Part 12
"It's a pleasure meeting you once again, Mr Raizada." Arnav looked at Arjun's extended hand with digust.
"Unfortunately, I can't say the same. What are you doing here?"
"Mr Khan had an emergency; he can't make it today, so you'll have to put up with me." He paused, smirking. "Unless you have a problem with that?"
"Are you questioning my professionalism?" Arnav spoke through gritted teeth.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Let's just get on with-" Arnav was interrupted by Arjun's patronising voice.
"I mean, it's not as if your ex-wife has humiliated you or something by deciding to get married to me just weeks after you got divorced." He gave a smug smirk, elevating Arnav's temper. Arnav grabbed Arjun's collar and roughly pushed him against a wall.
"Listen to me very carefully. You think she's agreed to marry you because she chose youover me? Because she loves you? If you really think that you need your head tested." Arnav lowered his voice, speaking menacingly. "Why don't you ask her what happened between us on her mehndi night?" Arjun narrowed his eyes at Arnav.
"You're lying." Arnav shrugged.
"Believe what you want, but that's the truth."
"I believe that you have a bad case of the green-eyed monster, Mr Raizada. You're scared of losing Khushi to another man." Arnav gave Arjun a death glare as he continued. "You feel guilty because of all the torture you have put her through, and now you're trying to rewrite history. Newsflash, Mr Raizada, Khushi Kumari Gupta does not need you. She needs a man who knows her worth, who admires everything about her, who realises what a dynamic woman she is. Aside from blaming her for everything and giving her as much pain as possible, what have you done for her? Have you ever taken her feelings into consideration? Did you not have any indication of just how much you hurt her by making a mockery of the most sacred relationship between humans?" Arnav fell silent. "That's the main difference between you and me, Mr Raizada. I love Khushi, and I'd trust her with my life. I'd never let a single tear fall from her eyes. I've been protecting her virtually since the day she was born and I will continue to do so. We've always been there for each other. So the fact that you thought you could storm into her life and put her through all this torture..." He shook his head. "You go near her again, and you'll have me to deal with. I mean, what kind of upbringing did you have? Did your mother bring you up with such atrocious values?"
That was the tipping point for Arnav. He raised his fist, aiming for Arjun's face when he felt a hand stop him midway.
"Bhai, what are you doing?" Arnav turned to see Akash's shocked expression. Arjun shook himself, moving away from Arnav's grip.
"You're very quick with your fists, Mr Raizada, but not as quick with your replies. Truth hurts, doesn't it?" Akash stopped Arnav again as he took another step forward.
"Bhai, what's going on? I think you need to leave this meeting. Go and calm down, I'll take care of things here."
Payal hung up the phone, a huge smile plastered on her face. "That was Dadi on the phone. Di's had her baby, Khushi! First your wedding, now this. It finally looks as if things are going well for us now." Khushi attempted to smile at Payal's beaming face, but she was secretly annoyed at the fact that she had brought the Raizadas up again. One day, I can't even go one day without thinking or hearing about him? Still, she was Khushi Kumari Gupta, an expert at feigning happiness.
"That's great news, Jiji."
"We have to go over there to see the baby."
"Jiji, can't you wait until the wedding is over? You'll be back there anyway in a few days; you can see the baby then."
"Khushi, they're your family too. Akash is your brother-in-law, and that makes Di your sister-in-law. It's common courtesy to visit relatives in times of celebration." Does she really need me to spell it out?
"Jiji' Arnavji will be there, and I don't want-" She was interrupted by Payal.
"Don't worry, he's at work all day. You won't even see him." Payal smiled at Khushi reassuringly.
Arnav stormed out of the office, seething. How dare Arjun waltz into his office, brag about being engaged to his Khushi, and insult the way his mother brought him up? Who does he think he is?
Arnav paced up and down, desperately trying to generate ideas to stop Khushi from making the biggest mistake of her life. Suddenly he stopped, recalling Arjun's words."Khushi Kumari Gupta does not need you." "I love Khushi, and I'd trust her with my life. I'd never let a single tear fall from her eyes." Arnav sunk to the floor as he remembered all the pain he had put her through ever since he had met her ' publicly humiliating her countless times, giving her jobs he knew she'd be uncomfortable with to do in the office, misunderstanding her, forcefully marrying her and constantly throwing accusations at her. He didn't deserve her. She deserves to be happy, and I have never been able to give her that happiness. No matter how much I hate him, he can give her everything I was never able to. He knows her better than I do, and he'll make sure she won't want for anything. Arnav sighed; a tired, resigned sigh. Tears began forming in his eyes as he picked up a pen and paper and started to write.
