Air Beneath My Wings(On Hold)

Built

"What do you mean, separate offices?" Anjali asked sharply.

Arnav bit his tongue at his slip. He looked at Aman who was staring at him. Khushi had her eyes closed. Payal was looking at him and Akash, swaying like a pendulum.

"It's... it's just an... expansion plan." Arnav stuttered under the Malik stare of his elder sister.

"In Delhi?"

Arnav gulped. "In... In London."

"Separate offices in London?" Payal asked. "When was this discussed?"

"It wasn't discussed. It was ordered." Akash gritted his teeth.

"Akash-" Arnav tried to talk but Akash didn't let him.

"ASR gets what he wants, doesn't he Bhai? You want a new office, who are we to question it."

"Well, I will." Payal said. She turned to her brother-in-law. "Why are we talking about separate offices? We are not even ready to launch one properly!"

"Actually, Payal, we are." Akash said. "What do you think Aman has been up to the past few days?"

Payal's eyes widened and she turned to Aman, who looked down, not really wanting to be in anyone's line of fire.

"And not just that, it isn't Aman who will be handling the Delhi office. I will."

"You're telling me... Arnavji, what is the meaning of this? You can't decide where my husband works from."

"Actually, he can." Multiple voices said the same thing, causing Payal to get the shock of a lifetime.

"Wh-what?"

"Jiji, Arnav is the CEO of AR, he can reassign any employee to any location." Khushi said in small voice.

"Bu- but... we have lives here. Khushi, you are here!"

"And what about Akash?" Arnav asked.

"What about me?" Akash asked.

"Who do you have here, Akash? In Delhi, you have your parents."

Payal couldn't believe this was ASR speaking. It couldn't be. "You... you are sending us back to those people?"

"People, Payal? They are your in-laws. Akash's parents. Even your parents live in Delhi. Why do you want to stay in London, anyway?"

"Khushi is my family, too." Payal argued.

"Jiji, you can't keep forcing our relationship on us. Relations don't work that way. At least not for me." Khushi spoke in a clear voice.

Payal could feel every eye on the sister duo. "I'm forcing you to be my sister?"

"No. You're forcing me to be more. And I can't be that person anymore." Khushi said. "I'm not Khushi Gupta anymore Jiji. I'm not the scared little girl who couldn't sleep alone. I'm not the god-fearing teenager who ranted till early morning complaining about our neighbors. I'm the woman Khushi Agarwal wanted to be before her parents died.

"I'm your cousin who had the honor to have you look after me. Please let me be that cousin. Let me have the honor of not breaking your married life." Tears were streaming down Khushi's face.

Payal couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could selfishness and sacrifice sound so horribly simple when put into words?

*****

Khushi felt that her heart was still shattering as people trudged out of her bedroom, one after another. Nancy stayed till the end.

"Khushi, why did you push so far?" She asked, highly curious.