Before I start the update, I'd like to state a few things. I am not 14 as it says on my profile, and I do not wanna grow up to be a wannabe novelist 🤣. And I'll thank you all to remember that, lol! Another thing, I am most prob gonna conveniently forget to mention High School exams in this FF. I'm quite short on time as it is 😆!
Well folks, hope u enjoy this!! Presenting............
Chapter 9(WInter break has started for these people, k?)
11:30 AM in Sue's car:Sue was busy singing along to her latest favourite songs ans shaking her head in time to the rhythm. She was currently waiting for Natasha to make an appearance, and had been in the situation for about 20 minutes. Glancing out of the window, as she had been doing every few minutes, she tried to find her visitor. And then what she saw made her freeze to her seat.
Last time she had seen Natasha, it was at the chatrapathi Shivaji International airport in Mumbai. Natasha had been a teeny bit healthy and wearing passable clothes, i.e. black trousers and pink kurta (which sue had not at all like, you'd be interested to know).
Now, Sue saw a slim, slim girl wearing skintight jeans, a skintight black shirt which had
Rich, Gorgeous, Sexy written on it in silver and enormous black pencil heels. She only had a thin grey sweater to protect her from the cold, but she didn't seem to mind. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and she had on heavy mascara. Plus, she was walking as if she was a catwalk model.
Sue's first thought: Oh God, what happened to her???? Does she really think bro will fall for her if she looks like a
toothpick??? Oh no, us ne mujhe dekh liya! She's coming closer!!!
We'll fast forward to the bit when Natasha has sat in the car and they're on their way to Sue/Sid's place.......
Natasha was saying, ".... aur haan,
of course I'm just taking this year off from studies and everything, you know, i'm gonna start next september, you know, I'm going in CSS, I think that kind of thing suits me
perfectly, hai na? Waise, Sid aaj kal kya kar raha hai?"
Sue, whose voice had become a bit rough from lack of use as Nats had been talking for the past 15 minutes non-stop. Of course, abhi jo Sid ki baat aa gayi then she had to say something.
Sue started, "Woh, ummm, Sid is in his last year of high school now and most probably he'll go into medical college afterwards, but back in India..... He has this thing for saving lives I think."
"Haan haan," said Natasha, not really interested. Getting straight to the point, she said, "Who's he
with nowadays?"
"Kya?"
"Who's he
dating?" said Natasha rolling her eyes.
"Well, ummm, he's not with anyone
officially, so in the technical sense of the word, i guess he isn't
officially going out."
Ignoring the italics in Sue's voice, Natasha smirked to herself, thinking that she would get
her Sid back in no time.....
--------
The next day at about 1 PM:"No, SHilpa, tum jao, mein ne nahi jana, seriously!" said Riddhima, washing the dishes while Shilpa was pleading with her to go and meet Natasha. "I'm sure Sid doesn't want me around
now," said Riddhima frowning at the plates in her hand, and rubbing them rather vigorously. "Obviously he wants to spend some time with his
girlfriend......"
"Ex-girlfriend," corrected Shilpa. "And-"
"Whatever," said Riddhima not letting her continue. hen muttering to herself, "Kal se ek call bhi nahi aaya, koi SMS tak nahi. I mean, what do I care anyway? He can have *she banged a plate on the counter* fun with *bang!* his precious *bang* girlfriend *BANG*. Jab matlab ka kaam hota hai to phir to peecha hi nahi chodta aur ab....."
"By the way," said Shilpa holding up her phone, interrupting this un-understandable flow of words. "Sid called some time ago and specifically asked for you to come over."
Caught off guard, Riddhima turned around, "He did? Why didn't he call me then?"
"I was talking to Sue, and he just grabbed the phone from her and told me to get you and come over!"
"Oh........ right........." Of course Sid wasn't the type of guy to forget his friend just because his ex came along! Thought Ridz. "Ok, sure. I'll come. Let me just get my coat."
-----------
Sid opened the door for the two sisters, and sighed in relief when he saw them. "Thank God tum log aagaye, seriously! That girl is driving me crazy!!!!"
From behind a voice came, "Oh Sid, iss waqt
kaun aaya hai?"
