As he entered his eyes automatically tried to adjust to the dim lights and for a minute or two he literally covered his ears as the loud music was on the verge on tearing his ear drums.
Looking around, trying to move ahead, pushing the swaying bodies he frantically searched for her.
'How on earth am I going to find her in this? And omg she will be a complete wreck if she has been hanging out here. I have to find her, come on Baby where are you?' he muttered to himself closing his eyes momentarily wishing she would just appear in front of him from no where.
Sighing in desperation he took out his cell and quickly dialed, frantically clutching the phone.
'Hello Anjie? Are u sure she is here? I mean does she come here? This place is like''''.I can't even imagine her here. But'.? Ok ok fine I'll see here once more.'
Making his way to the bar his eyes constantly roving about trying to make her out from the jungle of people madly swaying about he finally reached the bar. Standing there he looked about. Not here too he thought very disheartened. He was about to move away when he stopped hearing,
'One more Vodka please!!!
Turning about he saw her standing there, looking ever so beautiful. He stood there without even a blink looking at her. She always had this effect on me he thought. A deep enchanting spell out of which he never would want to get out.
He snapped back to reality as he saw her picking up the glass and holding it to her lips.
Moving forward, closing on her, he put his hand on her putting the glass down.
'Riddhima? Not a sip more. Stop it'
Looking at him she stared into those deep gray eyes. They always had this commanding effect on her. Loosening her grip on the glass she looked at him.
'Good now you are coming with me ok!! What on the earth were you doing here baby? Don't you dare refuse me or I will''..'
'What will you do Mr Armaan Mallik? Hit me or drag me out of here or even better throw me out from here too, as you did a few days a go remember? Threw me out on the streets?' Looking at him while muttering all this Armaan sensed from her tone she was on a real high now.
'Look Baby''''..'
Moving forward just inches away from his face she pointed her finger on his face swaying a little and spoke.
'No you look, you cannot throw me out from here as you don't own this place and don't call me Baby, am not your Baby. I am just Riddhima, just plain Riddhima' saying so she laughed out a little then suddenly finding tears in her eyes she spoke again.
'Just plain Riddhima and you cant ask me to get out, no here no one can ask me to get out.' Saying so she turned her back on him and tried to move away.
Getting annoyed he pulled her back, turning her around he gripped her shoulders tightly.
'You are not going anywhere. You are coming with me you understand!'
He spoke gripping even more. Seeing tears streaming down her face he loosened the grip. Cupping her face he spoke in a much gentler tone
'You are not in your senses honey. Please understand, come with me ok. No one can throw you out from our home honey!'
Looking into his eyes she tried retorting.
'No one can throw me out of here. Not even you .As you don't own this place. No Armaan you can't throw me out, how could you do that?'
Saying so she staggered and fell in his arms .Holding her immediately he supported her. Pulling her close to him he hugged her tight. Pulling her out of the hug he saw she had fainted. Scooping her in his arms he took her out and put her in the car.
Driving along the silent road he looked at her worried. She looked a complete mess. Cursing himself he thought. It's all my fault .Armaan how could you do this to her. Just look at her. Running his hand through his hair he stepped up the gas peddle. Parking the car in the driveway he quickly got out.
Opening the door he gently picked her up and went in through the door. Placing her on the bed softly, he put the covers over her. As he moved away to switch off the lights, She took hold of his hands. Grasping it tight she murmured.
'No you cant throw me out Armaan, you cannot do that' She kept mumbling.
***********************************************************
Tossing over the benches, rushing through the crowd, he hurried towards the lecture room Z410. 'Yes, I am here' he said to the lecturer breathlessly, making his way through the doorway to occupy the only vacant seat available in the front row. He was happy to make it on time, arriving late on the very first day for his masters degree would have been a big disappointment for him.
Sinking in the seat, he excitedly twirled his head starting from one side, in a clockwise direction to get himself acquainted with whatever he came across; cream colored walls, half opened windows, glossy plastic furniture and of course, young enthusiastic faces. All types of faces, excited, bored, happy, sad, even sleepy ones, were present in the room. He analyzed each and every one of them carefully, until his eyes came across one particular face at exactly 90 degrees on his right, which grabbed his attention more than others.
