Part 21: Convinced
Angad, Armaan, and Kripa sat at a table in the Chinese restaurant, waiting for their food. Armaan desperately wanted to ask her what the heck was up with Riddhima but at the same time, he didn't want to interrupt Angad and Kripa.
Once the food arrived, Kripa decided that she was going to have to probe him.
"So Armaan...how's it going with Riddhima?" She asked. Armaan's fork stopped midway to his mouth.
"Its...it's...Different. We haven't fought in about 24 hours and it's scary." Armaan looked at her wide-eyed. Kripa giggled at his expression and at the fact that he was scared that they hadn't fought.
"Get used to it. That's how it's going to be from now on." Kripa smiled warmly.
"Did you do something to her?"
"No...not really...we just had a talk...and unfortunately I can't tell you what exactly we talked about...she made me promise but I'll tell you one thing...don't doubt her attempts now...she's genuinely trying. And I know you said you gave up but please...can you not give up? I'm not saying that you need to try but just acknowledge the fact that she's trying?"
Armaan looked at his food, twirling his fork, lost in thought. After a few moments of thinking, he looked at Kripa and nodded in the slightest. Kripa was so happy that she almost screamed out loud in the restaurant.
"Oh thank you so much! This is perfect! If you ever need any help...you can come to me right away! It's my goal now to make sure you two are together and happy"
Kripa did a little wiggle dance in her chair. Armaan just shook his head and chuckled at her while Angad chuckled with him, throwing his arm around Kripa's shoulders. The three of them finished lunch, and Angad headed home as his last class was done. Kripa went back to the hospital to finish the rest of her shift. Armaan just decided to take the ferry to the island with his bike. He needed some time to himself to give the situation with Riddhima a thought.
At the end of the shift, Riddhima and Kripa went to starbucks to grab a coffee.
"So what else do I have to do?"
Kripa sighed. "Come on Riddhima...am I literally going to have to walk you through this entire thing? Give it a thought...try something that you want to...what do you think is right? You know me...the things I might suggest may be too fast for you...you need to decide a pace and go with it..."
"well...I did what you wanted me to do and it worked...and I didn't ask him questions before he left this morning but he didn't tell me anything..."
"I told you that would take time. You can't expect him to forget everything over night. Give him time. You took your sweet time too, didn't you?"
"I guess you're right...so what do I do next?"
Kripa shrugged. "That's easy. Just go with the flow."
That evening, Armaan got home a couple of hours after Riddhima did. To his surprise, she didn't ask him any questions. She offered him a glass of cold water with a smile. After he showered, when he walked into their bedroom, Riddhima was sitting cross legged on the bed, surrounded by pictures.
"What are you doing, Riddhima?"
"Oh hey" she smiled at Armaan. "I'm trying to choose a few pictures to frame and laminate and what not...I can't choose...do you want to help?"
Armaan shrugged and sat cross legged at the foot of the bed, across from her. He paused in the middle of reaching for a picture. Wedding pictures. Their wedding pictures. She was choosing a few of their wedding pictures to frame??
He looked at her with a slight frown on his face as she picked up various pictures and compared them out loud. He didn't register her words though. She held up two pictures towards him.
"Okay. Which one do you like better for our bedroom wall? Right above the headboard of the bed."
"Why are you doing this?"
"What? The pictures? Well they are our wedding pictures and—"
"No not this. All of this. You're not arguing with me...you're not asking me questions...you're...why are you doing this?"
She put the pictures on the bed and sighed. "Because I need to."
"Why?"
"Because I've been a terrible wife. I've been a total ***** to you. You didn't deserve that. You've always tried to make sure that I was happy...that I was at ease...but I was just too stone hearted to take any of that into account but now I've realized how horrible I've been and I want to fix it. I know I've hurt you a lot with my behaviour and actions...I'm sorry."
"What made you want to try to fix this?"
"You. You did. All you wanted from me was to try as much as you did...and if you've been trying so much from day one and haven't given up even after my ****** behaviour...the least I can do is try too. And I want to Armaan. I don't want to fight with you all the time...I...I don't like it."
Armaan sighed. They were silent. After a few minutes, Armaan ran his hand through his hair.
