Chapter 21: Arnav

30th January

"Khushi, get back here!"

Ignoring him, Khushi ran around the pool to stand on the other side, giggling as she waved a sheaf of papers around. They'd been left alone in his house, briefly, and she was taking the opportunity to annoy him, as usual.

"No, Arnav-ji. If you want them back, you'll have to catch me."

"Stop being a child, Khushi. Give them back."

"No!" she stuck her tongue out and started up the stairs towards the terrace.

Arnav let loose a string of expletives as he chased after her and caught up when she was halfway up the stairs. She squirmed in his grip, laughing breathlessly as he carried her back to the poolside. He set Khushi down at the bottom of the stairs, still holding her tightly in case she tried to escape.

"What are you doing, you crazed woman?"

"You were so busy with your papers, you weren't even paying attention to me!"

"So you ran off with them?"

"Yes!" she grinned up at him, exceedingly pleased with herself.

"And what do you think is going to happen to you now that I've caught you?"

Her smile faltered, "You're going to let me go because you're very, very nice?"

Arnav pulled her closer and lowered his voice, knowing how it affected her. "And what if I'm not feeling very nice right now, baby?"

Khushi squirmed, trying to free herself, but he could tell that her efforts were half-hearted. They had this in common - they both hated losing. He gave a mock-growl and pretended to bite her neck, making her giggle. He held her tighter when she tried to get away and tickled her until she couldn't breathe.

"There. That's what you get for messing around with me," he sat on the edge of the pool, pulling her down next to him.

She was still smiling widely as she began apologizing for annoying him, but he waved her into silence. She was right. He'd been busy with an international contract and hadn't spent much time with her outside of their twice-daily drives. He missed her too. Arnav contemplated the sun-lounger, wondering if he could take a nap for a few minutes, when his entire right side was suddenly drenched water. He turned to Khushi, who squealed and bolted.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Arnav-ji I'm really sorry!" she screamed as he caught her again, and this time, he decided that she needed to be punished properly.

He held her over the pool. "You want to play with the water?"

She hiccupped, looking down at the water and back at him. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, really?" he raised an eyebrow at her confidence.

"Arnav-ji I was just joking, I'm sorry!" her legs kicked in the air and she flailed her arms wildly, trying to get down.

"Khushi, stop moving around or I might drop you accidentally."

She froze.

"That's better. Now apologize."

"I just did."

"No. Apologize properly."

"What the—?"

Arnav smiled. The exclamation, harsh and cold when he voiced it, was adorable when it came from her lips.

"Okay, repeat after me: I, Khushi Kumari Gupta ..."

Khushi blinked up at him, confused, and then slowly repeated "I, Khushi Kumari Gupta."

"Am sorry for stealing Arnav Singh Raizada's things."

"Am sorry for stealing the Laad Govern—Oh! Sorry, Arnav Singh Raizada's things."

Arnav smile, amused that she was defiant even now, dangling over the pool.

"I promise to never annoy him again."

"I promise that I won't annoy him for rest of the day."

Arnav shrugged, unable to stop a grin. Something was better than nothing.

"And I think that he's better than me in every way," he continued.

"No! I'm not saying that!" Khushi pushed against his chest, startling him.

He lost his grip on her. Arnav managed to catch her just before she fell in, but lost his own balance and fell into the pool with a shout, dragging Khushi in with him. Righting himself, he found her a few feet away, coughing. He was instantly by her side.

"Khushi, are you all right?"

She nodded as he rubbed her back.

"At least it's only three feet deep," he tried to joke, but she wasn't amused.

"Now what?"

"Uhh, well. I'll go and change, and you ... you can ... I'll get you some of Di's clothes."

"No, they won't fit me."

"Um, okay. Let me think about it."

Arnav hauled himself out of the pool before lifting Khushi out, and ran to get her a towel when he noticed her shivering. He dried himself off as best as he could with a second towel. When she was no longer dripping, he took her to the guest room, telling her to have a warm shower so she wouldn't catch a cold. He left her there to call Aman.

"Aman. I need you to deliver one of the salwaar kameezes from the new line to my house. It's an emergency ... I don't care what colour, Aman, just bring one over ... Size? Ummm, " Arnav glanced at the door of the guest room, "... make it the same size as that sample I took home. Yes."

He ended the call after making sure Aman knew how urgent this was, and then rushed to his bedroom, where he changed into dry clothes and grabbed his Harvard jumper and matching pants. Arnav knocked on the door to the bathroom in the guest-room and told Khushi that he'd put clothes outside for her.

Fifteen minutes later, she came down the stairs wearing his clothes. They were loose on him – he used them for jogging - so they looked ridiculous on Khushi. She'd rolled the sleeves back until her hands were peeking through, and had done the same with the pants, but she was still swamped. Khushi sat on the edge of a sofa, her hair still damp, and refused to make eye contact. She walked to the kitchen after a long, strained silence, leaving Arnav to wonder what was wrong.

She returned a few minutes later with a teapot and two cups and busied herself by serving tea.

"Arnav-ji. I can't go home like this."

Oh.

"Don't worry. Aman is coming with another salwaar kameez for you. Like the red and pink one. It should be fine, just tell your family it was a gift or something."

Arnav watched as relief seeped through her – her shoulders relaxed, her hands unclenched, and she let out a sigh. He answered the door for Aman when he arrived, gratefully accepting the bag he offered. The outfit Aman had brought was yellow and green. He presented the bag to Khushi, who peeked inside before looking up at him uncertainly.

