Let's fall in love (Story By PINKI)

Chapter 16

Khushi stared out the window and tried hard to focus on the man that looked like her brother in law, cross the street and walk towards the hospital. Does he know Karan well enough to come and see him? she wondered. Karan and Arnav were best friends and even though their families were also friends, Karan had never talked about Shyam unless he was saying something about Anjali as she was like a sister to him since Karan was an only son. Even if Shyam and Karan did know each other, there was nothing wrong with that. Maybe Karan just needed someone to talk to, she thought since Khushi knew he wouldn't confide in Arnav anymore after finding out they were married.

As she stood staring towards the hospital to see if the man would come back out, she didn't notice Arnav come and stand beside her. He noticed her staring at the hospital and wondered what she was thinking about but he didn't have the time to discuss anything as he had to go into a meeting.

"Khushi, I am just going to step out. I'll see you in a couple of hours" he patted her cheek and walked out, a restlessness coming over him after seeing her staring towards the hospital like that. As Arnav stepped out of the office, she debated for a few minutes on what to do and when she didn't notice the same figure coming out of the hospital for awhile, she rushed to her office, grabbed her purse and walked out of the building telling the receptionist to let Arnav know she was just going to make a Starbucks run.

Khushi walked around the main corridor in the hospital, a little scared of going towards the emergency ward as she didn't want to face Karan on her own. She sat on a chair beside the common exit of the hospital and looked around casually as if she was just waiting for someone. Suddenly a cart full of coffee and biscuits pulled up to her and she noticed a guy in his teens asking her if she wanted something. She politely refused and noticed many more volunteers around the hospital helping people with directions or helping elder people with their wheelchairs. She involuntarily smiled but that didn't last long when she noticed a group of people coming up the elevators from the food court and Karan amongst them.

Shit!

She silently prayed in her head that Karan wouldn't notice her and walk away and her wish got granted. He looked even more worn out today, she noticed, as he talked with his colleagues and walked up the stairs towards the research labs rather than the emergency ward.

Well Karan wasn't with Shyam, she mused and not knowing why else he would be visiting the hospital she decided to leave before anyone saw her. Maybe I'm just mistaken, if Shyam jiju was in town, her and Arnav would definitely know about it. Finally, to put herself at peace, she used her final resort and called Anjali's number. Getting no answer, she walked out of the hospital and down the street and into a Starbucks. Even though she didn't need any caffeine right now, she didn't want to go back to the office without anything especially if Arnav was in his office and their receptionist had told him where she was.

As she walked back to the office, she tried to replay the image of that person in her head. Maybe she was mistaken but somewhere something didn't seem right. She walked back into her office and saw Arnav in his, talking to someone on the phone.

Thank God, I grabbed coffee, she thought. Making up her mind that she was mistaken, and maybe it was just someone that looked like Shyam, she went back to her work. She tried working for the next little while but realized it wasn't working. She leaned back in her chair and looked over towards Arnav's office and it seemed like he was now on the speaker phone as he was walking around his office with papers in his hands while talking to someone. He was dressed in khakhi's with a polo shirt and she realized that this was the first time she had actually seen him dressed down a bit compared to the three piece suits he usually wore. His hair wasn't as gelled as it usually was and she wondered what the reason for the change was...maybe he's going golfing or something, she thought.

Her mind drifted back to their almost kiss earlier on and her hand unconsciously touched her lips. She was attracted to him- no doubt on that but something was holding her back and she couldn't pinpoint what it was. The way he cared for her, understood her and looked at her, she knew he felt something for her too but she never thought he would be attracted to her. After all, she was just a plain Jane. She always preferred to dress down whereas he was always dressed up. She had chosen to be an accountant so that she wouldn't have to deal with too many people in life and could quietly work on her own whereas he was an entrepreneur and he was constantly surrounded by people- cross that- more like surrounded by beautiful woman. She never thought he would be attracted to her but over the past little while, things had changed between them and she was aware of his constant gaze on her, the light touches. When he would think she fell asleep, he bent over her every night and gave her a kiss on her forehead. If she would twitch in her sleep, he'd wake up in an instant. If she would have a nightmare, he'd wake her up from it and hold her till she fell asleep again.

