Pablo's Muse [I] -AR- Pt. 25/Pg 143 May 9, 11 - Page 94

"Some ingenious stalking!" NJ exclaimed excitedly eliciting a long-drawn pause as he stared at her suspiciously, either he wasn't convinced or he was trying to piece together bits and pieces from the past, had he missed something?, "Don't stress your tested mind, there is no subterfuge..." leaving it incomplete she started to look for something in her hand-bag, who brings a back-pack to a dinner?, Armaan mumbled in annoyance only to receive a slap on his arm, "owweee!... And tested?" he objected...without so much as looking at him, she responded still very engrossed in trying to pick out what-ever-that-it-was from within her bag, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear your last word...and for the record this is a Louis Vuitton handbag...and..." still occupied, "... umm...here it is"

"Your phone?" obviously unimpressed, "what's with your girls and carrying around all that trash everywhere?" He plucked the pepper-spray NJ had absentmindedly plunked on the counter as she got busy texting; "really??" causing her to look up, "So soon?" she responded sheepishly, a moment later as Armaan registered the implication of her words, they burst out laughing reminiscing how he had been at the receiving end of the pepper spray attack once when he had crept up on her at the university car park albeit at mid-night, his only saving grace had been the Happy Birthday he eventually ended up cursing out in agonizing pain as he lay sprawled over the icy floor on that cold November night.

"That lethal attack has left me traumatized for life Naz..." Armaan feigned trauma, "Oh please... I've apologized like a million times already... for what ...was clearly not my fault! It was midnight and in a parking lot, for all I knew you could have been a vicious predator ...so stop complaining you little baby!!" NJ brushed his complaints aside.

And they were back to bickering for a while just the good old days, oblivious to some of the curious stares their animated conversation had managed to elicit. "So spill" seeing her curious expression, he elaborated, "what the hell are you doing here?" Armaan turned to her expecting a proper response this time, "I could ask the same thing of you? Whatever happened to the free-bird? I hear you've been here for over nine months now, awfully long time I reckon...by your standards" blatantly ignoring his questions in the process.

"Someone's done their homework..." Armaan nodded, "So what is it? Not that I don't love seeing you here, don't get me wrong, I do...but there's got to be a reason why you are precisely where you are now" he added.

Armaan curiously picked up the business card she had pushed to him as a response, "the New York Times?" he exclaimed loudly, "You got the job!!" He grinned at her, "wipe that smug off your face and give me a hug!...I'm so happy for you"

"So what does an Assistant Editor do? Bring starbucks for the boss?" he mocked.

"I write for a weekly column in the Arts section and currently, I'm researching on modern Indian art" she looked at him smugly, "you know I just landed here a few hours ago...you are a hard man to track down" she sighed as the bar-tender brought her a second glass; she thanked him with a smile.

"how did you get in here then?" he asked, "oh come one sweet cheeks, your thinking can't be that retarded by one drink alone, a position in the New York Times editorial team brings with it exclusive passes to all sorts of events...I'm a celebrity here" she winked.

"That you always were Naz..." he smiled earnestly, "but why me?"

"I read about your last exhibition- Moments was it not?"

"go on..." curious to where this was heading.

"Naturally, I was curious when I first heard...but I am honestly impressed Armaan, you and charity is like the biggest oxymoron! I was so intrigued, I ended up stalking you...metaphorically of course...a bit more research and found about Random Moments, your upcoming exhibition, I heard it promises to be even better and bigger" she smiled.

He looked around, a little unsure how to respond, and added with a resigned sigh "They don't know about it here"

Upon sensing NJ's blank expression, they?, he turned around to face the rest of the crowd engrossed in their own little bubbles, "oooh..." she turned around to see what he was referring to as well. Suddenly they went quiet. Sensing a slight hesitation on his part, NJ diverted his eyes to an older man, "who is that guy starring at us contemptuously ..." Armaan looked up at the man, "the bane of my existence...Ri..." he checked himself, suddenly aware of the frosty daggers coming their way from that end of the room, careful not to reveal more than necessary at this point, "my boss" he clarified.

A minute or two later.

