Chapter 3
Parts 11 - 15 below...
Part 11
R: "Armaan" she whispered
Armaan put his finger on Ridz lips to stop her from talking. Ridz lips quivered with his touch, her face tingled with his touch, her breathing became shallow.
Armaan was lost in her eyes again, searching for answers in them, answers he couldn't understand the questions to. Its only been 2 days since they met and already he couldn't stand to be away from her, she had aroused a desire in him that he couldn't understand or control, or was it he didn't want to control.
Ridz was suddenly overcome with shyness, she couldn't look into his eyes any longer, his intense gaze was making her feel uncomfortable? No not uncomfortable, she was feeling... she couldn't understand the feeling, having Armaan stand there staring at her made her feel special, warm inside... warm or hot, she was feeling hot all over. She could feel her face was turning red, she could feel the heat rise from her lips, from his touch all over her face.
Armaan lifted Ridz's face with his finger under her chin, she looked so beautiful he thought, he stepped closer to her, leaning forward slightly, still unsure of what he was doing, when Ridz lifted her gaze to his eyes, Armaan stopped, trying to read her eyes, was she okay with this he thought to himself. Then to his surprise Ridz kissed him first. He was taken aback by her sudden reaction, only for a split moment. The soft touch of her lips on his made him stop thinking, he kissed her back, slowly at first then applying more pressure as he placed one hand on her cheek and the other around her waist to hold her. Ridz responded to his kiss and touch by placing her hands around the back of his neck, not letting there kiss end.
"Di", they pulled away from each other, not looking at each other feeling confused as to what just happened.
"Di, aap yaha hai, aur sub aap ko andhar doondh rahe hai, chaliya ab warna Krishna di ki sagai nahi hogi, chaliye" with that Sapna dragged Ridz away holding her hand.
Ridz looked back over her sholders to see Armaan with his back to her, looking up at the sky.
When Sapna approached them, Armaan didn't know where to look, he was so happy, he turned around so Sapna couldn't see his face, he had this really cute smile playing on his lips.
Lips, he remembered their kiss, he let a sigh and continued to stare at the sky. He licked his lips, still tasting her lips on them. Wow, he thoughth what a kiss, remembering the soft touch of her lips sent shivers down his spine as he continued to smile at the sky. Only the moon was witness to what had just happened.
Meanwhile inside...
"Ridzy, tum kaha chale gai, tum jaante ho no ki mein tumhari beghair Shiv's se sagai nahi kar sakti, sweet's I'm so nervous" Krishna rushed up to Ridz as soon as she saw coming into the house looking really nervous.
R: "Honey, don't worry mein ageyi na, chalo ab jaldi karo aur Shiv ko angooti pehnaw, bichare dekho" she pointed towards Shiv who was really looking worse for ware being teased by Sujal and Maya "dekho kabse tumhara intezaar karahai, jaa ke bachao usse"
K: "Hey, meri koi dosh nahi iss mein, saari galti tumhari, mujhe chor kar kaha chaligayi ti tum?"
Ridz where she was a few moments ago and smiled remembering the kiss
"woh.. mein... woh"
S: "Krishna di, Di garden mein gayi ti, shayad apki sagai usse boring laghi ho isliye" she said with a cheezy grin at Ridz, Ridz was so going to get in trouble with Krishna now
K: "What? Boring? Meri sagai tumhe boring lagrahi hai" she was sounding slightly angry now
R: "Krishna meri jaan, meine aise kab kaha" she turned to Sapna "Iss madam ki bath par barosa matt karna, yeh to aise hi hai, hur jaga jooth bolti hai" she said hitting Sapna slowly on the sholder
R: "mein bas aise hi garden mein walk par gayi ti, you know aisihi"
Raj and Shashank who had been talking some distance away seeing the girls together approached them now,
Ra: "Ridhimma beta tum agaye chalo, abh jaldi karo, tumhari dost ko lao aur uski sagai karwao, pitha to mein hu par intezaar tumhari horehi ti"
Ridz smiled and led Krishna to the centre of the room where Shiv was standing with Sujal and Maya. Shiv had the biggest smile on his face as he watched Krishna walk towards him.
R: "Laghta hai Shiv ko agar hum aur tori si bhi intezaar karwahte toh bichara tume yaha se baga kar aaj hi shaadi karleta" she whispered in Krishna's ear, who in turn looked down in embarrassment.
They approached a very embarrassed Shiv who was still being hassled by Sujal, continuosly whispering things in his ears making him turn red in the face.
