Chapter 5: Pancakes and Peace Offerings
*RING RING RING*
Armaan groaned at his shrieking ringtone, tossing and turning and eventually surrendering to the painful shrill of the electronic device. With his eyes still closed he blindly searched his bed until he found his phone carefully cradled between his pillow and the mattress, where he had placed it the night before. He attempted to open his eyes but the Goan sunlight surprisingly illuminated his black bedroom. Armaan was most definitely a night time person and his room reflected him to the core. Squinting in to his phone he read and groaned:
*Big Assed Brunette*
"Hel-"
Armaan's hoarse voice was interrupted by a whiny shrill at the other end of the phone.
"Ammyyyy!!...Tum kahan ho?! Mein kabse try kar rahi thi...it's like you don't even miss me.."
Armaan sighed inwardly and closed his eyes. Like? It's like I don't even miss you? Armaan flashed back to images of 'Ms Big Assed Brunette' to see if she was worth his precious sleep. Long brown curled hair, obviously lightened but whatever. Big pouty lips. Great cleavage. As much personality as a toilet seat. Sexy flat waist. Giant ass...colossal ass... frikkin gigantic juicy doubles. Like 'How the HELL did she fit THAT in to THOSE jeans' kinda ass! Who am I kidding?..
"Hey sexy baby...Miss you? All I ever think about is you. Tumhari muskurahat, hum jab club mein pehli bar miley, tumhari meethi meethi khooshboo, tumhari patli kamar...aur ek raaz ki baath bataoon?" Armaan cut and edited his routine dialogues to fit this particular girl...no biggie. His voice was smooth and tender, leaving behind any remnants of sleep and replacing them with raw sexuality. He smirked when she whimpered huskily:
"Bataaon..."
"Kal raath tumhe choone ka man bahut kar raha tha....I know I sound like a pervert. I'm sorry errrrr....erm..sweetheart lekin kya karoon...tum mein koi jaadoo sa hai."
See the key to this particular dialogue was to show a sense of remorse and guilt. He could tell a girl that he wanted to spank her three times over and say 'sorry' afterwards-normally resulting in the girl bending over and begging to be spanked...7 times over.
"Awwww Ammmyy!! You are chooo chweet! I wuv you choooo much Mr Shexy Vexy!" She squealed over the phone. Armaan cringed at her baby talk ' he was a 24 year old grown ass man and he hated to be treated anything less.
"Listen baby, I have to go have a shower. But guess who I'll be thinking of..." His tone was suggestive which he was sure was making her blush right about now. Girls are so damn predictable! Sure enough he heard a giggle on the other end of the phone and a: "Bye shexy!".
He hung up and sighed in relief. Sitting up and leaning against the headboard he flicked through his phone, sifting through his inbox that had accumulated another 17 messages through the night. Eventually finding the one he was looking for, he read and reread her text. Last night had seemed like one big white dressed, greened eyed and long legged blur. But what he knew for sure was that the chick was just a cheap thrill for him, something shiny and new, and his normal plan of action for shiny new girls would get him into a lot of trouble with his beloved Kirti Bhabhi. So he hit *delete* and jumped in to the shower trying for the second time in 24 hours to wash her off of him...cold water better do it this time.
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Armaan jogged down the stairs clad in a grey hoodie which flattered his broad physique and a slouchy pair of navy jea-
"You're not pissed off are you Ridz?" Armaan heard Rahul's throaty voice emanate from the dining room around the corner. He quirked an eyebrow and halted to eavesdrop on the conversation. A set of blurred images from last night flicked through his mind to see if he had done anything to piss her off. Shit! I did a whole lot to piss her off.
"NAHI.....nahi! This is going to be fun!" Her silky voice caught him off guard having not heard it for a few hours. A full night's sleep had really perked her up. Once he registered her response he realised that they must have told her about the delayed wedding prep. Cool...one thing less to worry about. A hundred and four more things to go.
"Uh huh.......this is definitely going to be fun" a smooth voice replied.
