Part 27 As predicted

Akash came to the Collector's office to meet Arnav.

"Sir, Dev uncle got bail"

Arnav nodded yes and said,

"Take your seat"

Akash sat nervously.

"Don't be nervous. You guys are MAJOR. He can do nothing"

"Sir, he can do nothing only if he goes with LAW but he is a man who doesn't care about any LAW because he creates his own LAW."

"Let him create any laws. Why are we here? We will break it" Arnav said casually.

Akash sat straight. Arnav's words gave him hope.

"Until your wedding, don't come out of your house for anything until I say..."

"Yes, sir"

"Even though Payal or Khushi calls you and says Dev is taking Payal with him, you should not leave your house"

Akash was perplexed.

"Are you scared?"

Akash nodded no.

"Really?"

"I trust you, sir," Akash said which made him smile.

"If you trust me, you should do what I say"

"I will do anything, sir"

"Good... I will take care of it"

Arnav took the box from his table and gave it to Akash.

"Take this"

Akash looked at the box and then at Arnav.

"Give it a look," Arnav said.

Akash opened it and frowned to see a RING in it. It looked like a kid's ring with a BLACK coating. Akash looked at Arnav with confusion.

"Give it to Payal. Make sure she will never remove it"

Akash nodded ok.

"Do it right away"

Akash nodded ok and left the place. Though he was not sure about what the ring was about he didn't question Arnav because he trusted Arnav wholeheartedly.

GH

Akash came to GH. Garima saw him and smiled. Akash found it a little awkward. To date, they were showing themselves like they were friends. But, their wedding arrangements were in full swing.

"How are you, aunty?"

"Good, how about you?"

"Fine Aunty"

"How are your wedding preparations going?"

"Going in the full swing, Aunty"

"Oh... when is the wedding?"

"Friday, aunty... Babuji and Amma will come to invite you tomorrow"

Garima nodded ok.

That was when Khushi came to the living room with Payal. They smiled at Akash.

"Hi, Akash..." Khushi said slackening the tension.

"Hi, Khushi... hi, Payal..."

Payal slightly nodded her head. He extended the box to Payal.

"The Collector asked me to give it to you. he ordered not to remove it no matter what"

Payal removed the ring from the box and looked at him with confusion. Why did Arnav want her to wear the ring?

Without questioning him, she wore it even though there was a question in her mind.

"Please don't remove it," Akash said.

Payal nodded ok.

"I'm leaving," Akash said.

Payal nodded ok.

"Good night, Akash" Khushi smiled.

"Good night" Akash started his bike and left the place.

Khushi and Payal came to Khushi's room. Khushi looked at the ring, clutching Payal's hand.

"What do you think?" Payal asked.

Khushi nodded her head from left to right.

"Do you think why did he give it to me instead of you?" She teased.

Khushi rolled her eyes and said,

"If he gives you, he would have a valuable reason"

Payal nodded yes.

"By God's grace, we should push TWO days without any problem...then, your wedding with Akash will happen. After that, there will not be any problem"

"How could you say so, Khushi? Do you think my father will let us live in peace even though we got married?"

Khushi was silent. She knew Dev would not let them live happily. Yet, she tried to give hope to Payal.

"He will make us REST IN PEACE but will never let us LIVE IN PEACE, I know my father. He will not hesitate to kill me to save his pride" Payal said nervously.

"Don't lose your hope Payal... why shouldn't you go somewhere with Akash after your marriage?"

"I don't know whether Akash will be fine with the decision"

"Talk to him, Payal. This is your life. Don't you want to be happy with Akash?"

"What about Akash's parents? Are not they our responsibility? How could we go leaving them here? We have to think about them, Khushi. I'm sure they will not come with us because this is their place. They have lives here... I'm confused as hell. I don't know how my problem is going to be solved"

Khushi wanted to say, that Arnav would take care of it but she was also scared about how he would solve it. She had no option other than to pray to God.

Garima called them for dinner. Khushi and Payal ate and went to Khushi's room.

Garima was thinking about the proposal her daughter got from the Collector. That was when Shashi came home.

"Garima, please bring me dinner. I'm hungry" he said while walking to their room to get fresh.

Garima waited for him in the dining as it had already been arranged. Shashi came and sat. Garima served him silently. Shashi saw her and continued eating.

"Dev Sinha is out of prison," Shashi said.

Garima looked at him.

"I know that's why you are nervous"

She nodded no.

"Then?"

"I'm thinking about Khushi's wedding"

Shashi stopped eating and looked at her frowning.

"What's so urgent for her wedding?"

"Her friend is getting married. She is at the right age for a wedding..."

"Ok, we will start finding a groom then"

"What kind of a Groom will you find for Khushi?"

