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Monday, February 25, 2013

Chamkili. Ch-5, 'I Know.'


                           CHAMKILI
                      Chapter 5: I Know!
               

“Aahh!”
An almost silent sigh escaped the confines of her lips as she felt his lips descend on hers. It was like… like after being lost in the big-bad world, running around in the sun to find her way back, the scared little girl gets the first glimpse of her house. It was like coming home.

It’s funny, hilarious in fact, the workings of a certain Raizada’s over-worked brains. It was excruciatingly objective one moment and then deliciously impulsive the next. Well after all, he was ASR, the man who had built an entire empire from the scratch in less than four years, owing it to his immaculately sharp business sense and a very strong will. But then had become a goner, an impulsive fool, being pulled into the glittery depths of those almond eyes the very moment he had seen them, involuntarily of course, but he had lost himself to her in less than a breath.

 His lips held hers captive, coaxing them to spill out all that she had left unsaid.
 The tip of his tongue tracing the shape of those passionately defiant lips that held the sole right of saying, no scratch that, screaming things that he didn’t like hearing and yet withholding so much… so much that he craved to know.

He opened his eyes, needing to see Khushi, to be sure of the tangibility of her presence. He could never be too sure when it came to her, for in moments like these it seemed like she didn’t just own his heart but had also bribed his mind to play games with him. A slight smile tugged the corner of lips at the thought of his innocent little wife bribing his hoshiyar dimag. Opening his eyes he saw her face. Pain was gone but its shadows lingered, and Arnav Singh Raizada cursed himself for being the reason for his love’s pain, when all she had ever given him was happiness, contentment and bliss. His Khushi.

Her lips had finally given up under his adamant ones and had parted to welcome him home, well she loved keeping him on the edge, his little minx, but just then he heard a voice somewhere,
“What the!”
Where did the voice come from, near… far… well he wasn’t too sure at first, but then reality of where they were and what they were doing and the impropriety of the same struck him, and most of all, concern for his coy-ready-to-blush-anytime-and-anywhere-wife brought him crashing down from the high he was floating in just moments ago.
“Aarav? Shit!” he sweared under his breath as he withdrew his inquisitive tongue from his wife’s delectable and incredibly sweet mouth.   

Khushi felt the loss instantly. She felt bereft, cheated almost, and then angry, at the impudence of that insensitive man to bring her to this ethereal heaven and then withdraw, just like that. HOW DARE HE! The rebel in Khushi felt alive with the challenge and she moved her hands from his shoulder, snaking it around his neck and then finally splaying it along his oh-so-soft hair, bringing herself closer to his form, reluctant to let go and as if challenging him to make her.

But then she felt a pair of reluctant hands hold her arms and disentangle her from what was hers. Her eyes still shut, she frowned, and moaned her displeasure, and then his hands came up to her slightly pink cheeks, caressing her as he whispered in her ears,
“Khushi.”
Her eyes fluttered a little and then finally opened.  And Khushi was scandalized. Well probably even more than the eight year old present in the vicinity.
“Hey Devi Maiya!” Khushi exclaimed as air got caught inside her and she forgot to breathe.
Arnav predicted the exact moment when those innocent eyes went wide in horror and when just seconds later were cast downwards in bashfulness which was very soon followed by the deepest blush in the history of blushes, but then Khushi was the unchallenged victor when it came to blushing games, wasn’t she.

 That unabashed, despicable man had the audacity to take pleasure in her misery, she was sure she even heard him stifle a chuckle. And in a matter of minutes, no seconds, well whatever, Khushi thought for the second time ‘HOW DARE HE!’

Everyone present in the room was looking downwards, as if something very interesting was going on with their toe nails. And Anjali had covered the eyes of Aarav, the only one who had been incessantly looking at the real interesting stuff going on right in front of his eyes, what a pity!

Amidst all this, Arnav Singh Raizada was having a tough time controlling his urge to laugh out loud at his poor, innocent wife’s condition, and that control-freak of a husband couldn’t control and chucked barely covering it with the sound of clearing his throat, that sadistic Rakshasha, thought Khushi. Finally finding his voice back, Arnav addressed his scandalized and yet bemused family,
“Khushi must be tired, I think she should rest. Aakask?”
“Ji Bhai” came a flustered reply.
“Inform the commissioner that his services are not needed anymore. Khushi has found me.” Arnav couldn’t help but feel warm as he said the latter part of the sentence. And the intensity of it leaving his younger one all the more bewildered,
“J-J-Ji Bhai.”
“We’ll head to our room. Khushi?” And he clasped her hand in his and almost dragged her up the stairs, as she seemed to have grown thick roots in that short span of time, unable to move and was glad for her Laad Governor’s coercion, for once.

