Dark Paradise Chapter Two

Khushi woke up and stretched out and then pulled her hands back in case she hit Jiji, Jiji? She sat up sharply when she realised Jiji wasn't in the bed, she wasn't at Buaji's house anymore. She was in Arnav Singh Raizada's bed, in his room, in his house and she was his wife. She calmed herself at once, she'd have to get used to this because she was his wife, they were married and this is how it was going to be from now on. She heard the door shut as Arnav walked into the room in another of his three piece suits and she couldn't help but wonder, does he never wear anything for comfort or is it all just for appearances? She got out of the bed and started making it to avoid any awkward interactions. "Khushi you know we have people who do that for us?" Arnav said and she stopped. "I know but I just thought-" She was interrupted by the fact that his hand was now on hers, he was dangerously close, stood behind her, so close that she could feel his breath on her neck. "Choriye." He said and she let go of the duvet. "Tumhe ready bi hona hai." He said and she became puzzled. "Khushi we have to go to your house today with Payal and Akash, we did get married you know?" He said and she nodded. She was about to head into the bathroom when she realised she had nothing with her, no toiletries, no clothes, nothing. "Maine samaan mangaya ta. Your toothbrush and clothes and whatever else are in that bag, I had Om Prakash get it from Buaji's this morning when I woke up." He said, she liked the fact he said Buaji's instead of "Your house" or "Your Buaji's house." There was a sense that he accepted her family as his own too. She was slightly startled that he'd gone to all his effort. Arnav sensed this and began to back track not wanting Khushi to see into his actions before he was ready. "Jaldi tayaar ho, I don't want you looking worse for wears, you represent me now and so you should look the part. I don't want Naniji and everyone else to think I don't care about you." He lied, not that Khushi could tell he was quite good at masking his feelings now, he wanted to let her in but he didn't trust her just yet. Too much had happened recently. Khushi nodded and took the bag to the bathroom where she began to get ready, of course he did this for himself, God forbid he do something nice and admit it! It was like the chooriyan incident all over again, was it so hard for him to admit he cared? "Hai Devi Maiya shakti deh! God knows what I've done." Khushi muttered to herself.

 Arnav was waiting for Khushi not wanting to face the family alone, he decided to catch up on some work he'd been avoiding since the wedding. He couldn't understand why girls took so long to get ready, with himself 15 minutes and he was done, Khushi had been in the bathroom for nearly half an hour, that was ridiculous and a waste of time. He heard her walk out of the bathroom from the sound of her payals. "Thank god Khushi, aab nashta kare yah tumhe aur bhi time chahiye?" He said sarcastically as he turned then wishing he could eat his words when he saw her. Khushi was wearing a red saree with simple silver embroidery around the borders. She had her famous jhoomke dangling from her ears and a silver necklace around her neck. But that didn't matter because the small line of sindoor that adorned her forehead let him know that she was his and that's what he liked most about Khushi today, she was his. He cleared his throat and walked out of the bedroom Khushi knew she had to follow and did so, noting that Arnav was more than admiring her in her saree. That bought a smile to Khushi's lips. Arnav slowed down on the stairs so Khushi could keep pace with him and they entered the dining room together, side by side. There were two seats waiting for them right next to Naniji, Arnav opted for the one closest to her allowing Khushi to sit next to Payal where she would undoubtedly feel more comfortable. They took their seats and before Naniji started Arnav and Khushi both noted how angry Shyam looked, the vain in his forehead looked ready to burst. Khushi began to panic, Shyam was already obsessive what if this pushes him over the edge and he does something that would make her regret all this. Her panic soon washed away as Arnav interlocked their hands under the table, she looked towards him but he didn't look back. Always holding back when he shouldn't. Naniji cleared her throat so to gather everyone's attention at the table. "Hum toh shooruat mein khush nahi te, ki tumne aur Khushi betiyan ye kadam utayan humare ashirwad ki bine aur humare ijazat se bina." Shyam smiled at this, hopeful that Naniji would put an end to this marriage before he would have to. "Lekin hum ab bohut hee khush hai kyunki Arnav bitua ne shaadi toh khi aur woh bhi ek achi ladki ke saath, joh hum sub pasand hai. Isliyen hum aab ashirwad dethein hai." Naniji said and Shyam began to boil once more. He couldn't take it, he remained quiet for so long with the hope that Naniji would straighten them out but obviously he would, as always have to do this himself. "Yeh kya insaaf hai Naniji? Arnav aur Khushi neh toh iss kar ki niyam ke kilaaf gaye teh, aap kaise baas ashirwad dheke baat ko khatam kari houn?" Shyam said and Anjali turned shocked at her husband. Naniji had just been convinced to let them be and now he was doing this, if Chotte was happy that was all that mattered, why was he doing this? She didn't like it. "Dekho bitua mujhe ladiye pasaand nahi hai, aur hum sabh khush hai isliye baath katham. Ab mujhe mere bahu ko dekhne doon!" Naniki said playfully, Khushi rose from the table and touched Naniji's feet to receive her blessings which she obliginly gave, Arnav didn't bother with it, if Khushi wanted to that was fine but he didn't see the point in it.

