The World's Oldest Story!! - AR - Page 5

can't wait to see what happens next

Riddhima was late today! As she got out of her car in the parking lot and ran towards the main building, she decided to take a short cut through the Basketball court instead of walking all around it. As she ran across the court a ball hit her head from behind! As soon as that happened, she thought of ARMAAN, and smiled to herself. She turned around and she saw Armaan standing near the hoop with a grin on his face, flashing his dimples at her… she smiled at him dreamily and started turning back… then did a double take!! WAIT! Is that Armaan… She stared at him with her mouth open. As he came towards her he said with the same attitude like the last time, "Can I have the ball please?"

As he winked at her, she heard herself say his name, "Armaan?" she whispered, still unsure if he was actually there.

"Muh toh band karo Basket! Makkhi chali jayegi! I know I am hot, but please meri bhi koi izzat hai! Don't ogle at me like that!", Armaan was loving the play of expressions on Riddhima's face.

As he said this, Riddhima realized that this wasn't a reconstruction from memory, but some new dialogue. Crap! So he's really there. What do I do now! Say something Riddhima… before he thinks you're a dolt!

"What are you doing here?", was all she managed.

"Well, Basket, I am a doctor remember! So main bhi yahan wahi karne aaya hoon jo tum yahan karti ho… duh! Basket I thought you were faster than that!"Armaan just couldn't give her a straight answer. This surprise thingy was the best idea in the world, he thought!

Riddhima had regained her composure by now, though her heart beat frantically to see him actually there!!. She vaguely remembered him telling Muskaan that he may shift to Mumbai, but she didn't think he would join Sanjeevni, "Toh Dr. Mallik, jo kaam karne aaye hain who karne chalein? I am already late for my duty and you are so completely wasting my time!"

Armaan's smile widened at Riddhima's attempt at nonchalance, "Sure Basket! Waise aaj tumhari duty yeh hai, ki tumhe mujhe hospital ka tour karana hai. Dr. Shubhankar ne bataya hai ki you'll be showing me around, so I was waiting for you. Madam, You're almost half an hour late!"

"What! Why didn't anyone tell me?... That you're coming!!... Heck!! why didn't YOU tell me that your coming!", Riddhima started walking towards the building muttering to herself and a little irritated, "…And miss that look on your face?? You looked like a bolt of lightening struck you Riddhima!!", Armaan chuckled following her.

Riddhima showed him around the hospital and introduced him to the hospital staff, and they were done with their little tour by lunch! On their way, they had come across Muskaan and Anjy and Atul. All of them were ecstatic to see Armaan there! Riddhima also introduced Armaan to the senior resident gynecologist in Sanjeevni, Dr. Keerti, who was also in charge of the interns! She had told him how during their internship they would call her 'Hitler' or 'Gabbar', as she was capable of scaring the daylights out of you if you rubbed her the wrong way! Armaan had laughed, but kept that in mind for future reference as she had quite intimidated him in their first meeting itself. He was surprised to learn that Dr. Keerti was married to Dr. Shubhankar! Dr. Shubhankar had been just the opposite of what you would expect from a senior resident cardiologist! He not only laughed at Armaan's jokes but also told him to look out for the hot nurses in Sanjeevni, "I am sure you're gonna have a lot of fun here, Dr. Mallik!" saying so he had winked. Armaan was initially caught on the wrong foot, but soon got comfortable with him. Dr. Shubhankar was right, he thought, the nurses here are quite a dish indeed, and moreover he had already fluttered more than a few hearts!

As they sat in the canteen waiting for their order, Armaan asked Riddhima, "So Basket! Where's Shanky's cabin… I have to meet him tomorrow to get my letter signed… Apparently he's out of town today!"

Both Anjali and Riddhima exclaimed in unison with sheer shock on their faces, "SHANKY!!!" while Muskaan fell off her chair and Atul stared at him wide-eyed and whispered, "Dude! You're so screwed!!"

"What, what did I say? I was talking about the Head guys, Dr. Shashank Gupta, what's wrong? I've heard he's quite a pain!! Is it true?", Armaan had no clue as to why they were overreacting. He looked around at all of them.