"Where's the rest?"

"The rest?"

Khushi blushed and looked away. She paced the length of the living room, muttering to herself. Arnav watched her for a few minutes, his unease growing, and when she didn't seem to be calming down, took a few steps towards her. She froze, and then backed away as he approached, shaking her head.

What the hell?

"Khushi, what's wrong?"

She wrung her hands as she blushed again.

"I ... Arnav-ji, I ..." she sighed and turned around, refusing to make eye contact.

"Okay. If you can't say it, can you write it down?" he asked, hoping that the familiarity of revealing their deepest selves on paper would calm her.

Khushi nodded, marching to the study for a pen and paper. She folded it when she was done and stood as far from him as possible when she handed it to him. She turned away again, hiding her face in her hands.

Underclothes.

At first, he was confused, but then understanding dawned. She needed ...

Oh hell.

"Uhh, Khushi. I don't know what to do."

"May I call Jiji and ask her to bring me some clothes?"

That's a much better idea than any I've had so far.

"Yes! Use the landline, of course. I'll ... I'll just take the tea to my room, okay?"

Arnav retreated upstairs, cursing his stupidity. He should've called Payal from the offset. Now Khushi was downstairs, wearing his clothes, probably brainstorming lies about what had happened. She was handling this alone because he'd proved himself incapable. He heard the doorbell ring, followed by the low murmur of women's voices. He heard them pass his room on their way to the guestroom. Half an hour later, he heard the front door slam and wondered if Khushi had left with her sister.

But the knock on his door told him that she'd chosen to stay. Arnav opened it to find Khushi wearing the yellow and green suit Aman had delivered. Her hair was neatly brushed and plaited and her smile had returned.

"Thank you for the clothes. They're beautiful."

"It's okay. Are you ... are you all right now?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to drop you home?"

"No."

Arnav stepped aside, inviting her in, and she sat on the sofa without hesitation. He sat on the bed, trying to stay away from her in case she was still uncomfortable. Khushi broke their silence.

"I told Jiji that I was alone by the poolside and fell in."

"Okay. And ... and my clothes?"

"Oh, I put them with the laundry and I told Jiji that I'd found them in the dryer."

There was another awkward silence, and again, it was her who broke it.

"What's Ha-Harvard?"

Arnav smiled.

"Where I went to college. Harvard Business School, Massachusetts. In America."

Her eyes widened. "What did you study?"

"I did an MBA. Masters of Business Administration. It taught me how to start AR Designs, basically."

"Oh. Amma and Babu-ji couldn't send me to college. What was it like?"

"Fun. It was good to get away, but I missed everyone too. I could only come back twice a year."

She nodded as she fiddled with her dupatta. "Will you go back to America? Will you travel a lot, after we're married?"

"Sometimes. Mama and Aakash do a lot of the traveling for me, but sometimes I need to go places myself."

"May I come with you?"

"If you want ..." Arnav rubbed the back of his neck, "Though I can't promise that it'll be fun. I'll be busy most of the time. You might prefer to stay home."

Khushi mumbled something he couldn't hear, so he moved to sit on the sofa and held her hand.

"Khushi, what's wrong?"

She rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled close.

"I just ... downstairs ... I realized how close we are to getting married and there's still so much I don't know or understand about you. And then ... the clothes ... I shouldn't have reacted like that. We're going to get married ..."

"You don't have to be someone you're not. It's not going to be instantaneous, it'll take time for both of us to adjust. We're not going to know everything about each other when we get married, but that just means that we get to spend the rest of our lives figuring it out. Together."

She was silent for a long time, content to sit next to him and share warmth. Arnav stroked her hair and felt himself relax for the first time since they'd fallen into the pool. Her question, when she asked it, surprised him.

"Arnav-ji, when we're married, I'll have half of this sofa, right?"

"Uhh, I guess so."

"And half of the poolside?"

"Yes."

"And half of this bedroom?" she smiled at him.

"Khushi, why are you asking me this?"

"May I put up Salman Khan posters in my half?"

"No," he frowned, "I'm not having another man's posters in my – our – bedroom, Khushi."

"But I have Salman Khan posters in my bedroom now," she pouted.

"Really? Remind me to take them down the next time I'm there."

"Arnav-ji!" Khushi smacked his arm lightly and waited for his laughter to die down before continuing, "May I have one more thing?"

"Anything. You know that."

"May I hang my stars above the bed?"

There was a tightening in Arnav's chest as he remembered. He gathered her up and held her close.

"Of course, Khushi. You don't need to ask. You're not ... you're not getting half of everything after marriage. You get all of it, and all of me."

Khushi grinned, "Everything? I get everything?"

"Everything," he confirmed, "or at least ... whatever's left after Nani and Bua-ji are finished with me."

"They won't be that angry, will they? They'll understand."

"I'll take care of everything," Arnav kissed the back of her hand, "It'll be fine. Aakash and Payal's wedding starts next week ... we'll tell everyone as soon as it's over."

He sighed as Khushi snuggled into his side, her implicit trust in him shining in her eyes.

I won't let you down. Never again.

The End

Thanks for reading Moments! I hope you enjoyed the journey. A huge thank you to everyone who left such wonderful comments and reviews. The third part of the Secret Romance AU, THE REVEAL, deals with Arnav and Khushi revealing what's been going on between them. Read it now :)