 She sat back down and began to eat her breakfast, the family mainly gossiped about how lovely Akash and Payal's wedding was and how they knew Khushi and Arnav had something between them. Khushi was smiling away at all this and Arnav would sneakily watch her with side glances.Shyam had, had enough and muttered something about feeling unwell and went upstairs and Anjali followed him. Naniji, Mamaji and Mamiji all went to get ready to visit the Gupta family leaving Arnav, Khushi, Payal, Akash and NK at the table. "Khushi, zara mere saath chaal, kuch kaam tah." Payal said to Khushi and Khushi nodded and followed. Arnav was curious about what the two sisters were up to but couldn't leave because that annoying NK had started up again. "So mere bhai's big night last night?" He said his eyebrows wiggling all over his face, he was a serious cartoon arnav thought to himself. Akash blushed and nodded. Arnav realised he was referencing the whole "suhaag raat" thing which obviously Khushi and he had not experienced. Arnav nodded also and then cleared his throat, he was a good liar yes. But not when it came to this. Akash leaned in to talk to Arnav. "Bhai, didn't you feel that last night just made you more in love, like it just intensified everything?" Akash asked and Arnav began feeling more uncomfortable, he didn't want to have the temptation of thinking about Khushi like that in his mind. "Hah, of course Akash." He said matter of factly. "But Bhai didn't you feel so much more connected to Khushiji now, like every breath, every movement is in sync because you two are now connected on a...er...physical level now?" Akash asked and Arnav hated the fact that Akash and he usually spoke about everything because now he had no way out. All he could think of was being with Khushi on a physical level and it was making it really hard for him to concentrate and lie efficiently. "...O-f, of course Akash." He said. "I've never been so happy Bhai." Akash said, Arnav didn't feel happy, he felt frustrated. He needed to think about something else. Anything else. "Kya baat hai mere bhaiyon! Nanav, chuphe sher! Tum bohut lucky hoon! Khushiji, she's very special you know? Many men would kill to be in your shoes." NK said nostalgically and Arnav thought of course he would say that he was one of those million men. "She's Bhabi to you NK and you Akash." Arnav said and he left the table, wanting to escape the conversation especially its topic.

Payal and Khushi had been sat in Khushi and Arnav's room while Khushi attempted to convince her Jiji that she married Arnav for love which was half true because she did love Arnav but love wasn't the only driving force in this marriage.
"Tik hai agar tumhe lagta hai ki tumne sahi faisla leeya aur tum khush hai, toh hum bhi khush hai." Payal said.
"Such Jiji?" Khushi asked and Payal nodded. Khushi then hugged her sister so happy that she wasn't angry. "Paatha hai Jiji ab hum bohut maasti karenge aur hum hamesha ki liye ek saath rehenge. Kitne aachi baht hai,  heh nah?" Khushi asked and Payal nodded, Payal felt a lot more happy now that she had her sister with her, a familiar face when she needed it most. Arnav cleared his throat and the sisters composed themselves, Payal got up and left giving a smile to Arnav on her way out, happy with her sister's choice. Arnav was slightly baffled by Payal's behaviour but proceeded anyway.
"Khushi hurry up please, humhein tumhaare ghar toh jaana hai." He said, admiring the way her saree draped her body, hugging her hips and adding a glow to her already stunning body. She got up and nodded, Arnav concluded that it would be hard to keep himself at bay, he had to remember this was for Di and not for him. Khushi was busy quickly checking her appearance in the mirror wanting to look perfect when she saw her family, she turned and in the hurry of her actions she bumped into Arnav. For the briefest of moments his arms were hovering around her waist, their chests were against one another and their breathing in sync, chests rising and falling at the same time. Neither of them moved, unsure of how the other would react. Arnav wanted so badly to envelope Khushi in his embrace but resisted when he remembered the way Shyam had held her similairly, he broke away and let her move past. Khushi felt embaressed and rushed downstairs, Arnav hung back for a bit and came to the conclusion that this was going to be difficult.

Read all other parts to this here