R: "Eh hem, agar aap ki masti katamh hogayi ho, to kya hum angooti ki rasam shuru kareh?" she said smiling at Sujal
Su: "Itni kya jaldi hai? Tori aur rukh jate hai" he could feel Shiv getting angry at this remark and just laughed looking at his brother
R: "Humme koi problem nahi, par kya aap ki bhai intezaar kar sakenge?" It was Krishna's turn to get annoyed now at Ridz
S: "Bhai aap yeh kya karehe?" Shiv whispered to Sujal so no-one else could hear
Su: "Waise bhaat apne saach kahe, mera bhai ka itna bura hal mein nahi dekh sakhta, isliya chaliye angooti pehna lethe hai, par ha aek bhaath hai" he now turned his attention to Krishna "meri bhai ko shaadi ki din itna intezaar matt karaiega please, bechara shayed mar jayega"
Everyone laughed at this
Sha: "Okay bacho, chalo abh angooti kaha hai"
Armaan walked up behind Shiv now holding the two rings that Maya had asked him to pick on the way here.
Sha: "Oh Dr Armaan, thankyou" he said taking the rings and handing one to Ridz and the other to Maya
The couple exchanged rings while all the time Armaan kept staring at Ridz with a smile plastered on his face
The ring ceremony was now complete and the couple were asked to take centre stage for their 1st official couples dance. The lights dimmed as a spot light focused on Krishna and Shiv, everyone was looking at Shiv and Krishna including Ridz, who couldn't hide the smile on her face. She was really happy for her friend, but the smile wasn't only from the happiness she could see on her friends face, she was happy from knowing that Armaan wasn't married.
Armaan stood next to Maya and Minnie who were busy looking at the couple, but his eyes couldn't look away from Ridz.
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Part 12
Unknown to them both, that night apart from their eyes looking at each another pair eyes were watching them and saw the entire incident.
The following day at Sanjeevani the atmosphere was very tense between Armaan and Ridz. The duties to the interns were handed without so much as a glance at each other, the whole experience was making Armaan feel almost guilty.
"Why should I feel guilty", thought Armaan, "she kissed me first, but then she was upset before that and maybe I took advantage of the circumstance" this thought left him feeling very disgusted by himself and he just wanted to apologise to her, explain to her... "explain what, mein usse kya kahunga" Armaan couldn't think what to do, Ridz had avoided him like the plague all day even when he called her to his office, she didn't show and her later explanation had been she had gotten stuck with a patient.
Little to Armaan's knowledge after reaching home last night (after the party) Ridz was also very happy from that evening's event, but the happiness was short lived.
* Flashback *
They all walked into the house very quietly, Padma had been very quiet the entire journey home. Infact she had been very quiet during the entire party.
As they walked in through the doors, Padma slowly turned around, Ridz and Sapna froze at the anger evident in their mothers eyes, they had never seen such anger in her eyes before, she was always so cheerful and a fun loving kind of person.
Sha: "Kya bath hai Padma, tum itne gusha kui ho"
Padma raised her hand to Shashanks face to silence him, she walked towards Ridz and Sapna slowly, the anger escaping her eyes in the form of hot tears,
P: "Sapna tum apne kamre mein jao"
Sa: "par ma..."
P: "JAO"
Sapna ran up to her room with tears in her eyes, Padma had never raised her voice at Sapna, as Sapna was the baby of the house and loved by everyone especially her mother most dearly.
Ridz watched her sister run up the stairs, she wanted to go and comfort her baby sister, she couldn't see any of her family members ever upset, but at this point it was more important to calm her mother down and find out what had caused her to be so angry.
Ridz turned to look at her mother when... SLAP... Ridz held her left cheek in horror as tears ran streamed down her face
R: "Ma..."
Sha: "Padma, yeh kya karehi ho"
P: "Riddhima Gupta ab jao apne kamreme jao"
Ridz ran to her room with her hand on her face crying non-stop. She couldn't understand why her mother had slapped her, she didn't even give a reason for being so angry.
Sha: "Padma, yeh kya hai, tumne Rhiddy ko mare kui aur Sapna ko istara...?" Shashank was shocked at his wife irrational behaviour, they had never hit their children, ever. Threats were enough to keep the girls on the straight narrow so far and all of sudden out of nowhere Padma slaps Ridz.
P: "Meine to usse bas aek chata mara, usne jo hamare chehra hi kala kar di, uska kya"
Shashank was getting angry now "Yeh sabh tum kya bakwas karehe ho, Rhiddy kabhi aisa kuch nahi karegi"
P: "Kar chuki hai, usne bari mehfil mein humara mu kala kar chuki hai. Aap jaante hai, aaj uss party mein usne kya kia?"
Sha: "BAS... ab saaf saaf bolo kya bath hai, Riddhima ne aise kya kia"
P: "Usne..." Padma was choking back tears now, the emotions were getting to much for her. Seeing her pathetic state Shashank melted, the sweet caring side was showing through and he couldn't stay angry at her. He took her by the hand and made her sit down on the sofa
Sha: "Ab bolo kya hua hai"
Padma took a gulp and looked up and Shashank and narrated the entire evening's events to him. Shashank stayed calm through out her entire narration and once she had finished he again placed a her hand on her hands which were fidgeting with her saree in her lap now.