But something was holding her back- perhaps because it had only been a month since they had gotten married. As much as she wanted to be around him and close to him, whenever he was there, she almost held back. Maybe that's why I never had a boyfriend when I was younger, she thought laughingly. She definitely had trust issues like her dad, she mused- no wonder Dad's job suited him so much.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she needed to know the reason Karan left her. As confident as she always was, somewhere his disappearance had left a scar on her. As hard as she tried to forget about it, she wondered if something was wrong with her. She had always tried to be the perfect daughter, sister, aunt, fianc and wondered if she lacked something to be a perfect wife. Maybe she wasn't as romantic as a girl should be. That was one thing that Karan always teased her about. Her estrogen levels were definitely a lot lower than a lot of girls. Now that was something she couldn't do too much about!

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize when Arnav had walked into her office and noticed her laughing to herself. He walked up to her desk and sat across her and waited for her to snap out of her daydream.

"Care to share the joke?" he asked and she almost jumped in her seat seeing him sitting across from her. Almost feeling as if he had invaded the privacy of her thoughts, she glared up at him.

"Actually, No" she told him still clutching onto her heart that was pounding a little too fast and she wondered if it was due to him scaring her or was it his proximity?

"Fine Ms.Moodypants. Let's go- it's home time" he told her and was about to walk out of her office, when she ran behind him and held onto his hand. He stopped but didn't turn around and waited for her to say something.

"I was just kidding. There was no joke" she told him and he just nodded his head to that and walked back into his office to grab his stuff.

She definitely knew how to ruin the mood, she realized but deciding to deal with him at home, she quietly walked out of the office behind him.



As she prepared dinner for both of them, she heard him walk into the kitchen behind her but she didn't turn around. She heard him pulling water out of the fridge and then no noise. She waited for a while but heard nothing and wondering if he had tiptoed out of the kitchen, she turned slightly pretending to scratch her back but didn't see him. If he was going to show attitude just because she didn't have a joke to share with him, then she could do it too. She stood infront of the stove stirring the daal, and could feel the hair on her neck stand up. He was definitely behind her, but why wasn't he saying something?

Arnav stood behind her and noticed her posture. She had been easily stirring the daal and once he had walked into the kitchen she had stiffened a little. Wondering if she would turn around and acknowledge him, he now stood leaning against the fridge wondering how long it would take her to turn around and talk to him since she was the one who had rudely cut him off before, plus something about her looking towards the hospital with such concentration had set him off. Two can play this game, he thought and waited some more. She was wearing a shirt that was a few sizes too big for her and capris and she looked cute as a button standing there trying as hard as she could to ignore him.

This is getting ridiculous, we aren't five years old anymore and deciding to put an end to this game, she turned around.

"Look......" but her sentence dropped mid air when she realized there was nobody behind her. Slightly confused, she walked towards the fridge and looked around the counter but nobody was there. She turned around to get back to her food to bump into a rock hard chest and she screamed.

"Khushi, it's me... jeez stop punching!" he told her when she kept flinging her fists at him with her eyes still closed.

As she opened one eye after his voice registered somewhere in her brain, she looked up at Arnav absolutely embarrassed.

"Sorry...I just..."

"It's ok."

He crossed his arms across his chest and waited for her to say something more but huffing at him, she walked around him, back to towards the stove, to make some rotis.

"Did you call Di today?" he asked her out of the blue and she remembered her walk to the hospital trying to chase someone that she had assumed was their jijaji.

"Ya I did. She didn't answer though. How come?"

"Oh nothing. She tried calling you first but you didn't answer so then she ended up calling me. She said her and nani were first gone shopping at the mall and they didn't have reception and then they had to pick up jijaji from the airport"

"Oh" was all she replied as her stomach dropped.

"Jijaji went somewhere?"she asked again trying to keep her voice as normal as possible.

