Chapter 36

"Chalo Chalo thik hai' " Riddhima started.

"Riddhima waise how are we going to dance, is it couple dance or what?" sid interrupted.

"Arre how are we splitting into couples?" Rahul asked.

"We don't need to split into couples. We already are couples!" atul said.

Shilpa and Armaan looked up and then at each other. "Well'" Shilpa started to say something.

Everyone looked at Shilpa. Riddhima smiled and looked at Muskaan who grinned too.

Riddhima said "Shilpa and Sid can team up and I can dance with Armaan." Sid and Armaan looked at the, identical puzzling expression on their faces.

Armaan tried to interrupt but Sid beat him to it. "Sure babe. Hamari Saali Saheba ke saath dance karne ka maoka baar baar nahi aata."

Armaan narrowed his eyes in warning and looked at Riddhima for explanation when she winked at him. He looked at Shilpa expectantly. Hoping she would say something.

Shilpa, on the other hand, was mad. Just the idea of Armaan dancing with someone else made her uncomfortable, and she had a brief idea of why that was. But she couldn't help it. Dammit, why did she have to have feelings for her best friend? She was trying her best to avoid spending time alone with Armaan but it was as if everything else around her pushed her towards him.

"What is up with the universe!" Shilpa said to herself, but not before sid heard it and laughed.

"But.. But.. I cannot'I mean'" Shilpa stammered.

"What? You are not getting out of this!" Muskaan said.

"But Riddhima di can't dance without Jiju!" Shilpa said.

"Then what do you suggest?" Riddhima said and looked at Armaan in victory, and that's when he got what Riddhima was trying to do. If Riddhima had suggested him dancing with Shilpa, she would not have agreed! Genius, he looked at her and gave her thumbs up.

Shilpa looked at Armaan and then at everyone else. "I can team up with Armaan! That way we can all dance and 'umm' switch partners if required."

Armaan was just short of dancing in rejoice. She looked at Armaan and they had their moment. Neither of them could look away even if they wanted to. Everyone around them grinned and looked at them. Rahul coughed, and Shilpa and Armaan snapped out of their eye-lock.

"Um' Uh-huh' Okay, so do we have any songs in mind?" Shilpa tried to change the subject.

"Haan' I was thinking we can have like each couple dancing on part of a song, and then have all of them come together?"

"Or we can have the first song together and end with Rahul and Muskaan on the stage? What say?" Shilpa suggested.

"That does sound unique. Let's do this; the couples can all decide which songs we are individually dancing on and meanwhile Shilpa and I can look for songs that we all can dance on together?" Riddhima said.

--

Shilpa was in the locker, sorting through her stuff. She put her coat in the locker and decided to wait for Armaan. They still had to agree on a song. They had argued on like a hundred songs and still did not have any song finalized. She remembered their conversation that afternoon. Armaan had shown her some pics from Riddhima and Sid's wedding. The strangest of the things happened when she saw them. She remembered some bits of a memory, of a terrace, of dancing to music under moon light, memories of looking at the moon through a net and she remembered the word 'bracelet'. It kept ringing in her ears.

Armaan was on cloud nine. Everything was going according to plan. Shilpa was spending more and more time with him because of the Sangeet performance. Rather she was forced to spend time with him, Armaan grinned. He finally was seeing glimpses of his old Shilpa back.

He walked towards the locker room, hoping that Shilpa was still around. He needed to talk to her, especially about today. They were looking at the photos from Sid and Riddhima's wedding. She had shown signs of remembering, of recalling some things. For instance how did she know that the last song during their sangeet was sung by him? She even mentioned the song, without probably realizing the slip. He was pretty sure she knew more than she let on. He had to find out soon.

"You might not remember the time we spent together Shona' but you do remember me' I can see it in your eyes' You know the love that we share' and I am going to make you acknowledge that love' and very soon."

The next day was Holi. Since it was Sid and Riddhima's first holi after their wedding, they decided to host the holi celebrations.

"Sid! Where are you? A lot of the party preparations are still pending'Sid!" Riddhima shouted. "Where does he disappear!"

"Riddhima! Jaan, why are you so nervous? It's just our gang anyways! The snacks are on their way. I picked up more than enough colors on the way back home yesterday. And you look stunning as always J" Sid grinned at whispered into her ear.

Riddhima looked up and blushed. She gave him a cute smile. "You sure are an expert at changing topics Sid'"

"Well I have a very beautiful inspiration'" Sid said and bent to give her a soft kiss.

"Riddhima di!" Shilpa screamed from the house entrance.

