Chapter 7

Part 32

R: "Itna miss kiya toh phone kyun nahi kiya" Ridz closed her eyes leaning back into Armaans' arms, feeling the warmth of his hold surround her, inhaling the masculine cologne she loved so much

A: "Mujhe lagha ki shayed tum busy hoge Krishna ki saath, issiliye tumne bhi abhi takh phone nahi kiya" he kissed lightly on the side of her head. Seeing a small smile light up her face Armaan got an idead "Agar tummhe bura na lage toh kya hum bahar kahi chale?"

Ridz lifted her head and looked up at Armaan "Aaj hospital se chooti hai kya?" she asked with small smile praying silently that Armaan had managed to take time of work, seeing him slowly nod his head in agreement Ridz let out a little whoohoo and turned around and hugged really tightly.

A: "Shhhh, kya karehi ho' koi sunlega" he chuckled while hugging her back, gently stroking her hair, unfortunately for him Padma had already heard

P: "Kya hua beta?"

R: "Er' kuch nahi ma" Ridz answered back quickly moving away from Armaan. Padma and Krishna came into the lounge worried thinking what could have happened to make Ridz yell like that.

Armaan was no sitting on the couch reading a magazine while Ridz was standing slightly away studying some pictures, everything would have looked normal to a passer by but not to Krishna, Krishna sat down next to Armaan "Armaan tum kya parehe ho?" she asked sounding genuinely interested

A: "Woh mein toh bus aise hi dekhraha ta" Armaan flipped the pages a few times to show he was just browsing

K: "Wow, Ridz ne toh mujhe kabhi bataya nahi ki tum Dr hone ki saath saath yeh bhi karsakhte hai" Armaan looked over Krishna looking slightly confused by her odd comment, Ridz peered from the corner of her eyes to see what Krishna was on about, Krishna took the magazine out of Armaans' hand and turned it the right way round and gave it back to him

Armaan looked sligtly embarrassed as Krishna did this, Ridz also let out a little laugh seeing the cute look on Armaans face,

K: "Aur aap kyun hasrehe Ridhimma ji" Ridz stopped laughing immediately and knew she was in for it next "yeh zaroor tumhari kasoor hai"

R: "Woh kaise?" Ridz turned around and put her hands on her hips looking slightly annoyed at Krishna

K: "Kyun ki meri cute behena koi sirf tumko milkar hi aise pagal hosakhte hai"

Feeling the girls were going to get into another little playful argument Padma decided it was time to stop this now before Ridz really made a fool of herself in front of herself and Armaan started to think twice about marrying her

P: "acha bohot hogeya, Krishna tumhe gajar ka halwa kaise banate hai nahi seekhna kya, arre kal tumhari shaadi hai, agar ab nahi seekhoge toh kab?"

Remebering she was getting married tomorrow Krishna immediately became quiet and shy, Ridz took her chance and put her arm around Krishna's shoulder,

"Hmm jaani, abh kya hogeya? Shiv jiju ki baare mein sochrehe ho" she whispered in her ear

K: "Ridz" Krishna pushed Ridz away and rushed to the kitchen to hide her pink face.

A: "Mama agar aapko bura na lage toh ky amein Ridhimma ko tore der keliya bahar leja sakhta hu"

P: "Arre beta isme itna formal hone ki kya baath hai" Padma affectionately put her hand on Armaans face "Jao, bas ghar jaldi wapas aana"

Ridz hugged her mother affectionately "I love you Ma"

Pulling into the open field Ridz turned to look at Armaan, "Hum yaha kya karehe hai?"

