24. Sshh...Di is Watching.....



 "Khushi..."

Khushi jerked as the murmur was accompanied by the feel of Arnavji's two strong, warm arms sliding around her waist, pulling her towards him. His mouth whispered in her ear, "Di is watching...", putting an end to her instinctive movement away from him. He buried his face in her unbound hair, enjoying the silky hair rubbing against his bristly stubble, the jasmine scent of her driving all thoughts out of his mind.

The jalebis turned brown in the hot oil, but Khushi remained blind to their plight, all her senses focused on the devastation wrought by Arnavji.

"Chotey! You are determined to ruin our dessert, aren't you?", teased Anjali as she walked into the kitchen. Arnav reluctantly removed his face from her hair, and his fingers marked a trail of heat on her sensitive waist as they withdrew, slowly. Khushi shuddered.

She had, once upon a time, thought that Shyam was the most devious, crooked, wicked man on earth. Then she hadn't known what exactly Arnav Singh Raizada was capable of. He had given wickedness a new meaning. All day, everyday, he touched her. Any excuse to put his hands on her, he never missed. It was either Di is watching, or Mami is walking by, or Nani is looking, or Shyam is here... Now only Laxmi was left. And she was sure that one day he would kiss her using Laxmi as an excuse. He had become the bane of her existence. She now spent all her time trying to avoid him, deliberately giving his favourite areas in the house a miss.

She had figured out that the reason behind Arnavji's coldness and their sudden marriage had been Shyamji. She had dragged Arnavji into their bedroom, locked the door, forced him to sit down, and sitting at his feet, had narrated the whole sorry tale of Shyamji & the Guptas. He had listened to her, but hadn't responded to her confession verbally. But there had been a distinct change in his treatment of her, a thaw in the coldness, a lessening of the pain she had seen in his eyes. He had not discussed the terms of their marriage, but had asked her to use the recliner at night while he used the bed. He had not told her whether he trusted her or not, but where ever she wanted to go, he went with her. To the temple, shopping for clothes, to buy the materials for a puja that Anjaliji wanted done, to purchase colours and other accessories for Holi...

The worst part was the touching. She could bear everything...anything...except his touch. Her dhak dhak was killing her. The acidity was the pits. She was not used to this mixture of anticipation and dread that she felt when she sensed him near her.

"Khushi..", she heard him call from his room.
"Think of the rakshas, and there he is", she muttered as she walked up to his room.
She paused by the door, watching an Arnavji working on his laptop with trepidation.
"Just come here, Khushi..", Arnav invited.
She walked towards him, as slowly as she could, halting just out of his reach.
"Yes...?"
"I am very angry with you, Khushi...Why didn't you bring me my orange juice on time?"
"Humein maaf kijiyee...I forgot...", she moved forward, trying to apologise.
"Don't you think you deserve to be punished for this?", he asked in his husky voice. He caught hold of her arm, and pulled her onto his lap. He said softly, "Mami is watching us", and proceeded to caress her flushed cheeks, his molten chocolate eyes holding her startled gaze.

The binoculars fell from the hands of a shell-shocked Mami on the terrace.

In the evening, Anjali asked Khushi to summon Arnavji for the puja. All the others were present. Arnavji alone was absent, closeted in his room. Unwilling, but with no way out, Khushi went to his room. She peeked in, but he was no where to be seen.

"Arnavji...", she called, first softly, and then loudly.
The door to the washroom opened, and Arnav came out dressed in a cream kurta. Khushi's breath stopped, her eyes wide, her mouth open... Arnav came very close to her, and slowly tapped her chin to close her mouth.
"Kya hua, Khushi?"
"Nothing...nothing...I..I have..never seen you..in a kurta. That is all..I just..You look..."
"I look...?", Arnav's voice held laughter.
"Nothing...Your family is waiting downstairs...for the puja.."

Arnav walked towards her, and as usual, she walked backwards till she hit the wall. But this time, he was in no mood to stop. He walked into her, invading her private space with relish. He placed his forehead against hers, and rubbed her nose with his.

"I look...?"

His hands placed on either side of her prevented her from even dreaming of escape. But she was Khushi Arnav Singh Raizada. She tried.

"We need to go down...the puja...your family..."
"I look...?"
"V...ery...good..."

His hands cupped her shoulders, holding her firmly in place as his lips began to wander over her face, repaying her for her compliment with a series of seductive kisses.

She struggled.

"Sshh...Di is watching...", he said, and he crushed her in his arms.
Khushi stilled, trembling, breathing heavily, waiting for Anjaliji to release her from this sensual torture. She waited. And waited.

"Where..is Anjaliji?", she asked when she could take no more.
He let her twist around in his arms to look at the door and beyond.

There was no sign of Anjaliji or anyone else. In a huff, Khushi turned to berate Arnav, and felt her heart still.

His laughing eyes looked down at her, so naughty, tender, apologetic, and so...so loving. She swallowed.

He gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and led her downstairs.

The sight of Arnav in a kurta made Anjali & Nani gasp and Mama smile. Akash dropped the vessel of ghee he was holding right on to Mami's foot, whose loud laments remained unheard by the rest who were enjoying the miraculous sight of a smiling Chotey in a cream kurta.