Even Stars Burn: Chapter Five

Here it is the much anticipated Chapter 5! So sorry for the delay! I truly cannot apologize enough! Just know I am back and plan to update a lot more and a lot more regularly! Thank you all for your patience, support and kind words! I really appreciate it. Now back to the FF! 

Arnav stayed back at the banquet hall long after the event ended. He wanted to be alone. He'd never been one for drinking but tonight the smooth and bitter sting of whiskey called out to him. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Behind his closed lids danced images of Khushi, laughing, singing, dancing and being that carefree spirit he loved. A smile crept along his face. Then he saw the other side to Khushi, Khushi after he married her, crying, shouting, staring at him with those large frightened doe eyes begging for him to understand her. He opened his eyes and sat up. He poured himself another drink and downed it in one. Nothing. He felt nothing. Have you ever known a man who ruined his own happiness with his own two hands? Arnav did. He also knew a man that drove the only person who he had truly loved out of his life and why? Because he never truly understood her. That man was Arnav himself. Had he just once spoken to Khushi in the beginning, instead of assuming the worst about her. Then maybe...just maybe this all could have been avoided. Maybe then the night of Akash and Payal's wedding he could have told her he loved her and stood by her against Shyam. Then maybe Di would have been able to understand. What use were maybes? Khushi was gone and Arnav...Arnav was alone.

*the next morning* 

Khushi awoke to the loud piercing melody of her Debaang ringtone. This was one point where she did not appreciate this song. She groggily reached out for her phone.
"Hello?" She mumbled.
"Hello. Am I speaking to Mrs. Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Khushi frowned at the "Mrs" and "Singh Raizada" but begrudgingly had to agree.
"Ji."
"Hi, I'm calling from AK fashion-house. I hope I'm not disturbing you?" The voice said. AK Fashion house, what was that? Khushi had never heard of it.
"Nahin hum toh-" Khushi was about to admit to being asleep but she realized she was speaking to a complete stranger. "Nahin hum free hai abhi ki liye." She said quickly.
"Good. Our boss would really like to meet with you and discuss a potential business opportunity with yourself. Are you free to come in today for a meeting?" The voice asked. Business opportunity? Khushi wondered what a fashion house would want with her. Maybe they heard about her Dabba service? She could do with the distraction, you know since she and... well yes she could do with the distraction.
"Ji hum aasakte hain." She said more enthusiastically.
"Great let me give you the address." The voice then proceeded to give Khushi the address.
"Tik hai hum jald se jald paunchtein hain. Thank you." She put the phone down and hurriedly readied herself.

*In the Raizada Mansion* 
"BHAI! BHAI!" Akash was shouting, his forehead creased with frownlines. The whole family came out, worried by the commotion.
"Kya hua Akash?" Anjali asked, frightened by her brother's sight.
"Di! Bhai kahan hai?" Akash asked.
"Chotte? Woh uppar apne kamare mein hain. Lekin woh dekhnein ki halaat main nahin hai. Usne bohut sharab lee hain. Kal raath ko, woh tikh se chal bhi nahin payain. Hari Prakash ne usse apne kamre tak chorayein teh. Mujhe lagta hai woh abhi bhi adha nashein mein hoon." Di said, the disapproval clear in her tone and the worry shone through her eyes.
"Honestly Di, I don't care. Bhai will have to get over all this for a day. Once he sees the paper he'll sober up." Akash said angrily as he scrunched the paper in his hands. Akash stormed towards Arnav's room.
"Akash! Par hua kya???" Anjali asked, sturggling to keep up with Akash's long strides.
"Woh kameena humko barbaad kiya, dhoka diya!" Akash shouted. "BHAI!"

