Chapter 20

Hues of orange, red and blue dawned on the sky above and sound of laughter filled up every single nook and cranny of the huge resort booked for the wedding Khushi still wasn't sure how and why she ended up in. She transferred her weight from one foot to other, trying to balance the wreaths of roses in her arms as she gazed at the series of twinkling tassels and colourful drapes that now hung from the false celling on top of the elevated stage in the middle of the huge ground of the resort.

Colours… so many colours. She was sure that never in her life on earth she had seen so many shades and tones of colours at the same time.

"Khushi, you can leave the roses next to the mandap. We will use some of them now and rest can go inside for the ceremony later"

She nodded her head obediently, doing exactly what the mother-of-the-bride asked her to do.

How was it that she could run and manage the entire East Coast division of one of the biggest conglomerate in the world, but felt so out of depth managing chores related to the wedding in progress.

Another round of cackles reached her ear and she decided to get on with the next set of tasks. The beautiful bride and numerous others making their way toward the stage placed opposite the huge resort front - gearing up to get started with the some kind of early morning, pre-wedding ceremony that she couldn’t seem to keep track of. She did come to know from Payal that the bride and the groom both were high powered attorneys settled in London. They were usually so busy with their lives that they literally put a full stop to every single thing for their wedding or whatever the seven-days long escapade should have been called. The entire resort which was in the outskirts of the capital was huge enough to have its own capital and was decked up in so much decoration that Khushi couldn’t seem to differentiate one room from the other, or outside to inside really. She was also so damn grateful that she was unknown enough that she wasn’t asked to join any of the ceremonies that had been taking place in the days leading up to the wedding.

She flexed her arms in relief as she finally unloaded rest of the roses from her arm on the stage meant for the actual ceremony planned to take place in the evening. She twisted her wrist then, doing a quick mental calculation if there was a possibility for her to sneak in a late-night call with her old team in New York, given it was barely seven am for her.

"Ku, where have you been? I was looking for you?". And the counting in her head came to a shrieking halt.

"Jiji". A smile so wide that her face hurt, spread on her lips as the pair of all familiar arms came around her tight.

"It would appear as if you are seeing each other after months, when in reality you were doing this exact same thing just yesterday". Anjali shook her head mockingly, but the matching smile on her face said the opposite.

Loud giggle left Khushi's lips, as she extracted herself from Payal.

"I see that you are hard at work Ku. Never pegged you to be the helping kind when it came to these over-the-top weddings"

"Shhh! Lower down you volume Jiji. I already am feeling like an alien here. Please don’t broadcast my reluctance to everyone", her eyes then moved to Anjali, "Your Maasi is scary"

And Anjali sniggered so loud in agreement, that a loud "Shhh" erupted both from Payal and Khushi.

"She is. I still can't believe she gave an ok for you to have that tiny little pattern masquerading as Mehndi". Khushi's eye followed Anjali's, as she opened her left palm to look at the flower and stars or whatever combination of those two was drawn in the middle of her hand. She had reluctantly agreed late last night to allow the Henna Designer that the Bride's family had hired, run amok on her hand. But, when the lady started inching toward her fingers and wrist, she put her foot down. She respected the tradition and the people who had the love to colour their hands, but she just couldn’t. She remembered seeing the disapproving shake of the head of the mother-of-the-bride when Khushi gracefully but forcefully declined any further designs on her hand. One of the reason Khushi had volunteered to be up and about this early to help out was that. She didn’t want to be the cause of any kind of distaste today. And given her Jiji's Maasi-in-law was happily delegating work to her, she would have liked to assume that she succeeded in that. Or, may be giving her all this work was her way to punish Khushi.

"Oh yes, how did it go last night then? Did you both kiss and make up?"

Khushi gasped in a breath as she looked up at Payal with wide eyes, "Whatt!!!??". Memories from earlier last night, moments just before she was dragged by Madhumati to this very same resort, rearing its head in all of its Technicolor glory. His words, his touch and the feel of his skin on her lips for the very first time - all of it exploding and their sparks wrapping and embedding themselves in her skin. Where was he? She had been in and out of this place so many times since five am in the morning, and she had yet to some face-to-face with him. The only contact they had since their moment in the AR parking were in the form of series of simple texts. He asked her if she reached home and her reply to him. And then enquiring about the time she would be back to the resort today. That was it. But what shocked her was the simmering ache she had been feeling inside of her since the moment she walked away from him last night.

"Khushi???"

Pulled back into reality, she realised her sister just asked her something, "What?". She almost laughed at the stellar vocabulary her brain seemed to use in that moment.

"Umm are you ok? I was asking about you and Maasi. Did she say anything when you refused the Mehndi? I left early, so was asking if you made up with her. It was a joke. What did you think?"

