Bikhre moti (Scattered pearls)

1.3 - Chasing the bride (part 3)

Happy 9th wedding anniversary to our lovely couple Arnav-khushi. Wish them (and us) many happy returns of this day and our love for them to last hamesha!❤😇

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"waise Khushi, where exactly are you headed? I mean bus stop se fir kaha?" he had promised their families that he will bring her back before midnight. but the real question was how to convince Khushi?

And he was right. She hadn't really given it any deep thought. She had thought she could go to some of her relatives in Lucknow, but would they be welcoming? She wasn't even sure. Now she started realizing how stupid her plan of running away felt!

but it was too late to go back now!

"Lucknow. My tauji (uncle) lives there" she went ahead with her original thought, hoping her distant uncle-aunt would still welcome her.

Arnav looked at the time in car's dashboard, it showed 8.40 pm. There was no way he was going to let her travel anywhere that late. Alone. And then he had also promised their families to bring her back home soon

Thankfully his 'Harvard educated' brain came up with a quick idea and he smiled to himself.

Pulling his car in the parking lot near bus depot, he looked at Khushi. She looked very nervous and very scared! What were their families thinking? He shuddered to think of the possibility if she had not bumped into him and had really managed to run away! Of course he would have to take her to task about that but later.

Just as Khushi was about to open her side of the door, he stopped her. "Khushi, why don't you wait here and I will get your bus ticket? I mean its quite crowded there " he pointed to the long que in front of ticket window. He was hoping she would let him do this, for this was necessary for his plan. 

And surprisingly but thankfully, she did not disappoint him

"Ok. But you'll have to take ticket money" came her sincere request and he just nodded with a small smile

He came back 15 minutes later with a grim look on his face, "Sorry Khushi. But the last bus for Lucknow already left half an hour ago. Now next one is tomorrow morning" of course that was a lie. But what else was he going to do to stop her? And didn't his Di used to say 'everything's fair in love and war'? 

Wait, did he say 'love'? Did that mean he loved her? 

He liked how that sounded!

Smiling he looked at her only to see her almost on the verge of crying. She was doing a good job holding herself together though. He felt like pulling her in a hug! But he pushed that thought aside looking at her fallen face. Time to cheer his girl!

"hey, don't worry. Let's do one thing. Do you have any friends here in the city? I can drop you to their place and you can stay there for the night" anything to buy to some more time. Besides he couldn't really take her anywhere else could he? Apart from the fact that it was inappropriate, she probably would ask questions too.

Before she could reject his idea, his cell phone rang again. It was some landline number. Signaling her that he will have to pick the call, he went aside.

"Hello?"

"Arnav beta. Hum Khushi ki amma bol rahe hain (I am khushi's mother)"

"Ji aunty. Namaste." He said in a low voice, keeping an eye on Khushi who seemed to be scanning her cell phone, probably trying to reach her friends