Part 13 Sharing Feelings

Khushi got in the car and kept her mobile in the place that was in between her and Arnav. She wiped her face with her hands. Arnav saw Khushi restless. He could not understand whether he should ask her about the guy or not, but Khushi herself spoke to him about Naveen.

"He is my father's partner's son," She said looking outside.

Arnav looked at her and didn't interfere. He let her speak.

"We were friends ONCE..."

"Once means?" Arnav raised his brows.

"Until a few years ago... until he went for his higher studies... we had been friends even though we have age difference..."

She gulped down.

"Before he left Delhi, he came to meet my father to take his blessings. My parents were not at home at that time. I was studying at home as I had an exam the next day. He took advantage of the situation and tried to misbehave with me"

Arnav looked at her shockingly.

"Misbehave...?"

She nodded yes.

"I hit him with a flower vase and saved myself from him. I ran to my parent's room and hid under the bed until my parents returned home. That rogue names his action as LOVE... bloody bugger."

"You should tell your parents about him, Khushi"

"My father passed away a few years ago and my mother wants me to marry him"

"Didn't you tell her about what he did?"

"I did... that's when I got to know that she already knows about that. Naveen told her about it..."

"Didn't you tell them about it immediately?"

"He threatened me not to. He said, that if I spoke to anyone about it, he would spread the wrong information about me that he saw me sleeping with someone. At that time, I didn't have the guts to face such a situation. I was scared to speak about it to even my father. Now, he took the lead and told my mother as if he is a saint and repenting for his deeds" She gritted her teeth.

"What's your mother's stand?"

"According to her, MEN are like this..."

"So?"

"She wants me to accept him because she thinks I will not get someone who LOVES me to this extent... but I don't even like to see his face. Whenever I see him, I feel loath... I hate him...!" she said painfully with an irritating expression.

"Relax..."

"He is torturing me a lot these days, sir. I didn't expect he would come to our office. I'm sorry about it, sir"

"It's ok..."

"If he comes again, I will call the police"

Arnav was silent.

"Am I wrong?"

Arnav nodded no and said,

"This is a sensitive matter. One can only understand the pain"

"Could you understand my pain?"

"I do..."

"Thank you, sir" She wiped her cheek.

"Try talking to your mother in detail"

"I already done that. According to her, every man is like that..." She said annoyed.

"She may be right..." Arnav said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"How could you say that, sir?" She asked frowning.

"Yes, Khushi, men are not like women. They won't think everything, connecting it with feelings stuff... especially, this...! A maximum of men don't know the difference between love and lust. They don't think both are different. Men think lust is the way of telling love..."

"You too don't know the difference?" She asked the unexpected question.

Arnav looked at her perplexed. He didn't know what she meant.

"Are not you staying single even after your wife's demise? Is not your love something...? Didn't you understand the meaning of LOVE? Then why can't others?"

Arnav stayed silent.

"There are many men in the world who know the value of Love, sir...! It's all about brought up...! Naveen is a spoilt brat. My Mom thinks he may change in the future if I marry him...! Am I an experimental rat or what? Why should I put my life on fire to change him? Doesn't my life have value? Why should I waste it on him? Don't I have emotions and feelings?"

Arnav nodded yes.

"But, I should thank him for one thing..." She said with her head up.

"What?" he raised his brows.

"Because of him, I became confident"

Arnav smiled.

"The process was so horrible...! I felt like I was left alone in the dark forest. I was scared for many nights without getting sleep. At some point, I realized, this is the world... this is the reality... this is how human-animals would chase girls...! Then I managed myself...!"

Arnav amazed. What she experienced was so terrible. Yet, she crossed it with guts. He liked her attitude.

"How are you going to deal with your mother?" he asked with concern as he understood the complication of the issue.

"I don't know sir...! It's so annoying to tolerate our loved ones when they don't understand us" She said helplessly.

"Don't you have anyone who could make her understand?"

"No, sir... I have no one. I miss my father so much. If he had been alive I would not have bothered about anything. I wish I would have fallen in love with someone. Then, I would have eloped with him from my mother" She said feeling sad and remembering her father.

"Don't you meet anyone who met your expectations? Didn't anyone propose to you?"

"When I was in college, I got many proposals but I didn't like anyone because they were not up to my expectations... but now, after meeting you, I so want to meet someone like you, sir" She smiled and Arnav laughed.

"Crazy girl... you will get a nice guy who understands you...!"

Khushi smiled.

"May I ask Dhadi to find a nice guy for you?" Arnav asked with concern.

Khushi nodded her head from left to right smiling.

"My Amma will not agree to it. I will have to elope with him to marry him"

"Why should you elope when I'm here? I will help you face your mother"

"Thank you for your support sir... but I don't think it will work"

"Why?"

"There is no one like you..."

"With three kids...?" He teased and Khushi laughed.

"Do you think your mother won't understand you?"

"Understanding is an art and not everyone is an artist, sir"

"It seems you read WhatsApp quotes a lot..."

Khushi again laughed.

"Sir, stop the car here"

"Here?"

"Yes, sir..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup"

Arnav stopped the car.

"Thank you, sir"

"Welcome"

Khushi got down and Arnav left the place. Both of them felt content even though they just talked randomly.

GH

Khushi came home and saw Garima restlessly pacing in the living room. Khushi understood that she received the message from Naveen. He would have told her about what happened in her office. Before Garima started talking, Khushi took a ceramic flower vase from the stand and threw it on the floor angrily. It was broken and its tiny particles scattered all over the room with a horrible sound. Garima looked at her thunderstruck. It was Khushi's favorite vase. She bought it from Rajasthan when she went on a college trip.

Garima felt a shiver to see Khushi's wrath. She moved towards Garima gritting her teeth.

"What do you think of me? Do you think you can corner me with some cheap tactics by sending him to my office?"

Garima moved back, gulping down.

"I warn you, Mrs. Gupta... if he again tries to approach me in any way, I will call the police and file a case against him. He will not come out of the prison then..." she shouted.

At the same time, Naveen who entered GH heard that and was horrified. She looked at him with the same wrath.

"Don't you have shame? You tried to misbehave with me and now you are naming it as love..."

"Khushi, i...."

"Shut up... just shuuut uuuupppp" she shouted.

Naveen saw a few of their neighbors peeping at her house to find the reason for Khushi's shout. Khushi's friend Preeto was one of them. She came to meet Khushi and got stuck, hearing her shouting.

"Khushi, everyone is looking at us..." Garima said.

"Let them see... why are you bothering about them? You are the woman who doesn't care about your daughter's feelings and emotions. What if people spoke about us? Let them know what kind of mother you are and how cheap he is" She spat fire on Naveen through her eyes.

She advanced Naveen,

"Why do you want to marry me? Haan...? If you think you can make me dance to your tunes, it will not happen. I'm not the same Khushi who hid under the bed with fear, running away from you. I will put you behind bars if you torture me again"

Naveen gulped down hard.

They looked at the entrance hearing a knock on the door. Khushi saw Arnav standing with her phone that she forgot to take from his car. He got inside with the phone and gave it to Khushi.

"Thank you, sir" her voice was soft.

Arnav looked at Garima and said,

"I'm Khushi's boss. You know very well how hard it is for a woman to live without support in this world. Khushi will feel helpless if she marries him. Don't make her helpless for her whole life. Understand her"

He looked at Khushi and said,

"You can call me anytime if you need any help," he left the place.

To be continued...