UE part 26

It was past 1:00 a.m. in the morning when Khushi's light bulb finally lit up...


why had he come to her house in the first place??? (realizing too soon are we?)


An Arnav who had somehow managed to throw out the images of the kitchen incident from his mind and go to sleep was woken up by the sound of his cellphone ringing..


"what the!"


he groaned as he got up..


and then rolled his eyes in exasperation as he saw the caller id..


Khushi IT calling..


"do you realize it's past 1:00 am?"


a good substitute for the usual 'hello'..


"i do! But I had to ask you something.."


"are you crazy?"


"i said 'I' had to ask you something not you! And I am not crazy"


"is this what you had called for? ok. Now sleep"


"why had you come home in the first place?"


"what?"


"not again!" she groaned.. "I SAID WHY HAD Y-"


"SHUT UP!" he barked into the phone..at the same time mentally kicking himself for actually forgetting the reason for his visit!

"fine! So, what for? It was obviously not to eat my home made pasta..which reminds me, you ruined my home made pasta. Do you realize how much time i-"


call disconnected.


Khushi frowned at the mobile..cement pile! Well she'd dig it out of him later..




















"i am so glad you liked it.."


"oh I absolutely adored it! Ever since khushi hid the edition and forgot all about the location ,i have been trying to find this book in every possible library!"


"haha..which reminds me, is she talking to you now?"


"talking to me? Are you kidding ? She is behaving as if I was the one who sent your brother to our house and hid him in the broomstore!"


"sh-?she-? No way! Oh my god! Really? Bhai hid in the broom store??"


"oh there's more..anyway, maa's treating her like a wall and she is treating me like one. If you wish to see how three people can walk around a house treating each other as inanimate objects you are most welcome to pay a visit. Perhaps we could even count you in"


"oh no thank you so much..i wonder how their break up today's gonna go by the way.."


"oh yes..god bless..."


















Arnav was first to the hotel accompanied by a very conscious Supriya Sinha by his side sliding her arm through his...she was beautiful, she was graceful and she was confused as to why suddenly Arnav Singh Raizada had this bright idea of asking her to dinner at Golden Horizon right while being in the middle of a relationship...




no wonder the mere sight of Arnav singh raizada escorting a lady other than Khushi to dinner at a five star was enough to quickly grab several eyeballs..
















Khushi was up next, wearing an anarkali red suit...arm linked with a Rohit who was young, who was handsome, and who was wondering why Khushi had insisted upon having dinner at Golden Horizon as if they would die starving if it didn't happen...he had suggested another place but considering what followed this must be one heck of a restaurant!




no wonder the sight of a Khushi Kumari Gupta being escorted by a man other than Arnav Singh Raizada was enough to pop out eyeballs...what was going on??














Arnav had conveniently chosen a spot for himself where he could have a full view of the main entrance door..


and then she entered in all her mighty glory...


the mere thought of her with that dolt was making Arnav hostile towards the glass he had just been handed...if this was any close to the pressure he had to apply to hold a glass in his grip then god bless the guy..


and the moment he actually saw the sight before him, the glass could as well break...


RED! Oh yes! For a party with him, she wears royal blue! And with this dolt...she wears RED! Oh yes..why wouldn't she? FAMILY FRIEND after all! Might as well dress like a bride!


Khushi no doubt, was looking too stunning for words..she seemed to be breaking her own records with every new dress she wore..red totally complimented her features..with her hair falling over one shoulder and a few curls dancing near her ears.


Mr Raizada seemed to have totally missed the point that his own companion was donning the exact same colour..but what was just another colour with regards to her, with Khushi it was AN INSULTING RED!!


currently , all the red was doing was acting as a red cloth for an angry bull and though he simply couldn't deny the fact that she was looking drop dead gorgeous, he eyed her like a cheated lover and suddenly had these bizarre images of strange things happening to Rohit..






















