Chapter 6

             'Harmony of  Two Hearts' 



     Khushi  stepped out of  'Arnav's  SUV which was sent to Lakshmi Nagar to bring the bride and her family to the venue. She had travelled numerous times by  that  dignified , sophisticated vehicle before. But today's journey screamed of something amiss for her.  It hadn't even been 24 hours since she had seen him and was already missing him with every heartbeat. Today, while travelling by that oddly familiar car, she was inhaling his lingering smell ,imagining  his presence behind  the wheel  and remembering vivid moments  she spent with him in this car as if that would pacify her erotic heart. The recent realization  of some new heartwarming feelings  were  churning her stomach thoroughly. Whatever was happening to her, she was unable to comprehend.

 As she entered  Raizada mansion ,Her already overwhelmed heart started beating its familiar rhythm ...Dhak..Dhak..Dhak..Dhak!

        

                  

          

         Even though she had decided to not to look for that Laad Governor today who was hell bent on showing  her some unusual behavior patterns of his well-trained mental system and forcing  her to lose her sanity with all his smirking business, yet her yearning orbs tried to spot out those softly molten caramel chocolate ones. Her excited mind was disappointed as she could not find him around and continued  receiving  all the welcomes arranged by Raizada family.

   

              

           

           Anjali had noticed  Khushi's  restlessness and she  very well knew the reason too. She decided to use  her cupid love bow.She brought  Khushi to a lonely corner of the hallway ,"What happened Khushiji? Who are you searching for?"

    

        "Ji? Searching?...Nahi to? I was just admiring these beautiful  decorations. How tastefully they are done!" Khushi replied trying to ignore  anjali's scrutiny glances and changing the topic.

   

        "Did you like it? Chote has really worked hard to make it up to the mark of YOUR likings , Khushiji!"  She drew the first arrow.

   

      "Ji?  My likings?"  Khushi couldn't believe what she heard. Really? HER Arnvaji had thought of her ,while decorating  the house?  Was that the reason why all the decorations were done out of her favorite red roses?

    As an amazed Khushi gazed the hall again with much more concentration , Anjali made a second hit. "You know Khushiji, It feels so nice that one of my brothers, Akash is getting married today. I am so happy !" She clapped her hands together in excitement. Further sighing dramatically she spoke in utter disappointed voice, "Don't know Khushiji, when I will be preparing for my Chote's  marriage like this. I have weaved many dreams of it. Par Chote ko koi ladaki pasand hi nahi THI...(but any girl could not catch his fancy till now)"

    

         Khushi could not understand why Anjaliji brought up topic of Arnavji's marriage suddenly.But speaking of it had instantly painted her yet again in  tomato RED on her already flushed face . She was so sure of a full  fledged business out of a wholesale Tomato shop, with the rate she was on with production of ripen tomatoes. She tried to avoid anjali's  gaze pretending to give the far corner pillar ,THE time of its life, the way it was being admired by our KKG adorned with her favorite flowers while her mind revolving around  the word 'THI'. As Anjali confirmed that she has hit the bull's eye, she continued confidently holding Khushi's chin and searching  for something specific  in those beautiful eyes.

 "Par khuch dino se hume ese lag raha hai... Ki..ab.. unhe wo ladaki mil gayi hai jo unhe shadi ke mandap tak la sakegi...(but from some days I am feeling like he has found that girl who could bring him to altar)

  Ab bas , aur intjar nahi hota hamase Khushiji..(now I can't wait more)!"  stated Anjali, her keen eyes waited for expected  reaction .

      

           As Anjali's words struck Khushi with all their might ,her hazel orbs quavered with excitement and she immediately lowered her lashes. She was caught off guard, It had not been so long that she had realized her own feelings about Arnavaji  and though she was doubtful about his feelings for her , unknowingly somewhere her subconscious  was ringing  the wedding bells. But no one was aware about the happenings between her and Arnavji, at least as she thought. And so the sudden statement by Anjali threw her in a dilemma. Has Anjaliji  observed something  scandalous between them or  was she talking about some other girl. And only thought of that pricked her heart. But then why would she talk about some other girl to her in that case?  How she was supposed to react to this? Was anjali playing wise by mentioning her as if not mentioning at all? .. If she acknowledges being the girl Anjali was talking about then  she wasn't sure of her reaction. And of course she would not even think of the probability of Anjali talking about some other girl . So to avoid  any embarrassment ,she simply ran to the room upstairs.