This was the face of a girl sitting next to him, who appeared more tensed and nervous than excited to him. He thought she looked extremely stunning in the blue blouse that matched her radiant grey-blue eyes perfectly. Sitting in an attentive posture, her svelte figure beautifully molded itself with the curves of the chair. Her sleek legs exposed off the black slit skirt, tapping musically on the floor, added to the anxiousness on her face.
While removing a strand of hair that seemed to be enjoying the feel of her soft cheeks with a shaky hand, she noticed him investigating her. With his intense gaze making her even more nervous, she looked at him questioningly.
Somewhat embarrassed on being caught red-handed, he passed her a faint smile only to receive a blank expression in return. 'This girl seems to be full of attitude. To hell with her' he annoyingly muttered to himself.
************************************************************ ********************************
Today's lecture was based on music composition. John Willis, a senior lecturer in the university, introduced himself to the students first and without wasting any time, started off with the explanation of orchestra and vocal compositions.
The lecture was particularly interesting for him as he had a passion for musical compositions. Composing music, whether in the form of piano or electronic, had always interested him a lot. He had always imagined himself as an outstanding musical composer, with top-notch companies approaching him for his high quality work.
**********************************************************
The lecture had already finished five minutes ago, with each of the students been grouped in pairs for a 'Speech-sound composition' project. He was shocked and annoyed at being paired with the same girl who had ignored him during the class. He wanted to ask for a replace but chose to be calm and quiet instead. Eventually, placing the biro pen and lecture notes in his bag and rising from the seat, he progressed towards his new group partner.
'Hi, I am Armaan', he initiated the talk in a friendly tone. To his surprise, the girl feebly smiled and replied politely 'I am Riddhima'.
She looked drop-dead gorgeous he thought again. Standing close to her, he could easily explore her facial features in detail. Her skin was beautiful, silky and vanilla colored with a rosy blush on her cheeks making them stand out even more. Her warm, exotic grey-blue eyes could alone be enough to light a fire he thought. The frequent flashing of her long, well-shaped eyelashes, as if to protect her innocent eyes from the dreadfulness of the world, enhanced her skillfully designed face. Even the russet colored hair-locks falling freely over her shoulders complemented her face well.
'Excuse me'''Armaan'''.Are you all right?'
Hearing those words, he came out of the magical charm of her beauty.
'Oh'.yes of course. So''um'.we have been paired for this new project. Shall we start working on it now?' he said swiftly changing the topic to avoid making a fool of himself.
'I am sorry, I am not feeling well. I would rather leave now.' She said in a serious yet polite tone.
'Oh ok. Is everything alright?' he inquired with concern.
'Yes, everything is fine. Thanks for your concern. See you tomorrow'. Saying so, she briskly left the lecture room.
Her behavior was strange for Armaan. He wondered what she was upto. 'Was she full of attitude? Or, was she nervous? Maybe, she really wasn't feeling well.' With all such questions popping in his head, he decided to call it off for the day as all his lectures had finished.
***********************************************
The next day in the university had been very tiring with four back to back lecturers with no time for the students to even breathe. Armaan had enjoyed the 'Radiophonic and Computer-aided music' lectures. He even played some of his own compositions in class, which were appreciated by everyone.
Throughout the day, he kept wondering about her. 'Why didn't she come? What happened to her? Was she sick? Was she stuck up with some other work?' Her absence on the second day of university left him in doubts. He couldn't stop thinking about the reason for her absence.
With some of the handouts given to them related to their 'Speech-sound composition' project, he even wanted to discuss the details of the project with her as they were supposed to hand in their initial concept the following day.
Still sitting on his chair, flipping the biro between his fingers, he heard someone say a 'Hello'.
It was a girl, tall, with brown skin, black eyes, quite pretty, he concluded after sketching her appearance in his mind.
'Hi, I am Armaan', he greeted her warmly.
'Hi Armaan, I am Anjali, doing masters in music too. I noticed you sitting and thinking something, so thought of bugging you' she said sarcastically.
