Pablo's Muse [I] -AR- Pt. 25/Pg 143 May 9, 11 - Page 99

Originally posted by: imshveta

Cool update. I completely missed it when it was posted. Just saw it here thanks to someone's comment. But I think the next part will definitely have some AR conversation. That was the only thing missing in this one.
Please update soon.
Love
Shveta

Part XXIV

So much for love!

Riddhima walked out on a beautiful morning, unusually blue skies, and chirpy birds- singing their little tales, are they on a break too! Her lips instantly curved to a heartfelt smile, the warmth that spread through her entire being, enveloping her in a warm fuzzy way – the image of Armaan sleeping, the word was actually sprawled, Riddhima corrected herself mentally, on the lounge couch, her empty and very much red coffee mug feminizing an otherwise very much masculine picture, all but screamed what they had been so clandestine about. Not that she cared too much about ensuring no ever found out, but surely people had noticed the red mug, the only mug of its kind, that was hers- and surely that would have raised a few eyebrows. But then there was a matter of the man, sprawled on the tiny couch, his long legs dangling off the sides, his untucked shirt and those few strands of hair that lay casually over his forehead that she had to fight every ounce of strength not to brush away. She could have spent her life starring at him, and to her credit – she had been partially successful, but then as always, the man had a way to upset her plans. She flustered for a brief second, as he woke up, but it was too late, he had caught on!

She did notice the way his lips curved into a smile, that of recognition, which after a few dazed blinks for he had to have known she had been ogling at him; had quickly given away to a smug one, fine! They were on a break, but still, "If you are done with it, I'd like my mug back!" Riddhima was intent on giving him nothing.

He rose, and walked towards her, to her credit, Riddhima stood her ground, "what?...no good morning!" he yawned lazily as he stopped in front of her.

"I was about to take my mug back when you woke up!" She said more in defense than anything else. Sure she had things to tell him and no doubt would have to listen to a few things too, but this wasn't the place nor the time, and he was not going to bully her into anything, she needed to establish a firm footing first.

It was only now that he stood at close proximity that Riddhima finally noticed, the slight stubble, "bearded assassin" flashes of old memories, "did you say something?" Armaan couldn't make out her words.

"Nothing…just give me my mug back!"

He stood at a respectable distance from her, and luckily for them was no one else in the room at that point, as he questioned her back, "Isn't it too late to ask for things back Sweetheart?"

"Ufff" she let out a frustrated glare at Armaan.

"You have no idea how you look when you say that!" he couldn't help it; the flustered Riddhima was a stunner in his view.

"Armaan" she reprimanded.

"I know…I know..." he raised his hands up in the air in slight frustration, "break…break...break!! Women!" he glared at her, "But complain as much as you want, you are not getting this mug back. I'm going to use it while I paint, red is a vibrant color, just perfect for mundane days and to set aside a blank canvass" He finished off lost somewhere.

"But..?" Riddhima was cut off, "No, ifs or buts!"

"But…that's not fair, you can't just take anything…"

"Stop me then?" he challenged her. They both knew that wasn't going to happen.

"It's not fair.. That's my favorite mug…and what are you even doing here anyway" she pouted, the last bit was out of frustration than anything else. For although, she didn't really care, on the contrary, the idea thrilled her in a weird sort of way, as the gesture seemed so much more intimate that anything either of them could have said or done at this point, and despite where they were now, his one action had told her how much, it still was about them. In her heart, she knew, the only reason, she had been having this insane conversation was because she had sorely missed having any sort of conversation with him for the past few days. What was it that people said often, that something was better than nothing, in her case, anything was better than that horrid silence and distance. But still, it was the little red mug, her favorite!!

"Riddhima…who said life was fair…and you should know" He ignored her question and instead, inched closer to her once again, as if his mind suddenly caught on something, if she knew that look, she needed to brace herself, " stop complaining…you of all the people!" Armaan narrowed his eyes to her accusingly, "why are you looking at me like that?" Riddhima shot back.

"You really don't remember do you?" he turned towards his locker.

"Remember what?"