  

   Anjali smiled flashing all her 32 teeth  seeing Khushi's shy acceptance . 'Ohh, so one side was already knocked down. Great!'  She searched for Nani to share this exciting piece of news. On finding nani,She grabbed her shoulders and spoke hurriedly 

    

     "Nani..Nani..Nani, hamara tir to bilkul sahi nishane pe laga hai. Ab bas aap to dusari shaadi ki taiyariya  shuru kar dijiyae! Khushiji ki taraf se to ha hi samjiye...(Nani.. we have hit the bull's eye exactly. Now you just start preparing for another wedding. Khushiji  has almost accepted the proposal)"

Naniji  hugged her enthusiastically  but as something nudged her mind , she  spoke in a concerned tone, "Bitiya, par aap ko to pata hai Chote itani asani se nahi mananewale.. ..(dear, but you know how hard it is to convince chote)"

Anajli folded her hands against her chest and putting up her chin said proudly  ,"Are agar wo apake chote he to hum bhi to unaki Di hai! Hume acchi tarah se pata hai ki unaki  konsi chabi kab  ghumani hai.  Bas kisi ek  ki jarurat hai hame is plan mein. Baki hum sab sambhal lenge" (If he is your grandson then I am his elder sister. I know exactly which button to press. It's just that I have to seek help of someone in this plan otherwise I will handle it)"

  

    

   "Aap kya karne ka soch rahi hai anjali bitiya? Khuch esan mat kijiyega ki kam banane se pahale hi bigad jaye.. (What are you planning to do, Anjali dear? Don't do something which will ruin the situation n make it worse)" Nani popped out her doubt on Anjali's plan.

   

    "Are nani, ap wo sab hum par chod dijiye. Yahi to mauka  hai Shyamji se ye manwane ka ki hum hi sabase best matchmaker he. Kyu nani ?"(Nani, you just leave it to me. Now is the right time to make Shyamji  realize  the fact that I am the best matchmaker, isn't it?)" Anjali asked animatedly filing her nails... with that both the ladies chuckled  happily.

********

Arnav was profoundly staring at his very attractive BLANK screen saver when those magical winds shook his senses to the core. They had brought  her rosy smell along with them. Her scent lingered around nudging him. Yes, She has come.. definitely!  but then why no one informed him of her arrival? Damn them! He was  livid with rage. Closing his laptop with a thud he marched downstairs  like a thunderbolt...

*********

   

        Khushi paused shakily at the top of staircase huffing heavily due to the speed she ran. Wait a minute! ...Did her feet skip their routine somewhere? As if on cue they obliged their own loyal task of tripping and Khushi closed her eyes in anticipation of a great fall...

               But was it even possible for her to fall somewhere else other then his heavenly arms? the only exception being deep abyss of his love. So as per the ritual he ,ohh ..so gently grabbed her narrow waist in one hand and held her left hand in his right.   Khushi  need not open her eyes to find out whose magical touch that was which sent much aspired current through her every yearning nerve.

  "Hey Devi Maiyya, How am I supposed to face Arnavaji?"  her thoughts called out her deity, feeling shy.

  

        When  even Arnav didn't seem getting enough of gazing at her while khushi still tightly closed her eyes and realizing ,she didn't intend to open them anytime soon  he asked tenderly , "Khushi, tum thik ho?"

     

   As she heard the husky voice she was so longing to hear, she opened her right eye to confirm if he is still there. As soon as she felt the warmth of his extreme care for her on his ohh-so -handsome face she let  her another eye to join the mission of exploring  tides  of emotions in those caramel eyes  and ...

                  

          with that  the magical notes of 'Rabba Vey' too joined them in the background.

   How much she has missed him ...well, he did appear in her dreams but in that temptation of eating jalebis ,she might not have had enough fill of him to satiate her hazel orbs. His gelled soft black hair, that scar below his left eyebrow, straight pointed nose, those soft yet firmly placed lips...she just could not get enough of him. Would ever that adorable face belong to her? Would he always be there to hold her like this whenever she trips somewhere?

     

      How much he has missed her..well, she did appear in his dreams but he had been too stubborn to not grant permission to her entry then. Her silky, black long locks left loose today just as he likes their fall to be, her bindi which always reminds him of the full moon, that not so pointed cute little nose,  soft petals like lips. Could he ever get enough of looking at her? How is he not supposed to think of her belonging to him? Would he get an opportunity to hold her milky white smooth waist every time she tries to trip?

