~
Arnav steered right, turning at the corner.
~
"Not only do I want to be a designer, but I want to give back to the people. I want to open my own school and educate children. A lot of children don't get the education they deserve and I want to try my best to let them have it. Whether they're poor, rich, short, big, blind, deaf, whatever! They deserve to be educated."
~
Arnav stopped. He couldn't help but to remember Khushi's words. Arnav looked up at the big building in front of him. On a big sign, it read Great Woman School for the Blind.
Maybe her dream has come true, Arnav thought.
He parked his car and stepped out. He went into the school and walked up to the front desk.
"Hello Sir, how may I help you," the security guard asked.
"Um, I'd like to meet Khushi?"
"Khushi who?"
"Khushi Kumari Gupta?" He tried using her regular name.
"Ah yes. Take these main stairs up to the second floor and go left. She should be in room 207," she smiled.
Arnav nodded. "Thank you," and he went up the stairs and went left. He followed the room numbers.
212… 210, he looked to the left. 209… 207!
Arnav peered into the classroom since the door was open, and saw a bunch of little girls. They were all talking, playing, reading, finger-painting, giggling, having fun. Arnav didn't like kids so much but he couldn't help but to lightly smile to the sight, which was rare. After the incident had happened, Arnav didn't smile as often as he used to.
"Ms. Gupta! Ms. Gupta," a little girl called out.
Arnav turned to look at the girl and he saw her - he saw Khushi.
She was sitting in front of the girl and Khushi held her hand. "Yes sweetie?"
"I can't understand this word."
Khushi held her hand and moved it on top of the book, the little girl feeling the little bumps.
"Oh," exclaimed the little girl. "It says puppy!"
"Good," Khushi smiled.
Arnav just gazed at Khushi. She hadn't changed at all. She still had that beautiful smile that matched her name and brightened her up. But at the thought of that night, Arnav looked away and stepped back into the hall. He looked side to side, and then looked down at the floor.
"I knew you'd come."
Arnav looked up to see Lavanya.
Lavanya walked over to him and stood a few inches away from him. "Like what you see?"
"Excuse me?"
"The school."
Arnav looked around. "Nice job, I'll say. Good conditions, nothing cracking… good."
Lavanya just looked at him.
"What?"
She shook her head slowly. "Nothing…. It's just that… Arnav, you've changed."
Arnav looked away.
"I mean, especially the way you dress." She looked him bottom to top. "Black pants… navy blue button down shirt… black vest… black suit jacket… completely different."
"Well I have to dress appropriately."
"Ah ha, of course. After all you are THE Arnav Singh Raizada, owner of AR Group of Industries. You are huge business man, the leader of the fashion industry. Of course now you dress this way. But… back in college-"
Arnav glared at her. "What do you want?"
"To tell you what I've been trying to tell you for the past three years!"
"I don't care!"
"Well you have to! You have no idea what disaster happened that night!"
"Disaster? What disaster? My life was changed that night and that's all that happened!"
"You're wrong Arnav! I know what she said to you was wrong, but besides the change to your life, something drastic happened to her!"
"Bullshit! So she was in the hospital! So what? What, did she find out she was pregnant?"
"Arnav shut up! Don't say things like that!"
"Oh? Why not? What was it? Boy? Girl?"
Lavanya's eyes pooled with tears.
"Oh? Then twins? No? Triplets?"
A tear escaped and flowed down her cheek.
"No? Uh, okay, what's next? Oh yeah! Quadruplets?"
Lavanya wiped the tear away.
"Damn, more? So what's after that? Uh… quintuplets?"
"For fucks sake Arnav she was not pregnant!"
Arnav's eyebrows shot up mockingly, humored by her outburst."Geez! Lavanya relax, this is a school for little girls. Mind your language."
"You disgust me," she sneered.
"Don't blame me," he simply said, looking straight into her eyes.
Lavanya saw the hate he had for Khushi in his eyes.
"Anything else? No? Good," and he turned to walk away.
After he walked three steps, Lavanya spoke.
"She got into an accident that night."
Arnav stopped. Did he hear her correctly? He turned and looked at her. "What?"
"She got into an accident that night."
"What?! How?!"
Lavanya's lip curled up. "Now you care?"
"Shut up Lavanya! What happened," he said through his teeth.
"Just know this - she's-"
"Lavanya?"
Arnav knew that voice - that sweet melodious voice. It was Khushi. He turned to the door and saw Khushi standing there.
Lavanya went over to her. "Yeah."
"I thought I had heard your voice," she smiled softly.
"Yeah, it's nothing. Just talking to someone."
"Oh… okay," and she went back in.
Something didn't seem right to Arnav.
"Why is she acting like that," Arnav asked.
"Like I was saying Arnav, just know this - after that accident… Khushi changed as well."
Arnav scrunched his eyebrows.
"Her life changed."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning this - Khushi is blind."
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