Dressed in casual slacks Akash walked into arnav's apartment the next morning.
"Morning! What's up!" he asked looking at arnav
"What's wrong with you? You look like you have been in a train wreck. What happened?" Akash asked concerned
"First sit down"
"Something happened, so don't keep in suspense" akash said, as he sprawled on the couch.
"Khushi discovered the bet"
"So, what difference does the make?" He asked confused
"Akash, I have feelings for her. She is special to me. She is different from other woman that I have known"
"So, what are you going to do?" Akash asked concerned
"I don't know! Yaar. I have to prove to her that I love her. The only thing is I don't know how to prove it to her. She is not talking to me. I must have called her a dozen times, she is not picking up her phone" he said in vexation.
"Why did I get into that stupid bet with him? "He must have asked that question a hundred times to himself. He had no answer. It was just a spur of the moment decision on his part and his ego had been triggered by Yuva. Now, he felt like a louse.
"Let's put our heads together, we can come up with something" Akash said as he saw that his friend was distracted.
Arnav and Akash discussed several ideas and discarded them. Finally, both of them agreed on one of Akash's suggestions. Akash wished arnav luck and went out to make the necessary arrangements.
"Damn you, arnav" she snapped. It had more than a month and still he haunted her. Today would be the first day she would be seeing him after their break-up. If, she could even call it that. It had been a one- night stand but it had been an incredible one for sure.
Taking a deep breath she looked at herself in the mirror. She had a lost a little bit of weight but it was not that visible yet.
Khushi was sitting in the bleacher's watching the match as the ball whizzed past her and she heard the crowd cheer. Arnav had hit a sixer.
The announcer's voice filled the air. "Arnav is firing on all cylinders tonight. That was his 5th sixer of this innings. Great game folks"
Khushi could tell his hands hurt from the way he was wincing in pain. She wondered he was not telling the coaches. It would do him a world of good if he gives that hand a few days rest she thought.
Once the game was over and the team had won, the reporters crowded into the locker room.
Arnav's eyes zeroed in on khushi, as she entered the locker room"
For several seconds, khushi froze mesmerized by the man
who had stolen her very thoughts and gotten under her skin refusing to leave. The activity around them did not exist anymore. He did not give anything away in that look. Lord, help her, as much as she wanted to ignore and snub arnav her body reacted to his close proximity.
Khushi forced herself to look way and walked towards Akash to talk to him. She ignored arnav completely as she made the rounds and talked to the rest of the players.
Khushi was again talking to Akash when arnav came and grabbed her.
"Arnav, leave me alone. You have caused enough trouble" as khushi said that other stunned reporters watched at the unfolding drama in front of their eyes.
"I want to talk to you and I want you to listen to me" he said.
"You picked a poor way to do this"
"You are not picking up my calls. When I come by you don't even open the door"
"Indeed I do" she said lifting her chin defiantly. She ignored her racing pulse and the ache caused by seeing him.
"You very well know why I don't want to talk to you or see you" she said staring at him.
"Khushi…"
She whirled around. "Congratulations! Arnav! You won! Isn't that enough for you? Do you have to humiliate me like this" A single tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it. "Go Away."
"I am not one of the groupies that you guys play with and discard. Let go of me now"
"Betting with Yuva was stupid, and it did not mean anything"
"Why are acting this way. Everyone is watching us"
"I don't care. They can watch because I am not going anywhere till I finish what I have to say" he pulled her close and pressed his cheeks to hers.
He pulled himself from her and went down on one knee. Her heart thudded and she was trapped inside this surreal moment. He pulled a box from his pocket and gave it to her.
"Open it"
She starred at him and slowly opened the box and a single solitaire diamond ring winked back at her.
"What…What is this?"
"I love you khushi" he reached inside and took the ring out. "I know we haven't known each other for long but it's long enough for me to know that you are the one person I want to spend my entire life with. Marry me. I will give you all the time to make a decision" he said earnestly.
Her heart thudded hearing those words. Tears of happiness filled her eyes. Arnav loved her. "I love you, too arnav"
He took her left hand and slid the ring on to her finger and cheering filled the air. They faced the press, his colleagues as cameras flashed all around them.
Arnav looked at her and mischief danced in his eyes. He reached down and picked her up. Khushi gasped as she twined her hands around his neck. "What are you doing?"
"Taking you with me, where you belong"
"you just made the day of those reporters. Our picture would be plastered on all the newspapers tomorrow"
"I don't care as long as I keep this reporter happy"
Four years later
The evening before their son's first cricket match, arnav's friend Akash had come to see his god son play tonight.
The sat on the ground in the small backyard in their home as they watched their son hit the ball to make a run.
"I think we should have another honeymoon" he suggested his eyes lighting up at the idea.
"Hmmm," She murmured, as his lips touched hers, teasing her with his soft touch. "Tempting, but tell me why?" she asked him curious to know his reason.
He smiled, "Well, there is still 10 more to go if I am to have a team of my own"
"WHAT.." she shouted.
"Ssssh…I love you, khushi"
"I love you too, arnav"
