Part XIV
Ridhima mumbled something under her breath, as Armaan pulled out a chair for her to sit, and sat down next to her. "Dude, I thought I looked good, no matter what the occasion. Don't tell me you pandered my ego, all those other times." While Armaan changed the topic, he had to admit that Ankit was right. He had caught a glimpse of them together in the mirrors as they were walking in, and they did make a handsome pair. Armaan had been rendered speechless when he saw Ridhima. She had looked lovely even on the freshers' night, but tonight there was something different about her. She had a grace redolent of a fresh eyed doe, making it seem like she had carelessly thrown together something to wear, but the colour and the outfit made her look very sensual. In the last 2-3 months, Armaan had grow to admire her wit, her sense of humour, and the person she was, but tonight he was bowled over by her physical presence. He was silent for a better part of the journey, trying to reconcile this new avatar with his sea urchin, when finally she'd asked him a little irritated "Cat's got your tongue?
"Nope! I am just wondering whether to say something or not."
"...and since when had that ever stopped you?"
"Mata Hari by your side is intense motivation to keep your mouth shut, young lady" he had recovered quickly, "but I guess I'll take my chances. You're looking glamorous, nay make that sexy, tonight. I can see you are going to be turning heads?am wondering what have I signed up for!" As she had not responded, had he looked at her a little worried, had he gone too far?
She had looked at him looking at her a little worried, she had smiled sarcastically and quipped, "Nope, I'm not offended by what you said. I'm just glad that you're finally stringing words into sentences now!" He had thrown his head back and roared with laughter at her attempt at sarcasm.
"Hey, this is supposed to be a karaoke bar and night club, right? How come no one is singing or at least trying to? I guess we'll have to wait till 11 when it turns into a discotheque and then they play some really cool music." One of the other guys with them commented.
"I think we can remedy that." Armaan responded looking at Ridhima. He had this crazy desire to undo her knot and let her hair fall, framing her face. "Ridhima will sing for us tonight, what say Ridhima, won't you?"
Ridhima looked at him completely shocked. She was terrified of singing in front of an audience. Yes, once she got singing it was alright, but this audience? She gulped, petrified at the thought. Plus she usually sang Hindi songs, and while she knew a lot of English songs, there were only a few about which she was confident enough to sing in public, and karaoke? There was no way she could do this! She looked at Armaan pleadingly, but he just smiled amused at her predicament. It did not pay to mess with Armaan Mallik, Miss Gupta!
"Yup, that's a great idea Ridhima" Ankit said. "I for one, would love to hear you. What do you say guys?" Everyone nodded enthusiastically except for Rahul who knew how nervous Ridhima got. It was strange that for a confident young girl, she got panicky at the thought of a public performance. Though he knew that once she started singing, she would be fine!
"No, I can't do that?.I can't sing in public in front of all these people?I won't know what to sing?"Ridhima protested.
"What rubbish! Of course you can sing Ridhima! Come on!" Anjali encouraged her
" Of course, she will do it, she's a good sport, right Ridhima?" Armaan smiled as he removed a piece of paper from his wallet. Ridhima paled as she realised that he had pulled out her poem. There was no way she was going to let him read it in front of all these people. Oh the mortification of having her poem that too a romantic one, read out, she would be teased mercilessly after that!
"Really Ridhima I would love to hear you sing.....come on, lets take you to the stage." Ankit insisted starting to get up.
"Don't you dare!" Ridhima warned as Armaan unfolded the piece of paper and smoothened it as if to read it. He wouldn't dare, would he?
"I'm sorry?" Ankit looked a little taken aback, now what had he said? "I'm sorry, I did not mean to offend you....."
"No.....nothing.....it was just....I'm sorry....er.... that was not....for you....it was...er...just...." Ridhima fumbled trying to apologise to Ankit and looking at Armaan, who was trying hard not to laugh, to see if he would actually carry out his implied threat.
Rahul was looking with interest at Ridhima and Armaan. He had not been surprised at the request for Ridhima to sing, because everyone knew she sang well, but there was something happening between the two which he could not quite lay his finger on.
Ridhima was slowly beginning to panic, this was really Hobson's choice. She could face this entire room or open herself to ridicule with her college mates......there wasn't really a choice, was there? She would have happily wrung Armaan's neck if she could get to it, she gritted her teeth.