"What will I expect... he should be a nice guy with a good background"

"What would you do if anyone liked her?"

Shashi looked at her chewing the rotti.

"It's up to the person..."

"What if the person is well-settled, well-educated, and well-mannered?"

"What's there to think more? I will give Khushi's hand to him wholeheartedly"

"What if they are so high in status than us?"

"If the boy liked her, if he is well-mannered, he would look after Khushi nicely, right?"

Garima nodded yes.

"Why are you suddenly talking about Khushi... that too very seriously?"

"Someone loves Khushi"

"Whaaat?"

Garima nodded yes.

"Who is he? How do you know?"

"I heard Khushi and Payal talking about it"

"Does Khushi love him?"

"I think so..."

"Is it?"

"She has not accepted his proposal yet... directly"

"You mean, did she accept it indirectly?"

"She was in the condition to say NO"

"Why? What was her condition?"

"The boy's mother spoke to her it seems"

"Whaaaat? Who is the boy that made his mother talk to Khushi?"

Garima gulped down hard.

"Tell me, Garima. Who is the boy?"

"Arnav Singh Raizada... the district collector"

Shashi widened his eyes and became motionless for a while. He coughed hard spitting the food. Garima tapped his back. Shashi looked at her shockingly.

"I hope you are not making fun, Garima... this is not a matter of making fun"

Garima was plainly looking at him for a while and asked,

"Do you think I will make fun of this matter?

"Did you really hear them talking about it?"

"Yes, Khushi thinks we will misunderstand her if she accepts his proposal. She doesn't want us to think she trapped him in the name of social service"

Shashi became thoughtful.

"His parents will soon meet us, I guess," Garima said.

Shashi stood up as he finished eating dinner.

On the other side,

If we thought Khushi didn't get sleep, it was not true. She was sleepy yet she didn't sleep. Somewhere in her mind, she expected Arnav to call her. She saw Payal sleeping deeply.

"Don't know how Payal sleeps peacefully after being surrounded by a lot of troubles..." She murmured.

Just as she expected, her phone rang. Her sleep fled away swiftly. She took her phone and saw Collector Sir flashing. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and attended to the call on the last ring.

"Hellloooo..." She intentionally said in a sleepy voice not wanting Arnav to know that she expected his call.

"Have you slept?"

"Jeee..." She said in a clear voice as if she straightened herself hearing his voice.

"Ok... sleep... good night," Arnav said and disconnected the call, which disappointed her.

She bit her lip and hit her forehead.

"Why did you overreact, Khushi?" she sighed wearily.

She thought something and dialed Arnav's number. His number was engaged. She sighed again and sat keeping her hand on her head. She got his call again. She attended it right away this time.

"Hello..."

"Didn't you sleep?"

"I called you to know why did you call me, sir"

"Just to talk to you... as you slept, I called my mother. She didn't sleep because she knew I would call her. I excused myself from her and called you again. She was gladly asked me to talk to you"

Khushi was horrified. Did he excuse himself from his mother to talk to her? Oh God...! Didn't know what his mother thought about her!

"I thought you guys would not have slept in tension. It seems you guys not bothering about Dev Sinha"

"Just to ask about him only I called you back"

"What's Payal doing?"

"sleeping"

"Despite Dev Sinha's daughter, she trusts me. That's why she slept without having fear in her mind. Being my going-to-be wife, you are doubting my ability...hann?"

Khushi felt Goosebumps! Her body sweated instantly!

"Khushiiii..." He called her huskily.

"Haa.....nnn"

"What happened?"

"No...thing..."

"Then why are you stammering?"

"I just..."

"Ok, trust me... everything will be alright"

"Payal didn't want to leave this district..."

"Why would she leave?"

"To get out of Dev uncle's enmity"

"No need... he won't be out of prison for long. Even though he will, he will not trouble Payal and Akash...Ok?"

"Mmm..."

"By the way, Khushi, my mom asked me when to come to meet your parents" he smiled.

Khushi bit her lip.

"What about tomorrow?"

"Whaaaat? Tomorrow?" she asked shockingly.

"Why? How long do you need?"

"You already decided to meet my parents, then why are you asking me about it?" She asked getting courage.

"It's because I would like to be such a husband who gets his wife's permission before doing anything"

Khushi smiled biting her lip.

"Ok, as you don't want me to ask you about it, I will bring my parents to your house later... before that, I will come to Mr. Shashi Gupta alone to talk, what say?"

"Sir...please..."

"Sir? Like really?"

"Please go to sleep, Arnavji..." Khushi said without even taking a second.

Arnav smiled.

"Ok... will sleep... good night"

He disconnected the call and lay on the bed smilingly.

The next morning

Shashi Gupta opened the door and was horrified to see Dev Sinha and his men at his doorstep.

To be continued...