Arhi FF, 'Chamkili' ch-7 The Mess We Make

Ok guys now before I go ahead with the update, let me warn you that this has not been proof-read, hence if u spot any grammatical error or any spelling mistake kindly let me know. And there r some important notes at the end of the update, please read those. 

Now this update is dedicated to mem1 and Nidsubh007 and Lara for being the sweethearts that they are J

                                         Chamkili

                                  Part-7

                         The Mess We Make

Arnav Singh Raizada was smiling. And no there was no Barney Stinson on the screen going off about the 'bro code' and neither was his crazy wife's besan covered face the reason this time. In fact he was all alone, sitting behind the steering wheel, driving his SUV and just... just like that... smiling. Shocking as it may sound... or maybe even goofy, but an adorably smug smile played on his lips.

'So Mrs. Raizada liked playing games, didn't she? Oh, how he would love to beat her at her own game. What did she say, hmm, the celebration should not be in their bedroom and should involve actual food... and so it shall.' Arnav smirked as his hands toyed with the bottle of chocolate syrup, his mind simultaneously toying with the images of when he would soon put it to good use. He was proud of his plan well you do not become Arnav Singh Raizada, if you lack the talent and courage of taking advantage of others mistakes, and with regards to his temptress of a wife, dammit he had all the haq.

As the traffic-light signalled a stop and he did, he looked outside and directly at a small food place. Well a petulant Khushi was the last thing he wanted tonight, especially considering his plans, and a hungry Khushi was a grumpy kid version and that wouldn't do. He wanted her in all her womanly glory tonight. And so making one of his more rare choices, that of listening to his good sense, he parked the car and got some food packed for his lovely wife, all her favorites. And to top it all, he bought some jalebi from a nearby sweet-shop. 'She'll be happy' and then of course it's only fair that she return my favor...' and with this pleasurable thought he finally parked his car outside KaLa at exactly 8 p.m. He called Khushi but she didn't pick up, he tried again and well, the same response and so he decided to just go inside and check for himself whatever the matter was. He spotted Lavanya near the entrance itself, she was with some of her employs.

"Hey! Lavanya Have you seen'"but Lavanya cut him off,

"Hey! ASR, what are you doing here. Guys I am sure you know Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada." she introduced him to her employs who all greeted him earning a tight lipped, smile?... or something of the sort in return

"Lavanya, I was asking about K..." but he was once again cut-off midway

"Ok people so I guess that's all for now, I'll see you guys tomorrow." she smiled at her employs dismissing them and she looked at her former boss, well he was livid almost and things didn't look too bright for her.

"ASR, wo actually..." and even before she could finish he was already moving towards the inner cabins but she had to stop him and so she pulled his arms,

"ASR please, could you come outside I need to talk to you. There is no point creating a scene here." he glared at her but then agreed and moved towards the parking instead.

"ASR I am sorry but I had to stop you there. I think Chamkili probably forgot to mention it to you or maybe she would have told you tonight. But she doesn't want anyone over here to know that you are her husband." she looked at him a little timidly, unsure of his reaction.

"Excuse me?" Arnav still wasn't sure if he heard it correctly. 'Khushi didn't want people to find out about their relationship? Was she out of her mind?' Arnav was already at the edge now and one small push was all he needed to raise all the fury of hell.

"And yes, I guess she forgot to inform you, but she left a little early today. I think she must have reached home by now." and that just did it. Arnav was livid now, ready to burst. And hence he hurriedly made his way towards car, knowing if he waited even a second more he would burst at anyone and everyone around but no he wanted to save his fury for its rightful deserver. And one look at him and she knew that calling him back right now would be inviting death and she didn't want to die so young and that too a spinster. So she just made her way back to the office, silently praying to Khushi's Devi Maiya to protect her devotee, for she needed it badly.

Soon he embarked upon another of his rash drives that fanned his fury all the more. His eyes fell on that innocent bottle of chocolate syrup and the next moment it was thrown out of the speeding SUV. And such was the force of his throw that no one would ever be able to find even a single shred of that glass piece.

"KHUSHI KUMARI GUPTA, HOW BLOODY DARE YOU!" he hissed in a low tone as he finally stopped the car in front of shantivan.

*******************************

Sheetal was standing in front of a mirror. Critically examining her image from all the various angles and' well, she couldn't see any major flaws there. In fact she was considered beautiful by people of both the sexes and she knew that she actually was. She then slumped on her bed as she wondered, 'But then why didn't he love me?' The thought had been gnawing at her for the past many days, well actually since the time she had had that chance encounter with him and his wife in the market place.

