It
was past half an hour when Arnav descended the stairs..
"we
should really be leaving now" Payal eyed her watch..
"i
know.." Khushi glanced at her wrist watch too.. "i wonder what's
taking..."
while
Khushi glanced at the main door Anjali who was just about to speak
was interrupted by her brother-
"di
I'll drop them home"
Anjali
arched her brows high at Arnav as a mischevous smile played on her
lips..
"will
you chotte? I thought you were off for a-"
"i
am" he broke in , pretending to be totally oblivious of the tongue
rolls Anjali had now resorted to.. "but it's on the way so I
thought of-"
"of
course of course I understand.."
"you
leave it bhai, you must be busy, i'll drop Khushi and Payalji home"
akash called from behind..
so
basically it was a 'make hay while the sun shines' scenario in the
Raizada living room..
Anjali
desperately wished to grab hold of a popcorn cone from somewhere to
relax on the sofa and enjoy the drama unfolding..
"no
Aakash it's fine, i'll manage"
"but
bhai I-"
"Aakash-"
"hey
everyone!! wassup??" Nihaal called from behind..
and
there the sun stops shining, even before the hay making could
commence..
Nihaal
got pleasant looks from all except two brothers who had a little too
firm handshakes with him..
Nihaal
had a high five and light hug with Anjali and Arnav flinched..Khushi
caught him flinching and was confused for a moment, then
smiled..Payal caught Khushi smiling and gave a confused look, Aakash
caught Payal giving a confused look and raised questioning eyebrows,
Anjali caught Aakash raising questioning eyebrows and blushed, Nihaal
caught Anjali blushing and winked, Arnav caught Nihaal winking and
flinched, Khushi caught Arnav flinching again and grinned..thus
completing the 'expression cycle'..
Nihaal
whispered in Anjali's ears..
"i
told you I have a way with women"
Anjali
pushed him away..
"oh
yes! I have seen your 'way' with women alright"
"Look
if this is anyway pointing to what happened at the showroom you
better remember-"
"tea?"
Anjali ended the talk then and there seeing the direction it was
taking...
"another
time for sure!" he grinned "me and Lattu have er..some..plans for
today.."
News
Today
page
3
report
by- Dibaker Sinha
Twist
in the fairy tale?
Pallavi
Khandelwal threw a totally unexpected bomb yesterday night as she
opened up on her relationship with the soon to be engaged business
tycoon Arnav Singh Raizada. Pallavi claims to be the ex flame of the
tycoon, who has always chosen to remain reticent with regards to his
personal life ,his relationship with Ms Khushi Kumari Gupta,as we
know, being totally an exception. Pallavi claims, that Mr Raizada
recently sought a reunion, vehemently stating his current
relationship to be a complete farce. Is this another publicity
gimmick thrown by a struggling B-town actress to grab spotlight or do
her claims hold water enough to endanger the much hyped engagement of
the two love birds the day after? Mr Raizada, as well as Ms Gupta,
unfortunately remained unavailable for comments. Keep your eyes glued
to the column for more haps!
Also
read- why does Shah Rukh Khan hate noodles? Fahion police on Priyanka
chopra @ red carpet, Salman Khan got a haircut-exclusive report on
why he shouldn't have (entertainment time; cover page)
Khushi
had the newspaper spread out before her..the article glaring at her
as she, still in her bed, blinked , shocked at it...then picked it up
and re-read, and re-read, and re-read till she had almost memorised
the article by heart...
Payal
gave her a confused look..
"Khushi..what's
it?"
Khushi
burst into laughter...
"oh
my God jiji!! you've GOT to see this! OH how I wish I could see his
face right now! OMG!" she held her stomach and burst out laughing
again as Payal gave the article a read..
"Khushi..what's
there to laugh in it??"
"WHAT
is there to laugh in it? Jiji cement pile would NEVER ever think of-"
"do
you know of his past?"
