Chapter 12 ~ Confession.
The clock struck 6 o'clock in the morning; Armaan rolled off to his side and fell off the bed. He quickly stood up on his feet and looked around the bright room. Riddhima was not there. He found it very strange that she had refused her inner intuition last night. For once, she didn't get carried away and retained herself from him. Maybe he was losing his charm? He had no clue what had gone wrong yesterday, but whatever it was...he liked it.
As Armaan applied shaving cream to his face, he stared at himself blankly in the mirror. He could not understand why Riddhima had suddenly backed off. He had never been in a situation like this, where the woman had left him...instead of him leaving the partner. He felt odd inside and peculiarly strange. How was he to act from now on with her? He knew that she had probably backed off not to hurt his feelings intentionally, but to actually give herself some time...for things he was unaware of...but somehow or the other his mind kept repeating to him that he had been rejected.
He finished applying cologne and dressed quietly in the wide, white bathroom attached to his room. As he picked up his briefcase from the ground and made his way down the stairs; he heard noises coming from the kitchen.
It was Riddhima, making poached eggs for breakfast. He set his briefcase on the kitchen table. His attention drew towards the large garbage bag that was placed on the kitchen counter. Then he turned his gaze towards Riddhima. She was wearing white sandals, with a white tank top and high blue shorts. Her hair was done in a high, messy ponytail and she was wearing long, silver earrings that shimmered from the sunlight peaking through the window before which she was standing.
He cleared his throat, "What's this for?" he said, looking directly at the garbage bag.
"Oh, that? That's some clothes i'm donating to the homeless today. I was going to town...so i thought i'd drop these by the donation box while i was there anyways..." She said, still concentrated on the poached eggs.
"To the homeless? Since when have you started caring about those people?"
"Since I started living with you."
He laughed out loud and went towards the cupboard to get out some plates and cups. As reached above her to open the cupboard placed above her head; Riddhima smelt his sweet cologne and melted inside. He smelled like a heavenly Greek God. He looked like a heavenly Greek Good. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a black tie, tightly fastened around his large adam's apple. As he walked back towards the table, the scent of his fresh body lingering in Riddhima's surroundings.
He sat down quietly and looked at her, waiting for her turn around and look towards him. Finally, when Riddhima turned around with the eggs on the frying pan in her hands; Armaan looked another way. She opened a container on the the counter (which he hadn't noticed before) and placed the eggs inside the container which already consisted of a well prepared salad.
Fianlly she closed the container and placed it inside her large, baggy purse. She smiled at him sweetly and then picked up the house keys that were placed near her sunglasses on the kitchen table.
"I won't be back till about 8 o'clock tonight, so don't wait for me, ok?"
He was shocked. He felt like a complete idiot. He stared at her blankly and replied, "What do mean you're coming back at 8 o'clock? Do you know how unsafe that is for someone your age to be out that late?"
Her peaceful expression changed its colors immediately with a dark red texture, "Excuse me?"
"I mean...I was just trying to state that..."
"No, please save your words for someone else. Who do you think you are? I can stay out as late as i want and wherever i want. You have no right to say that to me." Actually, Riddhima thought for a second how foolish her behaviour was. She had planned to storm out of here anyways to show him his place...but she didn't was to storm out on a baseless topic.
"I was just trying to tell you that the city is unsafe at that time."
"Yah, well you never said that when we were in the city the previous nights till about midnight previously."
"I agree, but at those times, if you remember, i was with you." His temper was rising now too.
"SO?! What difference does that make? You have no right to stop me like this."
"I'm not stopping you."
"Good." Now she felt like a complete idiot.
"Go."
"Excuse me?!" she caught herself and him with suprise from her sudden anxiety. How could he just carelessly say 'Go' without even continueing to stop her further.
"What is it now?" He got up from the table and began making coffee.
"That's it. You don't even care where i'm going...or why?!"
"Well, you were the one that said 'WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT...' so i figured you're right. I have no right to say any of that stuff to you. If you wish to go out somewhere...then you're responsible enough to act how you wish." He was starting to sound like her dad. She was tired of this kind of behaviour. Riddhima was tired of not having at least one person who didn't care about her. She knew very well that many people her age would die for this kind of privacy from their parents and any adults in general...but she was not normal. Ever since her mother's death, all she wanted was for someone to genuinely care for her and ACTUALLY wonder where she was going or HOW she could just live with a complete stranger for TWO WEEKS. How could her dad just ignore the fact that he basically just left her here with a guy alone for 14 days...just so that he could enjoy himself with his new girlfriend without having to worry about some 16 year old interupting his bed life.
"Fine then."
Armaan saw and heard a different kind of emotion from Riddhima this time. She looked as if she was about to cry. He turned around and faced her directly in the eyes. She stood there like a lifeless doll, that couldn't act upon her own life's decisions. A doll, that had been puppeted by others for way too long. All he wanted to do was run across the room and hug her with all his might, but he retained himself.
"Ok. Bye then. Have fun." He said harshly and turned his back to her once more to pay attention to his boiling water.
She stared at him for a long, solid moment and then finally gave up when she knew he wouldn't turn around again. When she knew her last hope was gone...she quietly picked up the garbage bag and left without a single word.
~~~
Quickly Armaan turned around to give Riddhima the tight hug he wanted to give her for such a long time. A real hug. A hug that actually meant something. A hug that would help her realize how much he truely loved her...now. How much he couldn't live without her. How he could fight and kill all his enemies a hundred times just to reach across the wide spread of emotions to reach to her heart. How he longed to just wipe her tears and taste their depth and love that they contained. He began to run out of the kitchen to find her, when he suddenly noticed a white envelope addressed to his name on the counter where the garbage bag was placed orginally.
He walked towards the letter and opened it slowly. It was written in old-fashioned handwriting.
It read:
I've Got Her.
~Rahul.
Edited by sifters - 16 years ago
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