Riddhima shot her eyes up to the entrance of the dining room in recognition to the familiar voice. Breatheeeeee Riddhima. Riddhima willed her mind to switch gears and her heart rate to calm. A thrill ran through her as she saw him walk through the door and her breath caught at the sight of his casual attire and head of messy wet hair. Get a hold of yourself!
Armaan's face split in to a glowing smile at the sight of her. It seemed that in the last 8 hours her droopy dull eyes had transformed in to intense, green, almond shapes. Her messy hair had morphed in to a lustrous veil. Her tired skin had changed in to a radiant, smooth shade of gold. She's just something shiny and new....just something shiny and new....just something really beautiful, shiny and new. He focused his brain on grabbing some breakfast. Almost through instinct he reached for the bowl of fruits lying next to Riddhima's left arm and leaned over the tabled to grab an apple. Avoiding eye contact...avoid all frikkin contact...
Riddhima shuddered at his proximity and the fact that a drop of water from his hair had landed on her wrist. He smells AMAZI-
"Right Ms. Woman Driver?"
And that's the end of THAT.
Riddhima looked to everyone on the table and saw them all stifle a laugh. Shooting daggers at Armaan who bit in to his apple smugly, she sneered:
"Mera naam RIDDHIMA hai! Ek naam yaad rakna bahut mushkil hota hai aap jaise unpad log ke liye. Chaho toh mein likh ke de sakti hoon? Aapko padna toh atta hai na?"
Armaan was taken aback by her patronising attitude. No one ever had the guts to belittle him and his ego wasn't ready to take the blow. But most of all, the return of 'Aap' stung him the most...Who the hell does this chick think she is? His gaze left hers and followed the crowd around the table who were all sniggering in to their meals. None of them had ever seen Armaan really and truly insulted and this infuriated him even more.
"Kyun Ms. Woman Driver? Aaj mein unpad ban gaya?? Kal raat toh aapko meri bahut zaroorat padgayi..."
"Armaan...stop!" Abhi sternly said across the dining table.
"Thanks Abhi, it's okay, isse kehne do jo isse kehna hai" Riddhima said softly, suppressing the rage that was boiling within her.
Armaan grew more infuriated at the fact that his older brother seemed to be siding with her over him. We're blood dude.
"Acha kahoon baby? Kyun tumhara shit driving bhulgayi? Don't you remember nearly falling off the edge of the cliff because you couldn't follow a simple instruction? Oh my god mujhe film karna chahiye tha! Jab aap itni bewakoof ho toh tumhe kya hak hain mujhe unpad kehne ka?"
Before he knew it the words were out, there was a resounding gasp around the table and then the questions rolled in.
"Ridz did you lose control of the car?"
"Riddhima tum teekh ho?"
"Kya hua?"
"Armaan tumne iska khayal kyun nahi rakha?"
Riddhima didn't acknowledge any of the questions. She simply glared at Armaan who stared right back at her, feeling a sense of betrayal that he used one of the most terrifying experiences of her life so ruthlessly against her. But more than that, she felt ridiculous for having thought that she and Armaan had some kind of unspoken pact to keep that secret. After all, he was just a stranger to her and she was just a stranger to him. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Through the flurry of questions, Armaan heard nothing and saw nothing but the hurt in her eyes. His stomach twisted as the rest of her face remained expressionless, knowing that he had been the one to cause it. Say something Riddhima. Anything. Please. The room was filled with noise and concern but her silence filled Armaan with a deep sense of guilt and dread in his chest.
And then she stood up. Go on girl...give it to me. He waited for a retaliation that never came. She walked around the table and brushed past him out the door. Leaving him with just her warm smell and the electricity of her touch as he stood there, completely and utterly embarrassed. He saw her plate of pancakes, untouched. She hadn't eaten anything last night.
And then it began........
"You are such an asshole Armaan. If she leaves I'll never speak to you again." Anjali yelled as she pushed her chair back with a screech and followed Riddhima out of the door.
"How could you be so mean to her on her first day here? You don't even know her..." Muskaan complained as she dropped her fork and followed Anjali down.
