The Royal Fling - Part 18

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Chapter 18


Bali – Resort

“What secret?” Arnav shakes Khushi because she is on the verge of dozing. He really wants to know if she purposely didn’t let his right bags of clothes to Bali. And most importantly why did she fake a plastered leg when she came back to the resort.

“Sshhhhh” she presses her thin finger over his lips. “Don’t shout” she whispers. “I can sense him.. here”

She was going crazy drinking and he mad handling her in this state.

“he is here…” she mumbles again flashing her eyelashes lazily

“Who dammit?” he snaps, tired of her silliness.

“That jerk… my husband.. look” she points in the direction of some other man who is walking with a woman.

Arnav flares his nostrils. How can she not identify people when drunk? That’s a unique and worse trait. But whatever it is he has to take her back in the room without further fuss.

"He is cheating on me" she sobs seeing the other man putting his arm around a woman.

He really needs to take her away.


“Lets go in the room” he tries to drag her but she shrugs him away.

“I am happy here” she hiccups.

Arnav rolls his eyes.

“That’s it. .. come on”

He is about to drag her again when the bartender puts the bill over the table. Arnav turns to him.

“Post it to the room please” he commands.

“Sure, Sir. May I have your room number”

Arnav gives their room number and when he turns around for Khushi, she is not there on her seat. What the hell!! Where did she go? He hurries out, scanning every nook and corner of this place to find her. After a rigorous search in the silent pool area, he finds her following the same man whom she has mistook as her husband.

“Damm!!” he runs to stop her from creating another scene. The moment he touches her arm, his leg skids on the wet surface and he loses his balance, falling in the swimming pool, unknowingly dragging his wife too in it.

“I am drowning.” She shouts, splashing water in fear.

Arnav swims for her rescue. He scoops her in arms and gets them out of the pool. He places her on the hard surface at the edge of the pool and shakes her.

“Khushi” he panics. “Khushi wake up dammit” he moves her jaw but to no luck. Probably the water has entered her wind pipe, choking her. He presses her stomach to remove the choked water when she starts laughing heartily. He is stunned.

“Stupid Raizada” she giggles, clapping.

Arnav is seriously frustrated. She faked drowning? He really thought she doesn’t know to swim and rushed to help.

“Stupid Raizada… buddhu Raizada” she kept muttering constantly until her voice really became feeble and she fell unconscious. Arnav clenches her jaw. No woman has ever dared to make fun of him. And she…She really gave him a hard time today. Right from his clothes till here.. .falling in the pool. Now its time for payback. He scoops her in arms again and strides back to their suite.

******************

Morning

“Ouchh” Khushi presses her forehead while tossing on the other side of the bed. Its aching badly. As if someone is continuously banging her head with a hammer. She opens her eyes and looks around immediately realizing she is in Bali’s hotel at their presidential suite. She slowly makes some movement and sits on the bed, taking the support of the headrest behind.

How did she end up in the room? The last she recalls was that woman she met in the Bar downstairs.. her name. Yes.. Vani… After Vani left and she continued to drink her mocktail, she doesn’t call anything beyond that. Why? Was she intoxicated? In just 2 or 3 mocktail? How is that possible?

She shoves the white duvet off her feet to get down. Her jaw drops. What the hell is she wearing? Just a white Shirt? The size is definitely bigger than hers. It’s not her shirt.. looks like a men’s shirt. But whose? Arnav’s? No ways. As far as she recalls, he himself has no clothes to wear?

The door of the bathroom opens and the man she is thinking about steps in. He is freshly showered, with water dripping off his hair, making him look so irresistible that her eyes stick to his face for almost the next few seconds. He watches her and continues to speak.

“Not lilies, I want roses”

Roses? She tries to hear him out and analyze whom is he talking to? And was he on call during his shower? Who does that? This man can do anything. When she stares back at him, he is finished with the call which is why he removes the Bluetooth earpiece and puts it away. He starts to blows dry his hair, giving her a good glance from the mirror. She instantly draws the duvet back on her feet, not wanting to expose much. And her queries about last night and her present dress, re-surfaces.

“Whose shirt is this?” her voice breaks because she has kind of guessed his answer and she hopes to be wrong.

Arnav finishes drying his hair and walks to the closet.

“Mine”

“Yours?” she swallows. “But … you didn’t had clothes to wear”

“My people got it for me last night”

“People? Which people? I thought we are alone here”

Arnav opens his closet and she gets a sneak peak of his newly bought shirts and denims. That means he isn’t lying.

