Bride of Sheesh Mahal - Season 3 - Part 12

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Chapter 12


Arnav’s POV


Khushi packs her tiffin and rushes out of the door without answering my question which proves she must have spoken to her friend and now she is totally embarrassed to face me. I blush at the thought of what she must have perceived out of all the information she got from her friend. I never thought and arranged marriage could be so interesting with a woman whom I hardly know. This is really going to be life changing event for me and I can’t wait for it.


Akash, NK and me continue working until late night at office even though the rest of the staff have left.


“Bhai” Akash speaks up. “Don’t you think this office is too small for us to work together? This cabin is hardly sufficient for one person.”

“I know. I have been thinking that too. This is a small office Akash unlike our Delhi branch but you know we have to work from here until the issues at Delhi office sort out.”

“What if we renovate this place?” NK suggests

“That will take too long.” Akash replies.


A thought formulates in my head.

“Or maybe we could make Sheesh Mahal our office?” I ask them. “Remember the basement of Sheesh Mahal guys? Where we were not allowed to play because it had all those old and junk stuff of our ancestors?”


Akash and NK nod in unison.

“We could get that cleaned and turn that place as our office. As is, I would like to spend time with my wife once I marry. So I can work from home with her around.”


Now Akash and NK grins and I curse myself for openly declaring my desperation to spend time with Khushi after we marry.

“Shut up guys, don’t give me that look. Tell me how is my idea?”

“Perfect Bhai. I will contact some designer and get them work to turn the basement into our home office.” Akash agrees.


Good. Problem solved.


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

Khushi’s POV


He is coming…


I toss in my sleep, these whispers echoing in my ears like a warning. What am I missing? Who is coming? I keep my eyes shut so that these whispers don’t end. I see a dark night.. forest… the thick grey clouds moving towards the full moon. It’s happening.. I have to stop it. Sweat beads form on my forehead. This is not a nightmare. This is a warning.


He is coming…


I breathe like this is my last breath when I finally see the thick clouds covering the moon and there is pitch black darkness around. The only face I see then is Arnav with blue eyes.


I push away the duvet and sit on the bed with a jerk. What was that? Why did I saw Arnav in this dream? Who is coming? And most importantly why did Arnav have blue eyes. That’s not the color of his eyes.


“Khushi bitiya” Babuji is knocking my bedroom door. What time is it? 03:04 am. I wipe my sweat from my face before opening the door. The moment he sees me, he takes me in his embrace. “What happened bitiya? Did you saw a bad dream again?”


I don’t know what to reply. It was not a dream or a nightmare but a warning. A sign I wasn’t able to read yet..

“You were screaming Arnav’s name in your dream which woke me up.”

Was I? Maybe. I cling to my father with my eyes shut. I can feel it. Arnav is in danger.

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

The next morning, I scurry to the office where I know Arnav has already arrived. I push his cabin door open and find him busy on a phone call. The moment he sees me, he looks confused but he gestures me to get inside and even mouths at me that he needs a minute. I nod and wait for him to finish.


“Yes, that’s correct. I need all that stuff from the basement to be dumped in the garage for time being until someone from the family sorts it out, keeps what is necessary and discards the rest. Am I clear? Good.”


He hangs up and has all my attention now.

“Sorry, we are renovating the basement of Sheesh Mahal for turning it into a small home office. Anyway, what brought you here in my cabin that too without permission?”


I am offended but he is right, I shouldn’t have walked in like that without knocking at the door.

“Aap theek ho?” I ask him and he smirks bright.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because I need to know if you faced anything odd in the last few days.”


He frowns at my query.

“Odd? Hmm”

Getting up, Arnav circles his desk to reach me.

“There was only one thing odd that happened in the last few days.”


My eyes widen in panic to know what that is.

“I got to know my would-be wife has no idea about intimacy. That seemed odd.”

My heart skips a beat and my body feels like flaming at his remark. I look sternly at him.

“That’s been taken care of.”

“Has it?” he inches closer and this time I step back.

“Y...e.e…..sss..”I stutter.

I keep looking in his eyes which has a glint of mischief in them.

“So you spoke to your friend. What did you learn Khushi Kumari Gupta?”

“Chee” I place my palm on his chest to stop him from advancing further. “I am not here to discuss all that.. I just came here to ask you if there is anything odd that you faced in the last few days.. anything scary or life threatening..”


He gives me a cold stare that I changed the topic but he has to know how much it is important for me to know. As if he understands I am uncomfortable to discuss the other topic, he gives up teasing me about it and shifts his focus on my present query.


“Ummm.. yes. You know that woman who scared me that day when we met for the first time? The one in that weird black outfit and messy hair?”

I nod recalling whom he is talking about.

“She blocked my way yesterday when I was driving to office.”


My jaw drops as he continues.

“I have got it covered Khushi. Don’t worry. I asked her what she wants from me that she is troubling me unnecessarily and …”

“It’s impossible” I cut his words.