A: "Shhhh" Armaan stepped out of the car and walked around to Ridz side and helped her out "Acha abh aakhein bandh karo"

R: "Par..." before Ridz could say anything further Armaan placed his finger on her lips to silence her

A: "Do you trust me?" Ridz nodded her head slowly "Toh phir kuch math poochna" Armaan turned Ridz around and blindfolded her. Holding her hand they walked someway into the field, hearing some voices and a loud booming voice Ridz grip on Armaan's hand tightened. Feeling the sudden urgency of the hold Armaan turned to look at Ridz, seeing a worried expression on her face he realised maybe he noises she could hear were slightly frightening her, letting go of her hand he went to untie the blindfold, Ridz immediately caught his hand again

"Don't worry jaan mein hu na", his words seemed to calm down Ridz's nerves, she knew nothing could happen to her with Armaan around, feeling the blindfold come away Ridz winced slightly in the bright sunlight, closing her eyes again a shadow fell over her, opening them again in a rush Ridz was amazed at the sight infront of her.

Watching the giant balloon grow with every second in front of her eyes, Ridz eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger, feeling her hand being gently tugged Ridz stared at her hand for a second and then at Armaan who was pulling her hand, realising he was taking her towards the hot air balloon Ridz immediately put the breaks on "Oh no' mein uss par nahi jarehi, no way" Ridz shook her head looking at Armaan as though he was completely mad

Looking at her adorable face and childish antics Armaan couldn't help but laugh, he picked her up in his arms and carried screaming Ridz towards the basket. Placing her inside he went to have a word with the instructor, seeing Ridz was making her way back out of the basket Armaan stopped her "Don't you dare' tum wahi raho aur agar yaha se hila toh mujhse bura koi nahi hoga"

They were soon floating off into the sky, with Armaan handling the steering of the balloon and Ridz sitting in the basket with her eyes closed, huddled in the corner of the basket. Getting slightly irritated by her behaviour, once Armaan was sure he was safe to do so he left the ropes of the balloon and knelt down next to Ridz,

A: "Kya bhaat hai, tum aise kyun bethe ho?" He put his hand on her shoulder, as soon as he put his hand on her shoulder Ridz hugged him tightly as though holding on for dear life and started sobbing. Getting worried by her sudden reaction Armaan couldn't understand why she was crying

"Kya hua jaan, tum aise kyun rorehe ho?" He gently stroked her head and held onto Ridz tighter

R: "Mujhe neeche jaana hai" she hiccupped in between her sobs, unfortunately for her Armaan couldn't understand a word as her face was buried in his chest and her hiccups made her words even more inaudible.

A: "kya?" Armaan raised Ridz face and saw fear written all over it, her ocean deep eyes were red and swollen, her angelic was tear stained, it broke his heart to see her like this, feeling a lump in his throat he slowly tried to calm down Ridz. "I'm sorry yeh sab mere vaje se'" unable to complete his sentence Armaan turned his head as tears brimmed his eyes on the verge of over flowing. Controlling his emotions Armaan turned to face Ridz again "pagal agar surprise acha nahi lagha toh batadeti' tum ro kyun rahe ho?" he gently wiped her tears away  and kissed her hand, planning to make it up to her when they reached the ground Armaan started to get up but stopped as soon as Ridz grabbed his hand

R: "Please mujhe chor kar math jao, mujhe bohot darr lagraha hai" she wimpered, trying to hold back her tears

Armaan was shocked at what she just said, "Tummhe uchai se darr laghta hai?" he asked solemnly, Ridz nodded her head slightly almost ashamed of herself. Armaan kicked himself mentally, why hadn't he for once thought that perhaps Ridz may be scared of heights.

Hugging her tighter now, Armaan apologised a million times for being so insensitive and for bringing her up there. Listening to his repeated apologies melted Ridzs' heart, Armaan was trying to share one of his most loved hobbies with her and she was ruining the entire surprise.