'I was about to leave now. Today's lecturers were pretty full on eh' he said rising from his seat.
'Yeah, I am so tired today. I might need a physiotherapy session after I reach home' she said smilingly.
*******************************************************
Passing through the tacky, dingy street, he made his way in search of house no. 28. He was happy to get Riddhima's address from Anjalie in the class. Expecting to get her contact number, he was disappointed to some extent when Anjalie said she didn't have her number, only her address and that too because she had dropped her off the previous day.
He cursed himself for being so impulsive, 'Couldn't you wait for her to come to uni tomorrow? You could have tried to get her number instead Armaan. What will she think? You are such an idiot.............But''..we have to hand in our project submission tomorrow as well. I had to discuss it with her. How could I let her suffer with the grades?' Justifying his actions to himself, he finally managed to find the house he was looking for, number 28.
Gathering all the courage, he knocked the half-cracked door lightly. On receiving no reply, he knocked the door again, harder this time, and there came a reply'.
'Who the bloody hell is it?'
*********************************
****PART 2****
It surprised him on being greeted like this. Not that he had expected a warm welcome, but he certainly had not thought of being attended in such an impolite manner.
'This can't be her house, and it surely can't be her. I think I came to the wrong house.' With these doubts running all over his mind, he cross-checked the address written on the crushed piece of paper in his hand to make sure he didn't knock the wrong door.
Being positive about standing in front of the right house, he knocked the door once again to be attended with a reply just like before''.
'Who the bloody hell is it?'
Not sure what to do, he thought to speak out anyway, 'Hello, does Riddhima live here? I am her classmate.'
Waiting there patiently for almost 20 minutes in the hope of someone opening the door, he ultimately decided to leave from there. Spinning around to head back home, he heard a slight squeak as the door swung open.
'Who is it?' an inquisitive voice said.
The person he had come looking for, was standing in front of him. Those same sensuous grey-blue eyes that spoke volumes, long beautiful lashes, silky glowing skin, sexy strawberry-like lips, he contemplated. He could go on thinking about her pleasant features forever, he realized.
'I am asking you, ******' she swore all over again.
Realizing her physical presence, he came out of the trance yet again. This was the second time he had been taken over by her charming beauty.
'Uhhh'..Hi, I am Armaan. I am in your class, remember?' he said putting it in the friendliest way possible.
By this time, he had already realized that something was different with the girl he was talking to at this point of time. She was not the same he had met the previous day in the university. Dark circles under those innocent eyes giving them a dreary effect, messed up uncombed hair, wrinkled blouse above a shabby brown trousers, all made her look like a complete wreck.
'What are you doing here' she asked with a frowned look, and quickly turned around leaving the door opened, without even waiting for a reply from her un-invited guest.
It was hot, damp and grim inside, with ancient wallpaper peeling away from the walls and sparse, rickety furniture. A sagging single bed lying at the corner of the room that looked like a relic from the war years had the covers stripped from it. A naked bulb swung from the ceiling like a hanging dead body, illuminating the grimness all over. Armaan shuddered, thinking of the stark contrast between this and his posh, comfortable flat.
Noticing a cheap half emptied scotch bottle standing on the wobbly wooden table, he drew his eyes towards his only companion there. Sitting with a glass in her hand, she was gulping the intoxicating liquid, one glass after another.
'So, what the hell are you doing here' she asked with a deep voice, pouring some more scotch in her transparent glass.
6-7 glasses of Scotch had already had a huge impact on her. She was hardly able to sit in a stable position. Dangling from one side to another like a lifeless object, she asked him another time 'Who gave my address to you?'
'Anjalie gave your address to me and I came here to discuss our project as we have a submission tomorrow' he said in his calm voice.
Hearing this, Riddhima started laughing madly. 'Project? Who cares about it? Who cares about a project huh? I don't''Do I? Do I?' Saying so, she banged the table making it vibrate even more. The Scotch bottle whose contents had been taken away from it a few minutes ago was now rolling over the top of the table, from right to the middle to the left, repeating the cycle all over again. Seeing its annoying movement, she hastily wiped it off the table making it fall on the floor, and crushing into pieces.