"Ya Di said he had day flight and had to go somewhere for a meeting early morning and now he's back in town" he told her totally unaware of the effect of his explanation on her. Knowing this was her chance to probe further, she decided to ask her final question.

"That's cool. Where did he go?"

"No idea. She didn't say. How come you called?" he asked slightly curious now as whenever she called Anjali, she would usually mention it to him.

"Oh nothing much. Just coz. I thought I'll ask Di guys when are they coming back" she told him as she finished with her last roti and as she turned around to get to the sink to wash her hands, he blocked her path.

"Kyun? You don't like being alone with me in the house?" he asked looking at her straight in the eye and all of a sudden she felt nervous.

"Huh? I mean noo.... Nothing like that... I just...Naniji and Di..." she stuttered badly, all of a sudden aware of his strong gaze on her.

"Toh phir?" he asked again and walked towards her slowly. Before she could hit her back against the counter this time, she felt his hands come in between the counter and her back, acting as a barrier.

"Kuch bhi toh nahi" she told him and walked around him to get back to the sink. Washing her hands, she realized that her sentence didn't make too much sense, oh well whatever because it seemed to have shut him up but she was highly mistaken. The minute she turned the water off, she felt herself being lifted off the ground and in a split second being seated on the dining table.

"Tum thik ho?" he asked touching her forehead as he noticed she seemed to be a bit dazed and he wondered if it was because of his proximity. If it was, he wanted to know if it was in a good way or if she was scared of his advances. She just nodded in response to his question.

"Toh phir bataoo" he asked again and knew she had no idea what he was talking about, just like the last time when he had cornered her into working with him. As he remembered that day, he chuckled inwardly remembering how badly he had tricked her.

"What?"

"You don't like being alone with me in the house" he said it more as a statement rather than a question.

"Nahi toh" she replied a little too fast and he raised his eyebrows at her in response waiting for her to confirm it once more that she didn't like him being around her.

"I mean...yes I do... I mean no... I do like it" she told him a little nervous all of a sudden.

"That's good" he told her in a business like tone and she sat on top of the dining table, her hands clutching her extra large t-shirt by the sides and her legs dangling. The next instant Arnav took a step closer to her and unconsciously, she moved her legs apart so he could come closer to her. Noticing what she did, he moved another step closer and nudged her legs a little more apart so he could stand even closer to her. His hands now rested on her sides and he leaned down a little to align his face with hers.

"We have some unfinished business" he whispered as he inched closer to her and her heart beat ten times faster, noticing that hooded look.

"We do? Why didn't you tell me before? I didn't bring anything from work with me... do you have it? We can go finish it... do you want to eat first or no?" she rambled, a little unsurely as she leaned back on the dining table a little as his aftershave was now flooding her senses. Wasn't she earlier thinking that her estrogen levels are low? So what in hell was happening now? She thought angrily as her body was reacting all weirdly.

"I rather finish it first" he whispered hoarsely,as his one hand slipped in her hair inching her face closer to his and his other hand pulled her closer by the waist.

All ideas of self control vanished in thin air and any stupid ideas that he had that he would let her go to Karan flew out the window as his lips descended towards her and touched hers softly. He gently nibbled on her lower lip first and then treated her upper lip the same way, very lazily as if he had the whole time in the world to do this. Khushi sat still, holding her breath, too scared to breath, move or open her eyes. Her heart imploded in her chest and her skin tingled.

"Breathe" he whispered against her lips and as her lips slightly parted, he breathed in her moan and kissed her firmly, nibbling on her dewy softness. He pulled her even closer to him and after what felt like forever to him, he felt her hesitant hands traveling up his back and rest in his hair. He lightly touched her lower lip with his tongue and traced it.

"Kiss me Khushi" he whispered hoarsely and her body finally relaxed against his as she parted her lips for him and decided to forget everything except for the feel of his strong yet gentle hands all over her back, the feel of his lips which were making her lose her sanity and the taste of him which was drowning her along with him.

Phew! There is Chapter 16. Now should I continue with their makeout session in the next part- depends on everyone's comments .Let me know what you guys think!Pinki