She still vividly remembered the day she had asked him out, oh yes, she was the one who had taken the lead in their relationship. After crushing on him for a long time and then being his friend for a while, she had finally mustered enough courage to set the wheels in motion and see where it goes. She proposed him. He had recently broken off with Cindy and that was their final year at Harvard and hence she just took the leap of faith, but then was pleasantly surprised when he had agreed to give it a go. Though he had made it very clear that he did not believe in marriage or even love for that matter and hence wouldn't commit to anything life-long or even long-term, but she had gone ahead with it anyway. Of course she had, for she didn't want to regret not taking this chance. And secretly in her heart of hearts she had harbored a little hope that maybe one fine day he'll just wake up and realize that he was in love and that day she wanted to be beside him... with him.  'How very stupid of me to expect love from someone who had no love... who had no heart!' she sighed. It would have been so much easier, had it actually been the case... had he actually been heartless. But she knew better, 'he did have a heart a beautiful heart... a heart full of endless love... it's just that his heart had always belonged to someone else.' She felt a lump growing in her throat. She glanced at Aarav sitting at the table, working meticulously on his homework. Aarav was enough for her, he had always been all she had ever wanted and all she would ever want. 'But then why this abyss of emptiness in me grows a little every day?' She decided to take a walk to distract herself from those turbulent thoughts. But as she entered the living-room she could hear some mumbling and though it was quite incoherent, still one could easily make out that the speaker was royally pissed. And as she looked at the love of his life, his wife, she once again wondered, 'where did I go wrong?'

Khushi was making jalebis and munching on the ready ones while talking to some invisible or maybe even non-existent entity. 'What does she have that I don't? What does he see in her? Yes she was beautiful and young and fresh but so am I... or at least was... six years ago, but that hadn't been enough for him then... had it?' her gaze zeroed on Khushi, the lady of the house... but soon she faded and some forgone but yet unforgotten images floated in front of her... it was as if the past had come alive.

"Happy birthday Sheetal!" Shaina, her room-mate wished her as soon as she woke-up, but then too lazy to get off the bed she had just stretched her arms calling Sheetal to her and she did go. They hugged and Shaina once again gave Sheetal her best wishes for the day.

A little while later, as she was standing in front of the mirror, giving some last touches to her make-up when she heard Shaina whistle as she stepped back in the room,

"Woho! Aren't you looking pretty today! All ready to blow Mr. Dreamy Eyes' super shatir dimag off, hmm?" Sheetal didn't say anything but she felt happy being appreciated for her looks. In fact she always made an extra effort to look good whenever she was with him. She finished giving a final coat to her gloss and then moved to where her hand-bags were piled on a shelf.

"Well, I am sure he must have planned something awesome for his girl-friend. And why not, he got perfect score for planning that super tough and entirely useless annual economic structure thing or whatever. Planning a birthday shouldn't be much for him, right?" she said rolling her eyes, one thing that she didn't like about her friend's boyfriend was the air of superiority that he seemed to have at all times. 'What a douche!' she cursed under her breath.

"Okay, now if you are done cursing my boy friend can we leave for college, he'll be picking me up from there." Sheetal all but dragged her friend as she juggled with her scarf and keys and hand-bag.

Sheetal had decided to skip the lecture, for it was Mr. Thomas's lecture and once in, it was impossible to leave until it was over and well making Arnav wait wasn't an option either. It was a choice between the Devil and the deep blue sea, and so to remain safe she decided to just hang around in the canteen. Though she wondered why was she actually waiting for him, not even once had he mentioned anything about her birthday plans since she had told him about it. 'Would he even remember and even if he did would he bother?' she didn't know.

Half the day was over and he hadn't even called her yet, she had started to sulk a little now.

"Sheetal I am sure, he must have gotten struck in the traffic, its really bad on Fridays." Shaina tried cheering her friend a little, "Why don't you call him?" and in a flash Sheetal was dialing Arnav's number, she thanked her stars when he picked up on the second ring itself.

"Yes Sheetal, anything important? I was busy." his voice cold, his tone clipped.

"Wo Arnav... actually... actually about the plan... I am waiting in the college." her heart sank a little.

