A Walk On The Beach..-AR[New Page Link: Page 150] - Page 16

Here's the first installment to Part 10! Please don't kill me after reading it!😆 And comment please! Happy reading!😉

Part 10:- Down Memory Lane...

"Flight no. 404 to Mumbai has been has been delayed further on accounts of bad weather conditions. Any developments on the same will be informed to you'll shortly."

I sighed as I heard the announcement for the second time, as I sat waiting at the check-in lounge...Not that I was very excited to go back anyway! I concentrated on my favourite book-Harry Potter-which I read whenever I was in a rotten mood...But lately even that had been getting on my nerves...Why did all love stories have to either start with a fight, or end with two best friends realizing their love for each other...The latter especially pissed me off! I scowled as I read about Ron and Hermione kissing...It was that and nothing else which made people think that all best friends end up together! And these stupid movies and books were the reason people thought Armaan and I...Ah, well even if people do think that, I would just wish they would have been here right now...Because if Armaan would have been in love with me, he would have at least turned up to say goodbye if nothing else! He didn't even meet me once....! I sighed and frowned as I read Ron and Hermione finally getting together after years of fights and friendship...Being a true Harry Potter fan, I had wished for this to happen, but now it was getting to me...I shut the book frustrated...!

On an impulse, I pulled out my notebook...What better time pass than going down memory lane; Probably it would remind me why I even give a damn about why Armaan didn't come to see me off...Probably it had answers...

I travelled back, rewinding my mind, to the time after I had met Andrea for the first time...I had hated her instantly...My hatred was owed more to the fact that on my first official day in Kings' University, I had found out Andrea was with us there as well, a fact that Armaan had very tactfully hidden, I guess (He didn't look very surprised when he saw her throw her arms around his neck when we walked in together!). But I dealt with her presence, and her annoying new tag ' 'The' Armaan Mallik's girlfriend (which I still think was self-proclaimed by her; I'm pretty sure Armaan never made any such official declaration!). But yes, after a good 3 weeks of casual Friday-night dates, and Saturday-night movies, Andrea 'Angrez' Sinha (or so I called her), had become Armaan Mallik's official girlfriend. Her constant presence in Armaan's life and her spending time in our house on weekends (which I had once thought would be Andrea-free, but so much for my happy thoughts!), did get on my nerves, but Armaan was happy....And so, so was I...

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Flashback: 3 years ago...

Love didn't blossom only between my daft best friend and his blonde girlfriend....I had realized, in contrast to India, people there were pretty quick when it got to dating, and 'ahem-ahem'....Relationships blossomed in every corner of the hallway 2 months into our course...While one of my room-mates-Nikita Khanna, was already in a relationship with someone named Abhimanyu Modi from India, my other room-mate-Alex Grinham, had just begun her relationship with her old college mate Ryan Prescott...Love birds began swarming the corridors and hallways, but my attention had begun to get diverted by a certain Siddhant Mehra, who had become my buddy during those times when Armaan was busy with Andrea....But that still didn't stop Andrea's lovey-dovey behaviour getting on my nerves! And walking into Armaan's room one evening to see the two of them together was surely not a treat to the eyes!

"Ugh, next time, please make sure, you lock your room when you have plans with Andrea...." I said, shutting my eyes, disgusted as that image swarmed into my mind again... "Get out!" I yelled at my stupid brain, to chuck that image out...

"Make sure you knock next time!" Armaan said, rolling my eyes at my reaction...Saying this, he lay down on the grass, as we enjoyed the moist air in the backyard...

"Whatever! I'm not used to knocking on your door!" I took his arm, and opening it, I lay my head on it...Comfortable we both stared up in silence...

"So what's up with you and Sid?" Armaan asked after a while, still staring up...I frowned, confused...

"What's up with us? Well nothing really....Well we were just discussing how he should join in the committee for the Christmas Wee-Winterland Dance...We can use any kind of help we can'" I chattered nonchalantly when Armaan interrupted me...

"Not that way moron...Okay, let me re-frame that...What's up 'between' you and Sid...?" I looked at him as he asked me the question...His face was unreadable, but not expressionless...Well, when had he ever stopped surprising me anyway, I thought....

