3: Charmed

"Bitiya , this is Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada . He has an architectural firm in Amreeka ( that is how america is pronounced in hindi by many people...I don't know why but I find it fun to say so)....."Indrani said holding her tea in her hand.

"um.....it is known as the United States of America... and my company is in  Paris that is France. " Arnav corrected.

"Kya farak padta hai saare angrez ek samaan ( what difference does it make , all whites are the same)

..."Indrani  muttered to herself .
"And this is my daughter , Khushi . Bitiya , he wanted to talk something about the temple." Indrani gave a huge fake smile as mostly the NRIs visiting their temple  would give huge , mega donations which she would wrongly use for her own benefit.

Khushi smiled to Arnav hearing his introduction.

" Excuse me , I will bring Khushi's father so you people can think about whatever you wanted to talk about." Saying this Indrani went away.

"So , what are you here for ?"Khushi gracefully asked putting one leg on top of other.

"Are you flirting with me ?" Arnav raised one of his eyebrows and crossed his legs .

"No , and you came to talk about this ?" Khushi giggled.

" I came to ask you for a favour *Khushi looked towards him intently and nodded* I have been travelling a lot lately to study heritage buildings along with a couple of my employees .We imbibe these cultures in modern architecture so as to beautify buildings even more. So I needed someone to introduce me to this all here and who could be better than you ? I mean look at your house ........that itself is an antique palatial mansion , so......." He stopped as he saw Khushi getting up .

"What happened ?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning 0630 hours , will you be able to make it? I am not free any other time" Khushi said smilingly .

"Of course " he passed his charming smile.

At that time Indrani and Shashi made their way to the hall and Arnav greeted them and started a conversation while Khushi made her way up the stairs.

She turned back to look at him once and saw that he was yet just staring at her .Her cheeks turned a beautiful cherry red and she ran up the stairs blushingly .

They both were equally charmed by each other .

************************

Khushi spent the rest of her day smiling and blushing .She just couldn't get Arnav out of her mind .His marvellous voice , his way of speaking , his sharp jaw line, looks and not to forget his smirk.

She had never before met any man like him .The ones who looked good , would talk like no less than an idiot .Nobody had been yet attractive enough to charm her. She had started liking him in the first meeting only ... To think he has such an effect on her.

She heard some voices in the hall , so she went there to see what was going on .

"Arre haan haan , kyun nahi ! I tell you Mrs.Jha , you aren't going to get a better daughter in law than my daughter , Khushi . She cooks well , she knows to do household work very well and she is exceedingly beautiful...Arre that alliance ! Don't worry about that ,I will make sure that she marries your son , shyam only . You are coming na next month from Delhi to meet her ...ya ya ...sure sure!" saying that Indrani cut her call and went towards her room.

Khushi tearfully clutched to the pillar in frustration . How much had she always fought that she doesn't want to get married! All of these people want to marry her only because of her property , that property for which she lost everything . Once she gets married all this property shall belong to her husband .she was sure this step mother of hers must have made a deal to get a part of that property in return.

So many men she had talked to , somehow she would make some or the other pretence and avoid marrying these jokers .Those jokers had nothing except for the fact that they were born with a golden spoon in their mouths. And they were greedy for more. Bloody avaricious people!

She was clear on what she wanted .She wanted a prince ! The king of her heart! Who had the ability to sweep her off her feet , to charm her with his charming ways , to fight the world for her , whom she could trust with her life, who had no bad intentions for her property , who would love her unconditionally and the list goes on..............

Alas !She hasn't met any man like that yet .

Or has she?

***********************

Arnav entered his guesthouse where he would be residing for the next few months. He walked in in his normal ASR aura. The housekeeper asked him if he wanted tea or coffee. Arnav just motioned his fingers to make him go away .

He entered his room and locked it from inside. He looked at the large portrait of Khushi that he had kept in, while removing his coat.

It was a candid photo , taken by the detectives he had sent a year ago to find out the state of this city and his 'dear' well wishers . Now that it had been almost 12 years since he had gone missing from this city. The city told everyone that there was no Dev Kashyap , he died 12 years ago along with his family in that fire which left 'poor' Jhushi behind and alone to take care of the reigns of the temple trust and treasury.

He stared at the picture . Khushi was looking enchanting like always. It was a picture of the past year's Diwali . The picture was taken front view , so Khushi's beautiful face was seen very clearly . Khushi was giggling on some joke according to the detectives. Her giggle, it was like the slight rumble of autumn leaves caused by little sparrows. Her eyes shone in the hearty situation . She looked like she owned the copyright to the word 'beautiful' .

Alas for her, every beautiful thing has its destruction written soon.

"So does she !" he said as he lit the matchstick in his hand and the set the picture on fire.

" It seems like you were born to burn , my love!"

********
Hi everyone , long time na!
Sorry but for this also the next update shall be once all chapters cross 500 views.

Waise did you guys hear about Zaira Wasim (The secret superstar girl) leaving Bollywood saying that that it is against her religion , it is taking her away from God!  Doesnt this sound so manipulated.