33. OS 18. Too Tempting to Resist (Part 33)

Part 33

Hate him? Khushi looked into molten eyes trained on her and felt a shiver of awareness go down her spine. That tingle wasn’t hate, was it?

Her eyes fell to his large hands loosely clasped on his lap and felt them trailing against her skin. She crossed her arms. Goosebumps didn’t signify hate, did they?

“No...” she whispered uncertainly.

The breath left him in a gust. The relief left him lightheaded.

“But you are very troublesome,” she murmured, looking away.

His brows shot up. “What the!” he exclaimed.

“You are too,” she insisted, turning to look at him. “Devi Maiyya knows how you trouble me.”

“What did I do?” he asked, trying his best to look as innocent as possible.

Khushi looked away. He could be brazen about his actions, but how could be shameless enough to voice them?

“What did I do, Khushi?” he asked urgently, racking his brains to find the source of her problem.

Khushi remained silent, her face firmly turned away.

“Khushi!” Arnav grabbed her hand to get her attention.

She pulled her hand away, saying agitated, “This is what I meant. Why do you touch me?”

His eyes widened.

“Do you have any idea what it feels like when you touch me?” Khushi asked, too angry to realise the significance of the words. “Jab dekho haath pakdthe rehte hein,” she muttered her complaint. “If I try to stay away from him, he follows me and takes hold of my hand.”

Arnav stared at her with fascinated eyes.

“Do I need to breath or not?” she asked reasonably. “Then why are you touching me idhar udhar?”

He swallowed hard. Then he asked, “Khushi, what if I promise not to touch you?”

She looked at him in astonishment.

“What if I promise not to touch you till you ask me to touch you?” he qualified.

“Why should I ask you to touch me?” she asked, frowning.

“You never know. You may like me touching you,” he said easily. “Will you marry me if I promise not to touch you till you ask me to?” he insisted.

Khushi tried thinking with a brain with scrambled cells and couldn’t come up with any reason to refuse. And their wedding was fixed anyway. So refusing to marry him after agreeing to marry him didn’t make any sense. So she said weakly, “Yes.”

He leaned back in relief. “I will ask my family to hurry the rasams,” he said.

She frowned. “Why?”

“We need to learn a lot about each other, Khushi. And it is better if it happens after shaadi,” he said mildly.

She asked, confused, “You don’t have time to visit me daily so that we can know each other?”

“You can say that,” he replied after a moment.

She nodded. “Theek he,” she said slowly.

“I promise, Khushi, you will never regret marrying me,” he said quietly.

She looked at him.

He stood up and held his hand out to help her stand up.

Khushi looked at his open palm.

“You will always have the choice, Khushi. You can decide whether to take my hand or not,” he said softly.

Khushi drew in a shuddering breath. Her eyes on his hand, she made to slowly lift her hand.

He quickly withdrew his hand as though he hadn’t seen her compliance.

“It is fine, Khushi,” he said easily. “You can touch me when you feel comfortable. Don’t fret about it.”

Khushi nodded slowly and stood up.

Arnav looked at the dome of the temple and said a silent thanks to Devi Maiyya.

                                                      ***

Arnav walked into his house and handed over his coat to HP. “Ask the whole family to assemble in the living room,” he instructed. “I need to talk to them.”

“Yes, Arnav bhaiyya,” HP murmured as he ran to do his bidding.

Soon his family members took their seats, varying degrees of anxiety on their faces except for mami. There was a heavy layer of caked face pack on her face.

“Kaa hua, Arnav bitwaa?” mami asked. “Bhy did you call ujj?”

Arnav took one horrified look at her white face and looked away to compose himself.

“Chotey?” Anjali asked, all ready to weep at the drop of a hat.

“Err..I want you to finish all the rasams within a week,” he instructed.

The whole family stared at him. Payal looked downright worried. How would her family manage?

“What is the need to waste time?” he asked, trying to keep his face impassive.

“The rasams...?” nani looked at mamaji.

“You know I don’t believe in all that nonsense,” Arnav said brusquely. 

“And if you are insistent, we can have them after the wedding.”

The whole family gasped.

“Have pre-wedding rituals after the wedding?” nani asked, shocked.

“What has gotten into you, Chotey?” Anjali asked in wonder.

“A bhoot,” mami said. “A shaadi ka bhoot got into hamre Arnav bitwaa.”

“Work,” he blurted out. 

Akash and mamaji stared at him.

“I may have to go on an extended official tour soon,” Arnav tried to say convincingly. “I don’t want the wedding to be postponed till I can return. So let’s have the shaadi this week.”

All looked at Payal. She looked helplessly at Akash. “One week? The arrangements...” she murmured. “How will babuji be able to arrange everything in such a short time?”

“Nani, let Khushi’s family know, please. Aman will get event managers and we can have all the rasams you deem unavoidable, here at our house,” Arnav decided.

The Raizadas looked at each other, both perplexed and amused at Arnav’s urgency.

Only Arnav knew how difficult it had been to trap his fidgety kabootari in the web spun with his words. He drew in a deep breath. The shaadi had to happen at the earliest moment possible.