"well..no,
but-"
"then
how can you be so sure? Khushi you told me last night you two are
still not sure of this whole thing and a break up still stands a
chance! Suppose he indeed had an ex who wants to reunite! Or it could
even be Mr Raizada's idea of a breakup plan.."
Khushi's
laughter got wiped from her face like the sunshine from the clouds...
"What
have you been reading lately?" she charged at Payal "seems like
dozens of 'ex meets ex and live happily ever after non existent in
real life, mushy, ridiculous stuff to me!"
Payal
coolly looked at her..
"it's
plain logic Khushi, in fact, now I think you should be the one who
should be worrying over why the idea is SO disturbing to you"
and
she walked out of the room...
Khushi
eyed the article once again and felt a pang inside..before the green
eyed monster took over Khushi Kumari Gupta..
That..that
Pallavi of a- ..looked foolish, dressed funny, who wore a screaming
red lipstick with a nude colour gown? Lacked brains, lacked fashion
sense, and a big mouth! Fine! If this is who he wished to be hooked
up for the rest of his life so be it! She didn't give it a damn! Not
one damn! Congratulations to him! Might as well get up in mornings
and have this 'miss whatever' the first thing he sees for all she
cared!! yes, early in the morning!! without all this..this fake
makeup! Yes..fake make up!! and..and a bad hair day!! he would scream
and no one would hear! And it would be too late!! then he would
realize what he threw himself into! But it would be too late! This
money monger would run after him and he could very well 'what the'
and 'dammmit' at her amoeba sized brain for the rest of his life!!!
she didn't give a damn!!!
yes,
she was currently on the verge of tears, yes she was painting a
beautiful 'happily ever after' picture for Arnav, yes she choking in
the throat, yes she wanted to kick Pallavi Khandelwal into oblivion,
but of course,of course, she didn't give a damn...
"um..hey
partner in crime"
"witness
to crime"
"redeemed
crime..by the way, what's this explosion all over in the papers? What
on earth is your brother doing??"
"oh
my brother? He is currently being shown the google image search
results of who is pallavi Khandelwal by Aakash"
"you
mean-"
"i
mean he has as much clue of who she is as he has of the fact that why
Shah Rukh Khan hates noodles or what was wrong with Salman Khan's new
haircut.."
"what"
"that
was below the article on them"
"you
do read page 3 carefully, don't you?"
"oh
very. And so does your sister. So basically, he is absolutely
clueless about this 'emerges from nowhere ex flame'..."
"so
I take it the engagement will be the way it is"
"why
won't it?can you just..oh leave it..you must be at work"
"um..actually
I am not. The 'sliding down the stair bannister' thing resulted into
a tiny..accident here" he spoke eying the sorry state of his foot
once more..
Khushi
kumari gupta in the meantime was doing this- using Adobe photoshop to
try out how various moustaches and beards would look on Pallavi
Khandelwal. In one fine picture, she even put devil horns..
the
message popped up before her-
save
B-town-bimbo.jpeg?
Saved!
And
the satisfaction it gave Khushi Kumari Gupta to look at the picture
of Pallavi Khandelwal with a beard and devil horns on her desktop..
bliss!
She
heard the phone ringing beside her and picked it up..
cement
pile calling..
her
heart did a loud 'thud'...this was the moment of truth...
"who
is this Pallavi Khandelwal or whatever's her name??"
straight
to the question.no hello. Nothing. Happens when you are too anxious..
Arnav
himself was surprised at her almost barked out question..
"Khu-"
"you
had an ex and you didn't even tell me about it?"
"why
shoul-"
"you
didn't even care to share the plan with me? I get to know from the
papers that you-"
"Khushi
SHUT UP!"
silence..
"i..i
am sorry Mr Raizada..of course..it's..it's your personal matter..it's
not that I..i want to barge into your relationship with your ex..it's
just that.."
"Khushi?"
"yes?"
"if
you are done can you lemme finish?"
