Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 58 - Proposal

Arnav spent the morning making calls to put his plan in motion. He was going to go ask Akash to sit in on a meeting in his place,  when Akash turned up at the poolside himself.

"Akash, I..." Akash looked like he hadn't slept in days. "How are things between you and Payal?"

Akash shrugged. "I don't know, Bhai," he said, his voice pensive as he flopped down on the wrought iron chair across Arnav. "She's been wracked with guilt after finding out what Shyam did to Babuji. She says she should have stopped Khushiji's engagement. I can't see her like this. Especially in this condition."

"At least you two are talking," Arnav offered. Akash nodded halfheartedly.

"When I first met her, I felt so sure of my feelings. I thought I knew everything there is to know about love. She was beautiful, without any pretensions, nothing superficial. She seemed like the perfect woman for me. And she probably thought the same — that I was a nice man, she liked me... It seemed so easy. But the truth is we hardly knew each other. It was all on the surface. Now it turns out we both have flaws. We find it hard to confront people close to us. She wanted to tell me about Shyam, but her family didn't let her. She was uneasy about Khushi's engagement, but she couldn't voice it. And I— I wanted to stop you, Bhai, because I knew you were crossing the line. But I never did... and I've never fought Ma. Even though I know she's treated Payal badly. I'm afraid of confrontation. I pretend things will be okay, and let people suffer."

Well they were certainly having a conversation! "Nobody's perfect, Akash," Arnav said. Heck, he knew that better than anyone else. "But, you and Payal, you are both good people."

Akash sighed. "I hope to be better. Fight for what's right. Be braver. We both need to be braver."

Arnav nodded, unable to say more. He was after all, one of the people Akash needed to fight back.

"I count on you to help me do better, Akash," he said, at last. "Please fight back— but I'll do my best to not give you a reason."

"Bhai—"

"No, I mean it. I regret what I have done. To Khushi, and to Payal and you. I caused most of this."

"Bhai... you've been my hero my whole life. Sometimes our heroes let us down... but I'll never feel differently about you."

Arnav cleared his throat, where a an inexplicable lump had suddenly appeared, as he struggled to think of a reply.

"Fuck it, I need to go back to work." he said finally, looking away to blink furiously.

"Sorry Bhai. You asked."

"I know, I shouldn't have," Arnav said, still trying to recover.

There was a clatter as Akash stood up, tipping over his chair. "Akash, what —" Akash lunged at him, and enveloped him in a bear hug, almost squeezing the breath out of his lungs. Dude needed to go easy on the bodybuilding!

"Unbelievable," Arnav muttered, but he couldn't keep the small smile off his face.

—

"I've thought of where to go," Arnav told Khushi over the phone, later. "Mohan will drop you off in the evening."

"Why, you won't take me?"

"No, I have to take a meeting. I couldn't ask Akash, he looked miserable already. I'm going to be late. Pack for a night, we are going to stay there."

"Is it a special occasion, Arnav Ji? Why are we going somewhere again? We went out yesterday for my birthday."

"It's a surprise, Khushi."