   

      As they unknowingly led astray into each other's eyes, Devi Maiyya must have  laughed in heaven, somewhere at the foolishness of the event manager  to waste so much of money on buying lots of  crackers  for proposed firework.  They could have just arranged these two pairs of eyes to set in motion  instead.

      It was quite a scene to watch, Arnav and Khushi  standing at the top of the staircase in an exquisite  pose of RK films lost into each other.  The RK films would have surely felt honored to update their banner watching these two. If only mamiji did not have showed her appearance in her famous catwalk.

  "Hello hi bye bye...Arnav  bitwa and phati sari..yee ka karat ho? ..aj sangeet ka nahiii...marriageeewa ka parogram hai..forgetiya gaye ho kaa...abhi  tak wahi dancewa  kahe practicya rahe ho?(Arnav dear and Torn Sari, What are you doing. It's a wedding day today...not of Sangit...Have you forgotten?? Why are you practicing that old dance again?)"  She said blowing air on her recently tainted..oops..painted bootiful  nailswa for the umpteenth time.

      

      The spicy comment of mamiji on their scandalized position brought Khushi out from her reverie.  she freed herself from Arnav's soft touches and composed . Arnav could not do anything but sigh in irritation as she hastily rushed towards the guestroom without sparing him another glance. Arnav tried to stop her but in vain, she had already flew out of his sight.

         

        He let out a frustrated groan & something struck him..with a victories grin he realized the biggest advantage marriage system offered him with utmost profit..he could hold HIS khushi whenever n wherever he wants and No one..no damn one could force her to free herself  from his catch once they get married.  Then she would have all the liberty to trip anywhere she wishes and he could just hold her without any time constraint.

He smirked at the wisely put 'Lawfully wedded wife' term...





                                                                

Chapter 5

            
                                              'Ghost  of  Thoughts'

    

 

    HP ran out of the room. He didn't even try to breathe until he covered some distance safe enough from Arnav Bhaiya's room or he too could get caught with the same ghost which has already caught hold of his Arnav bhaiya. He was sure that the ghost must be of some unmarried person who had,had to leave his life at young age & could not get chance to be married. But of course , or why else Arnav bhaiya will start discussing about marriages..about his marriage?...and he was  mainly shocked by the latest news that The Arnav Singh Riazada was even thinking of getting married. It could not be true. It seemed to be his day on picking up KKG's  n  ASR's trademark punch lines..as that made him mutter,'Devi Maiyaa  Raksha karna..!(Ohh Lord, Save me!)'


      "There must be some ghost indeed. I should tell this to someone in the family or the matter will only  get worse  if that ghost made Arnav bhaiya marry some unfortunate girl. What will happen when he will be out of that ghost's clutches..he won't accept the marriage then." With a horrifying groan he exclaimed," No..No ..I should tell this to someone..." Hp was playing along with ghost of thoughts or rather thoughts of ghosts as he didn't realize that he had entered Anjali didi's room without any reason.
    
  

        Shyam returned from RM's security check. As the VIP, VVIP and celebrities were invited to the wedding, security was the prior most task to be considered. So shyam had agreed to look after security and was doing his job very well.  He had just gone to confirm if everything was under control and returned to his room with a satisfactory grin. He then saw HP standing in his room shocked , surprised, startled, frightened and having much more other sorts of expressions  playing 'paint my wall' on his   face.


He called out, "HP, Anjali is searching for you downstairs. What are you doing here?"
   

  HP turned back with some unwelcomed thoughts and sighed heavily after finding only Shyam jijaji standing.


  Now watching at his condition Shyam was forced to ask the question which rather he would  have never considered asking, "HP,Tum theek ho?  (are you fine?)"



"Ji..Ja..Ji...Woh..Arnav Bhaiya..Bhoot..Marriage" He was trying to utter some coherent sentence but was failing terribly.



  "Dekho HP, I am not understanding a single word you are saying. What are you trying to tell me?" Shyam asked calmly.

  

             His calm voice must have made HP feel  secure as his heart rate was returning to normal. HP thought Shyam  jijaji was the  correct person to break the 'actually' Breaking News.Telling this to Anjali didi was the last thing he could ever  think  because ,by hearing the news that her Chote  is thinking about getting married,either  she would suffer from  a cardiac attack due to extreme happiness or she would  be hysterical by the thought that some ghost has captured her Chote and start running to various temples. Talking to Mamiji will turn into adding another achievement to Gupta's  'Hall of Fame' in black magic  records. Since Akash's marriage had been fixed his insane acts were highly cherished with enough encouragement so talking to him was never an option. HP could not stress out himself anymore by thinking about  probable outcomes if he reveals  this news to Dadiji or Mamaji. So the best solution he could find was Shyam jijaji  and so he decided to pass on his tension over the shoulders that better knew how  to toss it off sooner.
   

