Bride of Sheesh Mahal - Season 3 - Part 21

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Chapter 21


Arnav’s POV

Akash stares at the laptop a bit shocked about something when I enter the room.

“Hey..” I call him out and have his attention in a second. “Did you check the footage?” I ask.

He is still confused which is making me curious to what he just saw.

“You won’t believe what the footage shows..” Akash turns his laptop screen and rewinds the scene.


I look at the laptop and my eyes turn wide as I witness the scene. The worker who was checking the electric issues himself puts the fuse and then touches the wire which gets him the shock.

“Damn hell” I scowl. “Was he even in his sane mind to do so? Why would he hurt himself?”

“I have no effing clue, Bhai. Was he in need of money or something? That’s why he did this so that we could compensate? Or maybe he… he is mentally ill?” Akash suggests but before we come to any conclusions, I think we need to speak to that worker and get to know his side of the story.

Akash agrees to my idea.

“I’ll go and meet him tomorrow. He’ll be discharged from hospital so I can ask him then..” He adds.

I stare at the laptop again rewinding the scene to reconfirm what we saw is true.

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

Khushi’s POV


The Mooh Dikhai exhausts me. The Raizada family have invited almost half of the town for this event and though I like taking blessings from all, I still feel tired by the time the event comes to an end. I didn’t see Arnav at all in these 2 -3 hours which makes me curious what is the outcome of the cctv footage he was going to check today?

“Khushi,” Anjali di returns to me. “All guests are finally leaving. You look tired. Go and rest now.”

“Jee” I rise from the couch I was seated. “Did Arnav eat dinner? I didn’t see him from a long time.”

“No he hasn’t. I sent Hari Prakash to call him twice but these brothers I tell you.. they don’t eat on time and today they are too busy.”

“Oh” I sigh. “Where is he?”

“Basement. They are working there.”


Basement. I swallow nervously. Last night when I had been to that place, I could feel the negative vibes. So I decide to check upon myself again what Arnav is still doing there.


“Oh and yes.. Daadi has a special program day after tomorrow” Di adds. “She has arranged a small projector to introduce you to all we grandchildren when we were young..”

I don’t understand.

“We have many old albums and videos of the times when me, Arnav, Akash, NK and others were too young. We had a gala time in Sheesh Mahal whenever we used to come here on holidays. So Daadi was thinking it will be great for the new bride to see how the family looked almost two decades ago.. What say?”


That’s a nice thought so I readily agree.

“I’ll be more than happy to revisit those times with you all” I reply.

Anjali giggles and then lets me find Arnav at the basement.


The route to the basement is a little secluded from the living area and not very easy to spot for person who is new to this Palace. But I manage to locate the stairs and then descend as I hear voices of the brothers speaking to each other. Just when I am about to reach the room where they are working, I hear the strange sound of some clock ticking. It’s weird considering there is no clock here hanging on the wall at the basement. What is this sound then? So instead of heading to call Arnav, I turn to my left to check the source of this ticking sound. It’s a dark pavement and at the end I see a door which has almost 2 big locks on it. What is in beyond that door? Why does it have two locks? As I keep nearing, the clock ticking sound intensifies. I am about to touch the door when someone grabs my shoulder and I jerk.


“Hey… it’s me..” Arnav speaks before I shout.

“Oh..” I wipe the sweat beads off my face and breathe.

“What are you doing here?” he asks scanning around and then staring back at me.

“What is beyond this door?” I ask and he shrugs.

“Some old stuff. A lot of old stuff to be honest. This basement has two rooms.. This one and the one which we renovated and turned into a home office recently. We had plans to do the same to this room as well but then Daadi said there was too much of old stuff here and we also didn’t find the keys to these old locks.. Just look at them.. they are so huge that even a boulder won’t break them.”


He is right. I stare at the locks again.

“They look antique.. as if they belong decades ago..”

“Maybe… I told you my ancestors lived here before. Anyways, forget all that, what are you doing here? The function is over?”

