Arshi OS - Mujhe Haq Hai

Arshi OS

***

Mujhe Haq Hai

Arnav opened the door to Shantivan and he was welcomed by a tinkling voice of laughter. A small smile appeared on his face when he heard it … Oh how much he would love to hear that for the rest of his life. It did not even take him a second to recognise whose it was ... It belonged to none other than was His Love … His Khushi.  Yes he had finally realised that the unknown feeling that he felt for Khushi was Love and he was very excited to explore this new feeling.

He started walking towards the living room with a small smile playing on his face. But when he reached there the smile was replaced by a frown. The green monster in him came out when he saw the reason behind Khushi’s musical laughter was his cousin NK.  He hated the sight in front of him. He had always wished that he could take NK’s place in such situations … he always wished he could make Khushi laugh like NK did. He hated himself for not being able to do so … he hated himself coz all this while he was the reason behind Khushi’s tears. But now he decided that he would not let that happen … coz now he knew no matter what, Khushi is his and no one can take her away from him … he won’t let them. And once Arnav Singh Raizada wishes for something, he will see to it he gets it. And with that confidence he started walking towards them.

NK and Khushi were sitting in the lounge and as usual NK was busy cracking jokes in Hindi well he was trying to crack jokes in Hindi and Khushi was busy either correcting his Hindi or laughing at his Hindi. Whatever it was; it was not a very happy sight for one person and unfortunately they had noticed him either. Arnav’s temper was rising and he felt taking Khushi away and hide her somewhere no one could get close to her other than him. But at the same time he was feeling like strangling NK to death for trying to get close to Khushi. Unfortunately he could not do either and the best thing that he could do then was to yell.

“What the hell is happening here?”

Both NK and Khushi were startled to hear his voice.

“Nannav mere bhai relax! Tum itne seek kyun rahe ho?” asked a startled NK while Arnav gave him an angry look.

Khushi moved closer to NK’s ears and whispered “Seek nahi nanheji, Cheek”.

NK scratched his head when he heard that while saying “Oh” and then tuned back to Arnav and said “Mera matlab hai tum itne cheek kyu rahe ho mere bhai?”

Hearing that Arnav’s eyes only got widened with anger. “Tum dono ko koi kaam nahi hai? Ghar mein shaadi ho rahi hai aur tum dono yahan haske time waste kar rahe ho!”

“Nannav tumne yeh kabhi nahi suna hai ki All work and No Play makes Jack a Dull Boy! Tum tho Jack ki tharah dull boy ho … hume bhi waise kyun banana chathe ho?” asked NK curiously.

But unfortunately all he got in reply was “Shut up NK! Go ask Di if she needs any help” and before NK could argue back Arnav commanded a final “Go!” to which he had to agree. So NK scurried away to find Anjali while leaving a nervous Khushi behind. 

Khushi looked at Arnav nervously … She knew he was angry and that is better off for her to keep quite. Even Arnav understood that Khushi was scared of his anger and frankly he actually wanted to shake her and ask what all this was about but he resisted himself since it was not the right place for him to ask such questions.  But he could not wait for long either, so he did what came first in his mind “Khushi mere liye coffee lekar aao mere kamre mein!” and after saying that he left without allowing Khushi to say anything back.

Khushi watched his retreating form with her famous ‘haaww’ expression and since no other option was left she started walking towards the kitchen to make coffee while muttering “Laad Governor Kahike!” profusely under her breath. 

***

Khushi knocked on Arnav’s door but when she did not gain any response she slowly pushed the door open with her right hand while balancing the coffee tray on her left hand. She called out “Arnavji” softly when she entered the room but still she did not get any response. She walked to the coffee table and kept the tray on it and was about to turn to leave the room when she felt a hand on her arm. The next thing she knew was that she was pinned to the wall and that Arnav was towering over her.

“Aaa..aapp” she asked all flustered.

And he replied “Haaan Me…ein”.

Khushi tried to push him away but he did not even budge. She looked at him angrily and asked “Aap yek kya kar rahe hai?” 

“Yahi sawal mein tum se bhi pooch saktha hoon!” retorted Arnav.

“Humne kya kiya?” asked Khushi confusedly.

Khushi’s questions were only increasing Arnav’s anger “What the! Theek hai phir ... tell me what the h*** were you doing downstairs?

“Neeche??? Humne aisa kya kardiya wahan ki aap itna gussa ho rahe hai? Asked a perplexed Khushi.

 “Stop acting smart Khushi! Mein yeh puch raha hoon ki tum neeche NK ke saath kya kar rahi thi?” he growled.

“Hum tho sirf unse bath kar rahe the!” she exclaimed.

“Oh really?” he asked sarcastically.

“Ji haan! Waise aapko usse kyun fark padtha hai?” she said angrily.

Arnav took a step forward thus resulting in no space between them “Khushi Kumari Gupta tumhe ache tharah se pata hai ki muje kyun fark padtha hai!”

The closeness was already making her hear heart go all crazy and to top it off her breathing was also becoming very fast. “Nahi ... hume nahi patha!” she answered back hesitantly.

