5 Feelings
Part 5 Feelings
After taking her medicine, Khushi slept for two hours. When she woke up, she felt a slight relief in her mouth. She saw Arnav watching the news, leaning on the couch. She smiled, gazing at him. When Arnav looked at her, she closed her eyes immediately, but was late. Arnav saw her wake up. He was taken aback. Why did she close her eyes, seeing him? Did she doubt him? Did she check that he was the right person? He turned his gaze and waited. After a few minutes, he looked at her suddenly and saw her looking at him. She smiled at him tenderly. That made him think that his guess was wrong.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked caringly.
"Better"
"Are you hungry?"
She nodded no.
"Have something... You had only a banana"
She nodded.
"Shall I order something?"
"No... I will eat later. I will eat only if I'm hungry"
Arnav nodded.
"Shall we go searching for your friend?" he asked.
Khushi nodded.
"Ok, get ready"
Khushi went to the washroom to get fresh. She came out of the washroom and asked,
"Did you have lunch?" she asked.
Arnav nodded.
"Yeah, I had lunch. I won't wait until I feel hungry like you. I will eat on time," he said, not wanting her to think he ate, leaving her.
"Oh...let's go"
After Khushi wore the mask, they came out of the hotel room. The hotel guy saw them together and wondered.
"When did your WIFE come, sir? I didn't see her," he asked, looking at Khushi.
Khushi looked at Arnav, stunned, hearing the hotel guy addressing her as his wife.
"You were not here when she came", he said, walking out.
Khushi followed him, smiling. When they came out,
"I'm sorry, he misunderstood you are my..." he stopped, not completing the sentence with the word WIFE.
"Why did you tell him I'm not your wife?" she intentionally asked.
"I should have explained to him briefly what happened to you if I had told him the truth. That's why I went with the flow. Now, he won't question us unnecessarily.
Khushi nodded.
"By the way, what's your friend's name?" Arnav asked.
"Preeto"
They came to the bus terminus, searching for Preeto, Khushi mentioned. They checked all the hotels in the area, but no one called Preeto stayed in any hotel.
"Is there any chance for her to go back to Delhi?" Arnav asked.
"No way. She would not have gone, leaving me here alone. Especially, when she saw me chased by the goons"
"Ok, let's check her in all the hotels in Nainital"
Khushi nodded. They roamed around Nainital searching for Preeto, but she was not there.
"Shall we go to Nanda Devi Temple? Preeto was so eager to go to the temple. She might have been waiting for me there," Khushi guessed.
"Mmm... let's go"
They hired a cab and headed to the temple.
"By the way, how was your get-together, Dear?"
Arnav was stunned, hearing her calling him DEAR.
"Dear?"
"You are not ready to tell me your name. Then, how would I call you?"
"Do you know what's meant by dear?"
"Of course... beloved... lovable... I'm a BA English literature, you know"
It was clear that she didn't doubt him. She would not have called him dear if she had doubted his intention.
"Don't call me dear", he said firmly.
"Then, tell me your name", she demanded.
He got out of the car as they reached the Nanda Devi temple.
"Go and search for your friend."
Khushi nodded ok and circled the temple looking for Preeto, but she didn't find her.
She saw that the Prasad distribution was held in the temple. She rushed to the queue and stood to get the Prasad. Arnav dropped his jaw as the queue was so long. He came to her and asked,
"Are you going to stand in the queue? You could have told me if you're hungry"
"I'm not just hungry... It's Devi Matha's blessings...! I will get it through the Prasad"
He rolled his eyes.
"Please, please, wait for a few minutes"
Arnav waited, but as time passed, he lost his patience. He came to Khushi, who was supposed to get the Prasad. He pulled her away from the queue just as she reached out to take it. Khushi dropped her jaw and pouted.
"What have you done. You stopped me from getting Devi Matha's blessings. If you had waited a few seconds, I would have got it," She pouted.
"See, I'm here to search for your friend, understand that"
"I'm hungry... if we had gone to the hotel, we would have waited in the hotel for the ordered food to arrive", she said, making a face.
Arnav stood sighing. He saw that the crowd in the Prasad line was decreasing. The Prasad distributor saw him and extended a plate to him.
"Take it, sir... your wife stood for a long time, and you pulled her, losing your patience"
Taking it from him, Arnav came to Khushi and extended the plate to her. She looked at him, surprised.
"Your God's blessings, " he said, rigidly.
Khushi took it from him, smiling pleasantly.
"Thanks..." She started eating it.
Arnav sat next to her and waited for her to finish it.
"I think it's my fate to get God's blessings through YOU." She said.
Arnav didn't take it seriously, and Khushi continued.
"It tastes good. You too taste it," she said.
"Are you ready to share your blessings with me?" he teased.
Khushi chuckled.
"You are the reason for me to get the blessings. So, you too deserve it"
Arnav took a small amount of rice and ate it. Khushi looked at him pleasantly.
"I understood one thing, " she said, and he looked at her questioningly.
"You can't be a Don because I don't think Dons would feel others' pain. How harshly you fought with the doctor for handling me harshly! I liked it..." She said, and stopped eating.
