‘Di?! What? What happened? Are you ok?’ he asked, as he sized his sister up.
‘This is so exciting!!’ she beamed. Causing him to relax, seeing that the shout had been out of ecstacy rather than something unfortunate.
‘Yeah, I know. Khushi and Mike have out done themselves, everyone loves their line.’ He smiled too, proud at both their accomplishment and with himself for managing to pick the right designers to allow Lavanya’s dream to flourish. He may not have been a faithful lover as he had believed himself to be but at least he was a loyal friend and that thought brought his guilty heart some peace.
‘Yes that too. The fashion show is a complete success. But that’s not what I’m talking about.’ She beamed.
‘No? Then what?’ he asked, confused.
‘Like you don’t know.’ She teased him.
‘Di I seriously don’t.’ he stated, not grasping her train of thought.
‘Please Chotay, don’t feign ignorance. I know you know, otherwise you wouldn’t have allowed it to happen. Who would have known, my Chotay has a romantic spot after all.’ She chirped, appreciatively.
‘Di, what are you talking about?’ Arnav asked, still lost.
‘Uffo, Chotay, fine if you will not fess up then I will say it. I knew it would happen, had hoped it sincerely, ever since Khushi came into our lives, but this soon even I didn’t know!’
‘Erm…’ Arnav managed, slighty uncomfortable now, when had she clued into his feelings for Khushi, were they that transparent and if so then why couldn’t Khushi see them?
‘Aww, soon all the beautiful preparations will begin, sangeet, mehendi, haldi and then the wedding itself!! Oh I’m so happy. Khushi will make a gorgeous bride and an amazing bhabhi….and my brother, a dashing gro-‘
‘Wahoa, slow down Di. Where did you get the idea of me marrying Khushi from, I haven’t even-‘ Arnav cut across, putting a break to the wedding she was already attending in her imagination.
‘You marrying Khushi?!!’ Anjali now cut in, ‘Where on earth did that idea come into your head from? I haven’t lost my mind that I would start pairing you two together….I know I’m an idealist but even my imagination doesn’t stretch that far.’ She clarified, enjoying his confusion and irritation that was now playing across his face, for not even being considered to be paired with Khushi in her mind.
‘If not me then who? You said brother Di. I’m you’re brother. And besides why is it so monumentally inconceivable to pair me and Khushi together. What? Am I not good enough for her?!’ he huffed, angry that she found the idea so revolting.
‘It’s not that Chotay. I mean you two would make a lovely couple, both are so handsome, but I know it will never be, considering how drastically opposite you are and its’ not only that, I know how much you hate her, so wouldn’t I be stupid to even think about you two, when you cannot stand her?’ Anjali asked innocently, all the while peering into his face that was betraying his love for Khushi transparently.
‘I don’t hate her Di!’ Arnav said through gritted teeth.
‘No? Well, that’s very nice to know.’ She smiled, enjoying every moment of his annoyance.
‘No. But if not me than who?’ he asked again, needing to know who Anjali was pairing Khushi with.
‘NK, of course. He’s like a brother to me too you know. And they would make such a beautiful pair. NK and-‘
‘NK?!! HOW IS NK BETTER SUITED FOR HER?!!’ Arnav blared out in jealousy.
‘Chotay, ssh. Calm down. Why are you shouting?’ Anjali asked slyly, knowing too well his reason behind the anger.
‘Tell me Di, why NK? What brought that thought in your head?’ he said, a tone lower, but the jealousy still as fresh.
‘Well the fact that they get along so well. Khushi likes his company and he hers’. They-‘
‘Liking one’s company? Since when is that a criteria for marriage? She likes your company, does that mean she should marry you?!’ he raised his voice again, unable to bottle his anger.
‘Chotay? Relax, why are you getting so worked up? And stop being childish, Khushi marrying me…and besides if you had let me finish I was going to say, that one, I always liked the idea of them two, they seemed to have an easy chemistry about them and two the reason I have wedding bells chiming in my head is because NK just told me, he is planning to propose Khushi. Tonight. On the ramp, in front of everybody. Isn’t that the most amazing thing ever, asking her hand in such a grand way?’ she beamed, while Arnav stared at her in horror, unable to even string together any words now as this new piece of information hit him. Moments ago he had just been annoyed that NK had butt-in and Khushi had given assent to letting him escort her, but now…now he was going to whisk her away right in front of him. H*LL NO!!
‘Chotay? Chotay?!! What’s wrong? You look worse than the time you ate Nana ji’s dreadful attempt at making dinner. What happened? You were ok moments ago? What’s the matter?’ Anjali asked alarmed: concern in her voice and manner; although now fully convinced of the love he harboured for Khushi as the thought of loosing her had made the very blood in her darling brother’s face drain, leaving a sickening pale look.
‘NK’s going to….to propose.’ He choked out eventually in a coarse voice; the blood still not back in his cheeks giving him a sickly green look now.