Slowly reaching up she started to get up to see what Armaan wanted her to see,

A: "Kya karehe ho?" Armaan grabbed Ridzs' arm and pulled her back towards him. Placing a reassuring hand on his cheek

R: "Tum mere paas ho toh mujhe kuch nahi hosakhta"

Standing up in the basket Armaan wrapped his arms around Ridz securely reassuring her that he would always be there. They watched the sun set over the distant hills, the red rays of sunshine kissed the coming night sky goodbye as the sun left for another day to rest for the coming morning. Feeling Ridz shiver slightly Armaan wrapped his jacket around Ridz and held her tight, if only this moment could stop there and then he sighed. Feeling Ridz so close to him Armaan never wanted to let her go, kissing her lightly on her forehead "chaho toh hum abh neeche ja sakhte hai"

Loving the concern he had for her, Ridz was falling in love with Armaan all over again, "Mein bilkul teekh hu" Ridz poked Armaan cheek slightly then kissed his dimples as that gorgeous smile spread on his face

*************************************

Part 33

"Baarat ageyi" a girl shouted from the distance. All the girls went rushing out of the room to welcome the baarat. Ridz sat down next to Krishna who had been unusually quiet all day, not understanding what had bought on the sudden change in character Ridz decided to interrogate further

Placing a hand on her shoulder Ridz stood behind Krishna in front of the mirror fixing her pallu at the same time. "Kya bhaat hai Krish, tum aaj itni udaas kyun ho?" she stopped what she was doing and gazed into krishna's eyes in the reflection of the mirror, to her amazement and shock Krishna's face lit up with a beautiful smile while her eyes filled up with tears. "Hey kya hua" Ridz turned Krishna around and hugged her affectionately

Laughing slightly at her friends madness and cute affection Krishna pulled away from the hug slowly as she wiped the tears that had already begun making their way down her cheek "Kuch nahi hua' mein bas sabko bohot miss karungi, aur tummhe sabse zyada" she pulled Ridz cheek at this last comment like a loving mother or aunt would do to a child. As quickly as a kid pulls their cheek back Ridz pulled hers back and made a cute annoyed face, but then seeing this put a smile on her friends face Ridz gave her other cheek forward. Krishna laughed a little at this and lightly slapped her cheek laughing.

Sitting down on the dresser ridz helped Krishna with the remainder of her jewellery,

R: "Ma humesha kehti hai ki shaadi ki bhaat aek aurat ki sabse keemat gehna uski chehre ki muskurahat aur uski mangalsutra hai" pausing for a moment she looked at her friend meaningfully "mujhe yeh bhaat kabhi samaj mein nahi aya, par aaj tummhe dekhar joh muskurahat dekhai derahi hai isse zyada keemti gehna ho hi nahi sakhta"

K: Mujhe dar lagraha hai" Krishna held onto Ridz hand

Smiling Ridz placed her other hand on top of Krishna's hand "kiss bhaat ki dar hai sweety, tum London pehle reh chuki ho, so desh toh anjaan nahi hai, aur Shiv, woh tumse bohot pyar karta hai, tummhe humesha pyar karega' aur tum chinta maat karma meine Shiv se already bhaat karli hai" she winked "Sab kuch teekh rahega, tummhe chinta karne ka koi vaja nahi hai, mein hu na" she smiled at Krishna

K: "oh no abh toh double chinta horehi hai, tummne Shiv se kya kaha?" Krishna put on a fake worried look on her face

R: "Jaani, meine sirf usse aek gentle warning di hai, abh kya karre, hum dono ki bhai toh nahi hai joh yeh sab keh sakhe so'"

Not letting her finish "So tum who bhai banker Shiv ko warning dedi na?" seeing Ridz nod with a stern serious look on her face Krishna burst out laughing "Ridz tummhe pata hai na ki koi bhi tumhari bhaat seriously nahi leta' tumse zyada toh who bachi Minnie scary hai"

Hearing a commotion outside both girls went to the balcony to see what was happening, lost in their laughs as usual they had both almost forgotten there was a wedding today and the baraat were waiting outside. Looking down Ridz saw Armaan in front of the crowd with Minnie in one arm refusing to pay Sapna who in turn refused to let the baraat in. There were other girls there too, like Anjali but Armaan was keeping up his side of the fight very well. Getting annoyed at Armaan Ridz decided it was time to put an end to this, as she turned to leave she saw Krishna lost somewhere, following where her gaze was Ridz saw both Shiv and Krishna completely lost in each others eyes. Both seemed oblivious to the commotion around them, not wanting to disturb them Ridz turned to leave when all the commotion went quiet and all you could hear were girls laughing.