“Oh really! Tum itni jaldi kal ki incidents ko bhool gayi?” he asked curiously with his famous smirk.

“Uhhh…. Kaisi incidents?” she asked back anxiously.

Arnav inched his face closer to hers and pecked here cheeks. Then slightly gracing his stubble on her cheek he whispered to her ears “Ab Yaad Ayi?”

He pulled back a little to see her flushed face and trembling lips. He slowly moved his chocolate brown eyes to meet her hazel brown ones. They both kept looking into each other’s eyes while their thought drifted back to yesterday’s events.

***

Both Arnav and Khushi were at the poolside. Khushi was enquiring why Arnav had given her bangles after he had reluctantly accepted that he had bought those bangles for her. The only reason why he answered that question was because she reminded him of winning the Sangeet bet and for that she wanted him to tell her the truth about him buying the bangles for her. But after he had answered that question of hers, he was in no mood to answer why he brought her the bangles. She kept asking it again and again but all he said was it is not necessary for him to answer all her questions. He turned back to leave the poolside so that he could escape from her questioning session but he was stopped by her melodious voice.

“Kyun? Aapne humare liye Choodiya Kyun Kharidi?” she asked gently hoping to get an answer this time at least.

He turned back to face her and looked at her hazel brown eyes which were pleading him to answer her question.

“Meine Kahan Na Tumari Har Sawal Ka Jawab Dena Zaroori Nahi Hai”

Khushi got annoyed when she heard the same answer from him again. She lost her cool and retorted back saying “Aap shayad zaroori nahi samajthe hai … Magar hume yeh janana zarrori hai … Hume yeh janane ka poora haq hai!”

“Haq?” asked a confused Arnav.

“Ji haan! If I am wearing the bangles given by you then I have full right to know why you have given these bangles!” answered a furious Khushi.

“Oh really! I did not hear you asking NK why he brought those small sized bangles for you? What happened then … dint you have your so called haq then?” he asked back equally furious as Khushi.

And Khushi replied back not even thinking over for once about what she was going to say “Nanheji is my friend … he has full right to buy me anything he wants! But who are you to me? As far as I know the only relationship between us is that you are my Jiji’s Jethji! That does not give you any right to buy me bangles or a matter of fact anything! Hum phirse keh rahe hai … aapko hum par koi haq nahi hai! Samjhe aap!”

And that was all that was needed for Arnav Singh Raizada’s anger to reach its highest point. He strode towards Khushi and held her shoulders tightly earning a painful wince from her. But he ignored that and pulled her more towards him. “Mujhe poora haq hai tum par Khushi Kumari Gupta …. Aur sirf mujhe yeh haq hai! So don’t you ever talk to me like that!”

Khushi was utterly confused to hear that. “What do you mean by saying that?”

After hearing that he replied back with a smirk “The only thing I meant is that only I have the right on you … Only I have the right to buy you bangles or a matter of fact buy you anything” he said that while pulling her more closer to him. “And only I have the right to kiss you” saying that he slightly pecked both her cheeks. And then slightly gracing his stubble on her cheek he whispered in her ear “And only I have the right to say I … Love … You … to you”

Finally he said it out and for some weird reason he felt good that he had said it out. He pulled back a little to see Khushi’s shocked face. She looked completely flushed, her eyes were widened and her mouth was slightly open forming her usual haaww expression. Even though Arnav knew she would react in the same way he could not stop himself from chuckling. 

Khushi came out of her shock when she heard him chuckling. Her eyes met with his and both kept looking at each other … Both their eyes were speaking volumes. Khushi was silently asking him through her eyes whether what she had heard before was true and when his eyes told her they were true; she slowly turned crimson. She couldn’t believe that the man who makes her heart go dhak dhak said those three words. Till now she had named the reason for her dhak dhak as acidity but now when she thinks about it she felt like it was Love and if it is Love, then she would not mind to cherish this love forever ... a forever with Her Laad Governor … Her Arnavji.

On the other hand even Arnav could read what was going on in Khushi’s mind through her eyes. One of the most important things he has realised about her till now is that, even if her mouth doesn’t speak the truth her eyes do … her eyes can never lie … especially not to him and that thought always made him happier. He could see her thoughts drifting from confusion to realisation. And now he could see the love she had for him in her eyes and that was all he needed … even if she did not say it out loud her eyes did say that she loved him equally like he did.

That’s when another thought struck him … He was a person who usually holds back to say his feelings but he spoke about his true feeling towards her today while she was a person who always speaks out about her feelings but today she was the one who held back to say it out loud. But nevertheless he did not care about it … he knew she loved him … he could see it clearly in her eyes … and that’s all he cared about ... he did not need any assurance in words.  After all love can reduce anyone to anything.

***

The shrilling voice of his mobile broke their trance. Khushi looked everywhere except him while breathing heavily and he reluctantly moved away from her and answered the call to give a peace of his mind to the intruder. Khushi took that opportunity and hastened away from his room.

