New FF~THE LOVE THING~Part 11, page 52 updt03/06 - Page 38

PART 11

Abhimanyu's eyes narrowed as he took in Prithvi standing next to Damini. He didn't understand what they were doing together so he decided to ask.

"What are you two doing here?" Abhimanyu asked nonchalantly and saw a faint blush creep up Damini's cheeks. He hid a smile and looked at Prithvi, who had furrowed his brows.

"A….ahem" Damini cleared her throat but before she could reply, Prithvi replies, "We are here for lunch" and Damini gapes at him.

"What about you Doctor?" Prithvi asks Abhimanyu and he smiles.

"For lunch too….Dami Ila aunty had set me up with some girl" he replies to Prithvi and then tells Damini the reason why he was here and hears her gasp.

"She set me up with you?" Damini looks at him shocked and Prithvi's brows furrow and Abhimanyu looks at her in shock.

"What?" he asks her again and without realizing that Prithvi was listening intently to each and every word of hers, she tells Abhi how her mom thought that she needed to date more and had told her that she had set her up with a nice guy. Hearing this, Abhimanyu bursts into laughter.

"I don't believe this" he shakes his head, laughing at being set up with Damini.

"Me either" Damini smiles.

"Oh well…..now that all this is sorted, I am off…..Dami….don't forget about the presentation tomorrow……at lunch" he gets up, hugs Damini and waves his bye to Prithvi and leaves.

"Lets sit" Damini urges Prithvi, who is standing as stiff as a rod.

"What was all this about?" he asks her as soon as she settles in her seat.

"Oh that….nothing" she waves away his question and starts looking at the menu.

"Miss Gujral…..this is not nothing…..why did you get me along when you had a preset date?" he questions her.

"Prithvi….stop over reacting…..it was one of Mumma's ideas and anyways it has nothing to do with you" she tells him and watches his eyes narrow.

"If you didn't notice……it was very embarrassing for me to be dragged along on your date" he quotes with his fingers and that angers Damini.

"What date are you referring to Prithvi……it was just a misunderstanding…..and do you have to make an issue about it?" she whispers angrily.

"It is an issue…..you drag me here to meet someone …..what for? Were you scared that how he would look and then just ignore him and walk away? Or if he looked fine, you'd remember this meeting out of the blue and tell me off?" he asks equally angry.

"What is your problem?" Damini asks, trying hard to control her temper, which was about to explode.

"What is yours?" Prithvi retorts and sits back, his arms crossed over his chest. This action of his made his shirt tighten over his well toned body, which does not go amiss by Damini. She gives herself a mental kick for looking at his body, which should be of no interest to her as he was a mere employee.

"Look….Prithvi…..I totally forgot about it OK…..and I did not want to do this….so I was going to cancel anyways" she told him frankly and Prithvi looked into her eyes and saw the truth reflect in them and let out a deep breath.

"Fine…..but please don't use me as your bodyguard the next time" he tells her and Damini looks at him surprised.

"Excuse me…..I don't need a bodyguard ok…..I can take care of myself" she says, her temper coming back in full force.

"It doesn't seem to be the case" he shrugged nonchalantly, which threw Damini over the edge.

"Look Mr. Saxena…..I am trying to be nice to you but that really doesn't seem to be working well…..first you make an issue about this…….this meeting thing and now you think that I need a bodyguard and that too you?" she looks at him and scoffs.

"Miss Gujral" Prithvi's eyes flash fire and he comes a little closer, his voice soft, " there is no need to be nice to me……especially since you are doing this out of guilt…….this idea…..meaning the lunch thing….was yours…..so I don't know why you are getting so upset……as for the bodyguard thing…..I just said what it looks like" he snapped and both Damini and Prithvi looked at each other with fire in their eyes.

"Excuse me Mam……would you like to order something?" the waiter stops by the glaring couple's table.

"Yeah…..give me a second" Prithvi answers and starts looking at the menu.

