Dark Paradise Chapter Forty Two

Khushi smiled as she walked hand in hand with Arnav downstairs to the living room where the rest of the family had congregated. Arnav made sure Khushi was sat down comfortably before he took the seat by her side.
"Kya baat hai Khushi Bhabi, aapne itne jaaldi Chotte ko maanake agaye? If this had been me it would have taken at least another thirty if not forty minutes to calm him down." Anjali said and Arnav rolled his eyes, he hated when Di said this kind of stuff. He hated the unnecessary attention he was receiving as a result of it. Khushi smiled proudly and gripped Arnav's hand.
"Of course, after all pyar kiya toh nibhana parega." Khushi said in full filmy style. Arnav felt uncomfortable and slightly disgusted, it was such a cheap and overused line. This is why he hated bollywood films, life was nothing like them and they just portrayed in his opinion, crap.
"What rubbish, you all spend too much time watching movies and not enough time in the real world. I did this because I felt like it not because I needed to fulfil the obligations that come with love. That's not what love's about anyway." Arnav said and everyone was slightly shocked, Arnav lecturing them about love? Someone needed to pinch everyone in the room as they couldn't believe it. Arnav looked at how perplexed everyone looked and he himself became confused. "What?" He asked and they all snapped out of their daze.
"Chotte tum humhe gyaan derhe, pyar ki barein mein. This is too good, toh phir batao naa, what is love about?" Anjali asked and everyone tried to hide their smiles as Arnav became more uncomfortable. Khushi wasn't smiling, she looked up at Arnav with genuine curiosity, she too would like to know what the definition of love was in Arnav Singh Raizada's dictionary.
"Oh come on Di. Don't get all sentimental. I was just saying that love isn't like how it is in these cheesy movies. Its a lot more complex than boy meets girl." He said and Khushi looked at him confused.
"Lekin humaare saath aisa hua." She said and Arnav now became confused.
"Really? Do you remember how we met?" He asked reffering to the Lucknow fashion show. She scoffed.
"Of course, kaise bhoolsakti, you had it on every t.v. station. Mera jeena mushkil kiya tumne." She said and Arnav smiled.
"Exactly we met, love didn't happen initially." He said feeling proud he'd made his point.
"Nahin, not straight away lekin woh sari filmy baatein toh hogaye." She said and Arnav looked at her again confused, none of the family intruded as they noticed how wrapped up they were in their argument.

"What do you mean? I don't remember running in a field with you and singing songs." He said and Khushi grinned at the idea of him doing that.
"No but you did dance with me at the sangeet, even after you'd said to everyone how you don't dance." She said and Arnav was silenced, she had him there. Khushi smiled as she decided to add more to the list. "Aur tumhe yaad hai, at the Fashion show when I fell you caught me. Aur jaab tumne mujhe uss building mein pehja, kaise tum hero banke ayaa aur apne heroine ko bachaya." She said, Arnav was lowering his head now feeling exposed and vulnerable as Khushi shared intimate moments in front of the whole family. "Aur, aur, aur, jab Teej hoi aur tumne mujhe uttaya jab mein behosh hui thi aur tumne mera vrat todha. Aur kitne baad tumne mujhe girne se bachadiya. Aur ek baad phool bhi giddhe jaab mein tumhari bahon mein thi." She said and Anjali looked at the two with a big grin, she had no idea how romantic her brother was.
"Kya baath hai Chotte, tum toh ek number ki cheesy romantic nikle!" Anjali said which caused everyone to laugh, Arnav felt annoyed. He didn't want his family to know about that side of him.
"Haa! Toh Khushi bhi kuch kam nahin!" Arnav accused and Khushi gasped.
"Kya matlaab?" She asked and Arnav smiled.
"Tumne hamesha se mere peeche padi thi!" He accused and Khushi's eyes widened with shock.
"Itna bada jhoot! Sharam nahin aathi kya?!" Khushi said to her husband and he only grinned at her.
"Who followed me from Lucknow to Delhi? You. Who got a job at AR to be closer to me? You. Who then got a job at my house and won over my family's heart? You. Who got the letter "A" in their mehendi before they had even gotten into a relationship with me? You. Who kissed me? You." He said and everyone looked at Khushi with awe. Yes she'd kissed Arnav on the day of the Haldi, everyone had seen but he kissed her first.
"Nahin! I mean haan yeh saab such hain. Lekin aapne mujhe kiss pehle kiya tah!" Khushi said trying to remind him of the Mehendi day. Arnav hadn't forgotten that but he knew she'd never talk about in front of the family.
"Oh really kaab? I only remember you kissing me on the Haldi day." He said and Khushi was about to reveal what he'd done on the Mehendi when she looked around at everyone's eager faces and then stopped herself. "What's wrong Khushi? Bhol naa, go on say. Kyun bholthi baand hogaye?" He asked and Khushi gave him a seething look to which Arnav replied with a wink.
"Mujhe yaad nahin." She said and turned away from him. Naniji smiled to herself.
"Ucha tik hai abh bohut hogaya tum dono baas bhi kijiye." Naniji said trying to mediate the situation. Khushi nodded, got up and went upstairs.

Khushi had stayed upstairs for most of the day, she'd even had her food sent upstairs. She was upset with Arnav for embarrassing her like that. He knew she wasn't that kind of girl who chased men and pursued them but that's what he made her out to be. Arnav too had avoided Khushi, he'd hoped that time would cool her anger, normal Khushi probably would have realised she started it and she should forgive Arnav. Pregnant Khushi however was less likely to do so. Arnav walked in and got an icy cold look from Khushi.
"Oh come on Khushi it's not that bad." He said.
"Not that bad, saab mujphe haasre hoge." She said and looked away from him. Arnav took a deep breath and then joined Khushi on the bed.
"Jaan." He said softly but Khushi refused to look at him. "Okay fine, if you wont talk to me then I'll talk to my princess." He said and he leant over Khushi and directed his head towards her abdomen. "Hi princess." He said and Khushi scoffed. "Mamma is very angry with Pappa today. You know why?... Okay I'll tell you. Aaj we were all talking when Mamma decided it was a good idea to tell everyone about how romantic Pappa is, even though she knows how hard he's worked to make a reputation for himself so that he can command a little respect." He said and Khushi chewed her cheek feeling slightly guilty but not enough to talk to him. Arnav proceeded on to guilt trip Khushi. "Anyway, I think Mamma forgot that Pappa only acts that way with Mamma and Mamma only. He doesn't like to show that side to anyone else and he doesn't want to share that with anyone. Its reserved for Mamma and Mamma only." He said and Khushi looked down at him and smiled. "Its up to Mamma now whether or not she forgives me, if she doesn't this could be a lonely life if she can't argue with me." He said and turned to get up when Khushi tugged at his arm.
"Aap itne bhi bhoore nahin. Chalo maaf kiya." She said with a small smile on her lips, Arnav grinned, then turned, he leaned in and kissed Khushi.
"Thanks." He said and then grabbed his stuff and headed for the shower.

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