To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 62

Three weeks later

Ping. Arnav's phone beeped, interrupting his workflow. He ignored it. One more ping. Another ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. He sighed irritatedly and got up from his couch to go see who was bothering him at this ungodly hour at night.

12 new messages from Khushi. He rolled his eyes up in frustration. Without bothering to read the messages he dialed her number. She answered it in the first ring.

"Hello," she whispered.

"Now what happened Khushi?"

For the last three hours, Khushi had made it her mission to bother Arnav with all sorts of information that had no absolutely no relevance to either Arnav or their relationship.

She'd informed him that her Amma had made Khushi's favorite bhindi ki sabzi and tadka dal for dinner, that she was feeling sad because the plant outside her window might die in the next four days, that today they tried a new sweet recipe at the shop, that their usual sabziwala had decided to rob the Guptas by significantly increasing the price of onions and tomatoes, that she'd decided her new favorite color was going to be orange, that the tailor had completely ruined the blouse that went with Payal's wedding dress and Khushi would never use him for her wedding.

None of this mattered to Arnav. What mattered was that Khushi was far away in Lucknow. What mattered was that he missed her very much.

Khushi had withdrawn her resignation and had instead requested a transfer to Lucknow. "Amma and Babuji need me Arnav. The doctors have advised that Babuji has better chances of recovering in a familiar environment," she'd told him two nights later in her apartment, while Arnav helped Khushi pack her belongings. It was on that day that Arnav realized that Khushi slept in the spare bedroom.

When he asked her about it, she looked melancholic. "It isn't good to get used to things that you can't have forever. You and me, this," she said pointing to the ring on her finger, "was never on the cards. Our deal, that I became your "business developer", and that one fine day you will move on, was. I didn't want to start living a lifestyle that would cease to exist after this was all over."

Khushi had simply stated the fact. Nevertheless, Arnav flinched. He felt like a hollow heartless monster. Ever since the night he professed his love, he'd wracked his brain for a reason as to why he'd unfairly involved Khushi in his power game. And he couldn't come up with one valid reason for doing so. He shuddered to think of the havoc his deal would have caused if things hadn't taken an unexpected turn.

Khushi realized the direction his thoughts were progressing in. Garlanding his form with her hands, she said, "Indeed, I hated ASR then. You know, the day before I left Lucknow to come to New Delhi, I went to the temple and cried. I didn't understand why my Devi Maiyya would allow something like this to happen to me. But then, things changed. Our contract changed. And when I began working with you, I started seeing the other personalities that were hidden under ASR's exterior. You were a kind mentor, a caring taskmaster, a fair employer. I don't even know when and how, but slowly I started falling in love with you.

"I'm not trying to make excuses for your past actions, no. Nor am I trying to absolve you of all the wrong you've done to everyone, including me. All I'm trying to explain is what Aman made me realize two months ago. That I'm very much head over heels in love with Arnav. Not ASR. Arnav."

Arnav jerked his head to look at her. "Aman?"

She smiled sheepishly.

"So Aman knows?"

"Not about the proposal, no. But yes, he knew long back that I had fallen hard for you. In fact, I'm certain that Aman along with Shyam ji and Anjali ji decided to play cupid between us."