Thursday 11 September 2014

153. OS: 7: The Other Woman (Part 13-14)







Section 13



“Khushi,” he gasped when he could find his voice. “I don’t normally..I mean, Khushi, listen to me, Khushi,” he tried to explain but had no idea what and how. How could he prove to her that he didn’t do things like this?

Khushi burst out laughing, anguish tingeing her chuckles.

A knock sounded on the door.

Khushi quickly walked to the shut door and opened it.

Shyam stood there, staring at the unlikely pair in the room.

“Arnav?” he asked uncertainly. “Sharmaji said that you were waiting to see me? Kya hua?”

“I wanted to apologise to Khushi,” Arnav spoke the truth.

“Oh,” Shyam stole a look at Khushi’s closed face.

“He has finished apologising. May I get back to work, Shyamji?” Khushi asked politely.

Shyam nodded and stood back so that she could pass.






Arnav stood watching Khushi walk away from him.

Shyam walked in to the room and came to stand by Arnav.

“I want to marry her,” Arnav told his Jiju.

“Who?” Shyam frowned.

“Khushi,” Arnav said quietly.



Shyam gasped like a landed fish. “Let me sit down,” he said, his hands looking for the closest chair. He sat down jerkily and asked, “What did you say just now?”

“I want to marry Khushi,” Arnav joined him, sitting down on another chair.

“Arnav Singh Raizada, the greatest misogynist and the most vociferous advocate of bachelorhood wants to get married?” Shyam couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes,” he said.

“Why the change of mind?” Shyam asked.

“I hadn’t met Khushi then,” Arnav admitted.

“You met her yesterday for the first time,” Shyam tried to remind him.

“I know. I remember. One day with her was enough to...” his voice trailed away.

“Chotey,” Shyam said. “Don’t get me wrong. I am delighted you want to marry. I am ecstatic that you want to marry Khushi. She is a gem of a girl and her family is a very sanskaari and loving one. But are you sure about this? Are you doing this out of guilt?” Shyam asked. “You have to live a lifetime with the consequences of this decision,” he warned.

“I know it seems out of character, but,” Arnav paused, looking at his linked fingers. “I am guilty but not stupid enough to marry out of guilt. I don’t know what happened, Jiju. I..I came here to tear Khushi to shreds. Then..then she came in with tea and smiled and talked to me...and...” Arnav shrugged. “I don’t know...I couldn’t remember anything Di had said, couldn’t even remember why I had come here, who I thought she was...Jiju, one look. That was all it took. I lost myself.”



Shyam hid his smile at the sheer helplessness on his usually arrogant saalesaheb’s face.

“Did you apologise to Khushi?” Shyam asked.

Arnav nodded. “She refused to accept it,” he said, frustrated. “But I will make her understand I am sorry, that I will never say ghatiya things again.”



“Did you propose to her?” Shyam asked.

Arnav nodded.

Shyam marvelled at the courage of his saalesaheb.

“What was her reply?” Shyam asked cautiously. Had Khushi slapped him or thrown the table at him? Shyam looked around the room. The furniture was intact. He drew in a deep breath of relief. So things hadn’t degenerated in to the realm of violence...so far.

“She asked me why she should marry an immoral man,” Arnav admitted.

Shyam frowned. “Immoral? You?”

Arnav flushed. “I abused her thoroughly.”

“Knowing you, I am not surprised,” Shyam said wryly. “But why should she consider you immoral just because you accused her of immorality?”

Arnav turned red before Shyam’s astonished eyes. “I..I offered to buy her services,” he choked to a stop.

Shyam stared at him for one moment in acute shock and then burst out laughing, clutching his tummy.

“You believe in doing things thoroughly, don’t you, Saalesaheb?” Shyam asked in between guffaws.

Arnav sighed, angry with himself.

“You pushed her away, as far as she could go away from you. And now you want to marry her? You really expect her to throw in her lot with you, a man who goes around accusing her of things she hasn’t done but can’t prove, a man who offers to buy her charms?” Shyam asked quietly once he could get his breath.

Arnav thought about Shyam’s words for a moment and then said, “Yes.”

“It is going to be a tough road,” Shyam warned him.

