 

And don't forget to vote and comment!