Once Arnav knew the meeting was over, he entered his office. He approached Arjun apprehensively, his hands shaking as he passed him an envelope. Arjun looked up at him, surprise evident on his face.
"What's this?"
"I want you to give this to Khushi. And I want you to know this ' if she cries a single tear because of you, that breath will be your last." Arjun nodded and silently left the office, closing the door behind him, leaving Arnav to acknowledge the fact that he had lost his Khushi forever. There was no going back now. For once, Arnav let all of his pain and frustration out, not caring about the few workers scattered around the office below him. He didn't care about anything without Khushi. Eventually, he left the office and began his journey home.
"Okay, Nani, we really need to get going now. There's still so much to prepare before the wedding." Khushi smiled. She looked around once more at the Raizada mansion, and it felt just like home. She quickly shook herself.
"If you really must go, then I can't stop you anymore. Thank you for coming, dear, we were all really missing your presence." A question suddenly entered Khushi's mind.
"Oh Di, have you thought of a name for your beautiful princess yet?" Anjali shook her head. "Well, I was thinking of the name Asha, meaning hope." Anjali beamed at Khushi.
"That's a beautiful name, Khushiji! Asha... my little Asha." Anjali cradled the baby in her arms, and Khushi turned to Payal.
"Come, Jiji, it's getting late." Payal nodded and both of them walked towards the door. As Khushi opened it, she was mesmerised.
Arnav was shocked to see Khushi in his house, and he found himself lost in her eyes, recollecting their last moments together. He advanced a step, in a trance, and for once Khushi didn't step back as she was just as absorbed in him as he was in her. The two of them lost track of time ' was it minutes, hours, days? None of that mattered as they were together. All of a sudden Payal shook Khushi, bringing her back to reality with a jolt, and Arnav saw a blush creep up Khushi's cheeks.
"Come on, Khushi. We're leaving." She said sternly. The two of them walked past Arnav, and Khushi couldn't help but look back at him once more ' her true rajkumar. Arnav was the first to look away, knowing that he had to let her go now.
Arjun knocked on the door of the Gupta household, and Payal opened the door.
"Arjun, what are you doing here?"
"I need to meet Khushi, it's important."
"Arjun, look. The two of you are getting married tomorrow, and it's bad luck to see her."
"Payal, all I ask for is 5 minutes. I just need to speak to her." He clutched the letter firmly in his hand, and Payal moved aside to let him in.
Khushi emerged from her bedroom, shocked to see Arjun there waiting for her.
"Arjun, what are you doing here? We're getting married tomorrow, unless you've forgotten."
"I needed to speak to you urgently." Khushi's expression quickly turned from one of surprise to one of worry.
"What's happened? Is everything okay?" Arjun was quick to reassure her.
"It's all fine, don't worry. I just..." Arjun found himself wondering what Arnav had written in the letter, and he didn't trust him one bit. Therefore, rather than giving Khushi the letter as he had originally planned to, he subtly attempted to scrunch it up and tossed it in the bin. He smiled at Khushi, placing his hands on her shoulders, not noticing her jerking away slightly from his touch. "I just wanted to make sure you're ready for tomorrow. You've been looking a bit worried recently, and I wanted to make sure you were okay." Khushi quickly recovered and smiled back at him. Or rather she attempted to.
"I-I'm fine, Arjun. And I'm not worried about tomorrow." She gulped. "I'm ready. Now, you'd better go - it's bad luck for us to meet like this." Arjun nodded and left the room, leaving Khushi feeling guilty all over again.
That evening, Khushi finished packing her clothes in a daze.
"To think, tomorrow our other daughter will be married to a wonderful, respectable young man. Never forget how lucky you are to have him, Sanka Devi." Khushi smiled at Buaji.
"Yes Buaji, I know how lucky I am to have Arna-I mean, Arjun." Khushi was shocked at her sudden slip-up, but Buaji didn't seem to notice.
"Now remember to get lots of sleep tonight, you'll be awake early tomorrow to begin getting ready." Khushi nodded at Buaji and began preparing for bed. "Oh, and throw the rubbish out before you go to sleep."
Khushi went to throw the rubbish out when she found a crumpled envelope addressed to her on top of the bin. She quickly opened it, wondering how it had gotten there.
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