"He was careless. That was why I shouted at him"
"Mmm... you know, no one ever fought for me so far", she said, stirring the food.
Arnav sensed she had become emotional.
"Why are you girls so careless? How could you leave home alone?" he changed the topic.
"I just thought I'd enjoy my life with my friend. Why should girls not roam alone? Don't we have rights?"
"You can roam anywhere only if you are capable of saving yourself. Don't you know this world is not safe for girls?"
"Not everyone is bad. Good people like you also exist," she looked at him lovingly. Arnav was stuck. Her LOOK alerted him. He folded his hands.
"How could you say I'm good?"
"Because you saved me from the goons, fought for and guarded me for the whole night. Isn't it enough for me to conclude you are good?"
"Just because I saved you, how could I be good? I, too, can be one of the goons. Showing myself good to you can be a drama... I may be doing everything to kidnap you," he said.
"Are you going to kidnap me?" She asked cheesily.
"Won't you be serious?" he was serious.
"Okay, I'm seriously asking, what's your name?"
He glared at her and stood up.
"What's wrong with your name? Is that really a gangster's name? Mogambo?" She teased.
"I think we can't find your friend. You should go back to Delhi. Your friend will also come..."
Khushi threw the plate into the dustbin and washed her hands hurriedly.
"Are you going to go?" She asked, feeling sad.
"Then, what do you want me to do? See, it's starting to get dark already"
"Don't go leaving me. Don't you watch the news daily? So many unpleasant things happen daily. If you leave me, you may read news tomorrow that a beautiful girl was killed after gang raped."
"Shut uuuupppp", he gritted his teeth.
Khushi jerked.
"Don't test my patience... go to Delhi..."
Khushi stood pouting. He walked and stopped as it started getting dark. He came back to her.
"Where will you go?"
She looked somewhere, not answering. He rolled his eyes and again started walking. Khushi ran to him and stood before him.
"You want to help me, but don't want to accompany me, right?"
"It's because you talk too much"
"Ok, I will not talk..." Khushi kept her index finger on her lips. He again started walking.
"Why don't you tell me your name?" She asked.
Arnav glared at her. Khushi again kept her finger on her lips.
"Unbelievable..." He murmured.
She said, "I don't know why, but I can't think you could be a bad man."
He didn't look at her and moved forward.
"If you are bad, I know what would have happened to me by now"
"See, I will get your ticket... go to Delhi"
Khushi became sad.
"Will you surely send me?" She choked.
Suddenly, Arnav pulled her behind a taxi and slowly peeped cautiously.
"What happened?" She asked.
"The goons..." he said, closing his eyes.
Khushi slowly peeped and found two of them coming towards them.
He opened the taxi and got into it, pulling Khushi with him. The taxi driver, in the driver's seat, turned around and looked at them.
"Go to Hotel Blossom, " Arnav ordered.
"Three hundred rupees, sir"
"Ok... I will give you... go..."
The driver started the taxi and left the place. Arnav looked at the goons through the rearview mirror, who were looking here and there in a searching manner. Khushi sighed in relief.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
"No... not at all... why would I be scared if I'm with a HERO?" She smiled cutely.
"Oh, Don became a Hero?" he asked earnestly, looking outside.
"Because you are indeed a Hero"
After that, Arnav didn't talk to anything but Khushi. She spoke of Nainital and its beauty.
They reached the hotel. Before Arnav paid, Khushi did that and went to the room. Arnav came inside the room and said,
"Take a rest for a while and get ready. We will leave"
"Please, please, let me wait for my friend one last time"
"Where will you search for her? You don't know her phone number. You don't know where she would be. Then how could you search for her?"
"Just think... what if she is in trouble?"
Arnav rolled his eyes.
"Think about yourself first. you are in trouble. If the goons see you, they won't leave you"
"Ok... I will go to Delhi tomorrow morning. I really am tired. I can't travel now. My mouth is also aching"
"If your mouth is aching, you should give rest to your mouth instead of talking non-stop..."
"Ok... I won't talk..." She kept her finger on her lips and lay on the bed.
Though she lay on the bed, she didn't sleep. She didn't even close her eyes but gazed at her. Arnav noticed it and asked,
"You said you are tired? Then, why don't you sleep?"
"Yes, I'm tired... yet, can't sleep"
"Are you used to sleeping, switching the lights off?"
"No... not like that. We can't sleep when we are happy"
"Happy? Are you happy about missing your friend?" he teased, but his face was stony.
"Why don't you smile?" she said, not answering.
This time, Arnav didn't answer.
"Usually, poets say a girl's heart is so deep. If they had seen you, they would have changed their perception," She said.
"I'm sleepy." He lay on the couch, covering himself with a quilt and closing his eyes.
"Won't you talk to anyone? Don't you have anyone close to your heart?" She asked.
No reply from Arnav.
"Don't you think you need someone for yourself? And, your life will be happy if that someone is like me?"
Arnav opened his eyes, jolting. What did she mean? He sensed her track changing. That was not good. She was a small girl with no maturity, as she looked playful but not serious. He should not encourage her. he looked at her and said,
"I already have a close-to-heart person... my wife", he said, shocking her.
To be continued...
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen3h.Co