*At AK Fashion-House* 

Khushi was out of breath when she reached the building. The rickshaw had broken down and she had to walk the rest of the way. She had her hands on her hips and was breathing deeply. It was only when she looked to the side to raise her handbag back to her shoulder away from the crook of her elbow that she took in her sleek surroundings. Everything was monochrome. White walls and static black sofas haphazardly placed around the office. Sharp cornered white desks and everyone wore black. Khushi felt slightly out of place in her fuscia anarkali.
"Ajeeb jaga hai. Kapre behjte hain, lekin jaga hai be-raangi." Khushi mumbled to herself. She was about to go to the receptionist to inform them of her arrival when one of the robots in black came up to her smiling.
"You're Khushi right?" She asked. Khushi nodded. "Fab! Mera naam Malika hai. Hum phone pe baat kiye thi subha mein." Khushi smiled and placed  Malika's voice to her face.
"Ucha! Namaste." Khushi said and Malika smiled.
"Boss ne warn kiya ta khi tum kafi traditional aur formal hai." Malika said, and Khushi immediately unfolded her arms. How did they know that about her? "Aayein hum aapko apne boss se milate hain."

Khushi walked into the office with Malika, this office was pure black, the boss was in his seat, the chair with its back facing Khushi so she couldn't see who this "Boss" was.
"Sir, Khushi is here for your meeting." Malika said.
"Good. Malika aap ja sakti hai. Thank you." Said the Boss. Malika nodded and left. Khushi felt unnerved by these unfamiliar surroundings and the general air of the room. The chair turned and Khushi saw his face. He was fair, had soft brown hair, gentle brown eyes and a razor sharp jaw flecked with stubble. He wore an all black suit and at the sight of Khushi he raised his eyes and smiled. Khushi knew this face...but from where?

*At The Raizada Mansion* 

Arnav was lost in a beautiful dream. Khushi was lying next to him by the poolside at night. Her head in the crook of his arm. She was smiling and looking up at him with the love he had once seen in her eyes. He could feel the even rise and fall of her breathing. He could smell her jasmine scent. She felt so close and so real. But a dream is but a dream and reality...
Arnav woke up drenched in ice cold water and he was gasping worried he was drowning. He opened his eyes and realized slowly that Akash had just tipped this ice cold water on his head. Before Arnav could open his mouth to protest. Akash opened the curtains and the light set off a blinding migraine in Arnav's head.
"Akash please. My head." Arnav said.
"Akash, be gentle, Chotte-" Di was cut off by Akash.
"I'm sorry but bohut ho gaya! Bhai tumhe abhi jaagna hai." Akash said with a tone of severity.
"I am awake Akash. You made damn sure of that." Arnav said.
"No. I mean YOU. NEED. TO. WAKE. UP." He said and threw the morning paper at him. Arnav frowned, unsure of what his brother meant. He read the paper slowly, the words were dancing on the page. He read it again. Then again. One more time. This couldn't be. He scrunched up the paper in his fist until his veins jutted out of his hand.

*At AK Fashion House*

"Please take a seat." The Boss said and Khushi sat down skeptically. Why did he look so familiar to Khushi? Who was this man? What did he want?
"Maaf ki jiye...par aph bohut jaani-peshaani lagte hain. Hum isse pehelein khabi milein hai?" Khushi asked cautiously, glancing over his features again and again trying to work out his identity.
"Sharp. I like that. Shahid apne pehle dhyaan se nahin dekha lekin haan hum dono milein hai. Tumhein shahid yaad nahin kyunki tabh mein sirf ek employee tha aur apka dhyaan kahi aur tha." He said and then it clicked in Khushi's mind.
"Aman?" She asked astonished.
"Aman Khurana at your service." He said with a mini bow. Khushi had met him once briefly when she had first started working at AR. But he had just been Arnav's PA then. How did he build up all this in that time?
"Aapke pass toh bohut saare savaal hongein so let me cut to the chase. I'd been working for you arrogant and egotistical husband for four years of my life. Every step of his advancement had my hand in it. Did I get any recognition or promotion? No. He kept me as a lowly PA because I was good at what I did." Khushi could sense Aman's resentment towards Arnav but couldn't help feel sorry for him. She remembered how hard he worked for him, first in the office and last out. Then when Arnav was angry Aman was always the goat to slaughter. She could understand any bitterness he felt towards him, she most definitely related.
"Hamesha mujhe ek gulam ki tarra rakha. So I started saving up my money, designed this fashion house you are currently sat in. Then I spoke to his employees, I informed them that I was opening up my own Fashion House and that they would be more than welcome to join me. You may or may not have noticed that around 75% of my staff are AR staff who have all over a period of time handed in their notice and come to work for me. All of Arnav's best designers, marketers, event co-coordinators and PR staff now work for me." Khushi was shocked at this. Payal had mentioned that there was a staff shortage at AR and so there was extra work for Arnav to be doing but she hadn't anticipated this.

