Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 73 - Infuriating

It was a precarious peace. Arnav knew Dadi far too well to believe that she would behave better. The woman had showed her worst side when— no, he wouldn't think of that. He didn't think about that anymore.

But things seemed okay. Even if everything was not perfect, because Dadi was in his house, Shyam wasn't convicted yet, Nani was disgusted by him, and Khushi insisted on bringing all his ex-girlfriends to their wedding. There were silver linings. Khushi loved him, Di seemed happy, Akash and Payal were doing okay, and were going to have a baby. Di's baby would be born soon. And Aarav was a spot of brightness in the house.

Arnav hadn't thought about the incident for a while now. It had stopped haunting his dreams. He was ready to move on, the way Di had always told him to. He was ready to be happy, maybe for the first time since he was 14. And he wasn't going to let Dadi ruin that.

Except Dadi wasn't the only one he had to worry about.

Khushi had invited Arnav out, to taste samples for the wedding menu. He meant to go, but was stuck with a meeting he couldn't cancel, and she had huffed and told him she'd do it by herself. He had wanted to make it up to her and powered through the meeting, finishing earlier than it would have run, and dashed out of the office, leaving a bemused Akash to tie up loose ends.

But when he got to the place she'd asked him to come to, without telling her because it was meant to be a surprise, he saw Khushi with Kamini Mehta.

He had only seen blurry pictures of the woman, but it was unmistakably her. Short curly hair, a jhola similar to the one Khushi carried, and a fashion-unfriendly outfit of kurta top paired with some sort of canvas skirt that seemed to be her uniform. She was talking to Khushi animatedly, both smiling.

They had discussed Kamini Mehta. They had agreed — Khushi saw him just then, and looked guilty.

He stood immobile, furious, willing himself not to be furious, because he didn't want to lose his temper, because he meant to never subject her to his anger again.

"Khushi," he grit out through clenched teeth when she wearied over to him. Kamini Mehta looked at them curiously, and had the gall to follow Khushi.

"Arnav ji!" Khushi said far too brightly. "You said you wouldn't be able to come!"

"I need to talk to you alone."

She gave Kamini a quick glance, and turned her terrified eyes back to him. He held her arm and steered her to the door.

"What are you doing with that woman? We talked about it," it was an effort to keep his voice low.

"Arnav ji, you didn't tell me you were coming. I can explain, I'm almost done. Will you wait in the car? I'll be there in five minutes."

"No, Khushi. You'll be there in 10 seconds."

She had the audacity to look annoyed, but she went to tell Kamini she had to go, and followed him to the car.

He fumbled as he started the engine, furious.

"What the fuck was that?" he said the minute the car started, and they left the driveway of the restaurant, wheels screeching – which he hadn't meant to do.

"Arnav ji, please calm down."

"Why are you still talking to that woman, Khushi? I told you—"

"Let me explain!"

He changed gears aggressively, and exhaled through his nose. "Explain."

"She apologised to me."

What the fuck?

"That's it? That's your explanation for still talking to her, when I said you should stay away?"

"Arnavji, I didn't tell her anything, she just wanted to–"

"Wear your seatbelt!"

She glared at him, but pulled the seatbelt across her chest and clicked it in place.

"I wasn't going to speak to her, but she began to apologize for not telling me who she was. She said she wouldn't write anything more about us, and she didn't even ask me anything, she just wanted to say sorry. And she's nice, Arnav Ji, she's not —"

"I'm trying to protect you, dammit!"

Khushi flinched. Fuck it.

She looked away, lips pursed in silence. When he got home, she hurried out of the car and slammed the door. No way she was getting away with this! He followed her, easily keeping up with her as she almost ran upstairs. That's all she knew how to do. Run away!

"You were meeting her secretly without telling me?" he asked, pushing the doors of their bedroom open for her.

"I wasn't meeting her secretly!" Khushi returned. "I ran into her by chance–"

"So she is stalking you!" he took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead. He hadn't meant to get this angry

"Khushi, you understand don't you?" he said, with an effort to keep his voice gentle. "Why I don't want her around you? Tell me you understand what I am saying."

Her eye were large.

"I am worried about you," he said softly.

Instead of replying, she came to him, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Then she leaned over, and kissed his cheeks. One cheek, and the other.

"Khushi...?"

She led him to his recliner, pushed him down on it, and sat on his lap. He closed his eyes. He was angry. He was angry at her.

She lay her head on his chest, and arms around him.

"What are you doing, Khushi?" But the anger had already leached out. She kissed him on the lips, a slow soft kiss. He felt that familiar stirring. She wiggled on his lap and pressed herself against him.

Well, he would still talk to her. Later. Because now she was kissing him, and it was hard to remember anything else when she kissed him like that.

"It's the middle of the day, Khushi," he muttered helplessly, as she began unbuttoning his vest.

"We can close the doors and curtains," she said matter-of-factly.

He scrambled up, before someone walked in, and, before he could argue himself out of it, bolted the doors and closed the curtains.

🌸

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Author says: Ah whoops, I don't know why this was an appropriate place for some action time 😬