"Erm…", Khushi pursed her lips tight, as both Payal and Anjali narrowed their eyes at her suspiciously.

"Umm…", She tried again and exhaled in relief, when some woman, she had no idea who, called out to both Payal and Anjali, with decibel too loud for that early in morning. Happy that both her inquisitors had been successfully distracted she quickly ran away - thanking all her stars for the reprieve.

---

"I see that you have resorted to hiding too?"

Khushi looked up from the screen of her phone, her eyes falling on the extended cup of coffee in front of her, the heavenly smell of caffeine bringing a small smile on her face. Her eyes then moved further up, meeting raised brows of NK.

"That look you just gave this coffee cup - damn! It almost looked like you were going to jump it"

She gave out a loud chuckle accepting the cup from NK and taking that first sip she was dying for since she got up this morning. A heavy sigh leaving her lips gratefully. "Thank you NK"

He smirked, perching himself next to her on the wooden bench which seemed to be situated at a spot so far from the main resort that you could almost escape the sound of the festivities. He cringed immediately though as the sound of music travelled to his ear - well almost!

"Why are you here?"

"I just asked you the very same question. Aren't you supposed to be in the middle of that pandemonium? I saw them setting up some speakers outside - looks like a dance off is in the horizon. I was hoping to see you prancing away on that shiny stage which I don’t how no one has slipped and fallen down on until now"

She laughed again, shaking her head as she peered in the direction of that stage. At that distance she could hardly make out the details, but looked like NK was right. There were some huge black boxes getting placed around that silver rectangle.

"Well, I am not the one to prance. But please don’t let me stop you. I am sure the bucket full of ladies that the bride seems to be friends with, will appreciate the sight of you being there in the middle of the dance floor"

"So you noticed too? I mean working in AR from all these past weeks, I didn’t expect to get so startled by the sight of so many beautiful women at one place. But damn, my cousin has surpassed herself. She was always the one who all of us could rely on to make our family get togethers as teenagers worth it. It almost seems like she makes friends based on the scale of their beauty", he shook his head almost as if reliving his shock he still seemed to carry from his childhood, "Anyways, who are we to complain"

"Such a typical guy thing you just told me. Did you or Jiju or Arnav even dared to talk to any of them? Or gawking was all you boys could manage?"

He finished his coffee and got up to discard the Styrofoam cup in the nearest bin and came back chuckling, "Hey! That offends me. We offered them food and drinks too"

"Aha. So, gawking and waiting on them. Such chivalry!"

He shrugged, both sharing a serious look and then breaking out into a loud laugh.

She drowned the last drop of her coffee too and mimicking NK, got up to discard the cup. Small smile still on her face, she retook the seat next to him and asked softly, "Did you managed to talk to Lavanya?"

And the humour disappeared, as NK let go of a long breath.

"I did, yes. She finally returned my call yesterday"

Khushi nodded her head encouraging him to continue.

He bent forward to rest his elbows on his thighs and keeping his gaze straight ahead took a deep breath. "I explained her everything again. I mean I am sure it all would have sounded like a broken record to her by now. But, I still reiterated everything. My investigation into that asshole, our findings, everything. I requested, hell, I almost begged for her to help because otherwise we are flying blind in this from now on"

"And?"

"And, nothing. I spoke for half hour straight, but without the occasional OKs, she didn’t say anything. At the end of the call, she told me that she needs time to think about all of this. I know I should understand the position we are putting her in. I mean she is love with this man and I suppose I can understand what a hard time she must be having with this. But…"

He got up then, too agitated to keep sitting. His fingers tore through his hair as he started pacing in front of Khushi. "We are barely two months away from our event Khushi, as you know more than me. Which means we have half that time to even think to start building a case against Suraj and his company. I cannot, for the life of me figure out a way to take what we have against him to the authorities because he will bury these so called evidence so quick and with so much ease that we will not be able to touch him even in our dreams. And if we continue waiting for some sort of miracle and let the time pass - after AR's event, it will be that much more difficult to nail his ass. He already has so many connections that it makes even my head swirl. He will become almost untouchable with our company on his resume. And before you say anything, trust me I am painfully aware of Lavanya's pitiful state and that we need to tread carefully, but damn Khushi, we are running out of time. I have managed to come up with one, exactly one plan of action. May be a contingency for it, just in case it doesn’t work - but for either of it to work I need Lavanya in some way or the other. She is the only person who can become our eyes inside Acme. I need her to step-bloody-up"

His rant and pace, both finally slowed down. Angry breath leaving his body as he tried to get himself under control.

Khushi let out an exhale too. She knew what NK was saying and what he was fearing was all valid. They really were running out of time. But how did you tell someone to hurry along their pain? How did you tell someone to delay their mourning of a relationship? In fact, they still didn’t know if Lavanya was mourning her relationship with Suraj. They all still feared the unspoken. What if after all this, she still went back to him? What if she told him every single information they had shared with her? Khushi's instinct was to trust Lavanya. But, the more time passed, the more she found it difficult to justify those instincts of hers.

