Stardust - Link to thread 2 on pg 1 - Page 43

Originally posted by: SurrealFantasy

OK! I have this question in my mind from like ages!

Where do you live?? You keep saying, my country-my country, what country??😆

Originally posted by: Sanaa629

LOL!!! 😆 Tanzania..in East Africa..!! 😃

Yepp. Always lived here! Didnt expect u to guess..

Sorry guys..for this I meant next OS..!! *smiles sheepishly*

Hey!!!

It's one of the lovely Os i have ever read. Beautifully written with emotions, love, passion, and of course Proud. Though AR doesn't have much conversation here but your words did the work for us.
Awesome ... Do write more and do PM me for the updates.

Oh My God, Just went through my 156 pms, And I missed your OS??

Hi everyone..!!

"Forever." She mumbled back, while her best friend just sighed.

"It's been months! And stop listening to this crappy song!" was the sharp reply as Riddhima felt her sit down on the bed next to her, after switching off the radio which was playing Last Kiss by Taylor Swift.

"Well, I'm moving on aren't I?"

"Yes, but sleeping early, waking up early, working and not having a life doesn't mean you're moving on."

"So you want me to go to nightclubs, party, get stoned, have a one night stand and forget someone who meant so much to me once upon a time? Good try Niks." She finally sat up and looked at one of the dearest person in her life. Why didn't friends understand the depth of heartbreaks when their own lives were going so perfectly?

Nikki found herself smiling. To say Riddhima was a strong girl was an understatement. Nikki really had no idea how to express her pride for her friend, who no matter how fragile people thought her to be, always proved herself a million times stronger. And especially now. Everyone had expected Riddhima to curl in a ball, break up inside, and never be able to move on after she had broken up with someone who had meant so much to her. But surprisingly, Riddhima had stood up, brushed herself down and continued with life, as though it was normal, not letting a single person know the agony she was going through inside herself.

"Look, at least come to tonight's party, even though it's in a club. We miss you there." Nikki added, softening up.

"And face him again? Isn't it enough I get to see his face in the hospital every morning and evening, constantly reminding me of what we had? What I lost? Constantly reminding me of the times I spent with him?"

Nikki's expression turned into a scowl.

"I really want to kill him for that! Once, just once he crosses me and I'll have him. Just once more he does anything, I mean anything to you.."

"Don't Nikki, no point talking about it. And I won't let you do anything to him." It was Riddhima's turn to smile. "You know I do love him. Still. A lot."

Sighing Riddhima looked away. True, he had broken her heart with a mere, 'I don't have feelings for you anymore' statement. He hadn't even looked back, to see how she would take it. He hadn't even been there to watch her fall, save her like he had done so many times before. He used to be her friend! One of her best friends! And when they finally decided to take a step forward, one year later, he turned away, and let her go through the worst condition she'd ever been in ever, without even giving her a second glance? Of course it was hard. It was killing. Brutal murder may have been better than what she felt herself go through. She had given him everything. Well, not physically of course, but her everything else. Her whole heart. And all he had done was smash it to pieces! Yes, she hated him. She despised him! But there was nothing she could do about it. Though he had moved on, heck less than a week after they had broken up, she couldn't. And it had been three months. It was almost like unrequited love. Not almost, it was, she thought bitterly to herself as his words swarmed around in her head once, not having left her for the past few months.

"I think somewhere or the other, he still loves you." Nikki voiced thoughtfully. Riddhima shook her head. "No listen to me," she urged. "I think it's his ever big ego that's stopping him from admitting it to you. And he probably got scared, like all men do, when the thought of 'forever' comes into their mind. So he broke it off."

"And goes around clubbing, flirting, dirty dancing, kissing random girls?" Riddhima asked sarcastically as she sighed and got off bed. "I don't think so."

"Actually, that's it!" Nikki exclaimed. "He probably does that to try and get his mind off you. It all makes sense now! But we now have to show him what he's missing out on. We have to show him what a huge mistake he made by dumping you. And if he comes back crawling for forgiveness.."

"You know I probably will forgive.."