"The one on the left."
"What?" Riddhima looked at him confusedly.
"I like the picture in your left hand better."
She couldn't help the tears that flowed into her eyes. She didn't expect him to be so calm about the whole situation. After all, she had been horrendous.
"You mean...you forgive me?"
He just nodded and extended his hand to wipe her tears but then stopped. He didn't know how she would react to it. When she saw him hesitate, she smiled and wiped her own tears.
"Thank you." She whispered.
He extended his hand towards her. "Hi...I'm Armaan Mallik. Mujhse dosti karogi?"
She giggled at his accented Hindi and put her hand in his. "Hi...I'm Riddhima Shah...Oops...I mean...I'm Riddhima Mallik."
"You didn't answer my question..."
"What question?"
"Will you be my friend?" He smiled at her.
She nodded. She knew that if she said anything, she would burst into tears. She hadn't expected him to forgive her so quickly. He had such a beautiful heart. She felt even worse about her behaviour now than ever.
On the other hand, Armaan thanked Kripa in his mind once again and sent a quiet prayer for her happiness. He was glad that he had listened to her. He was glad that she had convinced him to not give up on Riddhima just yet.
That one nod from Riddhima started an adorable relationship between Armaan and Riddhima. A relationship called Friendship. Riddhima still took her time to open up, and Armaan let her have her time. He was just glad that she was trying now. They barely fought now...and even when they did, it was usually a cute argument over one's dress or which restaurant to go to for dinner. Physical intimacy was still missing but at least they didn't act like strangers anymore. There was a lot of playfulness. Riddhima would smack him if he was being crazy, he would elbow her lightly or nudge her continuously if he was trying to bug her. Her insecurities were also diminishing and Armaan knew that.
After a few weeks of this development between them, Armaan was headed out once and as usual, Riddhima called out to him from behind him. Even now, every time she did that, a part of him feared that she would question him and he would lose his temper and what they finally had going, the friendship, would be gone.
"You forgot your cell phone" she handed the cell phone to him.
"Thanks." He stood there, looking at her cheerful face.
"And you're forgetting something else too...'
"What?" Armaan asked, checking his pockets.
"You car keys...can't get anywhere without these" she dangled the keys in front of his face.
He thanked her again as he took the keys from her to which she just replied "have fun...take care."
He turned around to leave but paused with his hand on the door knob, and he turned to face her, she was still smiling.
"I'll be with Atul and Rahul. Atul said he wanted to talk to the guys. I should be back by 6."
Riddhima stopped the urge to scream out loud in joy. Kripa was right! She didn't have to probe him for information! If he saw that she trusted him, he would tell her on his own and he finally had. She nodded to Armaan and thanked him.
In response, Armaan hesitantly took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her lightly, still unsure of whether or not she'd burst. But when he felt her hug him back, he hugged her just a little tighter and whispered bye. After they parted, he turned around to leave again but he stopped again after opening the door. He turned around again to face her, and this time, as the daylight illuminated her face, he registered the pink blush in her cheeks. He'd made her blush?!
"Oye hoye..." Armaan whispered. He could have sworn that he didnt say the words, they just jumped out of his mouth.
He couldn't and wouldn't justify what happened next. He just held her shoulders, pulled her closer and kissed her cheek once before disappearing out the door as if his life depended on it.
Riddhima had stood there, steps away from the closed door, her hand on her check, an undying smile on her face, the unstoppable tears in her eyes. As soon as she heard his car roll out of the driveway, she started to follow her heart. She screamed and cheered and jumped around in the house, with random dance moves here and there. She was truly delighted today. She picked up her phone and dialled Kripa's number.
"Hey Riddhima"
"Kripa Kripa! I LOVE YOU!"
"I love you too hun and what's the matter, you sound happy"
"That is an understatement! I'm ecstatic right now!" And then Riddhima went onto explaining what had just happened, Kripa cheered and danced with Riddhima as they shared their joy through the phone call. Soon after the main discussion was over, Kripa had politely cut the call short since she was out on a date with Angad. Again.
