*****************************Flashback************************************
Khushi walked down the ramp not realising
where she was and what she was doing. Everybody at the show mistook her for one
of the models but she was out of place. All the models had been modelling
dresses designed by AR and she had a green and gold lehnga. The show had come
to standstill. She reached the end of the ramp and stood there scared and
confused. Where had she come? What was she doing? She looked around at the
crowd until she saw someone stand up. He was wearing a black suit and was
sitting in the front row. She turned to look at him but the expression on his
face made her more scared than she already was. He had started making his way
towards the ramp when she turned around to walk back the way she came but
stepped on her veil and fell of the ramp. She closed her eyes waiting to hit
the ground when she felt two strong arms break her fall. She opened her eyes to
look into those of the man who had stood up when she walked down the ramp, the
eyes of Arnav Singh Raizada. He had a stern look on his face one of almost
anger but not quite. It almost seemed as if both of them were unaware of the
masses of people looking on. Event managers had been running around trying to
figure out how all of this could have happened when security approached the
front of the crowd. Arnav had finally come back to reality and realized he was
still holding her. He had put her down and not knowing he was standing on her
veil he pushed her towards the guards and her veil came off. Khushi turned
around to look at her veil lying on the ground and then at Arnav. Little did
she know he was the one person that was going to change her life.
The guards had thrown her in a
dressing room. Khushi felt bare without her scarf and took the pink one she saw
lying on the chair. She had put on and was just about to walk towards the door
when it opened and in walked Arnav. He closed the door behind him so no one
would hear their conversation. He kept walking towards her until he was two
feet away and stopped. “Who are you? Who sent here? How much did they pay you
to ruin my fashion show?” he asked with rage. It was the first time anything of
this sort had ever happened. He was known for his image and perfection in the
way he did things. He wasn’t going to let some girl ruin his image and his
reputation. Khushi moved back scared because of the anger she saw on his face
and heard in his voice. “Answer me god damn it!” Khushi was trembling with fear
but didn’t want to make him any angrier. “I was looking for someone but I think
I came to the wrong place. I needed to do something before my sister’s wedding
and was looking for someone but I guess I got lost.” He walked towards her and
she didn’t know if it was out of fear or natural instinct but she kept moving
back. “Don’t lie to me. It’s in your best interest if you just speak the truth.”
He kept moving forward as he spoke knowing there was nowhere for her to go.
Khushi had taken one more step back when she hit the wall. She noticed Arnav
still hadn’t stopped and was still coming towards her. “What’s your name?” He
had cornered her in the dressing room and she had nowhere to go. “Please let me
go. If I don’t my sister’s wedding won’t take place. I need to leave. Please.”
Khushi pleaded as she tried to move past him but he was too quick. He grabbed
the top of her arms and pushed her back against the wall. “I asked you a
question. It doesn’t even look like you know who I am. I’m Arnav Singh Raizada.
Nobody ruins my work and gets away with it.” Arnav tightened his grip on her
arms as he spoke with outright rage. Khushi was hurting and her eyes started
wellling up with tears. His grip was so tight that she felt like she was going
to get bruises. She had had enough. Did he really expect her to just stand
there and listen while he threw false accusation at her? Did he really think
she was that weak? He was hurting her physically, that pain she could take but
not being falsely accused of something she hadn’t done. “Look Mr Arnav Singh Raizada,
I’m not going to stand here and listen to you accuse me of something I didn’t
do. Let go of me. You have no right to touch me or talk to me this way.” Khushi
pushed him back and he let go of her. She still had tears flowing down her
cheek. From the pain he had caused her? No. From the fact that her sister’s
wedding would cancelled because of her if she didn’t make it in time? Yes.
Arnav’s just kept getting angrier. He couldn’t believe what had happened. Never
before had anyone walked away from him. He had always been given answers when
he wanted them… then why was she being so difficult. All he wanted was answers
and the truth. He wanted to know who sabotaged his show. He wasn’t going to let
her go that easily. If she thought she could just walk away from him then she
thought wrong. She was an arm’s length way from him when he reached back and
grabbed her wrist. He pulled her swinging her around and holding her hand
behind her back pulling her towards him. His grip on her wrist was tight and
she could feel the pain searing through her. “How did you even dare to walk
away. I wasn’t finished.” His tone was harsh. More tears streamed down her
cheeks. The fact that he was causing her pain seemed to have no effect on him
whatsoever. It was almost as if he was heartless and couldn’t feel anything… or
maybe he didn’t want to feel anything. “Let go of me. You’re hurting me.”
