SR FF - Kuch Khaas - Chap 26 pg 87 - Page 25

At Sid's place:

"Oh my. Oh....God! YES!! Of course! DEFINITELY!!! SUPERBOY!!! JALDI COME HERE!!!!"

Sid came out of his room, still half-asleep with his eyes closed and stumbled down the stairs slowly, yawning and saying "Haan haan, m coming!".Sue was talking on the phone eagerly. Glancing towards Sid, who was only halfway down the stairs, she yelled, "Superboy! Jaldi!! Someone wants to talk to you! Will you be quick???? One of your greatest friends is on the phonE!!!!"

For some wierd and totally unexplainable reason, Sid thought that it was Riddhima on the phone. Totally set to apologise for last night's drastic events and start afresh, Sid hurried down the remaining stairs, almost tripping in the process. Grabbing the phone from his sister, he cleared his throat and said, "Hello?"

On the other end of the phone, a familiar, smooth, indian female voice said, "Hey, Sid is that you???"

Sid (realising in disappointment that it's not Ridzy, but still not recognizing the caller): "Umm yeah? WHo's this?"

Caller: Oh God Sid! Itni kharab memory hai ke mujhe bhi bhool gaye ho? Tumhari baat papa se karwa doon to sab kuch yaad aa jaye ga! Lo! Iss se kuch yaad aaya ya nahi?"

Sid (who was still in a sleepy and muddled mood, thought that this threat sounded a bit familiar): Haan...... kuch yaad aa raha hai.... papa... meaning...uncle.....ramesh uncle*..... Oh my God! Ramesh uncle! I mean, OMG NAINA!!!!!!"

Naina: *laughs* That's right! Batao Sid, kya haal chaal hai??

Sid: Arre yaar, mein to bilkul fit hoon! Exams jo khatam ho gaye hain!

Naina: That's great Sid! And that's also why you are coming to my get-together this weekend!!

Sid: I am? Oh yeah! Sure sure! Why not! Is *cough* is Yuvi gonna be there?

Naina (suddenly irritated): LIke I care! You just be there, and do me a favour. Jab party tak ek ghanta reh jaaye to Sue ko mirror se hatana start karo. Got it?

Sid: Yes ma'am!

Sue grabbed her phone and snarled at Naina: I so heard that!!

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(I'm rlly sorry if this update seems a bit rushed guys! Becoz, well, it was rushed!!! )

Weekend aa gaya:

"Di, do I look absolutely horrible or not?" Shilpa asked in a worried voice as she tried to check her reflection in the car's rear mirror.

Riddhima rolled her eyes. This was,like, the 15th time Shilpa had asked this question, and she was tired of repeating that she in fact looked very nice n cute in her knee-length silver dress.

"You look absolutely perfect, dear sister," said Riddhima in an exaggeratively tired voice. "Now, tell me how I look!!" Riddhima was wearing a dark purple, knee-length shirt and had matched it up with one of those skintight jeans. In fact, she looked quite pretty too.

Shilpa, satisfied with praise, looked Riddhima up and down and pronounced her 'passable'. (This kanjoos compliment was due to the fact that Ridzy had not allowed Shilpa to choose clothes for her.)

Ridzy grinned and pushed on the accelarator.

They reached the Mehta's holiday house in a short time. They got out of the car, and rang the doorbell.

Naina herself opened the door and her expression was of sheer joy when she saw her two friends.

"RIDZY!!!! SHILPUU!!!" she hugged them both at the same time and nearly made them fall!

"Naina," gasped Shilpa. "Can't - breathe1"

"Oh, I'm so sorry yaar, lekin mein itni excited ho gayi tum dono ko dekh kar! Chalo, andar aao!" Naina looked absolutely stunning in a silver dress, matched up with silver pumps and a glittery silver headband.

"Wow, Naina!" said Shilpa, her eyes wide, "You are actually looking pretty!"

Naina laughed, "Arre yaar, yeh to sirf party ke liye hai! Ek to mama aur papa ke itne ziada family friends hain yahan ke un ke liye zabardasti tayar hona padta hai! I don't even see the reason for dressing up for aunties and uncles, but whatever!"

They started catching up on each other's news. Ridz and Shilpa met her parents quickly enough. Then Naina led them to where the party was being held. It seemed like a properly organized function, what with all the lights and tables stereo and everything. Naina then started introducing them to everyone n vice versa.

"That's Priyanka, that's Koel, that's Mohit," said Naina, pointing at the named person and waving to them. " that's Karisma, that's Prem, that's - that's Yuvraaj," Naina winced when she said the name of a shughal-loving type, handsome guy. The two sisters exchanged looks and Shilpa made up her mind to see what this was about. Naina continued "that's Aditi, that's Dia, that's Siddhant, that's Payal, that's -"

Shilpa interrupted, "Did you say Siddhant?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah! Siddhant Modi! Kya tum usse janti ho?" Naina stopped naming the many youngsters at the party, and questioned Shilpa.

