113. Marrying Khushi (Part 16-)

Marrying Khushi: Part 16

Payal said, “Don’t cry, Khushi.”

Khushi sobbed, “How can I not cry, Jiji? Preetho left us. And Mittu!” She dropped a wet, sympathetic kiss on the parrot’s head.

Mittu squirmed as saline drops fell on her.

Payal smiled. “Pagli, she has to go to her sasural. How can she stay here all her life hugging that parrot?”

Khushi cried copious tears. “Mittu is better than any dulha… she doesn’t get angry…she doesn’t scold me…she can dance and sing…and she loves me!”

“Khushi! Tum bhi na!” Payal smiled, amused. She led Khushi towards their house. It was getting late.

“She is not like an akhdoo, khadoos Shaitan….” Khushi muttered as she accompanied Payal to their house.

Payal was too busy looking at the cars parked near the entrance of their house to pay much attention to Khushi’s utterances.

“Khushi! I think we have guests….” Payal muttered uncertainly.

Khushi sniffed as she walked in to the living room with her sister. And stopped short.

The Rakshas was ensconced in her living room, sipping ginger tea without sugar. 

Her grasp on Mittu eased, and the bird, thanking a kind fate for saving her from a watery grave, flew up to perch on the mantel. 

Khushi stared suspiciously at a smirking ASR.

Arnav ran his eager eyes over Khushi. She looked beautiful! Beyond beautiful! The yellow and green lehenga, though modest, emphasised her full figure. Her hair, clipped lightly at the back of her neck, fell down her back like a dark waterfall. The maangtikka, her bindi, her nose pin, her necklace, her bangles, her payal… ASR studied her closely, his heart thumping in eagerness to claim her as his.

His burning eyes moved up from her feet to her face, only to be trapped by her furious eyes. ASR had to swallow a smile at the disgruntled look on her face.

What was the Rakshas doing here? And why was he looking at her as though he could see through her clothes? She adjusted the dupatta to cover more of her bosom. And who were the people crowding her living room? She looked around with wide eyes. 

Anjaliji…Nanheji…Akashji….she knew them. Who were the others?

“Khushiji! Payalji! Hi!” Nanheji smiled away.

“Namaste, Nanheji!” Khushi managed to smile. Payal responded in kind.

Akashji smiled at her. She smiled back. He looked at Payal and blushed. Payal blushed back.

Anjaliji said, “Khushiji, Payalji, let me introduce our family to you. This is our Nani.”

Payal & Khushi touched the old lady’s feet. Nani blessed both of them, glad at the choice of her grandsons.

“This is our Mama & Mami.” Anjali smiled. “That is, Akash’s parents.”

The girls touched their feet, Khushi passing a wondering look at the many hues on Mamiji’s face.

“So these are the culprits, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami laughed. “They made our boys go-went-gone!”

All laughed.

“Our boys are not any less naughty, Manno! If the girls have to be punished, our boys should be jailed along with them!” Mamaji added, laughing.

All laughed.

Payal & Khushi looked at each other, wondering if they had strayed in to a madhouse. Mittu surveyed the motley crowd from her place at the top, hopping on one foot and then the next, waiting for something exciting to happen.

“Payaliyaa, Titliyaa, you go inside, Nandkisore! We will come to talk to you in a few moments.” Buaji said.

“Ji, Buaji.” Payal led Khushi in to their bedroom. Mittu followed.

“Jiji, why are they all here?” Khushi frowned.

“How do I know, Khushi?” Payal asked, scared, excited.

“Each time the Rakshas comes, he brings more of his family with him!” Khushi fumed, muttering under her breath.

“What did you say, Khushi?” Payal asked, sitting down on the bed.

“Nothing, Jiji.” Khushi smiled at her. She moved to the window to look out. “I should hang a board on the gate saying that Laad Governaars are not welcome here!” she muttered. “Why is he here? That smile of his! I don’t trust him an inch. He will have planned something in that khurafaathi brain of his!” she murmured. 

Khushi paced the length & breadth of her room, worrying about the man in the next room.

“Khushi, sit down. What is wrong with you?” Payal asked.

“Nothing, Jiji.” Khushi smiled, but continued to measure the room on restless legs.

“If I go to the market, he wil appear there. If I go to work, he is sure to be there. If I dance at Preetho’s sangeet, he is there in the audience. If I leave his job, he will come after me. If I hide in Preetho’s room, he will seek me out! Pagal he! And he wants to marry me? Kyon?” Khushi grumbled. “I was so happy in Lucknow, Devi Maiyya! Why did you import this typhoon in to my life? Aap hamse naraaz ho?”

“Payaliyaa, Titliyaa!” Buaji called out as she and Garima entered the room.

Payal stood up.

The ladies hugged the girls.

“Today is a happy day for us!” Garima said, smiling, tears in her eyes.

Why was Amma so happy that Preetho got married? Khushi wondered.

“Yes, after so many years! Garima, Nandkisore is great!” Buaji seconded her.

Or were they happy because the Rakshas introduced his family to them? Khushi looked at Payal, both of them confused.

“Payaliyaa, do you like Akash Bitwaa?” Garima asked, hugging Payal.

Payal blushed as red as she could, and lowered her eyes.

Buaji & Garima had  a hearty laugh at her expense. 

Khushi stared at all three of them, wondering what was going on.

Finally, fed up, she asked, “Buaji, Amma, what is happening here? Why are the Raizadas here?”

“O pagli, they have brought a proposal for Payaliyaa. Akash Bitwaa wants to marry her.” Garima said, smiling.

Khushi gasped. What was happening to her world? First it was Preetho. Now Jiji too was abandoning her?

“Marry! Jiji!” she asked. “Why should they ask for Jiji? Why can’t they find some other girl? Are there no other girls in Lucknow? Why should they take my Jiji away from me?” And what was wrong with the Raizadas? Why had they succumbed to the marriage fever, Khushi wondered, mad at them. First it was the Rakshas chasing her. Now it was his brother chasing Jiji? Soon Nanheji would demand Mittu’s hand in marriage!

Buaji & Garima had a good chuckle at Khushi’s petulance.

Khushi sat down on the bed. If Jiji married Akashji, she would have to see that smirk on that evil face all her life! The challenge in his eyes! He Devi Maiyya! On Jiji’s shagun, on her sagai, on her mehendi, on her sangeet, on her haldi, on her marriage, on her suhaag raat…no, not on her suhaag raat… Khushi’s imagination drew gory pictures.

“They are not taking your Jiji away from you, Khussi!” Garima laughed. “They have made sure that you will be together all your life.”

Khushi frowned. He would kiss her on her palm and her cheek and her… Khushi paled. Together all their lives? She and Jiji? Khushi struggled to bring her attention back to the problem at hand. “What?” she asked.

Buaji nodded. “Arnav Bitwaa wants to marry you, Khussi. Do you like him, Nandkisore?”

There was one moment of silence. The ladies watched Khushi’s eyes  and mouth widen as far as they would go.