Looking up for a moment Armaan saw the most angelic face ever, there was Ridz standing looking like an angel from the heavens in her pink and blue lehenga he had picked out for her. Her hair slightly blowing in the breeze while the delicate tikli hanging on her head shimmered in the moonlight; the simple makeup added to her simplistic beauty. Seeing her turn to look back their eyes met for a brief moment, in that split moment Armaan died a million deaths, knowing deep down that he'd have to wait till this angel could be by his side forever.

M: "boyfriend kya hua?" Minnie pulled Armaans' face around to look at her

A: "huh? Oh kuch nahi" turning back quickly he realised Ridz had left,

Sap: "Kya hua jiju?" she winked "Kissi ko doondh rehe te?" all the girls giggled as Armaan's face looked away slightly embarrassed. "Kissi se milne kiliye aapko toh humari maange puri karne parenge' aur abh toh maang double hogeye hai"

A: "Double kyun? 25000 hi chahiye ten a?" he took out a bundle of notes and gave them to her without counting

Sap: "Too late jiju, pehle toh sirf Krishna di kiliye 25000 ta, par abh aapko andhar jaane kiliye 50000 dene parenge, itna time waste karne kiliye"

Not wanting to be away from Ridz a moment longer Armaan handed the money over without any hesitation, only making the Sapna and Masti who was from the grooms side giggle more.

Ridz and Anji bought Krishna down the stairs and sat her at the mandap, Armaan had been trying all evening to get a moment alone with her but to no avail, everytime he thought he had her all to himself something would always come in between, whether that be Minnie popping out of nowhere (mischieviously sent by Sapna and Masti who were enjoying the look of death from Armaan immensely) or Ridz being called away to do something.

"Abh dulha dulhan pehre kilye kara hojaye" the pandit called out, seizing the opportunity Armaan swiftly captured Ridz's arm and pulled her to a secluded room he had been eyeing all evening

R: "Armaan yeh kya karehe ho? Waha sab'"

A: "shhh" armaan placed a finger on her lips, feeling her lips quiver from his touch bought a smile to his face, he loved the affect he had on her, if only she new what she did to him when she wasn't there. "Koi kuch nahi kahega, sab waha par busy hai, perhe abhi shuru hue hai.. kam se kam 10 minute toh lagjayenge, aur woh bhi tab agar Shiv Krishna ki haath pakar kar mandap par baagna shuru karde"

Ridz laughed at Armaan's calculations but she knew he was right, all day her eyes searched for him, to catch a glimpse of him even though this wouldn't be possible as Armaan wasn't even in the house, and all evening they had been just watching each other, unable to spend any time alone.

R: "Acha toh batao, kuch kaam ta mujhse" she asked cheekily walking away from him towards the balcony

A: "Ha" he held Ridz hand and pulled her back into his arms, "Tum aaj bohot khoobsurat lagrehe ho" he whispered in her ear, letting his lips kiss ear as he spoke. Feeling a sudden shiver down her spine Ridz closed her eyes from his touch. Slowly walking towards the balcony Armaan managed to take Ridz there without her realising she was moving, Ridz was too lost in her senses, feeling the warmth of his body touching her, feeling his heart pound against her back, letting his cologne surround he;r Ridz was in a world of her own.

Feeling the breeze on her kiss her face Ridz opened her eyes to see the moon shining down on them, the moonlight playing in the water from the fountain gave the entire garden a dreamlike effect. Turning around she found Armaan already looking at her, staring back at him, lost in his eyes and the moment Ridz found herself reaching up to his face, slowly caressing his cheek, poking his cheeks slighty so his dimples showed as a smile kissed his lips.

Leaning in Armaan kissed Ridz gently on her cheeks, feeling her soft warm cheeks burn up with his touch Armaan left his lips to kiss them slightly longer. Feeling Ridz shiver slightly Armaan wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her closer to his body.

