Part VI
She looked very different from when he had last seen her. Well at least what he could make out in this light! Dressed in a black knee length off shoulder dress with a black and rust stole carelessly thrown over her shoulders, her hair piled up in a chignon with a few wayward strands escaping to her bare shoulders, she made a very attractive picture. Armaan's eyes moved down her shapely legs to the black stilettos and back to her face again. Pygmalion, he grinned to himself, his sea urchin was quite a stunner when she was not bedraggled.
As he watched her dance effortlessly with Ankit, he couldn't help admire her grace. He had often wondered how women managed to not only walk, but dance as well in high heels, and this woman seemed no exception. But trust her to come up with Scarlet Pimpernel, why was he not surprised? Elusive? Works behind the scenes? Never to be seen? Well, maybe it was time for Miss Ridhima Gupta to meet the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel.
"Armaan, you have not been listening to a word I have said!" he turned back to look at Anjali as she hit him on his shoulder. "Where are you lost? What were you thinking of?"
" Nothing, just....."
" Hey Anjali, come on what are you doing sitting at a table? Come on to the floor. You need to keep the Treasurer happy, my dear Placement Secretary. How are you going to get your expenses approved otherwise?" Atul smiled as he pulled Anjali off her seat.
As the song ended, Armaan put his beer down on the table and walked towards Ankit and Ridhima. As he moved closer, he could hear Ridhima "......Oh shoot, don't tell me, I missed him! Sigh, so he continues to remain the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel!"
"No he does not.....he's right here in flesh. If you don't mind Ankit, may I?" Armaan smiled as Ridhima turned to look at him.
"Armaan? Armaan Mallik? What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?" Ridhima smiled in genuine delight. It was nice to bump into him after that day.
"Huh? You two know each other?" Ankit looked from Armaan to Ridhima who were both grinning now. " Ridhima, why the hell did you go on about Scarlet Pimpernel if you knew Armaan all along?" he asked Ridhima accusingly.
"Oh my God!" Ridhima covered her mouth in realisation as Ankit continued to look at her accusingly.
"Thank you, so finally, the penny drops!" Armaan interjected sarcastically.
"Oh my God, I can't believe its you. I don't see you for weeks, and, now I find you right here, under my nose, in my college"
" I think you've got it the wrong way round, sea urchin, you are in my college, and you're the freshman"
"Don't be impertinent Armaan, you know what I mean! And what did you call me? A sea urchin?"
Ankit shrugged his shoulders and walked away. In any case, he doubted if either of them would register his walking away. It never ceased to amaze him how small the world was and where and how people's paths would cross. Who would have known that the guy at whom Ridhima was taking a dig ,and, professing to have not met, was someone she apparently knew so well. Why he was not surprised? He felt a little twinge of envy - Armaan tended to have that effect on all, well almost all women - but somehow he felt Ridhima was not the run of the mill mooney-eyed girl. The way she had squealed in delight and then chided Armaan, seemed more like an old friend rather than a smitten woman. Then he remembered Armaan's reaction when he had told him who had given him the sobriquet Scarlet Pimpernel. He had laughed in delight much to Anjali and Ankit's bewilderment. Now Ankit could understand why! Clearly they both shared a jesting relationship.
Well Ridhima was a very pretty girl, but Armaan was too much of a gentleman to make a move unless he felt his attentions were welcome. It would be fun to watch the two sparring, Ankit mused, though he wondered how Anjali would react to Ridhima when she saw Armaan and Ridhima together. Many in the 2nd year were under the impression that Armaan and Anjali were a couple and shared a close relationship, but Ankit knew that as far as Armaan was concerned Anjali was a very dear friend. He may flirt with her once in a while, as was his nature, but he was very clear that Anjali was just a good friend whom he felt the need to protect and help. But Anjali? Sometimes, Ankit had caught her looking at Armaan when she thought no one was looking, and, her emotions were bared for anyone to see if they cared to. But she was also smart enough to realise that while Armaan cared for her, he was not in love with her, at least not now, so she stayed away from any entanglement.
As for him, he was too focussed on establishing himself so he had stayed relatively free from any emotional entanglements, and, he intended for things to remain that way.
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" Well, you have to admit that you looked like one the last time we met, which reminds me, where is your Henry Higgins? Cant see him around" Armaan queried.
"Henry Higgins? Which Henry Higgins?" Ridhima gazed at him in complete puzzlement. Things were coming at her too fast, first seeing Armaan, then discovering he was in her college, his being aware of her mocking him as the Scarlet Pimpernel, and, now Henry Higgins. What did Pygmalion or for that matter My Fair Lady have to do with her. Not only did he give her the shock of her life, he also appeared to be lunatic.