---

"Where have you been hiding Khushi? Payal and I have been looking for you from an hour"

Khushi flinched at Madhumati guiltily. She had finally commanded herself to get back to the main foyer of the resort where almost everyone were dispersed. The entire area, just like every other corner of the resort was decked up in flowers, lights and drapes. She had brainstormed with NK for few more minutes on what possible paths they had if Lavanya in fact decided not to help them. But at the end they both knew that everything they could think of was flimsy at best. They needed Lavanya, period. Only problem was that their entire planning hinged on that one person they no longer could or better yet should contact, and to NK's point, even trust.

"Khushi?"

She flinched once more realizing that she had yet again wandered off. "I am so sorry Buaji. I am here now though and I promise you have me at your beck and call. Just give me the order"

Madhumati laughed as she shook her head at Khushi. "You say that now but one ping from that phone of yours will take you back to your favourite place, your work. So until I have you here, how about you help me with the boxes of sweets. Shyam is still getting some of them from the car, but these here can be taken to the store room next to the kitchen. Come I will show you"

Grateful for the forgiveness, Khushi quickly picked up few of the saffron coloured boxes and followed Madhumati.

"Why is the store room also decorated? Who is going to look inside this room?"

Madhumati laughed, as Khushi arranged the boxes on the shelfs. "It is a marriage resort Khushi. What did you expect?"

Khushi rolled her eyes as they made their way out the store and into the Kitchen. She pulled the door shut behind her, muttering her response, exasperation dripping down her tone, "For people to be practical?"

"Romance has nothing to do with practicality"

And she gasped. Thanking the universe for the handle of the door that she gripped tight, the voice that said that statement rolling down her spine like a caress.

"Arnav! How did everything go? Did you and Shyam manage to get everything that was in Aparna's list?"

Khushi kept her back toward the wide expanse of the kitchen as shuffling noise, followed by the deep familiar throaty laugh filled the room behind her.

"Yes, we hope we got everything, but knowing Maasi, I am sure we will be making few more trips to the store before the ceremony. Here are the rest of boxes from the car. Where do you want them Buaji?"

"Ah yes, Khushi, can you open the store again and help Arnav with the remaining boxes? I am going to go and find Aparna"

And with the sound of the receding footsteps, Khushi now knew she was finally alone with the exception of just one person. Someone she was still too scared to turn and look at. Why was there no one in the kitchen? Wasn’t another point of the weddings constant cooking?

"Shall we?"

She closed her eyes tight and then opened again just as quickly, before nodding her head and giving a weak smile and reopening the door. Arnav quietly followed her inside. They worked around each other in complete silence. Finally with the boxes all placed where they were suppose to, they walked out and into the big kitchen.

She breathed in deeply but oxygen did nothing to settle the erratic beats she could feel against her rib cage. She pulled open the refrigerator next, hoping that water might do what the oxygen couldn’t. But, with his eye following her every movement, nothing seemed to work the way she wanted to.

The water splattered all around the glass for the second time - a soft curse leaving her lips again. She wanted to laugh at herself then. Why was she unable get a grip? It wasn’t the first time they were alone together. She had felt his touch way too many times to react like this. She knew that. But she still couldn’t understand why in that moment she felt so out of sorts. May be it was his silence? Or was it just an anticipation? But anticipation for what?

Huffing, she once more picked up the bottle in her hand, hoping for the water to end up in her glass this time.

She almost gave up, when long fingers wrapped around her hands and finally the water decided to fill the glass rather than the kitchen counter.

Arnav took another step toward her, his other arm snaking around her waist from behind and pinning her back close to his chest.

Glass finally full, he lowered the bottle back on the kitchen counter, and picked up the glass - bringing it near her trembling lips.

"Here". The deep baritone washed over her as she greedily gulped down the water he was offering, praying to douse the fire rapidly spreading through her entire body.

Glass almost half empty, she looked up at him, his eyes boring into hers with so much intensity that she couldn't stop her body from shivering. Something she knew he felt it too as his eyes flared in understanding. He finally removed the glass from her lips, and keeping his eyes still trained on her brought it to his own lips next, making sure to touch the lipstick spot on the glass - finishing the water in two large gulps - reminding her of the same thing they teased each other with yesterday. Day when she finally allowed herself a small taste of him.

Breath hitching with the memory, her eyes dropped shut once more, as she felt him turning her around.

With no other choice but to face him, she slowly opened her eyes - immediately drawing in a sharp breath - his proximity wreaking havoc on her senses.

