Journey towards Love

Chapter 9

Elite Restaurant- An hour later:

'Damn this girl! I told her to come within half an hour and she is late', cursed Arnav for the late arrival of Khushi.

The moment he finished his rant, he saw Khushi entering in a hurried manner, glancing at her watch. That was when Arnav took a detailed view of her, right from her face till her legs. She was wearing a pink dress that complemented her colour well. Her simple attire made him appreciate her inwardly, and the hair left free, which stood bouncing at her back, disturbing her vision once in a while, when she tried holding them back. A simple pair of earrings, a wrist watch was all she wore, that just enhanced her elegance and simplicity. Arnav Singh Raizada was never the one to admire any girl, but he could not stop himself from doing that! He never liked girls wearing heavy jewellery and Khushi did reach upto his expectations! But will he compliment her? Nah! He would never do that! Not atleast to this particular woman!

'What made you so late?' He asked, though his voice was soft, thanks to the small admiring session he had!

'I was stuck up in a traffic jam', she reasoned, taking her seat in front of him.

'I believe in punctuality', he stated again not buying her excuse.

'And I expect someone to listen to my side of the conversation too. Not just order me', she retorted.

Arnav sighed at her audacity to back answer him every single time. Was he really supposed to deal with her the entire life? Probably yes! He had no other choice!

'Fine, lets cut all that crap', he declared before continuing, 'Let me come straight to the point. I dont think I can cancel this marriage'.

'Neither can I', Khushi whispered but audible enough for Arnav and his smirk just grew wider at her helplessness.

'So, that is a yes then?' He confirmed to get a nod from Khushi affirmatively.

'I have some conditions but', Arnav and Khushi stated in unison.

Arnav arched his eyebrows at her, wondering what she was about to say. The nerve of the girl to put conditions in front of him! But strangely, he did not feel angered, raged but felt curious. Curious to know what she wanted to say.

'Go ahead', she gave him the lead, herself taking her own time to come up with whatever she had to discuss. It was not easy for a girl to discuss all these! Atleast for a person like Khushi.

Arnav was surprised at her immediate acceptance. Did she really tell him to go ahead? He did not expect that she would listen to him. Or is there something cooking in her mind? He tried to analyse but in vain. All he could decipher was nervousness etched on her face. Nevertheless, he continued.

'I am marrying you just for my Dadi. I dont believe in marriage but I am tied with my Dadi's promise. You will have all the luxuries of being Arnav Singh Raizada's wife, but never the privileges that a wife has with her husband. Because for me, this marriage is a compromise. We will be a happily married couple to the world, but for the four walls, we are just two people sharing a room.' Arnav stopped for a moment gauging her expressions. She sat like a stone without any movement in her. He tried reading her face, but the girl in front of him surely knew how to mask her emotions. Arnav continued further, 'Most importantly, I would never tolerate any betrayals. If you even try to backstab, your death will be in my hands,' he warned dangerously. 'And you will never have any say in my life. So dont even think about interfering'.

Will a guy be so cruel and harsh to a girl, specifically, to his girl, his would be wife, on their first meet? Should she really go ahead with this alliance? But the last few lines uttered by him, changed his demeanour. They had pain in them. Khushi could not help but think about the various other reasons for his conditions. A man can never have such opinions on marriage unless affected by something from the past. What was it? She was intrigued.