"Well since the transformation from the sea urchin I met three weeks ago is fairly drastic, I am assuming there is a Henry Higgins that this is owed to." Armaan grinned as realisation replaced the look of puzzlement on Ridhima's face.
Before Ridhima could react, Armaan pulled her hand and dragged her to the centre of the floor.
"So how has the first month been, other than the gruelling work schedule? It can be quite stressful initially, but then the pace eases a little bit, but more importantly, you get used the work. So don't worry, it can only get better." Armaan grinned.
"I hope so! Right now I feel like Cinderella who has been allowed this one evening out and I have to keep watching the clock lest it strikes 12, and, all of this disappears" sighed Ridhima.
"Beauty with brains and a sense a humour! That's a rarity" quipped Armaan as he continued to dance "Ouch" he yelped as Ridhima stepped on his foot.
"Oops, did that hurt? I am so sorry, you know how it is with bimbettes, we have no clue where we do what? It goes with the territory, you see" opined Ridhima as she fluttered her eyes at him
"...and attitude too!" laughed Armaan wryly "so my sea urchin has claws! I need to be careful around you young lady. Hey, no offence meant, it was a random comment and the response was well deserved. Heartfelt apologies. Friends?"
"Well, let me think. First you steal my thunder, then you disappear, and, then you mock me. I really have to think of whether I am ready to forgive you or not"
" Well young lady, the spike from those 6 inch stilettos that you subjected my poor foot to, more than made up for anything that I might have said. Even stevens?"
Ridhima grinned as she shook his outstretched hand " Can we move outside for a while, its hot and a little suffocating!"
"So where did you disappear these last few weeks? Did not see you on the beach, and you were obviousy not here in college either." Ridhima asked conversationally, as they walked out into the cool fresh air, sipping the Cokes that Armaan had picked up on their way out
"Well, had a special assignment to execute for Citibank based on a restructuring strategy that I had done for them during my summer with them. So was in Hong Kong for 3 weeks, and, before that spent a week in their Bombay head office, which is why I missed the freshers' orientation" Armaan explained.
"What were you doing for them?" Ridhima asked intrigued.
"Well, during my summer I had....."
Listening to Armaan talk so passionately about his project, Ridhima could not help but smile. Her first impressions had been right, he was really very cute. Dressed in a black shirt and jeans, he looked quite handsome. No let me correct that, drop dead gorgeous! She had not been wrong about him working out, his muscled arms under the casually rolled up sleeves were a testimony to a well toned and worked out physique. So he did pump iron, so much for jogging! He had a very disarming smile and an easy charm. The lock of hair falling over his forehead made him look boyishly adorable. She was amused at the errant lock, no matter how many times he pushed it back, it would fall right back.
Life throws up such surprises. Who would have thought that her Boy Scout would turn out to be the President of the student council? She had been wondering why she had not seen him at the beach and now here they were, talking like old acquaintances. He seemed like a nice guy whatever little she had seen of him, was obviously popular - you don't get to be council president if you are not, and was also very bright! Being flown to Hong Kong to work to work on a special assignment outside of placement was a big deal!
Ridhima's chain of thoughts was broken as Armaan said something to her. A wave of panic engulfed her as she realised that she had not heard a word of what Armaan had said. She had asked him a question, the guy had rattled off an answer, she had been so busy thinking about him, that she had no clue about what he had said. How was she supposed to respond?
"Oh...er.. that's...er...nice to know...I think...."she spluttered
"Ah, there you are! I have been looking for you everywhere! Muskaan thought they had abducted you from the bathroom, though why would anyone in their right mind do that?."Rahul stopped as he noticed Ridhima was not alone. His eyes narrowed as he saw a good looking guy standing with Ridhima, with a smile on his face. Who the hell was this guy, and, what was he doing with Ridhima?
Ridhima had never been so glad to see Rahul. He had just saved her from a most embarrassing situation " Rahul, what's wrong with you? I can take care of myself. Armaan this is Rahul and Rahul this is Armaan. Armaan is the president of the student's council" and you have no idea how happy I am to see you at this moment, Ridhima thought.
"Of course, I know, Scarlet Pimpernel himself!" it was out before Rahul could stop himself. He bit his lip, as he saw Ridhima look at him murderously.
"The very same, in person" Armaan bowed with a flourish enjoying poor Rahul's discomfort. So this was Rahul, Ridhima's guy. She's going to give him a tough time, I can see, as he watched in amusement, Ridhima glaring at Rahul.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to....."
"No sweat, I am getting used to expecting the unexpected around this young lady here" Smiled Armaan as he held out his hand "Armaan Mallik".
"Rahul Garewal" as they both shook hands taking a measure of each other. "So what were you two talking about?"
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Ok guys, here's part 6. So finally the twain shall meet! Hope the wait was worth the meeting! Please do leave me your comments!
love
Sam
Debate Mansion
