Chapter Thirty

With days passing by, AR Industries became busier and busier. Arnav and Khushi were busier than ever, as they had landed a really good deal. Khushi felt bad that she was spending most of her time on the company instead of housework, but Arnav needed her help more than anyone.

One day, Khushi had managed to make some spare time. She headed on down to the kitchen and found Dai Ma working.

"Dai Ma, do you need help," she asked.

"I'm fine," she smiled sweetly.

"You sure? And do you know where Papa is? I wanted to ask him if he wanted kheer for dessert or something else."

"I think he's in his study."

"Okay," Khushi smiled, and she turned away.

Dai Ma turned back to her work and scoffed. "Do you need help? What the hell does it look like? Do I need help," she mocked. "I still can't believe Aryan brought this random village girl into the house as Chote's wife."

She twitched her lips. "You'd think bringing in a village girl would help around the house but no! Now she thinks of herself as some Maharani," she scoffed. "I told Aryan to let me find a girl for Chote, but no! Chote will fall in love, he said. Well look at the trash he brought in."

"Dai Ma?"

She turned around to see Khushi standing there.

"Could you leave a bowl of flour and a jug of water for me, please? Arnav wants to eat luchis today."

Her eyes widened slightly, though on the inside she was relieved Khushi hadn't heard her. 

"Oh," she said innocently.

"Yeah," Khushi smiled softly. "He just asked me out of the blue."

Dai Ma smiled. "Well if that's what Chote desires to eat, then that's what will be made."

Khushi smiled. "Thanks."

Khushi walked out of the kitchen and stood by the door. She heard Dai Ma sigh and move some items.

"She's lucky Chote asked," Dai Ma said. "If that bitch decided on it, I'd just pretend to forget."

Khushi's eyes widened and she turned away to go to the study.

Oh my gosh, Khushi thought. I can't believe Dai Ma just said that! And the stuff before!

That's right, Khushi had heard what Dai Ma had said.

Why does she hate me? I never did anything to her? Is she mad that I haven't been helping her lately?

"Khushi?"

Khushi snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see herself standing outside of the study. Aryan looked at her curiously, a photo album in his hands.

"Is something wrong," he asked.

Khushi shook her head. "No," she lied. "I just wanted to ask if you'd like kheer for dessert or something else."

"Kheer is fine sweetheart," he smiled softly.

Khushi nodded and looked at the album in his hands. "What's that," she asked curiously, going over to him.

"Just some pictures of me and Shalini," he sighed sadly.

Khushi looked up at him then looked at the pictures. Aryan handed the album over to her and Khushi took it. She looked at the pictures in front of her, gazing away at the beautiful couple in the photos.

"Ma looks beautiful," Khushi said, putting her hand on top of a photo.

"She was," Aryan smiled softly.

Khushi looked up at Aryan. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?"

Aryan chuckled. "That is actually an interesting tale. Filmy, but interesting."

"Filmy? How," Khushi wondered, her eyes beaming with amusement.

"We met here, in this town. I was at the open market in the plaza with my friends, messing around, when a beautiful someone bumped into me."

Khushi tilted her head. "Did she really bump into you," she smirked lightly.

Aryan chuckled. "No, I did since I was walking backwards, but of course I told her she was at fault. And boy did she give me a face," he chuckled.

"Oh?"

"When we bumped into each other, I turned around to see who it was and found her gaping at me. Her face scrunched up and she started to yell at me, telling me to watch where I was going."

"What did you say?"

"At first? Nothing. She was the most beautiful person I ever laid my eyes on. Eventually I spoke and told her to watch where she was going since she was walking forward and knew where she was going. And then I flirted with her saying, and I quote, unless you purposely bumped into me."

Khushi gaped. "Oh my gosh! Did you wink? And what did she say?"

"I winked alright," he chuckled. "After she stared at me for saying that, I did it. And when I did that, her jaw dropped and she tried to say something, but I just smirked at her," he grinned.