"No, make him suffer a bit more! They all need that those selfish bas***ds." Nikki seethed. "When everything is fun and games..let's play along, but the moment it comes to taking a bit of responsibility, they all back off! Idiots, morons!"

"Abhi too?" Riddhima asked, knowing the answer as she searched her wardrobe.

"No, he's a sweetheart, obviously!" Nikki replied, grinning.

"Ok, he'll be at the party tonight. And you are so coming, to show him you have completely moved on."

"Nikki, do we have to?"

"Riddhima, come on! This is your life. Will you let it get away that easily?" Nikki's words hit home as Riddhima thought it over, then slowly a smile lit her face.

Nikki was right. He was her life. She had never ever had a better life than she had when she was dating him. And somewhere, Nikki was right. It was impossible that one day he had feelings and the next he didn't. Everything they had gone through for a year flashed back in her mind. All those dates, big ones, small ones, ice cream outings, him kissing her ' she felt her face flush ' holding hands as they walked together, came back to her. Would she really let go that easily? She was a strong woman. And there was no way she would let the best year in her life pass by as though it was nothing.

He had been the best thing that happened to her ever since they had been interns at Sanjeevani Hospital. And now, resident doctors, he was still the best thing she could think of, though admittedly, she really did want to slap him around his face. Hard. He hadn't cared that she was an orphan, surviving on scholarships, sponsors and Nikki's parents' money to get her education. Riddhima tried her best to pay them back, but they had taken her in as a daughter and treated her like one ever since she was a terrified, broken teenager, to the independent and self respecting woman she was now. Nikki's family was her everything.

But then he had stepped into her life. And made it a lot more colourful than she could ever imagine it to be. Then how could she accept that everything was over? She would bring him back. In her arms.

"No way. Siddhant Modi, I'll make you come back to me. Coz that's where you belong." She said determinedly.

"That's the spirit. Mission let's get Sid back. First thing's first, we have to make you look WOW! So no one will be able to turn their eyes away from you. And then, jealousy is always a useful tool."

And the spark was ignited. It was time to get Riddhima the guy she loved back. It was time to show him what he had given up on. And yes, payback was sweet! Even though Riddhima would probably accept him the moment he looked at her, Nikki was going to make sure Siddhant Modi got down to his knees and proposed to her himself! Commitment phobic? Well, she knew the perfect way to get rid of it.

"Dr Sid Modi, you will be down on your knees before two months are over." Nikki smirked as she high-fived Riddhima and bursting with new found resolutions, they both got dressed, Riddhima more so, for the party that would be the beginning of a change. A big one. Just how big though, they would never have guessed.

* * * * * * *

"No!" Nikki heard the straight-forward answer as her mouth dropped in high insult.

"What do you mean no? You said it was a perfect idea!"

"Yes I did. And it is. But that does not mean you make me the 'bakra' to use!" He sipped the drink coolly, leaning back in his plastic chair as he watched people grooving against each other on the dance floor.

"But Armaan! She needs a friend to help her now!" Nikki tried her hardest glancing at Riddhima who was seated quietly next to her, for help. But Riddhima did not manage to utter a word.

"Armaan, it makes perfect sense that it's you. It'll make Sid loadz more jealous. And anyway, he already envies you!"

"So?" Armaan questioned as though it was natural of Sid to envy him.

Riddhima found herself smiling to herself. Obviously, he wouldn't really understand what Sid had gone through when Armaan entered. Her vision clouded very slightly as she remembered a few months back.

"Doctors, with the patients increasing, four interns are too small a number for the hospital." Dr Keerti, more commonly known as Hitler, barked. "So there's been a transfer from Sanjeevani Delhi. Dr Armaan Mallik will be here any moment."

The wait seemed to fly past as the two couples got immersed in their partners. Riddhima was slapping Sid, when Keerti wasn't looking of course, because of his winks to various nurses. Everyone in the hospital loved Sid with his crackpot jokes, cute looks, and manly charms. Riddhima had never thought he would one day, just randomly ask her, her, on a date. But he did, and bubbling with new found excitement, she had agreed. And since then, they had been a steady couple, disappointing many good looking, female nurses.

"Sorry I'm late.." a smooth voice interrupted them as he was huffing, probably having ran all the way to the nurse station.

