~ArBi FF Jab Lurve Hua~Part 271 pg141 - Page 18

Raj stopped laughing upon hearing the sharp,serious tone of Jiya and the car screeched to a halt.

Raj:How can this be possible??

Jiya:I was there for armaan's wedding..You had gone to Australia for an important photo-shoot..Remember??

Raj:And the entire staff of MU were at a conference in Bangalore..Oh God...but they don't behave as a couple when they meet..I mean it's just far from reality...

Jiya:Actually Bharti laid a condition that she just wants to get married to Armaan..for a year, contract marriage you know..She wanted to escape from the mental torture of arranged marriage alliances...

Raj:And Armaan agreed??

Jiya:Here comes the twist..He knew Bharti for both studied in Excel College..But there was a big misunderstanding and he wanted to take revenge on Bharti and that's why he agreed to her condition but now the misunderstanding's cleared and both of them are great friends...Well his mum doesn't know about the condition and only me, Bhaskar and Payal know about it...And we do not want others to know and make rumours about the whole thing..

Raj:OMG!!!!Couldn't you have told me all of these earlier??You duffer!!

Jiya:Ok firstly I didn't know that Bharti's the girl you were talking about..But now I told you na??

Raj:Phir bhi yaar..I...

Jiya:It's ok..I forgive you now...Ab chale??

Raj:Hey wanna come over to my place??

Jiya:Am I the first girl to enter yuor home??

Raj:Actually yeah...

Jiya:Haha that must be the state of your home...

Raj:An eligible bachelor's home..

Jiya:Sure i'll like to see that but promsie me that you'll just see Bharti as Armaan's wife??Then i'll come..

Raj:Arre haan yaar..I promise but you've got to promise me that one day, a really gorgeous girl enter my life and steal my heart in an instant and seeing that girl will make me forget Bharti..

Jiya:Isn't that a bit too much??Gaadi chalao..Come on...

Meanwhile armaan was riding his bike and he was on his way back home. He kept recollecting how Bharti stopped him from going when she received a call from Alisha and how he instantly smiled, feeling a sudden warmth in her touch. However the smile faded when she told him of a trip that she,Alisha and Sanjana had planned. Armaan didn't know what was happening to him. He felt that it could just be an illusion and she might not be going anywhere far.

Payal dropped Bharti at Armaan's place and told her not to worry so much about KK and that she'll call her tomorrow. Bharti bid goodbye to Payal and she went inside. She gently unlocked the door to see Sudha gently rocking on the armchair in the hall. Bharti covered Sudha's eyes as she stood behind the armchair and Sudha realized that it must be Bharti.

Bharti:Hi Mom...How did you know that it's me??

Sudha:That's becuase Armaan has no such habit and since you've did this twice at least, I figured it out quickly..

Bharti:Have you eaten??

Sudha:Yeah..you??

Bharti:Yeah quite a handful of desserts..Mom I wanted to ask your permission..

Sudha:My permission??For??

Bharti:Actually it's my friend, Alisha's brother's engagement and he has specially invited me for it..Ever since I've met Alisha, I've been going to spend my 2 weeks of summer holz with them in Goa..And this time round, it's quite special since it's his engagement..Me, Alisha and Sanjana were thinking of going this coming Tuesday itself and I'll be back by April 2nd or 3rd..Can I go,please??

Sudha was looked at her with a perplexed expression.

Sudha:You mean to say 2 days later?

Bharti:Well sort of..yeah..Can I go??

Sudha:Only girls??What about Alisha's parents??

Bharti:They are already there at Goa with their son, Rohan..I've been going with them in this way forr the past 3 years..We've so-called mastered the route..

Sudha:Have you talked to Armaan about this??

Bharti:Not yet as I wanted to talk to you first..