Sid rolled his eyes in front of the sisters, not turning around, then suddenly, his face lit up and a twinkle lit his eyes. His tone going smooth, he said, "Natasha this is Shilpa, Sue's friend"
"Hi," said Shilpa, giving her sweet smile and waving.
"And this is Riddhima. her sister," and to Riddhima's shock, Sid slid his hand through hers and said, "
and my girlfriend."
"KYA????" said Natasha. Riddhima elbowed Sid in the ribs. Natasha turned around to Shilpa. Riddhima whispered angrily, "Sid, what the hell are you doing?"
"Riddhima, please!" said Sid imploringly. "Just play along for some time just so that i can get her to stop annoying me. I swear, from the time she's been here, she's been saying on and on "Sid, jab hum dono ek saath the, wasn't it
wonderful?" "You know Sid, meri jaise ladki to tumhe
mill hi nahi sakti!" "Sid, remember when" blah blah blah!" Sid ended in a whisper. "
Please Riddhima," said Sid, holding her shoulders. "I know you can act well! *Riddhima gave him a look* Shilpa told me that! It's holidays anyway, kisi ko pata nahi chale ga, and we can always say it was a prank if it gets out somehow. So," he said. "For friendship's sake, can you pretend to be my girlfriend for jsust a few days? Please?"
Well, you can't deny a request when the requester is literally begging you. SO Riddhima gave a tiny nod, and said "Okay." Then thinking she might as well make this fun for both herself and Sid, she tweaked his nose and said, a tiny bit loudly, "Oh Sid stop it! Tum bhi na"
This caught the attention of the three girls in the lounge. Natasha had been arguing with Sue, saying that she thought Sue said Sid was single. Sue insisted that she hadn't exactly said that in the exact words. And now Sue n Shilpa got the gist of Sid's plan and gave each other a secret high-five. Natasha was fuming (understatement of the year) as she saw the two 'lovebirds on the porch. Sid pulled Riddhima inside by her hand. "Ridzy, yeh Natasha hai, humari family friend."
(Natasha didn't emphasise on the ex-girlfriend bit) She just suddenly changed her expression to extremely sweet and addressed Riddhima, "Oh. So you're Sid's
new girlfriend (as if Sid changed gfs like toys).
So nice to meet you. When did you start going out?"
"Oh ummm," said Ridz brilliantly, "we started about, uh, Sid, when was it?"
"About more than a year ago," said Sid casually, sitting down. Riddhima remained standing and Sid had to nudge her to get her back to earth. Ridz noticed and quickly sat down near to Sid.
"Oh,
how sweet," said Natasha, giving a smile. "That's
quite a record for Sid. I quite thought he was unable to stick to the same girl for more than
two months!" she gave a laugh.
Equally smoothly, Sid replied, "I guess I was just looking for the right one," he looked at Riddhima, who smiled and said "You bet you were!" Sid hugged her with one arm. *Eyelock*
Sue and Shilpa were almost dancing in excitement a bit further away. "It seems so real, hai na?," said Shilpa. "Totally!" said Sue. "But I think that's because they really are made for each other!"
--------
Riddhima was in the kitchen with Sue, who was talking in low volume about the mental torture she had been through the day before. Shilpa just came in at the moment.
Sh: Hey, where's Sid bhai?
Sue: I think he got kidnapped by Natasha.
Ridz: Kya matlab?
Sue: I mean Natasha literally forced Sid to take a walk with her, so that they could 'talk'.
Ridz: Where are they gone?
Sue: Just for a stroll around the neighborhood
Shilpa (slyly): But Di, aap kyun itni pareshan ho rahi hain?
Ridz looked sharply at her.
Sue: Isn't it obvious? She has to be worried! I mean, Sid ki new girlfriend jo hai!
Sue and Shilpa burst out laughing, and Riddhima went bright red. "Shut up you idiots! You know that's not true!"
Sue Shilpa: Oh really?
Riddhima: YES!!! IT'S. JUST. A. LIE!!! BECOZ. YOUR. STUPID. BHAI. FORCED. ME. TO. PRETEND!!!!
Sue: It's alright Ridz Di! Just chill! Hum to sirf mazak kar rahe the....