 “Nahi……” Khushi screamed.

Buaji, Garima, & Payal laughed.

“Pagli kahin ki! My Sanka Devi!” Buaji pinched her chin fondly.

“You make all those newfangled things that you used to make at Sheesh Mahal and feed him daily. You take good care of his health….” Garima advised Khushi.

Khushi smouldered. There was more danger of her feeding the Rakshas poison instead of food, the way her temper was soaring.

“And thoda control mein rahio, Titliyaa! Don’t behave like a wild girl, Nandkisore! What will his family think?” Buaji asked. “What will Arnav Bitwaa think?”

She would show him what he could think! Khushi seethed, dwelling on the many things she wanted to do to that smiling face!

Buaji looked at Khushi’s set face and whispered to Garima, “Garima, are you sure Devyaniji mentioned a marriage between Arnav Bitwaa and our Parmeswari? I didn’t imagine it, did I?”

“No, Jiji. You didn’t imagine it!” Garima smiled.

Buaji sighed in relief. “I was so worried, Nandkisore! Khussi and Payaliyaa can never be happy in two houses, separated after marriage. Nandkisore realised how anxious I was and brought these two boys for us.”

Garima nodded. “Now they will never have to leave each other, Jiji. They are very lucky. And such good boys! So sanskari!”

Buaji nodded. “How will Arnav Bitwaa manage our Sanka Devi?”

Garima looked at her, lost for an answer.

“And they want to conduct the marriages immediately, Nandkisore! Garima, we will have to make all the arrangements at the earliest. There is no time to be lost!” Buaji warned her.

Garima nodded, and the ladies prepared to leave the room.

“Buaji! Amma! I want to talk to Laa…Arnavji!” Khushi gasped, feeling the sand give way from under her feet.

Buaji & Amma frowned. “Haven’t you talked to him before?”

“Yes, but…” Khushi tried.

“How can we ask him to come and speak to you when his family is sitting with him in our living room, Nandkisore?” Buaji asked.

“Thoda sabar karo, Khussi! You can talk to him all your life!” Garima giggled.

The ladies left the room chuckling.

Payal stared in to the air, her eyes filled with sweet dreams.

Khushi collapsed on the bed, her head in her hands.

Mittu sang, “Banno terii ankhiyaan surmedaani...
Banno tera mukhadaa laakh kaa re...
Banno tera kangan hai hazaari...
Banno teraa kangan….”

Khushi threw a pillow at Mittu.

Part 17 Section 1

Khushi looked at the happy faces around the breakfast table. All were smiling, all were planning, all were excited, all were delirious with joy! Except her!

She punched the air out of the poori staring at her from her plate, imagining it to be the Rakshas’ face.

“Garima, take out Khussi’s mother’s jewellery. We need to get them polished, Nandkisore!” Buaji reminded them.

“Haan, Jiji. And we have to go shopping for clothes for the two brides.” Garima smiled.

“Buy whatever you want from Nathulal’s shop, and ask him to bring the bill to Satwik Mishtaan Bhandaar in the evening.” Sasi Gupta added.

“Ji.” Garima smiled.

“And don’t forget to buy gifts for the Raizadas.” Sasi smiled, looking fondly at his two daughters, both gazing at the food on their plates with unseeing eyes, but for different reasons.

The nightmare of the weddings was approaching on very fast feet, Khushi thought, feeling short of breath. Jewellery, clothes…. Buaji and her parents were discussing the caterers…and the decorators…. Khushi gulped.

She had tried to tell them that she didn’t want to marry Arnav Singh Raizada, but no one wanted to listen to her. It was as though she had become invisible, as if her voice was inaudible! They were looking through her, and arranging her wedding without her participation. He Devi Maiyya!

She needed to talk to that wicked man…at the earliest. She had to make him tell her family that he did not wish to marry her. But how? Last night, after the weddings were fixed, he had left with the others without meeting her. The…the Lad Governaar! She tightened her fingers around her glass of water, imagining it to be the Rakshas’ neck.

Khushi walked up and down her room.

Mittu sat on the frame of her bed and watched her.

“Mittu, I need to speak to that…that Shaitan!” she confided.

“Balma, balma…” Mittu sang.

“Naa Re! Shaitan! Rakshas!” Khushi corrected her. “What can I do? How can I meet him?” she fretted.

Buaji had informed her in no uncertain terms that she was not to leave the house till the wedding, unless and until it was for the wedding shopping, which was to be done along with the family. 

Her phone was lying in pieces on the evil man’s floor, thrown by her own fair hands. Khushi hit her head in exasperation. “He Devi Maiyya, ye humne kya kar diya?”

How could she contact him? What if she used the land phone? But she didn’t know his number. She would have to call Manjuji and get his number. But Manjuji’s number was saved in her phone, the phone that was lying in all its shattered splendour in Sheesh Mahal! And even if she had his number, how could she call him without her family finding out?

Khushi clutched her head with both hands. “He Devi Maiyya! Raksha karna!” she chanted, desperate.

After a day of vigorous shopping, Payal went to bed early and slept the sleep of the virtuous. Khushi paced the room, muttering to herself, her inventive brain coming up with a hundred crazy plans and discarding them.

She looked at the clock. Eleven.

She peeped out of her room. There was no light in Buaji’s room. Amma and Babuji had retired to bed early tonight.

“Khushi! This is your only chance! It is no use whining that you are married to the Shaitan after getting married to him. Kuch karna he to shadi se pehle karna hoga!” she told herself.

She crept back in to her room. Mittu looked at her with beady eyes.

“Mittu, don’t tell anyone.” she begged the parrot. She arranged pillows in a line and covered them with a blanket. 

She looked at herself in the mirror, anxious. She was in a green anarkali.  She straightened her bindi and smoothed down her hair. Not to impress the Rakshas, she told herself. She was dressing for herself! She arranged her dupatta around her neck, kissed Mittu, grabbed a balanket, and spared one glance at her sleeping Jiji.

She left the house through her window, her heart galloping like wild horses, fear, excitement, and anticipation making her breathe shallowly.

Khushi reached the grounds of Sheesh Mahal, shivering, her green anarkali covered by the blanket. 

She made her way towards his room on the ground floor.

“Please Devi Maiyya! Let him not have exchanged his room with one of his relations! What will I do if he is not here? How can I climb pipes at midnight in search of Arnav Singh Raizada’s room?” Khushi asked her mentor. “And that too in this bhooth bunglow with too many rooms?”

The window was open. 

She peeped inside, and a sigh of relief left her. His laptop was on a low table. His night clothes were laid on the bed. He had apparently not retired yet. Nor had he given up his room to one of his relations.

Khushi looked around her, clutching her blanket to her to ward off the cold.  Was anyone watching her?

 There was no one out on the cold night.

 “Why should there be anyone out on such a night, Khushi? All people are not mad like you! They are all sleeping inside, curled up in their warm blankets.” she chided herself.