“You wanted us to be alone?” he stretches his arms to wear a White Shirt he just selected for himself from all those options. She looks away. What is he doing? He is behaving different. She better talks to him straight and not beat around the bush.

“How did I get back in the room? And.. I was in a night suit. Why am I in shirt now?”

“Easy, woman” he interrupts. “You seriously don’t remember anything, do you?”

“No” she frowns. “And that’s why I want to know everything that happened”

Arnav shrugs.

“Well” he comes forward and sits on the bed, facing her. She curls her toe inside the duvet when he places his arm surrounding that area. “You were drunk… fell in the pool with me.”

“What?” she shouts. Drunk is fine. But fell in the pool? “How?”

“Your leg skid”

He decides not to share the actual scene with her because that would make him the culprit. She had fell in the pool with him because his leg skid, not hers.

“I… I don’t remember anything” she rubs her forehead.

“It’s okay. I am glad you don’t remember anything otherwise it would be more awkward”

He turns his face away, knowing she would react.

“Awkward?”

There she goes. He maintains a cold face.

“Hmm” he states. “Anyways, I am not going to stress you further. I have got some clothes for you. Freshen up and wear them”

He gets up to leave but she is not ready to leave this conversation hanging.

“What happened Arnav? I got to know..”

Arnav exhales turning back to her.

“I don’t want you to fret and worsen your headache” he replies.

“Shut up and tell me” she snaps. “what happened?”

Arnav is totally enjoying her state. Last night she annoyed him and today he is doing the same to her. He sits next to her, close this time. She feels heat emanating from her body as soon as she touches her cheek gently. Why is he looking at her like that? It scares her.

“I had to do this Khushi” he mumbles.

Her eyes turn moist.

“Do what?” she hardly has energy left in her body to ask him this or hear his response but she still does.

“I Changed your clothes” he answers.

Changed her clothes? That’s it? That’s all happened? Nothing more? She takes few seconds to absorb this and then sighs in relief.

“Thank God” she murmurs. “I thought … worse than this… Changing clothes is fine”

The moment she utters this, she shuts her mouth with her palm. Changed her clothes? He changed her clothes? All of them? He said she fell in the pool, that means her clothes were damped and… he changed her into his shirt? Shit!! This doesn’t sound nice.. Arnav notices quietly all her expressions. She is beyond upset and uneasy now.

“How… how could you do that?” she snaps.

Arnav shrugs his shoulder.

“I had no choice. You would fall sick otherwise. And who else would I call for help? It’s just you and me here, aren’t we?”

Khushi looks away in disgust. Why did she drink last night? Wish she hadn’t. All this embarrassment would have been saved. Arnav gives a lopsided smile to himself and then gets up from the bed. His work is done, she is convinced.

He tries to hold her hand but she pushes him away and getting down the bed runs in the bathroom, locking herself inside. Arnav smirks. This Mission payback is fun!!


******************

An hour later


“No way… no way… I cannot face him again” Khushi shudders while speaking to Suhani. She wanted to talk about this to someone, to make her heart feel lighter. And who better than her best friend could it be to share? Suhani is equally surprised that something like this happened but instead of being worried she is thinking in another angle.

“Khushi…” Suhani tries to give her a piece of advice. “I know this is not good but its not bad either.”

“What do you mean? How can you even think so Suhani? I have never given that rights to any man so far”

“But Arnav is not any man” Suhani interrupts. “He is your husband”

Khushi becomes speechless.

“You should be thankful that even after having you at his mercy, he didn’t cross his lines. You know what I mean. He just changed your clothes like any other husband would do not wanting to see his wife falling sick”

Khushi rolls her eyes. Though she is still not convinced, she has nothing to argue right now.

“And.. this is all your fault, remember? You didn’t let his right bag taken to Bali and you didn’t even buy him anything even when you had been out on that excuse. This is why he threw away your clothes. Otherwise why would he do it? When you have the guts to start something like this, be sportive enough to receive the same”

Khushi bites her nail.

“And who asked you to drink so much? Thank Arnav that he looked for you and brought you back in the room.”

Suhani though is talking right, Khushi is unable to decide what her next actions should be?

“What should I do now, Suhani? You know why I didn’t get his bag here. To buy him clothes was my only excuse to leave the hotel without him. And I swear I was going to buy him clothes here but my shoot got extended and I didn’t get time. I even faked having a plastered foot but got caught”

“I know Khushi. But how long is this lie going to work? What if he gets to know that your real reason to go to Bali was your Ad Shoot?