"WHAT? DID YOU SAY SIDDHANT MODI???" panicked Riddhima. Naina looked confused. Shilpa looked pleased. "Quick, hide me!!!!!!" Riddhima attempted to pull Naina and SHilpa in front of her so as to block her from view.

Shilpa whispered to Naina, "Yahi hai woh js ke barre mein main bata rahi thi!!"

Naina whispered back, "Ohhhhhhhh. Yeh hai Ridzy ka..... woh."

Shilpa: Almost!

Both of them laughed.

Of course Riddhima couldn't hear them over all the noise of the party.

Shilpa: Is that Natasha???

Naina: You mean that girl who's trying so hard to flirt with Sid?

Shilpa: Oh no! What the hell is she doing here?

Naina: Oh and look! Sid seems as if he is irritated to death! But she still won't back off.....

Sue: Hi guys!

Shilpa: Sue!!! Tum bhi yahan! *soulsister hug*

Naina: Oh yeah! Sue told me about you! And you told me about Sue! This is such a coincedence hai na? All of us sort of know each other so we don't have to waste time being shy!!You know, agar hum teen ek saath mil jaayein to bohat maza aaye ga! We could - "

The three of them walked off, leaving RIdzy behind, who didn't even notice the absence of her guard. Thinking that the other's were still behind her, she said, to Shilpa presumably, "Is he gone?" No answer. "Shilpa! Is. He. GONE???"

"Is who gone?" came a voice. "Riddhima, tum kis se baat kar rahi ho??

Riddhima nearly died of shock and embarassment right then. As it was, she almost fell down but regained composure and turned around slowly, hoping and praying that she had imagined the voice.

But she hadn't. Standing right there was Sid, looking dashing in a close fitting highneck-type shirt. He was surprised to see her here but pleased all the same.

"Oh.....hey.....Sid," said Riddhima, looking here and there for a distraction. "Tum......yahan......kaise?"

"Ramesh uncle aur mere Papa purane dost hain, so I got exclusively invited," he replied. "Same story?"

"Huh? Oh.......yeah," said Riddhima, still not looking at his face directly, knowing that most probably she won't be able to stop looking. What? Where'd that come from? That was the stupidest thing she'd ever thought! Of course she could control herself! How the hell was looking at Sid related to not being able to look away?

Trying to prove herself to her own mind, she looked into Sid's face. Sid gave her a smile and stepped just a bit closer to her. Ridzy just about forgot everything else.

Before he could stop himself, Sid placed a lock of Ridzy's hair behind her ear. Something in their physical contact made a current pass through both of them, and Riddhima's poor heart accelerated again.

"Riddhima," he began softly. "Riddhima, I *Ridzy's heartbeat became even more rapid* I - I'm really sorry for what happened that day at the party," he finished quickly, and Ridzy's heart-rate declined. (Perhaps she wanted to hear something else, no? 😆😉) "I mean, you know I don't think of you that way, right? You're an awesome friend and I don't want you to think that I'm actually gonna make you my girlfriend."

"It's alright Sid," said Riddhima smiling back at him. "It wasn't your fault, you don't have to apologize! It was just some stupid idiot who got the wrong idea."

"You got that right," said Sid in an amused voice. Even though he could think of nothing else to say and had no reason to still be standing there, he didn't leave becoz he didn't want to leave. And he just kept on gazing at Riddhima, who could not resist the intensity of his gaze and just stared back. Both of them wanting to move closer, reach out...............

Naina appeared at the scene right then, her hair a little disheveled from dancing wildly with the girls. Just as she was going to say, "There you are!" she skidded to a stop and watched the two of them looking at each other. Naina, despite her tomboy-ishness and carefree, fun-loving attitude, was actually a very deep person and saw right there that these two were in love with each other. Sue n Shilpa (bache hain yaar! Kya khaak samjhein ge? 😆) wouldn't have realised this but Naina did, and she was absolutely DELIGHTED for her two friends.

But she couldn't help teasing them just a little. She stepped nearer to them. No response. She cleared her throat. Still nothing. "AHEM AHEM" she fake-coughed loudly. This brought them to their senses.

Naina: Kya tum dono *she points to both of them* party bhi karo ge, ya nahi? Mein bore ho rahi hoon tumhe sirf khade hote hue dekh kar! Kuch karo bhi na! (She did not know how wrong that sounded 😉)

Flustered and blushing, Riddhima was like, "Nahi, I mean, haan, I mean, hum abhi hi aa rahe the....."

"Excuse me," came a new voice. RIddhima and Sid turned sideways. Rids recognized him as the guy whom Naina had said was Yuvraaj. He wasn't looking at them however, with a friendly grin on his face. He was talking to Naina, "Would you care for a dance with me?" He held out his hand.

Naina's smile disappeared. Se looked for Yuvraaj to Riddhima to Sid and suddenly said, "I'm sorry, but he asked for a dance first," she pointed to Sid, who got this what-the-hell look on his face. "Tum iss ke saath dance kar sakt ho Yuvi," Naina put Riddhima's hand in Yuvi's and pulled Sid out of the scene.

