Arshi FF: Another Chance With You

Chapter 9: Caring or more?

"Khushi?!" he called, softly cupping her cheek. "Tumhe kya hua? Tum teek ho, Khushi? Kya kisi ne kuch kiya, kya? Bolo na, Khushi. (What happened to you? Are you alright, Khushi? Did someone do something? Please say something, Khushi.)"

Khushi shuddered once, remembering the creepy feeling, "Arnavji!" she cried into his arms, grasping him tightly.

"Pata nahi kyun Arnavji, mujhe aisa laga ki koi mujhe ghandi nazron se dek raha tha! Aisa lag raha tha ki koi mera picha kar raha tha! (I don't know why I felt like someone was leering at me, Arnavji! Almost as if they were following me!)" she said breaking into tears.

"Shh... Khushi?! Khushi dekho meri taraf! Main hoon na. Main tumhe kuch nahi hone doonga. Vishwas hain na apne Arnavji par? (Shh... Khushi?! Khushi look at me! I'm here, okay. I won't let anything happen to you. You trust your Arnavji, don't you?)" Arnav spoke, gently cupping her face and wiping her tears.

All Khushi could see was unwavering strength in his eyes. Her safety was something he could never compromise on. Then and now, this was one thing that was the same. "Khudse bhi zyaada. (More than myself.)" she said, without hesitation.

"Toh chalo mere saath. (Then come with me.)" And off they went, moving onto a new stage in their relationship, of trust.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They were only 20 minutes into the drive when Khushi started recognizing the path they were driving on. Her Arnavji was bringing her to the most sacred place in his life, his mother's garden.

A few decades ago, the Raizadas might not have been as influential and wealthy as the Maliks but they were by no means an ordinary middle-class family. The Raizadas were what you called an upper-middle-class family, who owned a few properties in Delhi and Lucknow, a few of which were gained in Devyani Raizada's dowry. Of course, they were nowhere near the level of status and class Arnav had brought them to today but they had a decent portfolio of connections. These connections were one of the reasons why Ratna Raizada had been married into the Malik family. And so, when Ratna was a young girl she made many of her fondest memories diligently tending to the meagre grounds surrounding the Raizada farmhouse. So much so, that Devyani Raizada ended up naming the property in her daughter's name, who eventually handed it down to her equally green-thumbed son. Even now, her presence lingered in the vast gardens, in every plant surrounding the building, and most potently near the Neem tree in the centre of the garden. Ratna herself had planted the tree at the age of 4 and ever since then, it had been her favourite part of the grounds.

If Arnav had ever found solace in a place after his mother's death, it was near this Neem tree. It was for this very reason, that Arnav had placed a bench against the tree. So unsurprisingly, Arnav could only trust this place to help bring his Khushi out from her petrified state. He gently sat her down on the bench, knelt before her, and held her face. Her tears had made streaks down her face; a look Arnav abhorred to see on her face. Though she looked beautiful in her fearfulness, he couldn't stand to see her so worried, so scared. "Khushi, I know that we started off on the wrong foot but ever since that first meeting I have only felt grateful to have you near me. Every moment with you has only reinforced the fact that I cannot bear to see you hurt in any way. Thanking you for trusting me enough to let me help you when you're so afraid. Now did you happen to see who was harassing you?"

 "No... there were too many people! But it felt like there were bugs crawling on my skin! I just wanted to run away from whoever it was!"

"Shhh... calm down, my love. I'm right here with you! Not gonna let anything happen to you." he reassured her, "I've messaged Aman, he's going to bring over a tracker necklace for you to keep on yourself at all times, don't worry you can turn it on and off by pressing a button and I'm the only one who will be able to track you. I've also had him sign you up for some self-defence classes. They'll be a part of your work contract so don't worry about the expenses, in fact, we'll be offering this to all of our female employees. For the time being, if you're going anywhere by yourself that's not a relatively safe place, call me. I'll go with you or have a bodyguard go with you."

"Bodyguard? Yeh kuch zyada nahin ho jayega? (Bodyguard? Won't that be too much?)"

"Theek hain, but you have to take the self-defence lessons and I'm going to supply you a rape whistle and pepper spray which you will carry at all times. Look, Khushi, I don't want to be overbearing but this city isn't the safest and I've begun to care about you. 

"Care about me?"

"More than I probably should, but whatever it is, is inevitable. I know I'm not making any sens-"

"I care about you too." interrupted Khushi, stopping Arnav midsentence.

The two of them just stared at each other, basking in the tender revelation from each other.

________________________________

First and foremost, I apologize for taking this long to come out with this chapter.  I know it's also very short but I am trying to figure out how to move forward with this story. I have also until recently experienced a lot of things in my life which led to writer's block. I am slowly getting into the habit of writing more so you can look forward to more chapters soon but not too soon. Since I also have to focus on my studies. Thank you to everyone who sent messages or commented on my story. Okay, Author Out!