"So which one is her?" NJ caught him completely off-guard, and Armaan found himself responding even-though he had already decided against it, "she's not here...damn!" as realization struck, " You little devil!!!", he narrowed his eyes at her, "you do that every time..."

"There is a trick to it and obviously you aren't as smart as you think Dr. Malik" with a victorious grin she added, "that explains why you were sulking in a corner"

~~~~~

It had been a while since NJ had taken off just as suddenly as she had shown up leaving Armaan bored once again, this time however he did walk around the hall, greeting guests, senior doctors and board members. Most of the top brass seemed to know about him being Amar Malik's son, which was precisely why he did not initially want to work at Sanjivani; people looked at you a certain way and you were immediately cast off in one particular corner, in his case, he knew exactly what corner that was, right next to his father! A little further ahead, Summit was busy discussing the latest cricket updates with an equally enthused Rahul, cricket was certainly not his sport so Armaan steered clear of that duo. All the girls were huddled together like it was some girls night out, whatever; this was just plain absurd he thought as he followed their eyes that were fixed on the stage where the current heartthrob was due to present his latest single any minute. He needed to get away before that madness began, so he dashed out to get some open air, but was halted at the door when he overheard, Shashank and Padma talking to Anjali and Atul! There was a serious air to the mood, although not exactly morose, they weren't animated either; Atul seemed his stoic best while Anjali seemed unsually calm almost as if a big force had shocked her usually aggressive disposition into mute mode. Padma's eyes oscillated between the father and the daughter. Armaan felt like he was violating a private moment but just as he meant to turn around, he overheard Shashank say, "we need to tell Riddhima. Let's not create a scene here, I will talk with you both tomorrow at home. And young man you better be there!" Shashank commanded; Armaan hated that authoritative tone of the man.

"Yes Sir" Atul responded tamely.

And then against the run of play, Padma who had been standing in between the father and the daughter looked up towards Armaan, and their eyes met. If something has to go wrong, it will and it did, almost instantly all of them turned their heads towards Armaan, he had effectively stopped whatever they had been discussing. Shashank as usual shot him daggers right away, while the others seemed to be caught off-guard a little. Sensing that he had over-stepped the line between chance and intrusion, he turned around instantly and walked away; all the while he could feel their eyes fixed on his retreating back. So what the hell was going on? Atul and Anjali? Did that mean he was correct in his assumption about them but how did that concern Riddhima or them in any way? Did something transpire at home which had forced her to behave so coldly the past few days, and most importantly, why had she refused to come with him to this event? There were just too many questions. Based on what he had just seen and overheard, Armaan did get a feeling that Shashank had to be at the center of whatever it was that was bothering Riddhima.

Damn, he cussed as he walked away; he hated all this family drama but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he had already stepped across that threshold.

~~~~~

Riddhima drifted through the corridors which in the wee-hours of the night were a stark contrast to the chaos of the day, as if the frantic paces and anxious faces had all been sucked in oblivion into the dark crevices of those walls; giving her an entire floor to roam retrospectively. Ideally she would have been snuggled inside her cozy bed at this exact hour but she had deprived herself of that luxury and as a consequence, sleep was the last thing on her mind, rather poor she evaluated her decision to be, since sleep would at least guarantee a few hours of that bliss when all nagging issues would cease to bother but that possibility had been rudely shattered by the inevitability that this darkness would be diffused with the first ray of the morning sun and everything would return, normality at this point seemed like a far-fetched dream, there was no escaping her precarious situation, she mused. Neither sleep nor any procrastination, the sooner she shared her concerns, sooner would she be able to escape this web of gloom her mind was drawing her into.

