Chapter 46

She paused briefly, mentally contemplating on how the news. As she opened her mouth to speak she heard a shrill ringing sound coming from Arnav's pocket. She watched as he reached for his phone and frown upon seeing the name. "Just a minute" he said as she heard him ask Aman if everything's was ok. The next minute he swore under his breath as he seemed to discuss some crisis on hand.  Her eyes skimmed his face as she noticed the narrow frown lines on his forehead. His eyes portrayed anger and frustration, surrounded by dark circles. She sighed as she realized how much stress he was enduring at the moment. While he never complained, she knew he didn't have a typical work schedule. Maybe telling him about the pregnancy wasn't a good idea. After all, she didn't have any confirmation. It was probably a better idea to take a test and then share if she was pregnant. She didn't want to add more stress for him . She also didn't want anyone to get excited unless there was definitely something to be excited about.


Yes it was the best thing. She decided to postpone telling him until she knew something more definitive. Feeling a little fatigued she headed towards the room and snuggled into the warmth of the bed. Shortly after, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and pull her close. His warm breath fanned against her ear as he spoke. "Khushi what did you want to talk to me about?"



"It was nothing important. I'm sleepy so we'll talk tomorrow." as she feigned absolute drowsiness and closed her eyes.
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Khushi was walking across the hall, rehearsing out loud, over and over again. She was trying to memorize the speech that Lavanyaji had written. As promised she had penned a precise speech in English for Khushi to recite at the press conference. She continued on, totally engrossed with the paper in her hand. Suddenly she bumped into NK, who was equally distracted due to headphones in his ears.

"Oops Sorry Khushiji. I didn't mean to bump into you." he said remorsefully, while removing the headphones from his ears. He watched Khushiji curiously as she fluently spoke in English.

"Wow Khushiji! You are speaking English very well!" he declared encouragingly.

She smiled, her infamous thousand watt smile, as she replied to him. "Thank you Nanheji. Lavanyaji has been kind enough to write the speech for me in English for the press conference tomorrow. I am simply repeating her words. " she sighed wistfully.

"Well Khushiji, I bet you could learn English in no time if you wanted to." he said reassuringly. NK had sensed that Khushi was feeling conscious about her language barrier and sensed that she may need some encouragement.  "

Khushi smiled half-heartedly as she wished it were that easy. She was keen on learning English, for her own reasons. She had thought the easiest way would be to learn it on the computer. While searching on the net she had discovered an ample amount of free sites with certified English lessons. Despite the promise of being user friendly and easy, she had still found it difficult. After a few lessons, it was quite obvious that this was not the solution for her.

"Nanheji it is not so easy to learn a language. It takes a lot of time, dedication, and hard work" she confided.
"Tell me about it Khushiji. I have been trying to learn Hindi for such a long period of time, yet I still make many mistakes." he admitted and chuckled to himself as he thought about some of the crazy stuff he had said in Hindi.

"Hindi is so easy to learn Nanheji. You just need the proper person to teach you and you will be speaking shudh (proper) Hindi in no time." she said certainly.

NK smiled dreamily at the thought of being able to speak shudh Hindi. He snapped his fingers as a great idea surfaced in his mind. "Khushi I have a wonderful idea! How about you teach me Hindi and I teach you English?"

Khushi's mouth formed a perfect O at the declaration of his idea. While it was an interesting idea, she silently wondered how many lessons she would have to give Nanheji in order for him to speak perfect Hindi. Despite living in India for many months, he was still struggling with Hindi. Of course he had not had the privilege of Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada teaching him. She was confident that he would be speaking Hindi after receiving such brilliant lessons from her. Would he be able to teach her English? It was at least worth a try, plus she definitely wanted to help him.

"So what say Khushiji?" as Nanheji waited her answer.

"I agree Nanheji. It's a deal" she exclaimed as she put her hand outright. "Arnavji says we should always shake on a deal."

Nk smiled and clasped her hand. "Deal. Let's start soon ok Khushi, how about tomorrow?" as he was eager to start.  He found it quite interesting that Khushi had recommended a handshake as the agreement. Nannav would be elated that Khushi was turning into Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada, as he stifled back a laugh.

"I will try Nanheji. There is an abundant amount of work with the fashion show but I think we can squeeze in a short lesson. Now I better get back to memorizing my speech so my first lesson is not focused on embarrassment."

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Khushi waved bye to Lavanya as she left to meet her friends. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get Lavanyaji to go meet her other friends. Once she agreed, Lavanya had been quite insistent that Khushi accompany her as well. Khushi had managed to persuade Lavanyaji to go alone. She was extremely eager to go out and buy a pregnancy test. Since she had not told Arnav she did not feel it was right for anyone else to know, which is why it was important for her to go by herself. She grabbed her purse and headed outside to meet the driver. On her way she bumped into Di and Payal.

"Di  I have to go out for an errand. I will be back soon." trying to be as discreet as possible.