Sid and Riddhima stood up straight. Sid took a deep breath and muttered "Shilpa ki bachi'tera timing hi galat hai!" and Riddhima laughed.

"Di! Happy Holi!" Shilpa came running towards her and hugged her tight. Riddhima smiled and hugged her back.

"Happy Holi Shilpa! Aaj hamara toofan-mail bade hi ache mood mein dkh raha hai' What's the reason?" Riddhima smiled, happy to see Shilpa so excited and full of energy after so long.

"Holi!!! I love it! To top it all I have my family with me! What more do you want?" Shilpa grinned. Riddhima smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"Papa, Padma ma and nani are waiting for you downstairs."

"Won't you wish happy holi to your jiju saali saheba?" Sid teased.

"Of course! Happy HoliJ" Shilpa hugged Sid.

"Happy Holi! So glad to see you like this after so long." Sid said and patted her on the head.

Shilpa smiled, feeling blessed to have such a family.

The three of them went downstairs to where the others had gathered. Soon they were joined by the rest of the gang including Atul, Anjali, Rahul, Muskaan, JP and Armaan.

"Holi aate hi alag hi nasha chadhta hai yaar' Pata nahi kya hai?" Atul said happy to be with the gang for once.

"Seriously' I really miss our internship days dude!" Rahul said.

"Yeah! We had so much fun' so many pranks and a lot of masti!" Riddhima said.

"Every occasion was special. And Armaan was the worst of the lot. Uske shaitani demaag mein kuch toh chalta hi rehta tha!" Atul said.

Armaan grinned. "And Shilpa is carrying forward that tradition! " Riddhima said and winked at Shilpa. Shilpa grinned.

"I am better you know. I have heard stories about his pranks! No way were his pranks as funny as mine" Shilpa teased.

Armaan raised his eyebrows. Shilpa looked back, her expression challenging. The guys hooted and the girls looked at Armaan for his reaction.

"Really?" Armaan said. "You think you are better at pranks?" he stood up.

Shilpa stood up too. "Of course' you are a senior doctor now Armaan' you have lost your touch' Sanjeevani ne tumhe kaafi boring bana diya hai'"

Sid looked at them, an evil idea taking shape in his head. He looked from Shilpa to Armaan and back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you challenging me Shona?"

"Why? Are you scared?" Shilpa smiled. Challenge and pranks, this she could handle.

Something changed in his eyes, their color deepening and his gaze becoming more intense. A shiver ran down her body.

The rest of the gang looked at them, adoring the view, enjoying the two love birds bickering. Riddhima looked at Sid and noticed his evil smile. She knew he was upto something. She raised her brows in questions, and he winked at her, confirming her suspicions.

"Okay!" Sid interrupted, and Shilpa and Armaan looked at Sid.

"I have an idea of settling this competition."

"Bring it on'" Armaan said, looking at Shilpa he smirked.

"Its holi today, so we should have something to do with colors!" Muskaan suggested.

"Absolutely" Sid said. "Well, since we are yet to start playing holi, whoever applies the color to other first, will be the naughtiest of all!"

Shilpa smirked and looked at Armaan. That should be easy. I just have to throw a bucket full of water on him that's all! She smiled.

"But'" Sid continued. "You have to put color using your hands, and on the other's face by the way!" he grinned.

Smile wiped from her face she jerked her head towards Sid. And he laughed.

"What?" she yelled.

"Hey, it has to be a little difficult!" Riddhima justified.

"But di! Aisa jaroori kyun hai?" Shilpa defended.

"Its okay Riddhima' I think shona is scared. Warna itna instantaneous reaction nahi aata'" Armaan provoked her.

Shilpa swirled around looking at him, giving him the death glare. He looked back, totally unfazed.

"I had no idea wedding planning includes all of this ' from booking hotels to booking caterers to deciding the menus to inviting guest down right to planning for shoes shopping!!! If I had any idea I would not have volunteered!!" Rahul exclaimed.

"Armaan, you are going to have a field trip with yours, Shilpa's the worse of the lot! Itne nakhre hai madam ke!!"

Armaan frowned. "How did we get here?" he asked confused.

"Shilpa aur Armaan ki shaadi aur kya?" Rahul announced casually.

"What are you guys talking about" Muskaan asked as the girls entered the room.

A stunned silence followed the statement. Rahul's eyes widened as he realized his slip and looked at Shilpa.

Please please please leave your comments guys. Would love to hear what you guys think! Silent readers, hit the like button, but i'd rather you guys be vocal about your views and write comments! Thanks!!

Vanshika