Hello everyone!
I'm back with my tale as to why I went missing and it's the same as always. Too much work and too less time. I know it's been 2 months since the last update and the only compensation this one offers is the length. I'm working on the next update and if all goes well, it should be up at Christmas. And the next at New Year. But knowing me, don't keep your hopes too high. Though one promise I can definitely make: Chps 60 and 61 are gonna be dedicated to AR moments and that's a promise I intend to keep at all costs. So that's something to cheer you. :) A huge thanks to all my stalkers, love you all and keep stalking me. For those who fear that I might drop or discontinue this FF, worry not! That will never happen. I can be as erratic as possible but I don't intend to discontinue this FF ever. I'll complete it, but when, even I dunno! So, without further ado, here's to optimism. For all who've stayed by this FF for so long and still intend to stay till the very end, you guys rock! Love you!
Chp. 59 Birthday or Deathday?
Armaan stood stunned as Ridhima walked away. He couldnt believe that hed broken her heart and ruined their relationship. He wanted to protect her from all misery and pain and here, he was the one whod hurt her.
Trouble, eh? Id warned you.
He recognized Nainas voice and turned. She raised her eyebrows and he said, Nothing that I cant
handle.
Exactly whats expected of a future king, she replied.
Itll work out buddy, said Yuvi giving him a pat on the back, just dont let her go.
I never will, muttered Armaan. He smiled. But where are you guys off to?
Jesse isnt too well, Im afraid, so well take your leave, Yuvi replied.
Uh-okay. Take good care of the little Princess, said Armaan.
Yuvi and Naina nodded, then hugged him and Naina said, Good luck with your Princess.
I need that, Armaan replied as the duo bid adieu and left.
He stood motionless, trying to assess the amount of damage hed done and contemplating his next
move. The sounds from the party faded into the distance as his thoughts took on a free rein, galloping through his memory and pausing at every moment that was stored in a special corner of his brain, tagged memorabilia. Moments spent with Ridhima. Moments which were his to cherish for a life time.
Moments which were close to his heart and the most beautiful ones of his life. A life which had Ridhima in it.
He needed to find Ridhima.
He owed her an explanation. Hell, after all she had done for him and his family, she was entitled to one!
He slipped out of the gardens and into the palace. Walking through the corridors, he found them deserted. The staff was also away celebrating the return of their Queen. His legs picked pace and he checked every room he came across, with the same result desertion. He raced up the stairs and reached his mothers room. Pushing open the doors he barged in and called out, Ridhima? There was no one in sight.
Next, he went to Nikitas room and then proceeded to Ridhimas room. But she was nowhere to be found. With every moment of his search that went futile, his heart sank. He didnt want to think the unthinkable. Ridhima couldnt have left the palace. Not without giving him chance to explain.
Desolate and dejected, he reached his room. He wasnt surprised to find it empty. He felt as if she had vanished into thin air. He wished hed at least gotten a chance to explain; a chance to clarify matters.
Heaving an exasperated sigh, he got up to leave. He ought to be back in the garden. As he turned, a pink envelope lying on the nightstand caught his eye. He recognized the familiar card. It was Ridhimas card which shed wanted Maan to give to the Prince after the party tonight. He reached out for it and caressed the envelope with his fingers.
How curious hed been only a couple hours ago to find out what the card said. He remembered taking it out of the drawer before going down for the party. Hed kept it on the nightstand so that he could read it as soon as he returned. He carefully slid the card out of the envelope but before he could read it he was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his phone.
The card fell to the floor as he hopefully whipped out his BlackBerry. To his dismay, it wasnt Ridhimas name that was flashing on the screen.
Yuvi?
Maan, I hope Im not interrupting something important but this is urgent, said Yuvi.
Armaan could hear the underlying message.
No, youre not. Go on, Im listening.
Remember our hitman? Yuvi asked.
Our attacker in the village? Armaan asked.
Precisely.
Youve got leads?
Yes. But it isnt something that can be discussed over the phone. Im on the seventh road, off the highway, the one that leads to the Gehgoli village.
Ill see you there.
The card lay forgotten on the floor as the news sunk in. Yuvi finally had some information on their attacker and now, probably this would help to shed some light on the mystery of who wanted him dead. He punched in a few keys on his cell phone as he got into his car. He knew Ridhima was upset about what had transpired this evening but he had to let her know where he was.