He proceeded to ignore her as he collected his keys and cell phone, purposely keeping her waiting. Riddhima was hanging on by a fine thread her, and was on the verge of snapping when he began to walk towards the door, completely dismissing her presence.

"Oh wait a minute, you can't just dismiss someone like that either!" she ran after him, and turned him around holding him by his arms, "remember what?" her tone demanded an immediate answer.

He smiled lazily flashing those deep dimples, and in a slow almost seductive voice, drawled in her ears, "I've been told I'm a lot more snugly than my sketchbook" effectively silencing her. He loved the flushed Riddhima too.

Hell no, there was no firm footing, with him around, it was only quick sand!

~~~~~

The morning had started with a splash and no surprises why there was a spring in her steps. Last night, amongst other things, she had finally found the perfect time to go through old records, and therefore had learnt a little more about the circumstances that had led to her brother's death. And then she had woken up to find Armaan sprawled out on the lounge, no doubt, he had been there through the night. His gesture was hard to ignore, and despite everything, she knew, they had to work things out. This was one truth they couldn't ignore.

Padma watched her daughter as she parked the car and walked towards the door lost in her thoughts, and a smile playing on her lips, completely oblivious about her curious mother. She however was not privy to much information, Riddhima's transformation from last night to this seemed odd, the fluctuations ridiculous – and the mother's instinct nudged her in one direction. She obviously needed to spend more time with her but for now there was something else waiting Riddhima, the truth.