"Armaan you're disgusting!", Riddhima was seething. She just got up and left while Anjali glared at him and said, "Atul please shut him up before I punch the daylights out of him!!"

"But...",Armaan started retaliating but was cut short by Atul.

"Bhai mere, why don't we talk about this later… Come I'll show you his cabin...", saying so Atul dragged Armaan out of the canteen before Anjali could execute her plan.

"Basket I am sorry yaar! How was I supposed to know that Shanky… I mean Dr. Gupta is your Dad! I know I should have made the 'Gupta' connection but Gupta is such a common surname!!", Armaan was like digging his own grave. "Armaan have you lost it… its like you've taken upon insulting my family today! You know what, I don't want to talk to you at all… and please don't call again unless you want me to come over to your place and personally murder you!", Riddhima was mad at Armaan! She was in no mood for any kind of conversation with him. When he had called that night, she had ignored his calls… but stubborn that he was, he did not give up and finally Riddhima was forced to talk to him, only to be insulted again… 'what has gotten into him', she thought. He was so different from the Armaan she had met in Goa… how could he be so insensitive. She had seen him flirt with almost everything that was female, except sister Lovely, when she had showed him around the hospital. She was extremely irritated by his frivolous behaviour. She had seen him flirt in Goa too, but they were on a vacation then,... it was a different setting. She would've never thought he would flirt in a hospital. He also dressed almost like he was on vacation, casual denims and a double shirt with his top two buttons undone... thank God he left his shorts at home, she thought. After all that, he had flirted some more with Muskaan, and discussed the H.Q. (hotness quotient) of the female interns with Atul, before Di had kicked him hard on the shins! But the last straw was when he had openly insulted her Dad. How could he say things like that about him without even meeting him! So what if he had heard stories about him when he was in college and had probably attended a few of his lectures… but that certainly didn't give him a right to call him whatever he felt like, especially in front of Di and her… 'He didn't know he was your Dad!', she gave him the benefit of the doubt, but was still angry with him. All in all, if she was surprised by his presence in the morning, it was nothing to the surprise she felt at his behavior. It was like she had never known him! Who was this guy??

Riddhima didn't want to talk to him at all. Today was a bad day with words he thought. Everything he said, was coming out wrong! He obviously hadn't known that Shanky!!!….. 'There I go again...', he thought. "Dude!! If you wanna be alive then you'll have to stop calling him that, warna Basket tujhe kacha chaba jayegi! ", he admonished himself again. But why the hell was she so angry! I mean, he didn't know that Dr. Gupta was her Dad. Would he have made such a stupid mistake if he'd known? How did that 'Bhuddha khusat' turn out to be Basket's dad anyway!! He remembered the time in college, when Dr. Gupta used to take guest lectures in neurology. Dr. Gupta had despised Armaan the minute he'd set his eyes on him. That was only because, the first time he'd met Armaan, Armaan had almost banged into his car… and zoomed off without bothering to apologize! 'what could I have done if that little kid decided to come in my way! Besides I was getting late for his lecture only!', he scowled as the incident replayed in his mind. That day onwards Dr. Gupta had come to hate him. He had inquired about Armaan to all the professors, who had added fuel to the fire and whined about how he was a troublemaker and had given a lot of inside dope on Armaan's 'Bike racing' and 'Street fighting' ways with sadistic alacrity. Whenever he came to Kasauli, Dr. Gupta had given him the deadliest of glares, and Armaan returned the glare most of the times… Now he was repenting giving him those deadly glares… he had turned out to be Basket's Dad!! Damn!! But then to think of it, today Basket was behaving like a typical 'Shashankling' would. Then it hit him, she had the same deadly glare! So that s where she gets it from!! Armaan chuckled as he recalled how Riddhima had glared at him every time he had flirted with a nurse or the receptionist today! After a point he was flirting with them only to see the scowl on her face… She looked beautiful today, he thought. Not that he didn't think that she was good looking before, but somehow today she had this other-worldly charm to her. She was so different from the 'Basket' he had met in Goa or who he spoke to on the phone everyday! Who was this girl?? Trying to figure out his feelings he thought to himself, maybe it's the…. what's that again…. haan 'Chudidaar'…. Lol!!!