Slowly, she hoisted herself up and through the window, and fell on the floor in an ungainly heap.

“His window is just like the Rakshas! No manners!” Khushi grumbled. “And too high! How can all intruders have long legs? How will people like me get in?” she asked.

She got up from the ground, dusting herself down.

She would have to wait for him. She looked at the clock. Thirty minutes past eleven. Wasn’t he sleepy? Why was he so late? she grumbled. 

“He Devi Maiyya, please don’t let Amma, Babuji, or Buaji find out that I have stolen out! I will give you a plate full of jalebis tomorrow. Please!” she bargained.

She heard movement along the corridor leading to the Rakshas’ room.

Nanheji was saying, “Nannav, good night. And sweet sweet dreams of Khushiji!”

“As sweet as her jalebi!” Anjaliji laughed.

Khushi looked around like a rabbit chased by hunting dogs, frantic for a place to hide.

She fell to the ground and tried to crawl under the bed, but there was little space. She ran to the sofa, the dressing table with a big mirror, the wardrobe, the recliner…but they could not give her refuge.

In the nick of time, she managed to dive behind the voluminous curtains.

“Good night!” ASR tried to push his family out of his bedroom, slightly flushed at the teasing.

“Arnav Bitwaa!” said Mami. “Bhen do you think your shy brother will cough up enough courage to speaks more than her namewaa to Payaliyya?”

Anjali laughed. “Mami, when he fell in love with Payalji, he asked me to inform you. He was too shy to tell you himself.”

“My Akass Bitwaa ijj so slow, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami rued.  “Hamein doubt howath he woh hamra beta hi he ki naahi!” 

Akashji saw Jiji and prem rog ho gaya? Khushi stared at the curtain covering her. But when did he see Jiji for the first time? At Preetho’s sangeet! So he wanted to marry Jiji. And Jiji too liked him. That was why the family had come to her house to ask for Jiji’s hand!

“Good night!” ASR made it clear that he wanted to go to bed in peace. He shut the door and locked it to be sure that no one disturbed him. Smiling slightly, he walked in to the room, his fingers unbuttoning his waistcoat.

His fingers paused.

Jasmine! He could smell jasmine in the air. Khushi….

He smiled slightly. Khushi must be in her snug bed,  snoring away, dreaming of new ways to make him pay!

She was in his head 24x7, and he was imagining her scent to keep her close to him. He laughed at himself.

He sat on the bed and got rid of his footwear.

The look on her face when she had seen him in her house last night! His smile widened. If she could have sunk a knife in to him, she would have!

He moved towards the mirror, pulling the unbuttoned waistcoat off him and throwing it aside. He tugged the shirt out of his pants, and moved his fingers to the first button of his shirt. His eyes widened. 

There was a bulge in the drapes!

As he watched in the mirror, the drapes parted slightly, and Khushi’s round, moon-like face peeked out.

His breath stopped for a moment. She was not a figment of his imagination! She was here…in real…in the flesh. His heart began pounding feverishly.

He lowered his eyes to his fingers as they pushed the next button out of its hole.

Khushi was in his room. The door was locked. It was almost midnight. Why was she here? There was only one answer. She wanted to fight with him, make him cancel the wedding… 

But he was not Arnav Singh Raizada for nothing!

His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared. She couldn’t leave him! He would block all the roads leading from him. She had to stay with him.

Khushi took a deep breath. His family had left. Now she could come out of her hiding place and attack him. The foot she lifted halted in mid-air.

The Rakshas was removing his shirt!

Standing before the mirror, he had finished unbuttoning his shirt. She could see the narrow strip of golden skin between the parted flaps of his shirt. Khushi swallowed through a dry throat, her eyes trapped by his naked glory.

ASR looked at the dazed look on Khushi’s face with great delight. So she liked the look of him, did she? His lips curled in anticipation. Never let it be said that he didn’t oblige Khushi Kumari Gupta, soon to be Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada!

He shrugged the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. It fell soundlessly to the floor.

All he could hear was Khushi’s deeply drawn breath of shock! His blood rushed through his veins, racing gladly, anticipating great pleasure.

Khushi gasped, staring at him through the gap in the drapes, her heart thundering away. His broad shoulders, his muscled, hairless chest, his strong arms with lean muscles, the sculpted lines of his back…her rapt eyes ran all over him, trying to take in his beauty.

He lowered his fingers to his belt, unbuckled it, and threw it off. 

Part 17 Section 2 (For my darling friend, Supriya!)

Khushi panted, feeling her head spin.

AR stole one look at a hyperventilating Khushi, and ran his fingers down his chest to rest on his washboard stomach. Slowly, he lowered his fingers as if to undo his trousers.

He heard a thud.

He whipped his head around to see Khushi lying crumpled on the floor.

“Khushi!”

He ran to her. He had only meant to attract her, not make her swoon.

He lovingly lifted her dead weight in his arms and strode to his bed. Her blanket lay discarded behind the drapes and her dupatta fell to the ground, unnoticed.

He laid her gently on his bed, her head resting on his pillow.

He had imagined her in his bed often enough. He had dreamed of her in his bed. But she had been conscious then! He hadn’t expected his physical charms to overpower her to this extent!

He sat down on the bed beside her reclining form. He dipped his fingers in the glass of water on his bedside table and sprinkled cold droplets on her beautiful face.

She winced. He heaved a sigh of relief.

He smothed his wet fingers over her face, lingering on the silky skin of her eyelids and cheeks.

Her eyes shot open.

“Who am I? Where am I?’ she asked rapidly. She stared at him. “You!” she exclaimed.

ASR smiled at her.

Her eyes moved from his eyes to his smirking lips, down to his bare torso.

She gasped. “Chi! Go and wear some clothes! You Arnav Singh Raizada! What do you think of yourself? Nanga ghoom raha he! Ganda bacha!” She religiously averted her eyes, albeit with great difficulty.

“I am in my bedroom.” He claimed softly. “And it is night.”

“Tho?” she asked.

“I can walk naked, dance naked, sleep naked. Who will stop me?” ASR asked, a challenge in his eyes.

“If your sister had taken a birch to you when you were a child, you would have better manners!” Khushi said bitterly.

“What has manners got to do with changing clothes, Khushi?” ASR asked softly. Then he dropped the bomb. “If somebody has to be caned for lack of manners, it is you.”

“Me?” Khushi was full of injured dignity and affront.

“Yes, you. Walking in to my house at midnight and spying on me as I change my clothes! Tut tut! I should ask Mittu who taught you to behave so badly. Or should I ask Buaji?” His eyes laughed at her.

Khushi gasped. “Woh…woh..I just wanted to talk to you…”

“Talk to me? At midnight?” A warm finger ran down her cheek.

Khushi shivered. “Yes…talk to you….” She knocked the finger away and gathered her bearings. “I wanted to talk to you last night, but you ran away!”

“Ran away? Are you calling me a coward, Khushi Kumari Guupta?” The glint in his eyes was not hard to read.