Observing her excessive drunken state, Armaan wanted to calm her down. He had never imagined seeing Riddhima in such a condition. There was definitely something that was eating her, he thought. She was a completely different person at this time. Her eyes like the previous day said it all to him. They acted like a transparent shield of all her inner emotions, showing her sorrows, her anger, her vulnerability, everything.
'Riddhima! Calm down. Sit down please' he said to her while holding her shoulders, pushing her softly on the chair.
'Leave me''..Who are you to ask me to shut my mouth''..huh? Its my house''..and I'll do what I want. I will do what I bloody want. Do you get it? Its my house''. Its my ********* house!' With this, she gripped the half-filled glass in her hand that had been witnessing the scene for a long time, and took another sip of that detrimental liquid.
'Not another sip Riddhima. You have already drunk a lot.' He snatched the glass from her hand and placed it on the table.
'Give it back. Give it back Armaan. I want to drink more. You can't take it away from me''..you can't''.give it back Armaan' she shouted raising her hands to get a hold of the glass again.
Giving her appropriate amount of support as she couldn't stand properly, he softly placed her on the chair again, standing closer to her this time. 'Don't worry Riddhima, everything will be alright. You will be fine. Don't worry', he said in a composed tone while holding her head firmly against his chest with one hand, and stroking her hair with the other.
He knew she was unhappy. There was something that was disturbing her. But all he wanted to do at this point of time was to console her, to make her feel at ease.
Still trying his best to cool her down, he continued 'Don't worry, everything will be fine. You don't have to worry' when all of a sudden, he was interrupted with a crying voice. 'Why did she leave me? Why did she leave me Armaan?' Riddhima uttered with a howl.
'I miss her so much. I feel so lonely without her. Why did you leave me all alone maaaa, why?' she exclaimed moving her head away from Armaan's chest, looking in his eyes in search of all her questions. Her eyes were moist; pearl-like tears were rushing through her eyes, down the cheeks, taking the form of watery stains on her trousers.
Wanting her to relieve herself from this burden by talking to him, he asked her softly 'Where is she Riddhima? What happened to your mom?'
'She left me, she left me all alone' she blurted it out.
'She left me to live in this world all alone Armaan. Why didn't she take me with her? Why didn't I die with her? Why didn't that ******* cancer take me with her? She didn't even think about me before leaving, how I would live without her. I feel so lonely'..I feel so lonely Armaan'''..Pa left us before anyway, he never cared about us'.....He was always drinking, his drink mattered to him the most'''I remember ma crying day and night longing for pa's company'''But Pa, he never cared for her; he never gave her the love she deserved, and I hate him for that. I hate him''.for that''...I was so happy when he died''.He had to'''those b****** drinks wouldn't have let him live for long anyway''..He deserved it'''That bas******* deserved it' Riddhima's eyes were raging with anger.
'I remember those days clearly. Ma would practice classical music with me everyday. Everyday Armaan''..She would pen down her thoughts in the form of poems and then work on the tune'''.Music was the only ray of light in her life, it was the only source of joy in her ******** miserable life. And, she would make me sing with her as well.' With gleaming eyes, and a slight smile on her lips, she remembered those fond memories.
'I loved singing. I loved being on the keyboard''.I loved making rhythms out of scratch with her. She would make me sit with her the entire day and construct different types of musical tones. She would even teach me different notes; whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, two eighth notes, I remember everything'''.everything''She wanted me to study music. She wanted me to become a big singer one day''..And, here I am, studying music in one of the best universities'''..on a scholarship'''in the best university''..your daughter is studying in the best university ma' she faced the ceiling crying her heart out.
'I will prove my credibility to the world ma, I'll make you proud. I will make you proud ma, I will make you proud''..Come back to me ma, I feel lonely'''.Come back to me, please''.come back'..' she kept mumbling while laying her head on the table.
