Ek Duje Ke Vaaste

Part 22

Khushi came back to the room at night only when she was sure that arnav was asleep. Before entering she prayed to God: hey devi maaiya bas kisi tarah se laad governor ko sula dena..(please make him sleep somehow)

She tiptoed into the room and walked upto the recliner. Arnav was awake but kept his eyes tightly closed. She walked upto the recliner and looked at him closely to check if he was sleeping.

Khushi looked at him and muttered: lagta hai devi maaiya ne hamari sun li...laad governor so gaye... aj to hum bach gaye lekin kal..kal kya hoga...(think God has heard me....he is asleep..i am saved today..but what about tomorrow?)

She touched her cheeks where arnav had kissed her. Then went and lay down on the bed. Arnav smiled and slept off.

Next morning arnav woke up and saw khushi is still lying down on the bed, covered up with the blanket. Arnav called her: khushi...khushi..

Khushi half opened her eyes and said: arnavji..humey bohot neend aa rahi hai..humey so ne dijiye na..(I am feeling sleepy...please let me sleep na)

Arnav: okay..okay.. but you are fine na?

Khushi (sleepily): haan..hum thik hai..bas thoda aur sona hai...(yes I am fine...just want to sleep a little more)

He was a little surprised as he had never seen khushi sleeping till late before. He took his laptop and walked out of the room.

Khushi waited for 10 minutes and sat up on the bed saying: hey devi maaiya...aapka lakh lakh sukhar rahe ki laad governor ne humse zyada sawal nehi kiye...then smiled and said: waise bhi aj ghar pe koi hai nehi...isiliye kisiko shaq bhi nehi hua...pata nehi hum laad governor se kab tak chhupenge...(thank you god that he didn't ask too many questions... anyways there is no one at home today... but don't know how long will I hide from him)

She kept on talking to herself and entered the washroom. Arnav was half way down the street when he realized he had left an important file at home. He took a U-turn and drove towards shantivan.

Khushi was happily taking a shower and singing: aaj mausam hai suhana, laad governor ko bewakuf banana ka hai bahana...what the..what the..what the...

Then she suddenly realized that she didn't bring her clothes along with her. She shrieked: hey devi maaiya..hamarey kapde...lagta hai iss laad governor ke chakkar mein hum aapne kapde le aana bhul gaye...yeh laad governor ekdin humko pagal karke chhorenge...ab kya karein? (oh God..my clothes...I forgot to bring my clothes along...this man is going to drive me mad one day...what should I do now)

She wrapped the towel around and said: abhi to ghar mein koi nehi hai...jaldi se bahaar jaake kapde le aatey hai (there is no one at home now..let me go out quickly and get the clothes)

She stepped outside and went to the cupboard to take out her clothes. Arnav walked in but didn't see her at first. He picked up the file from the centerpiece when his eyes fell on khushi wrapped in a white towel. Khushi took out the clothes and turned and saw him at the same time and froze there. For few seconds arnav forgot everything, he didn't even know if he was breathing or not, he looked at khushi from head to toe and then followed the same path up. He then moved towards her slowly. Khushi had her back to the wall and stood there like a statue. Seeing him closing in she dropped the clothes from her hand. Arnav looked at the water droplets dripping from her hair. One such drop fell on her shoulder, traversed the path of her bare shoulder and disappeared; arnav watched it carefully. Khushi couldn't do anything but watch arnav. He closed in further and touched her forehead with this finger sending a shiver through her spine. He then slowly moved his finger down to her shoulders, lingered around her bare shoulders for a little longer; accompanied by a warm breath. Khushi thought she had died at what he did next. He moved down his fingers towards the knot of the towel. Khushi looked into his eyes unsure of his moves, what she saw now was something she had never seen before...a burning desire. He looked back at her; his gaze piercing through her heart. He rolled one of the ends of the knots in his finger. Khushi's heart raced like crazy anticipating what could happen next. She closed her eyes. Just then arnav's phone rang and they both felt as if they fell from heaven. Khushi opened her eyes, both looked at each other; the desire in arnav's eyes and the uncertainty in khushi's eyes were replaced with embarrassment immediately. Khushi quickly turned around; arnav thought if he had the capability he would have disappeared from the place right away. The phone kept on ringing but he didn't have the strength to pick up. It stopped ringing after a while. Khushi turned around and was about to run into the washroom when arnav called: khushi...

Khushi stopped in her tracks, unsure of what was coming next. Arnav picked up her clothes and extended his hand. He kept looking at the ground. She didn't have the courage to look at him either; just looked at his hand, took the clothes and went inside. Both were sure that they would never be able to face each other ever.