Part 5
*~* Turn to page 27 for the last update *~*
Nikki was speechless. It was as if her brain couldn't register what Armaan had just said.
She didn't want to believe what Armaan had just said. His words were echoing in her head. 'Nikki, I do not want to marry you. I do not love you. I am in love with someone else. I loved her much before I even met you.'
But these words did not crush her heart. It hurt her a bit but not so much that she felt like she wanted to cry. She was surprised at her own emotion. 'Why am I not feeling depressed? Why am I not crying?' she thought.
'Please say something Nikki.' Armaan could not bear the silence. He wanted her to say something even if she was yelling.
Finally he gathered some courage. "Nikki…"
She sighed and looked straight into his eyes. "Tum kisse pyaar karte ho Armaan?"
***********
Atul could see Anjali's sleeping form through the door. She looked relaxed. He had been horrified when she had collapsed in his arms. He entered the room and went and sat to her right. He took her right hand in his. Her hand felt so weak in his. As his eyes settled on her face, he remembered what had happened a few hours ago.
She clutched her stomach and fell down on the floor screaming, "Atul!!!"
He immediately ran to her and she collapsed in his arms.
"Anjali, kya hua? Bolo Anjali…please kuch bolo."
She struggled to talk while her stomach ached. "Atul… my stomach…"
She had held him tightly. "I love you Atul." She whispered in his ear and blackness engulfed her.
The way her face had expressed how much pain she was in had tormented Atul. He loved his wife very much and had never seen her in such a condition before. He did not know whether Anjali knew that she was pregnant or not. He was beyond happy that he was going to be a father. He had fantasized about that many times and when he came to know he just could not believe it. Even though the baby was important to him Anjali's life mattered much more coz it was with her that he wanted to have kids. As these thoughts crossed his mind he felt slight pressure. He could feel that Anjali was coming back to her senses.
"Anjali." He whispered.
She slowly opened her eyes to see Atul and she smiled. "Atul."
"Thank you Anjali. Thank you ki tumne mujhe pyaar kiya. Thank you ki you accepted my proposal and married me. Thank you for now you are going to make me a father."
She just smiled at his words as tears escaped her eyes. He rubbed it of with his thumb. He pressed his palm to her cheek and she leaned into his touch. She closed her eyes feeling completely happy.
"Anjali."
"Hmm."
"Did you know that you were pregnant?"
A lovely blush covered cheeks. "I just got to know about it today morning and I had planned on telling you about it at night after you came home but before that only…"
She just remembered the conversation on the phone and grew panicked. "Atul, Armaan."
He nodded. "I know. I talked to Dr. Keerti. She told me that you could travel to New York now. I'm going to call up Rahul and tell him that we shall be arriving tomorrow night. I've booked the tickets. We are leaving a little after midnight."
"Atul, did Muskaan tell you how Armaan handled the news of Riddhima and Abhimanyu?"
Atul nodded. "He was completely still for few minutes before he said…"
(The writings below which are in italics are those which Muskaan told Atul over the phone.)
"Nahi."
All of them turned to look at Armaan not believing what he just said.
"Yeh kya keh rahe ho Armaan?"
"Yeh shaadi nahi ho sakti. Riddhima us Abhimanyu ke saath shaadi nahi kar sakti hai. Riddhima ne vaada kiya tha ki woh sirf mere saath hi shaadi karegi," he said and tears streamed down his face.
"Lekin Armaan tum abhi kya kar sakte ho. Tumhaari bhi toh shaadi hone waali hai na." Rahul reminded Armaan looking still shocked from the news.
"Later he went to the pooja room and put his palm over a burning diya which was placed in front of god."
Anjali gasped. "Oh my god!"
"Armaan," screamed his mother but he did not pay heed.
"Main tumse vaada karta hoon Riddhima ki main tumhe apni baaki ki zindagi Abhimanyu jaise insaan ke saath bitaane nahi doonga. Main tumse vaada karta hoon Riddhima ki chahe kuch bhi ho jaaye main tumhe apna banakar hi rahoonga. Tum humesha se meri thi, meri ho aur sirf meri hi rahogi."
"Woh theek toh hai na Atul?"
"Anjali woh Armaan hai. I'm sure woh kuch bhi karke Riddhima ko wapas paa lega."
"Aur yeh Armaan kisse shaadi kar raha hai?"
"Koi Nikita Malhotra se."
"Maine yeh naam kahin toh suna hai." She furrowed her brows in concentration.
"She is one of the well known fashion designers in New York! She is Rajiv Malhotra's daughter! Oh my god Atul! Isn't it his company with whom dad tied up recently?"
"But I can't believe that dad could do such a thing to Armaan. I thought he would understand Armaan's feelings." Atul put his face in his hands.
Anjali rubbed his back. "He must have had some reason Atul. Its okay baby. We are going there to help Armaan. We are going to re-unite Armaan and Riddhima. We are going to stand by them."
He lifted his head and smiled weakly. Anjali understood how Atul was feeling coz he loved his brother very much. Although he had played numerous pranks on both of them when it came to any problem he was the first one to come forward and solve it, well other than Riddhima. Riddhima was also as helpful as Armaan. They felt very bad for both of them.