He tilted his head to one side and while keeping one arm still tight around her, he brought the other up to tuck an errant strand of her hair behind her ear.

"You ok?"

She decided to simply node in response - her mind still unable to form coherent words, making him smile.

"I never thought the day will come when I will see you allow someone draw patterns on your palms"

Answering smile pulled her lips. "Well it was either that or a war. And I didn’t have enough courage to go toe-to-toe with your Aparna Maasi"

"She managed to scare you too, huh"

His thumb moved over her cheek softly, as she shrugged in response.

"Well since we prevented war last night, can I at least see it?"

She couldn’t stop the roar of laughter erupting her this time. Leave it to him to make her nervous and calm in such a short space of time.

Her hand rose up, palm spreading in front of him.

He smiled, as his fingers gingerly took hold of her wrist - his eyes getting busy with the inspection of the darkening henna pattern on her pale palms.

"It's beautiful"

She nodded her head in thanks, but grip on her wrist just tightened further. His eyes still set on her palm. She looked up quizzically then. "Umm, I didn’t peg you to be a connoisseur of Henna patterns. What are you analysing so much?"

"Not a connoisseur, no. But, I have enough women in my life to know of a certain folklore related to henna"

"Huh!?"

His eyes found hers once again, his fingers back to her face. "I was trying to find something"

Her frown continued to deepen in question, still not sure where he was going with this.

Gulping down visibly, his Adams apple bobbed up and down and he pulled her even closer to him. Grazing her cheek with the tip of his nose, he moved toward her ear, and placing a kiss right below her pulse whispered huskily, "My name"

Her breath left her body in a whoosh, as the meaning behind what he just said hit her like tons of bricks.

She bent her head, unable to come up with any sort of response, only to find the warmth of his shoulders. She knew she should move away from him. They were standing in the kitchen of the resort bursting with people. In fact it was miracle no one had wandered in yet.

Almost as if coming to the same realization like her, Arnav finally withdrew with a soft curse, and placing another kiss on her temple, he moved away from her completely.

"I will see you later then?"

She nodded her head, both her hands gripping the counter behind her tight. His eyes tracked her movement and unable to stop himself, he once again moved toward her. His hands cupped her face, and he placed another kiss right next to her lips, his lips lingering longer than he planned to, "I should go", he whispered again.

"Mhhmm". She nodded in agreement, her fingers curling and fisting his shirt tight as his lips now hovered over hers. Their breath mingling and eyes falling shut.

Some thing seemed to had shifted between them. This was not the first time they were this close to each other. Every other time in past his lips on her felt cautious. His hands on her hesitant. But some thing was different today. The ache between them somehow felt more heady. His lips and hands, the way they moved on her felt more urgent, more sure some how.

"Fuck". He muttered, as his mouth lowered slightly only to bite her chin. The frustration emanating from his body stronger than ever before.

Footsteps and loud conversation floated from outside jolting them back to reality. And with a final kiss on the same spot on her chin he pulled away, walking out the kitchen.

---

The moment the elevator door pinged open, she looked up and found him waiting for her with a warm smile on his face. And without thinking she jumped out as she ran into his waiting arms.

"Oh god! I missed you"

"I missed you too sweetheart"

Her eyes watered. Hearing her sniffling, he pulled her back and cupped her face worriedly.

"La, you are really scaring me. You have been crying like this from yesterday. What is it baby?"

And the few tears turned into deep sobs as she clung to him urgently.

"Shh. Its ok baby, let it all out"

"I...I...Suraj..."

"I am here La. Whatever you want, you just have to ask for it and I will make sure you have it"

"I need to sit down"

"Of course. Come on, lets get you settled in. Would you like something to drink? I just opened the bottle of your favourite red wine"

"In the middle of the day?"

"Well it is night some where"

She smiled through her tears, took a deep breath and nodded her head. May be liquid courage wasn’t a bad thing. Not when she needed to get through what she had finally decided. When she had finally chosen a side.

He walked back with the bottle of her favourite vintage in one hand, and stems of two wine glasses clutched in other.

She accepted the half filled glass from him after few seconds, and taking a large gulp, she felt the warmth of the liquid finally calming her frazzled nerves.

She shuddered in a breath and with another quick sip of the wine, she turned to look at him.

"Suraj, whatever I am going to tell you is something that has hurt me more than anything in the world and just for the record I want you to know, that I love you and I trust you. I trust you with my life"

Still not understanding where she was going with this, he kept both their glasses on the small table in front of the couch they both sat in. He then took her hands in his and nodded his head, encouraging her to continue.

Taking another shaky breath, she wiped her face clean as she tightened her hold over his hands.

"AR claims that you are involved in illegal activities. And Acme is just a front to help you carry out your black-listed business"

Out of all the scenarios he imagined Lavanya telling him, this was something which was not in even in the realm of his far-fetched imagination.