Khushi let her eyes cautiously roam around the place for a while , then she caught sight of his location and taking sufficient care to ensure it didn't seem like she had done that, took a seat..


and then had a look at his companion..


so this was the girl who sprang up at the first chance of going out with him...falling for rich people..such sad state of 21^st century girls. She would have IMMEDIATELY refused to do such a thing! A guy has not even officially announced break up and you go running with him for dinner! In a red gown? Why not dress as a bride! (irony much?)


"Khushi? Everything fine?"


"um..ya! Sure!"


"nice restaurant"


"i told you! Just a sec"


Khushi bent her head down to take out her mobile from her purse and her locks fell over her face...


Rohit looked at her and couldn't bring himself to look away..she was stunning!


Arnav had positioned himself such that he could have a full view of Khushi's table..Supriya's head was blocking the view for a moment and he was about to stretch a hand and remove it from the way with a blow when better sense prevailed and he himself shifted his chair..


and now got a full view of a drooling Rohit and a mesmerizing Khushi,,


and teeth were clenched as the fork was forcefully inserted deeper into the chicken..


"ASR?" Supriya interrupted his 'trying to kill Rohit with laser beams from eyes' attempt


"what?" 

"is the chicken half cooked?"


"what? no. why?'


because you are hammering your fork into it! She wished to reply, but refrained..


"no nothing.."


Rohit inched his hands closer to Khushi's palm resting on the table..


"WHAT THE!"


Supriya looked up shocked..


"wh..what happened?"


Arnav picturized the chicken on his plate to be the rohit in front of his eyes and suddenly his appetite tremendously increased...you could certainly call him an advocate of 'chewing your food completely before swallowing' right then...


Khushi's curls kept coming in her eyes as she typed out the text..


Rohit leaned and lightly brushed them off her forehead..


no butterflies this time..khushi noted as she nodded her head gratefully at him...what was the secret deal between Arnav Singh Raizada and the species??
















brushing locks from the forehead!that was enough for Arnav..high time the 'meeting' happened now..


Khushi's phone silently buzzed by her side


1 new message from cement pile-


meet.now.


Fine..so all she needed now was an excuse to get up from the place...think Khushi! Think!

As if Khushi Kumari Gupta required thinking to get into such situations! As she placed the mobile absent mindedly on the table, her hand hit the drink glass which consequently led to the drink spilling over the entire table..


"OH SHIT!!" khushi covered her open mouth with her hands...


Rohit got up along with her as a waiter rushed to their table..


"oh gosh! What have I done!"


"it's ok Khushi..happens..we'll just have another seat"


"hm.."


it was then it struck her! Of course! This could be an excuse..


She deliberately took the way so that she could cross by Arnav's seat..who was totally anticipating it..


As she walked past his table they shared an eyelock..this time totally intentionally..


Arnav slowly got up from his seat..


she pretended to look surprised..


"oh! Arnav! You're here?"


the first time she took his first name. No 'Mr Raizada'..for of course, it would look ridiculous now..


for some strange reason it sounded exceptionally good to him..what a charming name it seemed..


"Khushi" he moved towards her..totally treating Rohit as another table at the restaurant..


Khushi ,anticipating a handshake was just in the process of stretching out her hands when she felt an arm go around her in a slight embrace..slight but firm.


Khushi was too numbed by the act to respond..even when they were supposed to be seeing each other they had kept to holding hands , escorting and stuff...this sudden embrace made her go wobbly in the knees, and yes, the eagles were always there to volunteer...


"h..hi" she muttered..her eyes still widened at him..


"hi" he responded, straightening back again..and then raised a questioning eyebrow at Rohit..finally!

"Rohit" Rohit stretched out his hand "Khushi's-"


"friend" Arnav interrupted before he could continue..and then gave a handshake which could qualify as a handshake provided you didn't call it an attempt to manually crush someone's fingers..


"ouch,..um..yes.." Rohit muttered, wondering if his fingers would turn to jelly..." but we-"


"and this is Supriya. Supriya ,Khushi" Arnav again broke in before the guy could continue..


Supriya gave a hesitant smile to Khushi..the kind of smile you would give to your date's rumoured lady love when she happened to run into you while you sat to dine with her supposed fiance..Rohit truly felt for her, totally understanding her situation..