"Tum aise kyun behave kar rahe ho Armaan? Woh teekh se sauyi nahi, kuch khaya peeya nahi.....aur ab tum keh rahe ho ke woh cliffs par control kar nahi payee? Does she deserve that?" Nikki questioned mildly. When all Armaan could say was nothing....she followed the girls to Riddhima's room.
"Dude that was so wrong. What the hell were you thinking? She better not be crying man." Rahul reprimanded him coolly. What was I thinking? Did I make her cry? Armaan ran his fingers through his hair and sat down at the table as he tried to figure out what just happened.
"Haan Armaan...woh kitni achi hai. She seemed so cool. Tumhe aise behave nahin karna chahiye tha." Atul contributed innocently.
Armaan couldn't believe the affect this girl had on the family with just a few hours of her being in the house. What had happened? Had she cast some kind of spell? That had to be the only explanation; why else would he risk pneumonia in the shower first thing in the morning?
"Armaan is that how you treat a lady? Mujhe pata hai ke tum ladkiyon ki izzat nahin karte lekin Riddhima? Tumhari bhabhi ki behen? I think tumhe usse maafi mangni chahiye.." Abhi offered his wise input to the situation. Kirti bhabhi? Shit!
Armaan dared to look over at Kirti Bhabhi who seemed to be chopping up bananas in a bowl, in anxiety. He understood her silence, she couldn't choose between Riddhima and him. Breaking his silence after what seemed like hours, he nervously stated:
"I'm really sorry guys. I just lost it,,,she,,,just,,I,,,,-"
"You're just not used to a girl showing you your place Armaan." Abhi stated as he walked over to Armaan and placed a hand on his shoulder. Holy shit! That's exactly it.....
He stood up abruptly and reached over for the plate of pancakes lying across the dining table. He walked over to his Kirti Bhabhi who sat at the end of the table and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said
"I'll make this better...promise".
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"Ridzy.....it's Armaan! Woh sab ladkiyon ke saath aise behave karta hai!"
Nikki sat cross legged across from Riddhima on the luxury white bed as she watched Riddhima fidget with the edge of the duvet. She had one leg curled underneath her and refused to look at anyone or anything but her fidgeting fingers in an attempt to hide her emotions. Yeh log mere baare mein kya soch rahe hoge? I look like some kind of PMSing teenager.....
"Haan Riddhima!" Anjali shouted as she paced the beautiful white room with her hands in the pockets of her denim shorts. "It took me 4 years to stop Armaan flirting with me and another 2 years for him to stop taking the piss out of me!"
"3 years with the flirting and 3 years with the piss taking. Hey Anj! Remember the sexy sisters thing?" Muskaan agreed with a smile.
"Oh god....don't remind me...it'll only make me want to beat the shit out of him again. Ugh! Sexy sisters! Seriously?" Anjali rolled her eyes and carried on pacing back and forth in front of the bed while Muskaan curled up next to Riddhima on the bed.
Riddhima couldn't help but feel a little upset that Armaan was infamous for being such a flirt. The chemistry she'd been feeling since yesterday night wasn't some magical connection...it was really a result of Armaan's tried and tested routine. And she fell for it. It worked. You are so pathetic Riddhima. She was just another one of the girls apparent-
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Muskaan skipped over to the door and opened it carefully; she stuck her head out of it. A flurry of hushed whispers permeated through the other side of the door. Riddhima, Nikki and Anjali all looked towards the door way which was carefully covered by Muskaan and then looked to each other in confusion.
...baat toh karne de...maafi......bhooki...shhh! Atul....whisper ka meaning pata hai yaar?
Anjali rolled her eyes and stomped over to the door where a more aggressive whisper session began. The words ASSHOLE.....DOUCHEBAG.....YOUR FACE and YOUR MOMMA seemed to escape by different people around the doorway. Riddhima and Nikki knelt on the bed trying to make out the faces responsible for all the profanity on the other side of the door. Ducking and diving, Nikki eventually gave up in frustration and shouted:
"Come in guys!!"
