Arika One Shot : Roots and Wings.

Her face began to turn pale and her hands trembled like dry leaves. What was he doing there? Who called him? Though her heart had stopped beating but her brain was pacing up fast. It was her sister's wedding, she did not want to create any ruckus and spoil the fun. The last few days had come down as a blessing for her and her family. Amma and Chitti agreed to give Sherry's hand in Vishal's. Her baby sister was finally going to be a bride and would make a beautiful wife to Vishal. The pre-wedding fun was a pleasing affair. More so because she had her Mr.Khanna with her, standing with her, supporting her and helping her out, ending up increasing the fun and excitement. Never had she imagined her life to be so blissful.

---

 Two days back, on the occasion of haldi, Karan came up with this idea of having a combined haldi ceremony rather than separate ones. This turned out to be more of an excuse for spending more time with Tipsy at her home. While everyone had got busy in applying the haldi on Sherry and Vishal, Karan had stolen the opportunity to drag Tipsy at a corner where nobody could catch them.

'Mr.Khanna what is this? Have you lost your mind? Koi dekh lega to? Please leave me.' She commanded.

 'Wait baba, Just a minute!' he said not loosening his grip on her smooth and soft hands. 'You look ravishing in this yellow sari, main kabse ye bolna chaah raha tha yaar' he pulled her a bit closer.

'Behave Mr.Khanna'  these three words had become her patent words but now when she uttered them, the seriousness faded away everytime. She didn't have the courage to look up straight into his eyes, for she knew, the more she looked at him, the weaker her senses became.

'Look at me and then say that!' He demanded jerking her a bit. 'You can not!' He rolled his tongue inside his mouth.

'What nonsense? Mazaak ka time hai ye? And why have you held me like this? Maintain some decency at least.' She struggled to some extent to get off his hold.

'Shaam ko sangeet hai, and Dr. Tripura Sundari Nagrajan, I want to have the pleasure of dancing with you in the evening.' Saying this he loosened his grip on her shoulders.

She at once looked around if anybody heard what he said. 'Are you mad? Dance? You and me? You've gone nuts I guess. Aisa socha bhi kaise aapne? Sab rahenge bhi and in front of everyone, I just cant.'

 'Matlab akele mein you are okay about dancing with me?' He emphasised every word which made her cheeks slowly turn into the colour of beetroot.

 'Maine keh diya hai. Zyada nakhre kiye na tumne to tumhe sabke saamne pakad ke le jaaunga dance floor pe. Choice is yours.'

 'Aap..aap na bahot besharam hain. And I have not said a yes.'

'achha one more thing! Pehle bedroom mein chalo.' He rubbed his hands in excitement.

 'naseema pore! Pagal ho gaye hain aap Mr.Khanna? Don't cross your limits! Bedroom mein kyun Jana hai aapko?'

 'Abe yaar!' He looked around and literally dragged her into her bedroom.

 'Hawww. This is plain harassment. How could you..' She wanted to shout but couldn't.

 'Do minute yaar, your head is always in the gutter! Kitni lusty ho tum?' He teased.

 'How dare you?' She was baffled.

Meanwhile he went to her bed and took out a shopping bag that he had hidden under the pillow.

'This is for you Tirupu, I want you to wear this in the evening.' Saying he extended the bag to her.

'I..I..Mr. Khanna' she fell short of words and her eyes welled up. That was the first time Karan had got her something. To others it meant just a simple piece of cloth but for her it meant so much. The fact that Karan, her man, her Mr. Khanna had thought of gifting her something and had taken the pain to go out and spend time to shop for her sent jitters down her spine. Though she didn't say anything but her moist eyes conveyed everything to Karan and he knew that she was happy with his gesture.

'You're going to wear this right?' He just wanted to check once. To which she just shook her head. He raised his hands showing his merriment.

 'Par Mr. Khanna! How could you enter my personal space? This is so wrong!' she complained.

'Oh madame, tumhare naa bedroom ka lock kharab hai jo tum shayad repair karana hi nahi chaahti, may be you want to take advantage of me, and what is this tumhara and all? This is kind of our bedroom you know!' He winked at her.

