CONQUEST(AR)part 5 page 13 - Page 9

A secret Revealed

It is beyond midnight. The sky is dark, with twinkling stars hanging and bright moon setting a path on the road. The roads are deadly silent, except for the moving paper scrapes from the gushing air. The roads illuminated by the street lights.

There stood a black van in the corner of a silent area. It stood there perfectly idle, no person on the roads watching it or thinking of it being there as weird. Inside it were people all dressed in black to be suited to the darkness outside.

She threw her head back on the couch closing her eyes,resting them.

~~

"So Miss sharma and Mr. joshi. I hope you are ready for the little chat I want to have with you concerning the boquet you sent me this morning." She spoke coldly as she sauntered in to her room where they sat anticipating for the person who had them brought there with authority. They gulped with awkwardness as they heard her. They knew she had every right to be angry with them for what they had done. They had placed a bet on a person with out their consent and that too which was most disgraceful to any one's dignity. They had anticipated a blunt hatred from her but they were amazed by the way she held her posture. Not too hostile but waiting for an explanation for why she was dragged into something where she didn't belong.

"Ms.Gupta" atul started while rubbing his thumb on the back of his love's hand calming her.

"Riddhima please. Ms.Gupta makes me feel to old"she insisted.

"Riddhima, we are sorry we dragged you into some mess you don't belong to. We are ashamed."he looked at her while she waited for him to continue. He sighed continuing "It was not our intention……"

"Mr.joshi I have already read about that in the letter. The thing I need to know here is why me??" she asked while forwarding their coffee cups to them. They nodded silently taking the cup.

Anjali knew it was her time to speak, atul couldn't be the only one to take care of the mess she has created. "It was my fault, only my fault" she looked at riddhima in her eye. Riddhima looked at her curiously.

"Armaan, the person I placed the bet with………." She explained with the motion of her hands. "he is what people here consider as the ideal person.he is very polite to everyone, treats every one with grace but he is not that person that every one thinks. He is a womanizer and rude. He likes to taunt people. Take happiness from their misery. I am one such person he loves to taunt and it's because I know his truth . So last night he was doing the same thing. Saying how no one could resist his charm,me too if only I didn't know his womanizer ways and all. I…I .."

"So you wanted to prove that wasn't the case so you placed a best to charm someone selected by you." Riddhima completed for her.

"Hmm….ya…..and I saw you talking to the Khurana's you seemed strong.hmm…damn... sorry that's how you were included the mess" pleading riddhima to understand.

Riddhima nodded understandingly,but that doesn't mean she approved of it. She knew how it must have felt to anjali to be continuously aimed at by armaan but that doesn't mean she had to drag someone she doesn't know in to a mess where they don't belong. Now she has to face armaan. He would be looking in to her and soon they would come face to face. She knew that. She has never seen armaan but having heard about him now just brought goosebumps. She knew how help less anjali felt to be not be able to reveal the truth of armaan as no one would believe her. Riddhima wanted to ask anjali of how she came to know of the truth but realizing it might be something personal she stopped herself. She wasn't the one to get too personal with people until she trusted them and the she knew the same extended to others too.

"Seems like you have attracted trouble once again riddhima…..really a magnet for…" sid chuckled behind her as she pondered. She shot him a glare which shut him but not his twitching lips. She rolled her eyes at him getting up. "Thanks Mr.Joshi and Ms.Sharma. for clearing that up for me. However it is too much for me to digest right now. I will be taking care of this situation now."

"We will like to help you in any way if you need us to." Atul suggested.

"Well,…I don't know about that right now. But I will surely call you if I need you. And thanks for being patient and sorry if my people scared while picking you up"

"It was nothing, we were the one who brought this mess.we are sorry for it but would like to help in any way you need to."

"Thanks. Good day Mr.Joshi and Ms.Sharma" with a nod she left the room leaving them to be escorted by sid.

~~

"Mam we are here." Her drived announced to her as she lay with her eyes closed in her seat.

Riddhima got out the car and moved towards the stairs taking her into the bungalow as the car drove over the driveway to the garage. The house is located in most elite area of the city. It has large number of bungalows beautifully designed for the wealthy one. The bungalow is situated at the center with a garden at the front and a well mowed lawn on the other side. The greenery added beauty to the lightly creamed building at the center. The house was no Victorian style but is beautiful with it's contemporary design, with two storeyes, shaped hexagonally,a porch with high steps. The relaxing chairs in the porch and the lawn, also a swing, with hanging poles.

"Riddhima you look tired" she was approached by a worrying lady.

"Yes, Padma aunty. I am ,hard day at work. Is she asleep."

Padma was no distant or close relative but was closest to her. Padma at a young age fell in love, got pregnant and lost her love. She had her daughter shilpa at 17 and as fate might have decided was brought close to the Gupta family. Shilpa grew up in the gupta house and had become closest friend to riddhima, more like a sister. Now shilpa got married to sid and so padma lived with riddhima looking after her. She took care of the house and people in it.

"Yes,she is. You might as well get to bed. I was just doing that myself."

"Yes aunty, that's what I am doing. Goodnight" she pecked her on the cheek and left.

~~

A warm bath loosened the joints in her body. As the water striked her, the tension in her body left her. She massaged herself of the pain in her joints from all the tension they held. Once she felt refreshened she turned her shower off, she dried herself off and dressed into her silky night dress thoughtless. She had kept all her thoughts at bay. She just wanted to sleep peacefully. Tying her wet hair she got into her bed pulling her covers. She snuggled deeper into her bed for comfort closing her eyes, her eyelids dropping with sleep on them. She sighed "hmm.."at her soft cushions a content smile on her face.

Bababaababababba……..

She sat down on her bed startled. As she registered the cries, she scrambled out of her bed the covers twisting in her legs. As the cries grew hysterical she guffawed impatiently kicking off her covers and took off to the room beside her.

"Shh…..baby ……hush little one, hush little one" she cooed to the small body in her arms as it calmed down, slowing doing to whimpers. "Hmm….i think I will have no sleep little one….."riddhima said as she watched the little ones eyes fluttering not willing to go to sleep…………