Armaan just grabbed her hand and pulled her in the rain, while she allowed herself to be led in a dazed state. She couldn't believe that the otherwise quiet and calm Armaan, who never took impulsive decisions and always listened to the head when the heart and the head were at war, was actually asking her to dance in the rain.
'Okay, stop spooking me out with that face now. Did you really think that I was such a boring guy?', Armaan asked with a teasing smile playing on his lips.
'Yes', shilpa replied without thinking. Armaan's jaw fell and he stared at her incredulously.
'No, I mean, I thought you were calm and you know, level headed and kind of serious so..' shilpa continued hastily, to undo the damage already done.
He smiled at her childish attempt to cover it up. It meant that she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She cared for him. Somehow, that made him feel good about himself.
'Well, you're right. I'm quite the serious guy, but I wasn't so serious before. Ridhima changed my life and behaviour. I don't know if it was for the better or not, but it was a change', he said solemnly. But there was no grief or regret in his voice this time. It seemed that he had genuinely begun to pick the pieces up.
Shilpa smiled and said, 'And I can see signs of another change happening. Who is the one causing it this time, Mr. Mallik?'
Armaan looked at her face as she said it, and thought about her question. Was the reason standing right in front of him?
'Well, I'm still in the process of figuring that one out', he replied after a moment's pause. 'In the meanwhile, can we dance?'
Shilpa nodded and put her hand in his outstretched one. He gently pulled her to himself, 'Hmm, let's see. I'm no shahrukh so I can't spin music out of thin air...why don't we just turn the radio of your car on?'
She chuckled at his remark on SRK and walked towards her car. She turned the FM on and started tuning it to find a good song.
'Stop right there', Armaan said from behind her.
She looked around, 'Are you serious?'
He nodded, 'totally'
The song that he had asked her to stop on was 'Poker Face' by Lady GaGa. Shilpa loved surprises but the tsunami of surprises that Armaan was throwing at her today was really knocking her out.
'Are you a Lady GaGa fan?'
'Yes..I think her music is very interesting'
'Are you sure you don't have multiple personality disorder?'
'Even if I did, I wouldn't know, right?', he replied and winked.
Before she could help it, she chuckled loudly and decided to screw her sensibilities for a while. She walked towards him and they both started dancing like two crazy maniacs in the middle of the parking lot of Sanjeevani.
If someone was watching, they didn't care. The songs went from Poker Face to Anjaana Anjaani to Let it rock to Zor ka jhatka to Sheila ki jawani. They continued to dance without giving two hoots about the rest of the world for hours. It was only when the rain began to thin down and the cold began to set in that they realized how long it had been.
'He-man, I think we should head home now', shilpa said through chattering teeth. Armaan, too, had stopped dancing and nodded at her suggestion, 'you're right. But your car isn't in a good shape, how will we go?'
Shilpa was thoughtful for a while, 'Let me try again, okay?'
He nodded and she walked towards her car. She sat on the driver's seat, turned the blaring music off and tried to start the car once again. In an instance, the engine roared to life and the car was good to go.
Armaan released a sigh of relief and jumped into the passenger seat, 'thank god this thing started. I had already begun to imagine both of us heading back to Sanjeevani to spend the night there'
Shilpa frowned, 'That's the last thing I'd want today'
She pressed on the accelerator and they drove out of Sanjeevani's parking lot.
They were both silent for the most part of the ride, reminiscing the moment they had spent together a few minutes ago. Shilpa still had a smile plastered on her face, the last time she had had so much fun was when she was in class 5. Even though she was someone who lived without any bounds, limits or norms, she had never let herself just be. Maybe she was so busy trying to prove herself over and over again and she had missed out on the little joys that life had to offer.
Armaan, on the other hand, had started to feel a lot freer than before. A few weeks ago, he was a sulking, brooding man. But Shilpa had changed that. He didn't know whether it was a co-incidence or simply destiny, but at this moment, he couldn't be more thankful that he found her.
'Thanks a lot for that dance', said Armaan, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
'I should be the one thanking you; you're the one who pulled me'
He smiled, 'yes, but I don't think I'd have pulled someone else. So in a way, you allowed me to pull you'
She rolled her eyes, 'fine. Acknowledgement duly accepted'
They both chuckled at that and then silence took over again.
'You know, I actually felt happy after a long, long time', said Armaan absent- mindedly after a few moments.
'I'm really happy for you Armaan, you deserve to be happy', replied Shilpa, staring at his face.
'So do you', He finally looked at her and their eyes met. He had almost whispered his reply, but his eyes held so much intensity that Shilpa found it difficult to tear her gaze away. She was feeling the same pull towards him again.
She suddenly heard a loud honk from behind her which jerked them out of their trance. She quickly switched her gaze towards the road ahead and so did Armaan. The car passed by them and the driver passed a few angry remarks at Shilpa.
'Tez nahi chalaani toh left side pe chalao na! Pata nahi kahaan kahaan se aa jaate hain. Gaadi chalaani toh aati nahi...'
He continued to ramble away as he sped off. Armaan looked at Shilpa and Shilpa looked at Armaan. They both burst into laughter at the man's frustrated rant. His anger seemed to have melted the awkwardness between them.
'Keep your eyes to yourself, He-man. Don't try to pull an SRK on me', said Shilpa between laughs.
'Okay, bandit queen. I shall keep that in mind', replied Armaan with a little bow.
They continued to laugh all throughout the remaining journey, completely unaware of what had begun to bud between them.
________________________
Ridhima was in tears by the time she completed recalling her experience with Armaan to Sid. She had just opened her deepest wound and now it was hurting.
'I'm sorry Sid..I'm sorry I didn't talk about this before. I didn't have the strength to. I'm sorry...', said Ridhima between sobs. Sid got up from his chair and walked towards her. He sat down next to her and held her hands.
'Ridhima, I'm just happy to know that you finally let it off your chest. You needed this. And, I just want to say that...I love you. No matter what', he finished with a smile.
Ridhima calmed down after she heard him say, 'I love you'. She slowly wiped her tears and looked up at him, 'you're always going to be there, right?'
He smiled at her again, 'Always'
She nodded and leaned into his arms. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh and finally allowed herself to unload the burden she had carried for almost a year now. It was not going to be okay instantly. It would take time. She knew that. But now that she had opened herself up to Sid, she felt as though they had taken a huge step towards happiness. Together.
Update soon 
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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