~~~~~

When she left for the hospital, that afternoon, there was one more thing she needed to tell him, the news of Atul and Anjie's engagement. It seemed so sudden, and now in hindsight, so easy how this issue had been resolved. May be things wouldn't have to be so bad. She hoped.

~~~~~

To most of the staff in the hospital Armaan was an enigmatic figure, so there had been a flurry of speculations about the mysterious guest Armaan had spent most of the time with the evening before. The fact that no one knew her, added the right mix of ambiguity to the whole thing, but to complicate matters, a few had seen him with Dia, as the receptionist was quick to mention, and then two of them had spotted him with the red mug last night. So who was the dashing doctor really with, the mysterious stunner, Dia or was there somebody else?

There were quick words, " Dr. Malik was not on duty last night!"

"So why was he there?" Muskaan's eyes lit up as she heard about the red mug while, eavesdropping on the gossiping nurses, the best way to stay updated on everyone around her. Her intuitions were hardly ever off, and she had suspected something brewing between Armaan and Riddhima, but like the nurses, the mysterious stunner and Riddhima's early exit had complicated matters a little.

Rahul was Riddhima's best friend, and yet Rahul knew nothing. But all evidence pointed towards something, she just needed to attune herself to the right frequency and let the universe whisper in her ears, there was only one way.

"Rahul…" she pleaded him in a soft voice, a man's weakness was the woman he loved.

"No Muskaan, Riddhima is my friend, I won't do that to her…I can't!" he tried to explain but Muskaan was adamant.

"But we aren't doing anything; we are just…umm..." Muskaan shifted her focus to the pictures, on the computer screen, trying to find correct words.

"Trying to make her jealous" Rahul helped her out, "see this is WHY I am having nothing to do with another one of your crazy ideas…you had promised me, no more match fixing Muskaan" his tone was admonitory.

She giggled, "match-fixing! Yes my grumpy knight, no more match fixing…but this is…shall we say, umm… just a bit of tweaking!" and winked at him, he shook his head, as he glanced back to the picture on the screen, "I am having nothing to do with it"

"Just be with me, please" There was no way; he was going to be able to say no that face.

"Ahh… that's NJ! She was there last night?" Summit's voice startled them causing them to look up. "NJ? You know her?" Muskaan looked at him curiously, "yes we went to the same college!"

"Armaan's girlfriend?" Muskaan threw in the bait, "No that would be…" And he stopped just before he blurted out her name. Suddenly, aware of what was going on, he pulled out the chair as he questioned her, "What are you getting at?"

"We're just going through the pictures from last night Summit, everyone has been curious about Dr. Armaan…" Muskaan added. "Dr. Armaan?" Summit was a little confused, "There have been numerous speculations about Dr. Armaan's love interest!" Rahul added in mockingly.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Summit replied, "Only Dr. Armaan can dispense those speculations then…that is, if he cares to"

"So, he's not seeing her?" Muskaan looked almost dejected as she looked at a picture of NJ and Armaan from last night that someone had taken while they seemed engrossed in some conversation.

"Definitely not her, that much I can vouch for!" Summit added, "but why the sudden interest in Armaan's love life?, did I miss something?" He looked at Rahul expectantly.

"Two good looking people spend what was clearly a delightful evening together…" Muskaan chose her words carefully-purposely, "only he happens to be the most eligible bachelor that every female staff seems to fancy…sure everything is normal" Rahul shook his head, he knew exactly where this was headed and continued sipping his coffee.

"Considering your interest in this matter…I can only assume, you are one of them?" Summit smiled at Muskaan, whose response was quick, "I think you forgot the whole point Summit, if that were the case, we wouldn't be having this discussion now, would we?"

He nodded in agreement, the woman had a point, but there was no way, he was going to be the first to break the news to her or anyone about Armaan and Riddhima's relationship.

But Muskaan wasn't in the mood to let up, "But a man and a woman cannot be just friends" and closed her eyes instantly, she didn't mean to say that!

"In which case", Summit turned the laptop towards Muskaan, "this picture would only mean one thing" he had a huge grin on his face. Muskaan nearly fell off the chair while Rahul remained unusually calm, let's see how you get out of this one, sweetheart. It was a picture of the two of them from last night!

"Looks like a full house here" A deep baritone broke the momentary silence that had graced the table. Relieved beyond words, Muskaan turned to see Armaan pull up a chair and settle next to Summit, "you missed the party last night Dude, where the hell where you? And what is…" he was quick to observe the picture on the screen.

Summit was having way too much fun to let up, " A man and a woman cannot be just friends…"

"Says who?" Armaan added still engrossed in the picture, now this was a surprise!

"Don't look at me, it was Muskaan who swears by it" Muskaan was giving him the daggers by now. Armaan spoke up, "Oh spare the poor bloke some misery will you…besides you two look really good together…if you haven't thought already, you should consider the idea…" He flashed a smile at Muskaan.

"But..." for the first time, Muskaan was at a loss of words. But try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to deny this one truth, and there was no point to it either. Sensing her discomfort, Rahul who had been quiet so far, finally spoke, as he took her hand in his, "we agreed that the idea needed further consideration" and he kissed the back of her hands softly. It was as simple as that! Muskaan loved her grumpy knight even more.

After that was settled. They were back to the pictures, had Armaan paused a few more seconds at Riddhima's single picture? At least Muskaan thought so in her head, there was only one way she could find out, and she was desperate for the truth. Besides, she had nothing to lose given that the truth about her own relationship was out now.

Going by your theory Armaan, even this picture tells a tale, she made him notice a picture of Atul and Anjali together, "perhaps.." he spoke slowly, suddenly images of his trespassing an invisible boundary flashed before his eyes, there was a grain of truth in that picture but he wasn't going to start discussing Riddhima's family here! So he shrugged, ignorance was a bliss.

"As does this perhaps?" Muskaan wasn't going to let up. But they were interrupted by a fifth voice, "who is that?" Riddhima couldn't stop herself, really, who was that?

"That's NJ…a friend from…" Armaan responded even before others could figure out whose the sixth voice belonged to.

"Sweet Cheeks! That's a lovely picture!!!" And there was only one person, who called him that. Darn her timing. Even before Riddhima could pull a chair and settle at the empty spot beside Armaan, he was engulfed in a warm hug by the same lady in the picture. Armaan could sense Riddhima's eyes boring into him from the back of his head.

"Sweet cheeks!??" Muskaan was in splits at the nick name, and she liked this NJ already. Was that a trace of anger on Riddhima's face? She seemed to be shooting daggers at the man seated opposite her. Oh yes, my intuitions are never wrong, Muskaan smiled inwardly, her friend had fallen big time for this dimpled face doctor! Now why hadn't she been perceptive enough to set them up earlier?

After the rounds of introductions were over, there were faint hopes of sanity returning to the table, if only, they would stop pulling each other's legs!

"Sweet cheeks?" Riddhima looked at Armaan, she was a model of restraint, only those that knew her really well would know, what was going on at the back of her head, behind that impassive faade but even she couldn't hide her amusement in her voice. Summit loved every moment of this.

"There is a long story to it" NJ looked at Riddhima, for some reason, she didn't like why this woman was so curiously pursuing this detail.

"We have a lot of time" Riddhima replied back.

"Actually we don't" Armaan got up, " I have my rounds in less than five" He wasn't sure about this possessive Riddhima just yet. But he really did need to get to work.

"You can stay here and chat up right NJ, we'd love to hear more about Armaan's college days, he's a bit of a mystery here. You've been sent just at the right time" Muskaan added, loving every bit of Riddhima's discomfort that she had sensed.

"I would love to but…" NJ added apologetically, Armaan completed her sentence, " She is shadowing me today"

NJ did not miss the look on Riddhima's face as Armaan's words had hit her. Bring it on Armaan, Riddhima was determined to give it back. All of a sudden, that break had transformed into something else.