Khushi
in any case had to stop speaking at the moment..the reason not being
his anger, rather the rising lump in her throat..
she
was mad at herself..mad at having the strong desire of making
complete use of the 'buy one get one free' tissue box sets she had
bought in the afternoon, mad at herself for wanting those
photoshopped images of Pallavi Khandelwal suddenly turn to reality..
mad
at herself for being mad at the person she was currently on line with
when she had no concrete reason to be mad at him..
the
lump in throat just got a little bigger..
while
Arnav wondered what magic got Khushi Kumari Gupta to for the first
time comply with his 'lemme finish'..
"i
don't even know who she is dammit!"
Khushi's
eyes suddenly lit up..
"what?you..you
mean she is not your ex-"
"Arnav
Singh Raizada has done better things in his life than hooking up with
hair brained good for nothings"
Khushi
involuntarily grinned..she would have to remember that one.. 'hair
brained good for nothing'
"oh.."
"seeking
damn publicity"
"Exactly!
How gross" Khushi vehemently agreed "absolutely cheap!"
"but
I was thinking.."
"what?"
"that
this could be a good excuse for the breakup..it sounds believable, no
extra effort required , she has already said all that could be said
and all that's needed now is just agreeing.."
"you..you
mean then you'll get linked to her-"
"i
mean I would dump her the instant our breakup is confirmed.."
"oh..and
I will..i will say-" Khushi trailed away..
"you
don't have to say anything! Just don't comment. Since you...so
desperately want to be over and done with the breakup"
Khushi
shifted restlessly in her place..
"I
want to be done and
over with the breakup??"
"well..you
do don't you??"
"no..i
mean yes..i mean.. so do you!"
silence..
"so.."
"hm.."
"so
i'll make the announcement next time the press approaches.."
the
rising lump in her throat was making it so difficult to speak..hell,
WHAT was wrong with her!!
she
nodded her head as she said "ok then.." and was about to
disconnect when Arnav interrupted..
"Khushi!"
"yes?"
"di
wants to know the..the dress you finally chose for the...engagement"
"what
sense does that make now?"
"i'll
have to explain the situation to her. Till then just mail any dress
to me"
Khushi
was in no mood to argue..depression hormones were taking a toll on
her...
"fine"
"ok
then.."
"hm.."
call
disconnected..
After
she had disconnected the call, Arnav kept staring at the pool, hands
inside his pockets for long...
this
was not Khushi..a girl who blabbered at the rate of infinte
blabberings per minute had just said 'ok' or 'fine' the entire
conversation..could it be..could it be even remotely possible that
she didn't want the breakup? Or was it just that she was plain sick
of the entire thing and wanted to be over and done with it as soon as
she could..somehow the former option created a strange glow within
him..
an
unexperienced, happy warmth..
damn
you Arnav Singh Raizada..he shut his eyes in disbelief..what the hell
was wrong with him! Why would she not want the breakup..hell why
would HE not want the breakup???
he
tried reassuring himself...of course he wanted the breakup..he
just..he just didn't want it this way...
Her
mood was too off for her to actually pay heed to what designer
dresses she was attaching to the mail..the pictures folder open
before her, the recently photoshopped image added to the 'my
pictures' list, but her mind in some far away land..
Mind
still occupied with break up, Arnav, past moments, confusions, she
blindly attached one link after anther..
links
attached-
manishmalhotra12.jpeg
hiteshSidwani.jpeg
dressmeasurements.doc
B-town-bimbo.jpeg
(yes,
you read the last one correct)
technology
yet again ditched Khushi Kumari Gupta as she pressed the send mail
button to ASR@ARgroup.org
..how she would have wanted to save a particular file from going into
the mail..
you've
got mail
1
new mail from kkg@gmail.com
. Open?
Arnav
wondered whether to even bother opening the mail..after all, she must
have randomly attached any dress to the file..
after
a few minutes of wondering, he nevertheless opened it-
Manishmalhotra12,
hiteshsidwani.jpeg,dressmeasurements.doc..hold on...what?