Sudha stood up and turned to see Armaan who heard everything. He was totally shocked but he didn't show anything on his face. Instead, he simply smiled and gestured her to let Bharti go, something which Sudha herself didn't expect from Armaan but she smiled, feeling proud of him and turned to face Bharti and nodded in agreement. Bharti couldn't contain her excitement and swirled Sudha around and laughed heartily.

Sudha:But for that you'll have to domething for me..

Bharti:Anything for you Mom..

Sudha:Your lemon cheesecakes for the entire 2 weeks..For they really remind me of you and I'm really going to miss you..

Bharti:Awwww Mom..I'm just going for 2 weeks..Time will fly so quickly that you wouldn't realize that I'm gone..

Sudha:And I'll pack you tidbits along the journey to Goa and Armaan will help you pack...Wait a second..Armaan you could go with her na??It'll be a great honeymoon trip for you two...What say??

Armaan and Bharti glanced at each other, feeling super awkward.

Sudha:Kyaa??

Armaan:Maa..woh..

Bharti:Actually Mom..Armaan must be very busy..He was telling me that there's a whole lot of photo-shoots lined up and he's having a tight schedule..

Sudha:Acha??(sounding skeptical)

Armaan:Haan Maa..Bharti is right..So much is going on for me right now...

Sudha:Well great some other time then..

Armaan went to get changed and bharti was chit-chatting with Sudha till late night. When Armaan got out of the room he saw bharti massaging his mum's legs and he felt so serene and ecstatic from within, watching them from a distance. Bharti had taken the book which Sudha was clinging on to and kept it aside. Bharti kissed Sudha on her forehead and wished her Good night and Bharti switched off the lights only to see the shadow of Armaan. Bharti smiled and wished him Good night and went to sleep.

Armaan went to the balcony. He was jsut walking around and wondering about bharti. She's just leaving for 2 weeks and that too in 2 days'time. He didn't understand why the thought of Bharti leaving him is pricking his heart so much. He closed his eyes in frustration, trying to keep the thoughts of Bharti away from him but whenever he closed his eyes, he could only see Bharti. She kept coming in front of him and her irresistible smile caressed his soul.

"What is happening to me for the past one week..This is really pissing me off..Bharti's just my good friend..No she isn't..Ok fine maybe she isn't just my good friend..But I'm just her good friend..And nothing else..Why is my heart unable to accept this despite the repeated times I've tried to make myself understand..Bharti's leaving in 2 days...Maybe it's for the best and all these stupid irritating feelings will just vanish!!But...but...Bharti's going to leave me after 9 months..she's going to leave me anyways...So why the heavens am I feeling so attached to her??WHY???Ok..Armaan,cool...Asking these questions won't help me...Yes..Yes I got it...Maybe I can try to find faults in her and keep a distance from her...Yes that would do!!Bharti's leaving in 2 days..That makes my job even easier..Eureka!!!Now I can go and sleep!!!

Armaan smiled at himself and went to his room. He saw Bharti smiling in her sleep and knelt at her bedside and he felt really tempted to hold her face and caress her lips. Just then, he wondered what he was about to do. He quickly stood up and went to the other side of the bed and turned away from her and switched off the lights to sleep. However he couldn't sleep and kept tossing in bed.

"Why are you doing this to me Bharti??Kis janam ki badla le rahi ho tum mujhse??Uffo..I wanna sleep..but I don't know what's stopping me..Theekh hai ab main tumhari galtiyaan nikaal thi hoon...Bharti ki galtiyaan...erm...erm..(pauses for a long while)..Kuch bhi nahin???Aisa kaise ho sakta hai??Haan....Milgaya....Bohat irritate karti hain,bohat zyaada ziddi hain aur main hamesha uski baaton mein aa jaata hoon...Very manipulative indeed!!Par mujhe yeh saare cheez ache lagte hain...In fact, uski manipulative nature ki waje se toh hi main Homecoming King bana tha...That was really a magica experience for me..(smiled, thinking about the Valentine's dance)..Aur uske baad woh photo-shoot...Bharti apne doston ke liye kya kuch nahin karti...Woh apne har ek dost ko itni special bana deti hain...I'm feeling so lucky to be her friend..Par kya main sirf uski dost hoon...Jaise sab dost ki tarha??Am I not different to her??Uffo..It's 4:30 am and I still haven't slept..Aur kal Sunday bhi hai aur office bhi nahin hain...Ab mujhe neend kyun nahin aa raha..God..this is all yuor fault!!!!Arrgghhh!!!!Pehle Bharti se milao, uske baad usse galat samjhoo,phir sab theekh karte ho aur finally mujhe...aur mujhe Bharti ke liye kuch khaas mehsoos karwaate ho..Arggghhh!!!"