"No thank you……we were leaving…..I am not hungry" Damini says politely to the waiter who looks from one to the other.

"I am hungry" Prithvi retorts and starts looking at the menu, ignoring Damini's snort of anger.

"Fine…..then enjoy your lunch…..alone" she snaps and stands up, ready to leave.

"Fine….at least I'll eat in peace" he shrugs, without looking up at her and continuing to peruse the menu.

Hearing his reply, Damini storms off towards her car and Prithvi raises his eyes heavenwards.

"Not a single meal I have eaten in peace since I have met this spitfire" he mumbles to himself and gets up, politely apologizing to the waiter and following Damini.

"You needn't have disturbed yourself" she throws at him and he simply takes his seat, not willing to talk to her.

"You really are rude …..I shouldn't even try to be" Damini starts when Prithvi turns towards her.

"You know what…..you shouldn't try……I don't think it's worth the effort" Prithvi throws back at her and Damini looks at him askance. She couldn't believe the attitude he was giving her and that set her teeth on edge. Without another word, she drove at breakneck speed towards the Gujral Mansion and dropped Prithvi at the stud farm and sped away without even a look back.

Prithvi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had messed up big time. Not only had he given her some attitude but had been unnecessarily rude to her. He couldn't help it. He had been so taken aback by her friendliness and the lunch offer that he had said yes without thinking.

When they had met Abhimanyu, Prithvi had realized that he was stepping way out of his league and it had made him angry on himself. He should have said no to her but the fact that she had used him to get out of the lunch date had hurt him considerably. Above all that he found her irresistible was no help to him.

"Look Prithvi…..this was the best way" he told himself and walked towards the stud farm to busy himself with work and forget the hurt in her eyes which was haunting him.

"Nikki….you should have asked me….not her" Armaan's blue eyes were blazing fire at his best friend and looking daggers at Ridhimma whose spine straightened at his tone of voice.

Before Nikki could reply, Ridzi stepped forward, "Why…..you are not the only one who is good at anything Dr. Malik…..there are other people who are better" her grey eyes matched the fire in his blue ones.

"Oh please…..how are you teaching her? By telling her to say, "Romeo….Romeo?" Armaan mimicked the Shakespearean dialogue.

"Armaan please don't be rude" Nikki comes between her two glaring friends.

"I am not rude Nikki….but to tell you the truth….I don't think she can help" he says pointedly which irritates Ridzi.

"You think you can help her?" Ridzi asks stepping between Nikki and Armaan.

"Yes…..much better than you can" he snaps and that irritates Nikki to no end.

"Stop it you two……why do you have to argue about everything…..I don't need either of you….so just leave" she tells them off and Armaan and Riddhima stop glaring at each other and look at Nikki in shock.

"Yourself?" they both speak at the same time and Nikki nods.

"No way" they say it together again and give each other an irritated glare.

"Everyway…..now get going" she pushes both of them out of the conference room and slams the door in their face.

A shocked Armaan turns to face an equally shocked Riddhima. "This is all you fault" he snaps and Ridzi scoffs.

"This time it's your own fault…..if you didn't run me down but tried to work as a team instead, you would be helping your friend…..you should have thought about her" she tells him maturely and Armaan hates her even more for making sense.

"Fine…..but next time don't try to jump between us" he says rudely and Ridzi shakes her head, "Next time….try to think about your friend first…..and yourself second" she advises him and walks away.

"Whatever" Armaan mumbles to her retreating back and proceeds to knock on the conference room door. Nikki opens it to shut it again in his face.

"Wait….wait Nikki….she is gone…..now I can help you" Armaan tells her, trying to step inside but Nikki pushes him out.

"No thank you" she closes the door again on his face.

Armaan knocks again and Nikki rolls her eyes. She opens the door slightly and before he can utter a word, she raises her hand, "Armaan…..scoot…..I don't need your help…..I can manage to do this on my own…..please leave" saying this she closes the door on his face.