Tired of walking, she sat down by the window overlooking the lights of the city below, the odd cars blazing through the dimly lit streets or the sound of that roaring bike engine as it whizzed through just like recent revelations that threatened to throw her otherwise calm life into undesirable yet inevitable chaos. As she stared out, the empty streets devoid of life was a reminder of how the last few days had passed, truth was she missed spending time with him, talking to him, fighting over silly inconsequential things, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, his words, basically, she missed him. She knew Armaan had questions, those were apparent in his eyes, and yet he had given her all the space in the world; even in the face of her inexplicable silence, he had shown tremendous patience and trust in her and therefore in their relationship. The world 'relationship' sent flutters through her, almost jolting her out of her incapacitated state, she knew she was the one with the issue, and it would have to be her who would take that first step towards a resolution. But this always brought her back to square one, how in the world was she supposed to explain everything to him when in reality few things made sense to her? How were they going to deal with this situation if at all? But this wasn't her problem alone! No point musing over something I have no control over, I need to share my concerns with him soon, everything else will take its own course, but I cannot run away from problems, from myself or from him anymore. Her fingers continued to toy with the ties of his leather bound sketchbook that she had been holding on to, she didn't realize when her excessive worrying had been defeated by sheer weariness, and sleep had provided her with the luxury that she had sought through other ineffective means.

His eyes scanned every corner of the Doctor's Lounge, the eerily quiet cafeteria, the sleepy corridors 'the silent wards barring the occasional beep of the machines and every yawning face yet there was no sign of her. He was slightly drunk, half dazed after a sudden encounter with a good friend, and exhilarated at the prospect of actually sorting out things with Riddhima. He had driven here purely on impulse but as soon as he had begun to tread the realms of the place, the realization dawned upon him that coming here in a semi-inebriated state hadn't been the most ethical thing to do but this was a personal visit he had convinced himself. He desperately wanted to talk to her and find out what had been bothering her the past few days. In any case, he wanted to make sure she was alright, and his impatience kept growing as he scanned room after room, looking for her.

But the moment he set foot on the third floor lounge, all the worries and numerous questions plaguing his mind instantly diffused into the darkness, for there at the other end by the tall glazed windows; he finally found her, sleeping on the chair. Her features accentuated by the slither of silver light peering through the open window while she slept so peacefully clutching on to his leather-bound sketchbook that she had vehemently denied to have had procession of, literally took his breath away! He tread the barely ten foot distance between them as slowly as he possibly could savoring the sight in front of him; a part of him wanted to take her into his arms and hold on to her as she slept, the other would be just as content starring at her from where he stood. He gathered her dupatta sprawled on the floor below and covered her up with it, and settled himself comfortably on the chair facing hers. He knew there was no where else he'd rather be at this moment. In a relatively short amount of time, she had transformed his life in inexplicable ways, and everyday had been memorable with small surprises, something new to discover and he was willing for an entire lifetime of discoveries. He recalled their first meeting- they had come a long way since then and then it struck him, how much though? How much had he really let her in ...she barely knew a thing about his past and was woefully unaware of other aspects of his life. But did that really matter? Still there were things he needed to share, there is nothing worse than finding out things about your spouse through others, always be honest and leave no room for doubt, he recalled with a tinge of sadness, his mother's words describing her hurt over his father's infidelity. Could it be that Riddhima had begun to distance herself from him? No, he quickly brushed aside the outrageous idea as he ran his fingers through his hair; I'm going to go crazy if she intends to keep mute for one more day, he thought. They needed to talk, she needed to tell him what was bothering her ...and he had so much to share with her, starting with the big surprise that awaited her.

Then there was this fleeting smell of freshly brewed coffee which brought him out of his thoughts, he looked around rather perplexed but there was no one else there, until he spotted Riddhima's coffee holder placed on the floor next to her chair. He opened the lid to find it full and still warm enough, just perfect he thought as he began to sip it, too sweet he thought but it didn't stop him from emptying its contents. Although he could have stayed glued to that exact spot for a few more hours, he didn't want to turn into that creepy-stalker-sparkly-vampire that Riddhima disliked vehemently. He kissed her forehead lightly careful not to wake her up, "this break thing isn't working out at all...Goodnight Love", he whispered, and then walked away a little more content and lot happier. But try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to actually leave, he walked off towards the doctor's lounge to get some sleep.

~~~~~

The part is up much sooner than many of you may have expected. Not much AR in this part although its pretty much about them entirely. There is also a little more about the *cough* superstar *cough*🤗 Hope you like your DMG avataar...hopefully the superstar will release a public statement soon unlike last time. ...waiting is a pain😆

silent readers...old readers...new readers...bored readers...those with reserves...wake up!!!😆