Angad and Kripa were also spending their sweet time together. If Angad's class was earlier than Kripa's, he would leave her breakfast on the table, leave a cute note on the dresser's mirror and Kripa did the same if her class was earlier than his. They had officially moved into the same room. Well. Almost. Angad pretty much lived in her room but all of his stuff was still in his room, just in case the parents decided to drop in on a random occasion. And they had been right. At one point, Kripa's parents had dropped by to visit the couple.
Angad had reassured Suryaban that he would take good care of his princess. Gayatri had reminded Kripa of her traditional values and had a normal mother-daughter talk with her before she'd left.
Until now, Angad and Kripa hold the record for having zero fights since the beginning of their relationship. Somehow, for some reason, they always managed to find a way to compromise. Besides, unlike Armaan and Riddhima, Angad and Kripa barely disagreed on anything. They did a lot of activities together like shopping, house chores, gym trips, morning jogs and so on. The two went on numerous dates and outings and took lots of pictures. And the two passionate lovers took every opportunity they got to make love.
Riddhima had finally accepted the accelerated mode of Kripa's relationship with Angad. She was trying to be more open minded about things. Anjali had tried to divert Riddhima a few times but Riddhima had made it a point to ignore her advices and keep following what Kripa had said. Riddhima clearly saw the improvements Kripa's advice had resulted in. She would always owe this happiness to Kripa. She would always owe the joy of beginning to fall in love to Kripa. As much as Riddhima denied it, sometimes she gave into the fact that she had started feeling a little something for Armaan. Kripa obviously knew this better than Riddhima herself.
A couple months later:
Riddhima woke up to the bright rays of sunlight falling on her face. When she tried to turn the other way, she felt something resisting her movements. She soon realized that it was Armaan's arm. Around her waist. Her heart jumped at the realization. She looked up and saw his face, inches from hers. And then her heart started beating in her chest like a jack-hammer. She felt her face getting hot.
She twisted a little bit, trying to get away from him, but Armaan, like a stubborn young child just held on tighter and pulled her closer. With a gasp, her head landed on his chest, her hair spreading over his face. The soft tickles of her hair eventually woke him up.
Riddhima had her eyes tightly closed when he woke up. Her face was as red as a tomato. He rolled his tongue into his cheek and decided to tease her a little bit. Now that they were friends, it was allowed right?
He suppressed a chuckle and turned so that he was hovering over her. The shock of that movement made Riddhima open her eyes. She was even more shocked to find Armaan's face so close to hers.
Then he moved closer, and closer and closer. The moment when their noses touched, Riddhima almost had a heart attack. She couldn't move, she could only stare at him.
Armaan almost changed his mind when he had the sudden urge to kiss her. Almost. He didn't know how he managed it, but he stuck to the original plan, took a deep breath in and, "WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!!" He yelled and then almost immediately jumped off and ran for his life.
"YOU IDIOT!" Riddhima tried to catch him but he ran out of the room too quickly. She sat back on the bed and smiled to herself. She didn't even realize she was smiling. She touched her nose, the spot where his nose had touched hers and then her fingers seemed to automatically move down to her lips. A chilly shiver ran up her spine as she imagined Armaan's lips touching hers.
She dismissed all the thoughts from her head and walked into the washroom to get ready. On the other hand, Armaan picked up his cell and typed quickly.
Yes yes yes!! I'm ready to tell her. I think it's time. I want to tell her I love her!
The reply came within seconds:
FINALLY! When are you planning to do this?
I don't know Kripa. Tonight? Tomorrow night?
I'll kill you if you make it tonight. It's our girls' night out. Its Sunday tomorrow anyway.
Tomorrow night it is. Right before the Christmas holidays start. You're going to help me.
Done deal. I'll see you tomorrow at 3. Just make sure Riddhima's out so it doesn't spoil the surprise.
That's your job!
Oh fine! I'll get Muskaan to take Riddhima out.
That night Armaan made an excuse of being sick and went out wandering for a perfect ring for Riddhima. He wanted to make the moment of his confession of his love for her just perfect. He also ordered flowers to be delivered to her at a certain time. He also picked out a perfect hallmark card with a sweet quote and four simple words that he'd written. 'I Love You Riddhima'.
That night when Riddhima got home from the restaurant after her night with the girls, she found Armaan watching a movie in the living room. He paused the movie and looked at her as she took a seat next to him.