He jumped into his car while still on the phone. It kept ringing but there was no answer. He tried again as he hit the gas and accelerated ahead, all the while muttering a prayer under his breath for Ridhima to answer. His prayers however weren't answered and so he decided to leave her a voice message. "Ridhima, look, I know you're upset but, we need to talk. However, right now I'm headed to meet Yuvi. Remember that attack on us in the village? Yuvi has leads. I'll let you know all about it when we meet. Please, do turn up. The same place where we had our first date, midnight." He hesitated, then leaving all wariness aside, added, "Ridhima, I love you."
Back at the palace, CR smirked as she held Ridhima's cellphone in her hand. It was sheer luck that she happened to pass by BR's room when Ridhima's cell was ringing. In a bout of rage she just wanted to damage anything and everything that was Ridhima's but when she saw Maan's name flashing on the screen, she was too tempted to delay the gadget from the painful fate she had decided for it. Now that she thought about it, it would've been such juvenile behavior.
She whipped out her cell and hit a few keys. She was practically glowing with satisfaction as she waited for the call to be answered.
"Listen carefully, I've got a task for you. Yuvi has figured out who's responsible for the attack on Kunwar Armaan and that girl in the village. Armaan is on his way to meet Yuvi. Follow him and make sure that they don't meet. A close call with death for Armaan should do it. And as for Yuvi, I want to hear that the poor dear met with an accident which, unfortunately, he didn't survive. And beware, errors will not be tolerated."
She snapped the phone shut and gave out an evil laugh, "You don't mess with me, Ridhima, you don't. You're just lucky that I haven't decided to finish Armaan as well."
"Mom?"
CR turned to find a baffled Rahul standing at the door. He was surprised to see his mom in such good spirits especially as he'd seen her storm away from the party in frustration and anger. Seeing her smile, he relaxed. She related the whole story to him and was rewarded with a flashy grin.
"You're brilliant, Mom!"
"I trust you to take care of this if any issues arise. I need to retire now."
"Sure, Mom."
She tossed Ridhima's phone on BR's bed and walked off.
***
Armaan drove on, trying to concentrate on the streets while chaos reigned his mind. A multitude of questions whirred and whizzed struggling for an escape, which wasn't to be until he found the answers to them. The ones holding the most prominence were who'd done it and why? He'd spent a fair share of nights tossing and turning in bed finding the answer to that question and also telling himself how close he'd come to losing his life: His Ridhima. If the bullet had coursed an alternate route, the destination would have been a different one too; one that would have cut a life some breaths short. The thought of losing Ridhima also brought with it the events of the evening, forcing him to relive all that had happened just about an hour ago. When he reached the palace, irrespective of whatever hour it was, he'd make sure he spoke to Ridhima. As for sleep, it was a lost cause tonight. It was going to be a long night.
As he swerved the car on the right block, a line of stores came into view. As he glanced ahead, his gaze zeroed in on the car which seemed to be parked across one of the stores. Recognising it as Yuvi's car, he tried to reduce the speed of his own car but the automobile didn't lose speed and Armaan was surprised. He tried again with the same results. As he tried to concentrate on the street ahead and struggled to brake the car, his eyes witnessed a horrifying sight. Yuvi's car had suddenly erupted into flames! Armaan tried to brake again but when the car didn't stop, he swerved right to avoid an oncoming bike and collided into a huge tree, the effect of the collision shattering the glass to bits. Armaan's head banged hard against the dashboard, the shards of glass cutting into his skin and drawing blood. The body cracking pain was the last thing he felt before he lost conciousness.
*****
"Oh! It is such misfortune for the master to face such a dreadful fate on his very birthday!"
Ridhima froze.
The party had ended almost an hour ago. The guests had left feeling happier than when they'd come because they'd definitely gotten more than they'd expected. Friends and well-wishers of the Royal family were too pleased and happy for the King, the Prince and Princess who'd received such an unexpected gift by BR's wellness. Everyone had retired to their rooms thereafter, happy and radiant, faces smiling. RS, CR, Rahul, Anjali, Nikita and Muskan had stayed with BR, wanting to spend time with her. Armaan's absence hadn't gone unnoticed. However, CR had cleverly put it to rest saying that Maan had left the palace some hours ago for some personal errand. Soon after, everybody had retired leaving BR alone since she needed to rest and Ridhima was called upon to do the needful and she had willingly obliged. However, that had been nearly an hour ago.