Sha: "Padma isme itni tension lene ki kya bath hai, mein kaal Armaan se milkar usse uski aur Riddima ki baremein puchoonga, Mrs Malik se milkar undonno ki shaadi ki bath bhi karlunga" he turned to look at his wife's worried and questioning looks, putting a comforting hand on her face "Tum chinta math karo, mein samalunga"
Sapna had been standing there listening to everything. She remembered standing there when Papa had called Masti's brother Armaan, Dr Armaan. She had known Masti's brother for so long (as long as her friendship with Masti) and he had always seemed like such a nice person. But when Shashank had called Armaan, Dr Armaan she figured out that Armaan must be the same Armaan Ridz was talking about. Sapna was lost in these thoughts when Shashank had said he would speak to Armaan that she didn't hear this part and instead went into their room to find Ridz slumped on the bed crying.
S: "Di..." Ridz didn't shift, she just kept crying "Di... aap roye math, please warne mujhe bhi rhona aajayega"
Ridz was so upset that she couldn't stop her crying, she got up and hugged Sapna tightly "Ma ne ... mujhe ... kui mara..." she continue cried hard while trying to get these words out. She couldn't understand what she had done wrong for her mother to hit. She remembered the slap and cried harder.
S: "Sssshhh" Sapna coed in her sisters ear as she lifted her face and wiped away the tears, "mama ne aapko garden mein Armaan Bhaiya ki saath dekhliya ta"
Ridz froze, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "kya... ma..." Sapna nodded her head slightly.
S: "Don't worry Di, sabh kuch tikh ho jayega" with that she got up and went to her bed. She didn't know what else to do. She couldn't hide the truth from her sister but she couldn't there and give her false hope, she didn't know if there mother would be okay in a few days as she had never seen their mother so angry.
All night Ridz lay in bed not moving just looking out through the gap in the curtains, "mama hume dekhliya" the thought kept playing through her mind continuously.
The alarm clock rang and Ridz came out of her trance, she had not slept a wink and all of a sudden felt really tired. "Mujhe Armaan se dhoor rehna hoga, mama aur papa kiliye"
* End of flashback *
Everyone had once again left for the day and Ridz was in the locker room by herself. She was lost in her thoughts, suddenly she felt a presence in the room. She immediately turned around only to find Armaan right behind her. As she turned aroud her hair had flown across his face and he was now standing there with his eyes closed (looking really cute)
R: "Armaan... tum" she whispered as she struggled to get the words out of her mouth. His presence was making her feel nervous.
A: "Rhiddima" he whispered, the was he said her name gave new meaning to it, her name had never sounded so beautiful before.
Their eyes were locked, minutes seemed like hours as they stared at each other, not moving nor blinking, holding the moment when a the sound of a trolley boy going past the locker room woke them from there trance.
R: "Woh... Erm... mein..." Ridz didn't where to look, he was standing so close to her that if she tried to move from their then she would have to brush past him and she couldn't trust her feelings at that point to have any physical contact with him, even looking at him was becoming difficult for her.
A: "Ssshhh", he sensuous voise sent chills down her spine as well as calming her nerves. She dared to look up into his eyes once again
A: "Kya hua Riddhima, tum mujhse avoid kui karehe ho"
R: "Nahi..., mein bas..., woh patient ki saath busy ti" she replied as she looked away nervously.
Armaan lifted her face with his finger under her chin so he could see her, tears were rimming her eyes, she closed her eyes ot avoid eye contact and the tears flowed down her face. Armaan wiped her tears away with his finger.
Just then Armaan's pager went off, he looked at it.
A: "Er, mujhe jaana hoga, Dr Shashank ne bulaiya hai" and with that he left the locker room
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Part 13
"Papa Armaan se kya bhaath karenge? Kahi uss raath ki to nahi" several questions kept going through her mind that night, not letting her sleep. Ridz looked over at the clock and it was 3am, it suddenly occurred to her "Papa abhi takh ghar nahi aye".
Ridz was getting really restless now, it took her for ever but she finally managed to asleep.
