Valley of Flowers

Chapter 10

KHUSHI looked at the beautiful yellow mustard fields whizz past her as she looked out of the window of her taxi on her way to Agra. The yellow flowers shifting in the wind marked the onset of winter and Khushi pulled the lapels of her jacket a little more snugly. The driver of her taxi Manpreet Singh didn't seem to think that a heater would be necessary in Delhi winter. He in fact kept his window open a little bit letting the cold air in, chilling Khushi's nose to the point of freezing.

She had been invited to perform in a dance show being conducted at Kalakriti Sanskritik Natyashala in Agra. It was a big show with other accomplished dancers participating in it.

Right after Diwali, Arnav had gone to the US to take care of his own business leaving her in charge of the office for the past month and a half.

In the middle of all this, Akash had finally recovered. He remembered people's names and faces without mixing them up. 'Hi Khushi,' he said when she went up to give Payal her breakfast.

Khushi smiled at her brother-in-law unshed tears in her eyes on seeing him playing with his baby. The smile on Payal's face was priceless.

The doctor had mentioned that he would still be on medication for the headaches and would need to be careful not to over stress himself with anything. He would need physiotherapy to strengthen his muscles that had become stiff due to lack of exercise.

NK, extremely busy with the burden of the new project, had hardly had any time to meet her, which was just as well, as her weekends had become busier taking extra classes for Piyali, preparing her for her impeding exams. Managing both home and office on top of the dance classes in the weekend had become hectic. But she needed exertion. Needed it to forget the soul searing kiss on Diwali night.

She never could quiet forget how she lost herself in Arnav's arms that night. No one could ever make her feel the way Arnav did. The moment he touched her she turned complaisant, putty in his hands, to be moulded any which way he wanted. How could she feel this way when he only thought the worse of her? That was the problem. She had no control -- emotionally or physically where he was concerned.

Hey Mata Rani, why had he come back? She thought of the last words she had spoken to him.

Unlike you, NK knows how to treat a woman

She had never meant to say those words, but she had just wanted to strike back at him for making her feel weak and helpless.

But now that he was gone, she missed him terribly. Everything reminded her of him – the orchids, the dance class and even little Ashu.

As she sat on Arnav's chair staring listlessly at his coffee cup, Lavanya barged in.

'You are doing it again aren't you?' she said coming into the office.

'What?'

'Getting your hooks into him.'

'What?' Khushi realized Lavanya was talking about Arnav.' No! I am doing no such thing.'

'The hell you are not!' Lavanya raised her voice. 'How could you Khushi? Five years ago. You knew I was supposed to marry him.'

'Lavanya ji....' How could she explain to her that it was her over confidence in Sharada Raizada's hold over her son that caused all the problems?

How would things have been if Lavanya hadn't misplaced those important documents forcing an interaction between her and Arnav? What might have happened if Lavanya had gone to the Shiv-Gauri mandir the way she was supposed to? Would it have made a difference if Lavanya had genuinely tried to learn the ways of an ideal bahu that Sharada Raizada had visualized instead of substituting Khushi for cooking or drawing a rangoli? There was no point in bringing up old things now. 'It wasn't like that.' She finished in a low voice.