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Khushi walked back to her room. She opened the door and felt very odd. One week of company spoilt her habits that she cultivated so carefully. Lado and Suri. Ratan... sometimes, even Vaishnavi called on her to enquire on her health and looked after her. She would never be able to pay them back for their affection and care.
She gaped at his aquiline nose that was sharp and proclaimed that he was a determined man when he wanted to...more like stubborn she thought, as her arms went round his neck unknown to her in reflex action...Deepthimaan looked at her then as her arms went round his neck. She blushed and lowered her eyelashes making him want to do something to hold her gaze. He shook his head in exasperation.
Deepthimaan started driving and turned the vehicle at the next intersection and Khushi realized he was going back to the bus stop.“Sir! What...are...you...” she didn‟t get to finish quite as he stopped the vehicle at the bus stop and looked at the two men who were still there.
“My leg is temporarily useless sir, not my brain and hands,” was the reply as the intercom buzzed and since Khushi was still on the floor, Deepthimaan pressed the speaker button and Avadhani‟s voice boomed through...“If you are finished with that, then make a review...” He went on for two more minutes, non-stop and asked, “OK?”
Two days later...“How is she?” Deepthimaan enquired...“I don‟t know sir” Subhojit said as he handed over the preliminary report on Khushi Sharma to the Prince.“Its errr... very odd sir,” he said mirroring Deepthimaan‟s expressions as he read through the report.He read through and through, his head back on to the lush swivel leather chair he was in and mused...that meant there was no background information on the lady Khushi Sharma. That’s it! Whew!Deepthimaan was zapped.She was so different from the beginning. Actually she was so simple so much so that, she could easily meld into the background.But that‟s where he thought something was wrong. Some people were reserved and shy by nature but something did not match the lady - the attire, the attitude and her bearing. Everything was a perfect fit so much so that it cracked under his scrutiny to be a mismatch.She dressed too plainly, but her behavior was very suave. She wore simple attire, but her demeanor was very regal and she spoke so softly yet so firmly. She tried to look timid. He deduced that she fought like a tigress. She told him off before the doctor Man! He squirmed in his seat. None dared to talk before him, leave alone answering back. That gave her away in fact he thought! It was too authoritative to order your boss around when practically every employee was scared to even breath before him. She wanted to look weak and frail. But she was actually very strong by her spirit. He had felt it when he saw her fighting and winning over pain when her hand got burnt. The lady had guts. And she had one more thing! A secret! That‟s what made her so very wary and secretive, His experience told him and he would be damned if any of his rivals sent her to create some trouble at the Corporal.He again looked at the details
“Yes! Miss! What are you up to this time?” he asked her and she raised her eyes just in time to catch that amused glint in those blue eyes that sparkled...“Oh OK! What do we have here? A swollen ankle!” the doc said as he examined her leg, and turned to the Prince saying “Kunwar, I think it‟s a dislocation or worse still a fracture...”
She looked... she looked... cool! She checked her watch munching on something and then relaxed watching the crowd that was milling by.She must be waiting for someone. Who could it be? May be her boyfriend or husband! Husband? How could she be married? Why can’t she be married...? An inner voice demanded. Somehow he felt very odd! He didn‟t like the feeling of her being married to someone. He frowned and then jerked back to the present shocked.
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“Why is your Prince so very stubborn?" She asked SurPal Singh, who she found out was the aide of the Prince from Raina.He smiled and said lovingly, “Dheeth aur bahuth hi pyaarey!”(Stubborn, but very adorable too!)
It was then that she realized that her eyes had tears rolling down, but her lips were parted in a smile. Self-mockery was more like it she thought.“How is it doc?” he asked the doctor.“Pretty bad! In fact, even for dressing, I should have given a sedative but it‟s already late so I just finished cleaning the wound.” The doc said frowning. He gave her a tetanus shot and took another saying, “This is a tranquilizer.”
“You are here?” Raina huffed as she waded into the lady's, with her eyes popping out of their sockets.“Yeah! What happened?” Khushi looked at her and hoped it was not one of those emergencies, which boss created artificially. She knew that Mr. Avadhani had this flair for checking his staff out once in a while, by putting them into strange rigors of tackling issues that were best left for time, and the Finance Department to handle.
Deepthimaan moved quickly, grabbed the tray and set it aside and tried to check her hand, but she moved away hiding her hand behind her back saying, “No! I am fine...that‟s okay.”“You got burnt... let me...” He tried to examine her hand, but she stepped back saying, “No! I said...I am fine”He did not listen and tried to check her hand, as she yelled loudly, “I said No! Don‟t touch me!”He then looked at her, and smarted as standing before him was one of the exquisitely beautiful woman he had ever seen, with skin so fragile and features so perfect, as if etched by an expert sculptor. She was petite and was draped in an elegant sari in mauve and off white. She had black hair and beautiful eyes and her nose was pert yet sharp, and he saw what he termed as perfectly shaped lips and shoulders and a body that was proportional.She turned to leave and he prompted, “Listen! You must get some first aid done.”
A year and a half ago...
“Sir, I can‟t...” She could not speak further as he stopped, turned and asked her,“You know very well, that what‟s mine I never let go, don't you?”She flinched and tried again, “I ...don‟t want to go!”
He started walking towards her and she struggled to even breathe.
A romantic story set in the deserts of Rajasthan in the backdrop of the legendary SheeshMahal with its secrets, stories and splendour.
She looked at the tap that was leaking and shouted, “Dheeru Chacha Paani behrahee hai! Dekhiye tho!”(Watch out Dheeru Uncle! Water‟s leaking from the faucet.)She then collected her books and put them in the cloth bag hanging by her shoulder, and walked out into the cool evening breeze. She was delayed again! She promised to coach Baiju the village barber‟s son. And she did not know how time flew by...She looked at the sky and it was heavily cast... a drop fell on her cheek, and she looked up at the sky. She dreaded rain! She actually loved rain, but her life was so very woven with the rain that now she was wary of even a drizzle. It always brought life with it! One, which she dreaded to confront.
She was there in him as the breath that he inhaled and exhaled... She was present in every thought of his...She was the darkness in his shadow...She was in his every mood and...
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