‘Yes. But Chotay, are you ok?’ Anjali dropped the farce and was genuinely concerned, looking at her brother now. Worried that may be she had stepped over the line in trying to get his confession. She cupped his face with her hands as she anxiously looked into his face. ‘Chotay?’ a tear was beginning to well up in her eyes.
‘I’m fine Di.’ Arnav brushed her off and managed to get a hold of himself. Anjali’s worried state had done the trick; he could never lose control when Anjali went into fits. Thus her concern had jerked him back into control while her shocking news now had his brain geared into overdrive.
Seeing him back in control, Anjali relaxed. For a minute there she had been close to letting the whole game-plan blow-up for her brother’s well-being, but seeing how he had managed to pull himself back together and had the wheels churning in his brain on turbo speed, she knew that she had given him just the right amount of push needed.
‘Di, I have some important things to deal with, before the end of the show, will you be ok to find your seat?’ Arnav asked, all the while his eyes glaring off into some distant thought that was plotting something.
‘Yes. Yes. Of course. You’ll join me though won’t you, just before Khushi and NK step out to witness the most romantic proposal ever?’ she asked, just to see his reaction and in hope of a confession.
‘Don’t hold your breath over it Di.’ Arnav muttered brutishly as he motioned to one of the crew members to escort his Di to her seat, then turned and marched off she knew not where, but knew why? To stop the union about to take place, only not knowing that no such thing was about to happen, for she had concocted the whole thing.
‘Anjali? Anjali?!’ Nani’s voice from the depths of her purse reminded her of how her grand-mother was still on speaker phone, wanting to hear the details about their sting operation. She had been experiencing pains in her knees therefore had not come to the show but had gotten Anjali to keep her on the phone in order to hear the conversation between her and Arnav.
‘Nani! Oh sorry, forgot about you. Did you manage to hear ok? Sorry, I had to stuff you inside my purse so that Chotay didn’t see you were on the phone and get suspicious.’
‘Oho, bitya stop apologizing and tell me how shocked was he. Did he really look worse than the time your Nana, challenging me, had cooked for us? And poor Chotay had eaten without knowing.’ Nani asked, excitement in her voice.
‘Totally Nani. His face completely changed colour. His face contorted from jealousy to sheer horror at the thought that NK is going to propose.’ Anjali grinned, unable to hide her happiness behind the success of their plan. ‘He definately loves her, he may not have said it in words Nani but his face was shrieking out his feelings completely.’
‘Oh this is excellent. Our Chotay….he’s finally found someone.’ Nani piped happily.
‘I know Nani. But I swear, for a bit there I thought he may have an attack. I got so scared, that may be the shock was too much.’ Anjali added, unable to hide her concern for her brother. As happy as she was at the thought of Arnav finally finding someone as amazing as Khushi, she was sad for the pain her brother was in at this precise moment. If only she could have spared him that. But alas her brother was not someone one could deal with straightly, one would always have to come at an angle and push him hard for him to push back.
‘Oh, don’t worry dear. He is Chotay, not just any random person. Shocks are something he is trained to deal with. I mean I know, it’s not the best option hitting someone so hard, but he didn’t really leave us a choice. If we approached him with direct questions he would just deny it, that’s why we decided this approach remember. Don’t beat yourself over it. Besides, after the initial shock wore off he managed to compose himself again did he not?’
‘Yes. Yes he did. So yes, I guess it’s not so bad.’ Anjali agreed. ‘Oh Nani, the models are beginning to come out, Khushi and NK will follow once they’re all out. Let’s see what Chotay does. I’ll call you as soon as I can, ok?’
‘Ok. Call me straight away.’ Nani said, as Anjali cut the phone and took her seat.
Her eyes were clenched shut, trying to calm the hysteria that was rising inside of her when a tap on her shoulder brought her back to her bearings. She looked up to find the cold gray eyes of Meenaxi, the co-ordinator, staring at her.
‘Khushi, its’ time.’ She said matter-of-factly.
‘Ok. Where is Nanhe ji?’ She replied, trying to keep her voice steady.
‘NK? I don’t know.’ She said on edge now as Khushi was delaying her entrance which would mean her having to hear it from Arnav.
‘What do you mean you don’t know? I can’t go on alone. He’s supposed to come with me.’ Khushi said taken aback, nervousness now threatening to overflow. She had been anxious as it was having to go on stage with NK, but at least he was some support, if he didn’t go with her either….
‘Khushi, uff, forget NK. He is one of the two organizers, he has hundred and million things to do. You just go on stage ok? He’ll probably join you in a bit.’ She added seeing the fright in her eyes.
‘I….I can’t go on alone. I can’t.’ Khushi croaked out, as her mouth went completely dry with fear.
‘Alone. You won’t be alone Khushi. All the models are out there on the ramp, all you have to do is walk between the two lines they have made on either side of the stage. Simple as that.’ With that, she gave her push, before Khushi could argue and delay her cue any further, causing Khushi to yet again stumble onto the stage and be greeted by the cold conditioned air and a multitude of flashing lights from the camera’s that surrounded the ramp.