Khushi cried out. He just looked at her with anger in his eyes. He didn’t seem
to feel anything, almost as if he wasn’t even human. He didn’t even feel any
remorse for the pain he was causing her. Nothing. “It’s no use. I’m not going
to get anything out of you anyway. You’re not going to give me he answers I
want.” He let go of her. “Just get lost.” He shouted at her and Khushi ran out
of the dressing room far away from the fashion show, far away from the person
who she never wanted to see again. She never wanted to feel that kind of pain
again. She never wanted to feel that scared again.
***********************End
of Flashback********************************
She remembered reaching home only to
realize that it was too late. Nothing could be done. The groom’s family had
called off the wedding. Her sister was shattered but there was nothing anyone
could do now. It was too late. “If you knew it was my fashion show why did you
take AR as a client. You should have known better.” Arnav said in a smug tone
with a smug look on his face. “That’s the thing Mr Raizada, I didn’t even know
it was yours until I saw the AR signs on either side of the stage. You see, this
event would boost our business and my partners knew that but they also knew I’d
never accept the event because it was yours. They decided to take up the
project without informing and arrived in Delhi. I hate not handling any event
personally so I decided to come to Delhi and look at my bad luck. I see my
client for the first time and it’s you.” Khushi said with a smirk on her face.
She knew she had pushed the right button. He was definitely going to react to
this. “Look, Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta,” he said as he pulled her even closer
holding her tighter. “I’m not happy about seeing you either but then again it’s
not like we have a choice.” Khushi smiled at him. It wasn’t what she was
expecting. She was expecting anger and that ruthlessness that she knew he was
capable of but it never came. “Well, then I’d be glad to get out of your face
if you would just let me go. I don’t even know why you tried doing this. Were
you hoping that it would have the same effect it did all those months ago or
were you expecting it to do more? I’m going to let you in on a little secret,”
Khushi leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “I don’t feel pain anymore. I
don’t feel anything anymore.” Arnav let go of her and stepped back. He looked
at her knowing somewhere deep down that he was the reason for it, but he didn’t
care. He hated her for what she did to his family and what she did to him. She
could never be forgiven. Khushi walked past him to look for Karan and Priya
hoping to find them soon so she could get out of there.
Khushi had finally found Karan and
Priya when they were clearing up the stage and ramp taking down all the
lighting and decorations. “Khushi, what happened? Why are looking so pale? Are
you okay?” Priya asked concerned. Khushi looked at Priya and she immediately
understood. Khushi didn’t need to say anything. “I’ll leave you alone for a
while. Karan and I will finish up. When you’re ready to leave come find us and
we’ll go back to the hotel. I’ll ask Karan to book the earliest flight back to
Lucknow.” Priya went back to helping Karan finish up so that they could leave.
She knew Khushi didn’t want to be there any longer and wasn’t going to make her
wait any longer than she had to. Khushi was greatful for the friends she had.
She didn’t even have to say anything and Priya knew what had happened. Not all
of it. But she still knew. She went backstage to fetch her bag knowing he would
have left. She knew him too well. If she was there, there was no way he was
going to stay any longer than he had to. She grabbed her bag and walked towards
the end of the ramp where Karan and Priya were taking off the fairy lights.
“Just give us two minutes, Khushi. We’re almost done then we can leave,” Karan
said as he untangled the lights. “Don’t worry. You two take your time and sort
everything out. I need some fresh air so I’ll walk back to the hotel and get a
taxi if I’m tired,” Khushi said. Priya dropped the lights she had in her hand
and looked at Khushi, “Are you mad? After everything that happened you want to
go alone. What if something happens to you?” Khushi could see the worry in
Priya eyes. “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me. If I’m not at the hotel
within an hour then look for me okay. I promise it won’t take longer than
that,” Khushi gave both her friends a small smile and headed for the door.
She needed to be alone for a little
while. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know Delhi. She’d lived there for 8 months.
She needed to think about what had happened. What game was fate playing with
her? Why was god doing this to her? She had tried so hard to forget everything
that happened since she came to Delhi, every memory she had shared with him.