Riddhima stalked out of the kitchen. Sue remarked to Shilps, "Well, there's
another side of Ridz Di that I haven't seen before!"
"Yeah, she gets a bit touchy if you tease her about being Sid's gf," said Shilpa shrugging.
Riddhima sat down on the sofa in a huff. Darn Sid! darn Natasha! Darn Shilpa and Sue and their annoying-ness! Why the hell did Natasha have to come now? Why did she agree to Sid's idiotic plan? WHY DID SHE EVEN LISTEN????? AND WHY THE HELL DID SHE NOT FEEL AWKWARD WHEN HE WAS SO CLOSE??????????
"Stupid brown eyes," muttered Riddhima recalling the way he had looked at her. "Now that I've agreed to this stupid plan anyway, I will just not
push it
too far. We are still friends no matter what."
The door opened and Sid and Nats came in. Natasha was holding Sid's arm, obviously trying to make him do the same. And Sid just had a polite look on his face. But for some reason, seeing them close together a hot bubble seemed to rise up inside Riddhima's stomach, and she almost had to restrain herself from pulling them apart. Instead, she gave a fake smile and said, "There you guys are! How was your walk?"
"Oh it was just
great," said Natasha. "Purane waqt ki itne
maze maze ki battein ki hum ne!" and she started blabbering about this and that and whatever. Sid freed himself from her clutches and sat at the table. Riddhima escaped to the kitchen.
Sue: Are they back?
Ridz nodded. "Great," said SHilpa. "Now we can have food! I'm starved!"
"Good thing I ordered something," said Sue, "Here, take these to the table." She gave one dish to Shilpa who went immediately. Then she handed one of those paper cartons in which resturaunts deliver to Riddhima, "And whatever you do," sue whispered. "Do NOT ask her how her time in New York was!" Ridzy grinned and nodded.
As she neared the table, Riddhima could here Natasha's voice getting louder: "i
only eat
lean meat! Chicken? Never!" Now she could see all of them. Shilpa was saying something to Sid and Natasha was talking to herself (as no one was actually listening). Now she could see them, Shilpa was saying something to Sid and Natasha was talking to herself (as no one was really listening 😆)
When Riddhima was like, five steps away from the table, all of a sudden she tripped on a cracked tile, and her whole body lurched. The paper carton literally flew out of her hands and the chowmein inside it was emptied neatly on Natasha's head. Riddhima herself would have fallen flat on the ground if it hadn't been for her being so near to the table that she landed on somebody's chair, straight into Sid's arms. And it all happened so quick that it was done and over in five seconds. In fact, Riddhima didn't even have time to look embarassed or flustered. She was all set to get up quickly and apologise (and she didn't even
know where the food had landed) if she hadn't looked up to see where she had fallen. (ok, I'm going to go a bit haywire now 😆😉)
Messed up from the fall, Riddhima's hair was obstructing her view. Before she could remove her hair from her eyes,
someone else gently brushed her hair aside. Sid put one hand on her cheek and the other on the hair which he had just moved, his face hardly five inches away. "Are u okay?" he asked in a low, anxious, husky voice. (OMG!! I'M GONNA DIE!! 😲)
Riddhima could only murmur an almost inaudible "Yeah," and just look into Sid's eyes. (So much for being 'unaffected') And SId wasn't exactly helping either, i.e. he too just gazed back inexcusably into the eyes so near and in front of him. And believe me, this took way longer than five seconds.
(Sue, who had emerged from the kitchen, whispered to Shilpa "God, they're such good actors! At least, I think it's acting. Isn't it? It just looks so real!")
In fact all would have gone perfectly from that moment for Sid, Riddhima, and the two soulsisters if it hadn't been for Natasha, who had been frozen in horror during the moment. Because of her hair by the way, not SR.
"ARGH!!" she screeched. Sid and Riddhima snapped back to reality. Riddhima got up real fast, almost falling down again and blushing like anything. Sue and Shilpa groaned. Sid was still looking a bit surprised and far away. "MY HAIR! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY HAIR!" Natasha shrieked and looked at Riddhima as if she would have gladly poisoned her. She did look a bit funny, with yellow strands of pasta as well as chopped veggies in her hair.
