Arnav walked out of Khushi's room, happy at the sudden turn of events. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine falling in love with the silly antics of the girl, who till this day refused to grow up. Maybe there was still hope to save what started almost three years ago!
However, all these thoughts came crashing down when he entered the living room and found an anxious-looking Ayesha.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, knowing that she won't be the first to break the silence.
"Better."
Arnav nodded, having no idea what else to say. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered if there was anything to say. He still could her the yells from the balcony echoing silently through the room. Thankfully, he didn't dwell long in this for it was she who broke the silence this time.
"The article," Ayesha said, holding up the newspaper he handed her a few minutes ago. "Is it…"
"True?" he finished, looking unflinchingly into her eyes. "Yes… we stopped all business with Nina."
"Why?"
Arnav was puzzled. "Why?" he repeated, skeptically. "Because no one wants to deal with liars and cheaters… isn't it obvious?"
"So you believe me?"
Arnav was stunned into silence. He stared at her blankly, trying to decipher if she was playing some kind of joke with him. However, when she continued to look expectant, he answered, "Of course! Why wouldn't I believe you?"
Ayesha snorted and said with a heavy heart, "Because no one did... or rather, no one does..."
"Well I do," he objected. "And soon everyone will… Trust me."
And she did. Despite all the blows she received, despite all the warnings she gave her best friend and more importantly, despite the promise she made to herself as she turned her back on her life all those years ago, she knew she could trust this stranger, who helped her more than anyone even tried.
"Its going to be a scandal," she finally said with a sigh. "A big one…"
Arnav couldn't help but grin at that comment. "The bigger, the better. Right?"
An involuntary smile spread on her face. "You have no idea…"
And all of sudden, without knowing why or how, Ayesha began to giggle. Shocked at her absurd behavior, she clamped her hand over her mouth, but it only ended up causing her to laugh even more loudly. Within on time, she was clutching her tummy, trying to swallow the laughter erupting within her. It was as if she never met a thing called despair.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Arnav asked, when she hiccupped herself back to seriousness with great difficultly.
"What?"
"Smiling… it wasn't too hard, right?"
Ayesha looked at him, not understanding the sudden turn in the conversation.
"Pretending everything is okay, in some idiotic way does make it alright."
She stared at him, no doubt remembering what she let out in her drunken state the previous night.
"Because somewhere along the way of pretending everything is all right, you forget that you are in pain… and eventually it will come to a point, when you realize that there are bigger and better things out there to do, instead of lamenting on how cruel the world is or in our cases, how pathetically weak we are to fall prey to it…"
"But that's lying," she objected. "And what good does lying ever do?"
"Its called adjusting," he answered, with a sad smile. "Letting go of the pain, to welcome something else in its place."
Ayesha, however, didn't seem convinced.
"Tell me something," he said. "Why does the sun set every evening?"
"It doesn't… we just turn away from it."
"And we turn right back to it every morning without a fail," he replied, not at all surprised at her unusual answer. "Its nature's way of telling us to move on. And despite being lucky enough to start over again, you still call yourself a bad person."
She didn't answer.
"Or I guess I should say, a bad brand."
Ayesha's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Yeah," he replied, with a smirk. "I remember every word."
"Look, I am sor-"
Arnav, however, waved off her apology. "What I want to say Ayesha, is that sometimes it may seem like this world of money we struggle to get into is pointless. And maybe it is… I don't know. But what I do know is that no matter how many layers of armor we wear, we are still people… You know why?"
She shook her head.
"Because of this," he answered, placing a hand over his chest, where his heart pumped with life. "It never, even for one moment, lets you forget that you will always be one among the seven billion toys, fate plays with."
"And we just have to accept it," she finished.
"Yes," he agreed. "So, no matter what anyone says or thinks, there is no possible way we can be brands or gods or whatever else they think we are..."
Ayesha looked at the floor, the truth weighing down on her shoulders like a burden to be endured. Of course, she knew all this before and maybe that's what pushed her this far in life… but having it thrust on your face, was a completely different issue. It was like ripping open a band-aid. Or maybe even worse.
"But its fun to be a brand," Arnav said suddenly. "It has many perks!"
She snorted in response. And knowing that his point was made, he turned around to leave, when her voice spread through the room once again.
"Is that what you do? Pretend to be a brand?"
Arnav stopped, and keeping his back to her he said in a distant voice, "I wanted to be a brand, and maybe I was…until someone made me realize that nothing is more real than the heartbeat you hear every single second of the day. That there is no other way to deal with the pain, other than accepting it that you are in pain…"
"Who?"
He looked over his shoulders, a grin visible in his eyes. "I think you know…"
The answer came to her even before he finished.
"By the way," Arnav said. "Coffee usually helps with the hangover. I suggest you try it."
And with that he left the apartment, leaving Ayesha to ponder about what gave away the severe stabs of pain her head was receiving ever since she rolled out of bed that morning.
"What happened?"
Ayesha turned around to see Khushi emerging from her bedroom, looking slightly crest fallen.
"Nothing," she answered, averting her eyes. Arnav might have left without any questions, but she knew for a fact that Khushi, on the other hand, was far from silence.
An awkward silence spread through the room as the two friends stood in front of each other, waiting for the other to speak. It truly was a strange moment, for never in their two years of friendship, did a situation come where they couldn't look at each other eye to eye.
"Are you okay?" came Khushi's voice finally.
Ayesha didn't know what to say. Was she okay? She wasn't happy with the sudden turn of events, but neither was she sad. So, if okay defined was as the state in between the two, then she was.