Khushi gulped, but decided to disregard the warning in his eyes.

“Yes. You are a coward. And a cheat! I told you that I did not want to marry you. Then why did you land in my house with a proposal for me?” She fumed as much as a girl trapped by his hot eyes and the eye-catching vision of his male torso…his shirtless male torso… might fume!

“You were ready to marry any man your parents wanted you to marry. Then why not me?” he countered reasonably.

Khushi spluttered with anger. “Because I don’t like you!”

“Really?” ASR asked, leaning over her recumbent form, shifting to lie on his side beside her, resting his head on his palm.

Khushi gasped. “Utt jaayiye! Kya kar rahe he aap?”

“You wanted to talk to me, didn’t you? We might as well do it comfortably.” ASR retorted, making himself more comfortable.

Khushi squirmed.

“What is it that you were saying?” ASR thought hard. “Oh, that you don’t like me.” He smiled in to her eyes.

His face was too close to hers. His eyes were too close to hers. Heat from his bare chest was singeing her skin, and his fingers were trailing over her left arm, holding her body in place.

 Khushi trembled.

Thank God she was lying down. Otherwise Jiji would have had to scrape her melted form off the floor, Khushi thought.

“Yes, I don’t like you.” Khushi affirmed, breathing long & deep for courage. He Devi Maiyya Raksha Karna! Why did you have to give him so many muscles?

“Why not?” he asked.

“I just don’t like you. That’s all.” she tried to block him. “Is this a grocery list where I have to list toor dal ½ kg, pyaaz ½ kg?”

ASR hid his smile.

“Yes. I want to know what you don’t like about me.” ASR declared. “Do you dislike my eyes?”

Khushi stole a look at those naughty eyes, and turned her head away.

“No.” she whispered honestly.

“My nose? Is it too big, too short, curved?”

“Your nose is alright.” Khushi looked away from the nose in question.

“You don’t like my lips, is it?”

Her eyes raced to his sinfully delicious lips, and got trapped by them.

“No, they are….” she gasped.

“They are?” ASR murmured.

She watched his lips moving. “They are…alright.” she whispered.

“That is so kind of you.” ASR said softly.

As she watched, his lips came closer and closer to her, and pressed against her cheek. Her eyes fell shut.

ASR smiled.

“Khushi, do you dislike my ears?” he asked in a low voice.

Khushi looked at the ears. “I will pull them one day.” she promised herself, unaware that she was speaking out aloud.

ASR hid his smile.

“My hair?”

Khushi’s fingers tingled to pull the strands out, one at a time, making him howl in pain!

The murderous look on her face thrilled him to bits.

“Khushi, my shoulders….” he began teasing her.

“Aapki shoulders ko goli maro! I don’t like your tongue. Your ghussa. Your akkad.” Khushi tried to move away.

ASR squirmed closer, his chest touching her right side more firmly.

“Door hatiye humse!” Khushi tried to save her sanity, but ASR was having none of it. He pressed against her, dropping his right arm over her reclining body to trap her.

“My tongue?” His voice was seduction personified.

Khushi shivered.

He lifted her hand to his face, kissed her palm, and bit one of her fingers.

She yelped, feeling her heart jump to her throat.

He laved the digit, running his warm tongue over the hurt skin.

Khushi shut her eyes tight, trying to control her tremors, trying to pull her finger out of his mouth.

He let her go. “Now do you have  a complaint against my tongue?” he asked innocently.

Khushi gaped at him, her lips parted. His hot eyes traced the curve of her pink lips. Khushi shut her mouth.

ASR leaned over her, crushing her under the weight of his body, holding her secure in both of his arms.

Khushi tried to push him away, but the moment her hands touched the bare skin of his chest, she was lost.

“My ghussa. Khushi, don’t tell me that you are scared of my ghussa.” ASR challenged her, his hot breath falling on her sensitive face.

Khushi tried to push him away, but her fingers ended up tracing the muscles of his chest lovingly.

“No….I am not…scared…of your…ghussa.” Khushi managed to gasp.

“Good.” ASR said, and lowered his lips to hers to reward her for her fearlessness.

Khushi saw his lips descending, and pushed him away with all her might. 

She scrambled out of his bed, and stood looking at him, panting, the pulse in her throat throbbing, her eyes wide like those of  a doe caught in the headlights.

She looked at the man lying on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head. The muscles of his arms bulged, and Khushi had to look away, swallowing  through a dry throat.

Having managed to create  a distance between them, Khushi was able to think. Why does this man want to marry me, Devi Maiyya? she asked her friend. I am not from Delhi. I am not like the models he works with. I don’t eat the same food as he does. I don’t know English well, while he speaks English even in his sleep! I make sweets while he is a diabetic! Why doe she want to marry me?

Khushi thought furiously…and came up with the wrong answer….again!

“You are such a good brother!” she exclaimed.

ASR stared at her. When did Akash & NK enter their conversation?

“You are marrying me so that Akashji can marry Jiji, aren’t you?” Khushi asked, her eyes soft, liquid with emotion and bhaichara.

“Uugh?” ASR was capable of little else at that moment.

“Akashji saw Jiji at Preetho’s sangeet. Aur usse pyaar ho gaya. Like in the phillums. Isn’t that what happened?” she asked softly.

How did he know what had happened in Akash’s heart when he saw Payal? All he knew was what had happened to him when he saw her dancing in the barat!

Khushi did not require answers, only silence.

“He told you that he wanted to marry Jiji, didn’t he? But how could he marry when you were blocking his path?” Khushi asked.

ASR frowned. When had he ever injured Akash’s marital ambitions? Now he understood why Buaji frequently hit herself on her head when talking of Khushi!

“You are older than him! And when you are standing like a khamba, an unmarried khamba blocking his path, how can he marry?” Khushi asked.

Light slowly entered the dense darkness of ASR’s shatir dimag.

He nodded, looking all sad and put upon.

“So you had to marry fast.” Khushi discovered. “You must have thought, I have to marry now. Which girl shall I choose? You must have looked around and seen me making your pusta. And you must have thought she is OK. She can cook too. And if the two brides are from the same house, we can conduct the two weddings at the same time….This is what happened, isn’t it?” She looked at him, her head twisted slightly to the right like an eager bird waiting for  a worm.

ASR stared at her, his eyes wide. What a tangled coil she had woven!

She stood looking at him for a moment.

Poor Jiji. She had spent all her life making aloo sabzi and poori in the kitchen of Gomti Sadan. How could Khushi be so cruel as to stop her from going to Delhi with Akashji and making poori & aloo for him in his kitchen?

If she refused to marry the Shaitan, he would have to find another bride. That would take time. Who would have the courage to marry this volcano? This Singham with shakkar ki bimari?

And Jiji & Akashji would have to wait and wait and wait…maybe till their teeth fell off and they grew bald.

After all, which girl would dare to marry the Rakshas and fight with him daily? Who but Khushi Kumari Gupta could spend all her life living on the war front?