But just before turning around the corner for their room, Khushi glimpsed faint hints of some powerful emotion flit across Sheetalji’s face. What was it? Anger?… jealousy?… sadness?… or just plain simple discomfort at witnessing something so intimate at display? Was she reading too much into all this? She didn’t know.

No one witnessed that lone tear that rolled out of her dark beautiful eye and made its way towards her incredibly soft cheek that longed to be caressed despite acknowledging the futility of that longing. Understandably, a woman’s heart is not one of the simplest things that Devi Maiya created. She hastily wiped the lone proof of her aching heart, and affectionately looked at the so-obviously-in-love-couple. This was all she had ever wanted and… this was the only thing she would never get. But, no, pity was the last thing she wanted, even if it was self-pity. And that brave woman donned a smile on her face, she had promised herself that she would smile for those who loved her… that was the least and maybe all she could give in return. If only someone could see beyond those mesmerizing, beautiful smiles of Anjali Singh Raizada…

What good was his vocabulary, if he couldn’t find words when he most needed them? He cursed his stay in the US and wondered if knowing Hindi could have helped him better, for English seemed no good. How do you apologize for breaking your love’s heart again and again? How do you apologize when you know you have already been forgiven? How do you say ‘I love you’, when you feel like a selfish bastard even while saying that? He turned around to face Khushi, her eyes were still lowered. He desperately wanted her to look into his eyes and read what he couldn’t articulate in words. His eyes were his last hope.

“Khushi.” he whispered, for he could not find any other word that could better express what he was feeling.
She heard the faint whisper of her name in his heavy, husky voice, as she felt the sensual roughness of his palm against the silky softness of her cheeks and she raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

Khushi knew that her husband’s eloquence was limited to his business presentations and that words more often than not failed him when it came to expressing his emotions. And she had made her peace with that. But right now as she witnessed the whirlwind of emotions in his eyes, she knew that every language in the world had cowered today to the emotions of one mighty Raizada. 
Hum jante hain.” She didn’t need words either.
And she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him towards herself, while rising on the tips of her toes to meet him along the way as her lips captured his in a tender kiss.

Arnav Singh Raizada had panicked the moment his Khushi had disappeared from that deserted roadway. But now as he saw Khushi, peacefully sleeping, carelessly curled around his body, he questioned himself, why did he panic? Due to some supernatural power or maybe because of the stupidity inherent in her, his pagal but cute wife loved him with all her self. And even if her Devi Maiya, he so didn’t believe in, appeared in front of him with all those numerous hands, (multifunctional eh,?), sitting on that tiger or leopard or whatever and told him that his Khushi had left him, he would just give her a dirty look and leave. Khushi would, no, could never leave him, and that he was sure of. But then why had he panicked? Well, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. Khushi was here, her soft, pliant body curled up against his and all was good in the world again. He caressed her face with his knuckles and Khushi, though deep in sleep leaned in to his touch, so attuned were the lovers to one another.