His first instinct was to pull his hands off of hers and yell. His temper begging to break out. But then his father's voice made its appearance in his mind. He had to get his anger under control. They were too close to getting everything they had planned for. And Lavanya still might prove herself to be useful to them.

And so, taking a deep breath, he brought his hands up to cup her face and caressing her cheeks, he spoke as softly as he could.

"Who told you all this La?"

"I had a parade of people telling me different versions of the same story. But the bottom line is, they have their suspicions about you Suraj"

"This is business world sweetheart. People don't go up the ladder without stepping on others once in a while. It's nothing new for one company to try and smash the image of other. Its all part of corporate politics"

"No!", her voice rose up in decibels and her eyes teared up once again, "You are not understanding Suraj. This is not some bloody politics. This is real"

"Lavanya, you are just tensed. Come on, let me try to ease up your mind a little and then we can talk some more"

He kissed her suggestively, only to make her stand up from the couch in anger.

"You think, I am some dumb bimbo unable to distinguish between the real deal and some stupid politics?"

"Lavanya, that's not what I …"

"They know about your RFID locker"

Whatever he was going to say stopped mid way as he heard the one term he didn't expected anyone to know about let alone his lap-dog in front of him chucking out that knowledge so casually. And so he got up too. Covering the distance between them in few strides he took hold of her upper arms, "What did you just say?"

"As I said earlier Suraj, I trust you and so I believe that if you have some secured locker installed then you have a good reason for it. And I know, many businessmen have such safes to protect their official documents and stuff. But, whatever it is, you need to take care of it."

"What do you mean by take care of it?"

"What I mean is that you need to do something about it because tonight NK is planning to break into your office and crack your safe"

"What!!!", he jolted back. "How the hell will he do that, it is a full-proof system"

"I am sure it is. But he told me that he has this IT geek as his friend who has figured out a way to disable your alarms for few minutes"

He moved his fingers on his temple and groaned, unable to believe the conversation he was having in that moment, "It is pin and password protected and it needs a magnetic key card"

"And they have a way to by-pass all of that"

Horrified with this new piece of information, Suraj slumped down his chair, raking his mind to come up with some logical answers to all of this. Lavanya following suit.

Several minutes ticked by, the only sound in room of the deep breathing. When suddenly Suraj got up, snatching his phone from the side table. His finger moving furiously on the screen. Few more seconds passed and he growled in frustration, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"What, what is it?"

"I am trying to call dad, but his phone is unreachable"

"Why don’t you try his landline number?"

He threw his phone on the couch, his fingers clutching his hair in barely contained anger, "I can't. Fuckkk, he is out of the country. He will be unavailable for the next few hours"

"Umm, and he couldn’t be contacted? Is it because of the time difference? I am sure he will wake up to talk to you"

"That’s not it. He…argh.. He is meeting some important people, and for security reasons, no one is allowed to carry any kind of electronics with them in these meetings. I forgot that was today. It will be several hours before he might become available. And this cant wait for few hours La. If what you say is right and NK is going to try something tonight, then I am fuck out of time"

Lavanya quietened down. Suraj still pacing back and forth in front her, when finally she looked up.

"Suraj". She sighed loudly, "The only solution I can then think of is that you need to take a call on whatever you wanted your dad to help you with. I mean if he trust you enough to leave the entire company under your guidance and go incommunicado for number of hours then he obviously trusts your instinct to do what needs to be done in crisis"

Looking up at Lavanya, he sighed again. What she said was correct, but he just didn't know what the right decision was in that moment.

"Why don't you call the police?"

"What!!" Suraj's eyes went wide with Lavanya's suggestion.

"Yea, I mean, when NK comes, they will arrest him for breaking and entering"

As tempting as the option sounded, he knew he couldn't take that chance. If NK did managed to crack open his safe before the police arrived, there was high probability that the content inside the locker might get compromised. And that was equivalent to signing over his own death certificate.

So, he resumed his pacing, left and right, to every corner of the room, trying to imagine every possible scenario and trying to come up with some valid solution to this sudden mess.

---

"The Barat is here now. Is Priya ready?", Some one shouted at the top of their lungs as the walls around the rooms that were occupied by the guests from the bride side, rattled with the loud music.

Some of the immediate and extended family members fanned around the mandap where the wedding was suppose to take place, some of them stood at the main gates getting ready to welcome the barat, and the remaining waited below the staircase for the residents of bridal suite to show up.

Few more firecrackers later, finally the group of beautiful women who the bride proudly called her friends, started making their way down one by one. Then emerged the bride, looking every bit regal and beautiful in her blood red lehenga. The mother-of-the-bride walked out next, her eyes shining with pride and love, with Devyani and Manorama flanking her sides to give her the emotional support she needed.

