Until You..

Chapter 21

"Arnav Ji, are you ok? Please calm down"

"How dare he Khushi, how dare he come in front of me as if nothing happened"

"Please Arnav Ji, calm down"

"And the audacity of that basted, he tried to hug you"

"Arnav Ji, please, you have to calm down. Look, I am not a good driver. So unless you are calmed down enough to drive, I am not letting you drive. In fact, I will drive instead. So if you love your life and your car you have to relax"

Arnav's anger disappeared in a second. The way she calmed him down was impressive.

"I am fine Khushi, thank you for being here"

"Well, you didn't exactly leave me an option when you dragged me out of the cafe"

"Sorry Khushi, because of me your time with friends got ruined"

"I was just kidding Arnav Ji. I didn't even want to be there. I wanted to go home as soon as I submitted my thesis. So don't worry about me"

"But still"

"Arnav Ji, let's say if it was only three of us there, Lavanya will still recognize us. And you never know I might have ended up doing something stupid"

"You don't like her much do you Khushi?"

"Like? I hate her. ASR... darling... hump, Clingy witch.... "

Whispered Khushi thinking only she can hear but Arnav heard what she said. He was going to ask her about it but they'd already reached home.

Sifu was already sleeping when Arnav and Khushi came. Renuka was in the living room when she heard the front door open.

"Chote is that you?"

"Mom, it's us"

She saw Arnav and Khushi coming together and her happiness went over the top.

"Namaste Renuka Ji"

"Namaste Khushi, how are you?"

"I am good. How are you?"

"I am good too. What have you got here? I've already made dinner for you two"

"No no, it's not food. It's cupcakes. We bought them from Sifu's favorite cafe. We were there for a coffee so thought why not buy something for Sifu? Would you like some?"

"No Khushi. I'll have to go now actually. I'll see you tomorrow"

"Oh, thank you for making dinner Renuka Ji"

She hugged and kissed Khushi then walked towards Arnav while Khushi went to the kitchen.

"Chote, if you wanted to take her on a date, you could have simply told me, why the excuse of Khushi wanting to submit her thesis?"

"Date? Khushi and I? What are you talking about?"

"I know you both were on a date"

"Mom, you should stop watching those tv soaps. Look like they are affecting your brain functionality. Why would I take Khushi out on a date?"

"Chote, a guy takes a girl out on a date so that they can spend some time alone"

"Mom, you must be forgetting something. We both live in this house, alone. Sifu is only 3 years old. So if I wanted to have some alone time with her, all I had to do was to stay home"

"Chote why don't you admit you wanted some time alone"

"Mom, for the last time, why on the earth do I need some alone time with her? And who told you that we were on a date?"

"Khushi told me"

"What? She told you that we were on a date?"

"Well, not exactly. But she did tell me that you were in a cafe and even bought cupcakes from that cafe"

"Seriously mom, your conclusion to that was I took her on a date?"

Arnav explained to her how he met Khushi in the cafe purposely hiding the fact about meeting NK and Lavanya. His mother loathed both of them.

"Oh, is that all?"

"Unfortunately, that's all mom"

"Ok, Chote, I am going. See you tomorrow"

"Thank you for babysitting Mom and see you tomorrow"

Arnav closed the door behind her and walked to the kitchen.

"Khushi, next time when you tell my mom something spell it out for her"

"What?"

"You told her we bought cupcakes from the cafe and she ended up thinking we both were on a date"

Khushi nearly dropped the glass she was holding. A date? Why would Arnav's mother think she and Arnav were on a date?

"Sorry Arnav Ji, I should have been more clear"

"It's ok Khushi, not your fault. My mom tends to exaggerate things to fit her version of the story"

Arnav and Khushi finished their dinner and Khushi was halfway through the staircase when Arnav called her from the study.

"Khushi, if you don't mind can you please make me a cup of coffee?"

"I was going to make tea for myself so I'll make a coffee for you too"

"Thanks, I'll be in the study"

Khushi prepared his coffee and made herself tea and went to the study room.

"Can I come in Arnav Ji?"

"Yeah"

"Here's your coffee, Good night Arnav Ji"

"Have a sit Khushi"

"I don't want to disturb you, Arnav Ji"

"I am asking you Khushi"

"Ok"

She sat there looking around the study room. She loved how neat Arnav is. Arnav closed the file he was checking and walked around the desk then leaned onto it facing Khushi.

Khushi looked up to see he was already looking at her.

"Khushi, you didn't answer my question before"

"What question Arnav Ji?"

She felt her heart start beating faster and her body was heating up.

"Why don't you like Lavanya?"

"She.. she... hurt Sifu"

"And,"

"She... she... cheated"

"On?" 

Arnav's voice was getting deeper and deeper and his body was leaning closer to Khushi with each question.

"She.... cheated... on ... You"

"Yes, but why is that a reason for you to hate her?"

"Because.... because...."

"Yes Khushi, because of what?"

"Arnav Ji, you are making me nervous"

Saying that she got up and was going to leave the room but got pulled back by her shawl. She turned round to see what was holding her shawl to witness it was nonother than Arnav. 

What Khushi wanted to avoid was happening to her. She wasn't exactly sure when it happened. Or even when it started. All she knew for sure was that right here and now, she was falling hard and she could only pray that he was feeling the same way.

Love is a feeling, a feeling of happiness. Love is powerful, too powerful to play with. This feeling is strange and hard to describe, but when you fall in love, you will know it inside.

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Hope you enjoyed chapter 21. Please don't forget to vote and comment :)