Chapter 22

    Arnav sighed and covered Muskaan with blanket properly. He turned to leave the room and saw Vivek was standing there watching him with suspicion. 

"Do you have any problem with me?" He asked Vivek after few seconds recalling the way he ignored him before. 

"No.. but You will have a serious one if you try to hurt her again. "  His words contained an unspoken threat.

"She is my wife.. I love her ." He told him with authority. 

"Isn't it a little strange that you realized it suddenly after 3 years?"

Arnav went silent for a minute and replied him calmly. 

"I admit my mistake, I will win her back soon.." 

"Too much confidence? " 

Vivek folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes.. But you won't understand because you were not there ,where we were.. no one else can understand our relation."

"Maybe you are right but what I wanted to convey was,  if you try to mess with her one more time then I will beat you to a pulp. And you won't be able to lift a finger let alone running away to London. "

To be honest Arnav was taken back a little by the sudden anger reflecting from him but he successfully hid it behind his stern expression. 

Before he could say anything Anjali came looking for them and saw the serious expressions on their faces.

"Kya hua.." She asked to them worried.

"Kuch nahi Anjali Di, I was asking him he wants whiskey or bear?" Vivek told her smiling.

"Come.. everyone is waiting.."

    Vivek gave one last look to Arnav  and followed Anjali out of the room. Arnav came and seated beside the vacant place next to Khushi. He watched in surprise when Vijay handed a glass of wine to Khushi and breezer to Anjali and Veena. He wondered when did his Di and Khushi started drinking? 

"soda or water?" Vijay asked him.

"Soda please..."

He made drinks for everyone and all of them raised a toast to Veena, and settled down with their respective glasses.

"So Arnav, how's your business going on in London? " Veena asked him.

" It is going good Aunty.."

"Who is taking care of it now in your absence?" 

" My friend.. Lavanya."

"Lavanya is the same girl NK is dating right? " She asked looking at Khushi.

"Yes.." Khushi agreed sipping the red wine.

"She is a very nice girl, I met her once in Dubai last year, She was there with NK for a short vacation." 

    That was a news for Arnav. NK and Lavanya are in are in a relationship, means she was also aware of Khushi and Muskaan all these while.

"By the way ,where is NK and Akash ..you did not invite them?" Sreekanth asked Vijay.

"Of course I did Dad, NK is out of Delhi for a meeting and Akash is still in Lucknow finishing some work so that he can be here before Khushi leaves for Dubai, Payal is at home with Naniji as Mamiji went for her friend's anniversary party" 

    Their chat continued with the details of the previous get-together and plans for next holiday etc. As the conversation progressed Arnav realized they were very close to each other. At first he felt little out of place but after sometime he also participated in the conversation. With Vivek it was little difficult at first but later he realized he is a cool guy and he cared a lot about Khushi and Muskaan. 

    For Khushi Vijay was like a big brother and Vivek was like a best buddy. Both of them adored her. Veena and Sreekanth's interaction with their children was more like friends than parents.

 In between Khushi went to check on Musakkan and Anjali went to kitchen to refill the sides with Vijay. When he saw Vivek also went inside to use the washroom, he decided to talk to Sreekanth and Veena about Anjali.

"Ahh.. Uncle , Aunty.. I don't know how to talk to elders about these kind of things but as our parents are not there..."

"Arey why are you being so formal? You can talk to u.." 

"It is about Di and Vijay's relationship.. Are you ok with her past? I mean.." He asked with hesitation.

"Arnav.. I understood what you mean.. Beta when Vijay told us about Anjali we were also not sure about this but when we came to know Anjali personally I was sure Vijay will not get a better partner than her." Veena answered him smiling warmly.

"Beta our hesitation was not because of Anjali's past It was because of Vijay. what if his feeling towards her was just a sympathy and not love? That would have hurt Anjali even more.. But I was wrong about him, he really loves her. We are not going to pressure them to get married suddenly, they both are adults let them decide their life " Sreekanth added 

"Yes.. Let them decide when to take the relationship to the next level. Anjali will never have to be sad in her life for choosing Vijay, you have our word . But in return can I ask a promise from you also?" 

Arnav understood what Veena was hinting and he promised her he will keep Khushi and Muskaan happy.

    Arnav felt very much happy after talking to them. After going through all those hardships finally his Di got someone who knows her true worth. But what about Di?  She really loves Vijay the same way she loved Shyam once? It was said true love will happen only once in a life.. Did she realize finally that Vijay was her true love and Shyam was just a phase of her life? or was she using Vijay to forget Shyam the way he used Lavanya. His thoughts were interrupted by Khushi's loud voice from the dining room for eating the dinner. He left his thoughts in between and joined everyone in the dining hall.

    They finished the dinner and Arnav went to see Muskaan before leaving. He kissed her soft cheek and watched her sleeping peacefully for few minutes. While leaving the room he stopped before Khushi who was standing at the door.

"I will come and pick you both by 10 am tomorrow"  He kissed her on her cheek and left  without waiting for their reply. 

They bid adieu to everyone and left from there. Arnav glanced at his Di who was looking outside through the window.  

"Di.. Do you love Vijay the same way you loved Shyam?" He asked her out of nowhere.

Anjali suddenly turned towards him in surprise.

"What made you ask that chote?"

"I mean the way you interact with Vijay is very different. You literally worshiped Shyam.. But with Vijay you are different."

Anjali sighed and looked outside through the windows.

"Who told you I loved Shyam?"

"Means? I have seen that you loved him all those years you spent with him at Shantivan."

"A 3rd person can only judge a relationship between two people who seems to be in love chote.. We all thought you loved Lavanya back then but that was not the truth right?  "

Arnav waited for her to continue.

"I wanted a loving husband, kids like any other girl, I wanted it all. But I convinced my mind that I won't get a married life I have dreamed because of my limp. That is the time when Shyam entered my life. When he offered me the only chance to get married to a normal person who was fine with my leg, I accepted him gratefully. It was more of a gratitude towards him for giving me the love I wanted. He treated me like a queen and I enjoyed it. After the initial phase of our marriage I understood he did not love me."

"You knew he did not love you before?" He asked her shocked.

"Yes.. A wife knows when her love is not reciprocated by her husband. But I was very selfish and I needed to live a normal life, So I chose to be ignorant about that fact and lived in an imaginary world where my husband loves me more than anything else. But I did not know that he was involved with other woman.  My life with Shyam was a fool's paradise and when his true face is out because of Khushi my anger and disappointment which was buried inside came out. When I came to know he tried to kill you and murdered my child I decided to show him his place. "

"What about Vijay?"

"He taught me what real love is. He made me love myself. I hated him at first for seeing through me always when no one else could. He cannot be fooled by my outer appearance. You always protected me from the hurtful truth but he made me face the reality and emerge stronger."

"Then why are you not saying 'yes' to his proposal?"

"I felt there is no need to rush. I want to enjoy this phase of life with him. And I will say 'yes' to him definitely but only when I am ready. "

"You never told him that you love him? "

"No.. But he knows that already. There is no need to voice it when you have expressed it in many other ways."

He kept thinking about his Di's words connecting him and Khushi until they reached Shantivan.  

Love,

ST