Armaan purses his lips. This girl didn't understand…..it was Modi she had to give the presentation to and he would rip her apart if she didn't do a good job. Now come what may, he needed to help her, so he knocks again.

Nikki throws her hand in the air. She was going to kill Armaan. He needed to leave and let her practice in peace. She opens the door and before she can say a word, Armaan lifts both his hands in the air and stops her.

"I know…..I know you are mad at me….but Nikki it's Modi you should be worried about….he will rip your presentation…..let me help" he says and Nikki smiles.

"Thanks for worrying Armaan…..but I need to do this myself……I know I can do it….so don't worry" she tells him and Armaan starts to protest but she pleads at him with her eyes and he sighs and gives up.

"Fine" he says, "but if you need me you know where to find me" he gives her a warm smile and turns to leave.

Nikki closes the door and sighs. She needed to do a good job of this. She had to prove to Modi that she could do anything she set her mind to. She moves towards her presentation when there is another knock on the door.

"What now?" Nikki mumbles and opens the door to see a sheepishly grinning Armaan standing there.

"What? I told you…" Nikki starts at him, irritation lacing her voice.

"I know ….I know Nikki…..just wanted to say all the best ….and look….do not…I repeat….do not take help from that… ..that girl….she knows nothing and would teach you nothing…..if you need help I'll…" a totally exasperated Nikki shuts the door on his face.

She had had enough. Instead of helping her, her friends were making it even more difficult for her by fighting like two spoilt kids. Nikki sighed. Well, Riddhima was actually trying to help but Armaan…..she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

She walked to the water bottle lying on the table and started to take a sip of water, thinking that if Armaan knocked once more, she would hit him…..yeah…that sounded like a good idea….and then there was another knock.

"Go away" she yelled, her hand tightening around the water bottle. Why was Armaan pestering her so much?

The knock was a little louder and urgent this time. "Armaaaaan" Nikki growled and threw open the door and poured the water from the bottle in her hand on the person standing before her and started, " I told you I can handle the presentation and to stop pestering me……I can handle Sadu Modi" she said in a raised voice and stopped dead, her eyes widening at the sight before her.

Instead of the blue eyes she had expected would confront her, dark pools of shock looked at her and Nikki slapped her hand to her mouth and took an instinctive step back when the shock in those black eyes turned to barely controlled anger.

"Oh god….oh god…..am …am so sorry Abhi….I thought…I…are you mad…I mean…of course you are….am soooooo sorry….I thought it was Armaan….he was pestering me…am sorry" Nikki apologized profusely, thinking how in the hell had she not seen that it wasn't Armaan but Abhimanyu she had drenched.

"Can't you see the difference Princess?" he asked angrily, wiping the water off his face.

"Am sorry….oh god your shirt is wet too" Nikki looked at what she had done and saw that she had drenched his face, hair and shirt. He had tried to wipe the water from his face but his hair and shirt were something he would be really mad about.

"Oh you noticed" he looked at her irritated and noticed that she was biting her lip and wringing her hands and he knew she was nervous.

"Am sorry….I….why don't I…..you know what….give me your shirt and I will try to get it dry" Nikki spoke without thinking and her hand moved to wipe the water from his hair and Abhimanyu stood for a second in absolute shock. Had she actually stood on her toes and put her hand through his hair?

As her hand unbuttoned the first and then the second button, he caught those soft hands in his strong ones.

"Stop Nikita" his voice was barely audible but since she was standing so close to him and actually taking off his clothes, Nikki snapped out of her craziness and lifted wide and shocked eyes to him.

"I….I was just …tr..trying to help" she whispered equally softly.

"How Princess? All you are doing is taking my clothes off" he told her and Nikki took her hands off his shirt in embarrassment and Abhimanyu let go of her soft hands slowly.

"Am s…sorry….I " Nikki put her hands on her flushed cheeks and closed her eyes, trying to hide the embarrassment she was feeling and turned away to compose herself.

"Don't worry I won't melt…..but hopefully you will splash the water on the right person" Abhimanyu lets her off and Nikki nods a yes and then a quick no.