“I haven’t thought about that yet” Khushi answers.

“Then think soon. He is Arnav Singh Raizada. He won’t take long to find out”

“Hmm”

Suhani senses her friend’s embarrassment.

“Anyways cheer up and behave as if nothing happened. If you don’t act cool before him, he might take advantage of that”

Khushi agrees.

“Yes. I will be cool before him”

She looks at herself in the bathroom to get her confidence back and winding up the call with Suhani, she comes out. He is not in the bedroom thankfully. But she can hear his voice from the living room. He is talking to someone on the phone. She slides the closet. Her wardrobe is refreshing. He has got some nice beach wears for her and a few casual frocks too. He has a good choice. She wears a long maxi frock and then comes out. He has ordered a surplus food for them. Wait!! So much food, Wine means .. overbudgeted Bills which unfortunately she has agreed to pay.

“Hey…” Arnav welcomes her dropping the phone call. “you look great” he teases.

She feels uncomfortable. Why is she talking so sweet? Where is that egoistic cruel version of him?

“I ordered your favorite food and wine” he informs gesturing at the dining table.

“Yea.. I can see that” she sighs.

He draws a chair for her to get seated. She feels awkward but sits down to eat. Arnav takes his seat next.

“Wine?”

“No… I am fine”

“That’s unfair..” he complains. “You can drink alone… not have a wine with your husband?”

Khushi gulps.

“I .. I had no plans to overdrink and get intoxicated. That was a mocktail. And I was only going to drink one. But she insisted and.”

“She?” Arnav becomes serious.

“Yea… I met a woman there. Almost my age.”

“And?” he digs for info.

“And what… she drank her vodka .. I had my mocktail and we talked. I was so frustrated that I told her how you behaved with me.. .I mean my clothes.. Anyone would have guessed that seeing me in that damn night dress in the bar anyhow.”

Arnav’s entire mood shifts.

“You just told a stranger our bedroom secrets?” he scolds.

“Bedroom secrets? Excuse me?” she snaps. “When you threw my clothes away and allowed me to go out of this room in a night dress, our bedroom secrets were no more secrets.”

“Shut up” he groans and looks away going back in his calculative mode. Whats wrong?

He picks his phone again and dials someone.

“What was her name? Hope you at least asked her that before opening that mouth of yours?”

Khushi clenches her jaw. She is not going to reply to that because he is really showing some attitude now.

“Speak up” he shouts.

“Vani” she spills. “That’s what her name is”

“Or the one she made up” he back answers and holds the phone to his ear. The person he dialed, answers the call. “Vani.. track her reservation in this resort. I want to know who she is and why is she here?” he informs the man he is talking to currently.

Khushi keeps staring at him bewildered. When he hangs up she speaks again.

“She is here for work. She said that to me”

“And you believed?” he shouts. “How foolish!!”

“So what? I cannot be suspicious on everyone without a reason” she argues.

“Reason?” he groans. “You are married to a Royal. That’s enough. You get that?”

Khushi rolls her eyes away from him. But as she thinks deeper, realization dawns. She just had two mocktails. How did you get intoxicated then? Can Vani be the reason behind it?


To be Continued. 

NEXT PART 

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It is said that every Palace has its own history buried deep inside the walls that supports it.. It isn't easy to know what had actually happened in the past.. It isn't simple to digest the truth that was been hidden from long.. This is a Story of a Well Known Respectable Family of Jodhpur who lives in the 3rd Biggest Palace of India which has an Unfortunate Past. Something worst had happened years back but no one from the family ever talked about it. In fact this Cruel Past was always hidden from the new generations of the family. Will the coming of the Eldest Bride of this Palace Sort everything out or will things here get more complicated?

When the matriarch of the Khurana family of Raj Mahal, Saroj Khurana, decided to get her eldest grandson Sharavan married, destiny played its card and got Preeti Mehra, the businesswoman of US, as his life partner. Where the entire Khurana family was shattered by this match, Raj Mahal glowed with joy welcoming the real bride of Raj Mahal back to its place, to hold its position.

Unravel the mysteries of Raj Mahal in this romantic thriller of reincarnation. 

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Read Sample Chapters 1 to 4 of Imposed Knot HERE

Read Sample Chapters 1 to 4 of Cursed Bride HERE

Read Sample Chapters 1 to 4 of Stardom HERE