UE part 39

Khushi had accompanied Nihaal after work, with the intention of picking Anjali up from RM , dropping on the way at their apartment ,while Nihaal and Anjali could go on to their 'date'..

Courtesy demanded a very hesitant Khushi to step down from the car at RM too, along with Nihaal and after polite greetings to nani she was about to leave, behind an Anjali Nihaal duo who already had made their way towards the car , when nani interrupted her..

"dear..won't you meet chotte?"

"um..no nani..i guess, he must be busy so-"

"oh no, chotte is down with terrible fever. I dare not let Anjali know about it else he would have the whole house on his head, and in his current state, I would rather he had a cold compress instead.."

Khushi suddenly felt something fall down with a huge thud within her. As if breakfast, lunch everything combined had suddenly turned to lead..

"wh..what happened to him?"

"oh as if he would let us know darling! But I guess it's plain viral fever. Our chotte has been ever reticent about his personal problems. If he's sick, be prepared to only hear a 'hmm' at the most from him .Nobody is even allowed to touch his forehead, save Anjali, and that's why she is being kept in the dark"

"Like,is Lattu stuck to the sofa or something. Whatever is taking so long? Oh,there she calls!"Nihaal picked up the phone..

"um..hello bhai, don't tell di ok?she is not supposed to know..Arnav is sick,so it would look pretty rude if I don't check on him you know..so I guess i'll just stay here for a while.."

"hm...so that it doesn't look rude or because-" he smiled..

"bhai!"

"ok fine! Acha Lattu, have mercy on the poor guy 'k? He needs some...ahem..peace and silence"

"you mean I don't know how to remain shut up?"

"no I..ok yes, I mean you don't know how to remain shut up. Bye!"

Anjali looked at him and he winked.. "ahem..Lattu wants to stay back a while.."

"i see.." Anjali grinned..

"so let us go on our date?"

"excuse me?" Anjali widened her eyes.. "whoever said this is a date? It's just an outing!"

"date" Nihaal spoke coolly..

"outing!" she protested..

"date"

"outing!"

"date"

"Outing!"

"date!"

"urgh!"

"thanks for agreeing.."

"excuse me?! When did I agree?"

"you stopped disagreeing too!"

"you are impossible!"

"my pleasure...here we go on our 'date'..." and the car swept past Raizada mansion...

Nani gently pushed open the door to the dimly lit room where Arnav lay on his bed, an arm covering his eyes, while the other rubbed on the sheet of his bed, an indication, that he was very much awake..

Khushi , quite hesitant, her heartbeats already on a rampage, for some weird reason, making her apprehensive that the time would come soon, when even his car would start making her feel like a sanctury personified, tiptoed along with the elderly lady inside the room..

"nani, I think he is..i mean we.." she whispered but the lady cut her off..

"Chotte! Look who's here to see you!"

Arnav did a mental grumble. When sick, Arnav Singh Raizada preferred as much solitude a possible, as less words as could be feasible, and absolutely NO visitors for goodness' sake! He thought of pretending to be asleep but gauged that it was too late for that now , hence slowly opened his eyes..

to see a Khushi Kumari Gupta looking at him as one would look at a dying soul on a hospital bed. Her face all humanitarian concern and grief..

he got up to a half sitting posture, resting his weight on the wood behind..nodding slightly in acknowledgement at her...suddenly, the visiting guest idea didn't seem so bad after all...

"dears, both of you catch up, I will send Hari with something to eat-"

"No nani it's fine i-" Khushi interrupted..

"she meant for me" Arnav grumbled as he looked at her sarcastically. The color rose on Khushi's cheeks..

"i meant BOTH chotte!" Nani chided him as she shook her head in exasperation ,moving out of the room, and Khushi gave Arnav an 'I hope you heard that' look...

She stood there, tucking her hair strands beneath her ears, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist, dusting imaginary specks of micro molecular dust particles from her dress, completely avoiding his eyes and took the chair adjacent to his bed..

"how are you now?" she finally spoke up..

"hm.." he replied..ok, so nani was absolutely right...

"is it cold cum fever?"

"hm.."

"but you were ok this morning! Whatever happened!"

silence...

"have you been dancing in the rain or something?"

"WHAT THE-!" Arnav widened his eyes, breaking his vow of 'silence is golden' at her guess...

"no.." Khushi hurriedly added.. "i mean that's generally the reason why I catch a cold.."

