Part 4 Dinner

Arnav lay on the bed, thinking deeply. Of course, he was thinking about Khushi. She was blind but rode the bike even though she did that for eyewash. How confident she was...! How brave...! Akash was right. Even normal girls cannot be safe nowadays. Then, there was no need to say about a blind girl. Poor girl, how did she feel when she lost her vision...? How broken she would have been...!

Suddenly, the power cut off! Arnav sat on the bed. It was darkness everywhere. He rotated his eyes in the darkness. He slowly got off the bed and walked towards the cupboard. He banged on the sofa.

"Ouch..." He clutched the sofa, curling his toes.

He huffed in relief as the power went ON. Taking a candle and a matchbox, he came to the bed again. He kept them on the side table and laid on the bed.

"It's not easy to be blind. Khushi faces challenges every day: to eat, to take a bath, to walk, to do anything...! Yet, she smiles, not giving her disability a chance to overpower her." He felt terrible for Khushi, but he was also proud of her.

He tossed.

"I'm an idiot. How many times has Di asked me to go Abroad? I denied. If I had saved money, I would have given it to Akash for Khushi's operation." Arnav regretted not going Abroad for the first time.

He slept late, thinking about Khushi.

The next day

Arnav opened his eyes from sleep and looked at the clock. He jerked as it was 8 o'clock. He jumped off the bed and rushed to the washroom. Taking a quick shower, he came out. Putting two bread slices into the bread toaster, he dressed up. When he came out fully ready, the toasted bread was also prepared. He stuffed one in his mouth and wore socks. He completed his simple breakfast and came, locking the door.

He rolled his eyes when he saw a girl in the opposite house drooling over him. He brought his bike out of the house and locked the gate.

"It seems you woke up late today...! Didn't you sleep well last night?" The girl asked, clingy.

Without answering her, he kicked his bike and left home. He somehow managed to reach the office on time. He pressed his finger on the biometric device and registered his arrival. He came to his cubicle and sat on the seat, huffing.

Taking his mobile, he checked WhatsApp group messages. There was nothing but regular good morning and a few forward messages. He kept his phone on the table, closing his eyes. He jerked as the darkness hit his mind. Again, he remembered Khushi.

Arnav didn't know why he felt like helping Khushi. It might have been out of sympathy, but he didn't mind. Sympathy was not wrong, however. Arnav's day passed with Khushi's memories.

Evening

Arnav was returning home when he saw someone familiar standing outside the restaurant. He smiled as if it was Payal. He approached her and stopped his bike in front of her, and Payal became excited to see him.

"Arnav... you here?" Payal smiled with the same excitement.

"This is my way home..."

"How are you doing?"

"Great... what about you and your Prince Charming?"

"Yeah, he just gave interviews in Mumbai."

"He told me..."

"Yeah, he told me too about your misunderstanding."

Arnav nodded yes.

"I was angry with him for hiding about his sister, but I don't know if she is blind."

"Yes, he told me about Khushi just a year ago. That too when I saw her with him..."

"Mmm, I, too, saw her practising riding the bike."

"Didn't I say she is an amazing girl?"

"Yes, she is... by the way, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for my Prince Charming and his beautiful sister."

Arnav's eyes sparkled. Was Khushi going to come?

"Anything special?"

"Yes... it's my birthday," Payal said.

"Whaaat? Birthday? But no one wished you in the group?" he frowned.

"When did you check the group?"

"Morning 10'o clock"

"After that, only everyone wished me, followed by Akash. He woke up late today as he slept late after chitchatting with Khushi."

"Didn't he wish you at midnight?"

"Yeah, he did..." she smiled.

"He should have wished you through our group. Then we will also wish you."

"That's ok..."

"Many more Happy returns of the day"

"Thank you so much."

That was when Akash arrived with Khushi. Payal gestured for Arnav to be quiet, and Akash noticed it.

"Hi, Khushi..." Payal hugged her.

"Happy Birthday, bhabi." She gave Payal a wrapped box.

"Thank you so much" Payal kissed Khushi's cheek, making her smile.

Khushi's facial expression changed, and she asked,

"Is Arnav here?"

Arnav raised his brows, amazed.

"You are amazing, Khushi," Payal said.

"How did you find I'm here, Khushi?" Arnav asked surprisingly.

"I can smell you", she smiled.

"But, how? We just met twice..."

Arnav saw embarrassment on her face. Something kicked his mind. Didn't he lift her when she was supposed to hit the ground from the escalator? He understood how she became familiar with his smell.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Arnav hesitated.

"Just leave it, Arnav" Khushi said.

"It's not Arnav's mistake if he misunderstood Akash. Your brother is like that..." Payal teased.

Akash, standing next to Khushi, moved to Payal and pinched her.

"Ah..." Khushi, see, your brother pinched me."

"This is not done, Akash" Khushi hit his shoulder.

It was not Akash but Arnav. As Akash moved to Payal, Arnav came a step closer to Khushi, who was unaware of it. She hit him, thinking that Akash was still next to her.

All of them became silent.

"What happened?" Khushi asked.

Payal and Akash glanced at each other smilingly.

"Nothing, you just hit me," Arnav said, smiling.

"Whaaaat? But I hit Akash."

"I'm here" Akash smiled.

Khushi dropped her jaw.

"When did you go there? I'm sorry, Arnav. It's not intentional..."

"Relax... why are you panicking?"

"I'm sorry"

"Leave it, Khushi...you are feeling sad as if you broke my bones", he chuckled.

Khushi smiled.

"OK, Payal, Happy Birthday once again. You guys carry on. I'm leaving."

"No way... join us," Payal said.

"Yes, Arnav, how could you leave just like that?" Akash asked.

"It's ok, it seems you guys planned for a FAMILY party..." he said teasingly.

"Nothing is like that... you are also among them... come with us," Payal said.

"It's ok, Payal..."

"Come on, Arnav" Akash clutched his hand and dragged him with them.

Payal brought them to a FAMILY room, not wanting to embarrass Khushi.

"Order what you want," Payal said.

"I want biriyani" Akash said.

"I want fried rice", Arnav and Khushi said.

Both got stuck for a second and smiled.

"You, too, like fried rice?" Khushi asked.

"Yeah... do you?"

"A lot..."

The ordered food was served. Khushi set the spoon aside and ate comfortably with her hand. No one would say she was blind—she ate perfectly, Arnav wondered.

Khushi finished eating and waited for someone to accompany her to wash her hands. Akash and Payal ate slowly and talked interestingly.

"May I help you, Khushi?" Arnav asked.

Akash looked at them and said,

"Go with him, Khushi."

Khushi hesitatingly nodded and stood up.

"Turn left" Said Arnav.

Khushi was surprised and turned left.

"Take three long steps"

Khushi did.

"Move a little left side."

She moved.

"You reached the washbasin," Arnav said.

Khushi extended her hand and felt the washbasin. She smiled and washed her hands. She liked how Arnav made her wash her hands. She thought he would take her to the washbasin, clutching her hand, but Arnav didn't do that. She liked it.

To be continued...