"I don't know...Nothing...We're friends...Why?" I raised my eyebrows questioningly...

"Nah nothing...Thought something was brewing...You like him?" He asked me again, with the same tone...What did that tone imply, I asked myself...

"Maybe...I mean he is a nice guy...But haven't given him much thought otherwise..." I shrugged and looked at him earnestly....I thought I saw a smile cross his face...

"Ahem...Any chances of something happening?" He asked me, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible...I cocked an eyebrow...

"I don't know...Depends...Remind me why are we having this interrogation session anyway?" I frowned...He shrugged and averted his gaze to the sky again...I followed his lead...

As a cold breeze caused me to shiver, I snuggled closer, leaning my head against his shoulder, and sighed....

"What the hell are you two doing?" A voice boomed behind us, breaking our chain of thoughts....Armaan and I looked at each other, confused, and looked behind us to see Andrea glaring down at us...Then realizing our proximity, we quickly got up and parted...While Armaan nervously anticipated his girlfriend's reaction...I smirked, and decided to play it cool-firstly to lighten Armaan's nervousness, and secondly to annoy Andrea (and make Armaan even more nervous!)...I grinned deviously, then straightening my expressions, I looked at her innocently...

"Armaan why was her head resting on your shoulder...?" Andrea asked again, glaring at me and then turning her deadly gaze towards her boyfriend...Poor guy, I thought...

"Because we were kind of making out...Sheesh, Andrea...Ever heard of 'knocking'? Like we do have some privacy!" I pretended to be offended, got up and went back inside, leaving a horror-striken Armaan at the mercy of Andrea-the Phulan Devi when it came to possessiveness...

I know people would think my prank would be going a step too far...But hey, she deserved that! She has warned Armaan of keeping a 10 feet distance from all girls! Okay, no I was exaggerating again, but hey who cares? I was having fun!

I smirked as I heard Andrea yelling at Armaan and his feeble attempts of calming her down....Peeping from the patio door, I saw him having a light smile on his face, which resulted in Andrea's temper worsening...I chortled...Armaan saw me and gave me a deadly look which kind of said ' 'I'm so coming to get you!'...Shaking my head, and still chuckling mad, I made my way to my room...

"May I ask, what exactly was that?" Armaan barged into my room, looking extremely mad...I had a sudden urge to laugh...I straightened my face and looked at him innocently....

"What was what?" I asked, shrugging, trying to look as innocent and angelic as possible...I knew I was failing!

"Making out? Seriously? Riddhima are you crazy? You can't say stuff like that to my girlfriend...." Armaan raised his hands, exasperated at my behaviour...I smirked....

"Maybe not...But I can't not say such things to daft airheads! C'mon don't deprive me of that entertainment at least! Did you see her face! It was priceless!" I chortled and looking at me, Armaan grinned too...Controlling our laughter, he sat beside me on my bed, both of us still smiling...

"Why? Why do you hate her so much?" He asked me for the billionth time, something he had been asking me ever since we first met her in Burger King, that fateful day...

"I just don't appreciate her existence! That's all! C'mon, she's in med school, when she has the IQ range of a teaspoon!" I said rolling my eyes...

"So you hate her because of that?" Armaan narrowed his eyes at me...I pretended to think...

"Nah...I like interacting with people from my species...Not with species from Planet Blonde, like her!" I shrugged...Armaan sighed, exasperated in surrender....

"I give up..." He said, walking towards the door...Fearing that I had upset him, I caught his arm questioningly, "Where you going?"

"Trying to get my girlfriend back!" He winked and shut the door...I sighed and rolled my eyes....

I got to Uni on Monday morning, after a nice weekend, when I noticed Andrea walk right past me, not even sparing me a glance...That was weird...We weren't the best of friends, but we had always acknowledged each others' presence with sadistic smirks, or deadly glares...Receiving none from her this time, I re-thought over my actions that day...Maybe I had gone a bit too far...She was unfortunately Armaan's girlfriend, as much as I hated that fact....I decided to cut Armaan some slack, and followed Andrea to her locker, to apologize....