Decked in baby pink coloured netted saree with tiny silver stones spread all over its length, Anjali showed up then with her little baby bump now visible slightly and Shyam who stood at the foot of the staircase could do nothing but wonder yet again how did he ever get this lucky to have that angelic beauty in his life.

Payal followed closely behind, who chose to wear multi-coloured lehenga. Her hair styled into a French pleat were pushed in front from one side, her long neck adorning a thick necklace. And Akaash felt himself falling in love all over again.

Finally, almost half hour later, with the entire bride side of the guests outside, the ceremony began. The insides of the resort falling silent for the first time in last few days as every one took residence around the main stage. Everyone, except one person who was still missing. Arnav, who was busy talking to some of the guests, finally excused himself, his eyes moving everywhere to look for Khushi.

He softly bit out a curse, as he continued to walk toward the main building. Did she finally had enough of the festivities and decided to skip the main event? Was he somehow responsible for her not being there? He knew what happened earlier between them had rocked him to his core. Not because of their proximity. No, they had been this close several times before now. But, it was the first time, he no longer cared to stop. And that scared him. He still couldn’t understand why though. Was it because she finally took that one tiny step toward him when she decided to place that barely-their kiss on him last night? How could something so simple could shake him to this extent? Why did nothing made sense to him when it came to her? Why did he had so much trouble in behaving like a sane person when she was in his touching distance.

Reaching the foot of the staircase that led up to the bridal suites, he looked up only to find the C-shaped hall above empty.

Convinced that Khushi had indeed gone, he felt his insides churn in dejection, as he turned toward the main gates to walk back out to where the ceremony was under-way, only to stop dead in his tracks as a faint jingling sound reached his ear.

Sucking in a breath he turned back again, unprepared for the punch to the gut that occurred when he took in the source of that sound.

Clad in golden shimmer lehenga, with sleeveless embroidered top and netted scarf, Khushi gingerly reached the top of the stairs. The only jewellery that adorned her were large ear rings that dangled against her open silk of hair, and couple of gold bangles that occupied her right wrist. Her long neck was empty and her left-wrist sported one of her signature Cartier watch. Her eyes still downcast, hand busy arranging the bangles as she gracefully took one stair after the other.

Finally, reaching almost to the end of the staircase, she looked up.

Her steps flattered and eyes widened as she saw perfection himself standing in front of her. Dressed in all-black tuxedo and matching bow tie with crisp white shirt, he kept his hair devoid any gel for some reason. The few strands of hair that carelessly swept across his forehead, making him look like a dream. He also decided not to bother with the light stubble on his face, which now formed the five o' clock shadow she secretly adored.

Her breath stalled in her lungs as her eyes locked with his who wore matching stunned look on his face. His usual smile missing, he looked as if his world had come to a standstill.

With every single step of hers, he felt his heart clenching with the all-familiar feelings. Feelings, which he never named, feelings he ignored for her sake, feelings so strong that he knew will scare her away. But in that moment, even if he wanted to, even if he tried to, he just wasn’t strong enough stop those feelings. And so, as she finally stopped in front of him, he whispered softly.

"God, you are beautiful!!!"

And without thinking, response rolled out of her mouth.

"So are you!!"

She gasped as she realized what she had just said, and so without thinking, she walked out, hoping to get away from the drowning static that went live and charged between them.

And exactly in that moment, looking at her taking hasty steps away from him, from the maddening pull between them, Arnav couldn't help but allow himself to finally accept one basic, most natural and inevitable fact of his life that he, Arnav Singh Raizada was deeply, madly, irrevocably in love with Khushi Gupta.

---

"Suraj where are we going, slow down". Lavanya's huffed as she followed Suraj from his penthouse at the top-most floor of Acme, to his office.

"I think I have an idea"

"What is it? And what is this place? Why do you have an office inside your office. I don’t understand"

"La, no one other than myself and dad has entered into this place"

Lavanya blinked several times, trying to accept the meaning behind that statement of his. Behind the trust he just showed her. And so, giving a small smile, she nodded her head in understanding as she continued to follow him through the huge den to the small square of a room, which was now held wide open.

Although much smaller in size than the office it was part of, it held a small mahogany table in one corner, with an iMac monitor and accompanying trackpad atop it. There were fours chairs that surrounded the table and a L-shaped book case stood right behind it. Her eyes moved around the bare bones of the room, taking in the famous paintings and oddly shaped wooden planks that criss-crossed its walls.

Suddenly, one of the wooden plank was pulled open by Suraj revealing a rectangular shaped, silver coloured, very high-end looking locker. However, just before punching in the code, he turned towards Lavanya and made her sit on one of the chair, asking her to relax as he did the necessary.