Feeling Armaan nuzzling her neck Ridz was loosing her senses, this slow torture was killing her, feeling Armaan's lips gently kissing her shoulder, trailing up her neck Ridz let out a low moan of ecstacy.Unable to resist the urge to feel his lips on hers Ridz turned around around pushing her lips on Armaan's. The urgency of the kiss was felt from both sides. The passion overwhelmed them both, kissing each other so passionaetly neither of them realised when they had moved back towards the bed on the room, taking another step back Armaan tripped on the bottom of the bed

A: "Aa" Armaan gasped as he fell backwards; still holding tightly on to Ridz's waist she came crashing down with him landing safely on his chest.

Giggling non stop Ridz couldn't bring herself to face Armaan, turning red at their currnet position Armaan was starting to feel very hot.

A: "Abh hasna bandh karo aur utho, koi ajayega" Armaan moved Ridz so she landed on his side on the bed while he quickly got up and straightened his sherwani.

R: "Pakar jane ki itna dar hai toh mujhe yaha kyun laye" Ridz stood up next to Armaan and tried to sort out her palu, unfortunately for her she wasn't very good at these things, Sapna had helped her get into place.

Seeing Ridz struggle with her palu Armaan lent her a helping hand and tucked the palu back into place. Feeling his fingers tickle her bare stomach Ridz let out a little shriek, unknown to Armaan Ridz just happened to be the most ticklish person anyone could ever come across, it only took a slight touch and Ridz would be in stitches laughing

A: "Shhh, kya karehe ho?" he whispered looking alarmed, looking back and forth from the door to Ridz. Feeling Ridz lips kiss his hand, he moved his hand from her lips and stared into her ocean deep eyes. The innocence and love in them was overwhelming, feeling himself loose sense of reality again Armaan leant in to kiss her again. Ridz seemed to have this hypnotic power, everytime Armaan looking into her eyes he was lost, the same way when he heard her voice everything else seemed to die away.

Seeing Ridz giggle and pick her hand up to cover his eyes, Armaan frowned a little and pushed Ridz hand behind her back so she was now pushing into his chest.

R: "Armaan koi ajayega, kya karehe ho" she smiled cutely back at him

A: "Toh aanedo" pulling her towards him he kissed her again, softly first nibbling on her lower lip, gently sucking on her lip tasting the sweet strawberry gloss she was wearing. Feeling her lips trying to move so she could speak Armaan took hold of both lips with his mouth and silenced her at once.

Feeling her knees go weak Ridz felt Armaan's grip loosen on her hands, scared of falling her hands automatically reached up and circled his neck. Unsure of how long they stood like that in each others hold Armaan and Ridz drifted into a world of their own

Hearing a commotion outside the doors Ridz and Armaan parted, A: "Laghta hai pehre khatam hogeye" bringing hands upto his lips he kissed them gently "Chale"

*************************************

************************************************************ *********

Part 35

"Raj, yeh kya kardiya dekho mera call be cut geya uff tum bhi na" Ridz playfully hit Raj on his shoulder

Raj: "Ouch, laghta hai yaar" rubbing his shoulder with a fake hurt expression on his face, while keeping his eyes on Ridz to see her reaction. Witnessing the her face turn from angry to worried in the matter of second  Raj smiled at her cuteness "Tum abh bhi waise ki waise ho" he playfully hit Ridz nose as she stared back at him shocked'

Ridz: "Tum mazaak karehete" she mumbled as the reality of being made a fool again by Raj sank in, rolling up the paper in her hand she started chasing him around the airport adamant on getting him back. Being the klutz that she was Ridz lost her balance and went hurtling towards Raj, who moved out of the way in the neck time to allow Ridz to gracefully fall with a thud on the ground.

Ridz: "Aaaaaaaaa" she screamed staring at the tiny cut on her elbow which was bleeding. Sitting on the ground inspecting her cut Ridz cried her heart out like a spoilt brat expecting an apology from Raj, who in return grabbed his trolley and started walking away hoping no-one would notice he was speaking to this mad woman only seconds ago.

