Like I said "expect the unexpected", here's the continuation of Part 8 and as I am updating in just one week and few days which for me is a quite an achievement😆 considering I took close to three months for the last one. I am sure you must be remembering where we left off. Here is the continuation part...😊
PART 8
(Continue from page 51)
"You are safe Riddhima..I am here only. I am not going anywhere" he whispered with his soothing words, kissing her forehead as he felt her tears on his chest. He embraced her in his arms till her shivering subsided. Looking down when he felt her no more crying, his heart melted at the sight in front of him. She was holding on to him, like a small child afraid to leave. The frown on her forehead told him how scared she was and he was nowhere near her when she needed him the most.
"Armaan he..he is here..." she whispered in an audible voice. Noticing the tremble in her voice, he held her more tightly; giving her the protection and warmth she needed at this moment.
"Who?" He asked. Although he knew the answer himself, he still wanted to conform from her. The moment Abhi told him about his arrival, he knew something was definitely up to his sleeves but harming Riddhima, never even crossed his mind.
"Sahil.." Riddhima whispered after a pause. "He is here.... he... he..he took me to the room..and he...Armaan please don't leave me....mujhe bahoot darr lag raha hai.." she clenched on to him as fresh tears rolled down her eyes.
"shhhh..Riddhima..bas..Main hoon na..don't cry ...shhhh..."Holding her tightly, he tried calming her down as he noticed her going hysterical.
"Armaan..he'll be back..voh mujhe nahin choodega..Armaan..tum please mujhe chodh ke mat jaana.." she was speaking to herself in almost a whisper. He wanted to kill Sahil for doing this to her. His heart pierced watching her so helpless, so scared. Never had he saw her so broken, not even when Rahul betrayed her before marriage. Not even when he forced her into this marriage, not even when she got to know the truth about Sahil but today- he wanted to ask her what happened between her and Sahil. He was desperate to know what happened in the last 10 hours that shook her to this level, broke her so much that even his name is sending chills down her spine but for that he needed to calm her down. He had to make her believe in him, he had to gain back her trust- the trust she had lost in him when he couldn't protect her from him. The trust she lost- when he wasn't by her side, when she needed him the most. At the time of marriage he had taken vows of protecting her - so what if don't share the proper husband-wife relationship, he was her responsibility and he failed to protect her.
Feeling her hold getting loose, he looked down and found her sleeping. The dry tears were still visible on her cheeks. Wiping them off her cheeks lightly not waking her up as he knew she was not in deep sleep, he held her till she fell into a deep slumber. Laying her back, he covered her with the duvet and went out of the room.
"Hello..Abhi..yeah, I need to talk to you.. no she is not fine. ...Sleeping right now. Can you come to my room..Yeah now.. Okay.." ending the call he sat on the couch, pressing his temples as he closed his eyes. After what happened today, he couldn't leave her alone. That was the reason of calling Abhi in his room. He didn't know what was happening to him, the feelings he had locked deep inside his heart were slowly getting unlocked. Feelings that he had so successfully hidden all this time were overpowering him and he couldn't do anything to stop it. At one side was Riddhima who was slowly overpowering his heart. He didn't want to appear weak in front of her but her actions and behaviour were stirring feelings inside him, the feelings he was running all this while. The other part was his brain- that made him where he is right now. The brain that had a solution to all his problems, which was never weak in front of anything or anyone- that brain was betraying him. Now it was his heart taking decision for him, the man who had kept emotions as the last thing affecting him was getting affected just by looking at her. His heart skipped a beat on seeing her face every morning and before closing his eyes. He had started sleeping after her just to see her angelic face. He started getting up before her just to see her. His day went incomplete without looking at her smile. The smile he never saw in front of him. The smile he saw only when he was not around. What was all this? LOVE..NO, he can't be in love with her, he can't love her. But why? And there was no answer to this question. The past few weeks had changed his perception towards her, his heart was telling him- Believe her but what about his mind. Did he want to believe her and the answer was ' YES. So why can't he? Coz there was a part of him who as much as he tried was stopping him from going on this path.
"Hey..."Abhi entered the room, exhausted to the core. First the jet lag followed by Riddhima's incident and handling police. He sat on the couch, taking his glasses off and closed his eyes.
"You want something" Armaan asked sitting beside him.
"just water..I am dead tired man.." Armaan nodded and got up. Abhi stretched his muscles, taking the glass from his hand as he settled on the couch.