"do I look like someone who dances in the rain?" Arnav spoke sarcastically as he raised an eyebrow...

"well..not exactly.."

Khushi spoke and then grew silent and after a moment Arnav saw a mischievous smile creep up on her face...

"what?" he asked..

"no nothing.." she giggled.. "i was just imagining you dancing in the rain...you would look mighty funny you know..ok..ok..i just spoke the truth!"

Khushi was out to make a few phonecalls and she came to the room after 15 minutes to find Arnav with eyes closed on the bed...she decided to leave but halted mid-way...as she turned to look back at him...

Arnav slowly opened his eyes,feeling a palm on his forehead, just to be greeted by two large, wide open ones bending into his face so close, that he literally jumped up...

"What the!"

Khushi moved back with haste...

"what?"

"no..i just..how..how do you do it?"

"how do I do what?"

"keep shut!"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Oh I didn't mean keep shut! I meant how do you keep shut? I mean, you have 104 degree fever and..you are not..saying anything..and to top it all, you are alone! I don't even let jiji go to the washroom when I.."

Oh of course! Now it hit Arnav! Lo and behold! The drama queen herself stood before him, and his memory was not so weak so as to forget the incident of not long ago where his fiance had apparently had strong fears of 'DYYYINGG!!' due to a 101 degree fever..

and automatically, a heavy smirk ruled over his face as he raised his eyebrows at her and cleared his throat..

"i see...i guess I should be groaning, creating a scene, gathering family around-"

"ok enough. I don't mean you are a superman or something. I show what I am...I'm not..artificial like you-"

"oh I see, so being decent in illness is artificiality?"

"yes. And now if you please allow me to peacefully read my magazine" she spoke and slumped back on the chair clutching the magazine tightly in her hands...

2 minutes later- okay Khushi, just pretend not to notice he's looking at you. Oh gosh, why is he looking at me like that? Is something stuck to my face, shit! Did the kohl smudge? Okay, now he is smiling...this..this cement pile! Poor pathogens! He must be the one giving them a fever! Okay, this is getting weird Khushi, he is STILL looking at you and now he is flashing that devilish amused smile of his..am I looking stupid? As if I care what he thinks! I don't care...shit! He must be thinking I am stupid!I will just raise the magazine so he can't see me..yes, that's better...OMG! He is still- calm down Khushi..calm down..

Flustered, she shut her magazine in a swift motion and stared back into his eyes..

"what?!"

Arnav, who had been having the time of his life at the sight before him, said with a drawl...

"oh nothing..i was appreciating the fact that you hold such exceptional expertise in reading inverted text"

Khushi looked at her magazine, and yes, it very much was upside down...biting her lips, colour deep on her cheeks while she wished to tear off that devilish smirk off his face, she spoke-

"um..ya, the article is...written that way..."

"i see.." Arnav could almost feel the laughter bubbling in his chest...the temperature, the fever hardly giving their feel...

Khushi flared her nostrils..

"it's a ladies magazine! Do you want to read? I hope not! Whether I choose to read an article inverted or not is my choice! And i-"

"i never told you change. Rather I appreciated your...talent?"

"oh I am sure you are not bothered! That's because you are not bothered about anything! That's because for you, everything is SO easy! The world will end, but Arnav Singh Raizada of course, can handle it! You can handle everything! Congratulations! Because perhaps it's not that easy for everyone!-"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Arnav shouted, absolutely clueless how a magazine being read inverted could have anything to do with his handling the end of the world...of course he couldn't handle the end of the world! What would happen to AR!

Khushi, realized that she was nearing a choke so she shut up and looked at the floor...

"Handle what?what the hell is wrong with you since the damn morning?!" he was sitting completely upright on the bed now..

"nothing..forget it.." Khushi muttered..

you didn't pull a 'nothing forget it' on Arnav Singh Raizada and get away with it..

"Khushi I will ask you one last time..handle.what?"

silence..

"you didn't need to be rude this morning you know.." she finally spoke up..

"wha-...when the hell was I rude?"

"you shouted that you can handle! I would have been satisfied with your 'happy journey'..the cherry on the pastry could have avoided, anyway, it's okay, you said what you felt, how you felt, and-"

Arnav at the moment was trying to rewind the morning conversation with such concentration, playing and replaying it mentally,it could put youtube to shame...i can handle...when had he said that? Handle what? And then it hit him...

He almost burned holes into her with his gaze as he spat out..