Watching Raj walk away without so much as helping her get up Ridz forgot her pain in a split second and jumped to her feet. Storming towards Raj Ridz barged past him so hard Raj almost went toppling over and nearly the couple walking past him "Oi Madam dekhar nahi chal sakhte kya?" Raj shouted after Ridz who was continuing to storm out of the airport without so much as a backwards glance'

Fuming at Raj's cheek Ridz abruptly turned around and marched back towards Raj, grabbing his collar she hissed in his face "Dekha ne ki layakh hote' toh dekhar chalti' samjhe" shoving him with her all her force Ridz stormed off towards her car.

Raj on the other was used to Ridz temperamental side, growing up together had trained him well. Remembering their childhood together always made Raj smile, Riddhima Gupta was the sweet girl next door who everyone loved and adored and Raj Kapil was the bad boy of the neighbourhood; always starting fights with the neighbourhood kids, but because of his sweet and caring faade in front of the adults he always got away with murder. Fighting with the other kids was always boring, no-one ever stood up to him, Ridz was the first child to stand her ground and fight back. Remembering their first fight Raj smiled away'

~~~FLASHBACK~~~

"Oi Gattu, kaha jah raha hai' yeh cake mera hai" a little Raj snatched a chocolate chip muffin from a fat kids hands and went to stuff it in his face when another hand snatched it out of his, leaving Raj to eat air

Handing the muffin back to the Gattu, the little kid ushered the fat kid away and started to walk away herself' running up behind the girl Raj pushed the girl hard so she went flying forward into a heap of mud nearby. The girl jumped up as quickly as she had fallen and ran head first towards Raj who was busy holding his stomach laughing and noticed only when he was sitting in another mud puddle next to the road, while it was the girls turn to stand their and laugh.

Staring up shocked Raj stared at the girl laughing, her laughter was so contagious, it was the kind of laughter which made you forget everything and laugh with her, those green eyes were dancing with her laughter. Staring at the wild haired mud covered pink dressed laughing girl Raj laughed along realising how silly they both looked covered in mud on the side of the road.

Bending the girl offered her hand to help Raj up, "Hi, mera naam Riddy hai" she smiled sweetly as she helped Raj up.

Raj:  "Hi mein Raj, naam toh sunna hoga" he winked at her, Ridz was to nave to understand his cheeky gesture so just stared back at him stunned.

Ridz: "Nahi meine nahi sunna' sunna chahiye kya?" she looked puzzled, her naivety made Raj laugh again. 

~~~END FLASHBACK~~~

Still angry at Raj pulled up in front of the airport and revved her engine in front of Raj, when he didn't get into the car Ridz looked up to see Raj lost somewhere dreamily smiling away to the heavens.

"O hello, introduction karna padega kya? Yeh ghari hai, undar bheth jao" she shouted out of the passengers' window to get Raj's attention.

Raj: "Hi ghari, mein Raj, naam toh sunna hoga" he winked at the car as he opened the door to sit down, bursting into laughter all of Ridz anger melted away as her laughter filled the car while they zoomed off towards the house.

Walking into the lounge after a draining day at work and his earlier hysterics Armaan found himself being greeted by the melodious laughter of Ridz, but she wasn't alone, sitting next to Ridz was some guy laughing but staring at her in a way which he didn't approve of. Everyone was so busy laughing no-one noticed Armaan walk into the house and up the stairs to his room.

Determined not to jump to any conclusions Armaan freshened up and headed back downstairs to get acquainted with the new guest accompanying his fianc. Sliding an arm around Ridz as he sat down next to her Armaan noticed the look on the guys face' his laughter stopped as soon Armaan had done that. This guy definitely has a thing for Ridz, bas abh usse batana padega ki Ridz meri bhi kya laghti hai, Armaan thought to himself.

Part 36 - 38 on page 4 below