“What is impossible? I really confronted her. You have to believe me.”

“You couldn’t have..” I exhale. “Maybe you spoke to someone else.”

“What nonsense. I can spot that woman in thousands. I remember her face so clearly. She is the one I met on the road yesterday and..”

“She is dead” I snap and he turns speechless.


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

Arnav's POV


She is dead? What is Khushi talking about? How can she be dead? I spoke to her yesterday.


“You are mistaken..” I say. “I am certain she is the one I met yesterday.”

“She died the next day of the Maha Puja Arnav. I know because this is a small town and she was the most spotted woman who kept scaring people a lot. The people of this town thought she did some Blackmagic and tried controlling people’s lives. No one allowed her to enter the town so she always stayed in the forest which is connected to that deserted road where you met her for the first time. But just after the Maha Puja she met with an accident on that exact same road and she died on the spot. If you don’t believe you can ask the police who had taken her body away for cremation as she had no relatives.”


I am speechless. How’s that possible? She was dead? Then who did I meet yesterday?


“That’s effing impossible. You mean to say the woman I met was a ghost?”


Khushi swallows painfully.

“If I would be you, I would believe so.”

“Nonsense” I snap. “There are no ghosts.

I get back to my chair but I don’t sit. This is all so confusing.

“I think it’s a sign. You met her because she wanted to tell you something. Did she tell you anything?” Khushi probes into the matter but I don’t say a word. “Arnav please. Your silence is not going to help you.”

“What help?”


She doesn't reply.

“Khushi it wont work if you need answers from me but you are not ready to answer my questions. You got to tell me everything if you want me to tell you everything.”


She doesn't acknowledge but I believe she agrees to it. So I tell her what that woman had warned me about.


“She saw my Raksha Dhaga and then she said it wont help me because… He was coming.. Now I don’t know why she kept repeating that but that’s all she said.”

Khushi stumbles behind and I literally have to grab her arms to make sure she doesn't faint.


“Are you sure these are the exact words she used?” Khushi asks.

“Of course. You think I can ever forget something like that? It doesn't make sense at all to me.”


Khushi looks nervously at me and then nods.

“Your life is in danger,” she reveals and I go cold again.

“Danger? Only because I met a ghost which I am yet to believe because trust me she was anything but a ghost. I touched her. She felt like human.”

“She is dead Arnav so please believe me when I say she wasn’t a human anymore. And yes, your life is in danger because last night I saw an exact similar dream which gave me a warning ‘He is coming’ where I saw you in a dark night where the moon was covered with thick grey clouds and you had these blue eyes. We both got the similar warning around the same hours so yes it’s a matter of concern when I say that your life is in danger.”


I say that all in one breath and then gasp for air as I finish. Arnav stares at me in disbelief.


“You are overthinking” he exhales. “Lets just forget this and focus on our present okay? Daadi had called. She told me that they have got the best mahurat for the ring ceremony and it happens to be tomorrow.”

“What? Tomorrow?”

“Yes” My smile is back seeing her flushed expressions. “But I haven’t done any preparations.”

“Don’t worry about that. My family will take care of it. Everything they will look after except the engagement rings. Your father has taken the size of my finger to get the ring for me today.”


Khushi is still lost. I know this is too much for her and too soon but that’s how my family is. They want the marriage to happen soon and they can’t wait to welcome the bride of sheesh Mahal.


“But you and me are going to take an off today and drive to the jeweler to buy your ring. I want us both to pick it as per your choice.”

“No” she instantly denies the idea. “I have other things to take care of. You can pick me a ring of your choice. I’ll give you my finger size.”

“What the..”


She is about to run away when I grab her arm and haul her back to me.


“What other work is more important to you than this?” I scowl.

“Your life” she snaps back. “The life of my would-be husband is more important to me because saving you is my responsibility. You can miss these warnings, I can’t. I’ll find a way to read these warnings and..”


I grip her arms and draw her closer than before.


“I am not going to die, Khushi Kumari Gupta. Not until I give you a lifetime of happy memories, and definitely not until I have three four kids with you. So relax. These days of our pre-marriage preps is not going to come in our lives again. Lets enjoy it while we can.”


Her eyes drop to my lips as I complete that statement and then she fixes her gaze to my eyes.

“You are meeting me out in an hour and we are driving to the city. I’ll let your father know that we will return by evening. No arguments.”

“But..”

“But?” I pull her even closer and now our lips are an inch apart.


She presses her lips tight as if in a fear that I might kiss her.


“One more word of argument and you’ll see what happens..”


She finally takes my warning seriously.

“Okay.. I… I’ll come with you to the city.”

“Good” I smirk leaving her and she takes the opportunity to rush to the door. She then turns around to me. “Don’t you ever take that Raksha Dhaga off your body. Can you do that for me?”


Of course, I can. Even if I don’t believe in all this, I can do it for her. I shake my head in agreement and she takes a sigh of relief and marches out.


To be Continued.

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