"Maaf kijiye. ye saabh business vagera mujhse kuch lenha dehna hai nahin. Toh mujhe kyun bhulaya gaya hain? Khushi interrupted.
"Tujshe lenha aur dehna dono hai Khushi." He said and a grin crept up on his face.
"Main kuch samjhi nahin." She said.
"You see Khushi, Arnav understands one thing and one thing only money. Money created that inflated ego, arrogance and pride. Without it he's nothing. AR Fashions is my main rival if I can bring that down I will be the reigning power of the textile and fashion industry here in India." He said and Khushi was still confused.
"Woh sabh toh tik hai lekin woh toh tumhare aur Arnavji khi beech-" She was halted by Aman's sudden movement. He walked over to her, put his hand on either side of her chair and looked at her with an intensity that made her cheeks burn.
"Khushi I need you." He said. Khushi's eyes widened had she heard him right?
"Kya?!" She asked.
"You are undoubtedly Arnav Singh Raizada's greatest weakness. He's arrogant but over you its a whole new level. You're his pride, now imagine how it would look if India's greatest Fashoin House's owner's wife was modelling for a rival company?" Aman said and Khushi was in even more shock. Modelling and her no.
"Aapka dimaak toh tik hai? Main aisa kuch nahin karne wali! She said, she was about to storm off when Aman knelt to the ground.
"Listen to me. Try to understand. I could have just taken his models like I took everyone else but I didn't. Did you ever think why?" He said and Khushi paused out of curiosity. "I wanted the face of my house to be you because you represent everything I have been through to get to here. I knew about the contract marriage, who do you think went to get it drafted?" Aman admitted with guilt on his face and Khushi mirrored humiliation. "I know what you went through and how they treated you. How HE treated you. Khushi don't you want to show them they didn't get to you? That they didn't break you? They insulted you, belittled you, made you hate yourself...don't you want to make them feel some remorse or shame for what they did?" Khushi wasn't sure why, but what Aman said made sense. The Raizada's had baisically gotten away with this without retribution. Khushi had always played it safe, left it to Devi Maiyaan to punish those who were deserving. But when she needed help most, saving most, there was nobody. Anjali lost her husband and so Khushi lost her's too. But when Khushi felt pain, shame and isolation why did Anjali not feel any of this. Aman sparked a dangerous train of thought in Khushi's mind and he knew it.

He stood up and smoothed down his suit. "Maine already announcement ki hai that you are the face of my company. I'm just waiting for your yes. Of course if you want to go back to the world of anonymity and un-importance then I'll say that there was a mistake and have a retraction written. But just look at this before you make your decision." Aman swiveled his mac round and Khushi saw a gossip column on the screen. There was a picture of a drunk Arnav and that model, who was apparently named Kalpana. He had a bottle of whiskey in one hand and her in the other. The article titled, "Tycoon out to play while wife is away." Khushi's blood boiled.
"Hum tayaar hain, apki company ki model banne ki liye." And with that there was no going back for Khushi.

*In The Raizada Mansion* 
"Bhai saaf likha hain. Aman is the one who has been poaching our staff. His company launched today. All our collection plans have been released ahead of our plans under his name. We have no claim on them because he took the designers and it was their work which you hadn't approved yet because of all this family melodrama!" Akash was clearly annoyed. Had Arnav been on the ball none of this would have happened. Arnav noticed Akash failed to comment on the main feature of the article aptly titled "AK Fashion House uses ASR's wife as Face - trouble in paradise?" He was aware that Khushi was jealous because of all the rumors flying around about he and Kalpana but she was actually a good friend and married. She kept it secret for the sake of her career but nothing would ever happen there. But for that to drive her to model for his rival, for such a filthy traitor like Aman, that wasn't his Khushi, it couldn't be his Khushi...he would net let this be his Khushi.
"Akash, Di I need to get ready." Akash nodded, he saw the fire in Arnav's eyes, it was enough to burn the whole world to ash, this assured Akash that Arnav would fix this. Arnav couldn't care less about the company at this moment in time, he could fix that with his eyes closed, he had always been business savvy. But he'd be damned if he lost Khushi to Aman Khurana.