~~~~~

When they were out on the corridor, she nudged him, "Why was that…what's her face…?" she was bad with names, "Riddhima" he reminded her. "Yes! Riddhima, what's with all the excessive prying?" she remarked.

"I think she just realized how much she missed out on last night", he couldn't hide the amusement in his voice, it was decided, he liked this possessive Riddhima too, it was...umm...very…sexy…he would have to tell her soon.

"She wasn't at the party last night?" NJ carried on without realizing what Armaan was hinting it.

"Nope"

"So?"

He stopped and turned towards her, "she was working instead" as if trying to get her to read between the lines.

"OH!!" suddenly wide-eyed, " Darn!! Damn…damn you!! That's her!!!" visibly excited at her new found realization.

"Of course" he smiled every bit like a man in love.

Suddenly aware of too many details, she asked, "what were you guys talking about back there before I barged in?"

His smile got bigger, "that a man and a woman cannot be just friends!"

"Your overgrown moron!" , she hit him on the back of his head, Ouch! Armaan groaned. NJ complained, "Why the hell would you use me like that!! They must all think…" all of a sudden aware of all the questions thrown her way.

"What the hell have you been up to Malik…to upset her like that?" she asked him.

"What? Me? Why do I have to be the one who screws up all the time?"

NJ narrowed her eyes on him, "seriously?"