The palace had turned eerily silent and Ridhima had a feeling she was the only one awake. She'd had her thoughts for company. She wondered where the Prince had disappeared claiming a personal errand and whether he was back, yet. He'd wanted to talk to her in the party but she couldn't. She just couldn't. Not after all that had transpired. There would be a conversation, though. It was inevitable. Just when, she didn't know. She was just convincing herself that she was the only one awake now and she should as well retire to bed, even though she was assured that sleep would surely elude her tonight, she heard hushed voices from outside the room. She tried to concentrate and realised there was a lot of shuffling going on outside. She wondered why was anyone up at this hour. She gently tiptoed to the door and just when she was about to crack open the door she heard one of the maids wail.
"Oh! It is such misfortune for the master to face such a dreadful fate on his very birthday!"
Ridhima's hand froze on the door knob. Her heart hammered in her chest. No! It surely couldn't be. Maan had to be alright. Taking deep calming breaths, she eased open the door a fraction and said, "Shh. What's it with you two? Don't you know, her Highness is asleep? What cause do you two have to be roaming about the palace corridors wailing and waking everyone out of slumber?"
"Oh! We're sorry, Ridhima. We didn't have any intention of disturbing her Highness, it's just-," the maid faltered looking at her companion for support. She then continued, "It's just that, Kunwar-, Kunwar Armaan has met with a terrible accident!"
"What- what- what are you talking about?!" Ridhima sputtered, too shocked to believe.
"Yes, it's true," the other maid answered. "We should leave now."
Ridhima pushed the door close and tried to digest what the two maids had said. She didn't know how could it be possible. This couldn't happen. This just couldn't happen; not to Maan. No!
She pressed her quaking legs together to prevent herself from sagging to the floor. She tried to gather some coherent thought and realised she should look for her cellphone.
She found it lying on the nightstand. Nikita! She should call Nikita! She'd be able to tell her what exactly had transpired. She hit speed dial and waited anxiously for Nikita to answer, all the while muttering a prayer for Maan's well-being.
Nikita didn't answer. She tried twice. She tried thrice but Nikita didn't answer. She tried calling Abhimanyu but he was continually busy. The next 60 minutes proved to be Ridhima's worst in the Shishodiya palace so far. All her calls to Nikita and Abhimanyu went unanswered and there wasn't anyone else whom she could turn to for precise information about Maan. She worried herself sick pacing to and fro in BR's room, the scraps of gossip from the staff outside were her only source of information. She sifted through them in her head, rejecting the ones outright that went against her mind and heart.
"...'Tis been a terrible accident, they say."
"How awful it is for the King! He just got back his Queen and is now on the verge of losing the Prince..."
"Will the master survive?"
"Can't say..."
"They say he has lost a lot of blood and hasn't gained conciousness, yet."
Ridhima shunned all sounds from her head and decided only prayer could come to her rescue now. Her heart thudded wildly and she tried to tamp down the panic by consoling herself that not everything that was being said outside was true. People had the habit of making a mountain out of a mole and it was possible they were doing just that. However, there was no way of finding it out. When she couldn't take it anymore, she slipped out of BR's room and headed towards Maan's -Kunwar Armaan's- quarters. The corridors were deserted again however, she could hear hushed voices and the shuffle of feet near Maan's quarters.
"Pitaji, I'll stay and look after Bhaiyya. He needs someone here," she heard Nikita's distant voice.
After a while, there was complete silence.
Suddenly, Ridhima sensed a hand on her shoulder and tensed, then relaxed instantly when she heard the soft voice, "Bhabhi, go. Bhaiyya needs you."
"Tha-"
"No saying thanks for what's rightfully yours, Bhabhi. He needs you more than me," said Nikita. Her face was tear-stained but she wasn't crying now.
Ridhima nodded and Nikita hugged her. She smiled and said, "I'll be back early in the morning before anybody is here."
She left, leaving Ridhima standing outside Maan's quarters.
***
P.S: I love my stalkers and spammers! Keep stalking me and spamming my thread...lol! 😆
We're on page 122 now and it's Chp. 59. Chp.60 shall be there in this thread but I wish to put up Chp.61 on the new thread! So, over to you guys now! 😉
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Anupamaa
CID
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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