When she reached downstairs she saw Nani sitting in the lounge and drinking tea. “Namaste Naniji!”

Nani turned towards Khushi “Namaste Bitya … Aap kab aayi” she asked curiously.

“Ji jab aap mandir gayi thi!” replied Khushi.

“Acha Theek hai …. Ab aap jab yahan ho … tho aaiye aur in dono sariyon se aapan khathir ek sari pasand kijiye! Humko tho dono hi pasand aaye … Magar samaj mein nahi aavat hai ki aap ke liye kaunsi achi rahegi!” said Nani while taking two saris that were kept on the table in front of her and passing onto Khushi who was now seated by her side.

Khushi took the sari from Nani’s hand and before she could have a look at them, NK came there “Oh wow Khushiji aap sari select kar rahi ho … I will help you too!”

Khushi smiled at him and then looked at the saris. Then she felt her heart going dhak dhak and she understood that her Laad Governor is here. She slowly looked up and saw him walking down the stairs. They both had a small eye lock which was interrupted by Nani. “Pasand kijiye bitya!”

Nani had seen the small moment between Arnav and Khushi and she smiled in her mind thinking that something was definitely cooking between these two. 

Khushi started looking at the saris again. One was Red ... Arnavji’s favourite colour while the other one was Yellow … Her favourite colour. She looked up at Arnav for some help who was now standing in one corner of the hall with his back turned towards her and busy with his phone. She got disappointed and looked at both the saris again. She looked at the red sari closely but was interrupted by NK.

“Yeh wali nahi … see yeh wali … it gorgeous right?” he said while pointing at the yellow sari.

Khushi smiled back and started looking at the yellow one instead of the red but was interrupted by Arnav’s voice.

“Ghatiya hai! Pehele bhi kaha hai na Aman…” He turned towards her still holding his phone on his ears. He looked at her and indicated the red one and continued talking “Yeh better choice hai!”

Khushi looked at him and then at the red sari while keeping the yellow sari down. But again she was interrupted by NK.

“Khushiji yeh red wali nahi … yeh yellow wali lijiye!” he said while taking the yellow sari and giving it to her. Khushi smiled at NK half-heartedly and took the yellow sari from him. She was confused … Arnavji was telling her to choose the red one while NK was telling her to choose the yellow one. Then again she heard Arnav’s voice and she looked at him.

“Aman agar tumhe dono theek lag rahe hai tho woh choose karo jo tumne pehela soch tha!”

She knew he was talking about the red sari to her. She looked at both the saris again and again until Nani interrupted her this time.

“Pasand karli bitiya?”

“Ji Nanniji!” she repliead and had a final look at both the saris and started lifting the yellow sari to show it to Nani but she stopped in her tracks and looked at Arnav... She could see a slight disappointment on his face. She smiled and kept the yellow sari back while taking the red one and showing it to Nani. “Yeh wali Naniji”

Both Nani and NK were surprised to see Khushi’s selection but Nani recovered soon and smiled back knowingly and said “Ohhhh… Bohat hi badiya pasand hai!”

Hearing that Khushi turned crimson and smiled shyly. She then looked at Arnav ... Even he had a small smile playing on his face now. They both shared a small eye lock but were again interrupted by Nani.

“Chotte agar phone pe aap ki pasand thaye ho chuki ho tho phone rak dijiye!”

Both Arnav and Khushi were shocked to hear that. Arnav started looking everywhere except at Nani while Khushi just looked at him with the shocked expression. She soon recovered from the shock and said while getting up from the sofa “Naniji hume chal na chaiye … Amma aur Buaji humare intezaar kar rahe honge!”

“Theek hai Bitya!” replied Naniji.

Khushi said her goodbye to Nani and NK and started walking towards the main door while looking at Arnav with a shy smile. They both were looking at each other until she walked pass him but soon she was stopped on her tracks when she heard his voice.

“Khushi Wait!”

She turned back and looked at him curiously. But instead of saying anything to her, he turned towards Nani.

“Nani mujhe kuch kaam se bahar jana hai! …. Aur mein Laxmi Nagar ke rasthe se hi ja raha hoon … tho mein Khushi ko chod doonga!”

“Achaaa!” replied Nani with a poker face. But deep inside she was trying very hard to control her laughter. She turned towards Khushi and said “Khushi bitiya tho phir aap Chotte ke saath jaiye!”

“Ji Naniji!” replied Khushi.

Arnav started walking towards the main door slowly so that Khushi could catch up with him. Then once she did reach near him and they were out of Nani’s and NK’s sight he gently took hold of her hand in his and smiled at her. Khushi was surprised first but soon she also smiled back. They stepped out of Shantivan with the same thought running in their mind ... They both were thinking about The Day They Both Would Hold Their Hands Forever In Front Of The Whole World … to let the world know that She is His and He was Hers … to show the world that Only He Had The Right On Her and Only She Had the Right On Him … And to shout out to the whole world … Mujhe Haq Hai … Sirf Mujhe Haq Hai!

*****