"So Ridhima, are you going to sing? Come on girl, we'd love you to. Armaan, what is wrong with you? What exactly are you are doing? What is that piece of paper that you are holding?" Anjali asked quizzically looking at Armaan who had been making a big show of smoothening and trying to read the sheet.
"Oh, it's an interesting poem....you guys must hear it.....its written by....er....lemme see....written by....." Armaan looked wickedly at Ridhima
"No!" Ridhima almost yelled, " I mean.....yes....alright, I'll do it....I mean I'll sing." She finished lamely, as she fought to quell the panic rising in her throat. You can do this Ridhima, she gritted her teeth, just get there and start to sing, and, you'll be fine. She felt Armaan pull her chair back as she started to get up, and, then she felt his breath on her neck as he whispered for her ears only "payback time, my love!"
As she turned to go towards the stage, Rahul leaned across the table, "Come on sweetheart, you can do it. If you could do it in a hall full of strangers on freshers day, you can do it now. Those were people whom you would meet everyday after that....these guys are strangers whom you'll never see again!" he whispered softly as he squeezed her arm.
"Thanks" she murmured nodding her head as she fought to stop the tears that were threatening to fill her eyes. She hated not having control over what was happening with her, and, she was very nervous. Don't be silly Ridhima, you can do this, no worries, just get a hold on yourself, she admonished herself and walked past Armaan towards the stage.
Armaan was surprised as she walked past, he could see a hint of tears in her eyes. She was obviously very nervous as she stumbled onto the small stage and stood around looking in panic and then bent down to talk to the musicians. This had gone far enough, he thought. He had no intentions of unnerving her to this extent, he had only wanted to get his own back, but not by making her cry. As she banged against the mike in her nervousness, and a quiet murmur of laughter followed that, Armaan got up suddenly. He could not put her through this. Needling her was fine, but he'd be dammed if he'd allow anyone else to mock her. He walked up to the stage to tell her that she did not need to do this, but as he reached out to pull her hand, he stopped short as a melodious voice swelled through the room..
Where do I begin?
To tell the story of how great a love can be
The sweet love story that is older than the sea
The simple truth about the love he brings to me
Where do I start?
Like a summer rain
That cools the pavement with a patent leather shine
He came into my life and made the living fine
And gave a meaning to this empty world of mine
He fills my heart
As she started to sing, Ridhima felt the nervousness drain out of her, as she allowed the soft strumming of the guitar to calm her. She knew she sang this song well, so she would be ok. She closed her eyes as she sang, allowing herself to feel the emotions that this song always evoked in her.
Armaan walked back a bit to lean against a pillar as he watched Ridhima sing. Her eyes were closed, and, she sang as if she meant every word of what she was singing. She was fantastic, her voice flowed like molten liquid. Multi-octave, her voice slid with equal ease over the high and base notes. Husky, raw and emotionally exposed, it was like she'd set the room on fire, there was complete silence as her soft voice caressed the words that she sang, bringing them to life. He closed his eyes, savouring her voice and the song, when unbidden, a stray thought passed him by and left him wondering what it would be like to have her sing this to him. What the hell was he thinking?
He fills my heart with very special things
With angels' songs, with wild imaginings
He fills my soul with so much love
That anywhere I go, I'm never lonely
With him along, who could be lonely
I reach for his hand, it's always there
As she sang, she knew she was singing it well, she could feel it in the silence that she sensed around the room, and, today, she could feel the intensity of the words as she enunciated them....as she sang, she wondered what Armaan's reaction would be..... Served him right.....as far as she was concerned, the tables had been turned......
How long does it last?
Can love be measured by the hours in a day?
I have no answers now, but this much I can say
I'm going to need him till the stars all burn away
And he'll be there
Thunderous applause greeted the end of the song and Ridhima opened her eyes to see Armaan leaning against a pillar, his eyes still closed. As he registered the end of the song, he opened his eyes and looked at her, a little lost. She looked at him raising her head questioningly, and he mouthed "beautiful!" Why the hell was she so nervous? She was a superb performer, who could croon music that would move people, whether it was to love, to laugh, or even to cry. He smiled as she walked past him and softly whispered "You never cease to surprise me sea urchin! That was amazing!"