Ridz woke up in the morning hearing some noise in the kitchen, she turned over in bed and checked the time on the clock, it was 10am "Oh crap, 10 bajgaye, kisi ne mujhe jagaya kui nahi, aur yeh stupid alarm clock" she said picking up the alarm clock and shaking it vigorously. Ridz jumped out of bed and ran into the shower. As she was stepping out of the shower she slipped on the water she had carelessly dropped and hit her elbow really hard "Aaargh" she shouted "Yeh stupid wall kaha se agaya" she said hitting the wall and stepping out, she rushed to her cupboard to grab her clothes and was shocked by what she saw... There was only one suit in there "Meri kapre, meri kapre kaha gaye" she said turning scratching her head in wonder, "Whatever, I don't have time, yeh zarror Sapna ki mazaak hogi" she grabbed the suit and quickly got dressed. Ridz was running down the stairs when her mother called her
P: "Riddhima, yaha awo"
Ridz slowly made her way to the breakfast table, Shashank was sitting there sipping his tea reading the paper, he didn't look up when Ridz approached the table
R: "Ji Ma"
P: "Betho"
Ridz was still feeling very scared and uncertain after the events a few nights ago and now sitting Shashank sitting there it made her wonder why he hadn't gone to the hospital yet. Ridz reluctantly sat down with Padma opposite her and Shashank to the left (at the head of the table)
P: "2 baje tum ghar aajana, tumhareshaam ko rishta ayega, aur hum chahti tumhari shaadi ussi se ho"
Ridz looked at her mother with tearful eyes then glanced over at her dad, he was still engrossed in his newspaper, she was silently screaming out to her dad in her mind, "please dad don't make me do this, please"
Shashank seemed oblivious to these silent pleas and got up from the table and walked into his study.
Ridz silently got up from the table and left to go to work. "Aek galati ki itni bara saza" she couldn't hold her tears any longer, they were shooting out of her eyes like there was no tomorrow as she drove to work.
Ridz had not been there when the duties for the day were being assigned out so she went to look for Armaan to apologise for her lateness and get the duties. When she didn't find him in his cabin she was relieved as she didn't really want to see him, it was all his fault this was happening to her she thought bitterly.
Ridz bumped into Anjali in the locker room who was on a break
A: "Hey Ridz, kya hau aaj tum itni late kui ho yaar" Ridz turned to look at Anjali and Anj saw Ridz tear stained face "hey, hey, hey kya hua tum roh kui raheti"
This show of compassion was all that was needed to get Ridz crying again, Anj hugged her and asked her again what was the matter,
R: "Woh... erm kuch nahi" she said wiping away the tears "bas aaj meri nani ki bohut yaad arehiti"
A: "Ridzy, tum bi nah, darhi diya mujhe, mujhe laga kuch serious hai, hmph, ah chalo, Dr Keerthi ki anhe se pehle hum rounds pe chalte hai, tum aaj meri saath rounds per ho"
Ridz looked up "Dr Keerti, Arm... er... Dr Armaan kaha hain"
A: "Pata nahi, aaj woh Sanjeevani nahi aye, isliye Dr Keerthi ne sabh ko unki duties di, ab chalo warna yeh Dr Keerti Hitler ki tara hai, kacha chaba jayegi"
They were on their round when Ridz got a message on her pager "meet me at the basketball court behind the hospital ' Armaan" Ridz stared at the message, she was due on her break and she was curious to find out what Shashank had said to him.
Ridz let for her break and went to meet Armaan, she approached the basketball but couldn't see Armaan there. There was a group of children playing basketball but no Armaan, she stood there for a bit just watching the kids play, they looked so innocent just playing there, not a care in the world, she remembered how she had been like that until a few days ago when everything had changed.
"Ridhimma, Ridhimma" hearing her name Ridz looked around still slilghtly lost in her thoughts to see Armaan calling her name from his car window.
R: "Armaan..." she was lost in his eyes once again
A: "Ridhimma, andhar akhar beto"
Ridz felt uncomfortable about this, she wanted to be as far away from as possible, she remembered what Padma had said in the morning
A: "Mein tumse kuch zaroori bhaath karna chahta hui, please akher bath jao"
Hearing him plead like that she decided she would sit in the car but ensure she keeps her emotions under control. Ridz went around to the other side and sat down in the car.
As soon as she sat down Armaan started the car and drove off.
R: "Armaan, tum mujhe kaha lekhar jarehe ho" she said slightly panicked, Armaan heard the panic in her voice and pulled into an underground parking lot where they wouldn't be seen and parked the car.
Ridz was really scared now, she didn't want to be alone with Armaan, and now here they are in a derelict parking lot. Armaan noticed Ridz was a bit tensed so turned to Ridz and put his hand on her arm.
Ridz jerked her hand away "argh" she murmured as she hit the bruise that was forming on her arm from the mornings bathroom incident,
A: "Kya hua" Armaan was worried now seeing the bruise which had formed on Ridz arm, "Yeh kaise hua" he lightly touched the bruise which looked out of place on the soft, unblemished skin, the touch sent shivers down Ridz's arm, she once again moved her arm.
R: "Please" Ridz whispered
Armaan noticed she wasn't comfortable with the situation, he turned his face to look straight ahead instead of at her.