Khushi sighed. She would have to sacrifice herself. For her sister. For the poor diabetic Rakshas who would otherwise remain a bachelor all his life! If only he wouldn’t come close to her…..Something happened to her heart and her insides when he came close to her.  Her heart became unruly in his presence, beating very fast as though she had run a marathon! And her stomach! Whenever he came too close to her, it felt as though titliyaan were beating their wings inside, trying to get out! She felt sick, just as she usually felt after she had eaten 1kg of jalebi at one sitting!

She looked at his face with a jaundiced eye, taking care not to look down at his body.

He was bad for her health. But what to do! She had to agree to this marriage for Jiji’s sake.

“OK, I will marry you.” Khushi said reluctantly.

ASR’s heart leapt to his throat.

“If I don’t marry you, then how can Jiji get married to your brother?” she sighed.

ASR swallowed.

“No other girl will marry you. I will have to do it.” Khushi heaved a long sigh.

ASR’s lips quirked.

“Lucky Jiji! She found such a nice man! Akashji will bury her in his love!” Khushi said wistfully.

ASR swallowed through a dry throat. He could do more than that! And he would! As soon as she was tied to him. Till then…he had to be careful. He got up from the bed.

“No, don’t come near me!” Khushi ordered. “I will throw something at you.”

“What will you throw, Khushi? Your phone? It is already in pieces.” ASR teased her. “Or will you throw your dupatta? But it is not draped around your neck. It is lying abandoned on the floor.”

Khushi gasped. Her fingers searched for her dupatta around her neck, found it missing, and looked around. 

Seeing it on the floor, she made a move towards it.

ASR reached there first. He took the dupatta and held it up in his hand.

Wind blew the flimsy cloth against his bare chest. 

Khushi gulped and at this late date, quickly covered her bosom with her arms.

ASR’s lips quirked.

“Khushi….”

She looked at him.

“Do you want the dupatta?” he asked, his voice low.

She nodded, first feebly, and then firmly.

“Then stand still.” ASR instructed.

Khushi nodded.

ASR walked towards her on deliberate feet, holding the dupatta in his hands. Looking deep in to her eyes, he draped the thin cloth around her neck and bosom.

Khushi lowered her arms, sighing in relief.

He gathered her in to his arms. She stood silent in his hold, her head under his chin, clasped close to his bare chest. The musky scent of him overpowered her. Her lashes fell over her eyes.

A moment later, ASR released her.

Khushi tried to stand without support, her limbs trembling.

ASR walked to his locker and returned with a small box. He held it out to her.

“What is this?” she asked.

“A phone. For you.” he said shortly.

Khushi stared at him. Her hand lifted to take it.

“I have fed my number in it. Call me the next time you want to talk. Don’t walk about in the dark.” he said.

Khushi frowned. “Thank you for the phone. But I will walk where ever I want, whenever I want!” she proclaimed.

“Khushi!”

“You are not my husband yet, Shri. Arnav Singh Raizada!” Khushi lifted her chin in the air.

“Right.” ASR folded his arms across his bare chest, hampering her view. “Don’t complain if a stray dog bites you as you sneak in to Sheesh Mahal’s ground next time!”

Khushi gasped.

He shrugged in to a shirt.

Khushi watched his chest vanishing under the cloth with regret.

“Let me drop you home now, Khushi.” he offered. “You can see my chest after we are married.” he smirked.

Khushi gasped out aloud.

"Your chest? Who wants to see your chest? Salman Khanji has a better chest than you do! I will watch him. I don't need you!" Khushi protested too much.

ASR smiled as he grabbed the car keys,  and led her by the hand to his door, unlocked it, and walked along the corridor.

Khushi grumbled. “This is what I don’t like about you! Your smirk! As though you are the king and the rest of the world is crawling at your feet!”

ASR smirked.

“When I see your smirk, I feel like…I feel like knocking it off your face!” Khushi curled her fingers in to her palms.

“You can do it after we are married, Khushi.” he said softly.

She looked at him, suspicious.

“In fact, you can do whatever you want to me, Khushi, after we are married.” he smirked.

Part 18

Khushi looked at all the sarees and lehengas and kurtas and dhotis and pyjamas and sherwanis and boxes and boxes of jewellery spread on the bed.

Buaji and Amma were shopping with a vengeance. After all, who would have thought that they would be marrying off both their daughters on the same day, to brothers who were the soul of sanskar and politeness? Khushi grimaced. Buaji should hear the Shaitan shouting! That would put an end to all her misconceptions about his sharafat!

She looked at her Jiji who was blushing as Preetho’s mother teased her.

Jiji was happy. Atleast Jiji was happy. As for her, she would have to live with the Laad Governaar, put up with his akkad and his guroor….

Preetho’s mother moved away.

Khushi asked, “Jiji, tum khush ho na?”

Payal blushed and nodded.

Khushi smiled, reassured.

“Jiji, you like Akashji, don’t you?” Khushi made sure.

Payal nodded, smiling.

“Why? Why do you like him so much?” Khushi asked.

“Because he is just like me.” Payal answered.

“Oh Payaliyaa, will you wear the yellow or the green lehenga for your shagun?” Buaji asked. “Titliyaa, have you picked your dress, Nandkisore? Or are you going to leave it till the last minute and crawl in to whatever you can find at that moment? Don’t shame us in front of the Raizadas.” Buaji knocked on Khushi’s head.

The knock did not register. Khushi was lost in her thoughts.

After marriage, when they started living in Delhi, when Akashji would buy jalebi for Jiji, the Shaitan would be shouting at her! Akashji would take Jiji out to see Salman Khanji’s latest phillum, and she would be sitting at home eating channa as the Laad Governaar planned how to make more models walk on the stage on ladder-like chappals….

But what to do? She had to live with him. She sighed. Love called for many sacrifices, and Khushi Kumari Gupta was in full sacrificial mode.

Well, atleast she would have Mittu to talk to, Khushi thought. Her eyes widened in horror. What if the Rakshas did not let her take Mittu along with her? She turned her head to look at the parrot nodding away on a beam.

Khushi jumped up and ran from the room.

Buaji looked after her in shock. “Hai Re Nandkisore!  Ab isse kaa hui gawa? Her parents should have named her Toofan instead of Khussi!”

Khushi took out the phone and called her bridegroom.

“Khushi…” his husky voice sounded in her ear. She held the phone away, at a slight distance, grimacing at it. Even through the phone, his voice was capable of increasing her dhak dhak.

“Mittu is coming with me.” she declared.

“What the!”

“What the nahi. Mittu the parrot!” Khushi stated.

“I mean…Khushi, she belongs to Preetho, doesn’t she?” ASR tried to understand how and when Mittu had become his responsibility.

“Preetho’s in laws were not willing to take her.” Khushi’s eyes filled with tears. “Her father-in-law is allergic to pets. He sneezes and sneezes if so much as a cat crosses his path.”

“Oh!”