She stopped, turned around and tossed her head "Game, set and match!"
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It was past 11 o'clock and everyone was on the dance floor. The club had an interesting mix of music but it was amazing at the enthusiasm on the floor whenever they played some Hindi numbers specially remixes. Ankit had been monopolising Ridhima ever since the dance floor had opened, though Atul had insisted on dragging her away for a couple of numbers.
Anjali and Armaan had been dancing, though Armaan was a little distracted. The fact that his sea urchin could sing so well had still not sunk in, though Anjali had been very amused when she figured that Armaan had no clue that Ridhima could sing when he had set her up. "Serves you right! Trying to get your own back at her, were you? Well, you must admit, she outsmarted you!" she had laughed. Yet again, Armaan had thought ruefully, as they continued to dance. He had really not been able to talk to Ridhima after getting back to the table as everyone had been congratulating her. A few people from other tables had also stopped by and complimented her. Her face as she sang kept coming back to haunt his thoughts..... was it possible for a woman to sound passionate and look innocent at the same time, he wondered.
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Atul had been watching the two of them the whole evening. He had not missed the way Armaan's kept glancing in Ridhima's direction even though he was with Anjali. He also noticed the occasional glance that Ridhima threw in Armaan and Anjali's direction. Neither had he missed the exchange between the two when Ridhima had finished singing. Ridhima had sought his affirmation and Armaan had instinctively responded. He had been surprised at Armaan's insistence that she sing even after seeing her come close to panic at the thought. He had never thought of Armaan as being insensitive, but then, he had seen the play of emotions on Armaan's face as a visibly nervous Ridhima fumbled on the stage. Atul had smiled in relief when Armaan strode to the stage to stop her, before he had been arrested by her amazing rendition of a beautiful song. She really did sing fabulously, Atul grinned, enough to captivate Armaan, if only Armaan had the brains to recognise that! Maybe the two of them did need to spend some time together, who knew what would come out of it?
But the problems were Ankit and Anjali. Ankit had monopolised Ridhima ever since the floor had been opened up, and, despite a couple of attempts to pry Ridhima away, Ankit was proving to be very persistent. As for Anjali, while she had never confided in him, Atul was aware of the rumours, and if he was a good judge of people, Anjali probably was in love with Armaan..Well, it would appear to be so; she was possessive about him or at least about the time that he spent with her. Armaan and he had never discussed it, but if it was important enough to Armaan, Atul reasoned, he would have told him. This was going to be tougher than he thought.
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Anjali smiled as she danced with Armaan. She had been irritated when Ankit had commented on Armaan and Ridhima as a couple. It had been on the tip of her tongue to retort that they were not a couple, but better sense had prevailed and she had kept quiet. It was not as if Armaan and she were a couple for her to voice her discontent, and given Armaan's reaction the last time she had been a little tough with Ridhima, she was not very keen to muddy the waters. In any case, it was not as if Armaan had agreed to or responded enthusiastically to Ankit's comments, so she was content to ignore it.
She had been very enthusiastic about Ridhima singing, encouraging her whole heartedly in a bid to be friendly and gloss over her past indiscretion, till she had noticed how nervous Ridhima had become. She had been surprised at Armaan's insistence that she sing, and even more intrigued by Ridhima's vehement refusal and subsequent agreement to do so. ?and then Armaan had got up suddenly and walked purposefully towards the stage and Anjali had been really surprised. Did he want her to sing or did he not? However it all came together when Armaan had explained things to her, and, she had been tickled pink! It was fun to see him at the receiving end especially since he had planned this as his revenge! Also, if she was honest, she was very relieved that it had panned out this way, Armaan would not exactly be Ridhima's favourite person after the prank he had tried to pull.
It had been ages that they had all come out dancing, and she had to admit the freshers were a fun lot! Other than fetching Ridhima, and his attempted prank on her, Armaan had spent time dancing only with her....so far it had been a perfect evening!
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Here's Part 13, a little delayed, but I hope you guys like it! I had a wonderful holiday and thanks to everyone who wished it so...Its good to be back and I missed IF!
While I will try, am not sure if I can manage to update every day like in the past because I will join back work from tomorrow...but will try and do one every alternate day....
....and finally a very Happy New Year to all of you!
love
Sam
Edited by bernard shaw - 16 years ago
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