Armaan didn;t realize what time he had slept for he slept till 11:30 am. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his mobile and realized that Jiya called him several times and he wondered why. He quickly dialled her number.

Armaan:Heyy,morning!!

Jiya:Kaun hai??(yawns)

Armaan:(yawns back) Duffer, main Armaan..You called several times..

Jiya:Maine??Oh haan woh raat ko phone kiya tha..

Armaan:Any matter?

Jiya:No yaar..tum kal raat bohat parishaan dikh rahe the toh socha phone karo..

Armaan:Nahin yaar i was jsut too tired..

Jiya:Aur koi baat toh nahin hain na??

Armaan:Nahin yaar..

Jiya:Great..erm bring Bharti for dinner,k??

Armaan:Okiezz..anything else??

Jiya:Hehe..nothing!!Chal,see you later..Bye

Armaan:Bye..

Jiya hung up. She rubbed her eyes and realized that she had slept at Raj's place. She recalled what had happened last night. Raj had proudly brought her to his place, unlocking his home door. He switched on the lights and Jiya felt totally taken aback at the ghastly sight. It was super messy everywhere. His clothes were all over the place. There was a box of leftover pizza on the dining table left opened and his files and photographs at his desk were piled up. Indeed it looked like a total home disaster for Jiya and she wondered what could happen if her dad saw her home in such a state.

Jiya was feeling quite thirsty and she went to the kitchen to help herself. She was shocked to see Raj's toothpaste in there and she felt totally disgusted to see his frozen briefs in the freezer and almost felt like fainting while Raj just grinned sheepishly,discovering where his briefs had gone to and went to hug her but she pushed him away. No wonder he had not brought any girl to his apartment; they would not have had half the strength to see such a terribly maintained home. While Raj went to bathe and get changed Jiya tried to make the place more homely and organized his desk and rooms. When Raj got out, he was surprised to see his home quite different from what it used to be, and he simply smiled at Jiya.

Raj:A typical bachelor's home and you had to ruin it by cleaning up..

Jiya:Sorry..aadat se majboor..after I leave you can get back to your old routine by threowing things here and there,k??

Raj:Hhmm..Want some drinks??You must be exhausted!!

Jiya:Thanks..kya milegi mujhe??

Raj:Red wine..lollz..what did you expect??I'm going to have some to cool my head off..

Raj brought some red wine and 2 glasses and both of them were sititng beside each other on his sofa, in front of the TV and tlaking. After some time, Raj was already quite high and Jiya asked him to stop for he had drunk quite a lot. Raj laid his head on her shoulder while she was browsing through a magazine.

Raj:Jiya..I feel so crap..Why did she have to be married..and that too to Armaan??

Jiya:Raj..they are bygones..You can't do anything about it..

Raj:But i really like her..

Jiya:Even i like her too..

Raj:Oh come on Jiya..you can't possibly fall i love with her..But i almost did..till you told me about her and Armaan...

Jiya:Awww Raj..koi aur aajaayegi yaar..

Raj:Par kab??

Jiya:Bohat jald..Trust me!!

Raj:Ab toh Bharti ko bhoolna hi hoga..

Jiya:Haan..thoda mushkil toh zaroor hoga but you'll be fine..Loverboy!!

Raj:Pakka??

Jiya:Pakka...