Dark Paradise Chapter Five

Khushi was at the dinner table with the rest of the family which unfortunately included Shyam, he was scowling the whole meal, everyone was talking about how Anjali should eat this food and stay away from that food. But Anjali noticed how distant Shyam was, how he had no interest in anything, he looked angry and bitter but she didn't know why, she'd tried to coax it out of him but he wouldn't tell her. Then he complained that she was too emotional and should give him space to think, it had hurt her deeply for him to say that to her when he knew how much she loved him. But Anjali never made an issue about her own problems so she quietly carried on with things and prayed his mood would improve. However Khushi was not concerned with any of this as she was waiting with baited breath for Arnavji to return from a meeting he and Akashji had gone to. She knew for a fact that after dinner they would all be sent to bed early as tomorrow was the Raizada's showcasing of their newlywed brides function which all the female relatives, neighbours and friends would attend. Therefore the Raizada bahus were expected to go to sleep early so to look good tomorrow but from what Arnavji has planned it sounded like Khushi would not be getting any sleep. Payal passed Khushi the plate with Jalebis on it which Khushi had spent the afternoon making after Arnavji had left for his meeting. She piled Jalebi upon Jalebi onto her plate and then passed it to Anjaliji who noted the tension Kushiji must be in. Khushi was on her fourth Jalebi when Anjali interrupted. "Khushiji, sorry Khushi Bhabi, yeh kya hai? What's wrong?" She said inclining her head to the mountain of Jalebis. Khushi looked down and realised she wasn't masking her fear very well.
"Yeh, nahi voh kya hai....hum bohut kush hai isiliye khushi mein jalebi karen hi ho." Khushi lied.
"Oh, humhe laga tha ke shayad tumhe meetha pasand aaya kyunki tum bhi ek chota sa pyara sa bacha aanewala hai." Anjali teased winking at Khushi, who now started hicupping, she added a fake laugh but her hicupps would not subside. Shyam stood up and left the table which made no difference to Khushi who was still hicupping despite Payal forcing her to drink water.

Arnav walked through the door famished, he and Akash had been talking to absolute morons for the past four hours and Arnav felt like he'd gotten nowhere. He walked in happy to see the family laughing and smiling around the dinner table, he gave his briefcase to Om Prakash and took a seat next to Khushi at the table who was hicupping violently.
"Isse kya hua?" He asked Anjali seeing Khushi was unable to answer.
"Kuch nahi chotte, hum baas mazaak kare teh. I said that Khushi was eating extra Jalebis because she had an extra mouth to feed aur woh tense hogi." Anjali said laughing along with Naniji, Payal and Akash. Arnav looked smug and turned to Khushi who looked away immediately. Arnav poured his food in and began to eat when he slipped his left hand under the table and grasped Khushi's right hand. Khushi gasped aloud, her hicupps now having deceased from the shock of it.
"Kya hua Bhabi?" Akash asked and Khushi shook her head.
"Kuch nahi, baas yuhi." She said smiling then turning to Arnavji frowning at him mouthing, "Chooriyen". He stared back blankly calmly eating with his right hand, Khushi still had three Jalebis on her plate which she actually wanted to eat but couldn't.
"Kya hua Khushi, tum kaana kyun nahi kareen?" Payal asked.
"Nahin Jiji aab mera pehet bhargaya!" She said even though she really wanted those Jalebis. Payal shrugged and began to clear up as most of the family was done. Arnav was finished also, he didn't let go of Khushi's hand though, as everyone left the table Arnav leaned over, "Tumne abhi kapre badale nahi, kafi besharam ho tum, pathi ka kehna nahi manthi." He whispered in her ear and she leapt up from her seat as Arnav let go of her hand.

