ArShi FF: The House Guest- Ch 4- The Hair Tangled In The Button - Pg 7 - Page 2

Wow , very interesting start

Plz continue soon

interesting start

The House Guest

Chapter Two: The Woman In The Spilt Tea

Anjali looked at the clock as she drummed her fingers impatiently on the arm of the sofa. The woman had been showering for almost half an hour, she was going to give herself pneumonia if she didn't get out soon. 

Anjali decided she would give her another ten minutes before going to knock on the door and check if she had drowned. She channel surfed mindlessly, but nothing caught her interest and ultimately she gave up after three minutes and got up and moved towards the guest bathroom. She knocked timidly on the door. 

No sound, just the muffled thrumming of the water. 

"Hello?" she knocked a little louder. 

Still no response. 

After banging for what seemed like several minutes, Anjali panicked and used a coin to unlock the door before barging straight in. She wafted the steam away from her eyes and felt her head spinning from the sudden heat. She ran across and slid open the shower door, gasping at the sight inside.

She was still wearing her clothes, huddled on the ground with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Anjali quickly turned the water off and pulled her up again, helping her step out of the shower and hurriedly undressing her like a doll. 

Anjali wrapped a large, dry towel around the woman and dried her hair with another. The girl made no movements to stop or to help her. She led her from the bathroom and took her into the guest room, pointing at some clothes she had laid out on the bed. A large jumper, some cotton pyjama trousers, some unworn underwear Anjali had bought herself on a whim and originally planned to return but could never quite bring herself to, and a pair of fluffy slippers. 

"I can't dress you, hon. But I'm going to turn around and wait while you get dressed, okay? And then we're going to go downstairs, I'll make you a mug of nice hot tea and we can work out what to do next, okay?" 

She didn't nod but moved silently towards the bed, her movements robotic as she pulled on the clothes several sizes too big for her frail frame. 

When she heard the rustling of clothes and movements stop, Anjali turned around and gave the young woman a small smile. "Come on, let's go downstairs."

"What's your name?" 

She took a tiny sip of tea, jerking almost imperceptibly as the heat burned her tongue. "... Khushi." Her voice was barely a whisper.

What a shockingly inappropriate name.' Anjali couldn't help herself from thinking. 

"I've been trying and trying to think how to put this in the least offensive or upsetting way so I'm sorry if I do either of those things, but would you be okay with telling me why you were sitting outside a station crying in the rain wearing what looks like something Anju Modi designed?" 

Khushi took another sip of the scalding tea and then held it in her hands, staring down at the creamy surface. Anjali could see her hands shaking and suddenly felt guilty, "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't wa-"

"She brought me here... to marry. Dressed me in these clothes. Told me, Wait here, I'll get him so you can meet. See if you like him.'." She froze here, when she spoke again her voice sounded both more fearful and furious. "Two men. One said "Take off your clothes." The other "Or we'll do it for you." I was scared. Ran into the bathroom."

Anjali could feel an incredible anger boiling up inside her as she realised what Khushi was trying to tell her.

"Banging. So much banging. And yelling. Threatening me. Telling me they were going to-" the teacup dropped from her hands and smashed on the floor, leaking golden brown liquid all over the floor. "The window was small. But it was enough. It didn't open all the way, just tilted out a little. I could hear them running at the door. Crashing into it from the other side... I was so scared. So... So sca- I took off my shoes and hit the window with them again and again until finally, it smashed. Threw them out the window and jumped. And then I ran. Until I couldn't anymore. So scared."

Anjali knelt down on the ground in front of Khushi, the spilt tea seeping through the knees of her tan chinos. "I am going to help you stop whoever it is who tried to do this to you. I promise. This was completely unacceptable and I... I'm so sorry. You're safe now. I promise you. I'm so sorry, Khushi." Anjali tried desperately not to cry as she pulled Khushi into a hug. 

She brushed away the ones that spilled over anyway and looked up. "Do you know who this woman was? Do you remember where she took you?"

Khushi shook her head. "We call her Gari Maami. She goes to our village and other nearby ones, finds girls of marriageable age and then takes them abroad to marry. I don't remember where we went. Headache. Slept in the car from the airport." 

"There are others?" Anjali felt her throat constricting with anger as Khushi nodded. Her expression hardened. "Thank you for telling me all this and I promise you that you're safe now. Would you like anything to eat?"

Khushi shook her head.

"In that case, do you remember the way back to your room?" 

She nodded.

"Go back there and get some sleep, okay? Come back down whenever you're ready. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

There was a moment of silence. "Thank you."

Anjali waited until she heard the faint sound of the door shut. She immediately picked up the phone and called a number she knew almost as well as her own. "Hello?"

"You need to come to my house immediately. Bring Aakash. This needs both of you."

"Understood."

"And call NK. Tell him our business with Malhotra can wait, I need him on reserve. Just in case."

"This sounds big."

"It is." Her eyes fell on the puddle of tea pooling on her hardwood floor. "And bring a mop."

"Are you going to make us spring clean again, Di?"

"Didn't I tell you not to call me Di' on the phone, Chotte?"

"If you don't stop using that stupid codename I'll-"

"You'll what?"

"... Nothing. See you soon." 

Anjali hung up the phone. 

Chapter Three- The Man Who Met The Woman

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A Little Note For You From Me: Thank you everyone for reading and enjoying. I really appreciate all your likes and comments so please do carry on giving them. :) I hope you'll enjoy this story, I'm really looking forward to writing it. 

Edited by indolamines - 9 years ago

that was intriguing ..honestly I thought it to be a light hearted story or sort of like that .. now it seems anything but light hearted .. is it based on human trafficking ?? thank god Khushi ran away
Anjali's convo with Arnav was -umm interesting .. I mean it surely makes you curious about the Raizada clan ..
last ques - dosen't she have a mop in her own house ??
& oh update soon 😊Edited by farha_ipkknd - 9 years ago

Originally posted by: farha_ipkknd

that was intriguing ..honestly I thought it to be a light hearted story or sort of like that .. now it seems anything but light hearted .. is it based on human trafficking ?? thank god Khushi ran away
Anjali's convo with Arnav was -umm interesting .. I mean it surely makes you curious about the Raizada clan ..
last ques - dosen't she have a mop in her own house ??
& oh update soon 😊

The chapter belonged to Anjali. and she is so different and yet relatable. I loved this "Didn't I tell you not to call me Di' on the phone,Chotte?" That was a first for Anjali in FF world :D As much as I am angry at the ordeal Khushi has been through , I want to hug her for her courage. She is broke right now. Anyone would be but thankfully she is safe now. Anddd..That voice... "Understood" Ohhh :') Get him soon please. Man am excited or what?! Thanks for the quick update.

😛just read the 2 updates...the 2nd part is more interesting...a different concept...
looking forward to the next coming chapters...do update soon...😛
bookmarked already...😉

Originally posted by: indolamines

I will admit that this chapter is somewhat grim and dark, but the rest of the story isn't going to be this miserable, I promise.

Thank you so much for reading. I'll try and update daily :)

I don't mind serious stories :) .. serious, light hearted ,mysterious anything will do as long as the story is great .. & so far I'm loving it 😃

wow nice and interesting loved it.

This is one interesting read.