"Oh my gosh," Khushi chuckled. "Then?"

"Then she made a face and walked away, muttering under her breath."

"Just like that? You didn't say anything else to her?"

Aryan shook his head. "Nope. I just watched her walk away, huffing and looking back to scowl. She was definitely muttering under her breath and no matter how many times I asked her later on what she said then, she played it off. Well, except that one time...."

"When was the next time you saw her?"

"College. First day of our last year."

Khushi’s eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Aryan nodded. "She had just moved to town with her family and she transferred in."

"To our college? Senior year? But that's what Arnav-"

Khushi’s eyes widened and Aryan smiled sadly. Khushi caught her breath and looked down.

So that's the real reason he came back to town, she thought.

"What happened when you saw her again," Khushi asked softly.

Aryan looked down, smiling softly. He took the photo album from Khushi and flipped back a couple of pages and showed her a picture.

"This picture was taken on our first day," he said. "And back there," he pointed, "is Shalini."

Khushi looked at the picture and saw a young Aryan with three other guys, their arms around each other's necks while they grinned away. In the background, there were people stuck in their own business and right by Aryan's finger was Shalini, dressed in a white selwar kameez, looking to her right with a paper in her hands.

"Just after we took the picture, we turned and she came bumping into me again," Aryan chuckled softly. "Her eyes had widened and she stared me in shock and the first thing she said to me was you?!"

Khushi chuckled.

"I flirted of course, asking her if she was following me and she rolled her eyes at me and walked away."

"You didn't stop her?"

"Nope. She just walked away, huffing and muttering again," he chuckled.

"I'm assuming you saw her around?"

"Definitely." He put the album down and crossed his arms. "The first time I saw her, she just... she was just so beautiful. Yet every time I saw her after that...."

"After that...?"

Aryan chuckled and looked at Khushi. "The first time I saw Shalini, she was dressed up, wearing a red selwar kameez. Her hair was done, she had all these bangles on, and she had makeup on. But when I saw her the second time, and every time after that, she never dressed that way again.

"Shalini wasn't one of those girls who wore makeup. Unless there was something to celebrate or it was a good day, then she would. I hear a lot of people say that makeup makes a woman more beautiful. But when it came to Shalini, it was the complete opposite."

Khushi smiled softly. "You loved her just the way she was."

Aryan nodded. "A woman's natural beauty is what makes her truly beautiful. Not some product that say you aren't beautiful until you put their product on."

Khushi nodded.

Aryan sighed and looked at the album. He flipped through the pages until he came to picture of Shalini.

"She had her sister take this one. She had a presentation that day, so she was really excited. Yet on the way, she bumped into me again."

Khushi chuckled. "Again?"

"Oddly enough," he chuckled. "When we bumped into each other, I said how it was weird we kept bumping into each other. Of course, she was irritated and said that I was stalking her and bumping into her on purpose."

"And what did you say?"

"I said it was a smart idea and that I'd do that," he winked.

Khushi chuckled. "Seriously?"

"Mm hmm. And did she give me a face or what! She huffed away and I called out to her, telling her that I loved her."

Khushi gasped. "You did?"

Aryan nodded. "I did. She turned right back around and gaped at me, completely shocked. I could only grin at her and then she made a face and huffed away."

"Just like that? She didn't say a single word?"

"I'm sure she did in her mind," he chuckled. "The next time I saw her she tried to turn away, but I ran up to her. I apologized for startling her but I had only ran up to her because I didn't know her name to call out to her. It took all those bump-ins to learn her name, though it wasn't easy. She didn't want to tell me, but I got it out of her," he smiled proudly. "When I did, she got mad that I got it out of her and walked away."

"Why do I get the feeling you stopped her," Khushi said suspiciously.

"I didn't exactly. I called out to her, saying that every time so far, she's always bumped into me and has always walked away from me. But one day, she'd coming running towards me and into my arms."

"And one day she did," Khushi smiled.

