Chapter Ten

Even if he was supposed to be taking a day off, Arnav could't help himself but to focus on work - at least, in the morning. After having lunch, however, he decided to invest his time in the gym. With the stress and amount of time being put into the Thailand project, Arnav hadn't been able to give the gym his time. Now that he had the day to himself, he decided to take advantage of it.

And so he did, for hours on. He had been so invested in it, that he had lost track of time. It was around 8 when Khushi had gone looking for him, having seen him head towards the gym earlier.

Now, it should be noted that Arnav was built. It was evident by any person who saw him, especially with the ladies. Bulging muscles, defined chest and abs, and of course - a firm butt. Ladies gawked at the sight of him! So months back, when Arnav had chosen to marry her, Khushi couldn't figure out for the life of her how a beautiful man like him could want to marry, in her words, "a burned woman with a scorched face" like her. And once again, seeing that man drenched in sweat as he did the salmon ladder, made her question everything in life once more.

Of course, after the shock had passed.

It wasn't everyday you saw a man doing the salmon ladder. Khushi probably wouldn't have even known what that even was if she didn't watch Arrow on TV. It always amazed her seeing Stephen Amell doing it on TV, but discovering that he husband could do it, well, it simply left her mind blank.

Arnav noticed Khushi and he dropped down from the bar. That was when Khushi's brain had snapped back into motion, rushing her thoughts past her for the moments it was clogged, before quickly returning to its proper functions.

"I-I just came in to let you know that it's 8," Khushi said.

Arnav nodded, reaching for his water bottle. As Arnav chugged on his water, Khushi couldn't help herself but to give him a full look-over.

And I'm actually married to this guy? For about 7 weeks now? Can't be!

Khushi looked away before he gawking mind decided to continue to gawk at him and be caught. Normally, Khushi would see him suited up for the office or in casual wear or PJs. For the first time in their 7ish weeks of marriage was Khushi now face-to-face with a shirtless Arnav... and it made her slightly uncomfortable. Not because she didn't want to see it - heavens no! But because of what it was doing to her.

Unfortunately, the way Arnav saw it, he thought she was making her feel uncomfortable. It made him feel bad, putting her in uncomfortable situation, so he reached over for his sleeveless hoodie and popped it on. And while he thought he was doing something helpful for Khushi, Khushi's brain pleaded for him to take it off.

"Is everyone still out," Arnav asked.

"Bhabi called; she said she's on her way home, there's just a lot of traffic. And Papa should be home soon with Bhai."

"And Abhay is still at his apartment... cool."

Arnav picked up his phone and held his arm out, gesturing for Khushi to go first. So she left gym with Arnav behind her, and for each step she took, her level of awareness on how hot and sweaty Arnav was, increased. No she wasn't bothered by it, but she felt rather drawn to it. She didn't understand why, but it was as if their was this electrical hum, drawing her towards him. In all these weeks together, Khushi always avoided any attractions, given that she didn't know the man. Now, weeks later after sleeping beside and waking up in his arms, the level of attraction had gone from 0 to 100, real quick.

"Khushi!"

Khushi paused and looked up to see Mona with numerous bags in her hands, but Arnav had been looking at his phone, and bumped into her. Before she went crashing down, Arnav quickly caught and pulled her to him, her chest colliding into his. Mona gasped and covered her face with her hands, her eyes wide as she watched the two gazed into each others eyes.

It should be noted that while Mona felt the urge to shriek, Khushi felt like she had been shocked by a bolt of lightening. She couldn't remove her eyes from Arnav, her nerves beginning to shoot all over the place from nervousness. And with the way Arnav was looking at her....

Why is he looking at me like that? There's hundreds of beautiful women out there, nothing near as horrendous as I am. So then why? Why look at me in that way?

When the front doors opened and Sameer's and Aditya's voices took over the room, the two shot apart, feeling awkward and creating an awkward vibe in the air, which everyone else could feel.

"Is something wrong," Sameer asked in confusion.

"Nope," Mona answered. "But it seems like your youngest son here is a klutz," she snickered.

Arnav rolled his eyes, while Khushi looked away.

"Bumping into Khushi like that, really Arnav," Mona teased.

Khushi blushed and Arnav frowned at Mona.

"I'm not a klutz, I was looking at a business proposal-"

"Arnav there's a reason why I said to take the day off," Sameer frowned.

"I know dad, but-"

"But nothing. We've got it over at the office, and you can look at all the proposals and all the accounts you want tomorrow."

"Fine dad," Arnav sighed.

"Good. Now then, what's for dinner, I'm starving," the old man grinned.

"Go ahead and wash up Papa, I'll get dinner set up," Khushi smiled back.

"Perfect," and everyone headed off to their rooms to wash up for dinner.

Khushi headed upstairs real quick to take a quick shower and change, since Arnav had gotten her drenched in his sweat. Of course he apologized, but it was really nothing to apologize for. Not with what she had in mind.

*~*

Dinner was set, and everyone sat at the table, except for Khushi.

"Come on Khushi, you know the rule," Sameer said. "No one eats until the family is at the table, and with the way everything is smelling so good, I can't wait anymore!"

