Titaliya

Chapter 24

Arnav refused to speak to her. She didn't take off the Dior dress until well into the evening, pleased with the results the dress had produced. For once, she had come out on top. Arnav had no uncomfortable endearments or flirty responses for her. Luc bailed out of the plan and fled on his motorcycle, but her plan only required him to show up.

Khushi changed into her jalebi patterned pajamas and hung the dress up. She put her glasses back on and opened her laptop. Asha had emailed her their assignments, and she cracked her knuckles before starting on the work.

A knock sounded at her door as she was about to go to sleep. He had his arms crossed across his chest.

"Who was that guy?"

He'd held out for eight hours, but finally the curiosity and the irritation got to him. Of all the nationalities in the world, she had to be friends with a French guy. It wasn't entirely surprising. A lot of things about Khushi were French when he noticed. She chose simple, elegant clothing and understated, ridiculously expensive brands. She had somehow acquired the French's talent of artful condescension in a matter of months, and kept perfecting her stinging derision on him.

"Luc," she answered.

"Anything else I need to know?"

She shrugged. "He's got a six-pack?"

"How do you know that?"

His voice had gotten two octaves higher. She smiled.

"Take a guess."

She closed the door on his face and slept more peacefully than she had in weeks.

* * *

Khushi parked her car and prepared for the long walk to the college building. All the good parking spots were taken up despite her having come early. There was a man in front of her. She didn't know why he caught her attention, until she walked closer.

He wore the same dirty smile that haunted her nightmares months before as he looked at her, and she walked past without making it clear she recognized him. As she walked past, she took out her phone and called Aditi.

"Aditi, I'm gonna need those bodyguards Nani mentioned," she said. "And perhaps a licensed gun."

"Is Shyam there?"

"Yes," Khushi answered. "I'm in the parking lot, walking to my class."

"Are you safe?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think I might have left something at home, though."

"You want me to check on Arnav?"

"Yes, I think that would be good."

She turned the phone off and walked towards Asha, who was waving for her to hurry. She glanced back to see him still looking at her. She slid on a pair of sunglasses and headed into the campus.

"Who was that weird man?" Asha asked.

"You noticed him?" Khushi asked.

"Hard not to. He was too old to be a student, too young to be a parent. And he gave me the creeps," Asha replied. "And why was he staring at you?"

"Don't worry about him. My grandmother's quite good at getting rid of pests like that."

* * *

Shyam couldn't hold in his excitement. He loved Khushi in her colorful salwar kameezes and single plait. But this Khushi he saw going into the college was even better. She was just as beautiful, and by the look of the car she had stepped out of, she'd come into some money. Wealth was the only thing that had kept him tied to Rani Saheba, and now that Khushi had it as well, he could divorce his wife in peace.

All he had to do was make Khushi fall in love with him. He had fumbled the first time around. But now he was at an advantage. Arnav was incapacitated, Anjali was hours away, and the city he was in had no clue of his real identity. He had already found a job as an assistant to a reputable divorce lawyer in the city. Slowly he was paying back the goons for the job they hadn't even done properly, and they were even becoming friendly with him. After all, they were in a line of work that occasionally called for a lawyer's services.

His phone rang, and he picked up, grimacing at the name that popped up on the screen.

"When are you coming home?" Anjali asked. "Are you eating well, Shyamji? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not coming back."

He didn't use his sweet voice, and waited for the shocked silence on the other end of the line to end.

"Shyamji?"

"I got a good job here, Rani Sahiba," he explained, putting back on his usual cajoling, sweet tone. The idiot was still useful to him, until he could be sure of a future with Khushi. Anjali was a worthless wife, but a wonderful contingency plan.

"Do you need any money until your salary comes in?" she asked.

He wanted to ask for her inheritance and never ask her for anything again. Unfortunately most of her wealth was in Arnav's control, protected by documentation and lawyers that Anjali couldn't hope to understand. Her managing to extricate her wealth without Arnav knowing was impossible. And Arnav agreeing was out of the question.

"No, Rani Sahiba. I have enough money."

Contingency plan, he thought to himself. He couldn't overestimate himself, and he didn't have a history of being lucky when it came to love or money. Khushi could slip through his fingers again, and he would be left with the limping lunatic he was already married to.

He cut the call and walked over to Khushi's car, running a hand over the clean white exterior and smiling on seeing the tiny idol of Devi Mayya on the windshield. The car was expensive, and filled with the highest end modifications.

He checked to make sure there was no one around and peered through the windows. There was a fully decked out stereo system, and plush white leather seats. He saw a couple of bags from high end stores in the backseat.

A security guard was walking over and Shyam retreated into the crowd on the road. He cast glances at the college and its gates while he walked away. The one thing he had found lacking in Khushi was her lack of education, and now they would be a perfect match for each other.

She didn't seem close to her old family, nor to Arnav. He could turn her against them with ease. A little omission of truths, a little subterfuge, and he could create unfixable havoc and finally get his happy ending. It had been easy the first time, and now he was in a different city. There were thousands of kilometers between Bangalore and Shantivan, and he could play his games to his heart's content.

With that cheerful thought, he set off to his new office, with thoughts of mayhem and reciprocated love in his scheming mind.