"What plan? Sheetal what kind of childish behavior is this? You know we have our final project submissions next week and I am busy with it. What the hell has gotten into you?" he seemed really irked now, and she was on the verge of tears, so she moved to a secluded corner.

"Arnav... wo actually it's my birthday today and..." she hadn't even finished it when she heard his irritated voice,

"So?" both were silent for a while, which he broke finally.

"Look Sheetal if there is nothing else then I need to get back to my work, I'll see you later." and before she could reply the line went dead.

Sheetal wiped her slightly moist eyes and made her way towards Shaina.

"He wouldn't be able to make it, his Di is visiting and she is not well. But he said he was very sorry and that he'll make up for it soon. He is such a sweet-heart Shaina." Sheetal lied smoothly, she was getting better at it since her relationship with Arnav. Only the thing was, Shaina, her room-mate and also her childhood friend knew her a little too well. 'Ya right! Mr. Arrogant Singh Raizada was sorry!' But then Shaina would never say anything about it.

"Okay then birthday girl, what about my treat haan!"

She came out of her trance as she heard a loud bang from the kitchen, and then she saw Khushi picking up a ladle. Sheetal suddenly realized that she had walked upto the kitchen door in her trance.

"What do I do now? Now I can't lie to him and telling him the truth would be like awaking the Rakshasha in him." Khushi rambled, unaware of the audience she had now, who was trying hard to make sense of her ramblings but failing miserably. Her eyes widened as she checked the wall clock,

"Hey Devi Maiya! How could I forget? Why are you bent on testing me everyday, can't you just let me be for one day... just one day is it too much to ask. He said he would come to pick me up at 8 and he seemed so happy about the entire celebration thing, how could I forget about it." Khushi berated herself.

'Oh so that's the reason why Arnav postponed the meeting with the Russian delegates. So now apparently he could leave a multi-million dollar project hanging to just pick his wife up... while then even on my birthday..." she felt chocked again. But apart from tears something else also raised its head inside her... the attractive monster with those enchanting and all engulfing green-eyes.

Khushi made her way to her room, still lost in herself oblivious to Sheetal's presence, muttering something like,

"Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, he'll kill you. He won't even bother to roast you, he'll just eat you raw... hell he won't even bother to kill you, he'll just eat you alive. Hey Devi Maiya Raksha karna."

A minute later Sheetal heard Arnav's SUV stop and then saw a fuming Arnav enter and head straight to his room. A dark, sly smile made its way on her face.

*******************************

Khushi was searching for a nice hiding place. She had a brilliant plan, she would hide until Arnav was asleep and the next morning she would make him some pan-cakes and maybe even wear that saree he had gotten for her, that would surely do the trick. So she hid inside the cupboard, the plate of jalebis still in her hand. 'Who said Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada didn't have brains?' She was happy with her plan, but there was one slight detail that Mrs. Shatir Dimag had missed, that... her Laad Governor could hear her heartbeats.

He entered the room enraged. She was no where to be seen... but he knew better. He walked upto the pool area, but she wasn't even there, he closed his eyes trying to contain his frustration... he needed to find her first. And then almost magically, as if guided by his own heartbeats he stood right in front of their cupboard. He opened the door with a jerk and hissed

"HOW DARE YOU KHUSHI! How dare you not tell me? How dare you... I went to your office and..."

'Hey Devi Maiya! HE KNOWS!' she was almost trembling with fear now, she needed to do some emergency control NOW. And so without even letting him finish, she said,

"Arnavji-I-had-no-idea-Samayji-was-there'" he froze as all he heard was SHYAMJI. 'Was that b****** following Khushi again? But how did that scoundrel get out?'

"Khushi, did he harm you? Are you okay? I'll set that useless commissioner straight, despite my orders that he shouldn't be released, that bloody son of a..." Khushi's head was spinning now, 'Arnavji knew him and Samayji was in jail?' Arnav was already in the middle of dialling the commissioner's number when Khushi said.

"Arnavji how do you know Samayji and why was he in jail... and... and how did you know about it? Hey Devi Maiya, did you..." and the rest of her words remained trapped somewhere inside her as a thought struck her, 'Hey Devi Maiya, did he do this because of me?' and her mind went in an overdrive picturing images of Samay chained in a dungeon, and Arnav laughing maniacally with a whip in his hand and then he unleashed the whip and...

"NAHI!" Khushi screamed.