 Hp spoke with hurried pace,
  "Some ghost is forcing our Arnav bhaiya to get married jijaji", saying this he let out the pressure through a relieved sigh yet projecting his concern.

   

Shyam was expecting HP to tell new found method of ASR to pour out his anger on poor HP. But what he heard was out of this world. He could just show sympathy to the mental state of this loyal worker who was a constant stress buster for ASR. So instead of showing the shock he was in,he just asked an interrogatory question,

 "What did happen that made you think like this HP?"


 "He just asked me if I would like to get married?????"


 "Then where comes the question of ghost  forcing your Arnav bhaiya to get married??"


 "Because He told me that he and Akash bhaiya will be getting married."

      
          Now before he could give another incoherent reason to his derived conclusion which would make Shyam  pull out his own hair , The lawyer Shyam Manohar Jha grabbed first opportunity to show his sharpened talent and took the grip of this cross examination.

  
  "HP, can you describe me what exactly happened when you entered Arnav's room  ?"


     And this time HP grabbed the opportunity to speak the words without counting them which he never had done in these  many  years of his service. He narrated the story exaggerating ,animating so that jijaji gets convinced over his genius conclusion.Shyam listened the story filtering his every exaggeration,without noticing his animated way of description and controlling his laughter after  hearing his conclusion.
Finally he assured HP to relax and trust him regarding this matter.

  
   "HP, you really did very well job by telling this to me.  Now you don't worry. I will do something. And just remember no one other than me should know the important piece of news you have." Shyam was not a famous lawyer without any reason. HP left the room priding himself for an incredible job done. Indeed he was the perfect match for this perfectly crazy family.


 And that was the time for Shyam to play a cupid and show Anjali that she is not the only best  matchmaker. He processed towards his  Sale Sahab's  room.


**********

    
            
           ASR had studied his exclusive project thoroughly as per his usual dignified work pattern. He claimed to know all the ins and outs of Khushi Kumari Gupta. He seemed to have pen down all the pros and cons of this proposal. The only flaw that could be unpredictable was her craziness. But that was the point which was making the deal more interesting. Otherwise plus points were more enough. Her feisty nature,strength to stand for justice, daring to follow her heart irrespective of impeccable situations..These  were the things he had always admired secretly. Now another thing gladly adding up to pros list was that his family would support his decision this time unlike Lavanya's time.That didn't mean he would not had gone against his family for Khushi but there was no such need. His family was already in love with this crazy girl.'She really knows very well how to conquer the hearts', he thought smiling inwardly. And this time this girl has almost won ASR's brain while conquering the other organ was out of question. Some credit had to be given of course.
      
  
       List of plus points  was a longer one actually. Her beautiful  doe shaped hazel eyes which depict every emotion of her heart, those petal soft lips which form her signature 'O' when shocked, her long black silky smooth hair, that nose which is ever ready  to get painted in red whenever she turns into feisty mood, that innocent face ..and...
  

 'ahem, ahem! That was not exactly in the scope of project research ' His brain reminded him.


      ASR didn't pay two hoots for its gratitude which was unusual of him but then stopped counting the plus points.
       
    
  
      He had never believed in marriages and never cared if anyone bought his arguments at that . He would not mind to have live-in relationship with Khushi. But she was not any other girl. She was Khushi..his Khushi!  She had strong faith in marriage system. She would never agree for something like live-in,he was pretty sure. He would never want to hurt her beliefs. He would never expect her to change her own views for him. So after going through numerous thought processes, he had come to the conclusion that marrying her was not an bad option  even if he doesn't believe in it. He just knew that he will never regret his decision in life because he was sure none other girl had affected him as she did n no one other than her would manage to do that...as he could Love only her...forever...!
  
    "Love?  What the? I don't love her."
  

    "Then why are you marrying her?" Asked his brain.


    "Because the project research report clearly states so.."
  

    "Is it?"

  
     "Ohh, keep your mouth shut.."He snapped.
   
  
              Arnav couldn't believe out of all the things,his own brain can be a pain in a** at the moment..he swore under his breath n started pacing along the poolside.