A: "Erm... Ridz... ah... mein tumhe kuch batana chahta hu", he looked at Ridz to see her expression, she was looking inspecting her bruise with a childlike innocent look on her face, he stopped what he was saying and just looked at her. Ridz looked up and saw him staring at her, she again was feeling slightly uncomfortable by his intense gaze,
R: "Erm ,tum kehrehe te..."
A: "Oh ha, erm mujhe tumse kuch kehna hai, tum meri bari kya sochte ho?"
Ridz was startled by this question, she didn't how to or even what to say on reply
A: "Woh... er.. mein isliye poochraha ta kuki", "usse kaise batao" he thought to himself, "Kaal jab Dr Shashank ne mujhe unki cabin mein bulaiya.." Armaan was stopped in mid sentence because his phone rang.
A: "Hello... ha maa, mein abhi aya, bas kuch dosto ki saath.... Ji, ji, abhi aya"
He put the phone down and started his sentence again "Kaal jab Dr Shashank ne mujhe unki cabin bulaiay tab" Ridz's phone rang this time
R: "Hello Ma, ji mein bas abhi nikalraha hu, ji, ok bye"
Ridz turned to look at Armaan, "Mujhe jana hoga, ma mujhe ghar bularahi hai"
Armaan nodded and they drove back to the hospital. Armaan dropped Ridz off and before he was able to say anything to her she walked into the hospital.
Ridz was now in her room getting dressed by Sapna and Krishna who had been called over by Padma. She sat there in front of the mirror looking drop dead gorgeous, Padma called Sapna down leaving only Krishna and Ridz in the room. Krishna made her way infront of Ridz and sat on the dresser looking at her.
K: "Kya hua, tum itni udhas kui ho jaan"
Ridz looked down. She could feel the tears rimming her eyes again, Krishna lifted Ridz's gaze to meet hers and saw the lone tear now escape Ridz's eyes. Krishna wiped the tear away
K: "Ridz, aghar tum is rishta se kush nahi to phir milne kiliye kui ha ki" she looked into Ridz's face to try and find the answer, when she got no response she continued "Okay woh sabh abh choro, tum abh chinta karan bilkul bandh kardo, mein hu na, mein usse aek chootki mein bagha dungha, phir yaha kya woh logh rishta lekhar kahi nahi jayengi" with that she got up to leave when Ridz caught a hold of her hand. Krishna turned to look at her with a confused look on her face
Ridz looked up at her, Krishna was such a sweet friend she thought, she had postponed her wedding shopping to be with Ridz and was willing to do anything to keep her friend happy, but then Ridz remembered what her mother said "Please tum kuch matt karna, mujhe is rishta se koi problem nahi hai" she said trying to sound convincing
K: "Mein nahi manti, aghar tum kush ho to phir yeh asso kaise aur yeh udhaas chehra?"
R: "Woh mein bas kuch hospital ke kaam kuch parishaan hu, aur kuch nahi" Krishna new her friend was lying but decided to keep her mouth shut as Ridz was insiting so much.
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PART 14
Ridz heard the car pull into the drive and tensed up, "woh log agaye" Krishna whispered standing next to her, holding her hands for comfort.
Ridz felt like running away from there, she wanted to be anywhere but in her house at that moment.
Krishna was called by Padma so had no choice but to leave Ridz alone in the room, Ridx was lost and scared at the same time, she loved Armaan but the embarrassment she had bought on her family had compelled the once loving mother and father to now force her to get married to a complete stranger.
Krishna was sent up to collect Ridz, she walked into the room with what Ridz interpreted to be a forced smile. They made there way downstairs and Ridz was made to touch everyone's feet, the entire time Ridz kept her eyes down, her mind was buzzing with so many thoughts that she didn't hear anyone's voices.
Ridz was made to sit next to a woman and a small child.
Small child: "Mama, aunty niche kui dekhrahi hai"
Mother: "Riddhima" she lifting her head slightly, for the first time Ridz had noticed that this voice sounded so familiar, she had this voice before, she looked up and to her surprise she saw Maya smiling sweetly at her. Ridz eyes went from Maya to Minnie who was now busy playing with Sapna.
Ma: "Kaise ho Riddhima"
Riddhima wasn't sure how to react, was this some sick joke god was playing with her, did Maya have another brother-in-law that was here to marry her, Shiv's brother ot was it' she couldn't allow herself to hope, but the thought crept in, was the rishta for her and... and Armaan. Ridz slowly looked around to see who the prospective groom was and sure enough there he was sitting there looking at her with a worried expression on his face. As soon as the eyes met he looked down.
Ridz turned to look at the rest of the guest, sure enough there was Sujal (Maya's husband), Raj (Krishna's dad) Armaan's mum (probably time to name her, how about Mehek Malik), Shiv sitting next to Krishna grinning. Ridz finally looked at her parents, they were sitting there smiling but there was something in their look which raised questions in her mind. Everyone started to talk while Armaan and Riddhima just sat there answering questions when spoken to.
