To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 43

It was 3.23 am when Arnav Singh Raizada decided to go on a drive to soothe his nerves. Not that he would admit to it, but Anjali's ultimatum had jolted his entire system. He was to find a wife in three months. If he didn't, Anjali would find one for him. He already knew who that person was going to be. Sheetal Vohra was Shyam's business partner and a close family friend. The Vohra's were a well-to-do family in New Delhi. Anurag and Preeti Vohra, Sheetal's parents, were in the business of manufacturing consumer goods. Both their sons, Sanjeev and Samrat were an integral part of the business. Sheetal had chosen to not join the family business, opting to run her own law firm instead. She was smart, bright and quick-witted, qualities that Shyam openly appreciated about her. She was also extremely loaded with money. That made her the opposite of a gold-digger.

However, none of this mattered to Arnav. He knew Sheetal fancied him. She had hinted that on many occasions. But Arnav didn't reciprocate her feelings. That was good enough for him. Not at this moment though. If he didn't get his act together in three months, Anjali would ensure he married Sheetal.

He had to find some way. And since rational thinking evaded him, whilst he was pacing the carpet in his room, he decided to use the balmy Lucknow October night to hopefully inspire his imagination.

The city was beautiful. Dim yellow lights lined the streets. Traffic signals had all turned to blinking reds, allowing whatever traffic was present on the road to move without restriction. The local shops had shutters firmly pulled, many coated with multiple layers of dust. Trees lay scattered on either side of the road. There was the odd stray dog that wandered on the pavement, the odd boy who was sleeping using a tarpaulin sheet to cover him instead of a coverlet.

But Arnav simply gazed past all this, drove past the majestic Rumi Darwaza all the way up to Gomti Nagar. It was only when he decided to turn back that he realized he was standing right outside Khushi's house. Just thinking about that girl brought a wry smile to his face - the way she cared for him, the way she vexed him, the way he felt when she was around. He thought of all the caring things she had done for him, including naming the latest collection after his mother. He smiled. She had actually left her home at midnight to get her phone. She was crazy. She was one of a kind. She was special, very special.

Just as he decided to turn his car around, he noticed the lights in the Gupta household. And sitting on the ledge of the low hanging parapet, absent-mindedly munching on a cone of roasted chickpeas, was Khushi Kumari Gupta.

***

"Khushi", the whisper broke her reverie. At 4 am, Khushi was busy contemplating the convoluted path her life had taken ever since she met Arnav Singh Raizada. She still didn't know why Devi Maiyya had introduced her to this beast, but slowly she was beginning to believe that beneath the garb of the beast lurked a prince, one she could set free. At least she was willing to try.

The trip to the temple had given her peace of mind but no answers. She was on her own. She only prayed for help, when she needed it the most. Funnily enough, she felt she would need help, soon, very soon.

These were the thoughts of Arnav Singh Raizada, that were interrupted by a person who eerily resembled Arnav Singh Raizada.

She rubbed her eyes, turning the paper cone that held her "almost dawn" snack around, smelling it to see if anything was wrong with the food she had just consumed.

"Khushi", the whisper grew slightly urgent.

She looked up at the sky, tugging at her ear lobes, wondering what was wrong with her today.

"Khushi, here, look down", the urgency increased. She looked down from the small parapet that had been her "hide-out" since she had come to live with Shashi and Garima. And she spotted the man she had been thinking about all night.

"Arnavji?" she whispered back. "What are you doing here at this time of the night?"

He grinned. Her heartbeat increased. He looked adorable. He was dressed in a casual polo neck T-shirt and a pair of black jeans and she realized that this was one of the rare occasions when Khushi had seen him in anything other than a 3 piece suit. Suddenly memories of him lying lifeless in the middle of his office flooded her imagination.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?", she whispered back furiously.

He cocked up an eyebrow in response.

"Seriously, Arnavji, I can't believe that you would behave this irresponsibly," she growled, jumping from the parapet to land right in front of him. "Two days ago you were battling life and death and instead of taking rest and getting better, you're here driving around the city before dawn." She paced towards him, waving her fingers at his face, and he instinctively took a few steps back.

He stopped short, catching hold of her right hand and twisting her arm behind her back, pulling her closer in the process and making her wince, before he realized he was hurting her. He loosened his grip.

"Khushi Kumari Gupta, no one talks to me like that", he growled back.

"Titaliya..." Madhumati's faint voice broke their standoff and Khushi pushed Arnav and herself into a small corner in an attempt to hide the two of them.

"Khushi", he questioned? She turned, pressed her body tight against him and put her finger on his lip, enlarging her eyes, indicating for him to say nothing.

Arnav was mesmerized. Khushi was frantically shaking her head, pleading him with her eyes to say nothing, while he forcefully held her hand and led her to his car, dumping her unceremoniously on the passenger seat, before himself sitting on the driver's seat and driving off.

"Where are we going? Why did you bring me here?", she hissed, rubbing the wrist that was sore. She didn't like the way his eyes gleamed.

"I would like to see the city of Lucknow", he stated as a matter of fact, "and I want you to show it to me."

She looked at him like he had sprouted two horns. "You want to go sightseeing, at 4.15 in the morning," she asked, pinching herself, worrying that the doctor had not mentioned brain damage.

"Yes, Khushi," he stated bored, "and you of all the people should not have an issue with it. After all, was it not you who came back to Sheesh Mahal at midnight to retrieve a cell phone?"

"You should thank me for that", she said, smiling. And then he smiled too. Not just a hint of a smile, but one that would steal the hearts of women. And at that moment, Khushi realized why women wore their heart on their sleeve when it came to Arnav Singh Raizada.