"Dr Armaan Mallik. First day and you're already late." Keerti's eyes narrowed as Riddhima took her time to study the person. He was wearing jeans and a shirt, with his lab coat loosely held in his hands. She looked at the Reebok trainers and smiled. One of her favourite brands. Maybe she would get along really well with him. Her eyes followed up his profile, to his toned chest and strong jawline. She felt her mouth drop open slightly. He was amazing! Shoving her hands in her jeans pockets, she tried to take a good look at his eyes, which were lowered while Keerti's tirade was on going. She could clearly see that all her words were passing over Dr Armaan's head as he smiled slightly to himself. He had dimples! Suddenly, his eyes shot up and looked directly into hers, making her gasp inaudibly. Oceanic blue, beautiful eyes. And they held her gaze for probably the longest time she had known until,

"Dr Riddhima Gupta." Her name brought her out of the trance as she quickly forced herself to break the connection and listen to Keerti. "Will you please show around the hospital?"

"Yes, ma'am." She managed to answer.

And they had gotten along fairly well. Well, if you didn't count the little arguments they got into every now and then. It had been fun showing Armaan the hospital. He never compared it to the Delhi branch. Never complained about the wards being too small, or the lab lacking equipment, like other visiting interns had. She surprised herself at how she bickered with him about guys looking for every chance they could find, to flirt with good looking girls and that was when he replied if that was the case, shouldn't he have been flirting with her? Stunned she took a moment to realize he had just used one of his tricks to flirt indirectly with her! That evening she was on one of those ice cream dates with Sid and all Sid could talk about was Armaan Mallik.

"I mean, it's not like I hate him, but you'd think Jesus is back or something. The way they all worship him just because of his looks. I mean, he's okay looking, what do you think?" Sid asked her, frustrated at the shift of attention.

"Yeah, he's okay." Riddhima had long gotten over the invisible bond that was between them. He was already a friend. Funny, charming, sweet, eyes to die for, cuteness that could melt your heart, hotness that could melt you body, yet humble as ever with lesser pride than Sid had ' Riddhima had to admit ' Armaan had already made his way into everyone's hearts and not even Sid could hate him.

"Then why do all the nurses ogle at him?"

"Because you're taken and he's not."

"How do you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

"I heard him telling one nurse that he was still waiting for 'the right one' and flirting with her at the same time." she giggled when Sid grimaced at the loss of his throne.

"Well, he can have the looks and all. All nurses can die for him. Let's see how good he is a doctor." Sid smirked. Now that was his territory. Sid was smart. He had gotten most of the intern of the month awards. And only a few were left now, yet everyone knew that Sid would be the one to take them. "I'm sure everyone will stop looking at him once I win the intern of the month award."

Sid lost it. To Armaan. And that couldn't make Sid any more sweeter to him than a Bee to a human who had just stolen its honey.

"Riddhima you tell him!" She heard Nikki sigh exasperatedly and took a deep breath. Armaan glared at Nikki, his face portraying murder. And why wouldn't he? He had never said no to Riddhima. Whether it was something as small as giving her his chair in the canteen, to something as big as doing her night duty for her.

"Armaan.." she said quietly, not sure about how she should start it off. Somewhere, she was aware of the soft spot he nursed in his heart for her. But why, she could never fathom. She was somebody else's girlfriend! Well, ex, and now she was back to get him. Had Armaan really fallen for her? She did not want to believe it. But was using him that way right?

Armaan turned away slightly. This was stupid. Crazy. Pointless. True, he had fallen for Riddhima. Felt such a thing that he had never touched on before. Ever since his eyes first locked into those forest green marbles of her, something had stirred inside him. The resolution to never fall in love somehow disintegrated piece by piece. The horrors of unsuccessful relationships that had always towered over him suddenly acted like nightmares that faded with the morning light. Oh yes. Armaan had fallen for her. Deeply. With time, it just kept growing stronger. Every smile every action, every word uttered by her just kept pulling the strings somewhere inside him, earning his affection, his dreams and thoughts. And no one knew. No one should know. After all, she was someone else's girlfriend. Was ' his heart screamed at him. What stopped him from using his charms on her? Maybe the mere knowledge that she still loved Sid. And no matter how hard he tried to help her out of this shell she had retreated into, somehow, she shut it tighter when she saw him within reach. So if she never gave him a chance to help, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to reduce her suffering. And that hurt. Maybe she was aware of what he felt for her. Maybe that was why she didn't allow him to help. Armaan somehow felt that she knew. The way she thoughtfully looked at him didn't suggest otherwise.

