PHIR SE

Possibilities and assumptions

Chapter 29

Possibilities and assumptions

Arnav raked his hand through his sweaty hair thinking of what he saw in the morning.

That little girl had really called Khushi " mum"!
Could my ears have mistaken?

Did Khushi really have a child ?

Had Khushi moved on?

Then why didn't she tell him about her boyfriend , husband or whatever?

At least on a friendly basis she could have told me!

Arnav's head spinned as he wandered about the little child he saw Khushi with. He felt thirsty so he went to get himself a glass of water from the kitchen.

Or is the child mine?

Am I the father of that child?

Was Khushi pregnant when we parted? Then why didn't she tell me? Is it because she wanted freedom from me and cut all ties with me?

But it would be my right to knowabout my child, wouldn't it ?

All these questions were equally painfully for him. The first probability of Khushi to have moved on would prove that he doesn't hold any status in her life any more. No position such that in these three days she didn't even care to tell him about some new important members in her life! But she deserves that happiness doesn't she? He decided that he won't intrude in her life if the first probability is true.

She wanted to get freedom from her past, he shall let her have that.

But what about the second probability! What of that was the truth? What if she was pregnant when they both parted ways 5 years ago? He doesn't remember using any protection which was a very stupid move according to him But his passion for her made him lose his sense of right and wrong.

So it is possible!
Then there is a big possibility that the child I saw in the morning is mine!

He needed to find out which of the probabilities was true. He put on his shirt, waistcoat and blazer and took long strides towards Khushi's apartment.

*************
" Yes! Yes! Wait! I am coming to open the door! Stop banging the doorbell! God! Who is this jerk on my door who doesn't know how to ring doorbells? Who the hell is so impatient to meet me?
Can't I even have hours of writing peace?"Lavanya blabbered noisily as she opened the door.

She was quite annoyed as the person on the door had been ringing the door since eternity while she was gathering ideas for a new project.

"Oh! ASR sir! You here? I am sorry I was just... I... uh!" she said embarrassed that a few seconds ago she was cursing him.

"I want to talk to Khushi ...I mean miss Upadhyay so if you could please call her here." He said as he made his way into her apartment hurriedly.

He stopped seeing a photo of Khushi , the little girl he saw in the morning and Khushi's two room mates. His heart filled with an unknown unexplainable feeling. Ignoring the other two females in the photo, he stared at how the little girl was tightly holding Khushi's arm.

The girl had quite a fair complexion but not as fair as Khushi. Father's contribution , he thought.
Maybe the father isn't as fair as Khushi... well I too am not as fair as her so both possibilities are still prominent.

He looked at Khushi. That vibrancy, that radiancy which was there on her face during childhood had come back. Maybe Khushi had found her Khushi ( happiness) in the little girl.

"ASR sir, Khushi isn't here. She left for office early today as she had a meeting with the publishing department." Lavanya said intimidated by his booming personality . How did Khushi handle this bomb? she thought in her mind.
" Oh! I just was... I wanted to meet her regarding the show. I mean I wanted to know the progress of script, as I am the sponsor..." Arnav said hesitatingly. He wanted to find the truth but indirectly.

"Oh! Then you can do one thing once you reach office go to NK's cabin. She must be there if not in her cabin for sure." Lavanya smiled.

" NK? Do you mean Mr. Niall Kennedy? Why would she be with him, like he in a different department? Is he her boyfriend or something?" he asked pretending to be confused.

Lavanya laughed out at this while Arnav looked in confusion. Looks like Khushi had spread her madness to her room mates too.

" What happened? What was so funny?"
"Khushi and boyfriends, ASR! She has had 567 boyfriends, according to her. You must be knowing, that is her self defence tactic to keep men away from approaching her. She doesn't like the concept of boyfriends. She has kept none in all these years. She stays away from boys with an arms distance."
" Oh! How could I forget? Khushi's 567 boyfriends!" he smiled a bit. "So, she has no boyfriends...?"

"I don't think she has any real boyfriend yet."

" What do you mean by 'real' boyfriend?"

" Well, she actually has many imaginary bofriends like Salman Khan, Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Jamie Dornan, Theo James , Leonardo di Caprio, Zayn mallik and yes! Not to forget Barun Sobti !" Lavanya counted on her fingers.
"Barun Sobti?" Arnav scrunched his eyebrows " Who is this guy? I have never heard of him."

"Arre!" Lavanya said shocked. "He is our hero! Mine, Anji's and Khushi 's favourite! He was the protagonist in one of our favourite shows and we three were head over heels over him. Not only us, even little Aashi likes him."
Arnav sighed and mentally face palmed at the fangirls.
"Okay then. I will leave for office
Bye, Ms. Lavanya. " Arnav turned towards the door casting one look at the little girl and her pretty mother's photo.
" Oh sir! By the way, Niall is my boyfriend and the head of the publishing department. So, Khushi wanted to discuss our wedding arrangements with him." Lavanya said.

"You are getting married?" he asked.
" Yes! Next week, please do come sir." Lavanya said with a wide smile.
Arnav congratulated her and bid her goodbye.

The revelation that Khushi has never had any boyfriends and that she tries her best to keep away from men affirms that the little girl must be his daughter. One part of him was happy that he was a father, he had a little beautiful daughter. Another part of him was raging and roaring at Khushi for hiding his own blood from him.

Khushi won't be spared for this big mistake. I want my daughter at any cost.

He started driving roughly towards the office.