"Hey!" I said cheerfully...She ignored me...I rolled my eyes, reminding myself again and again of why I was doing this... "Listen...About last evening...I'm sorry...Maybe I went a bit too far with the joke...I just love annoying the two of you..." I grinned, trying to lighten the situation...Her angry glare, however, took me by surprise...

"It's not your stupid joke which bothered me anyway! What do you think you were doing being so close to him?" Andrea banged her locker shut, only it kept shattering because of the impact of the bang...I raised my eyebrows, shocked at her tone...

"What? Andrea, we weren't doing anything...And what you're thinking isn't even practical...I mean its me and Armaan...Like, he's been my best friend ever since I was born....We don't have any such thing as awkward proximity or anything between us! And besides, I was just resting my head on his arm for support....I wasn't...I didn't...I mean, c'mon it would be uncomfortable lying down upright right?" I said, not knowing how to explain to her...Was she actually doubting mine and Armaan's bond...?

"Firstly, Armaan and you are never 'we'....He's my boyfriend! And who are you kidding Riddhima! Any kind of physical closeness is proximity!" Andrea said a bit too loudly, catching the attention of the passers-by who now stopped to witness the scene...Trying to gulp down my anger, which would do nothing good if it came bursting out, I tried to calm her down....

"Look, Armaan and I are best friends...We don't have anything between us...! We've always been like this, even before you came into our lives! Its nothing more than that!"

"Exactly! It was okay if you did this before I came, but now he's my boyfriend! And since I have the right, I'm requesting you to keep some distance from him from now on...Physical distance! I'm not even asking you to stop talking to him or something! Please at least pay heed to one request of mine! It won't kill you!" Andrea yelled at me....I looked around me to find a group just staring at the scene as if someone had just been killed right before their eyes....Not being able to handle the humiliation, I turned to leave, when I saw Armaan staring at us....I smiled, his presence assuring me that he would say something, would tell Andrea that she was wrong, that there was nothing between us, and to tell her to stop making me look like some sl*t...

But his silence made my heart sink even further...I gave him a pleading look, searching him, trying to pierce those blue-eyes to see what he was thinking, to see if he agreed with all those accusations thrown publicly at me....And I got my answer, when he looked at me, our eyes met...

Not being able to stop my tears anymore, I ran past him, out of the campus, and drove back to my apartment....

[contiued...]

It had been a week since that scene in the hallway had occurred...The showdown between Andrea and me had become the latest gossip, spreading faster than fire by the minute...But that wasn't my concern...I was shocked at the fact that Armaan hadn't objected to me being humiliated that way...Shocked beyond words...But he had apologised...

As if that would change anything, I thought angrily...He should have cleared the air, the misconception...But he hadn't...he had just stood there, listening to crap being thrown at me...But of course, he had become Andrea's puppy...He didn't have enough guts to stand up to her, I muttered spitefully...But the very next minute I regretted it....As much as I tried, my heart would always reprimand my brain when it would say anything against Armaan...Although he hadn't made matters any better for me, when he came to talk to me that night...

"Riddhima, look, I know you're not wrong, but Andrea isn't either....And seriously brought this on yourself....She's my girlfriend, she's bound to react that way if you say stupid stuff!" Armaan said, exasperated...This infuriated me even further...This guy has some audacity!

"So there's nothing wrong in the way she humiliated and insulted me in front of the entire campus! Nothing wrong in the way she indirectly called me a sl*t who had dirty intentions for her boyfriend, who also turns out to be my so-called best friend?" I asked angrily, still not being able to believe Armaan was supporting her!

"Riddhima, you really think I didn't say anything to her about the way she behaved? Of course I did, and she apologized!" I rolled my eyes in mockery, as he continued trying to ignore my sceptical look... "The point is that she wasn't entirely wrong..." Armaan said calmly, trying his level best to not let Riddhima get offended...Riddhima cocked an eyebrow sceptically...

"Oh really? So you agree that I'm a sl*t right?" I said, my voice calm, but yet dripping with anger...Armaan shook his head in disbelief... "Fine then! Let's just do your girlfriend a favour, and stay away from each other! I wouldn't mind looking for another accommodation as well, but then I would have Uncle-Aunty and my parents to answer to! And I'm sure they don't want to know what people think of me! What my so-called best friend thinks of me!" I said, as an angry tear spilled out...I wiped it away furiously...