Arnav nodded.

“And a long one,” Shyam added.

“I am ready,” Arnav said.

“You will have to woo her, persuade her to give you a chance, show her that you are not the monster she thinks you are," Shyam said.

Arnav nodded. "I will."

"Good luck,” Shyam smiled at him.

Arnav nodded.

Shyam looked at his saalesaheb, amusement and affection in his eyes. From being a non-believer in love, romance and marriage, Arnav was determined to create history by becoming the most romantic youth in India.

Shyam hid a smile.




Section 14




Khushi walked out of the office, pushing her cloth bag further on her shoulder. All the cubicles were empty, the employees having gone home a long time back.

 The security guard saluted her. She smiled at him, the smile vanishing as she passed him.

The sky was cloudy. It was still evening, but later than she normally left. She cursed Arnav Singh Raizada from the bottom of her heart. He and his proposal. She would tell him what he could do with his proposal and his proposition the next time she saw him...if she saw him. Disturbed by his proposal, she had struggled with her work, dropped files, disconnected important calls, connected important calls to the wrong people, dropped a paper weight on her own foot...And she had managed to finish her work one full hour after the others had left.

A gentle wind blew strands of her hair on to her cheek. She lifted her hand and smoothed the silky strands to fall behind her ear. Her dupatta flew in the wind as though it were a parachute and Khushi turned to smile at it.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar figure leaning against a white giant of a car. The sight wiped the smile off her face. She turned to look at him, her eyes wide in horror. She was not dreaming, was she? No, no, she wasn’t. It was Arnav Singh Raizada in full size, complete with his coat and suit, removing his dark glasses to see her better.



"Hey Devi Maiyya, raksha karna," she breathed. She drew in a deep breath for courage as he walked closer to her, her eyes lowered to the polished, hand-made, expensive-looking shoes approaching her.



“Khushi,” he called.

She looked up at his face, careful to wipe off all expression from her face.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Let me take you home,” he offered.

“No, thanks,” Khushi replied. “I am not fool enough to fall for the same trick twice,” she retorted as she began walking away from him.

He matched her steps.

“I am not going to kidnap you,” he assured her.

“Hhmmpppfff!” she made her opinion of his assurance clear.

“I will give you a lift home. I will take you to your Buaji,” he promised.

“I don’t believe you,” Khushi stated.

“Khushi, we can talk. I need to,” he began.

“I don’t want to talk to you. In fact, I don’t want to see you again, Mr. Saale-saheb,” Khushi said.

“Khushi,” he began.

“Don’t call me Khushi. Don’t appear before me. Don’t speak to me. Don’t look at me,” she bit out, her eyes flashing fire.

“Khushi,” he tried to grip her arm.

“And don’t touch me. I am not selling my charms tonight, Mr. Saale-saheb, for you to try them out. I will let you know when I do. Now leave me alone and go home to your sister and her marital woes,” Khushi told him.

“Listen to me, Khushi,” he tried.

“No, no, I won’t. Did you listen to me? Nahi na? Then why should I listen to you?” she asked.

“Khushi, I was wrong,” he said.

“I know. I knew it yesterday. You know it now. That is the only difference. Now, leave me alone and go away. Seeing you is like revisiting a nightmare,” Khushi hissed.

He stood staring at her for a moment, lost for words. Then he parted his lips to call her name, but she did not wait for him.

She flagged down a rickshaw, jumped in to it and went away.

He stood immobile for a moment and then strode to his SUV to follow her home.




Section 15

19 comments:

  1. Smita, I never thought I would ever say this but I like this Shyam. Will he help his Saale-Saheb win Khushi's heart. She is surely affected by his proposal but is not willing to trust him? Thanks dear for giving us daily updates can't wait to see what will happen when Arnav follows her to Gupta house

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  2. Wow 2 Updates together..
    Super awesome update..
    Loved shyam and arnav conversation..arnav sounded like a college going stubborn boy who approach their father to tell that what they wanted to do in future..specially when they select something different or uncommon carrier. Shyam was a sweetheart here.
    And kushi..huh..she pretends as a brave person infront of arnav but the way u explained her condition after arnavz proposal was mindblowing..
    Lovely smita..