“Hmm. I came here to call you.”

“Just call me?”


He pins me to the wall beside that door and my breath hitches.

“Arnav? What.. what are you doing?”

“I am doing what I’ve been yearning to do since the time I draped this saree on you..”


His thumbs graze the skin around my exposed slender waist.

“You look beautiful in sarees, Khushi. F*cking beautiful”

I frown as he uses that cuss word again and he understands.

“Will you make me say sorry every time I say this word?”

“yes..” I don’t mean it but I don’t mind threatening him a bit. “Every time you use this word, you have to say sorry..”


A sly grin crosses his face as he inches closer to me.

“You know what this word means?”

I know. It’s weird how I know it but I do. So when he asks me I can’t help but blush. Arnav leans closer than before and now our lips are inches apart.

“What if I say I want to ..”

“Chee…”

I push him away not letting him complete that sentence and scoot away.

“Khushi? I. I was going to say I want to kiss you dammit.. What did you think?”


He is clearly making that up now. He wanted to say something related to that cuss word. I just know.. I hurry to the stairs and he follows me. In no time we reach the living area where I see Akash and NK already standing and grinning at us..

“Akash…” NK begins.. “I knew Nannav will be soon following Khushi Bhabhi like a zoru ka gulam.. but never thought it would happen so soon.”

“Absolutely..” Akash adds.

“Shut up you guys..” Arnav replies. “Continue your work or call it a night. We can do the rest of the stuff tomorrow.”

“I think we should complete the work tonight Bhai. But we can’t do it without your support.”


I know these brothers are just pulling Arnav’s leg. So I decide to let them do so and walk away when Arnav holds my hand, stopping me with him.


“I am married boys.. Have some respect for your Bhabhi. I can’t let her sleep alone in the room while I work with you two..”


I hold my laugh hearing Arnav’s excuse but his brothers can’t hold it. They laugh it out and then agree to continue working tomorrow. The moment they leave, Arnav turns back to me.

“Where do you think you were going?”

“Kitchen.” I reply. “To serve you dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that. Hari Prakash will take care of it. We’ll ask him to send the dinner in the room.”


I am fine with that too as I am already too tired. In fact I can’t wait to get off this Saree and wear my cotton night dress instead. So, I am about to get back to the bedroom instead when Arnav stops me and leaning down, he carries me in his arms. I am surprised at his sudden actions.


“What are you doing?”

“Carrying my wife in bridal style to our bedroom. I have heard our ancestors did the same during their times.”

“Don’t drag your ancestors in this.” I argue as he continues leading us to the bedroom.

“I am serious. You can ask Daadi. Her mother-in-law told her that. It’s in fact a tradition of Raizadas to carry the bride of Sheesh Mahal when she makes her first entry in the house after marriage, but yesterday, we all forgot to do this in that electricity issue.”


Okay, maybe he is telling the truth then. By that I am reminded of the CCTV footage he was supposed to check.

“Did you see the footage of yesterday’s accident?”

He puts me down once we are in the bedroom, his expressions changing.

“We did. And you won’t believe what we saw.”

He shows me the video which is now in his phone and I am shocked.

“I don’t know why he did this? Money or is he mentally sick?”

“Or possessed.” I add.

Arnav stares at me in disbelief.

“What? Possessed?” he snaps.

“Yes. There is a possibility.”

“Oh please” he exhales not ready to believe me. “Khushi I can still accept your orthodox beliefs but what you are suggesting now is unbloody believable.”

“It has happened to people Arnav. What’s not there to believe?” I argue.

“Okay stop..” He groans. “I am not interested in discussing that subject again. Tomorrow Akash is going to meet him and ask him why he did this. Let’s see.. we will automatically get our answers.”