"Hey...how was your dinner with the girls?"
"It was okay, I guess. It was more of a counselling session and Anjali left halfway...Kripa and Anjali had an argument." Riddhima sighed.
Armaan frowned. "About what?"
Riddhima looked at him confusedly. "Don't you know? Rahul and Muskaan broke up." Riddhima paused to let it sink it. She could tell that he didn't know. "Anjie di didn't seem to care and Muskaan was really upset over it...so Kripa was just consoling her and Di and Kripa disagreed on something and they started arguing...and...When I spoke up, Anjie di got up and left."
"What did you say to her?"
"The truth. I told her that she really shouldn't advice people on relationships...considering that her advice had made me act like a ***** towards you..."
Armaan sighed. "I never understood why she didn't like me..."
Riddhima shifted uncomfortably. Armaan figured that there was more to the story. He got up and kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in his. She looked at him and swallowed. She knew what he would say next.
"What is it Riddhima?"
"Um...she mentioned it today. One of your ex girlfriends was di's good friend."
Armaan's face fell. The first thought that came to his mind was that the piece of information would make him and Riddhima drift apart again. But she surprised herself and Armaan by giving him a hug.
He hesitantly put his arms around her, he didn't know if she was crying or if she was upset. She shivered at his touch and tried to suppress the butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
"It doesn't matter to me Armaan. You've already told me about your dating history."
Armaan pulled apart and looked at her face. She smiled gently. He cupped his face and moved a little closer. "That means a lot to me Riddhima." He whispered. "Thank you for trusting me."
"Just don't break my trust Armaan. I won't be able to tolerate it."
"I would never do that Riddhima. I promise."
And she just looked back at him. The faint traces of tears in his eyes, his soft expression, his clean shaven and smooth cheeks, the planes of his cheekbones, the sharpness of his nose, his full lips. It was then that she realized how close they were. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to complete what he'd left incomplete this morning. She could feel his breath against her lips. Her grip on his shoulders tightened automatically. She heard him take a deep breath.
And then his cell rang. Both jumped slightly at the unexpected sound. Blood rushed to Riddhima's face, she could feel the temperature rising and she pictures the hue of her cheeks becoming a beet root pink. She couldn't look at him as the sudden wave of shyness engulfed her. With one hand still on her cheek, he pulled out his cell from his hoodie's pocked with the other. He looked at the screen, then looked at her apologetically and moved his other hand as well. He got up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Hey Rahul" she heard him say as he disappeared into the kitchen. She got up and almost ran to their bedroom. She sat at the dresser, breathing heavily, smiling as if she'd won the lottery. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was flushed. Her lips trembled as she smiled. She remembered their proximity and their almost kiss. Unknown warmth started inside her, starting where her heart was located. She bit her lip and covered her face, letting the blush take over her completely.
A few minutes later, she changed and walked back downstairs. She sat on the couch in her PJs, waiting for Armaan to finish. He came back within a couple of minutes of her waiting, beaming.
"Guess what. Rahul is going to apologize to Muskaan and try to patch things up!" Armaan plopped next to Riddhima. He didn't notice that she stiffened a little out of nervousness. "Angad and Atul talked to him and convinced him for it. I think it was just the final exam stress getting to him..."
Riddhima smiled. "I'm happy that he's decided to patch things up...Angad and Kripa are so similar...they're always out there, trying to get their friends to keep their relationships going..."
Armaan thought about all that Kripa had done for him and Riddhima and nodded in acknowledgement.
"That is why they're so happy in their relationship." Armaan stated.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Riddhima looked at the TV screen and looked back at Armaan who seemed to be thinking about something.
"So...whatcha watching?"
Armaan looked at Riddhima and then the TV screen. "Oh...um...Transformers...Dark of the moon. We can watch something else if you like...I don't think this is your type of movie..."
Riddhima suppressed a chuckle. "I watched it with Kripa in 3D. Sideswipe is my favourite!"
Armaan looked at her, surprised. "I didn't know you were into such movies..."
Riddhima shrugged, picked up the remote control and played the movie. There they sat. Together. Watching the movie. No fights. No arguments. Finally.
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