"Meaning you will still throw it at me?" he questioned her, at the same time moving his shirt as if to dry it.

"No….No…..of course not….I w…won't throw it at you" Nikki answered with difficulty. It was actually getting hot in here. The man was fanning himself and because of the two buttons she had helped open, he had the top three buttons of his shirt opened and Nikki was finding it difficult to snatch her gaze away.

Why was she actually staring at him, she had no idea. She lifted to meet his gaze and saw a half smile curve his face.

"Like what you see?" his eyes laughed at her and his tone turned husky.

"I…..what?" Nikki asked shocked and took two steps back, banging her back on the corner of the table.

"Uffff……oh god" she clutched her back in pain.

"Watch it Dr. Nikita" Abhimanyu warned, obviously enjoying her discomfort.

"L….Look…..why are you here?" she snapped at him rubbing her back and he raised an eyebrow in reply.

"Wonderfully pleasant you are…..look princess…..am here for the presentation" he snapped, the laughter disappearing from his eyes and he takes a seat next to her computer.

"Am….not ready yet" she lifted troubled eyes at him.

"So sorry…..now start" he tapped his feet impatiently.

"D….don't you want to change…..your shirt….it…it's wet" she pointed out to him.

"How does it matter? Am fine….anyways it will dry off soon" he replied and then his eyes narrowed, "Does it by any chance…..bother you?" he asked, watching her expressions like a hawk.

"N…No" she lied and turned her back and hid her trembling hands under the pretext of fumbling with the computer.

Abhimanyu understood very well that it was bothering her but he could care less. The thing he had to worry about was why did her closeness bother him so much…..this was not the sign of the man who was disinterested in the spoilt young lady before him.

Of course it bothered her. The male specimen sitting with a wet and almost unbuttoned shirt was hard to give a presentation to as she was trying to keep her eyes away from the fine body she was getting glimpses off. Here she had proclaimed to him that she didn't like him at all but her eyes were glued to his neck.

With difficulty Nikki started her presentation and Abhimanyu rolled his eyes at the end.

"You have put it together pretty well…..but you need more confidence and voice inflection…..you sound boring" he told her and Nikki looked at him sharply.

"Am boring…..then find someone interesting and ask them to do the stupid presentation" she threw her sheet of paper at the desk and glared. Abhimanyu jumped up and strode purposefully towards her and pulled her close to him.

"Stop with this attitude already…..get it…..you get this straight once and for all….you are doing this tomorrow and I don't want to hear another word about giving it to anyone…..so keep practicing and I will see you at 6….you better be ready" saying this he pushed her away and walked out leaving Nikki gaping at him.

He turned at the door and looked at her unblinking for a full minute and then said, " Ask Dr. Ridhimma to help….she is very good at this…..maybe you will learn something" and left with the parting shot and for an unfathomable reason, Pain at his last words, shot through her. He had the power to hurt her.

first one to read and comment.

res.......

Thnx so much for th eupdate dear. I love you so much for this.

I enjoyed this update a lot, So Prithvi and Damini are arguing but don't why they hurting each other and get hurt by each other act. Lovely turn in their story

AR uffo well i always found that they never want any topic to fight on and can fight on anything even they themselves don't know why they r fighting.

Well from all other couples i always find AN never equalize each other in arguing and fighting. Abhi always have edge above from Nikki. Also Nikki always hell out nervous infront of him that she have to fight more from herself than him.😆 abhi always enjoyed her nervous and yes u r right have the power to hurt not only emotionally but more than that. He is harsh, rough and rude all three to her but still we like them. Thats something unsual in AN from other which i found and i always found his ego is much bigger than anything else in world.Throwing water on Abhi is a fav job of Nikki, if i count she done that 2 times in DMG and one time in Mich ff and 4th time in ur update😆

I was in split when she is unbuttoned him and forget what she is actually doing. She automatically acting wierd in frotn of him that u take it to form a new ff in AN WC.

Love

Shale