He then picks the cordless phone and dials the kitchen asking Hari Prakash to send the dinner upstairs. I don’t wait for him to finish the call and grabbing a night dress from the closet I step in the bathroom to change. Whatever he just showed me in that video didn’t look normal. I am very sure that worker was possessed and hence he tried to self-harm. Whatever that was, I had to know it too. Could there be a chance that I can accompany Akash to that hospital tomorrow? Will Arnav let me go and check with that worker? Or should I not inform him and meet that man secretly?

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

Arnav’s POV


The dinner is done and Khushi is now on a phone call with her father. She didn’t get much time to speak to him today so now that she is finally free, she is talking to him and I like to hear her talks. She is worried what her father ate, if he had his medicines on time and if he is going to sleep on time or not. She’s also checking with him if he paid for the lighting man who lighted their laxmi nagar house and the caterer who had organized the dinner during her Mehndi and Haldi. I am mesmerized as she keeps talking to her father, sometimes smiling, in between pouting and at times her expression grows sad as if she is missing him. I seriously have to find a way to keep her with me but also close to her father somehow. Though I had offered him to fly with us to London, he seems disinterested and I don’t know how to convince him?


Suddenly the urge to touch my wife again, take her in my arms and devour her, tickles my body and I don’t waste time in thinking. Khushi is standing at the window speaking on her phone when I reach behind her and sliding her hair to one side, kiss the exposed crook of her neck. She freezes for a few seconds but I don’t stop. Kissing her has become my favourite duty of the day. Her voice starts becoming thicker with tension as she continues small talk with her father. Once she even tries to shrug my arms from her waist but I pull her firmer this time, with her back resting on my chest as I continue to devour her.


“babuji..” she swallows.. “I.. I will speak to you.. tomorrow..”


Finally, I like that she is winding up the call. She says a quick bye and the moment she hangs up, I snatch her phone, put it on the table beside and turning her to me, kiss her feverishly. She might not know this but Khushi was entirely kissable and irresistible and she was all mine which ignited me even more. She was still learning to kiss back but never did I thought she would be such a quick learner. Her soft mouth kept kissing me until we were short of breaths. A break of a few seconds and I put my lips back on her, this time pushing her to the bed behind. I was about to lay her down when the lights went off. The sudden darkness in the room scared her and she clung to me, breaking the kiss.


“It’s okay.. The lights of this palace seriously needs some repairing.” I groan stroking her hair.

“Hmm” she keeps clinging to my body, hugging me tight and I realize she is even chanting devi maiyaa’s name softly. I pull away from Khushi and raise her chin to meet my eyes.

“Maybe your Devi Maiyaa purposely turned off the lights.. To give us a romantic set up.. Isn’t darkness beautiful?” I ask.


Khushi stares in my eyes, a little perplexed.

“You love darkness?” she queries.

“Totally.. Do you know I was born at midnight that too on a no moon day?” My thumb strokes her jaw and she instantly pushes it away.

“Don’t scare me off.”


I laugh.

“I am serious. My birth story is very weird.. You should hear it from Daadi some day. She will tell you everything with specifics. I was born here in Sheesh Mahal at the same basement we had been earlier..”


Her eyes flew open at my confession.

“Really? You were born here? Not in the hospital?”

“Didn’t get that privilege” I sigh and then take her to bed and pull her close to me as we lie down.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was born premature. Almost 3 weeks before the due date so obviously no one knew and hence Maa was in Sheesh Mahal and not in any hospital.”


Khushi is about to ask me more when I shut her up with my finger.

“No more talks.. On our second night of marriage I don’t want to talk about my early birth.”

She frowns.

“Then what do you want to talk about?” Khushi innocently asks.

I stroke her cheeks and sliding my palm at her nape I pull her to my lips. I want to kiss her tonight.. to my heart’s content. No talks.. Just Kiss my wife for all those missing years when we were living in two different worlds not knowing we were made for each other.. As soon as my lips crash on hers, Khushi gets my answer and a tiny moan escapes her lips which is the first I have heard so far. This woman is finally coming out of her innocent shell! Not bad!!


To be Continued.

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