Tewari & Sons, 23, Chandni Chowk

Chapter 20: Elephant in the Room

Khushi was so lost in her thoughts that she did not realise when Shyam walked in to the living room.

"Gudiya, wapas kab aayi? Party kaisa raha," he asked her, forcing her to stop staring at the TV that was on mute. She had come home an hour ago. True to his word, Arnav had dropped her home. Their ride from the farmhouse to Chandni Chowk was a silent one. She had stolen a few occasional glances at him while seated on the passenger seat. But his face was impassive, his concentration firmly on the road. Khushi did consider initiating some chatter, some small talk. There was the weather which seemed to have taken a turn, with some kind of storm in the air. Or something about the surprising amount of traffic that were encountering en route to Chandni Chowk at this late an hour. Perhaps a stray comment on all the New-On crowd whom they had met and indulge in a post-mortem of sorts. But none of them seemed promising and she decided not to. She read Arnav well by now. His bleak moods, his hesitation and even his affection. But now she sensed that the Arnav of the yore was back. The same Arnav who once gave her a ride from Siri Fort to his home, Except that there was no disapproving Gullu Bhaiya driving them. There was a disapproving Arnav instead.

She was not sure why exactly had Arnav turned from disarmingly affectionate to undeniably cold towards her in the course of the evening. Of course, she knew it was to do with their very awkward encounter with Anand Raizada. But at the same time she could not pin-point to the actual moment that things took a turn. At the beginning, her encounter with Anand Raizada was awkward, but almost anticlimactic in its normalcy.

"Khushi, how are you?"

"Fine, Uncle.. Sir. How are you? How is your health?"

"My health.. what," Raizada Senior began, looking confused and even alarmed, before offering her a smile, "Oh you mean that attack from a long time ago. How long has it been, seven.. eight years. You were so quick on your feet, as I recall. I am good and alive, thanks to you, I suppose."

Perhaps it was that comment that had upset Arnav. Many years ago she did ensure that he got immediate medical attention when she had inadvertently entered the Senior Leadership floor and had witnessed Anand Raizada collapse. But that hardly called for an extravagant comment that she had somehow given him life. That too over something that happened so many years ago. Especially considering everything that transpired after.

"That is good, Sir. We.. I.. was just going to get some dinner," she had said, looking at Arnav, whose attention now completely on his father.

"Of course, I won't keep you, Khushi. It was good to meet you. Enjoy with your friends," Anand Raizada said to her smiling.

As she hastily walked away from the Raizada men towards the food area, she was acutely aware of two pairs of eyes that were following her. She considered the very wide spread of food on display, and realised that suddenly she barely had any appetite to speak of. She felt strangely let down by how normal her conversation with Anand Raizada had been and at the same time how distinctly uncomfortable she felt in that moment.

"Madam, will you like to start with a soup," one of the catering staff asked her and she nodded, not because she liked soup, but because she needed some warmth after the sudden aloofness of Arnav. One moment he was holding her hand possessively and now he had abandoned her, making himself scarce. A familiar feeling enveloped her heart, full of foreboding. But she decided to seek him out and speak with him. She had done nothing wrong, neither had he. There was no reason for them to both have this weird feeling of what was it, guilt. Not again. Not after all these years.

She waited to get her soup before she went to look for Arnav, and felt a shadow behind her and turned to see it was the other Raizada, the one she did not want to see, Anand Raizada. She offered him a smile and was about to walk away, when Anand Raizada stopped her with a, "Khushi!"