Arshi FF : Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat

Chapter 5

"Shhhhh....." whispered Arnav urgently, his eyes locking with the stricken gaze of the woman before him. "Relax. Relax. Relax," The room held its breath as he mumbled soothingly and gently released her from his grip. As he stepped back, a ray of light from a nearby glass window fell upon their faces, revealing each other's identities in a silent exchange.

"Arnav?!" Khushi whispered, surprise evident in her tone.
"What's going on here?" Her voice rose, carrying a mix of concern and confusion.

The initial shock of being in such proximity to Khushi Gupta subsided, replaced by the tension that escalated with her raised voice—a risky volume for those seeking refuge in secrecy.

Khushi awaited his explanation, her gaze fixed on him. Before she could utter another question, he broke the silence, his words cutting through the stillness. "I have the police tailing me."

He observed her reaction, half-expecting her to erupt into a scream. Instead, her eyes widened at the revelation, holding onto a silent anticipation for him to disclose more information.

The sound of men running and shouting echoed from the library portico. Arnav watched as Khushi stood still, gulping down a ball of saliva.

He hurried to the side of the window, desperately scanning for an escape route for Khushi to sneak out. He saw the watchman speaking to one of the constables who were previously chasing him. While talking, the security personnel secured the lock from outside, and Arnav closed his eyes in frustration, mentally cursing himself for bringing this upon himself and her.

After making sure they left, he turned towards Khushi, finding her still rooted to the spot where he had left her, clutching onto her water bottle. Recognising the need to apologise and explain, he began, "Look...," Only to be abruptly cut off by Khushi's voice.

"Why are they chasing you?" Her eyebrows tensed and scrunched up.

Arnav felt the gravity of the situation he had unintentionally dragged Khushi into. Though he knew he hadn't consciously done anything wrong to her, a sense of awkward responsibility settled on him.

"Had a tiff with Doshi... I mean, Akash Doshi. He is from the opposition party. I mean, from FSU."

Realisation dawned on Khushi as he spoke; with disbelief palpable in her voice, she asked, "So, I am trapped here with you?"

He looked at her in silence and then averted his gaze, unable to formulate a compelling argument to counter the unsaid accusation.

Khushi's mind raced as she considered her next course of action. Calling her friends seemed futile as they could only help with a key. Breaking the lock would only attract unwanted attention. She stole a look at Arnav, who now stood at least 10 feet away from her. Spending a night in close quarters with a man she barely knew (her "non-existent crush" notwithstanding) seemed ridiculous.

"He doesn't look sinister, though." her mind tried to assuage her unconscious fears. "Shut up, Khushi! Haven't you seen enough documentaries on psychopaths to know to never go by the looks?"  the rational side reasoned.

Arnav intentionally tried to keep as much distance as he could from the other occupant in the room. He knew how precarious the situation looked from Khushi's perspective. "Should I talk to her and ease her possible fears?" he pondered. "No, acknowledging the elephant in the room would only make it more awkward than it already is."

A sudden bout of thirst overcame him. Exhausted from the earlier chasing and running, he sat down and scanned the room for a cooler. The sight of an empty water container came into view. "How splendid," he muttered, leaving a sigh. There was no way he was going to ask Khushi for water; he wanted to keep the interaction minimal, not wanting her to feel like he was taking advantage of the situation.