"i was talking to the butler you fool!"

Khushi raised her eyes sharply at that and blinked at him...

"butler?"

"i said I could help myself with the breakfast!"

Khushi widened her eyes, and slowly a smile spread over her face, the twinkle reappearing in her eyes..

"OMG..you are still fed breakfast?"

that just had Arnav...

"Jus' shut up! I said I could handle pouring the juice"

"News of the century. Arnav Singh Raizada needs to be spoon fed! L.O.L"

"Khushi?"

"yes?"

"am I laughing?"

"um...no"

"so cut it"

"ohkay ohkay. But OMG! That means you weren't talking to me? You know what? You suck at multi-tasking!" she grinned..

"excuse me?" Arnav raised his right eyebrow..Not often that the owner of the entire AR group heard that he 'sucked at multitasking'..well, there's always a first..

but Khushi was lost in her private celebrations...

"that means all that..in the morning I..gosh! That means you CAN'T handle??"

"Of course I can't handle!" Arnav shouted, then paused..as he scrunched his features.. "Handle what??"

"Oh GOD! I can't believe it!" Khushi slapped her palm on her forehead, giggling..

For all those resolutions of falling out of love, Khushi Kumari Gupta was certainly not working towards it, nor did her face show any such intents...

His phone rang beside him on the lamp stand as he received it...

"no I am not coming today. I have already sent the message to Aman, Aakash is there, just handle.."

as soon as he shut it, Khushi was ready with her question

"who was it?"

"secretary..from office.."

"OMG. Don't they know you are sick? That someone with 104 degree fever should NOT be disturbed?"

(like why didn't they take an example from her? Arnav evidently was getting all possible 'rest' in her presence right?)

"whatever.." Arnav grumbled.. "she is new, so-"

"oh, I see.." Khushi took a sharp breath.. ( she secretary+ new+ take her side+in front of fiance= disaster Mr Arnav Singh Raizada)..

"anyway-" Khushi continued.."so I was saying-"

and the ring once more...

"God what's her problem!" Khushi exclaimed..

"what?" Arnav spoke impatiently "Dammit why don't you just ask Aman, Rishab, anyone out there! Ok fine..just forward those mails to Mehta and..ya..those..hm..fine"

Fever took it's toll as he set his head back on the wood and ran a palm over his hot forehead..Khushi fumed...

At the next ring, before Arnav, his cell was in Khushi's hands..

"may I?" she questioned...

he made a 'go ahead' gesture and Khushi received the call..

"yes. I am his fiance speaking, Khushi.."

"okay, I will deliver the message to him. Yes..sure.. And if you could please co-operate, he is on his bed here, and in dire need of proper rest. I am sure-"

"okay..ya..thank you so much..of course I will forward the message..good day to you too"

click.

She turned to face Arnav, who looked anything but sick at the moment, by the way he was smirking..

"what?" she asked...

"nothing.." he muttered, struggling to wipe off the amusement from his face..

The snack trolley was wheeled inside by HP and Khushi interrupted him just as he was moving out of the room..after giving some quick hushed directions to him, and ending with warm smile she came and sat back on her chair...

Hari smiled as he moved towards the kitchen..this would be a nice bhabi to have in the house..perhaps she could act as a protection sheet for him to block the visual gamma rays bhaiyya shot at him every now and then,..

They were interrupted by a knock on the door as Mrs Raizada ramp walked inside...her high heels clicking across the floor..

"hello darlings..i hope I didn't disturb you.." she spoke eying both of them as she moved to Arnav...

"Arnav! Darling I am so sorry..are you any better now?" she spoke with sophistication and then to Khushi's utter amusement bent and kissed in the air at a distance of a full palm away from his face...

Arnav hardly gave a reaction and Khushi just managed to wipe the smile off her face before Mrs Raizada turned to face her..

"dear, mom told me you are here, so I just came to ask you, pray tell me, where is your sister?"

Khushi gave a confused look as she spoke.. "um..i don't know, I guess she's gone out somewhere or something...why?"

Mrs Raizada drew in a deep sigh as she said.. "Nothing darling, I just wished to meet Aakash.."

and in an equally ramp walk fashion, strutted her way out of the room..

Her parting sentence had Arnav raise his eyebrow while Khushi looked at him and said "Ouch!"

Seeing that Arnav had hardly got his aunt's sarcasm..and was trying to put two and two together Khushi volunteered to help..

"Don't tell me you don't know.."