"So...Now what?" Abhi asked.
"It's him only."Armaan replied as he nodded. "She is too scared to say anything more. I don't know what happened back between them. She is not in the state to say anything and I can't force her right now." Abhi nodded.
"So what do you want me to do?" Abhi looked at him. He could see the tension on his face, in his voice. The last couple of hours have strengthened his doubts about Armaan and Riddhima. He knew Armaan's stubborn nature of denying his feelings especially in matters of love but what he saw couldn't be ignore. From Riddhima's side, he wasn't sure as he clearly knew everything about them, about their past and he knew it will take time for her to move on but Armaan's feelings, he had never seen him so vulnerable, last few hours were a proof of this. How much he deny, how much he tell himself it's nothing, they both knew it was more than that.
"I want him at any cost.." Armaan said. "I know him very well Abhi, we have a long history behind us, he'll be back and this time we need to be prepared. Usne jo Riddhma ke saath kiya. I can't see her like this..." he whispered the last line to himself not realizing that Abhi had heard him. It was wrong to say that Abhi wasn't happy, he was happy to finally see his friend moving on in life, finally getting the love he lost coz of them. But till Sahil is around, he won't let them live in peace and this time Abhi didn't want to take any chance. He would do anything to save them, to protect them and stand beside them.
"Don't worry about him Armaan, we will get a hold on him soon. You just take care of Riddhima. She needs you right now and I don't think it will be good to leave her alone." Armaan nodded slightly looking into space. He won't tell but Abhi knew he needed some time alone and even he was dead tired to think clearly, so he left the room giving the space he wanted. It was going to be a long night for all of them, especially for Armaan.
Slowly opening the bedroom, he moved towards her and sat beside her on the bed. The duvet was about to fall of the bed and a smile played on his lips remembering his wife's ways of sleeping which for some may be irritating but he found it adorable. How every night, he has to get up and cover her up as she has the habit of throwing off the duvet. He remembered how for the first time, when they shared a bed together though he just said it as a joke knowing her nature, she was snuggled beside him, holding him tightly as she had thrown off the duvet and feeling cold, she had moved closer to him. It was only when Armaan opened his eyes late at night to check upon her; he saw her sleeping holding onto him. He couldn't sleep after that knowing she was beside him. He was looking at her through the night. Her soft breath and her lips touching his neck were evoking his senses. He had a strong urge to kiss her, feel her soft lips on his. Only he knew how he controlled himself but the way she ran towards the couch, fell, and got up before he notices and how she pretended to be sleeping on the couch brought him back to earth. The physical urge he felt a second back vanished and if it wasn't for the pillow and the duvet, he was sure she could have easily noticed him laughing behind her.
"Beep..Beep.." hearing the phone beeping he checked his phone. It wasn't his cell and noticed her bag on the side table. Taking the phone out, he checked it and saw an msg from an unknown number. Still in a dilemma to open or not, he finally pressed the green button.
"Hey...beautiful..missing me" he read the msg and it didn't took him long to guessed who was the sender. Looking at her, he clenched the phone tightly in his hand and moved out to the balcony. Copying the number to his cell, he deleted the msg from her cell knowing the after affects of the msg on her. He just hoped they'll catch him soon before it's too late.
"I should have stopped her there" He thought, looking at the sky. "Knowing his character, I should have never allowed her to go with him. At some point even I am responsible for her condition" he said reminding himself how restless he was the whole night after watching them together. Coming back, he looked at her one last time and making sure she was okay moved towards the couch.
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Taking the breakfast tray in his hand he entered the bedroom and saw her sitting on the bed looking in space. Feeling someone's presence, she looked at him and saw him standing at the door. Plastering a smile on her face, she smiled weakly at him as he entered inside. He smiled back knowing how hard she was trying to act normally but her face was too expressive to hide anything from him.
"Hey..Good morning" Armaan whispered, keeping the tray in front of her as he sat beside her.
"Good morning" Riddhima replied in almost a whisper with a forceful smile. Looking at her hands in her laps, it was getting difficult for them to initiate a conversation. Yesterday, none of them were in a state of mind of thinking correctly. It wasn't like she didn't remembered what happened last night- the way Armaan supported her, sat beside her, assured her, it was fresh in her mind but today was again the same- the awkwardness was back.