"Are you?" she asked, finally meeting Khushi's pitying eyes. "Will you ever be okay with the fact that he married you for six months on a contract?"
Khushi stared wordlessly at Ayesha, slightly stung at the outright question. However, the shock receded as quickly as it hit and she ran across the room, engulfing the reason she was still alive, in a tight embrace. "I am sosorry…"
"Why are you being sorry silly?" Ayesha asked, her eyes suddenly tearing up at the concern the hug held.
"I am sorry I didn't know," Khushi answered, tears streaming down her face for reasons unknown. "I am sorry you had to go through all that… I am sorry that…"
Words failed her, but surprisingly, they weren't needed between the two.
"Its over," Ayesha said finally, breaking away. "Its all in the past."
"But-"
"Shh!" she interrupted, wiping the tears off Khushi's face. "And stop being melodramatic! If anyone should be crying, its me!"
A smile spread across Khushi's face. "I think you have cried enough for a life time!"
"So no more tears?"
"Never!"
And it was as if the previous night didn't happen at all. As if there never was a break in their relationship, it was just a small wind that tried to snatch the unstable ground they both found solace on.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Khushi asked, once they sat down and began having breakfast.
Ayesha took her time chewing, before answering. "We promised… we promised to leave the past behind ourselves. What is the point of digging it all up?"
"But all this time I thought you were just competitive with Nina… and-"
"I am competitive with her… because I knew sooner or later someone would figure it out."
"They will… Devi Maiyya will take care of it!"
"Not Devi Maiyya… its Arnav Singh Raizada."
Khushi scrunched her eyebrows in confusion and in answer, Ayesha handed her the newspaper Arnav brought. She watched with a smile as Khushi's eyes widened with every word she read.
"He actually published it?" Khushi exclaimed.
"He believed everything… for some weird reason," Ayesha said, still in disbelief.
Khushi, on the other hand, was stumped. Since when did Arnav Singh Raizada help others? And that too at the stake of his business? However, even before she completed the thought, the answer made its appearance, as his words from last night rung quietly through her mind.
She took care of you when no one did… including me.
"Helllooo?"
Khushi blinked, pushing her thoughts away. "I am here," she said. "Anyway, so what do you plan to do now?"
"See Nayan crash and burn… but that might take a while, so I guess I will work on our projects, now that we will be getting all the business!"
Khushi rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant. I was asking-"
"I know what you meant. And the truth is I don't know what is going to happen and I don't want to know. I am just glad that I can get up in the morning without worrying about a bunch of secrets!"
"Everyone has secrets…"
"I know… But I shouldn't have kept them. Atleast, not from you…"
Khushi noted the sudden change in Ayesha's voice. "You know I am here for you, right?"
"I know… but all this time I thought I was the strong one… that I didn't need help… but I turned out more pathetic than I imagined."
"Of course not! Everyone needs help… Pretending to hide your pain doesn't make it go away. But sharing it will definitely lessen it."
"But there shouldn't be any pain! I shouldn't be stuck on a worthless person!"
"Because you loved him," Khushi answered. "And loving anyone, no matter how disgusting they are, is something to be proud of!"
Ayesha didn't reply, her eyes trained on the window through which the late morning's sun was glowing.
"Trust me Ayesh," Khushi continued softly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of! I was broken over a contract marriage, but what Arnavji did doesn't even come close to what Nayan did with you. I don't even know how you are standing on your two feet right now."
"But you knew he was bad," Ayesha interjected, finally meeting her eyes. "You always knew Arnav Singh Raizada was not to be trusted. But I fell right into Nayan's trap…just right into… I didn't even think…"
"How would you? How can anyone predict things like that? If I was in your place, I would have fallen into it too… and I did. I believed everything Shyam said… Only I got lucky and you didn't."
Ayesha stared blankly, her expression devoid of emotions.
"No one judges you," Khushi said gently, not needing words to understand her turmoil. "But if it still matters to you, then trust me, you did well. You walked out."
It was at that point that Ayesha fully understood why Arnav loved Khushi. Who wouldn't? A girl with that much compassion was truly one in a million and she was lucky to ever have found her. No matter what Nayan did, she owed him the fortune that came with Khushi.
And that thought alone was enough was enough to make her understand that she wasn't unlucky. As she was repeatedly told from last night, she was fortunate enough to find the courage to walk out. Most importantly, she wasn't responsible for the mishaps of her life, for what counted was not that you screwed up, but that you tried to fix it.
So, it was long after they finished breakfast and her hangover somewhat receded that Ayesha said, "Its ironic isn't it?"
"What's ironic?" Khushi asked, looking up from the embroidery she was working on.
"That everyone, including me, thought I was stronger of the two and yet, it's me who needs the consoling."
"Being able to accept your grief doesn't make you weak… I still think you are the stronger one. I wouldn't have been able to start over."
Ayesha scoffed. "I crumbled yesterday just at the sight of Nayan, but you… no matter what he does, you are still holding your fort strong."
"That's because I don't care what he does."
"So are you telling me you never loved him?"
Khushi's hands halted as Ayesha posed her question, direct and to the point. "No matter how many times you ask me that question," she said slowly. "The answer is the same."
"Last time I asked," Ayesha said recollecting the conversation they had after meeting Arnav for the first time. "You said you hated him. Now that I am asking you are saying no comments. Is it me or is there a change?"
"There is no change!" she retorted. "I hate him!"
And yet, her heart still skipped a beat, as it usually did whenever she was untruthful.
Oh yes… there definitely was a change!
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