Khushi entered the dining room with a grin, setting down a platter full of jalebis before sitting down. Sameer reached out for a jalebi but when he caught sight of both Mona and Khushi frowning at him, he pulled his hand back.

"I'll never understand how you women can make an old man feel like a child," he pouted.

Both Khushi and Mona chuckled and high-fived each other. Everyone dug right in to dinner, talking about their day.

"I bought a few new saris today, but I must Khushi, the sari you're wearing right now is very beautiful," Mona said.

Arnav absolutely agreed. His present indeed looked amazing on Khushi and she looked absolutely beautiful.

"Thank you bhabi," Khushi smiled.

"No problem. You've never worn this before, have you?"

Khushi's eyes slightly widened and she glanced at Arnav. this action had not been missed by Mona, and she looked at her poor devar, who looked like he was about to be caught. She understood immediately, and hope beamed within her once more.

"It's very cute," she smiled.

Khushi attempted a smile, glancing back and forth between Arnav, Mona, and her plate. Thank goodness Mona hadn't pushed forward, or the awkwardness Khushi had felt would've hit the roof. And double thank goodness that they had moved off of the topic and to something else.

Once dinner was complete, Khushi passed the platter of jalebis to Sameer, who happily picked one up and munched right into it.

"Dad, stop acting like a child," Aditya frowned, though he was humored.

"Hush it and take a bite," Sameer scowled.

Everyone chuckled and Khushi revealed the other platter full of jalebis.

"Even more," Sameer grinned. "Amazing!"

Khushi couldn't help her smile. "Actually Papa, these are sugar-free."

Sameer's eyebrows shot up, as well as Mona's and Aditya's.

"Oh," was all the old man said.

Khushi placed the platter before Arnav and waited for him to take one. He glanced at her and everyone else - noting the eagerness in their faces - before picking a jalebi up. As soon as he took a bite, he could see the eagerness in his family increase, desperate for him to make a comment.

"It's good," he said.

"Good-good, or really good," Mona asked.

"Really good," he frowned at her, although his smile was evident.

Sameer chuckled. "You're gonna spoil us Khushi."

Khushi smiled with a soft blush and for some unknown reason why, Arnav felt tempted to kiss her.

What the? Where did that come from.

*~*

Later that night, once everything had been cleaned and put away, Khushi headed to their room. She found Arnav sitting at his desk, already changed into a t-shirt and PJs, working away on his computer.

"I hope you're not working."

Arnav looked up at her and Khushi's eyes widened.

Why did I say that? "Papa might find out," she quickly added.

Arnav smiled softly and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not, well, not exactly. Just checking a few emails."

Khushi nodded in acknowledgement. Before things got awkward, she headed to the wardrobe to retrieve her nightwear.

"Khushi?"

Khushi turned to him. "Hmm?"

"Thank you... for wearing the sari."

Khushi looked down at herself and back at him. "Thank you for the sari. Yellow is actually my favorite color," she said softly.

"I know."

Khushi's eyebrows met at the middle automatically.

"I figured it was, given the amount of yellow you wear. And then bhabi told me."

"Oh?"

He figured it out by himself that yellow is my favorite color? Because I wear it that much? Do I really? Hmm... never really thought about it.

"Um, it's a very beautiful sari," Khushi said.

"Thanks. Before buying this, I never realized how hard it was to buy a sari," he said, scratching the back of his head.

Khushi found his actions cute, and she immediately pressed the breaks on that thought.

"I was gonna have bhabi help me, but knowing her, I knew she wouldn't have made it easy. She likes to tease a lot," he quickly explained when Khushi looked at him in confusion.

Khushi nodded and the awkward vibe was coming back into the air. So before it took over, she quickly went to the bathroom to change. When she came out, Arnav was sitting on his side of the bed, on his phone. As Khushi headed to the vanity to comb through her hair, Arnav caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eyes and looked up.

The sight of her made him freeze.

In all the weeks they had been married, never had Arnav felt this way. Maybe he simply didn't notice before - due to how busy he was with work - but seeing Khushi in her simple red sari, with her long hair flowing down her back, did things to him.

Has she never worn red before? No, I'm sure she has. Have I simply just not noticed before? 

While Arnav remained lost in his thoughts, Khushi was busy combing her long hair. During her accident, she had gotten really lucky that her hair hadn't caught on fire. Normally she kept her hair at mid-length, but after the surgery and treatments, Khushi had decided to leave her hair alone. She wanted it to grow out - that way her hair could cover her back and no one would see her burn marks.

Though Khushi had kept her hair long for those intentions, it didn't mean that Arnav thought of it that way.

When I first met her, her hair wasn't this long. But it looks lovely. And it always smells like vanilla.

He would know that very well, given the number of times he's woken up with his face nuzzled into Khushi's hair.

Just as Khushi was about to turn, Arnav flinched back to his phone, as if he weren't looking at her all this time. Khushi laid down on her side of the bed and Arnav placed his phone down and shut off the lights. Once again, like every night before, they slept on their opposite sides.

But little did they realize that this morning would be different than every other morning they had ever had.