"know what?"

"about jiji and fire ex- I mean your brother"

"what?"

"OMG you don't know? Look actually-" she picked up her chair and brought it closer to the bed..

Arnav raised his hand to stop her.. "no..Khushi..i don't want to know..it's their personal matter and-"

"of course it's not their personal matter!" Khushi spoke out loud and he raised his eyebrow high...

"i see.."

"no I mean, he is your own blood right, and she is mine, so technically, it's not personal.."

"Khu-"

"they met because of us you know? I knew something was-"

and then, there was no stopping Khushi Kumari Gupta...

WhenHari was back, Khushi slowly took the tray from his hands, motioning him to leave while Arnav looked at her as if she was coming to operate him when she stepped forward and sat beside him with the tray..

"what nonsense!" he exclaimed...as she dipped the white cloth in the ice cold water and stretched her hand forward..

"not nonsense..it's called cold compress" she replied and he held her wrists tight..

"Khushi jus' stop ok? I don't do these things!"

"happy 1^st cold compress then Mr Raizada" she spoke, voice a little shaky all of a sudden as she felt his palm around her slender wrist...

"Khushi I said-"

"or else I will call di who must be having a very good time somewhere, and tell her to come home, since her brother is burning with fever"

"oh no you won't" he warned..

"yes, I won't, since they are having a pretty fun time I am sure so I will just-"

and before Arnav knew, an ice cold cloth was pressed across his forehead..he flared his nostrils as he looked at Khushi...who in return gave him a 32 out grin.."

It was not hard, it was impossible to deny the rush of warmth he felt run through him as she pressed the cloth yet again on his forehead..at the same time shrugging off the falling hair strands of her face..she was beautiful, mad and impossible, she was childish, dramatic and cute, she was crazy, and he was going increasingly sure he would be crazy very soon too...

Fever, was not the exact thing troubling Arnav at that moment,as he gulped...control.control.control.

"Gosh, you're feeling mighty sick aren't you?" Khushi spoke worriedly as she continued the compression.

AR annual report..

Mr Mehta...

Accounts reports..

Mahatama Gandhi...

Khushi needed to understand that, yes, Mr Arnav Singh Raizada was indeed feeling mighty sick at the moment, though for reasons the pathogens had nothing to do with...

At length Arnav came up with the following solution. Shut your eyes and pretend to sleep whileyou get some control over your damn self!!

so he grumbled a frustrated monosyllable and shut his eyes...

"it will be okay..this really works.." Khushi whispered..

what? How did she know? oh..she meant the compression...

After a little while Arnav sensed Khushi slowly getting out of the chair, walking as if she were a burglar in the house as she turned the light off..

then came back by his side, and slowly pressed her palm on his forehead as she muttered to herself..

"seems better now.."

then tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door equally silently behind her and he heard his ceramic vase crash to the floor after straight 5 seconds accompanied with a loud "SHIT!!" followed by a "STUPID vase of STUPID cement pile"

He opened his eyes slowly as he heard her rushing down the stairs for damage control, clicked open the bedside lamp yet again and lightly chuckled...

"Khushi Kumari Gupta..."

fever? What was that?

Khushi fiddled with her dress as she stared up at the ceiling , tucked inside the duvet...

So he hadn't said all that to her...so he didn't know it was for 5 years, she turned her neck to look at the shelf she had emptied just that morning..

she still had to tell him...why hadn't she said it in the 1 and a half hours she was right beside him?? oh..oh of course! He was sick! How could she...yes..yes of course that was the reason..

but then when...??

she opened her diary and made a note on top of a page.

RESOLUTION-

Keep track on Arnav's health. As soon as he is well, INFORM HIM!!

He has to know Khushi!! better you than someone else!!

stop being happy that he doesn't know as yet!!

stop dreading telling him!!

why don't you just stop thinking altogether and remain your stupid self for the rest of your life!!

she slammed shut her diary in frustration..

then as she lay down, staring at the ceiling yet again, many a thought came back rushing yet again, happy thoughts, strange feelings, unknown excitement,slowly, unintentionally,and before she knew it, she was grinning like an idiot at a lizard,stuck to the ceiling who might be seriously reconsidering it's estimation on human intelligence...

Khushi snapped out of her grinning spree when that same lizard did a suicidal drop from the ceiling on to the duvet ...

and well, nobody at GH kept sleeping after the scream which shook the very foundations of the house.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------