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  3. and how the mighty have fallen
    no really
    who would have though huh
    but really why did it surprise me
    this is ASR after all
    he sure has made it hard for her to accept his case
    and why should she
    from a man who thinks she was selling herself to his jiju
    how low could he go
    and then he proposes what girl would see him as being serious right
    i certainly wouldnt if i were in khushi place
    he doesnt do things in half measures though
    if he is out to shred someone to pieces he sure does it through and through
    and now same for asking for forgiveness
    which khushi isnt interested in giving to him
    i know she sure was shocked about it
    if her working later than normal and not been able to focus on work was anything to go by
    but she kept up appearances for sake of her sanity
    and i loved her for that
    hmmm shyam arnav convo sure was interesting
    he wanted to make sure that arnav knew what he was doing
    that it wasnt due to his guilt
    but the man really fell for her
    though he ruined that too by offering to make him comfortable
    that was just what do i say
    i swear he believes in making things worse for himself before making it right
    hmmm no wonder shyam is shocked
    for ASR to be in love is shocking
    and in love witht he woman he abused so brutally even worse
    and yes shyam is right he will have to grovel for her
    which is where the fun lies
    hope he doesnt bypass khushi and ask her hand in marriage from buaji
    that would be underhanded of him right
    keep up the façade khushi you need to
    he needs to learn after all a lesson in humility

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  4. Who could've believed such a transformed ASR? I like him and this Khushi is sooo amazing and lovely. I like this Shyamji too :-)

    Smita chérie ! I am reading "Recalling Arnav" for the second time. I love it and you did a great job! Thanks for sharing your beautiful stories with us.

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    Replies
    1. Me too! While waiting for Smita ji's updates. It's a lovely story.

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    2. It feels good to know that I am not the only one :-)

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  5. Amazing update. Love this story Smita

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  6. The first thing I did this morning was to switch on my laptop and what do I find? A lovely update from you. Muuuuaaahhhh, Thank you.
    Sooooo, KKG is not as unaffected as she portrays. hmmmm! Is she going to give him a break soon.I like this Shyam very much.I like your ASR too even though he is still batting at zero. He has his flaws the major one being his motor mouth, (after all who is perfect) but somehow you manage to bring out all his positive traits such being honest, straightforward, loyalty,shouldering responsibilities - man, I could go on. That's what makes us go ga ga over him. Love it so far. BTW, Smitaji have you read 'The colours of wind' ? Another arshi fan fiction.

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    Replies
    1. Kaaycee! I want to read this Colors of the wind but i just found it in the Indian forum. I am on my iphone now and forgot my password for IF. Can I find it in a blog too? Or it is only on the IF?

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    2. Mission accomplished: found it :-)

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    3. Have you started reading it? It's well written.

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    4. I started Book 3 and little by little i get it. I should have started from tome 1. Colors of the wind is the name of one of the chapters, right?

      Yes it is well written and is interesting so far.

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  7. Khushi - sunshine personified, with her bewitching smile, walking to him with a cup of hot tea....how is he supposed to resist that .:)

    But, boy oh boy ! she is really pissed off and rightfully so. Even the suit-clad imposing ASR, leaning against his white SUV, taking off his aviators with that classic ASR panache ( ahem ahem.... focus Priya. This is about Khushi !) has failed to stop her from ACTING all indifferent. Only if Mr Adonis Singh Raizada had put to use those ever competent grey cells of his which he claims to have energized further, at Haridwar... Sigh !!

    He sure has his work cut out for him. Just when he feels he has hit rock bottom, our tigress makes him realise it is rock bottom, then 50 ft of the mess created by his own idiocy and then HIM !! LOL!! However if Khushi thinks dealing with a diabolical ASR is agonising, she will soon realise that handling a lovesick, penitent, eager-to-woo-his-girl ASR is an equally excruciating but sweet torture ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Mr.Adonis Singh Raizada - Girl you sure hit the nail on the head. droooooooool

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  8. J'adore la façon dont tu as décrit notre belle Khushi :"Soleil personnifié".

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  9. It's Saturday Smita ji. Can we expect anything today? Pretty please!!!!

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  10. I love all your stories . Please come back.

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