aahhh. I'm sorry for not updating for so long. forgive me =] and comment - pretty please =]
"Riddhima" he called again.
A smile like no other lit her face, and Riddhima ran, ran as fast as her legs would carry to the other side of the grounds, her things forgotten, and her blue dupatta streaking behind her.
Her eyes looked at no other, and she finally crashed into his arms.
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Chapter 7
Armaan sat fuming in contemplative silence, the scene from half an hour ago continuously running through his mind like a broken CD. Rahul Garewal. His jaw clenched in anger and distaste. Why of all colleges in the world had Rahul transferred to this one? [This is not good. A complication] he thought, sighing, and rubbing his eyes. When he had first seen Riddhima, it had instantly struck him that she was different. She was... interesting, he decided. She was unpredictable, and people were just so predictable these days. Oddly enough, she was someone he wanted to know, if only because their past encounters had been most entertaining to him.
He and Rahul had been wary foes for a long time, but they had always remained indifferent to each other. But when Rahul had hugged Riddhima with such familiarity, it had suddenly become very, very personal. He needed to know how Riddhima knew Rahul. He needed to find out how Rahul knew Riddhima. More importanly, why was Rahul here.
He had only known Riddhima for about a week; he hadn't even decided if he liked her yet, but Rahul? Rahul was now a problem.
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Riddhima, Anjali, Atul, Sapna, and Rahul sat in the cafeteria laughing.
"Tum dono kitne filmi ho," Anjali grinned, "patah hai sab dekh rahe the."
"Kya Anjie - tum bhi na. Who cares? Aisa lagta hai jaise maine Riddhima ko saloon (years) se nahi dekha hai," Rahul grinned back, glancing at Riddhima.
"Rahul, sirf 6 mahine. Dus (10) saal nahin," Anjali emphasized.
"Rahul, tum pehle kahaan par the?" Sapna asked sweetly.
" I was in the U.S. College wahan kar raha tha. Par mujhe Riddhima ki yaad bohut aane lagi. Aur tum toh isse janti ho (gently hitting Riddhima's head), apna khyal nahi rakh sakti," Rahul explained.
"Arre wah," Atul casually draped his arm around Riddhima's shoulders, " Ridzi, tum Rahul koh kabse jaanti ho?"
Atul was innocently oblivious to Rahul's eyes which were suddenly hard, fixedly staring at Atul's arm around Riddhima.
"Ahem," Rahul cleared his throat pointedly.
Atul got the message and removed his arm while Riddhima gave an embarrassed smile in his direction and then shot an exasperated look towards Rahul. A short, awkward silence followed.
"Acha Riddhima, if you are done eating, kya tum mujhe yeh college dikha sakti ho?" Rahul looked at Riddhima and stood up.
"Sure," Riddhima picked up her things," chalo," and together they left, still turning heads of people who hadn't forgotten the morning's incident.
Atul and Sapna looked at Anjali in wide-eyed silence, while she just shook her head and sighed.
"Woh kya tha?" Sapna asked, "Rahul tum log ka bhai hai yah Riddhima ka boyfriend?"
"Hain yaar, mujhe toh dar lagne laga tha. Waise Anjali, tumhe bura toh nahi laga na, ki maine Riddhima par apna haath ...."
Anjali interrupted, as usual ignoring Atul, "Arre Sapna, mai tumhe kya bataun? Yeh dono aise hi hai."
"Rahul Ridzi ka bhai, boyfriend, aur overprotective bodyguard hai," She said counting off her fingers.
Looking at Atul and Sapna's questioning faces, Anjali began the whole story.
"Rahul is our cousin. Dad ki behen ka beta. Jab hum sab bohut chote the, there was a car accident and both his parents passed away. Dad immediately adopted Rahul. Rahul was very shy and despite being the same age, my bubbly outgoing nature didn't make him comfortable. Par Ridzi did. Woh bhi bilkul Rahul ki tareh hai. Aur woh dono best friends ban gaye.
Aur tabse, Rahul Ridzi ko kabhi udas nahi dekh saktah hai. Itni ajeeb ajeeb harkatein karta hai. I remember this one time, Ridzi ka puppy margaya aur woh khaane se inkar kar rahi thi. Toh Rahul purposefully got himself in a minor car crash so that she would listen to him and eat."
"Kya!" Sapna explained.
"Haan," Anjali shook her head in disbelief, and then nodded sadly," dono bilkul pagal hai."
"Are agey ki story toh batao," Atul urged.
"Hmmmm.. Toh main kahan thi? - car crash. Aise Rahul ne bohut saari harkatein ki huiyi hain. School ke 11th grade tak sab ladke Ridzi se dar te the. Jab bhi ek ladka Ridzi ke paas aata tha, Rahul ko pata chal jata tha. Aur next day, woh ladka school se transfer ho jaata tha."
With the end of her story, Anjal slumped down, exchanging gloomy looks with Atul and Sapna.
"Yeh to bohut baari problem hai,"Sapna exclaimed.
"Haan, tell me about it. Ridzhi ki toh shaade hi nahi ho gi. Uska pati (husband) Rahul ke dar ke maare bhaag jaaye ga. Aur Ridzi Rahul ki waje se usse jaane bhi dey gi," - Anjali.
A solemn silence remained.
And then Atul asked the question all 3 of them were thinking, "Ab Ridzi ka kya hoga?"
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