'Wait, come again! Our bedroom? When did this happen? She placed her left arm on her waist and waited for for his answer.

'I have made this clear earlier too ke tum mere liye koi gair nahi ho. Your bedroom, my bedroom, your coffee mug, my laptop, your phone, my car, your bed, my wardrobe, jitna mera hai utna tumhara bhi to hai and vice versa.' He raised his brow to know if she was impressed by his answer.

Though every word of his tied her stomach into knots and her heart was doing cartwheels inside her chest, she just didn't want to give up her arms in front of him. 'Aur ye sab kisne decide kar liya achanak se?'

'C'mon yaar, we love each other ! Aur there's going to be a day when everything that belongs to me now will be yours, would-be Mrs. Khanna!' He chuckled.

 'I don't believe you!' She lowered her gaze.

'Mat karo! Bas ek baar Sherry ki shaadi ho jaaye fir Amma aur chitti se main humari baat karne wala hoon. Because,' he bent a bit towards her, 'I can't resist you anymore Tanpuraa' His proximity made her heart stop beating for a good number of seconds.

'Behave Mr. Khanna.' she bit her lower lip.

'And you be ready for the dance.' Saying this he made an exit from the room.

---

The period of three months of treating him and then the three months of staying away from him in Austria had made one thing clear that she loved him way too much and the best part part was, even though she had never admitted her love to him, he too knew that she was serious about him and their future together. The way she looked at him, with love and adoration filled in her eyes, the way she wrapped her tiny delicate fingers around his strong hands when she felt vulnerable, had laid the foundations of an unbreakable sacred relationship between them. Though she was taking baby steps towards Karan on the path of trust and love, but she was constantly moving towards her 'right man' and that was all that mattered to them. Neither of them were in a hurry. Because they knew, at the end, they'll be together, forever.

But seeing Palash back after all these years terrified her. The bad old days haunted her. The mistakes that she did in her past of trusting that creepy creature, and investing her time and energy in the wrong guy filled her soul with guilt. But she was sure of one thing that she'd go to any extent to guard her relationship with Karan from this venomous creature. He proceeded towards her. She looked around to see the guests enjoying the wedding, her family attending the guests. Her eyes searched for Karan but he was nowhere to be found.

'What brought you here Palash?' Keeping all her fears and vulnerabilities aside, she faced her ugly past.

 'You left me with no other option Tipsy. Tumhare office aata to you would have not met me, at least in sabke beech tum meri baat sunn to paaogi.'

 'I don't want to hear anything. There's no need for that now. You should just leave.' 

'But I want to stay Tipsy, I want to stay with you. I have realized all my mistakes. Itne saalon se hum akele the, because we both were meant to be together.'

Just then Karan appeared and barged into the conversation, 'What the hell are you doing here Palash? Tipsy tum..' He looked at Tipsy and could see stress on her face. 'Are you okay ? He placed his hand on her shoulder out of concern. 

'We are in a conversation Karan, I don't like someone disturbing me, please give us some privacy and just leave.' Palash gritted his teeth.

'I'll leave an impression of my fist on your face Palash. That would serve you right.' Karan was fuming in anger.

'What do you even know about me Karan? Tipsy ne bataya tumhe sab kuch? Did she tell you how close we were? That we even had..'

'Enough Palash, just stop !' Tipsy's eyes were red by then. Karan on the other hand stood perplexed letting everything that was happening sink in.

'Whatever we had between us, Palash, haunts me like a monster. People commit mistakes, you were my mistake. I regret every nanosecond that I had spent with you. But now, things have changed. I am happy now, and happy because I have him with me.' Tipsy turned her face to look at Karan who was unable to register anything. She slowly entangled her fingers in his, and tightened her grip. Karan's lips curled up a bit.

'This guy Tipsy? Look at him! He himself is too scared of commitments. Has he sorted his life? What are you in his life?' 

'He is not scared of commitments. I trust him completely.'