Ra: "Humare bhaatein toh ho te rahega, abh indonho ko bhaath karne de"
Sha: "Ha, ha, kui nahi, akhir shaadi to indonho ko karna hai"
Ridz stared at her dad, the happiness on his face seemed so strained, she couldn't understand what he was so worried about.
Ridz and Armaan were taken to the terrace by Maya and Krishna and then left alone to talk.
They both sat there for a while feeling slightly uncomfortable with the whole scenario. Armaan kept glancing towards Ridz but she kept her gaze firmly on the floor.
A: 'Er... Riddhima, tum tikh to ho"
Ridz looked up with a questioning look, "yeh kaisa sawaal hai" she thought "Ku" she asked questioning his choice of words at a time like this
A: "Nahi bas mein soch raha ta ki aek RJ itni kamosh kaise reh sakhti hai" he said with a cheeky smile
Ridz let a small laugh at this, "mein radio presenter ti, abh Dr hu aur Dr to kamosh reh sakhte hain na"
Hearing her laugh had made Armaan relax a lot, she looked so cute when she laughed he thought to himself.
A: "Dr kamosh reh sakhte hai par mujhe tum haste hui achi laghti ho"
Ridz looked away blushing
A: "Aur jaante ho, jab tum aise sharmateho, to aur bi zyada kubsoorat laghti ho"
Ridz was dying of embarrassment now, she had no idea how she looked when she was embarrassed as she hardly ever blushed, she made other people blush, not her.
Ridz looked up, determined to turn the table around, she was not going to sit here looking like a burnt tomatoe, even though being complimented by him had made her feel really nice.
As Ridz looked up she saw Armaan getting up from his seat and moving closer to her. This was not supposed to happen, she quickly got up and moved to the wall looking across there back garden. It was warm afternoon with a slight breeze in the air. Sapna, Masti and Minnie were playing in the garden while the others all sat on the patio area just talking and laughing. She couldn't see her dad anywhere though. Remembering that she had make Armaan blush she turned around only to find Armaan standing right behind her. She froze, Armaan was smiling and looking at her so lovingly. Ridz closed her eyes, not knowing where to look, her senses were completely surrounded by his cologne, her breathing started to get shallow as his hand touched the back of her head, 'clip', her hair came out of the bun that had been tied by Krishna and now fell down, the breeze was now playing with her hair, Armaan was in awe of her beauty, she looked divine, the innocence, the simplicity it all took his breath away. The wind had now caused a few strands of her to cover her face, threatening his view of her, he reached forward and moved the her, his touch sent shivers down her spine, her lips opened slightly, he stared at her, then his fingers went to touch her lips. Those lips that had driven him crazy, sent him into a whirlwind from the first time they touched him... his lips. He leant forward, oblivious to his surroundings when Ridz opened her eyes, the uncertainty in her eyes made him stop.
A: "Kya..." he started to ask when Ridz brushed past him and walked away a few steps.
Ridz remembered what had happened the last time she let herself into her desires and it was because of her that her parents were now sitting there straining to put a smile on there face when it was obvious they were worried about something.
R: "Armaan... mujhe aapse kuch poochna hai" she turned to now look at the confused Armaan, "humme mille bas kuch din hue hai, aur itni jaldi shaadi ki bhaath..."
Armaan stood there listening to her carefully
R: "kuch hi din hue hai humme mille hui aur phir uss raath..." she trailed off recollecting what happened at Krishna's engagement party, coming back to the present "mein, ek pal kiliye behek gayi ti, aur aaj us ekh pal kiliye humme aaj zabardasti shaadi karne kiliye kaha jahara hai"
Armaan stood there dumbstruck "Zabaardasti?" he managed to whisper out loud, finding his voice now "Tumhari saath zabardasti horehi hai" Ridz looked at him now confused
R: "Mein, woh..." she stuttered, "Uski saath zabardasti nahi horehi hai" she thought.
A: "Kay tum iss rishta se kush nahi ho?"
R: "Nahi, Ha..."
A: "Riddhima" he said now softening his voice and coming towards her, he held her hand and led her to the seats on the terrace, "tum iss rishte se kush nahi ho kya?" he was searching for answers in her eyes.
R: "Tum kush ho" she asked with a tears rimming her eyes, she couldn't take rejection but she needed to know whether he wanted to marry her or if her dad had forced him to do this.
Armaan was slightly taken aback by this question "tumhe kya laghta hai" he said caressing her cheek in his hand... she closed her eyes and tear rolled down her cheek, "please don't say you were forced, please don't say you were forced" she silently chanted and prayed in her head.
Armaan caught the tear "in assoo ko kabhi bahar anne matt dena, yeh meri liye bohot kimti hai" Rids opened her eyes still questioning him
A: "yaad hai kaal raath jab tumhare Papa ne mujhe apne cabin bulaya, pata hai unhone mujhe kya poocha?"
