Moments (IPKKND Secret Romance #2) (aka Our Moments)

Chapter 7: Khushi

10th December

*****

Sajna hai mujhe, sajna ke liye, [I have to dress up for my beloved,]

Zara uljhi laten sawaar loon, [Let me comb out my tangled tresses,]

Har ang ka rang nikhaar loon. [and make every part of my body glow.]

*****

'Wear red tomorrow. Please.'

Khushi looked at her reflection in the mirror and read his note again. She was wearing the only other red thing in her wardrobe – the red and pink salwaar suit that Anjali-ji had gifted her when Jiji had gotten engaged. It was one of the most beautiful things she owned, a more elegant version of what she usually wore, lacking the puffed sleeves and pom-poms but making up for it with its brightness and designs in gold and silver thread. She smoothed her hands over the dress, straightened her dupatta, and went out to wait at the dining table.

Jiji poured her a cup of tea while talking about flower arrangements for the wedding, but Khushi couldn't concentrate. She kept glancing at the clock, waiting for it to strike 9. At his knock, Khushi hugged her sister goodbye, promising to talk to Anjali-ji about pink roses, and stepped outside, carefully avoiding looking at Arnav-ji.

"R-ready?"

Startled by the way his voice shook, Khushi looked up at him. His eyes were making their way up her body, slowly, taking in every inch of her in a way that felt both wicked and perfect at the same time. Her heart thudded to a stop, only restarting when he realized he was staring and looked away.

He didn't start the car immediately, waiting until she was settled before reaching for something in the back seat. He came so close to Khushi that she could smell his cologne. Arnav-ji silently handed her a box, similar to the one he'd gifted yesterday, and Khushi found red and pink bangles inside it. They matched what she was wearing perfectly.

"How ... I mean ... You ..."

Khushi didn't even know how to ask the question that burned in her mind. Arnav-ji threw her a guilty look as he started the car, and the gentle notes of her favourite song from Saudagar wove around them. He drove in silence for so long that she started thinking he wouldn't reply, but just as she opened her mouth to protest, he explained.

"AR ... AR made that dress. We're launching a new line next year, it's ..."

Khushi waited for him to continue, and when minutes had passed by in silence, asked "It's ... what?"

"It's inspired by you," he took a shaky breath, "I oversaw every step of the design process, had a say in every little detail."

Oh.

"Di doesn't know," Arnav-ji continued, "I gave it to her to give as a present. Those bangles were made especially for that dress, I thought you should have them."

Khushi looked down at her outfit and then back up at him, surprised by his confession and everything it implied. They were silent throughout the entire journey, but this silence was charged with anticipation. They were heading towards something, a decision, and their weeks – months – of balancing on a knife-edge were finally coming to an end.

Neither of them moved when he parked the car in his driveway, unwilling to allow the rest of the world to intrude on this moment. Arnav-ji reached across and took the box from her.

"May I?"

Khushi nodded, unsure of her voice. He removed the three plastic bangles she was wearing – two red and one pink – before sliding on the new ones two at a time. Every caress of his warm fingers as they worked up and down her hand and across her wrist unmade her. Arnav-ji only released her when every bangle had been transferred from the box to her wrist.