"Indeed she did. And like a movie, she came running in the rain, straight into my arms," he smiled softly, the memory playing in his head.

Khushi looked down at the picture of Shalini and flipped to the next page, which was filled with her pictures. "What made Ma realize that she loved you?"

"A few more bump-ins, some flirting, and saving her."

"Saving her? What happened?"

"Shalini was going home from the library and I was going out to a party. I took a detour to get some beer, when I saw some goons annoying her."

"And like a scene from a movie, you fought them off," Khushi grinned.

Aryan grinned. "I'm a hero after all."

Khushi chuckled. "I'm assuming she fell in love with you then?"

Aryan nodded. "Though she didn't understand it at the time. Every time she saw me after that, she had this gleam of wonder in her eyes. Although she hadn't figured it out yet, I could tell by that gleam in her eyes that she was in love with me."

"How long did it take for her to confess?"

"I saved her Friday night and she came running into my arms the week after."

"In only seven days?"

"Mm hmm. But that's because I approached her on Monday. I told her that I could see her feelings for me clearly. Her eyes gave everything away. She told me she didn't know what i was talking about. So I told her that next Saturday morning, I'd be waiting for her at the plaza, exactly where we first met. If she realized what she truly felt for me, then she'd come to me that morning. If not, then I'd never bother her again and she would never see me again."

Khushi gasped. "You'd never see her again?"

Aryan shook his head. "It would only keep her in peace."

"But she loved you."

"But she didn't know it yet. And if she didn't, well, I wouldn't bother her with it."

Khushi nodded, understanding his point.

"Its a good thing she came that day. I don't know how I could have ever avoided her for so long. I loved her too much to stay away from her."

"But she did come running to you."

"And we were together ever since. Every day after that, we spent it together. At first it was for a certain amount of time - I hated it."

"Hated it? Why?"

"Spending a few hours with her weren't enough. I wanted to spend every waking second with her. I even told her that and she only laughed. Then I promised her that one day, I'd have her for the entire day. Just me and her, no one else, spending a whole day together with no intrusions."

Khushi smiled softly as she remembered Arnav saying the same to her.

"My wish came true though. But instead of it being just one day, it became the rest of our lives. We were together everyday, starting and ending our days together. Our lives went on like this, happily in love together. ...then one day she was gone."

Khushi pursed her lips and looked down.

"We promised each other we'd be together forever." Aryan picked up the album and gazed away at a picture of Shalini. "Only forever got cut short."

Khushi chewed on her lip. "What happened to Ma," she asked softly. "Arnav never mentioned it, not to mention barely mentions her."

Aryan didn't say anything for a moment, quietly looking at the picture.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I understand it's difficult."

Aryan sighed. "I would tell you, but it's still hard to talk about it. Even after all these years."

Khushi placed her hand on Aryan's arm. "It's okay papa."

Aryan flipped through the pages of the album, both him and Khushi looking at the pictures. 

"Wait," Khushi said, "is that Dai Ma with Ma?"

"Yeah, this was when Shalini was pregnant."

Khushi looked at the photo. Both women were smiling in the photo, but for some reason, Khushi sensed something off about Dai Ma's smile. 

"How do they know each other," Khushi asked. 

"They were best friends after Shalini moved here. Divya was around some of the moments Shalini and I bumped into each other," he chuckled lightly.

Khushi's scrunched her eyebrows. "Divya?"

"That's her name. I guess you when you call a person by the relation you tend to not know their name," he chuckled lightly.

"Yeah," Khushi said absentmindedly, looking at a picture of Shalini  and Divya together. "How odd is it that even though I've been in this house for more than a year, I don't even know her name? It's like I don't even know her at all."

Aryan's soft chuckle snapped Khushi back to reality. "I guess. It's funny how I barely call her by her name. I just find her and ask for something, that's it."

"Hmm...."

Khushi just looked at the photo, specifically at Divya.

Dai Ma, Khushi thought, why do I get the feeling you're nothing but shady?