Part 24 Aman alias Suman

In the meanwhile,

Sheetal was fuming like hell. No one ever avoided her in her life so far. Arnav was the first and only man who didn't give heed to her. How could a man ignore her when she looked so sexy? If he could not be get controlled this way, then how could he be controlled? What was his weakness?

Sheetal dialed Shyam. He attended it.

"Hi, Sheetal..."

"Where the hell were you yesterday?"

Shyam was stuck. Was not he busy proposing to Lavanya the previous day?

"I was busy with important work, assigned by Arnav" Shyam lied.

"You and your work..."

"What happened, Sheetal?"

"A teacher insulted me..."

"Yeah... don't you know Manju Didi? She won't care about our warnings and threatening"

"I'm not talking about Manju"

"Then? Who you are talking about?"

"The one who is thin and fair..."

"Who you are talking about?" Shyam thought about the teacher.

"I think she is new to our school. She was with Lavanya"

"Khushi?"

"Yes... Khushi..."

"Did Khushi insult you?" Shyam asked shockingly.

"Yes..."

"I can't believe this. She is not that kind"

"She made me say sorry to a mere staff of the school" she sneered.

"Why would you say sorry...? You could have dealt with anything easily"

"How?"

"Don't forget your husband is the principal..."

"He was there only"

Shyam paused for a while.

"You insulted him in front of staff... then, how would he stand by your side? You yourself lost your right" Shyam sighed.

"It doesn't mean anyone can do the same with me. Who is she to make me say sorry?"

"But you should not have raised your hand on our staff, Sheetal"

"You too?"

"Of course, this is a matter of our staff's support. If they lose faith in management, we will lose their support. Then our school will face many problems."

"She is not a teaching staff"

"So what? According to the management, everyone is the same"

"This is pathetic"

"No, Sheetal. Arnav would not give up on his staff. What he did is right..."

"What about Khushi? Who is she at this school? Can't she be silent shutting her damn mouth?"

"It's because of you, Sheetal. You lost your respect in school. You should not have come to the school in a drunken state. It's the big blunter you have ever done"

"Stop it, Shyam. I didn't call you to know what's right and what's wrong"

"Ok, tell me, what do you want me to do"

"Watch Arnav closely. Let me know what he is doing"

"I'm already doing that"

"Do it more closely... I can't understand what made him turn 180 degrees all of a sudden. He was not like this. He never reacted to whatever I said. He just did what I asked for. Then what happened to him, he is daringly standing against my every action..."

"Ok, relax... I will let you know if I find anything, ok?"

"Mmm"

Shyam disconnected the call.

...........

Arnav was confused, seeing Suman entering his cabin, in the name of Aman. By the way, why was he there? Didn't they meet in the restaurant just the previous night? Then why did he want to meet him in person? Was that related to Khushi?

"I'm Aman" Stressing the stance, Suman extended his hand for a shake. Arnav shook hands with him with confusion as he knew Khushi's husband's name was SUMAN.

"Hello, please take your seat" Arnav extended his hand toward the chair in front of him.

"That's ok... let me stand," Suman said.

Arnav walked out of his desk and stood in front of him.

"May I know why are you here..."

Cutting him,

"To meet you... what else?"

"We just met yesterday..."

"I want to talk to you about something verrrrryyy important... without Khushi's knowledge."

Arnav gulped down. WITHOUT Khushi's knowledge? He assumed Suman would talk about their relationship. He made up himself.

"the peon told me someone named Aman wants to meet me... (A long pause) Is not your name Suman?" Arnav asked.

"Yes, both are my names only. Aman is my original name... my parents named me Aman whereas Khushi named me Suman. She calls me SUMI dearly"

Arnav looked somewhere.

"You may think why should she change my name... she didn't change my name only to call me DEARLY..." he stopped.

She used to call Arnav Arnie, Aru, baby, Darling, sweetheart, etc., etc., Arnav thought.