B-town-bimbo.jpeg...
he
opened the file-
google
images had failed to apprise him of what popped up before his face..a
bearded, horned Pallavi Khandelwal..
this
was the second time she had done this..he remembered the earlier sms
fiasco..
and
then Arnav Singh Raizada leaned his head on his seat and smiled..then
eyed the image once more ,his mobile levelled with his face.. and the
smile slowly, involuntarily, grew wide enough to escape as a light
chuckle..
His
car took a halt outside the AR office..
In
no time ,the media had surrounded him pouring questions from all
sides..suited bodyguards started clearing the crowd around for him,
as he walked with firm steps towards the main door..
"Who
is Pallavi?"
"Mr
Raizada should we take it that the engagement is off??"
"Mr
Rai-"
Arnav
stopped walking, then turned to face the dozen cameras facing him as
he, a complete cool reigning his face, took off his avaiators and
handing them to a guard by his side spoke out-
"The
engagement is very much on"
"Mr
Raizada who is Pallavi??"
He
looked staright into the eyes of the reporter and spoke curtly...
"you
tell me"
before
heading back straight for his office again, the dozens of questions
that followed all falling on deaf ears..
He
had hardly reached his chamber when his phone started buzzing in his
pocket..
He
didn't need to be a psychic to know who it was..
Khushi
calling
"what?"
"WHAT
was that?"
"what
was what?"
"oh
don't you 'what was what' me! I just saw the tv..you..you confirmed
the engagement!!"
"yes"
"yes??
last we talked, it was all about 'convenient breakup' and what not
and you suddenly did a U turn and-...what of the breakup???"
"of
course there will be a breakup..but Arnav Singh Raizada doesn't need
a hair brained spotlight freak to do it"
"oh..ok..i see..yeah..bringing her in all this"
"hm.."
"fine then.."
"Khushi"
he spoke just as she was about to disconnect..
"yes?"
"nice
pictures those"
"huh?"
"the
ones you mailed me...specially the last one"
"pic-..oh
those!! I hadn't thought you'd even see them!"
silence..
"fine
then! Since I am super busy right now,i will talk to you later-"
she continued and glanced the morning article before her for one last
time and then suddenly grew silent..
Arnav
who was already jumping around at her 'I am super busy right now,
talk to you later' and was just about to give her a nice long lecture
with puffed nostrils on being 'super busy' sensed the dead silence at
the other end and stopped..
"Khushi?"
"OH
SHIT! SHIT ! SHIT! SHIT!" Khushi exclaimed..
"Khushi..Khushi
you fine?"
"OH
NO! " she groaned "IT'S RUINED!!"
"Khushi
what's the matter dammit?? are you ok? Should i-" he began
panicking..
"SALMAN
CUT HIS HAIR!!"
"WHAT?"
"SALMAN
KHAN!! Can you believe he changed his haircut!!! HOW did I miss this
in the morning??"
How
Arnav wished mobile phones had the facilty to strangle the person at
the other end..
"You
shouted.so loud.because some damn fellow had a haircut" he
literally breathed into the receiver..
"EXCUSE
ME! Who are you calling a damn fellow! Oh yes! Why would you be
bothered about Salman Khan? You must be busy reading what the fashion
police has to say about Priyank-"
your
call has been disconnected.
Khushi
frowned into her mobile..cement pile! This man needed a lecture or
two on how to formally end her calls.
Khushi
Kumari Gupta never realized when she was smiling at her ceiling in
the room..a blooming, budding , beautiful, smart, posh bollywood
actress ( readers kindly note the change in words Ms Gupta chooses to
implement) and he calls her a 'hair brained spotlight freak' in front
of her and announces his engagement confirmed...smile.smile.smile.
Arnav
had a last look at the picture of a photoshopped Pallavi Khandelwal
before he switched off his bedside lamp..slim chances of him ever
deleting that one..
of
course they would break up, but not this way...yes ,yes, we believe
them, *
cough * *cough * of course we do..
Good one!
ReplyDeleteSabi..
ReplyDeleteUE was not an instant hit on I-F for nothing..