The inaudible whispers abruptly stopped and Riddhima heard the word 'SHIT' escape from an all too familiar voice at the other end. She hated the fact that her heart raced at the sound of his voice, Seriously Riddhima? The guy just mortified you!
The girls gave way and Anjali sarcastically greeted them in with her hand. In walked a line of attractive men looking as if they were about to be assaulted by the oh-so-lethal 5 foot something creatures. Rahul, Atul, Abhi and finally Armaan, clutching a plate of pancakes, shuffled in like guilty offenders.
"Hey Riddhima" Atul exclaimed.
Riddhima smiled despite the fact that she wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. Her stupid mouth had disturbed everyone's breakfast. Not daring to look over at Armaan she muttered as nicely as she could: "Hey Atul...kaise ho?"
"Acha hoon, bhooka hoon, lekin acha hoon. Lekin yahan Armaan ka dill dhak dhak kar ke phat jayega toh please usse maaf karo."
What?! Salla! Armaan shot his head past Abhi round to Atul. Just before he showed him what else was going to 'phat' in this room he was stopped by the authoritative hand of Abhi.
"Ermmm guys...maybe we should give them some privacy?"
Rahul awkwardly suggested with a shrug as he placed both his hands in his pockets. Riddhima shot her eyes up to Armaan's intense gaze and then looked back to her restless fingers. Do NOT look him in the eyes. It's how he does his voodoo.......
Abhi chuckled, "Can we trust you guys to not kill each other...Kirti Bhabhi ki shaadi ke saath saath funeral ka bhi tayari karne padegi kya?"
Armaan rolled his eyes at his brother's attempt to lighten up the situation. Before he knew it Atul had already walked out of the door. Abhi smiled and walked over to a curled up Nikki sitting at the edge of Riddhima's bed, he slipped his arm around her waist as she stood and escorted her out of the room with a kiss on her cheek. Rahul gave a 'You coming?' look over to Anjali and Muskaan, and they both apprehensively moved towards Rahul.....of course not before Anjali shot Armaan a dirty look.
The door finally closed and silence.
Silence.
More silence.
Excruciating silence.
Armaan exhaled anxiously and turned around to a tense Riddhima on the bed, who still refused eye contact. Her long eyelashes framed her down cast eyes and her long dark hair covered the sides of her face as she carried on fiddling with the corner of her duvet. It would be a lot easier to hate you if you weren't so damn beautiful by the way.
"Errr *ahem*......ermm I brought you breakfast."
She looked up to see his gaze penetrating hers and looked straight back down. Voodoo Riddhima...sexy grey eyed voodoo!
"Thanks lekin mujhe bhook nahi hai."
Riddhima said softly and sternly, though her stomach growled viciously at the remark. Getting up off of bed she walked to her dresser and collected all the jewellery she had unpacked in the morning. Moving to her suitcase she placed everything inside a maroon bag and stuffed it in between the clothes. Armaan quirked an eyebrow until a wave of realization hit him and he realised what she was doing. Packing?
"Tum...err...aap kahan jaa rahi ho?" He asked nonchalantly, trying not to sound as flustered as his heart was.
"Err.....I'm going back to Mumbai"
f**k. Armaan's heart raced a thousand beats a minute; he placed the tray on her dresser in fear of a syrupy carpet. Turning around he saw her zip her bag up. The room was thick and heavy with tension and Armaan didn't know how to apologize, how to make her stay, or how to resume his breathing.
"Riddhima please mere vaje se mat jaaon. I'm really sorry...I was stupid."
Riddhima turned around and her stomach sank at the...at the hurt? What? In his eyes. Tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, she walked towards him slowly and with each step she lost all resolve to stay mad at him. Armaan gulped and leaned on the dresser behind him, bracing himself for her as she moved closer and closer.
"Mein aapke vaje se nahi jaa rahi hoon. I err... just got a call from work. Mein Kirti Di ke shaadi ke liye madat karne aa jaaongi."
"Bullshit."
Armaan saw right through her lie, she was either a really bad liar or thought he was a complete idiot. Either way he wasn't going to let her get away with it and the thought of her leaving made the guilt in his chest intensify further.