"Riddhima stop over-reacting dammit! At least try and understand someone else's point of view EVER in your life!" Armaan glared at me, my gaze, however, did not falter...

"Armaan I'm serious! That's what your girlfriend wants, and clearly what YOU want! So please! Just let's end this okay? Cut me some slack!" I muttered bitterly....Armaan looked down in surrender, clenching his jaw, as if to stop himself from saying something... " And just do me one favour, and never promise anything to anyone, when you can't keep them! It hurts real bad!" I continued quietly...He looked up to look into my eyes, and although I tried to keep them as unreadable as possible, I'm sure he read the eons of pain in them...

"Munchkin?" Armaan looked at me pleadingly...I looked away...

"And please shut the door when you leave..." I said, breaking the eye-lock, looking away, wishing he would disappear, this day would disappear...I would disappear...

After shuffling his feet a little, hesitantly, he weighed the best options, and moved out of my room, as I collapsed on the bed, burying my head in my pillow, sobbing my heart out...

If anyone thought that the cold war would end in a day or two, they were so wrong! Because neither did I ever acknowledge Armaan's presence, and neither did he try and come and talk...A month left for Christmas, I being a part of the Events committee, had a lot of work up my sleeve for the Christmas dance, a good diversion....But that still didn't help in shutting my ears when I would pass through hallways, and people would glance towards me and whisper loud enough for me to hear, as if Lindsay Lohan had just walked in...But I had stopped reacting....

Sid, who had been a witness to my frustration about the whole issue, was one of those only people, who actually tried cheering me up, the others being Nikki and Alex...Surprisingly enough, I didn't dread going to Uni as much as I dreaded going back home on weekends...But Armaan had been pretty understanding about that...We had taken to going home only on that weekend, when the other would not be present...I for one, would make sure that Armaan would not be coming home for that particular weekend...The main reason we avoided each other's presence, was so that awkward questions could be spared...Armaan knew I wouldn't be too comfortable if Uncle and Aunty would be witness to our silent treatment towards each other....

"I can't believe it's Christmas already! I mean, I haven't even got time to buy myself anything!" Rhea groaned, as we searched for Christmas presents for everyone...Not that I was in any jolly Ho-ho-ho mood...But Rhea had dragged me to the mall anyway....

"Rhe, Christmas we buy others' gifts...Not ourselves!" I rolled my eyes as I scanned through tees and shirts for Nikki...

"Yeah, but Mum and Dad normally let me buy my own....Because I exchange them anyway! You know I'm choosy!" Rhea grinned...I smiled and shook my head... "So you got one for everyone right? Anyone left?"

"Nope, no one except Sid and Arm'" I stopped, and frowned...Was I supposed to buy him a Christmas present? We hadn't spoken a word ever since our conversation that day almost a month ago...

"Oh my god! Are you and Bro STILL fighting?" Rhea rolled her eyes in disbelief...I chose to remain quiet.... "I don't blame you actually....He was a jerk!" Rhea shrugged....I gave her the look-'I don't wanna talk about it' and thankfully, she chucked the topic after that...

"Anyway, hurry up and buy something for Sid so we can go...Its so chilly, I'm sure a storm's on its way!" Rhea shuddered and I nodded my head in reply...

Moving towards the men's section, I zoomed over shirts, and I nonchalantly picked up one for Sid...I didn't know his choice too well...As I moved towards the cash-in counter, I stopped to look at a watch...And it reminded me of someone...That someone who I was missing the most! The Tommy Hilfiger watch would cost me the remaining money I had left in my normal savings...But heck, it was Christmas! And even more importantly, it was for Armaan!

"What do you plan on wearing to the Christmas dance tomorrow night?" Rhea asked me as we held 5 bags worth of items...

"Surprise surprise!" I winked as we walked out towards her car...Rhea grinned...

"Hmm...And what's up with you and this certain Sid I keep hearing about?" Rhea raised her eyebrows twice questioningly....I gave her a mysterious smile but then chuckled...

"Nothing! We're just going to the dance as friends! None of us found dates!" I shrugged, Rhea gave me a sceptical smile....