“So she is mine now.” Khushi claimed possession. “I won’t go anywhere without Mittu. If you can’t take Mittu to Delhi, I will stay here with her. Aap shaadi ke baad Delhi jaayiye. You stay in Delhi and I will stay here in Lucknow.”

ASR felt his mouth fall open. 

He hastened to reply, “No, that won’t be necessary. You can bring Mittu.”

Khushi smiled. Atleast she wouldn’t be lonely now.

“Suniye, I wanted to ask you something.” Khushi began.

“Kya?” ASR asked.

“Just a minute. Let me find the list.”

 He could hear Khushi searching, knocking down boxes…. “Khushi…”

“Got it! Suniye, this is a list of questions I wrote down a long time back to ask the boy who would come to see me. Now you answer them.” Khushi demanded.

ASR looked at the pile of work waiting for him. 

“Khushi… can we do this later?”

“Later? When later? Tomorrow morning your relations are going to come here for Shagun. And in the evening, they are going to come here for Sagai. So when should I ask the questions? After our marriage?”

ASR smiled, looking at the screen of his laptop.

“Dekhiye, I have no choice but to marry you. Because my Jiji’s entire happiness hangs on my ‘yes’. But how can I marry a man I know nothing about? How can I leave everybody and come with you when all I know about you is that you are like a steam engine, all the time huffing and puffing in anger?”

ASR smiled. “Ask.”

“Where are your parents?”

“Dead.”

“Oh, how sad! I will never know your Amma & Babuji!” Khushi lamented.

ASR swallowed hard.

“Do you smoke?”

“No.”

“Do you drink daru?”

“Sometimes. At official functions.”

Khushi gasped. “I am going to marry a sharabi like Amitab Bachchanji in that phillum? He Devi Maiyya, ye aapne kya kar diya?” The picture of the rakshas walking on unsteady feet and spouting incomprehensible poetry while she danced on the stage before him flashed through her mind.

ASR smiled, now used to Khushi’s dramatics.

“Do you play jua?”

“No, I don’t gamble. I don’t believe in good fortune and misfortune.”

“Devi Maiyya ki laakh laakh jai ho!” Khushi prayed devoutly for not having blessed her with a juari.

“Anything else, Khushi?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“No more questions. I…I just wanted to tell you…”

“Yes, Khushi?”

“Woh…woh…I am scared of lightning and thunder.” she confessed rapidly. “I am scared of the dark. I am scared of sleeping alone.” She cut the call.

ASR looked at his silent phone, feeling his heart clench in sympathy for the girl who had been orphaned at such a young age.

His phone rang again. Khushi.

“Yes, Khushi?” he murmured encouragingly.

“I just wanted to say…maybe it will be alright. I mean, atleast I will have Jiji there with me. New town, new people, new husband, woh bhi khadoos… Atleast Jiji will be the same….” Khushi tried to calm herself down.

Arnav shut his eyes in pain. He was uprooting her from everything she knew, everything familiar and replanting  her in alien soil.

“Khushi…” his husky whisper soothed her. “Khushi, you will never have to be scared anymore. Not of lightning or thunder, not of the dark, not of sleeping alone. I will be there with you all the time.” he promised.

Khushi nodded. Atleast if she was fighting with him all night, she wouldn’t notice the thunder and lightning! 

She cheered up.

“My Nani, Mami, Mama, my Di, my brothers…they have all been waiting for me to get married, for long. They will treat you like a princess. You will never want for anything.” he promised.

Khushi nodded. “Hum phoone rakhte hein. Neighbours have come to look at the clothes and jewellery.”

“Khushi!” he stopped her. “There is one more advantage to marrying me.”

Khushi frowned. “Kya?”

“You can see my bare chest whenever you want to. It will be your haq!” he teased her to make her angry.

Khushi gasped, “Awww!” her mouth wide in an ‘O’.

ASR cut the call, smiling. 

The Raizadas came in full strength, weighed down with gifts for the two brides. The two grooms were banned from attending the function.

“Khushiji, Payalji, we have all come for your Shagun. Hum kerchief laa rahe he!” NK announced happily.

“Hein?” Buaji stared at him.

“Kerchief naahin, NK Bitwaa!” Mami hastened to correct him. “Tashreef, tashreef!”

Buaji and all the others burst out laughing.

Buaji pinched and pulled NK’s cheek, “Bahut mazaakiya ho, Nandkisore!”

“Buaji!” NK tried to escape. “It hurts…ooo…ouch!”

Anjali teased both brides after filling their laps with gifts.

“Akash & Chotey wanted to accompany us. It took a lot of effort on our part to stop them!”

The pleasant picture of the Shaitan tied down with shackles and  locked up in chains, singing “O Priya, Priya, kyun bhula diya” flashed through her mind. But it is only a dream, Khushi Kumari Gupta, she told herself. The chains that could bind him had not been forged yet! And if he were tied, he would be saying “What the!” instead of “O Priya, Priya!”

“Don’t be sad, Khushiji!” Anjali whispered in her ear. “Chotey will come to see you in the evening!”

Of course he would! Khushi thought. He couldn’t very well ask Nanheji to push the ring on to her finger, could he?

After the Raizadas left, Khushi and Payal were given their lunch and asked to rest before the festivities of the evening.

Khushi drifted off to sleep.

She saw herself dressed in  a red lehenga like a bride, walking alone in a desert. Wind blew her lehenga around her. Sand dunes changed shape around her, the wild wind lashing sand in to her eyes. She pulled her ghoonghat more firmly over her head. 

She was waiting for him…her groom. She looked around anxiously. Where was he? He had promised to wait for her.

She caught sight of a flash of blue. She lifted the skirt of her lehenga with both hands and ran towards him. If only she could catch a glimpse of his face! But like a mirage, he vanished when she reached there.

Panting, Khushi called out, “Suniye! Where are you!”

She caught movement to her left. He, dressed in a blue sherwani, was walking away from her. She ran after him, trying to reach him. But he was too fast for her.

“Suniye! Suniye! Hamari baat suniye!” she hollered through a dry throat, panic and the eagerness to see him making tears fall down her cheeks.

Then he turned to look at her, the ever present smirk on his face. His sherwani was unbuttoned till his waist, letting her see the golden skin of his chest and hard stomach.

“Khushi! Khushi!”

Khushi jumped up, gasping.

“Khushi! What did you want to tell me? Why are you crying?” Payal was sitting up in bed by her side, anxious.

“Huh?” Khushi asked.

“You said, Suniye, hamari baat suniye! Did you want to tell me something?” Payal asked.

“Nothing, Jiji! I just had a nightmare!” Khushi pushed Payal in to bed and threw the blanket over her Jiji's head. 

She then lay down, burying her face in her pillow.

The Rakshas wouldn’t even let her dream in peace! Khushi grit her teeth and her fingers clutched the pillow. He and his muscles! And his ever present smirk!

 

Part 19

Gomti Sadan looked beautiful, almost regal. 

