Arnav killed the engine, got out the car and
ran across the road. The sight he saw when he reached the sidewalk disgusted
him. As he got closer to the goons he noticed what they were doing. They were
trying to force themselves onto a girl in a dark quiet street. They could’ve
done anything they wanted and nobody would’ve known. She could’ve screamed as
loud as she wanted to and nobody would’ve heard her. “Help, somebody help me!”
he heard the cries of the girl but there was something in that voice that
sounded familiar. He could hear the fear in her voice, he was sure he had heard
it before. But where? “No, let go of me!” she screamed. Arnav broke into a run
and stopped when he reached the spot they were standing. He grabbed the collar
of the leather jacket and the man immediately turned around. “What do you want
man? Can’t you see we’re busy? Get lost!” Arnav was fuming. He pushed him
against the wall next to his friend. Arnav could tell he was drunk. “It’s not
right to misbehave with a girl in a dark and quiet street, especially this late
at night.” Arnav said through gritted teeth. He pushed Arnav and he stumbled
back. Arnav heard more screams and cries from the girl. He looked towards her
and saw her sari was trying to get pulled off. He looked at the goon that was
moving the hair away from her face. That was when he lost all his self-control.
Nobody touched Khushi. He didn’t care if she had left 8 months ago. She was
still his and no one else’s. Blinded by rage Arnav punched the one against the
wall in the gut and he buckled over falling to the ground crying in pain. Arnav
kicked him breaking some of the bones in his arm. Realizing he wasn’t able to
move Arnav turned his attention to the man harassing the girl. Arnav attempted
to punch him in the rib as he was still facing the girl leaving his side open
but he blocked the punch. He threw a punch at Arnav and the two ended up in a
brawl with the goon landing a few punches but Arnav managed to beat him until
he didn’t have any strength left and was bleeding from the nose and mouth. He
looked over to where the girl was. She was hunched over on the ground with her
head between legs. He could hear soft muffled sobs and saw her clothes were
torn. He looked at her again and then turned towards the goons lying on the
ground writhing in pain.
Khushi flinched when she felt someone
touch her. She had seen someone come their way but couldn’t remember much of
what had happened at that moment. She had been too scared and didn’t want to
see anything so she closed her eyes and didn’t want to open them until
everything was over. She could hear all the fighting but it was just adding to
her fear. She felt so vulnerable. She couldn’t believe that she had almost been
stripped of her dignity. She was frozen and couldn’t move. She didn’t want to.
She just wished she had stayed and waited for Karan and Priya. If she had none
of this would have ever happened. “Khushi…” she heard a soft whisper. She knew
that voice. She could never make a mistake in recognizing it. She lifted her
head up to see his face. She looked at him with blotchy, red eyes as he helped
her get up. She was too much in a state of shock that she couldn’t even fix her
sari, what was left of it at least. Arnav picked up the end of her sari that
was lying on the ground and wrapped it around her. He took of his coat to put
it around her and noticed her trembling. He couldn’t stand to see her in this
state. She was slowly coming out of shock. She looked down at the two
unconscious men lying on the ground then at the one standing in front of her.
She was still scared and Arnav noticed. He knew Khushi and he knew how
vulnerable she was right now. He took a step towards her and put his arms
around her. Khushi didn’t try to stop him or push him away. His arms were her
fortress. Her safe place where she knew no one could harm her and she didn’t
have to worry. She leaned her head against his chest letting the tears fall.
“Don’t worry, Khushi. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m here now.” She heard
him whisper to her. She looked up at him into his eyes. That was the last thing
she saw before she slipped away into the darkness.
Arnav felt Khushi’s weight against
him. He picked up her bag he saw lying on the ground behind her and lifted her
up in his arms and carried her towards the car. He put her in the passenger
seat and got into the car behind the wheel. He looked at her thinking what they
would have done to her had he not arrived. What if he had left earlier as he
planned on doing? He pushed all the questions he had to the back of his mind
thinking about Khushi. Right now he needed to get to where she was staying. She
wasn’t hurt and didn’t need to go to the hospital. He reached for her bag that
he had left on the backseat and took out her cellphone. He looked at the
recently dialled numbers and redialled the last number. “Hello, Khushi where
are you? I was just about to call you. It’s been over an hour.” Arnav braced
himself as he heard another voice on the other end. It was probably Priya
seeing as a guy had answered the phone. “Karan where is she?” he heard. Arnav
braced himself, “Karan, it’s Arnav Singh Raizada speaking. Khushi is with me.
Which hotel are you staying at?”
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