Naniji turned around at the noise Khushi made when she got up and looked suspiciously at her overly proud grandson.
"Khushi betiyan tumne kaana kaya?" Naniji asked and Khushi nodded. "Ucha toh phir jaldi se naha dhoke aab sojha kaal bada din hai, hmm, aur tum bhi Payal betiyaan hum chahat hain khi saari ki saari baas tum dhono ke dhekte rejhayein kaal." Naniji said happily. Khushi turned to look at her husband who was now stood by her side, he winked at her and she narrowly kept a yelp inside."Yeh toh mujhe kajaoga" Khushi muttered to herself. "Naniji, err, hum soch re teh ki kyun nah meh torre saath tumhare paas ajao, torhi masti torhi batein, acha idea heh na?" Khushi asked hoping Naniji would agree and Arnav would go upstairs and fall asleep by the time she came upstairs. Naniji shook her head, "Nahi Khushi betiyaan upper jao abhi ki abhi, hum khoob saari masti karoge kaal, tik hai?" Naniji said and Khushi understood there was no use in arguing, she gave a silent prayer to Devi Maiyan and headed upstairs. She looked behind her to see Arnav at the bottom of the stairs arms folded looking very happy, her heart skipped a beat half from fear and half from excitement. She recalled when he'd kissed her she'd been shocked but the feeling had stayed with her the whole day, he was like a current through her body, every time they touched it was electrifying. She went into the room with a steely resolve, no matter what happened she knew it was for the best, they were married and apparently this was what was right.

Arnav entered the room and saw Khushi sat on the bed appearing to be having an internal debate with herself, muttering one thing then turning her head and muttering something else. He loudly shut the door to break her concentration. She stood up and clasped her hands in one another winding them round and round as he approached closer and closer. He took off his suit jacket and threw it onto the bed, that startled Khushi she stepped back one step but stayed there determined not to seem timid and docile in this situation. This was Arnavji after all, the man who had saved her from a car in the rain, paid her father's hospital bills, caught her when she fainted at Teej, caught her every time she fell, he'd helped bring Akash and Jiji together, he'd been her first kiss, he'd ran around Delhi worried she'd been in an accident, he'd bandaged her wounds on multiple occasions, he'd married her, held her hand in-front of all and never let anyone say a bad word to her including his Mamiji who he respected though he'd never admit it. He cared, he had a funny way of showing it sometimes but he did care. Yes this wedding was born of confusing circumstances fueled by the love he had for his sister but it was possible he loved her too, right? Khushi inhaled as he pulled her close his arms wrapped around her waist. She'd never felt so powerless but so complete at the same time. She could feel Arnavji's heartbeat and it was rapid just like hers. That meant he had to have feelings for her back, she lowered her head and for a moment Arnav had forgotten this was just meant as playful teasing. For a moment he allowed himself to melt into her, to wrap his arms around her and embrace her wishing to let her melt into him. He'd forgotten how intensely he felt for Khushi, he turned her around so her back was against his chest and he grabbed her wa-st pulling her close. He pulled her hair aside and allowed himself one kiss on the nape of her neck, he then raised his head slightly and whispered to Khushi, "Kabrao maat, tumhari isaat ko meh aanch nahi aane doonga." He felt how ragged her breath was, she was really going to go through with this, but then again so was he, did that mean that Khushi also felt the way he did...He didn't dwell on it for long as Khushi ran to the bathroom embarrassed. She threw water on her face, of course this was a joke he wouldn't be serious about it. Why would he since she was the worlds biggest fool?! She felt so stupid, she crept back out and saw Arnavji settling on the floor again, that couldn't be good for him. She'd have to do something about that. She settled into the bed and closed her eyes.
"Khushi." Arnav said from the floor, Khushi's eyes opened.
"Hmmm." She responded.
"Tum meri issat ki raksha toh karengi na?" He asked teasingly.
"Goodnight Arnavji." She said, smiling.

Read other parts to this here.