Screw Sid! Screw him for seeing Riddhima first. Screw him for dating her. Screw him for not seeing the gem she was. And most of all, screw him for ever hurting her! Armaan hadn't bothered to question Sid about it. It would make his feelings for Riddhima flow out transparently like water. And maybe somehow, Sid would be able to use that as a tool and break the friendship that Armaan had so carefully built with her. But Sid wasn't bad. He was just an insecure person with most boyish traits of commitment phobia. Then why didn't Abhi and he have them, Armaan questioned. He didn't know about Abhi, but he had been forced to grow up at an early age. Watching his parents' battle each other day in day out, had forced Armaan to take responsibility of his younger sister, not giving him time to enjoy the boyish games like football, Play station, etc etc. Oh he got his time when he was a teenager and his sister was old enough to look after herself. But he'd persuaded his parents, divorced now, to send her over seas to study, away from the never ending tension that had blanketed his childhood. Hence he had jumped at the first opportunity to transfer to Mumbai and live all alone.

"Please?" She questioned him quietly, feeling the worst she had yet. If he had feelings for her, why was she taking an advantage? She knew he would not say no to her. He couldn't. She could feel guilt compress everything inside her and didn't have the courage to look into his eyes. He was a friend. A good friend. And she was, exploiting him like that? Disgusting, was the only word that formed in her mind.

That silent begging in her request shone out to Armaan. He felt his heart stop beating for a mere second, as he clenched his jaws. Ok, she knew he had fallen for her. She knew he could never say no to her. Then why was she asking him to do something that would kill him? Didn't she understand how hurtful it would be to finally hand her over, with his own hands, to the guy he wouldn't mind beating to a pulp at the moment?! His eyes found their way to her make up coated face. Yes, she looked phenomenal, but he always preferred her with minimal make up. He always preferred the natural look on her. But it wasn't about what he preferred. It was about what Sid preferred. What Sid liked. This was all for him. He swallowed hard when he saw her looking down, ashamed of herself.

Maybe if once she had taken time to read his eyes, she would have stopped herself then and there from asking him to take part in this farce. She may have finally realized that someone out there, cared so much for her, that he didn't care she loved Sid and still wanted her to be happy. She might also have realized that Sid wasn't really the one for her. Yet..

"Okay." Armaan found himself pronouncing the word he had refused himself to utter.

"I knew it!" Nikki beamed. "Wow! If there's a friend, he should be like you. I knew you could never say no to her!"

"No wait. Armaan, if you don't want to do it, don't." Riddhima put in, ignoring the look of horror on Nikki's face. Armaan looked up at her in surprise. One more thing he loved about her, she wasn't selfish. Sure she loved, and loved incredibly, to the extent that she was ready to fight for the person. That person however, was Sid. But just to get herself someone she loved, she couldn't put others in pain. And it was his turn to help to her get what she wanted. So what if it would put him through agony! So what he had to endure tribulation, grief and suffering when he would finally hand her over to Sid. She wasn't his. She was never his property. She was Sid's.

"What are you doing Riddhima? Armaan, you already said yes, that's it. Come on, friends have each others' backs!" Nikki exclaimed, baffled. But neither paid any heed to her. That un-wavering connection between them was back and Armaan forced a smile on his face.

"I never back down from my words. Let's go and show Sid what he's missing out on." He winked once at her, which lifted a great burden off her insides, causing her to grin. Nikki rolled her eyes and muttered what suspiciously sounded like 'finally'. The plan was on. And it had started off in full swing. This was going to be a roller coaster ride. Not only for Sid, but for the other two characters as well. Just one thing. None of them had the slightest idea where the ride would lead them.

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