Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 6 - Peace offering

Khushi was gone again the next morning. The bed was made neatly, and everything was quiet. Arnav sighed and pulled out his t-shirt and tracks. Time for a run.

Downstairs, he met Nani, sorting through flowers for the morning aarti.

"Nani, have you seen Khushi?" Arnav asked.

Nani smiled at him knowingly. "You can't be at peace for a moment without Khushi bitya, Chotay," she said. "That's all I hear you ask these days, morning till night. Where is Khushi? Have you seen Khushi?"

Arnav rolled his eyes in exasperation. No one in this house ever gave you a straight answer or minded their own business.

"It's not like that, Nani," he said. "She was already gone before I woke up, so—"

"Yes, she's gone to the market to do her food shopping. She likes to go early when everything is fresh. Khushi bitya is very serious about her work, Chotay. She's just like you in a way. She doesn't tolerate anything less than what she thinks is perfect."

"She's just doing this to annoy me," he muttered. Nani heard him.

"Chotay, you should make an effort to understand your wife better. I know you two keep fighting like cat and mouse, but not everything she does is to annoy you. She really enjoys her work. She spends all day working—she goes shopping, and then she cooks everything. Most days she delivers all her food, takes new orders, and in the evening, she is busy with her finances. And now she's starting tuition with children. And still, she often cooks for the family, and she's there whenever we want to talk to her or if we need her to do anything for the house."

Arnav considered this. Khushi was always out all day, then? And now she was planning to tutor children. But she used to come to his office. So she wasn't really avoiding him. At least not before the other night when they had that ugly fight. Was she avoiding Shyam?

He kept harassing her every chance he got, she had said. Shyam was harassing Khushi under his roof. And it was his fault; he had forced her to live in this house and had failed to protect her.

"Chotay?" Nani was looking at him with concern. He realized he had balled up his fists. "I have to go, Nani. I'm getting late," he said and headed out the door.

Khushi was still out when he returned from his run. He had to call her six times in a row before she answered.

"Just pick up the phone when I call you, Khushi!" he snapped. "Where are you?"

"Why? What do you want?"

"I want to know where you are, dammit."

"I'm cooking."

"You're in the kitchen?"

"No, I'm cooking for the dabba service. I don't do that at home; I have a separate setup."

"What? Where?"

"With Shukla-ji."

"At AR? At the canteen?"

"No, your canteen doesn't have a big enough kitchen. It's near the office. We rented it to do our cooking in the mornings."

"Oh."

"What do you want?"

"Huh? Nothing. I was just— I just—nothing. Bye, Khushi. I'll see you later."

She hung up without a word.

He didn't have to wait past ten to talk to Khushi that evening. She was at the dinner table, sitting next to his seat, with Di beside her. Shyam was out, thankfully. Arnav didn't think he could stand the sight of that man much more.

Khushi passed him serving dishes wordlessly, distant as he tried to catch her eye and thank her.

"Chotay, Khushi bitya wants to go stay with her family for a few days," Nani said. Arnav turned to look at Khushi, who still refused to look at him.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why, Chotay?" Di said. "Khushi ji misses her parents, of course. Her Amma has asked her to visit for a few days. She asked you both, actually, but we all know you won't go. At least drop her there tomorrow."

"Why? Why won't I go?"

Everyone at the table gaped at him.

"You want to go with Khushi bitya to stay with her family? That's wonderful, Arnav bitwa!" Nani said, beaming.

"No," Khushi said. "There's no need for you to do that, Arnav Ji. You have so much work, and—"

"No, no, that's okay. I can work from Buaji's house too. And if I need to go to the office, I can go from there. It's no problem. And Akash can handle a lot of stuff, can't you, Akash?"

"Of course, Bhai," Akash said quickly, although he looked a bit surprised. "You must go. Payal and I already spent lots of time with them, but the two of you haven't got the chance... they will be very happy to have you."

Arnav saw Payal look at him closely, but she didn't say anything. He wondered what she was thinking. Khushi hadn't told her sister why they had eloped, even though he had seen Payal question Khushi relentlessly. He remembered how fierce she had been when Arnav had taken Khushi back home unconscious from the broken-down guesthouse. Almost as fierce as Khushi herself could be—something he now knew was very unusual for Payal, who was so meek otherwise. She had been somewhat colder to him since he and Khushi had married too, as if she guessed that it had to be his fault. He had noticed her look at them both carefully, as if trying to figure it out on her own. She wouldn't like the truth.

"Hello Hi, bye-bye!" Mami-ji piped up. "Arnav bitwa, you aren't used to that kind of life. That Nandkishore doesn't have any servants. Or air conditioning! How will you manage? Tell, tell!"

"Mami, I'll be fine," Arnav said irritably. "I don't want Khushi to go alone. And after the wedding... I mean, they're my family too now." Khushi stared at him incredulously, while his sister and Nani beamed at him. Payal still looked contemplative.

Khushi followed him to their room after dinner, walking so close she almost bumped against his back.

"Don't you have, like, children to teach or something?" he asked her.

"What are you up to?" she demanded.

"What do you mean? I'm going with you; it's just for a few days. What's your problem, Khushi?"

"I'm going to Buaji's house so that I don't have to see you, at least for a few days."

Arnav refused to take the bait. "They will think we had a fight if you show up alone."

"So what?"

"They'll ask you about it and pester you to make up with me and insist that you return home as soon as possible."

Khushi snorted. But Arnav knew when he had won. She caught his smirk and glared at him as she left the room.

Well, whatever. He wasn't going to let her leave him like that.