Riddhima tried to calm her down, "I'm really very sorry Natasha! Honestly it was a mistake! I tripped and - "
"LIES!" Natasha shouted. "I
know you did this on purpose! I KNOW! You're just jealous because you
know Sid likes ME better!"
Riddhima was slowly losing her calmness, "What? Don't be ridiculous!!! Why would I think something like that?"
"I'm not fooled by you! You - " and Natasha grabbed her glass which was completely full and threw the water over Riddhima.
Riddhima gasped as the cold water drenched her. Then she looked up again at Natasha slowly. You could almost see the anger building up in her. Shilpa recognised this as a danger sign, and she looked a trifle anxious.
"How.
Dare. You," said Riddhima through gritted teeth. She had never felt this angry for years.
Oblivious to the oncoming wrath of this chudail, Natasha obviously thought she had won. Wearing a satisfied smirk she said, "Maza aya?"
"Maze ki bachi!! Dikhati hoon tumhe tera yeh
maza!!!!" hissed Riddhima and started to take of her sandals. She succeeded in taking one off and threw it at Natasha, who was missed by millimetres. She could actually fell the breeze on her face caused by the show. Now she was scared! Riddhima was taking off her other sandal now and she was in the mode of throwing it (heel side up) when Shilpa grabbed her hands and said to the others, "Excuse us!" To Sid she whispered, "a little help bhaiya?"
Between the two of them, Shilpa and Sid dragged Riddhima into the guestroom. She was seated on the bed, still fuming and saying, "How dare she! HOW DARE SHE??!! DIDN'T SHE SEE IT WAS A MISTAKE???? That manhoos, that kameeni, that -"
"Shush, Di!" said Shilpa, trying not to smile. "Calm down! Calm -"
"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN UNTIL I GO AND GIVE THAT GIRL A LESSON!!!" almost shouted Ridzy. Sid took over from Shilpa, who went to get a glass of water.
"Riddhima,
please, forget Natasha," said Sid, grabbing her hands, which were curled into fists (one of them still holding the shoe), "Seriously, she's not worth it! It'll just be a waste of time and energy. Just - just relax. Relax!"
Still angry, but the red-hot rage was subsiding, Riddhima closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. Shilpa returned with the water and gave it to Riddhima, who took a sip and opened her eyes. Sue too was in the doorway, saying that Natasha had gone to wash her hair.
The the anger drained almost (but not quite) completely from the Riddhima, and the chudail-mode switched off. Looking around dolefully she said, "I guess I should apologize to her. I really had no right to throw my shoe at her, whatever she did. I don't know what came over me...."
"Don't be silly," said Shilpa. "You've already apologised for throwing the food at her!
She should apologize to
you about the water first,
then you should apologize for the shoe-throwing. Although the shoe didn't really hit her in the first place, so there's technically no reason why you should say sorry to her....."
"But still! I was a teeny bit over-reactionary- "
"Are you kidding me?" said Sue. "That was totally spectacular! She totally deserved what she got, after what she did! Like Shilps said, don't apologize unless she does! And she wont be coming out for a while anyway, so........"
"I think we should just go home," said Riddhima. Getting up , she motioned for Shilpa to come as well, and said to Sid and Sue, "Call us when you want us, because I don't think I'll be coming of my own will here for a while actually......." but she said it with a smile. She was feeling pretty good actually. Except for the fact that her clothes were wet.....
Sid grinned back and said, "See you later then,
sweetheart."
Riddhima giggled and said, "You too,
darling."
Sue and Shilpa looked from Sid to Riddhima to each other in a confused way, and SR burst out laughing at them.
"C'mon, Shilpa, We'll get something to eat on the way," said Riddhima, pulling Shilpa out of the room. Shilpa got out first, as Riddhima had bent to retrieve her shoe, a small smile on her face. As she reached the door, Sid called out, "Don't throw you shoe at the take away guy!"
"You can't stop me if I do!" said Riddhima, winking before she went out the door......
_____________________
I hope I wasn't going overboard 😕. I think i got a bit carried away, seriously 🤔.
Hope you likey! 😃
Luv you all! 🤗
Anushka 😎
P.S. i don't really write like a 14-year-old, do I? 😕😲
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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