ArShi FF: Homebound

Chapter 17: Heartbeat

She could pinpoint the exact moment her heart skipped a beat. Closing her eyes, she laid a hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her thudding heartbeat, but in vain.

It must be him. He must be near.

And there he was.

Staring at the face of the man who makes her forget every other thing in the world, she wonders for the millionth time how her heart senses his presence before she can even lay eyes on him. It's as if her soul aches for his, drawing her near to him regardless of space or time. And for the millionth time, she wonders if he feels the same way.

Arnav smiles at her then, blinking any remnants of a facade away. A whole hearted, warm smile that she returns, without hesitation.

Her arm absentmindedly places the pattal plates on the table for the guests, the entirety of her attention transfixed on his unwavering gaze that electrifies her without a single touch, without a single word exchanged. Her cheeks flush at the way he walks with her, just as a shadow provides silent companionship.

When there are no plates left in her hands, Khushi looks down momentarily, only to gasp aloud in horror at a certain domestic animal.

"Oh my god! What have I done?!" She turns to him, pointing a finger in accusation, her other stand still holding a half eaten plate. "This is all your fault,"

"Excuse me? You fed the pattal plates to the cow, how is that my fault?"

"But my attention was towards-" She catches herself, not wanting to so openly admit how easily she had been caught in the hold he has on her.

He descends the stairs, walking to where she stands. "Towards...?"

His gaze falls to her parted lips, something insatiable in the way he looks at them. Overcome by the stress of not knowing what to serve the food on, she decides to dodge the question by shoving the half eaten pattal to his chest in response.

"What the f-"

"How are we going to feed the guests?"

"Relax, Khushi, you can use plates,"

She widens her eyes at him, explaining how they cannot use steel plates and how it's ritual to serve food to the guests in pattal plates. He thinks silently for a moment, before telling her to relax once again and walking off.

---

Not only is it nearing the time of serving lunch, the waiter who was hired to serve had also called her to say that he couldn't make it. Khushi is proper panicking as she sees the guests pour out of her house one by one, simultaneously wondering where Arnav ji went. She knew he must have gone to arrange something, but wasn't prepared in the slightest for the truckload of pattals that would be arriving at her house in the matter of a few minutes.

Her astonishment doesn't end there. When she tells him that there is no help coming and that she will have to serve the guests herself, she finds him right beside her, suit off, the cuffs of his crisp, white shirt folded to expose his strong forearms, ready to serve. Dumbstruck and at a loss for words at the notion of Arnav Singh Raizada becoming a waiter to help her, she wants to tell him that it's okay, he doesn't need to, or at least ask him if he's perhaps developed a fever that's impairing his ability to think straight.

But the way he behaves as if this is the most natural action to him, she can't seem to form any words. As both of them serve the guests and provide them with the dishes that they need, she utterly fails to ignore the thudding of her heart.

"Khushi?"

His voice brings her back to Earth, and she gasps yet again at the realization of what she's done. There, on the plate of one of the guests, sits a tremendous pile of rice far too much for one person to consume. She quickly brings the guest a different plate, as Arnav nonchalantly keeps serving the other guests.