Ridz continued to stare at him in wonder, "kya" she whispered
Armaan now held her hand, "unhone mujhe tumhare bareme poocha... mein tumse pyar karta ho ya nahi" he was again looking at her face to see her reaction,
A: "meine kaha ki pyar kya hota hai, mujhe pata nahi, par itna jaanta hu, ki jab meine tumhe pehla bhar mila, pata nahi kui par tumhari siva mujhe aek ajeeb si becheni rehta ta, jab tumhe mein nahi dekhta ta tab sirf tumhari kayal aatata, aur jab tum mujse dhoor rehteti, tabh tumhara pass mein jana chahtata. Yaad hai hum jab pehle mille, uss raath mujhe nilkul neend nahi aye, pata nahi kab subha hogeya aur kabh mujhe ehsaas hua ki mein tumse pyar karta hu"
Ridz was now surprised to hear all of this, she had no idea that he felt so strongly about her.
A: "Phir jab tumhare Papa ne mujhe tumhari bare mein poocha, tab meine unse tumhari haath maang li" he now got down on one knee "Kya tum mujhse dooniya ki sabse kush naseeb insaan banaugi, mujhse shaadi karke?"
Ridz was now smiling and crying at the same time, she was so happy, still holding his hand "Ha" she whispered.
***********************************
Part 15
Krishna came up to the terrace and found Ridz sitting there with tears in her eyes while Armaan was sitting next to her holding her hand, talking to her softly
K: "Er hem" she cleared her throat to make her presence known.
Armaan and Ridz both moved there hands and looked away from each other nervously
K: "Chill guys, sirf mein hoon" she said laughing at the now very embarrassed couple "Toh kya mein sab ko rishte kiliye haan keh doon?" she giggled as she was about to run back down the stairs.
A: "Krishna, wait" Krishna stopped in her tracks, she slowly turned to see Armaan coming towards her,
K: "Pehle pakarna parega" and she ran off.
Armaan looked back at Ridz who had now gotten up to also go down, as she walked past him Armaan grabbed her hand "Tum kaha ja rahi ho, tum bhi kya sabko ja kar boldogi" Ridz took her hand and ran away blushing.
Meanwhile downstairs, everyone was having sweets to celebrate the occasion. A pandit was called and a date was set for the wedding, the couple had exchanged rings and were now engaged.
After everyone had left Shashank retreated to his study, still looking slightly hassled by something. Ridz went in to talk to her dad, she couldn't understand what he was worried about now.
R: "Papa..." Ridz walked into the study, Shashank was standing by the window looking out at the garden
R: "Papa, kya hua, aap itni pareshaan kui hai" Shashank now turned to look at her, she was such a sweet child he thought to himself.
Sha: "Tum kush ho beta?" he looked at her searching for answers. Ridz smiled
R: "Papa, yeh kaisa sawaal hai, ofcourse mein kush hu" Shashank now walked towards his daughter and hugged her with the utmost affection
Sha: "I'm sorry beta, meine tumse kiye hue vaada nibha na sakha" he said still hugging her
Ridz's eyes were now filled with tears as she heard her father utter these words, she remembered the last time marriage proposal that had been bought for her,
* Flashback *
It was 3 years ago now when Ridz had just finished college and wanted to go on to complete her studies so she could become a doctor. Instead of being able to complete her studies Ridz was persuaded to get engaged to Vivek. Vivek Kapoor, he was a high flying business man who was renowned in the business world for his perfectionist approach to everything, whatever he did he did with perfection and was successful.
They were engaged and the date for the wedding was set for a week later. A week was such a short time, but for Ridz it was the longest week of her life. All the preparations had been done, card printed and distributed, hall hired, house repainted and decorated, it all happened so fast that Ridz wasn't sure when she had started liking Vivek, seriously considering spending the rest of her life with him. It was the night of the mehendi when a phone call bought an end to the happy atmosphere, Vivek had ran away and gotten married, he never wanted to get married and when his parents insisted he get married to Ridz he left.
Ridz was left shattered, she had dropped everything for the sake of her families happiness, Shashank had persuaded her to marry this guy and now when she had finally gotten use to the idea, even started liking him, he had left her. That night Ridz had gotten her father to promise to her that he would never let anything come in the way of her wishes again, Ridz was free to do complete her studies and marriage would only be bought into the equation if Ridz was to bring someone herself to meet her parents.
Ridz didn't cry that night, she didn't want her parents to see in her pain, because she knew it would cause them pain and make them feel guilty for something that wasn't there fault, so the following day she left to travel the world. In the three years to know Padma had always been on at Ridz to get married, that weeks events didn't effect her, she felt the sooner Ridz got married to someone else the sooner she would forget Vivek, but Ridz never agreed and Shashank always stood by her decision.