"Okay I didn't get a call. Honestly....I just don't want to spend the next three months of my holiday stuck in a house where someone hates my guts."
By now she was standing a foot away from him. Her words were soft but her honesty stung him. Hate? Hate? With a heavy sigh he ran his hand through his hair and felt his stomach drop. The only thing he hated right now was how rejected he made her feel on her first day here. How did he turn in to such an asshole?
"Riddhima tum mujhe galat samjh rahi ho...I really don't hate you. I just...it's....doosri sab ladkiyan hasthe hasthe mujhe tease karne dete hai.....Mein kuch bhi kahoon, dirty insults, rude nicknames and trust me they're a lot worse than Ms. Wom- I mean....you know. But you set me straight, you fight back....and I kind of like that."
Armaan stuttered and sputtered along the sentence trying to align his crazy thoughts. Smooth Armaan......realll smooth. He dared to look in to Riddhima's eyes who...who looked amused? Her tense expressions had relaxed and softened and her fingers had stopped fidgeting. Her lips morphed in to a small smirk making Armaan's chest lighten with relief. Thank GOD.
"Mein doosri sab ladkiyan jaisi nahi hoon....."
She replied with a smooth voice and crossed her arms right under her 'Nooooo Armaan....eyes stay UP. The thick air had dissipated and Armaan finally felt like he could breathe after what felt like hours.....days.....weeks. A bright grin spread across his face and he nodded:
"Woh toh mein dekh raha hoon.."
Riddhima blushed at his gaze which now seemed to be scanning her up and down. She had planned to stay mad at him for a lot longer than she had but the ice block in her chest had melted as soon as he opened his mouth. She had forgiven him before she even knew it....
"I'm seriously really sorry Riddhima. Mujhe woh sab kehna nahi chaiye tha. I didn't even mean it..."
"Hmmm...." she pretended to think as she stroked her chin.
"So you don't think I'm a shit driver?"
"No.....I actually think you're a really good driver. Tumhara stunt woman scene bahut impressive tha. Seriously!"
Armaan smiled at the lighter tone of the situation and grinned at her. It felt so good to see her relax around him.....finally. He had never been religious but he had to thank someone for the change in mood....Thank GODDD!.
"Hmmm...So you don't think you should've filmed me nearly fall to my death yesterday?"
He winced at her words. That was harsh of him....he was surprised he had even come out with that. If only you knew how much you scared me Riddhima.....if only.
"No.." He whispered ashamedly.
" Aur tum mujhe bewakoof nahi samjhte?"
"Hmmmm....." Armaan mocked her and stroked his chin at the same time, staring off in to space. He had never thought he'd be so happy to hear 'tum' fall from her lips.
Riddhima's eyes widened and her mouth opened in to an amused gasp. After a few seconds of silence she whinged:
"Armaan?!"
He smiled at the sound of his name from her mouth. Man that never gets old. Chuckling to himself and shaking his head,
" I think you're a smart, sophisticated and intelligent girl. Promise." He confirmed as he watched her blush and look downwards again, obviously uncomfortable with the compliment.
"Mujhe bhi tum unpad nahi lagte. At all.......I'm sorry"
Armaan chortled at her innocent confession, leaned in and whispered:
"You're forgiven. But only on two conditions..."
Riddhima fought to regain her balance at the feel of his warm breath on her ear. The butterflies in her stomach went from 'high on caffeine' to 'high on cocaine' as they fluttered uncontrollably. She begged her knees to stay locked so she didn't melt to the floor.
"Yeh conditions kaal raat ke do options jaise hai?" She whispered back to him.
Her eyes twinkled and she watched Armaan look down and smile. If she didn't know any better, she would've been sure he was embarrassed.
"Nahi unfortunately.....Pehla option?"
He turned around with his back to her and clanked around. Riddhima tried to look on either side of him confused but he blocked her left and right with a chuckle. Eventually he turned around and charged a fork full of pancakes towards her mouth.....