The house was decorated with strands and chains of yellow and orange marigold flowers, and lit by a hundred fairy lights.

Sasi Gupta stood at the main entrance to welcome all the guests, smiling, folding his hands, showing his neighbours to the room in which his daughters were getting ready and the main hall where the sagai was to take place.

Anjali, Mami, Mama, NK, & Nani led Arnav & Akash in to Gomti Sadan. Manju and Aman followed.

Buaji & Garima emerged from the recesses of the house to greet their soon-to-be relations, and the happy families converged in the humongous living room of the ancient building.

A purohit was making the last minute arrangements for the havan.

The Guptas introduced the Raizadas to their neighbours, and there was a lot of teasing and laughter in the room. Akash was one big blush while ASR tried very hard not to flush. NK flitted like a happy butterfly from one fond aunty to the next, eyeing the beautiful girls there.

“Nandkisore! Are you planning to follow in the footsteps of your brothers?” Buaji pulled his ear.

“Buaji!” NK protested.

“Why are your eyes running from one girl to the next, hein?” she teased.

“Dekhne mein kya burjji he?” NK asked.

Buaji gasped.

“Sorry, dekhne mein harjai kya he?” NK asked, trying to free his ear.

“Harz, NK Bhai!” Akash hissed.

All laughed.

“Maaf keejiye! Hamra bhateeja Kidney se aaya he! Uska Hindi thoda…thoda weak he!” Mamiji told the crowd.

All nodded goodnaturedly.

Someone opened the door to Payal & Khushi’s bedroom, and Mittu flew out in to the living room and perched on ASR’s shoulder.

He looked at the bird with wary eyes. There was no saying what she would sing.

“Raaja ki aayegi baraat

Rangeeli hogi raat,

Magan mein nachoongi!” Mittu trilled. She flapped her wings in excitement.

ASR blushed.

All the guests laughed.

“Khussi has picked the right groom, Madhumatiji!” Preetho’s mother said. “Mittu too likes him!”

All nodded.

“Hamra Arnav Bitwaa he hi aisen!” Buaji claimed. “Whoever meets him falls for his good manners and sanskar, Nandkisore!”

Raizadas stared at ASR and at Buaji. Was she speaking of the same man?

Aman pressed his fist against his lips to prevent himself from laughing. Manju gave up the fight and guffawed. Anjali choked.

Mittu flew away to sit on a beam, from where she could watch all the proceedings without disturbance.

The crowd suddenly became silent.

Ladies led the two brides–to-be in to the crowd. Arnav and Akash stood staring at the beauty of their partners. 

Payal was in a yellow and blue lehenga, the colour highlighting the golden colour of her skin.

Khushi was in an orange and violet lehenga, the skirt falling gracefully around her slim legs. Her hair was unbound, just tied back at the nape with some decorative trinket. Her choli was short, but the dupatta hid her bounty from the keen eyes of ASR.

“Payaliyaa, this is your groom, isn’t he? Look carefully before you give your answer. “ the ladies teased Payal.

Payal glanced at an Akash in a yellow kurta and blushed, nodding. All laughed.

“Khussi! Tum bhi zara dekh lio!”

Khushi lifted her eyes to look at her Shaitan. He was in a white kurta, looking very dashing. The kurta had a low neck, and she could see much. Khushi swallowed through a dry throat and lifted her eyes to his.

 He was smiling at her.

Why couldn’t he smile? He didn’t have to dream of her! Nor did he have to suffer breathlessness and dhak dhak when she came close to him!

Khushi averted her eyes rapidly & nodded.

“Khussi! You are feeling shy!” the ladies laughed. 

“Today is a special day, Madhumatiji! Your tomboy niece knows how to blush, hein?”

“Only on Holi and Diwali!” laughed Buaji loudly.

“Your Titliyaa will now have to settle on her flower, Madhumatiji! She won’t be able to run around Lucknow eating ber and chewing channa and fighting with all the boys!” Preetho’s mother laughed.

“Acha he, acha he, Nandkisore!” Buaji laughed.

Khushi glowered at all her chachis and maasis who were having a riotous time at her expense. What did they know of the truth? Of the great tyaag she was doing to see her Jiji happy? Of the real nature of the Laad Governaar who was smirking and smirking and smirking away?

The Guptas led the Raizadas and the couples to the havan. It was time for the pooja.

“Sit down, Nandkisore!” Buaji invited the pairs. “The havan is for you, for your happiness and long married life. Payaliyaa, sit with Akass Bitwaa. And Titliyaa, sit with Arnav Bitwaa.”

Payal and Akash sat down, leaving a decorous distance between them. As the ladies teased them, Khushi sat down by her Jiji.

ASR sat down, very close to her.

 His left thigh rubbed against hers. Khushi jumped, looking at him with startled eyes.

He smiled at her astonishment.

The purohit started the pooja. The pairs prayed and did everything they were asked to do.  Mittu watched them, sitting on the beam.

Khushi stole glances at the Laad Governaar. Feeling her eyes on him, he met her eyes every time, enjoying her discomfort at his nearness.

Khushi pulled the dupatta to cover more of her, turning her flushed face away to look at the fire.

After the pooja ended and the prasad was distributed, Garima marked Arnav & Akash with tilak while Anjali did the same for Khushi and Mamiji followed suit for Payal.

Buaji tied raksha dhaga on Akash & Arnav’s wrists, and Garima held out a tray with jewellery boxes placed on a bed of red rose petals.

Payal took a diamond ring and shyly placed it on Akash’s finger. Akash reciprocated, and the pair looked flushed and happy at their achievement.

Arnav looked at Khushi’s face as she looked at Payal’s beaming visage. She was smiling, very happy for her sister, lost in dreams for her sister.

“Oh Titliyaa! Now it is your turn!” Buaji hissed.

Khushi came back with a start.

“What will I do with this Bhooleshwari Devi, Nandkisore?” Buaji exclaimed under her breath as she held out the tray for Khushi.

Khushi looked at ASR’s face. He was smiling at her. 

“Shall we?” he asked softly.

Khushi swallowed.

She stretched her hand out and took a narrow, plain white gold band. She extended it towards him. He held his hand out.

Khushi caught his hand with her left one, and gently pushed the band on to his finger.

Arnav took the ring he had selected for her. A single ruby, surrounded by diamonds, embedded on a thin band of white gold. He slipped it on to her finger.

All looked at each other, happy, thrilled. Nani, Mami, & Anjali wiped away tears of joy. Garima hugged Buaji.

Khushi looked at the smiling faces of Akashji & Jiji. She then looked curiously at the brand on her finger. The red ruby winked at her. The Shaitan had marked her for his. Khushi drew in a deep, tremulous breath. Her fate was sealed.

ASR looked at her pensive face.

He leaned forward and pressed a sound kiss on her cheek.

The crowd gasped, thrilled at this public display of affection. Manju fell in to a chair, collapsing like a pricked balloon. Aman stood slackjawed at the temerity of his boss to kiss his fiancee in the presence of all his & her relations.