Khushi straightened up and took in the scene before her, oh god it was magnificently terrifying. The crowd seemed to be bigger than it had been in Lucknow, if that was even possible and the camera men were flanking the ramp area like vultures that had caught eye of their prey. DM. DM. DM. DM. Khushi began her calming mantra, help me through this please. Come on Khushi, you have done this once before, you can do it again. This time at least you belong here, you can do this! Taking a deep breath she eyed the walk in front of her, the models were lined on each side of the runway, as Meenaxi had said, thereby creating an aisle between them, which shortened the breadth of the ramp. Perfect, give a clutz even less room to walk in!! Very funny Arnav ji!! She mentally snarked at him, annoyed for making her do this. Then, instinctively she looked towards her left, where Arnav’s seat was reserved, hope in her heart to find him there. Hope, that his ever cool face and composure could be infused into her. But he wasn’t there. That stung. Where was he?!
His seat was right there, reserved with his name on it but he wasn’t there. She started to search the audience frantically with her eyes all around the ramp hoping to somehow meet the dark brown ones, which once had paralysed her to the spot with fear, in the hope that today they would remove that same fear which was wrecking turmoil inside of her now. But he wasn’t anywhere she could see. Where had he disappeared to?!! He was the organizer for crying out loud, should he not be here?!! Wasn’t he the one she had caught reminding NK many times in the past week that one of them were to always be in the audience area, while one behind, making sure that things were going orderly. So then where was he?!! How could he, them both really, but him most importantly leave the audience unattended now!!
One of the models closest to her turned and motioned to her with her eyes to walk, causing Khushi to let go of her grudge against Arnav for not being there. Him she would have to deal with later, right now she had to walk. With that she began her walk down the ramp, steadly putting one foot behind the other, while keeping her eyes peeled for the dark brown ones that would bring her racing heart some peace. They finally landed on the pair, halfway down the ramp, causing her heart to give a violent pang. He was here! Only when she inspected closely she found that those eyes did belong to a Raizada, only not the one she had been hoping to lock eyes with. Anjali’s eyes appraised her kindly, managing to bring her some harmony, giving her strength to continue the rest of the walk down, as the cameras went on flashing.
As she took her next step, something at the corner of her eyes distracted her and she froze in fear. A tall figure had moved from behind one of the camera men on the side and was walking briskly along the length of the ramp. When it reached the end of platform, it rounded the photographer at the front and climbed up the steps onto the walk. As soon as it stepped onto the ramp, it’s face came into the light and Khushi’s heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage. Arnav was here!! Her chest began to heave as he walked up the ramp towards her, where he came to stand next to her.
Then as if nothing out of the ordinary was taking place, he turned to face her and offered her his arm, ‘Shall we, Khushi?’ he whispered, softly in her ear.
Caught in the trance formed by his presence, she encircled her arm around his elbow, gripping his upper arm with her hand, as she clutched the folds of her sari with the other and began walking in step with him.
‘Khushi…you may want to give the crowd assembled here a smile, instead of gaping at my face, I mean they are here just for you to celebrate your success. You can look at my face any other time.’ Arnav advised her, with a hint of amusement in his voice, snapping her out of the trance he had put her in. Blushing she turned away from him and towards the gathered crowd. Fear now dissipated. How had he done that?!! She turned to look at him with that question, but quickly turned away not wanting to give him another chance to catch her staring at him.
As they reached the end of the ramp, Arnav cupped her hand with his and slid it into his palm, as he made room to give her, her proper introduction.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure in introducing you to LaANK’s female wardrobe designer: Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta!’ He then let go of her hand and began applauding her. Her heart swelled with happiness, as her face lit up with her dazzling smile. Which she first gave only to him and then as he motioned with his head, she turned to share it with the crowd.
‘EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! NANI!!!! CHOTAY…CHOTAY CAME ONTO THE STAGE HIMSELF!! HE CAME ON STAGE, TO INTRODUCE KHUSHI TO THE FASHION WORLD HIMSELF!! AND TO STOP NK, only of course NK wasn’t about to do anything as it was!! But he doesn’t know that. Anyway, he’s with her on stage right now, beaming at Khushi….and Khushi, I swear with the way her face lit up when he stepped onto the ramp and introduced her makes me hundred percent sure she holds a flame for him too!!’ Anjali squealed ecstatically into the phone, which she had dialed as soon as she had seen Arnav walk right past her, round the photographer at the top of the ramp and step onto it, unable to contain her excitement at seeing him fall for the bait and stake his claim by making NK…well she wasn’t really sure what he had done with NK, only knew he had found a way to make sure he didn’t make it on stage.
Once all the photographers had snapped enough of their photos Arnav offered his hand once again to Khushi to lead her back inside and she took it happily; walking side by side with him, cherishing this moment of her first success fully. She waved and smiled at the audience on each side, as she headed back in. It wasn’t until they had gone back through the drapes (which Meenaxi had forced her out of) and they had closed behind them did she realize something was amiss, as Arnav let go of her hand instantly and stalked off before she could have even uttered a word.