"Khushi is a nice girl. She understands me well that no one ever did so far... not even my parents. She wants me to be happy... and vice versa. Her happiness is very important to me. Without Khushi, I'm nothing. The support she gives me is something divine."

Arnav was losing his patience. Why the hell he was irritating him, explaining how good Khushi was? Didn't he know that? He was dying each and every second thinking about her, that how unlucky he was to miss her, then why was this Aman alias Suman fuelling his helplessness?

"I and Khushi share everything. There is no secret between us. The transparency between us is enough for you to understand how pure our relationship is. I love Khushi very much. She is everything to me... without her, no Aman... no Suman..."

Now, Arnav understood his stand. Suman was there to ask him to stay away from Khushi. Suman would not want him to have any ideas in his mind. Khushi might have been disturbed by the current happenings that would have disturbed Suman. That was why Suman was there to talk to him without Khushi's knowledge.

"Look, Mr. Aman aka Suman... I can understand... What you are thinking is not true. Khushi might have told you about our relationship. I agree we LOVED each other..."

Cutting him,

"LOVED? Really?"

Arnav swallowed.

"Yes... But, it's over. (Aman smiled teasingly) I and she are married now. There are no such ideas in my mind. As you and Khushi share everything, you would have known about Khushi's mind too. She is so pure. You don't have to worry about us"

"I know Khushi... That's why I'm here"

Arnav looked at him thunderstruck.

"Listen, the recent happenings of my life would have disturbed her... it doesn't mean..." he gulped.

"She has been disturbed from the time, she saw your wedding photo on Facebook. Do you know what did she go through after your wedding?"

Arnav closed his eyes. Though he didn't know anything accurately he could assume them.

"She tried to commit suicide..."

Arnav looked at him shockingly.

"Are you shocked? Why? Don't you know she would have done that? Do you think she would be living her life making herself up easily?"

Arnav wanted to answer but he didn't. How could he tell Khushi's husband how deeply she loved him?

"She became lifeless... her parents could save only her life... she struggled to move on."

"But, she moved on..." Arnav said stammering.

"Really?" Suman asked mockingly.

Arnav gazed at him... DIDN'T SHE MOVE ON? What about her marriage then?

"She still doesn't move on..." Suman said.

Arnav shrank his eyes. What did that mean?

"You may ask me; then, why did she marry me..."

Suman paused with a smile.

"She doesn't want to move on... that's why she married me" Suman answered.

Arnav wanted to scratch his head. He could not understand anything. Damn this Aman aka Suman could not talk anything clearly?

"Yes... she married me because she loves you so much"

*NOT AGAIN* Arnav arrrrged.

"Could you please stop beating around the bush?" Arnav asked controlling his annoyance.

"Yeah, you should have been confused, seeing us being so close. Of course, she loves me so much... but not more than she loves you"

Arnav looked at him bewildered. *Khushi loves him more than her husband and her husband himself telling him that? * why was he doing this? Arnav supposed.

"You may think, why I'm talking about my wife to you. It's because I know what relationship you shared with her"

Arnav gulped down.

"I told you, I want her to be happy. For that, I'm even ready to give up on her" Suman said.

Arnav frowned. He wants her to be happy. Yet, he was ready to give up on her? what the heck.

"Because YOU are her happiness. We got to know your story that you are also not happy in your life. Why would you lead such a life that spoils your and Khushi's happiness? Marry her and live happily" Suman stated.

Arnav was looking at him without blinking.

"I can understand what you are thinking. You don't have to think about me. Because I'm so much fine with your marriage. As you come back, there is no use of me for Khushi because I'm not a MAN..."

Arnav frowned. Not MAN meant?

"Yes... seemingly I'm a man but feeling wise, I'm not..." Suman alias Aman said the truth that shook Arnav to the core.

Arnav was shocked to the core. Was Khushi's husband gay?

"Don't think I'm gay... I'm not... My case is different" Aman said as if he read his mind.

To be continued...