Seeing Riddhima fast asleep, Armaan picked her up in his arms and placed her gently on her uncovered bed. He could feel her pain; he could feel a thousand knives stabbing his heart while she mentioned her throbbing past. He wanted to hug her at that moment itself. He wanted to somehow relieve her from her miseries but he wasn't sure how.
Sliding a thin cushion under her head, and leaving a note on her bedside, he finally marched out of that gloomy house.
********************************************************
She reached the music theater at 8 am, and found him sitting on a high raised stool with his fingers continuously dancing on the keys of the piano. He was completely engrossed in his rhythm, running his fingers from left to right to left to right again, as if practicing for a marathon.
'Hi' she said politely with an embarrassing smile.
'Hello there. Good morning. So, you got my note huh' he said in his normal friendly tone, giving his fingers some rest.
'Yes, I got it and I came here sharp at 8' she said smilingly again.
Her smile was better this time, than their first meeting he thought. Unlike before, it had a sense of life in it.
'Listen, I am really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have behaved like that with you. I didn't really mean to blab all that out. I am really really sorry' she said with an embarrassing face.
'Hey, you didn't do anything wrong, trust me. You were absolutely fine. And'..there was nothing wrong in whatever you said. You needed a friend last night, and I am glad I could be of some help to you' Armaan said with a reassuring smile.
'Thank you Armaan' she warmly said.
'What for?' he asked in a surprising tone.
'For everything, that had happened last night. I was in a complete mess yesterday, and if it were someone else, they could have taken advantage of the situation, but you'''I don't even know how to thank you' she said with a shameful expression.
Realizing her nervousness and embarrassment, he reached out his hand on her arm and said in a comforting manner 'Riddhima, nothing wrong happened last night. Listening to your past made me respect you even more. I had no idea about your life and I am glad you opened up to me. Sometimes, its good to pour your heart out. It gives a lot of relief once you share your sorrows with your close ones. Though, I am not a very close friend of yours, but I am sure, with time, we can prove to be great friends' and he smiled saying that.
'And''.I am sure your mom would be very proud of you. Wherever she is, she will always have her blessings over you. All your achievements will always make her feel happy''..Always Riddhima' he added.
She was surprised to see a complete stranger understand her so well. Talking to Armaan made her relieve from her burden. She smiled genuinely for the first time, which she had not done for the past one year since her mother's death.
Seeing her smile full-heartedly, he cheerfully said to her 'You look much much better when you smile than when you don't. Don't ever let anything overshadow that beautiful smile of yours'
Hearing this, she couldn't help but smile timidly and say 'Thanks'.
'And''..listen, you don't have to worry about today's project submission either. I have prepared the rhythm and now we just have to hand in the disk to John, our 'Music Composition' lecturer. Then, we are done for the day' he stated.
'Oh yes, I forgot about it completely. I am such an Idiot. I didn't even work on it. You did it all alone? Oh my God, how can I thank you for that Armaan, how can I?'
She was so very shocked to see his caring attitude. He had first helped her out in her chaotic state last night, and had shown so much concern towards her even when she hadn't been nice with him at all. And now once again, he had gone out of his way to help her out with the project, without her even being there to do anything. He worked on the submission all alone, and didn't even hold any complains about it. She was very thankful to him, and felt blessed to find at least one person who cared for her in this world.
***********************************************************
The university was finished for the day. All the lectures were done. The project submission had also been dealt with; each of the groups had brought in their work in the class on time. Some of the compositions were even played by the lecturer. A good blend of different types of tracks had been presented from fast groovy beats to soft, slow music. John, the lecturer was particularly impressed by Armaan's and Riddhima's fusion music composition. He had even praised their work in front of everyone.
Heading out of the lecture theatre, Armaan and Riddhima exchanged some pleasantries discussing the happenings of their entire day. It was a very comforting day for both of them. They both had got along really well, first as friends and then as group partners as well.
'Okay, I better leave for home now. Its quite late. So''.I'll see you tomorrow then' she said in a friendly, relaxed tone.
'Okay'''See you tomorrow' he said with a dull, disappointed voice.
'Um'''Riddhima, would you like to go out for a coffee?' and he suddenly popped out the question to her.
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