Khushi smiled back at her...trying to kill the rising feeling as if she was meeting a 'fiance stealer'..gosh, what was happening to her??


"enjoying yourselves?" Arnav asked in a cool tone..


"well, I for one certainly am!" Rohit replied.. "who wouldn't? In such gorgeous company" smiling at Khushi who coloured slightly at the sudden compliment..


well, Arnav coloured too, same red..but for a different reason altogther...clenching his fists tightly..trying to resist the urge of breaking his glass on Rohit's head..and HOW DARE she blush! This girl had ABSOLUTELY no trace of self control..blushing over a compliment and calling him a friend!!

"i know" he suddenly said, placing an arm around Supriya's shoulder and bringing her forward "i share what you feel"


now it was Khushi's turn to boil...


and turn red for another reason..or should I say green?? ya, green face and red gown, good combination..


she linked an arm onto Rohit's..


"i didn't introduce Rohit properly to you did I? Well, he happens to be a software engineer at Hewlett's..right Rohit?"


"well-"


"which is SUCH a brainy job you know..i wonder how he does it! and he won the employee of the year
for 2011..."


"really Khushi-"


"oh come on Rohit! SOFTWARE ENGINEER of the year!! THAT is what I called talent. I am so proud of you"








Rohit was getting more confused by the second..like seriously! Wasn't she the one who had told him software engineering was for bores who desperately needed a life and had days ago suggested running out of the place to him? And for heaven's sake! She had teased him about the award as a proof of 'totally losing perspective on life' for an entire month!


And now , suddenly being a software engineer was at par with being the president of India..










Arnav raised an eyebrow...


"i see" he immediately spoke " well, supriya here happens to have done fashion designing-"


"um..it's actually interior decoration. I just told you... thrice" Supriya corrected him..


"whatever. Point is that it is not something anyone can randomly do. Requires a taste of art. Not everyone's piece of cake"


says a man, who had called interior decoration 'whatever' when Anjali had asked to consult one for their entrance lounge decoration...


and now being an interior decorator comes next to being the 21^st century Picasso..


















after 10 minutes the situation was something like this..


Khushi had left Rohit's arm and Arnav had undraped his hands from Supriya's shoulders..


both were trying to prove their respective companions as the next Albert Einstein and Picasso but remaining totally unconcerned whether the people concerned were even there or not!


While two baffled souls stood hearing new qualifications, awards, inborn talents etc etc being attributed to them...












"is it just me or do you share the feeling of being horribly used over here?"


Rohit leaned and whispered into Supriya's ears while two immersed in wrangling people obviously didn't notice..


"you bet" she replied back...


"so you are an interior decorator? Wow"


"yes..but nothing close to what he is making it to be. I should be the one doing 'wow'..software engineer of the year!"


"believe me its nothing like what she's making it to be for me either..i am just a simple guy! Not albert einstein 2.0!"


"haha.."


"so..would you do me the honour of having a drink with me?"


"i'd love to, but-"


"oh they evidently won't even notice! They are too busy fighting for us..and I really think they are wasting their time over us..they have totally fallen for each other and don't even realize it yet! WHO cannot see something as obvious!"


"well, let's give them some time together then..."


"would you like a dance first?"


"oh wow! Sure!"




















"why don't you just admit that you can't stand the fact that Rohit has done something too brainy for a business man to even come close to!"


"oh really? I can hire a hundred such 'brainy' people to work under me for starters..it seems that YOU are the one who can't seem to be able to digest the fact that art does not come naturally to everyone!"


"oh pish posh! Jealous over a girl who runs happily behind someone's fiance? Oh yes! I just died of jealousy!"


"says the one who has got a drooling , 'can't wait for my future wife to breakup with her current fiance' guy for company!"


"well he has lots better to do than that! Right Rohit?"


silence...


"rohit?"


silence...


head turn..eyes widen..


"where are they?"


why not check the dance floor you two?






So friends..the 'breakup' or 'whatever its turning out to be' continues...hopefully...


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