"Thank you..." Riddhima said after a pause, looking down. Not getting any response, she looked up and saw confusion in his eyes "for last night..." she completed. The change in expression didn't go unnoticed by her- she saw sadness in his eyes. "Why is he sad? Coz I thanked him." she didn't knew what to interpret from this.
Armaan on the other hand wasn't expecting this; she was thanking him for last night. Was their relationship so formal that she needed to thank him? He is her husband for God's sake but did he ever try to acknowledge the relationship...NO, so how can he expect her. He didn't know what to reply.
The silence was killing him; so many things happened in the last few hours that it was difficult for him to comprehend where this relationship stands. Have they reached the level where he can call her his wife- in front of everyone else- YES but what about him- the answer was NO, are they friends and the answer was same NO then what name should he give to their relationship- Strangers NO, friends NO, lovers NO, husband-wife NO. He couldn't think of any relationship that can tell what actually they are.
Feeling loss of words, he tried changing the topic as he noticed the breakfast in front of them, untouched.
"Why don't you finish the breakfast and then we can go out ....only if you want?" He asked hoping to hear a "yes". Sitting in the room won't help any of them, Riddhima will keep thinking about the incident and he'll be sitting on the couch, looking at her all the day. Maybe going out will change her mood and his too.
Riddhima nodded weakly, taking the toast in her hand as she saw him going to the washroom. After last night, she was sure about one thing- Armaan won't let anything happen.. Just like last time when he had saved her from Sahil.
Getting ready, both left the rooms and moved out. Riddhima was walking behind Armaan looking at the ground, still in some thoughts. Feeling something in her hand, she slowly looked up as she noticed his hand holding hers. She looked at him but he was not looking at her instead he was walking ahead holding her hand tightly. As soon as they came out of the room, Armaan turned and looked at her but found her thinking about something. Not knowing what made him do this, but his hand instantly locked hers as he took her along with him. He knew she was looking at him but he kept looking straight pretending to be not a big deal. But the reality was- it was a big deal for both of them. Riddhima wasn't expecting this and Armaan, he was behaving in a way he had never imagined himself.
Sitting in the cab she had no idea where they were heading. She was sitting at one end looking out of the window. Armaan was sitting at the other end looking at her from the corner of his eyes. Watching her calm and not crying anymore, brought a smile on his face. For him, it was a long time since he saw her smiling. Feeling her turning around, he quickly shifted his gaze outside.
"Armaan..Where are we going?" she asked looking at him. He didn't reply and just continued to look outside.
"Armaan...." she asked not getting any response from him. The car stopped and as she looked outside, there was this million dollar smile. The smile he was dying to see on her face and that was the reason he wasn't telling her before.
Riddhima had not expected this at all. Armaan taking her out and bringing her to her choice, what she wanted to see and not his- what was happening to him? She looked at him and saw the dimpled smile on his face. Something, even she was noticing after a long time.
"you liked it..." he asked coming closer to her. Riddhima blushed looking down and nodded weakly. She looked up and noticed something else in his eyes. It wasn't just the concern that she saw last night but more than that or she was so preoccupied with her own miseries that she didn't noticed it. Armaan slowly got down the car and coming to her side opened the door. She couldn't help but smile at his cute antics. Getting out, she stood almost close to him with just the car door coming between them, she slowly looked up at him.
"You like it.." he asked in almost a whisper and she just smiled.
End of Part 8
It's a day after Christmas, it's still cold outside ;P and again nothing major happened in the update but just like we have in serials "It's the silence before the storm" , so I have nothing more to say ;P
Some of you must be dying to kill me for ending it here but the thing is- my mind is too tired to come up with something more, aadat nahin nahi hai itna quick update karne ki so that's why ;P and I don't want to spoil their first date by updating something I am not satisfied with. So ending at this point.
If you have any ideas or suggestions please do mention it, I need it so badly....
I hope you all enjoyed the update.. Will try to squeeze in one more before New Year agar Preet Baba ka aashirwaad raha to ;P otherwise I'll meet you guys next year.
Merry Christmas guys and I pray you all have a very happy and prosperous new year...
God Bless!
Loads of love..
Mel..
PS: New readers can check their names in the Pm list on Page 26, if missed do let me know.😳
PS: A song dedicated to readers who are in shock * few I know very well * and especially to one who reserved the first place again..😛
shock laga laga laga shock laga..
shock laga laga laga shock laga..🤣
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