"Women!!" he blurted out in sheer frustration, "let's get to the rounds, we'll talk about this later"

~~~~~

Now that his rounds was over, and she had had the glimpse of the doctor behind the artist or was it the other way around, Armaan confused himself, he was bracing himself, for the barrage of questions, that he had thus far managed to keep at harm's way. How did he agree to her conditions, and for that matter, how did Dr. Shashank agree to let her shadow him? For once, he wished, Dr. Shashank had his way, but this was NJ, and she had all the tricks up her sleeve, in all likelihood, Dr. Shashank wouldn't have known what he agreed to.

"This way", NJ pushed him into the lift, "Fifth floor?" Armaan was surprised, "the lounge is on the third floor"

"We're not headed there" she told him.

"And?"

"Since you've been so nice with me for the past hour, I am telling you"

"Thank you your highness!" he made a face.

"So?" he nudged her.

"We're going to meet your girlfriend!"

"What...but?" he was flabbergasted.

A disgruntled Armaan followed NJ keen to see where this was headed, "I was told she would be found on this floor" pointing towards the VIP rooms on the floor.

A sweet laughter emanated from one of the rooms, whose door was open, the bright day light casting a bright spot on the darker corridor through the opening, he knew that was her. But what piqued his attention was the male voice.

They had barely got to the door, when they over heard, the clearly old man, who must have been at least seventy odd, as Armaan breathed a sigh of relief, holding on to her hand, as he spoke, " I'm glad the management heeded to my requests for a beautiful stay"

The meaning was not lost on Armaan, but was Riddhima cued in? What was she doing still letting that creepy uncle hold on to her? Sensing some movement, Riddhima looked up to the door, to see Armaan and NJ standing outside and instantly recalled his earlier snub. She knew that look on her man's face but why, this was a man on his deathbed for Christ's sake!

The old man continued with his flirty banter, emboldened by her friendly demeanor, "If I were my younger self, I would have whisked you away from this hospital, the moment I saw you" And to Armaan's utter shock, he took her hand and kissed it, wait, was she blushing, blatantly in his presence, flirting with an old man, old enough to be her grandfather?

She looked up momentarily at Armaan, and aware of his strong gaze, replied back, "And I don't doubt that for a second. We can plan our escape once you are feeling a little better" She bent and kissed his cheek! "Let's get you back to your dapper self first"

She bent and kissed his cheek!! He blinked. He was livid, forgetting protocol; he coughed from the door, finally disrupting the flirty banter before his eyes! She kissed him! He most definitely did not like this Riddhima.

Riddhima excused herself from the patient and ushered her visitors out, slowly closing the door behind her as she stepped out from the cabin. Okay so, she didn't intend to kiss the old man, but realized she was having way too much fun seeing Armaan on the spot, for a change. All of a sudden, it was about two people who loved each other, all other issues between them suddenly left at the sidelines somewhere, and this moment was just them.

"Where you flirting with a seventy year old uncle?" he didn't even care to consider what NJ would make of his words.

"A seventy year old man?" she corrected him, much to his annoyance.

"That doesn't answer my question" He demanded.

"What if I was?" she was pushing his buttons alright.

He was rendered speechless. If there had been no NJ, he would have most likely, kissed her senseless, but that wasn't appropriate at this point. Women! He groaned inwardly.

NJ positively loved this Riddhima, they could have been long lost chums, and of what she had seen thus far, she was just perfect for her hot-heated friend, Malik had finally met his match. She approved, oh yes she did!

"Oh calm down, I'm not going to jump on the altar with him" Riddhima had one last stab at her wounded tiger. She would make it up to him later, for now, it was payback.

"He was on the healthy side, freshmen year" NJ finally spoke up.

"Huh?" Riddhima turned to NJ and looked a little lost.

"So we used to tease him as chubby cheeks" NJ added, "oooh!" Riddhima looked at Armaan trying to visualize him with chubby cheeks, no; she liked it better this way. Armaan on the other hand, couldn't believe how a day which had started off on a perfect note was going horribly wrong. "So what happened then?" she couldn't hide her amusement.

"We became friends, and we realized, beneath all that…" she stopped as Armaan gave a disapproving look, "basically we took pity on him"

"Fine, fine, gang up on a lone man" He muttered and was completely ignored by the two ladies. "I'm Naseem by the way…and to his credit, he did turn up a new leaf in sophomore year" she held out her hand as she winked at Armaan.

"Riddhima..." she took her by the arm, "Looks like we have a lot to catch up on. Coffee?" They walked a few paces, before Riddhima stopped and turned around and their eyes met, she wasn't going to leave her sulking man behind, "Coffee Armaan?" in her softest voice.

Which after days of utter silence, had been the first genuine thing she had said to him,and instantly a strange relief washed over him.

~~~~~

Just in time for Christmas :)

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all my readers.

Aria

Originally posted by: Pebblez

-_- I am officially mad at you now. Hmph.

(Attention Seeking Mode)

This is a reserve. UNDO yours.

Kiran

awesome


thnx 4 the pm

update soon


Kamal

hey just read the ff ....plzz do add me to the pm list :)

A mind-blowing part once again.
Sweet cheeks -nickname was amazing.
I want everything to get back to normal b/w AR once more.
I'm missing there romantic moments a lot.
NJ is so cool.
Plz update the next part soonest.
U r simply an amazing writer.

I loved every moment of it. I wish they would get past the bad time in their relationship soon enough.
Love
Shveta

Thank you for the Christmas present!! It was great.... i just hope this all gets sorted!