She tried to forget HIM. She would have been successful to if only she hadn’t
come to Delhi. Maybe she should have stayed behind and let Karan and Priya
handle it. She thought back to what had happened backstage. Why is that despite
hating him she still loved him. She had shown him how much she hated him when
she told him she had only come for business and nothing else. She had shown him
that he meant nothing to her. Then why, why did she still feel something for
him. She tried to forget him but never could. Is it because she loved too much?
Is it because she would have given up her life for him? Could she still love
him even after everything he’s done? There were so many questions that she
didn’t have the answer to. How could she be so confused? Nothing made sense
anymore. The hatred was there but it wasn’t enough to kill her love for him.
Her love for him was too strong. What she had shown him backstage was a façade.
It wasn’t the real her. It was part of who she had become but not completely.
She had killed all her feelings and vowed to never let anyone else in ever
again but was it possible that he could revive everything she had killed. A
part of her had also died. Her friends tried very hard to revive the
happy-go-lucky Khushi they knew but somewhere along the line of trying to
rebuild her life and forget him she forgot how to be happy. She still couldn’t
forget what had happened backstage though. Why did her heart still beat faster
when she was around him? he had broken her heart into so many pieces that she
didn’t think it was possible she could ever love again but somehow when she saw
him and when he pulled her closer towards him she could hear the dhak dhak that
she hadn’t heard in over eight months. Was it possible? She shook her head. It
couldn’t be. Tears streamed down Khushi’s face as realization had suddenly
dawned her. Even after all this time. Even after all the effort she put into
trying to forget him. She had the answer to all her questions. She still loved
him. Her vision was blurred from the tears in her eyes and she couldn’t see
properly. She was about half to the hotel when she heard the sound of glass
breaking on the sidewalk behind her. She wiped away her tears and tried to
clear her vision as she turned around. Fear had suddenly taken over and she
froze. There were two drunk men walking towards her wolf whistling. The whistle
rang in her ears bringing her back. Khushi turned on her heels and started
running. She had heels on with her sari that she had worn for the show and was
too tired to change before she left. She knew she wouldn’t be able to run very
fast but was hoping to make it far enough away from them to stop and call for a
taxi. She rounded the corner onto the next street and stopped when she didn’t
see them. She didn’t want to turn around to see if they were chasing her so she
didn’t know if they were behind her. She looked at her watch then down the
street. It seemed as if she had lucked out. It was half past ten and there were
no taxis in sight. She turned around to see if she was still safe but froze.
They were running after her. There was a distance of two feet between them and
there was no way she was going to be able to escape. Now all she could was
pray.
After his encounter with Khushi
backstage, Arnav knew he wouldn’t be able to stay any longer. He was walking
towards the exit doors at the back of the hall when he was stopped by one of
their clients who wanted to compliment him on the fashion show. Arnav had
eventually ended up moving to one of the tables at the back of the hall and was
discussing a business deal. He looked down at his watch and saw it was quarter
past ten. “Thank you for the offer Mr Sharma but I think it’s getting quite
late now. Maybe you could come by the office tomorrow and we could arrange a
meeting to finalize the deal and sign the contract,” Arnav said as he stood up.
“Sure no problem. I understand you’re a very busy man Mr Raizada but I will get
my secretary to phone and set up a meeting at you r office. Goodnight then,” Mr
Sharma greeted Arnav as he left. Arnav looked around the hall glad to know this
show was a success unlike the previous one. He saw a few people packing away stuff
and cleaning up the hall so he decided to leave and go home. He walked to the
parking lot, got in his car and left for home. He couldn’t help thinking about
Khushi. He had never expected to see her. He never wanted to see her after what
she had done. For the first time in fifteen years he had opened himself up to
someone. He allowed himself to get close to her. He fell in love with her. He
protected her from everything. Why? Why did this have to happen to him? She had
broken down the wall he had built around himself … and then she was the cause
of him rebuilding that wall. He would never let anyone in again. Never. He was
driving down the street noticing it was unusually quiet until he saw the time.
This part of Delhi was always like this when it was this late. People were
probably throwing parties elsewhere and other people would have been caught up
in something else at half past ten at night. He was driving down the street
when he suddenly hit the brakes jerking the car to a stop. Two men were
interfering with a girl on the sidewalk.
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