"Ok Khushiji. But what errand are you going for?" Di asked curiously.

Think Khushi. Think. What errand am I going for? Hey Devi Maiyya ' I can't say what errand I am going for!  What kind of predicament she was in. She blabbed the first thought that came to her mind. "Voh um I am going to the vegetable market!"

"Pagli! There are so many vegetables at home. Why do you need to go to the market? HPji just went yesterday" as Payal shook her head admonishingly. Her little sister never failed to surprise her.

Khushi's eyes widened as she tried figure out her next words. Why was getting a mere pregnancy test so difficult? "Actually Jiji I wanted to make Lavanyaji's favorite vegetable and HPji forgot to get that from the market. So that is why I am going." she explained quite satisfied with her spur of the moment answer.

"Theek hain Khushiji. Would you like me to get it for you?" Di asked sincerely. She knew Khushi had many things to do so she was trying to help.

"No Di!" she almost shouted. "No need to trouble yourself." as she grabbed her stuff and hurried out the door quickly before anyone could contest.

She was at the store, actually embarrassed to be near the pregnancy test section. She had seen a couple in the aisle earlier and had waited a good five minutes for them to leave. She was secretly watching them from the corner of the aisle until they left. Once they left she tiptoed over to and stared at the variety of pregnancy tests. She looked to the left and then looked to the right, to make sure no one was in near proximity. Her eyes quickly skimmed the options. There were boxes with two tests, boxes that boasted 99% accuracy, and ones that guaranteed earliest confirmation. Unable to decide she begin singing ek do teen, and came to the decision to buy the box that would be number 13. She continued singing the song silently, until chose the box that corresponded with thera. (number thirteen).

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Khushi was at the vegetable market. She was anxious to get home and use her pregnancy test, however it was necessary for her to stop off the market since she had follow through with her fictional excuse. She heard her phone ring and quickly answered since it was Arnav calling. Arnav informed her that her designer outfits were ready and that she would need to do a final fitting immediately. She explained that she was on her way to AR and would be there shortly. She decided to make a quick stop at home, as she was quite anxious to test.

Arnav glanced at the clock and wondered what was taking Khushi so long. She was not even answering her phone. He rang up Di to see if he could track Khushi down.

"Di where is Khushi? She is not answering her phone and I asked her to come to AR sometime ago."

"Kya? Chotte  Khushiji went vegetable shopping at the market. She didn't mention anything about going to AR." as she narrated their earlier conversation in a confused manner.

"What the! She went to the vegetable market?" he exclaimed furiously. How many times had he conveyed to her that the hired help should manage all trivial tasks. Especially today, of all the days since he was anxiously awaiting her arrival so he could see her reaction to the outfits. Truth be told, he was also missing her immensely and was yearning to see her.

Anjali saw someone whizz by, and realized it was Khushi. "Khushiji just arrived back at home. Should I tell her to call you? She has gone straight to the bedroom."

"Forget Di. I'll just come home for a short time." he grabbed the outfits and stormed out of his office.

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Khushi removed the pregnancy test from her purse, that she had conveniently hidden there. She ripped the box open and quickly read the instructions. It seemed simple and straight forward as she hurried to the washroom. She removed the plastic and positioned it in the right angle. According to the instructions, results would be visible in minutes. Once she was satisfied that the test was wet enough she set it down on the counter. After washing her hands, she nervously bit her nails as she stared at the control window, where the test results would show. Within a minute she saw a huge red plus sign appear. Her hand immediately flew to her mouth and her eyes watered as she realized that it meant she was pregnant. She could not believe it! Hey Devi Maiyya , she was actually pregnant!  She moved her hand down to her stomach, as she marveled at the thought of a tiny being inside of her. Beaming ear to ear, she left the washroom to make her way over to Arnav's office. She couldn't wait to share this news with him.


Arnav reached Shantivan and slammed the front door shut, still angry as hell as he literally ran up the stairs. He stood at the doorway, as Khushi seemed to admire herself in the mirror. Garment bags in his hand, he pushed the door closed with his feet, making his presence known.


"What the hell Khushi!" as he threw the garment bags on the bed. "I have been waiting for you to try on these outfits. I thought you understood how important it is, but no you had to go vegetable shopping. How many times have I told you to let the servants do their job DAMMIT!"


Khushi flinched at his harsh words. Anger was radiating from him as he stood there. "Arnav I was just coming to AR. I had a very important errand to run."


However Arnav wouldn't let her finish. "Whatever! Try these outfits on and let Simran know if any adjustments need to be made. I need to get back to the office." as he turned his back to her.

"Wait Arnav! I wanted to talk to you!" as she walked closer to him in an attempt to stop him.

"I'm busy right now!" and he left before she could get another word in edgewise. He raced out of the room in lightning speed and she watched hopelessly as he left. She stretched out her hand to stop, but he didn't look back. She clutched the garment bag in her hand and noted the eerie silence in the room as her eyes filled with tears.