* End Flashback *
R: "Papa..." Ridz sat her father down on the chair, knelt down next to him and put her head on his lap, "Papa, apne apna vaada nibhaya hai"
Shashank placed his hand on Ridz head and gently stroked her hair, she was such a sweet child, "hmm, meri manh rakhne kiliye yeh sabh bolrehi hai" he thought
Ridz raised her head and looked at her father, she could see in his eyes exactly what he was thinking, "Papa, mein yeh sabh aise hi nehi kahrehi" Shashank looked at her lovingly, she could always tell what he was thinking.
R: "Papa, saach mein bohot kush ho, yaad hai apne kaha ki meri shaadi meri sirf meri pasand ki larka se hoga... well... mein Armaan ko bohot pasand karti hu, aur waise hi aap logho ne choona hai usse, toh phir woh galath larka kaise ho sakhta hai" she smiled lovingly at her father wiping away his tears and the worry that was playing on his mind all day.
It was midnight, everyone was sleeping in the Malik household apart from Armaan. He was turning and turning unable to get comfortable, feeling very restless. The pandit had fixed a date for December, and it was only May he thought "Stupid pundit" he muttered. How was he supposed to wait till December he thought miserable as he punched his pillow trying fluff it. He didn't realise how hard he had hit, because the next thing you know he was spitting out feathers, the pillow had split from his punch and what was once his pillow was now a pile of feathers covering his bed. Armaan sighed as he got up to get another pillow from the cupboard.
Beep beep, Armaan picked up his mobile from his bedside table, "message" he mumbled as he checked the message, he didn't recognise the number
"Neend nahi arehi? Mujhe bhi nahi, I'm sure tum meri kayalo mein koi hue ho, Toh phir duffer phone kui nahi karte mujhe" Armaan raised his eyebrow while a mischievous smile played on his lips as he read the message. He called Ridz
R: "Hello" she mumbled still half asleep
A: "Hey gorgeous" Ridz eye's opened in surprise as she sat up in bed
R: "Armaan..."
A: "Hmm, kisi aur ki phone ki intezaaar ta kya?"
R: "Armaan, tum mujhe iss waqt kui phone karehe ho, sabh kuch tikh hai na" Ridz asked first blushing then becoming slightly more worried
A: "Iss waqt matlab, tumhi nai toh mujhe kaha ki mein tumhe phone karo, to phir pooch kui rahi ho?"
R: "Meine? Mein kabh kaha?"
A: "Abhi, tumine toh mujhe sms bechkar kaha ki tumme mujhse baadh karni hai"
R: "Meine? Kabh, mein toh sorahi ti, meine nahi beja, shayed tumhari kisi girlfriend ki hogi"
A: "tumne nahi to phir..." Armaan noticed a shadow outside of his door "Erm sorry meine tumhe itni raath disturb ki, erm goodnight... sweet dreams" he whispered
R: "Bye" and she put the phone down smiling
Armaan slowly got of bed and went towards his door. He could hear two girls giggling silently, Armaan jerked the door open and Masti and Maya came flying into the room. They were standing with their ears to the door listening to Armaan, when he opened the door and they both lost the balance and fell in.
A: "MASTI... DI.." Armaan shouted as he started hitting them with what was left of his pillow
Ma: "Armaan... Armaan.." Maya was shouting between her laughter and tryin to stop the pillow
A: "Di, I can't believe ki aap bhi Masti ki saath iss mein shaamil ti"
Ma: "Dude, iss meri koi haath nahi ta" she said now getting up while Masti was still rolling on the floor laughing
Mas: "Bhai, aapki chehra dekhni ki layak ta, when you thought Ridz bhabhi ki sms aya..." she was laughing again holding her belly, while Maya had started laughing at Armaan again seeing him blush at Ridz being addressed as 'bhabhi'
Armaan was hitting Maya with the pillow again, "Chup" he was feeling very embarrassed at this point, not only had Maya and Masti caught him off guard by sending him the sms but now they were making him blush.
M: "Yeh sabh kya horaha hai" hearing all this commotion Armaan's mum had been woken up and was now standing at the door watching Armaan hitting a laughing Masti with his pillow
Armaan stopped straight away while Masti got up from the floor and ran for cover behind her mother.
A: "Woh mein... erm" Armaan said scratching his head, he was now blushing so much that you could see his face turning red even in his dark room.
Maya went over to Mehek and whispered something in her ear at which all three women looked at Armaan and started laughing at him. Armaan was way past blushing now, he was dying of embarrassment now.
A: "ummy, aap bhi"he said as he stormed out of the room.
M: "rmaan beta..." Mehek called after him. She turned to Masti and Maya, "Aur tum donho yeh kya lagaraha hai, dekha gusa hogaya, jau abh maafi maango, tumbhi Masti"
Lubna 
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