"Atul, main kab discharge ho rahi hoon?"
"Around ten in the morning I guess. Are you sure that you want to come?"
"Atul I'll be safe. Don't worry about me. You are there to take care of me."
"Okay. Now you go back to sleep. I'll call Rahul and inform him about our plan."
She kissed his cheek. "Good night. I love you."
He kissed her back. "I love you too."
***********
Rahul smiled as he watched Muskaan sleeping in his arms. She had been exhausted after the long journey in the flight and all the events that happened later. Her head lay on his chest and she was smiling in her sleep. He sighed. He had missed her terribly. He was glad that he could see her and feel her in his arms.
Just then his phone vibrated in his pocket. Without disturbing her he flipped open his phone. "Hi bhaiya," he said as softly as possible. He slowly climbed out of the bed and waked towards the window.
"Main bilkul theek hoon…."
"Haan ab Armaan thoda better feel kar raha hai…."
"Bhabhi kaisi hai?"
"What!!! Congratulations bhaiya. Main mom ko batata hoon."
"Okay. I'll see you at the airport. Bhabhi ko meri taraf se congrats bol dena. Bye. See you soon."
He ran down the stairs and saw his mother in the kitchen. He ran to her and hugged her.
"Mom you won't believe it!" He exclaimed.
"Rahul, kya hua? Tum itna excited kyun lag rahe ho?"
"Atul bhaiya ka phone aaya tha. Woh aur Anjali bhabhi kal raat ko aa rahe hain. And guess what? You are going to be a grandmother and I'll be an uncle!"
She put he hands over her mouth and stifled a gasp. "Oh my god! Anjali is pregnant!"
"Yes mom she is!" Rahul hugged his mom happily. He could not believe that he was going to become an uncle. Then all of a sudden he remembered about Armaan. He pulled back.
"Mom, Armaan kahan hai?"
"Woh Nikki ke fashion show gaya hai. Kehke gaya ki shayad der ho jaayegi."
As his mother said this he came to know what Armaan was planning to do. He was going to tell Nikki the truth. Rahul froze as this realization dawned upon him. He dialed Armaan's number.
***********
Armaan sighed. "Her name is Riddhima Gupta."
"Wait a second." Her eyes grew wide. "Isn't she your sister-in-law's sister? She is Anjali's sister right?"
"Yes Nikki. She is the girl of my dreams. She is the one I'm in love with. She is my life."
Silent tears dropped from Nikki's eyes. "Then why did you agree to get married to me Armaan? You could have just told your dad before."
He held her hands in between his. "I'm sorry Nikki but I didn't know about the marriage until you told me. My father never even once asked me about it."
"What! But uncle told me that you had agreed to this. He told me that he planned this only after he got your approval."
Armaan was shocked. "No way!" He fumed with anger. "He never told me this intention of his let alone ask me. You were the one that told me that we both were getting married. I never knew a thing until you told me Nikki, I swear."
Before Nikki could say anything Armaan's phone rang. He flipped open his phone.
"Hello."
"But Rahul…"
"What! Anjali bhabhi….sacchi!"
"Okay. I'll do as bhaiya says."
"Yeah I'll be home soon. Bye."
Nikki put a hand on Armaan's shoulder. "What happened Armaan?"
"Nikki kal Atul bhaiya aur Anjali bhabhi aa rahi hain. Unhone Rahul ko call kiya tha. He told Rahul that I should tell you about my past with Riddhima only when they all were present."
Nikki thought about it for a moment. Then she nodded.
"Okay Armaan. Call me and tell me when and where you want to meet me. I want to hear everything about it. I promise I won't say anything until I get everything out of you."
"Nikki I –"
"Armaan please. Kuch mat bolo. I'm glad that you have atleast decided to tell me about yourself after such a long time. I agree that your confession has hurt me a bit but I'm okay. Good night Armaan. I'll wait for your call."
She walked towards her car. "Good night Nikki."
Armaan sighed as he saw her car go away from his sight. He knew that he had to tell her everything about him and Riddhima. A small smile crept up his face. For the first time in the last two years he was going to actually share all the happy memories he had with Riddhima. Some of them were private but he could not have cared any less.
Riddhima was his life and he found every second of his life heart-broken when he was away from her. But he knew that as soon as he had told Nikki everything about his relationship with Riddhima he was going to go and stop Riddhima from getting married to Abhimanyu. He would do all that he could to save Riddhima from getting linked with that b******.
Finally deciding that he needed sleep he went to his car. Tomorrow would be one of his big days in life. Either Nikki would understand him or everything would be a bigger mess. Her one decision would matter to him a lot.
***********
Hi!!!
i know that you all wanted more of Armaan n Nikkis conversation but the other scenes were equally important
this time i posted this part after a week coz i had time to write but from now on i dont think this is going to be possible as my classes have started
hope you all liked this part
please comment as they make me want to write more 😊
i also wanted to know if you are happy with this style of writing or if u want me to change it coz one of the readers had requested me to do so. please give me your pinion so that i will be able to start writing the next part accordingly
a warm welcome to all the new readers.....hope you all enjoy reading
shall send the pmz later
waiting for your lovely comments
love soumya 😊
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