"Say aaahhhhh"
Riddhima opened her mouth and eyes wide open as she was officially stuffed with a mouthful of sweet pancake. She suppressed a giggle watching him cross his arms in satisfaction. A few chews later she moaned at how good they tasted and nodded her head with approval.
Armaan chuckled and turned around for another forkful to taste for himself. As he slid the fork in to his mouth, Riddhima couldn't help but feel her heart race at the fact that he'd used her fork. She glared shamelessly as the fork slid right back out of his mouth. Maybe he just isn't picky with that sort of thing?
She shook herself out of the thought and swallowed.
"Aur doosra condition itna hi delicious hai?" She questioned curiously.
"Please stay Riddhima. If not for me then for everyone else in the family that you've cast a spell on.....I'm really sorry" He said seriously.
Stay? Who's going? Riddhima thought as she still processed the second half of his comment. She was just about to reply with a less crazy version of "I'll stay I'll stay I'LL STAY!" until-
Riddhima ne kya kaha? Pata nahi...shh guys! Rahul you're squashing me! Sorry dude....Atul get off me or I'll kick you so you never have babies again!!!.....
Armaan and Riddhima looked over to the door from which the hushed whispers seemed to be originating. Looking back to each other they smiled with an evil grin.
Riddhima beckoned Armaan closer with her figure and whispered:
"Play along"
Armaan smirked knowingly after settling his heart rate down after her close proximity. With a 'thumbs up' he waited for her to begin.
"STAY?! MUJHE TUMHARI SHAKAL TAK NAHIN DEKHNI...How dare you?!"
Armaan stifled a laugh at her new role play and coughed quietly to get in to character.
"Haan haan! Toh tumhari shakal kisse dekhni hai?! I HATE YOU....woh toh mein bhabhi ke liye ke raha tha...nahi toh mein khud tumhari plane ki ticket book karta!! Mumbai ki mendak!"
Armaan paced backwards with his laugh and hovered over the handle of the door as he faced a giggling Riddhima. With a 1.....2.....3.....Armaan whipped the door open to find the stack of girls and guys topple over him with a screech. He backed away quickly and walked over to a hysterical Riddhima, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a grin as the gang wriggled around on the floor.
"ARGHH YAAARRRR....Abhi tum mujhe maar daloge! Bhes ke bache!" Muskaan yelled.
"Anjali I swear I didn't mean to touch that.....I swear it was an accident!" Atul guiltily stated.
"Nikki you're kind of kneeing my...erm packag- OWWWWW!!" He bellowed clutching his crotch in pain.
Armaan looked over to Riddhima who was doubled over in laughter. Finally relieved at seeing her stress free and enjoying herself he asked amidst the screaming and yelling:
"So you staying?"
"Of course! Mein aur kahan jaaoongi?" She said through ragged breath.
"Cool Riddhima.....toh tum aaj raath ka bonfire nahin miss karogi na?! It won't be the same without you" Atul asked as he tried to crawl off of a very pissed off Anjali's body.
Riddhima looked up to Armaan and sighed in sheer relief, she turned back to Atul with a wide smile:
"I wouldn't miss it for the world......"
Author's Note
Oh man! You have no idea how nervous I am about this chapter!!! *Ducks for cover*....I'm SOOOOOOO sorry for those of you who are probably dead disappointed after reading this chapter. I know I said the next chapter was going to be a warm bonfire-marshmallow-truth or dare- kind of affair but I had some unresolved issues with AR that needed to be solved before everyone's one big happy family. They needed to be cool with each other! I just couldn't fit in the bonfire bit and I didn't want to rush it.
So next chapter it is! I'll make it up to you.....
Disclaimer: This isn't JUST an AR FF....I'm sorry for focusing on them a little bit more this time. Like I said....Unresolved issues! We'll find out a little more about the familia next chapter promise! It'll be worth you're while.
Enough of my bak bak!
Please comment/ hit like!!
Even if you were disappointed I still want to hear from you!
Your support is like a mouthful of pancake! (Have I used that one before?? đ)
LOVE APHRODITE XXXXXX
Edited by ...Aphrodite... - 15 years ago
Jodha Akbar
Anupamaa
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