Arnav whispered a husky ‘good morning’ in her delicate ear and dropped a whispery kiss on her slightly parted lips when she stirred a little. Those enchanting eyes were the first thing she saw, and she knew it was going to be a very good morning, indeed.
“Arnavji.”
He heard her slightly hoarse morning voice, and saw that innocent child like smile, feeling a surge of love, possessiveness and something else, he couldn’t quite put in words erupt somewhere within his core. It was at moments like these that he, the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada, felt threatened for he knew his soul would die if he ever lost this magical being, his wife, his love. He saw her gaze drift towards the sheet that barely covered her breasts and then rise to meet his eyes. Was it the awareness of her naked self, barely concealed from his roving eyes or was it the message she had seen in those roving orbs, but in an instant the child-woman in his arms was replaced by a shy sensual nymph, fully aware of her womanhood. Her eyes lowered as she pulled the sheet up to her neck and tried to disentangle her form from his, but he didn’t seem in the mood to let go just yet and pulled her to him more firmly,
“What’s the hurry Khushi. They will anyways do it, so let’s just make it a little more fun for them by having some fun ourselves. Hmm?” he said while nuzzling his nose on her shoulder blades and drawing some avant-garde paintings around her naval, making her shiver. 
“Huh?” Khushi wasn’t sure what was going on in that devilish mind of her Laad Governor and the things he was doing to her weren’t helping her think either.
“The family Khushi. They’ll tease us relentlessly after our little escapade from last night and the fact that you have missed arti wouldn’t help either. So why don’t we miss breakfast as well and give them some more stuff to tease us about. Hmm?”
His foot was now caressing hers while his lips bent to taste that delicious blush marring the perfect white of her neck.
“Hey Devi Maiya!” squealed Khushi as realization dawned upon her. And with a jerk she got off the bed pulling the sheets with her and turning her back to that unabashed man lazily sprawled across the bed in just the clothes he was born in. She checked the wall clock and almost jumped when she saw it was already quarter past nine.
“Hey Devi Maiya, how could I have slept for so long. What will Naniji think. Buaji had said that I didn’t have the qualities to be a perfect Bahu and I have proved her right. Bechari Jiji, she’d have had to make the breakfast all by herself.” She gave her husband a dirty look while admonishing him,
“It doesn’t affect you, I know, you love to see me suffering. Just one angry look and they won’t dare tease you but me, they’ll torture me the entire day. How am I going to face them? Why do you put me through all this?” she looked at him with those beautiful pleading eyes and her tormentor couldn’t help but shamelessly laugh at her misery.
“This Laad Governor will be the death of me one day.” She cursed under her breath and scurried off to the bathroom.
Arnav couldn’t imagine a better start for his day and he was determined to never settle for anything less. Teasing his wife had recently become his favorite pass-time and a flustered Khushi, he enjoyed the most, well maybe second most, as a flushed and aroused Khushi was a vision beyond the wildest imagination of even the best of artists and he had copyrighted that as Arnav Singh Raizada’s private property, forever. A proud and indulgent smile crossed his face at the thought.

Khushi stood in the kitchen brewing coffee for him and tea for herself. It was almost five in the evening and Arnav had called a while ago to say that he had left for home and would be here by five. She wondered if Sheetalji would accompany him. Nani and Anjali had gone for some satsang and Payal and Aakash had just left for some business party. HP was busy cleaning the store-room while Mamiji was busy catching-up on her quota of beauty-sleep that she had missed last night because of one Phati Sari. And Aarav had gone out to play, or more like practice basket-ball all by himself, such a perfectionist, so much like her Arnavji. It had been an eventful day, but the events were not much to the liking of Mrs. Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada. The  entire family mercilessly teased her. Mamiji had said something about the side-effects of not having a proper honeymoon at breakfast making Khushi blush the brightest shade of crimson, and her Laad Governor’s feet under the table were not helping. And well, this was just the start of a very long day that she had to face all alone for her tormentor had escaped to the safety of his office, that Rakshasha!

At five past five, when the door-bell finally rang, Khushi ran to get it and said in an irritated voice as she opened the door,
“You are late.”
“Hello beautiful. How was your day?” and he smirked, not needing an answer, as he knew already, irritating his wife all the more and she narrowed her eyes while he strode towards the living-room.