"Khushi are you alright. And what are you talking about, they arrested him in front of all of us, you were there. In fact that Shy..." and then he turned towards her, the lines on his forehead gathered in a frown,

"Khushi who the hell is this Samayji?"

"But you just said that..." he didn't let her finish,

"Khushi don't test my patience, Just answer me DAMMIT!" he snarled towards the end. He was worried sick about another maniac behind his sweet little wife.

"Wo Arnavji actually... actually he was my senior at school and..." she said in a low voice.

"Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay?" he hugged her to himself, sliding his fingers soothingly on her back.

"Arnavji, I am sorry. I really didn't know about it' I had forgotten him completely and I was so shocked when I saw him today. I should have told you before that I had a crush on him. But it totally skipped my..."

"What!" he moved her out of his embrace to look at her face as he roared. And Khushi was dead scared now. She held his hands that were clutching her shoulders and closed her eyes, preparing herself for ASR's wrath.

"Arnavji believe me, it was just a small crush... I was so young... I was just in fourth grade and... and all my friends said he liked me and... and he was the head-boy and even Preeto said he was good and I was mad... hey Devi Maiya why did I do that! I am sorry Arnavji but... but I didn't know he would be there at KaLa, had I had any inkling of that I wouldn't have taken that job. Arnavji please..." and she was on the verge of tears when she heard that sound she loved the most in the entire world... the sound of his carefree... happy laugh. But as always it left her confused.

"Khushi, Oh you are such a kid." and saying that he pulled her in a tight possessive embrace.

"But Arnavji you were so angry then how... why..." she didn't know how to say what she wanted to say.

"Khushi I was angry because I thought you were talking about Shyam and I was worried." he paused for a bit before continuing further,

"So you had a crush when you were what?... barely ten? Not bad Mrs. Raizada." he teased her and earned a smack on his chest in return.

"Aww! Khushi you are the one who had a crush and still you are beating me... now that's not fair, is it?" he said keeping his tone deliberately sombre.

"Arnavji I am so sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that... I feel so bad' it's like I cheated..." and sobs raked her body.

"Khushi I was joking. Please don't cry baby. I am so sorry. I was just kidding." he tried soothing her with gentle strokes of his hands on her back and then lifting her in his arms he took her to their bed, laying her on it. He faced her as he supported himself on his elbow, his fingers gently massaging her hair.

"Khushi its okay, really. You didn't even know I existed back then and such things happen. And you just had an innocent crush on him... and I am sure you do realize you ended up with much better right?" and he felt a little relieved as she smiled a little.

"Okay so you had a crush on one guy in your school but I am still leading here... for I had... wait let me count my girlfriends once again, Cindy, Lata, Samantha... Aww! Khushi you seriously need to stop doing this" he made a face as his wife once again smacked him but then kissed her forehead as she gave him a warm smile.

"Khushi you are mine and I am yours, we love each other and there is no doubt about it and don't you ever doubt my love and trust for you okay." she smiled and pulled him in her embrace

"Arnavji" her fingers massaged his scalp.

"Hmm?" his eyes were closed as he enjoyed the magic that her hands weaved.

"I love you dammit!" and with that she captured his lips with hers... taking him by surprise. It was the first time that she had taken an initiative...

The last coherent thought he had before he dissolved himself in her was,

'Hell I shouldn't have thrown away that chocolate syrup.'

But then as Khushi's fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, it didn't really matter any more...

The night was still young and so were the lovers lost in each others arms... their bodies burning in a passion that needed no other fuel but love to burn through their bodies and souls...

Love

Srija

Author's Note: 

Guys first of all thanks a lot for reading this story, it really means a lot to me and a special thanks to all those lovely people who take time to put their thoughts in comments and me me feel awesome by pressing the like tab.

Now coming to the important stuff, I know the story has become a little complicated now, but I had warned you beforehand that this wouldn't be one of those classic, 'Sheetal is a bitch' story. I am not too sure about where this story is going but I would like to think that you weren't too disappointed with the update 

And I am thinking of editing my buddy list coz I have been sending PMs to many people who don't even read these stories so if you want to continue being on my buddy list please confirm your presence on my story threads. Also I wouldn't be receiving buddy request from random people from now on, if you want to receive PMs please make your presence known here.

And, finally guys my finals begin on the 10th of May, hence I am not very sure as to when I'll be able to update any of my stories next, don't expect much before the 20th at least but you might be surprised for an idea of a three shot is brewing in my head and I might just write it. Guys please wish me luck, need it badly