12 Beyond sleep
12 Beyond sleep
Arnav felt bad for Khushi’s miserable state, who was crying badly. He hugged her, and he could not stand it, which made her cry more.
“Shhh… don’t cry, Khushi…” he said in a consoling manner.
“Thank you… thank you for giving me life…”
“I don’t give you a life, but I’m seeking it from you, Khushi. You don’t need to cry for it. We are both in the same state.”
He pulled her behind and wiped her cheek.
“How will you handle this mangal sutra?”
“I will hide it in my dress…”
“No, it’s always a risk. Remove it before leaving my room.”
“Nooooo…” She said, holding it close to her chest.
“Khushi, listen, I don’t want you to get caught. We should not increase problems but reduce risks. Understand that…”
Khushi nodded no, pleadingly.
“It’s all for a few days. I will sort it out soon. Trust me…”
Khushi looked at him with disbelief.
“But, how could you sort it out?”
“I will… for that, I need your help.”
“What help?”
“Be safe… if you are safe, I will make arrangements peacefully.”
She nodded with a pout. Arnav smiled.
“Come…” he sat on the bed and tapped the bed, asking her to sit.
Khushi sat on it.
“How was your day? How did you handle Nandhini? What did she ask you?”
“She asked me about you. I managed somehow…”
“Is it?”
“Mmm… I’m sorry for lying about you.”
“Lie? What lie?”
“I lied to her that you didn’t let me sleep and made out…” she said hesitatingly.
Arnav controlled his laughter.
“Lying to her is a must. If you had not lied to her, she would have had doubts about us. I lied for our good to the bad. So, there is nothing to feel bad about. Keep going. Ok?”
She nodded.
“That was when she said she would break my leg?”
She nodded yes.
“She said, she would not mind breaking your leg if you cross your limits… please be careful with her.”
“Ok… I will be careful.”
“May I ask you something?”
“Of course, you are my wife after all…”
Khushi blushed, looking down, making him wonder. Did she blush for a word, WIFE?
“Are you also a part of Didi’s business?”
“No… she never let me be a part of her business. I’m looking after my father’s business.”
“But you are playing a drunkard role…”
“Mmm… yes, I have no choice…”
“Is your father looking after your business?”
“No. I told you, he is under Nandhini’s control now.”
“That means, your business would be at stake…”
“No… my cousin Akash is looking after it.”
“Oh…”
“Are you sleepy?”
“No… I have been sleeping for the whole day…”
“Is it?”
“Yes, I never had time for a deep sleep. Today, I got it. So, I slept well with no disturbance.”
Arnav raised his brows unbelievably. He knew she slept well last night. Yet, she slept in the daytime today.
“That means, will you sleep now also?”
She nodded yes, smiling awkwardly.
“But, you should sleep tight in the daytime tomorrow also. Then only Nandhini will trust you.”
Khushi looked at him, perplexed. Why would she not sleep well if she were up at night? After all, he tied a mangal sutra around her neck. Then, why would she sleep tonight? Wasn’t that their first night?
“If you want to sleep, you can…”
Arnav said, looking at the bed.
Khushi was dumbfounded. Did he really ask her to sleep? Wasn’t he going to do anything today, too? She gazed at him, not understanding his theory.
“Whaaat?” he asked.
She nodded, smiling awkwardly as she didn’t know if she should ask him about it.
“I like this bungalow so much…” She changed the topic.
“Do you like this banglaow?”
“I mean, not this bungalow but the location. The Yamuna River that’s running close to the bungalow…”
“Yup… it’s looking great…”
“Do you know how to swim?”
“I know swimming, and I swam in the Yamuna River many times with friends.”
“I too swam in the well in my village. Will you take me one day after leaving this bungalow?”
“Khushi, what do you think of the Yamuna River? It’s not easy to swim in the river. There are many whirls in the river. We should be careful while getting into the river.”
“Is it?”
“Yes… It’s too dangerous to swim in the Yamuna for beginners.”
“Thank God, you told me…”
Khushi noticed Arnav often watching the watch.
“Are you sleepy?” She asked.
“Nope… I will always go to bed late. You go to sleep.”
“That’s ok. I will be up with you until you sleep.”
“I will switch off the lights in half an hour…”
“Oh… will you sleep after half an hour?”
“No… I won’t sleep after switching off the lights too…”
“Why?”
“I have some work…”
“Work? But how will you work in the dark?”
“It’s a kind of work…” he smiled.
Khushi blushed, looking down. She thought he was talking about making out.
“I too decided to sleep in the daytime…” he said.
Khushi smiled, biting her lip. She jerked when he said,
“You don’t have to be up. You can sleep.”
She looked at him, dumbfounded. Did he talk about being up ALONE? But why? What was he going to do after she slept?
“Why are you looking at me as if I’m a ghost?”
She nodded hurriedly from left to right.
“Do you want to ask me something?”
She nodded NO slowly.
“It doesn’t seem so…”
She looked at him and smiled awkwardly.
“Whaaaat?”
“Are…not… you going to do anything?” She asked and closed her eyes tightly, biting her lip.
Arnav was stuck for a while and smiled.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked huskily.
She fiddled with her saree pallu.
“I ask you something…”
“You tied your mother’s mangal sutra and filled my partition…”
“So…?”
“I thought…”
“What did you think?”
She was silent.
“Did you think this night would be our first night?”
She said nothing.
“I tied the mangal sutra not to make out. I just want you to know how important you are to me and how I respect this relationship.”
She smiled at him in satisfaction.
“We will take our relationship to the next level slowly. Ok?”
She nodded.
“Or, I’m ready if you want me to do it right away…”
She blushed, looking down. Arnav didn’t know what kind of expression that was because she either denied or agreed. He nodded her head smilingly.
As Arnav said, exactly half an hour later, Arnav switched the lights off in the room, including the night lamp and lay.
“Come on… You too sleep…” Arnav said.
Khushi also lay. She didn’t sleep as well as she had slept. After some time, she closed her eyes, but it was no use. She opened her eyes and saw Arnav not on the bed. She saw him standing close to the big window, looking out, hiding himself. Khushi sat up on the bed, frowning. She got off the bed and approached him slowly. Arnav could sense her coming towards him.
He came to him and said,
“Shhh… don’t make noise…” he whispered.
Khushi kept her index finger on her lip, like a good student. Arnav again went to the same place and looked out. Khushi came to him and looked toward the Yamuna, where she could see only the darkness of the river.
“What are you looking for?” she whispered.
“Wait…” Arnav said, not taking his eyes off the river.
Khushi saw Arnav’s face shine in the darkness, seeing something. She raised her brows, seeing a small RED light approaching the bungalow through the Yamuna River.
“What is the light about, Arnavji?” Khushi asked.
“It’s a boat…”
“Boat? Is Didi going somewhere?”
“No, somebody is coming to the bungalow,”
“Who?”
“I don’t know,”
“Do you know the boat will come tonight?”
“I guessed…”
“How?”
“I recently noticed the boats approaching the bungalow”
“Recently?”
“Yes, after I started acting like a drunkard,”
“Didn’t you try to find out who is coming?”
“I did… but I could not. I saw the empty boat once…”
“What do you think?”
“I think Nandhini is doing something…”
“Means?”
“I don’t know…”
Khushi bit her nail.
“Are you going to see where the boat reaches?”
“Don’t you want me to do?”
“Please don’t do that, Arnavji. She just said she would break your leg if you crossed the limits…”
“Don’t worry… I will not do that… but will definitely find it out in some other way…” Arnav said.
After an hour, they saw the boat going back.
To be continued…
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