'I can see the trust. Trust hai tabhi tumne ise humare baare mein nahi bataya ab tak. First love is never easily forgotten Tipsy, never. We loved each other, and I'll get you back.'

The pages of her past were being turned, and with every minute her fear of confronting Karan and ending up losing him became more evident. Will he understand her, and accept her with everything that she had gone through? Though both of their lives were imperfect but they had thought, that together they'd make perfection just a word. 

'Mr.Khanna, I want to go home' she pleaded him with tears clogged up in her eyes.

'But Tipsy, you are needed here, we can't leave now.' he tried making her realise of the situation around.

'I just want to leave, I feel suffocated, please.'  saying this she pressed her eyes giving her tears a way to roll down.

'Okay, okay please don't cry.' he held her hand firmly in his, 'let's go' saying this, they started moving away from Palash who stood affixed to the surface. 'Keep this in mind Karan, I am not leaving her this easily. She is just mine, I know how to find my way with her.' He shouted at them to make his every word audible to them.

Karan and Tipsy kept on moving away as if they didn't hear what he blabbered. But his every word ripped Tipsy's heart and Karan got tangled again in the chains of confusions and doubts.

Before Karan could even open the door of the car for her, she opened it for herself and settled down on the seat. Taking the driver's seat, Karan extended a water bottle to her,

'Tipsy have some water, you look so pale.'

She shook her head in negation without looking up at him for once.

'Please Tipsy, I insist.' He opened the cap and gave it to her, she knew she could not resist it anymore. Taking the bottle from his hand, she gulped some water down her throat.

Their journey to Tipsy's place began in silence. Karan had so many questions running through his mind. But before anything, all he wanted was to calm her down. Palash's words kept coming to Tipsy. She cursed her fate for bringing him back, that too at this point of her life. Will Karan understand her? Will he forgive her for keeping him in the dark for so long? She gathered some courage to raise her eyes and look at him. 

'Don't think too much Tipsy. I will always be with you.

Though he didn't even look at her but his words gave her solace.

She lowered her gaze to look at her hands colored beautifully with mehandi. 

Last night at the mehandi ceremony, Karan had insisted Tipsy to get the initials of his name written on her hand. She gently rubbed her thumb over the letter 'K'. Though her lips made a curve but the saline water of her eyes rolled down from her face. 

'Oh my God Tipsy! Look at the color of your mehandi yaar! Kitna dark hai! Jitna zyada husband ka pyaar, utni dark mehandi.' Sherry teased her. 

And when Tipsy had shown her hands to Karan, he had almost jumped up in joy finding his initials on her colored hands. 'You are mine, just mine to possess, and love' that's what he had told her and that's where she lost her heart again to him. 

The twenty minutes drive ended when they reached their destination. Karan quickly typed a message and sent to Trisha, who was there at the wedding, informing her about their whereabouts. 

At the doorstep of her flat, Karan took the keys from her hand and opened the door for her. 'I have informed Trisha ke hum saath hain and we had some urgent work, in case they look for us.' 

'Thank you' the agony was evident on her face. Her hair were messed up, her eyes had swollen because of all the crying. 

Karan made her settle down on the couch and knelt down in front of her. He took her hands in his just to make her feel his presence around her. 'Tipsy you don't have to put yourself into this trauma yaar. Main hoon naa. I'll make sure that the bastard doesn't come near you. Please trust me and stop thinking about him and just relax.'

'I trust you Mr.Khanna, but I don't trust him. He's a devil. He'll destroy everything again. I'm scared of..' she stopped and looked away.

'scared of what? Bolo naa'

'I'm scared of losing you, Mr.Khanna. I'm scared of losing myself. she started crying heavily.

'You please stop all of this once and for all. If you think I'll pay heed to what he said, to tum galat sochti ho. I don't even want to know of the things that existed between you two.' saying this he stood up and moved a step away.

She looked at his bulky frame. Though he kept on saying that her past won't affect anything between them, still she wanted to tell him everything for she was tired of keeping him aloof from the truth. His eyes reflected confusions and stress, he too was tired of Palash, but he won't just ask her and put her into any trouble. She was unsure of how he would react, but this time, she won't lie. 