Nodding her head, Lavanya continued to watch Suraj swipe his card and punch-in his code, as the heavy locker door opened with a soft thud. He then pulled out a long and sleek open tray, placing it on the table next to the locker and then one by one emptied its content into a briefcase. Satisfied that all the important stuff was in the briefcase, he then rotated its circular dial to pass-lock it and then proceed to place the now almost empty tray back into the locker and pushed it shut.

"I don't understand what you are doing Suraj. Why did you just empty your locker content into this briefcase? Didn’t you tell me that the content of your locker were really important? They needed to be in the safety of that locker? Why did you take them out?"

"Because, when NK breaks-in tonight the only thing waiting for him will be an empty locker with few currencies and bond documents."

Her frown deepened. "I don’t get it. What about calling the police?"

"No police, no. See, we have one of the biggest fashion event barely two months away and I don't want to jeopardies it in any way. If NK goes to prison, it might affect AR's shares, which will then affect the event and that will finally affect Acme. So, even though I am dying to make that man suffer, I would wait until after the show. Once, the event succeeds, I will contact the CBI"

"With what proof?"

Giving out an animalistic laugh, he walked towards her and pulling her into his arms he whispered fiercely.

"Anyone who ever operates this locker gets their face captured by a tiny front camera. And that my darling will be the proof I will be sharing with the CBI later"

Giving her a soft kiss, he then pulled the briefcase in one hand and a champagne bottle in other as he nodded at her with a growing smirk.

"Shall we?"

She tilted her head in question, only for him to pull her back towards him and kiss her senseless.

"Its time to celebrate my love"

And the whole office reverberated with his loud laugh as they walked back into the elevator, up to his penthouse.

---

With the ceremony finally wrapped-up and most of the resort empty, the remaining family members decided to relax lazily in the main hall. As expected Aparna didn't allow any of the Raizadas or Madhumati and Khushi to leave.

And so, it was close to three in the morning, and the conversation was still going pretty strong. Work, family, success, marriages - there was no topic off-limits. Everyone still wired and at times talking over each other. However, two people in that lot remained unnaturally quite.

The entire ceremony went like a blur for Khushi, because the only thing she remembered about it was him. Befitting the last twenty-four hours, something was different even the way he looked at her today. His usual smirk, his casual flirty comments - they were all absent. Even the times they had to interact to each other due to some chore bestowed on them by the bride's family, something was different about that too.

They had always been aware of each other, but today their bodies were so in sync that by the end of the night it freaked Khushi out. She moved, he moved, she smiled, he smiled - she had gone quite and some how he had followed her with that too.

So sitting amidst such chaos and silly chats, the only thing she could actually feel was his presence.

"Everyone is slowly settling down and I think Manorama, you all should think about Arnav's marriage. Is there someone he has selected for himself already? Or, do we have to arrange someone for him?"

The moment Aparna said this, both their eyes snapped up at exactly the same time and connected with each other. Both too stubborn to give away what they were thinking.

"What about Khushi"

Shyam choked on his tea, Akaash spit out his coke, and wide-eyed Anjali who was sitting right behind them patted there backs simultaneously, as Aparna, who was on fire threw another one of her grenade.

Khushi's eyes widened too, as she felt her breath getting caught in her throat and before anyone could say anything further she stormed out the hall, muttering a quick apology to everyone.

"Err...No no, I didn't mean Khushi for Arnav. I meant, Madhumati are you thinking about Khushi's marriage? You know separately"

Any further explanation fell on his deaf ear as he frowned at her retreating figure.

His rational side was the first to kick-in. Obviously hearing something so personal from someone who was practically a stranger was awkward. No wonder she had to get away. But then his other part of brain booted. The part that was still reeling with the realization of his own feelings for her.

Was the idea of marrying him this repulsive? Not that they had spoken about their future. In fact they were no where close to figuring out their current relationship status. He knew he was being unreasonable, but in that moment he didn't care and so, without thinking he got up and followed the way she ran off to.

---

Her feet walked as fast as they could, her entire skin tingling with what she just heard. She had no idea why she reacted the way she did. She also felt guilty about leaving everyone so suddenly but in that moment she couldn’t seem to bring herself to retrace her path. The only aim in her mind to get away. She fumbled with the key card few times, and finally pushing the door of her room open, she exhaled shakily - relieved to be in the safety of her room, away from everyone, away from him.

She barely took two steps inside, when a soft rasp on her door stopped her. She knew who it was on the other side. She knew only one person would come looking for her. Only in that moment she wasn’t sure how to face him.

"Khushi". Huskiness mixed with impatience travelled through the piece of wood between them and her breath hitched in her throat.

"I.. I will talk to you tomorrow Arnav"

"Open the door Khushi"

He almost believed that she would not. He almost turned to walk away, when the door knob moved and with soft click, and he was face to face with her.