Khushi too gasped, blown out of her mind at his audacity.

“Khushiji! Payalji! Now you two are my bhabhis and I am your deewar!” NK claimed, thrilled.

“Dewar! Dewar, NK Bhai!” Akash rushed to correct him.

All laughed, even ASR.

Khushi looked at the Shaitaan’s laughing visage.

When he laughs, who bilkul Laad Governaar nahin lagte! she thought, feeling her heart clench.

Part 20

Khushi dragged ASR to her bedroom and locked the door as soon as she possibly could.

“What did you do?” she fumed. “How dare you!”

“Kya hua, Khushi?” ASR was an innocent boy.

“Right in front of all my neighbours…my maasis…my chachis…the children…the purohit… your relations… Buaji…Amma…Babuji!” Khushi clutched her head. “He Devi Maiyya, what kind of a mad man have you sent for me?”

She collapsed on the bed.

“How will I look them in the face? They will tease me…. I will have to wear a burkha to go out of the house…or wait till night to walk out!” Khushi ranted, imagining possible scenarios.

“Why are you so worried, Khushi? Is it because of the chumban?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“Is it because of the chumban, he asks me!” Khushi exclaimed sarcastically. “No, I was crying because there were no jalebis for dinner!”

“Khushi…” he walked towards her.

"Don't Khushi me!" She jumped up and moved away.

He walked towards her. She moved backwards…. back…back…till she hit the wall.

“Khushi…” he spoke in a soothing voice. “We are engaged. Engaged couples can give chumban to each other. It is permitted.”

Khushi’s mouth fell open. “It is?”

“Of course it is.” ASR’s honeyed tongue calmed her slightly.

She frowned. “Acha? I don’t know…woh kya he, I have never been engaged before….” Khushi admitted slowly, thinking furiously.

ASR hid his smile.

But she rebounded. “How do you know? Have you been engaged before?” she wiggled her brows, demanding answers.

ASR said, “No, I have not been engaged before.” He moved close to her and cupped her face. Looking in to her eyes, he asked gravely,  “By the way, Khushi, what irritated you more, the fact that I gave you a chumban before others or that I gave you a chumban?”

Khushi gasped, the answer rushing to her head, but too subversive to be spoken.

ASR’s eyes mellowed, reading the answer on her astonished face. He lowered his face and showered kisses on her forehead, her brows, her eyes, her cheeks, her chin….and near her lips….

Khushi stood as if turned to stone, trying to assimilate the various sensations crowding her veins, trying to calm the thunderous beat of her heart, trying to breathe….

Slowly, her lashes fluttered open.

He looked in to pools of nascent need, of burgeoning want, of budding passion.… Reading the unspoken desire of her body, he pulled her close in to his hold, letting her rest against him. Her heart beat against his, singing the same song of simmering sensuality.

They stood for long, Khushi too tired and too shocked by the pleasure that she had derived from his touch and by the answer to his question.

“Titliyaa!” came Buaji’s call.

Khushi jerked away from him.

“Titliyya, thoda sharm karo! Arnav Babua’s family is waiting to go home. Let him go. You can talk later, Nandkisore!” Buaji hollered , standing at the shut door.

ASR smiled at Khushi’s averted face. “I have to go now.”

Khushi nodded.

“We can fight later.” he cheered her up.

Khushi nodded. She had a lot of thinking to do.

He caught hold of her hand and looked at the ring he had placed there.

“It looks beautiful on your finger.” he said.

Khushi looked at him, and at the ring she had placed on his finger.

He lifted her hand to his face and dropped a kiss on the ring.

Khushi stood staring at him, not having expected such a move from him.

“Good night, Khushi. Sleep well. And dream well, Mrs. Soon-to-be Rakshas!” he got in the last word before leaving her.

He moved close to her and cupped her face. Looking in to her eyes, he asked gravely,  “By the way, Khushi, what irritated you more, the fact that I gave you a chumban before others or that I gave you a chumban?”

Khushi’s lips parted, and the truth tumbled out. “You should not have…not before all the guests.”

“I should have waited till we were alone?” His eyebrow arched in question.

Khushi lowered her head in bashfulness, nodding slightly.

“We are alone now.” he whispered, his chocolate-brown eyes showering fire that burned her skin.

Khushi tried to turn away from his all-seeing eyes. He caught hold of her arm and tugged her closer. His fingers trailed over the sensitive skin of her arm, relishing the feel of her skin as though it were silk.

Kapdawala kahin ka! she thought. 

As she looked in to his face, trapped in his strong arms and held against his muscular chest, he swooped down. His lips touched her cheek and moved down towards her jaw, lingering near the seam of her lips.

Khushi trembled, panting, her eyes shut. His lips gently brushed against the curve of her lips, her skin feeling scorched by his touch, her limbs feeling weak….

Khushi jumped up, panting, sweating. She looked around in shock.

Her poor Jiji was fast asleep, hugging her pillow. Mittu was dozing on her beam, making soft whimpering sounds as she dreamed of seeds and treats.

 Had she dreamed of the Rakshas? Or had he stolen in to her bedroom? It had seemed so real! His touch, his chumban…Khushi touched her lips to see if they were still there!

Was he hiding in her room? She peeked under the bed. There was no one there.

She shook out her blankets. No, he was not there.

She looked behind the wardrobe and under the table. No one.

How dare he disturb her sleep? She ran to get the phone he had given to her. She would call him and chastise him for disturbing her.

She pressed his number, and as it rang, cut the call. She needed to gather herself before challenging him. Maybe she should wait till morning.

She dropped the phone on her pillow, and slipped in to bed. Let it dawn, she promise herself. I will show him who is the malik! No, malkin!

ASR checked his phone as he woke up. A missed call from Khushi. At 1am. A smile bloomed on his lips. He quickly called her back.

Khushi grumbled in her sleep as the phone made a din, hurting her ear.

“Helloooooo…” she mumbled.

“Khushi…” the husky voice sent all her sleep running away from her like children at the sight of a teacher with a cane!

She sat up straight in her bed, the phone at her ear, her eyes bright and alert.

“Why did you call me?” he asked.

“Call you?” she scratched her head. “I did not call you. You called me.” He was ajeeb!

“Last night. You called me?” She could hear him smiling.

“Nahin to.” Khushi frowned. “You must have dreamed that I called you!”

“Then why is there a missed call from your number?” he asked softly.

Khushi gulped. She had forgotten that she had tried to call him.

“Did you dream of me, Khushi?” he asked, his voice touching every nerve end and making her shudder in reaction.

She cut the call, shut down the phone, and buried it under her pillow. Out of sight, out of mind, she thought!

“Oh, neend na mujhko aaye!
Dil mera ghabaraae….
Chup ke chup ke, koi aa ke,
Soya pyaar jagaae….O ho..ho..ho..ho….” Mittu sang.

Khushi glared at the bird. "No seed for you today, Mittu rani! You too are out to burn my heart like that Laad Governaar!"