'Palash was right. There was a time when we two were together, I trusted him, I believed in whatever he used to say, I thought he was the right guy for me, I...I loved him once.' She stood up and faced him. He went numb for sometime. By then he knew that she was hooked with him for a while but all of these coming straight from her mouth, jolted him a bit. For him, she was always so pure, gentle and sacred, that he never cared to even imagine her past. 

She told him how innocent and vulnerable she was back then. How she had imagined her life with him, how he used to mistreat her, insult her and belittle her even in front of his friends. Despite of all this, how she still ran after him, chasing him. Though she was always high on moral grounds and her values, but she had kept everything aside for him. For the wrong man. She told him, how conservative her family was, still she was ready to tell them about Palash and lead a life with him. But when the same thing came to Palash, he was too scared for any sort of commitment. The last time they had met years ago, Palash had outrightly ridiculed her saying that he was just having his fun with her. That day, he had made her feel so unworthy, she cursed herself for compromising on her self respect for someone so spineless. She told him how she had gone into depression and it took years for her to get back her sanity. 

Her throat was choked by then and she started sobbing uncontrollably. Karan stood silent. He allowed her to vent out everything that she held for so long. 'I was so wrong Mr. Khanna, I hate myself for killing my dignity for him.' she covered her face with her hands and cried her heart out. Karan on the other hand, was bemused. How could that rascal do such a thing with her? How could he hurt someone as innocent as Tipsy? Right that moment, he wanted to take away every breathe from Palash and show him his right place. But before anything, Karan wanted to console the woman standing right in front of him, whom he loved with all his heart and soul. He wanted to take away every pain of hers, and tell her that he would never hurt her and never allow someone else to give her even the slightest amount of pain. He wanted to guard her, love her and care for her like a woman is loved, protected and respected.

He kept his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in a hug putting all her insecurities and fears to rest. She was still shivering because of all the things that she had gone through in her past. He kept caressing her hair with his hand calming her down. With her ear positioned on his chest, she could hear his heartbeats. The soft music that his heart played soothed her soul and gave her some strength. The way his arms coiled her frame, she found her home, right there in his arms. The embrace spoke volumes of love and care. He too had his share of past and memories. But he was an understanding man, he understood what all she had gone through. And now, he would not give any chance to anyone to come in between them. She was not afraid of anything, anymore. With this man being at her side, she could fight every fear and insecurity. She didn't want to hide her emotions from him. She wanted to tell him what he meant for her, how he made her feel, how weak she felt in her knees whenever he used to come close to her. She wanted to tell him that though she had loved Palash once, but that love was nothing in front of what she had for him. The affection, the adoration and respect were mutual in between them. That was the right time to open up and confess her love for the man whom she had been loving all these months!

She withdrew herself a bit to look up into his eyes. Holding the lapels of his coat, she whispered, 'I love you Mr.Khanna, I really really do. I always wanted to tell you, but could not gather the courage to confess all that I feel for you, how you make me feel.'

Karan was stupefied. He always knew she loved him, it was so visible in her eyes, but to hear from her had numbed him. A lone tear found it's way from his eye down to his cheek.  

'Oh God Tipsy! I was dying to hear this from you, I am so overwhelmed.' saying this he cupped her face in his palms and brought her closer. Right in that moment all her worries disappeared, she felt fearless and overpowered. 'I love you..I love you so much.' saying this he pressed his lips against her forehead. He smiled at her closed eyes, she relished his touch, the feels of his lips on her skin, the gentleness of his love for her. She felt loved. Digging her face in his broad chest, she snuggled closer to him. The entire universe came to a standstill for her and she had nothing else on her mind other than this man. She smiled through her tears while still hugging him tightly. Though destiny had played enough games with her, but had compensated completely when it gifted her, this man. The man, to whom she had given roots and in return who had given her wings, no matter how far she flied, she'd always come back to the roots, to him, to her man. 

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That's about it.

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SherniZaad.