Jacket long gone, the bow tie of his was now unfastened and lay on either side of his shirt. Top two buttons of his shirt undone, sleeves folded up to his elbows, he looked so devastatingly handsome that she felt an actual physical ache.

They kept staring at each other, when finally she stepped to one side of the door, and with a sigh he entered inside.

She let go of the door, letting it shut automatically but before she could ask him why was he here, he grabbed her wrist and with a twist, she was pulled back into his familiar embrace. Only this time the comforting gleam in his eyes was missing. Desire and something close to anger darkening his orbs.

"Why did you run off so abruptly?"

She quivered in him arms, his breath washing over her face.

"I am tired and in need of sleep"

"And that was the exact moment you realized that? Come on, give me some credit Khushi. At least be honest"

Her eyes narrowed then. The mayhem that her own feelings were laying on her, combined with the bone-tiring that the day had been, she snapped. "I am being honest. And even if I am not, why are you angry? And why is it any of your business?"

His hold on her tightened, as he further pulled her towards him.

"You, everything related to you is my business"

There - he was doing it again, the same look that he had on his face the entire evening was back and it was far more worse now, because right now it was coupled with anger.

"Let go Arnav"

The softness in her voice made him immediately release his hold on her. She looked up in shock, her body swaying slightly with the lack of an anchor he still was even in that anger of his. He took in a deep breath, commanding himself to get a grip, but the disconnect between his mind and body continued.

"Is idea of marrying me that disgusting to you?". The question burning through his brain cells finally left the confines of his mouth

Her entire body locked in shock. "Whattt!".

"You heard me. Isn't that the reason you stormed out of the hall"

"No. Umm, Your Maasi meant something else entirely. She didn’t mean what her words implied"

"Oh, so you did hear that part of the conversation. And yet you ran off. So, yeah, I stand by my original question - is the idea of marrying me that disgusting to you?"

"Arnav, you have no idea what you are talking about. This whole conversation has no relevance"

"No relevance!!!"

Khushi cringed as his rage bellowed out of him.

"Lets talk about this tomorrow"

"Fine, I will go"

She gasped. Yet again surprised by how easily he agreed to her. He turned his back toward her, his hands reached out toward the door, when he paused. For few seconds, only silence beating around them. And then he turned toward her again. His arms folding across his chest, his voice barely a whisper, "What am I to you Khushi?"

Tremor of something unknown shot through her spine as the one question she dreaded the most washed over her. She moved further inside her room, needing to put more distance between them. She also needed air, desperately. So she continued to walk until she reached the balcony of her room. Pulling open the glass doors. She relished the cool night air on her heated skin. Drawing in another wave of breath and hoping for some courage, she faced him again, only to witness him walking toward her. With every single step he took forward, she took one step backwards. Their dance continued, until she felt herself backed up against one of the walls.

She turned to her side, to escape the insanity he was weaving around them, when his hands came up to rest on either side of her shoulders, arresting her movement completely.

"What do you feel for me Khushi?". Another question, more potent than the last one.

"Arnav please"

"Please what?"

"Don’t ask me this. Anything but this"

"Why?"

She closed her eyes. Too scared to look at him anymore.

"I don’t know"

"What are you scared of Khushi? Scared of your own feelings? Scared to ask this to yourself? Scared what answer you might find if you looked hard enough?"

She couldn’t breath, she couldn’t think. With him so close to her. With questions that had the power to detonate her world.

His forehead came resting against hers, and he finally smiled.

"Khushi"

"Please". Her plea from before, repeating

"Please what?"

"Let me go"

"Ok, I will. But don’t you want to know what I feel for you?"

"No". Shuddering cry erupted her lips, her head shaking vigorously.

"No?? Khushi look at me. Please sweetheart, look at me once"

She knew it was a bad idea, but still taking another deep breath she opened her eyes, making him groan in the process.

Every thought of taking this slow, the master-plan of easing her into this, the decision to let her decide the pace of this relationship - all of it flew out his mind, the moment he saw those hazel simmer with love for him, love which she was so vehemently against acknowledging.

And so, cupping her face in his palms, he gently caressed her cheeks with his thumbs, and forgetting every single logic, he spilled out his most precious realization to her.

"I love you Khushi. God! I am so in love with you"

And before she could overthink this world's simplest feeling, he threw caution to the air letting his basic instincts take over.

Curling his fingers around her neck, he drew her in, as his lips finally descended upon hers!!!

---

Note from Author:

Hello peeps! Hope you all are doing well.

I know, my updates have been slower than usual lately and I promise I will try my best to be slightly earlier with my next update. For now though, a big thank you to all of you who take time out to write down your thoughts about the chapters you read. As usual - you lovelies are star! 💖

Until next time, take care and keep safe!

And for anyone interested to see what our Khushi and Arnav wore in the wedding - here it is:😊