Yuvi simply shrugged and with his cool-dude attitude, asked, "Want to dance, pretty lady,"

Ridzy chuckled and said, "Sure," although she would have preferred to dance with...... Sid, though she would have rather died than admit that. Yuvi started dancing with Riddhima, among the other revolving couples, just normal moving and twirling, nothing special.

"Sooooooooooo," said Yuvi, trying to make conversation, "Are you and that guy together?" He jerked his head in Sid's direction who was dancing nearby with Naina.

"Um, NO!" said Ridzy. "What makes you say that?"

Surprised, Yuvi was like, "Oh.... nothing really. Just the way he looked at you I guess."

Riddhima looked over to Sid, who looked at her at the exact same second. Naina noticed this and whispered to Sid, "Tum uss se sach mein pyaar karte ho, hai na?"

Shocked, Sid turned to Naina, but even as he opened his mouth to deny this statement, something exploded inside him. (Imagine that dramatic background music that always happens when someone finds out they're in love) Yes. He did love Riddhima. That's what he felt for her, not just friendly affection. That's why he couldn't stop looking at her, couldn't stop thinking about her. That's why he always wanted to be near her, why he was always getting close to her.

Feeling overwhelmed by this sudden revelation, Sid let go of Naina and headed towards the door. He wanted to be alone for a little while, get his thoughts in place. But he had barely reached the door when Natasha blocked his way. "Get out of the way Natasha," said Sid, more harshly than usual. Ignoring the edge in his voice, Natasha pulled his arm and said, "C'mon Sid. You cansimply take a walk with me. Just for old times' sake. I'm gonna leave tomorrow anyway."

Calming down, Sid realised with a huge bout of relief that she was indeed gonna go tomorrow, so he might as well get her off his back now by just agreeing to walk around for a few minutes.......

Back on the dance floor, Riddhima was oblivious to poor Sid's internal struggle. Instead she was just fuming at Natasha for whisking him away. Yuvi was noticing this with an amused air. "You know," he said, while twirling her around. "I think you're really into this guy."

"Excuse me?????" said Riddhima her eyebrows so up her forehead that you could barely see them, and her eyes almost as large as Shilpa's. "Will you please stop talking about whether or not we two are into each other or not, beacuse - "

"Oh! So you ARE into each other!" (God, what is wrong with this guy 🤣)

"WHAT??? I never said that!" said Riddhima, blushing like hell.

"Uh-huh," said Yuvi sarcastically. "And you are this red because.............?"

"It's - it's the light!" said Riddhima, embarassed even more.

Yuvi chuckled. "Well, I'll drop the subject. But just a piece of advice. As a friend?"

"Wow, we're friends already?" said Riddhima, getting over her embarrassment a bit.

"Sure we are! Even if we don't know each other's names! I'm Yuvi by the way."

"Riddhima....."

"Well RIddhima, just a piece of advice: Don't lie to yourself, no matter what the situation," said Yuvi, a bit more seriously. "You'll regret it your whole life if you do. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be finding another dance partner for myself. You don't happen to have a pretty sister who's single, do you?"

"As a matter of fact I do," laughed Riddhima, while still thinking over his words. Yuvi disappeared into the crowd, giving her a last grin and wink.

"Sid, where are you," whispered Ridzy to herself. Getting the idea that Natasha might have dragged him out for another walk, she decided to go outside and find them.....

Natasha had dragged SId (umm, figure of speech) to some lonely corner of the extremely large Mehta grounds. And she was saying, in this really sad voice (fake ofc): "Sid, I know all of us make mistakes, and you just have to face it! I know that you're with her now but don't you think you were better off with me?" Sid had this extremely furious look on his face but Natasha didn't see it coz she was facing the other direction.

About some 20 metres away, Riddhima spotted them. "Is that Sid?" and started to quicken her pace.

In his extreme anger, Sid roughly pulled Natasha around to face him and started in this really angry voice, "Natasha, tum meri baat suno! Agar tum ne phir aisi koi baat - "

Then several things happened at once: Natasha saw Riddhima coming towards them and an evil plan formed in her mind. Ignoring whatever Sid was saying, she suddenly put her arms around his neck. From where Riddhima was standing, it looked exactly as if they were kissing. Ridzy stuck to the spot, her eyes open in horror and hurt and her heart feeling as if it had literally split into two. Sid was so damn shocked at this action of Natasha's that he literally froze for a few seconds and was unable to do anything.

Riddhima turned around and the tears streamed down her face and she started running in the opposite direction as thunder rumbled in the sky. What she didn't see was Sid pushing Natasha away from himself forcefully, and nearly spitting at her while snarling, "Apni zindagi ki sab se badi ghalti to abhi tum ne ki hai Natasha. Agar tum mere kareeb phir kabh i aayi, to mein tumhe maaf nahi karoonga,"

He walked away from her figure, disgusted at how low she had stooped, just in time to see Riddhima's departing figure, unmistakably heaving with sobs.......

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END AT LAST! 😃
I bet you were getting tired, not having read such an extremely long n boring update in your life! 😆

But whatever. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. 😳

And and and and and........ guess what's next???? 😉

I won't tell you 😛

Do leave your comments! 😃

Anushka 😎