"We shall see that!" Rhea grinned giving me a know-it-all smile... "It's Christmas after all!"

That evening, Aunty had cooked a special Christmas Eve dinner; Uncle and she, were going to spend the rest of the week in New Jersey, while the three of us-Armaan, Rhea and me- would be at home for the break...Although I felt like an intruder in their festive family dinner, Aunty assured me that I was as good a second daughter to her...True to its reputation, it had been a cold Christmas, mainly owing to the snow fall in the northern regions...

Dinner was a nice time, and although Armaan and I made casual but careful attempts at maintaining distance, we still were cordial lest the others would notice!

"Good morning everyone, merry Christmas!" Rhea came over and hugged me the next morning, as we settled with coffee (and hot chocolate in my case) near the Christmas tree looking for our presents...I had never had a better Christmas when it came to actually celebrating the day, not having had much of a chance to enjoy it in India...But there was one person I was missing terribly, and he was looking across at me after every few minutes as I opened presents from Uncle, Aunty and Rhea (who had bought me a gift without me knowing when we had gone shopping the other day!)...

"Riddhima you have one more present child!" Aunty smiled at me, handing out a small gift wrapped in my favourite blue with a red bow on top...I glanced at Armaan, he gave me a small smile which I returned....I didn't expect him to get me something, although I had put his gift under the tree as well, which he was yet to see...

As I opened the box, while carefully removing the wrapper so as not to tear it (Armaan and Rhea rolled their eyes!), I found a bracelet with charms on it....Having a closer look, they weren't just any charms...They all symbolized something I loved...One had an umbrella-which I think stood for my love for rain, one had a cup-which I was sure was for hot chocolate, one was what looked like a diamond-studded 'R', the next one had a similar 'A' and the last one was a small half-heart with 'Best' written on it...I frowned and looked at Armaan...He waved his car keys in front of me which had the other half of the heart which read 'Friend ',dangling in its keychain...I gave a small chuckle and looked at him again...I was touched...Mouthing a silent 'thank you' I smiled at him; He smiled back....Maybe the cold war had finally ended!

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PRESENT DAY:- Still stuck in the airport!

As I read through the events of that Christmas 3 years ago, my eyes wandered towards my wrist, Armaan's charm bracelet still adorning it...I smiled lightly, as I touched it...As my mind swept through all the events of that day, and the incident after the Christmas party, I shuddered....It brought back terrible memories, and I quickly reprimanded myself for even thinking about that night again...I had forbidden myself to think about that stupid Christmas party and what had followed after...

I forced myself to limit that Christmas' memories only to that morning when Armaan had given me this gift-which I had treasured beyond my life, and which was partly responsible for what had happened that night (Not again! Riddhima stop thinking abou that!) and the look on Armaan's face when he realized that I had bought him a present as well...He had loved the watch, I could make out, although he didn't say anything except for a small 'thank you'...

Our first fight had lasted for a month and had ended, or so I thought, in a nice way...But then, the same thing was happening all over again...We hadn't had any major fight after that incident, except for that one....But now that I thought about that, I no longer even remembered why we were fighting anyway! It wasn't even such a big deal...So what, he hadn't been there for me this one time, although it was when I needed him the most, but there were countless times he had made me feel better...His midnight Maggie's only to make me feel better when I was having a rough night, or his getting me my favourite Double-chocolate gelato to my apartment to make it up to me, when I would have a fight with him over some petty issues...I sighed....

"Flight no. 607 to Paris has been scheduled to leave in an hour. Passengers are requested to check-in immediately." I sighed in relief! Finally! My flight would be taking off as well then... "Flight no. 404 to Mumbai, however, has been called off for today. Passengers are requested to reach the check-in counter for further information on the same. Inconvenience is regretted. Thank you!" My mouth dropped open and I groaned! No! This can't be happening...! Picking up my handbag and thrusting my notebook inside, I rushed to the check-in counter....This had to be a bad joke!

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COMPLETED!😳

Done! Lol I bet you didn't see this coming either! Ah, I love surprises! Lol!😆 Ab khush na? AR will meet after all! 😆

Please do comment on the part and let me know if you'll like it!😃