A while later as they sat in the living room having their respective beverages and Khushi was delivering one of her best tirades to date, telling him all about the torture she had to go through because of him and admonishing him for it, the door-bell rang again.”
“Who could it be? Naniji said she won’t be back before eight and Jiji Jijaji had just left.” Khushi was going-on with her monologue when Lavanya came there.
“Lavanyaji.” Khushi was very happy seeing her friend.
“Hey ASR.” Lavanya greeted him and he nodded his ‘Hi’, and she then turned to Khushi.
“Hey beautiful! How was your day?” Khushi couldn’t help but smile looking at her husband who was diligently trying to cover his smirk.
“Anybody care to tell me, what’s the joke?” Lavanya frowned.
“Oh nothing Lavanyaji, it was just something from earlier today. Anyways I am so glad that you could visit us today, I wanted to thank you for last night. If you wouldn’t have been there I don’t know what would have happened. I was so distraught and…” One look at Arnav’s face and Khushi felt guilt clawing at her for bringing up last night again. A ghost of pain flitted across his eyes and Khushi didn’t like it, she preferred the mirth that was there when he teased her. She bowed down her face.
“Oh Khushi that was nothing and I am sure you would have done the same for me.” She smiled at her friend, attempting to ease the heaviness that had suddenly enveloped the surrounding. She continued then,
“Khushi, actually I had my own reasons for coming here today.” She paused for a bit before further continuing,
“Khushi you see, Mr. Singhania, my fiancé designs to spread his business here in India as well. In fact that was the main reason for our trip. Now, the thing is, some of our partners from Italy wanted to see some samples of Indian wears. And, well we don’t have much time, as they’ll be here by next week. So…” she trailed.
“So? Do you want Arnavji’s help? Should I talk to him?” and she looked at him, he gave her a weird expression, as if saying, ‘I am right here!’ But before Khushi could start cajoling her husband, Lavanya interrupted,
“No Khushi, I don’t need ASR’s help. I actually came here to ask for yours.”
“Me?” Khushi was a little shocked.
“Well yes. Actually, I know that you were into that ‘chicken-curry  and gota’ thing, so…”
“Lavanyaji, mein…”Khushi was not sure of her ability to pull-off something that huge, but truth being said, her nervousness was tinged with excitement.
“Khushi I know you can do it. Just think about it, ok? And if your answer is yes, then we can discuss other details, like working hours and money and other such stuff. And Khushi I’ll be there with you, ok? So, just give it a thought.”
Khushi wanted to do it. After all she was never the sit-at-home type. But she was concerned about what Arnav may think about it, considering she would be working with one of his potential rivals. The last time, when she had started the dabba business, she had deliberately wanted to irk him. Back then she threw it at him as a challenge, but today she desired his consent. She looked at him and found his eyes on her face, searching for something?
“Arnavji?” she voiced her concerns in that single word as their eyes met.

Lavanya was oblivious to the silent conversation taking place between the lovers and the new Lavaya hated it when women looked towards their boyfriends and husbands before choosing the color of their shoe or deciding, if or not to take the job. And she was just deciding to intervene and make Khushi understand that it was about her, and not about ASR, and that she had all the rights to decide for herself. But then she saw Khushi smile first and then heard ASR’s voice,
“I know.”

PS: Hey guys, just wanted to remind that this SS is placed after the basket-ball match and so Sheetal's truth is not out yet, Arnav has not gifted Khushi the catering company and Aakash and Payal are still very much there.

PPS: I hope you guys liked it and please do let me know, what you thought of this chapter, both criticisms and compliments are heartily welcomed. But please do comment :)

PPPS: Will be back with the 2nd chapter of 'Tangent Worlds' soon, so look out for it. Until then,

Toodles
Srija :)


5 comments:

ssyahoo said...

Thanks for a super long chapter! I loved it! Lavanya's job proposal was quite interesting, I think it will be good for Khushi. Found Arnav to be slightly arrogant in thinking that Khushi will never leave him. Their reunion was filled with love, even with Khushi masking her pain. Wonder what Sheetal will plan next. Update soon please

Anonymous said...

i can just imagine how embarassing it must be for Khushi.........but the situation was just so hilarious
very beautifully written.........really good update......without Sheetal :D
cant wait for more

GunM(IF)

Srija said...

Thanks a lot for the comment dear, such positive feedback always encourages me to write more :)
About La's job proposal, well I always envisioned Khushi making something big with all the amount of talent that she has and the Mrs. India part, according to me was the worst way to show Khushi moving towards self-dependence and believe me I didn't have any problem with her wanting to be Mrs.India, it was just that it showed her to be really dumb, and not cute dumb but real dumb. Anyways my Khushi is different :)
About Arnav being arrogant about Khushi's love for him, I'd just say he believes too much in their love and as for his attitude, the man has improved over time, just give him a little more.
And finally as for writing a long chapter, I can't really help it, cz once I am on a roll, just so much comes to my mind. Well I am glad u liked the length though.
Keep reading :)

Srija said...

I am glad u enjoyed it :)
Well actually after 4 long chapters, super-high on emotions I really wanted to give a light one. And believe me I was myself smiling the whole time while writing the update.

Aminataliep3 said...

You writing style is so beautiful. Awesome chapter