SR FF Love Happens Part 17 Page 49 - Cmpltd - Page 12

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Riddhima was standing on her terrace looking at the mehendi on her hands. Finally, the day was here. The day she'd waited for for so long. Tomorrow was her wedding day. Her wedding with Armaan. Everything had happened so quickly. Shekhar Uncle and Sunanda Aunty had flown in ready to welcome her into the family. Shekhar Uncle had a tight schedule lined up for the next six months and there was no auspicious day for the wedding for the next six months after that. Not wanting to postpone the wedding for a whole year, both the set of parents had decided that the wedding would be conducted at the next available auspicious day, which happened to be in one week. She closed her eyes and hugged herself with a happy smile on her face. It was all so perfect. Something kept nagging her at the back of her mind, even as she thought it was all perfect, but today she did not want to dwell on any of the doubts that had crept into her over the past few months regarding Armaan. It was finally happening and she was happy. A gentle breeze picked up and she felt her heartbeat quicken. Armaan, she thought to herself and turned.

It was Sid, standing on the terrace of the Modi house. Riddhima felt disconcerted that she'd sensed Sid's presence. It was always like that, she always knew Sid was coming even before he entered a room. Each time she'd hope that this time her intuition would tell her about Armaan but each and every time, it had been Sid. It was something that had worried her and made her stick to her decision about staying away from Sid. But tonight, she did not care. So she looked at Sid and smiled.

over to the edge and held out her hand. As if possessed, Sid was drawn to her and before he could think about what he was about to do or stop himself, he'd already taken her hands in his and helped her jump over to his terrace. Riddhima slipped as soon as she jumped over and Sid caught her just in time. One of her hands was still in his, her other hand was clutching his shoulder for support and Sid's other hand was on her waist as he stopped her from falling. Their bodies were pinned against each other and when Riddhima raised her head to look at Sid, their faces were just inches apart. She felt breathless and her eyes roamed over his face of their own free will.

Sid felt as if he'd been struck by lightning on the first impact. She was so close, he felt himself enveloped in her warmth, in her softness, in her fragrance. He looked into her eyes, the way he'd wanted to for so long. They seemed bottomless pools in which he wanted to drown. He couldn't look away.

Riddhima felt shock waves erupt from every single point in her body where it was in touch with Sid's and spread throughout her, sending waves of warmth and sensation course through her. The way he was looking at her, Riddhima felt herself melt from within. They were locked in that same position lost in each other's eyes for long moments before a random noise broke their trance.

Sid immediately let go of her and stepped back. Riddhima felt embarrassed and tucked away a lock of hair from her face. The mehendi on Riddhima's hands gave him the much-needed jolt back to reality. That mehendi on her hands was meant for Armaan. Sid backed a few more steps away from Riddhima.

Riddhima : Tum soye nahi?

Sid : Nahi.. Neend nahi aa rahi thi..

Riddhima : Mujhe bhi..

Sid did not say anything. Riddhima stood there wondering if she should just go back and let Sid be. But something in her urged her forward, urged her to talk to him. She felt she owed it to him because of the way she'd been behaving with him all these days.

Riddhima : Kya hum baath kar sakthe hain?

Sid wanted to ask her to leave him alone. Just when he thought he could handle it all for a few more hours and then make his escape back to the US, he'd seen her on the terrace, bathed in moonlight, wearing blue, with a happy smile adorning her face. Her face was glowing. The kind of glow that you only get to see on a bride's face. He'd thought of walking away but she had turned and smiled at him. He had lost the ability to think from that point on. And now, when she asked him if they could talk, again, he felt as if someone else was saying yes even as he felt himself mouth the word.

They both sat down, a respectable distance separating them. Now came the big question. What do they talk about? Riddhima wanted to almost hit herself for suggesting that they talk. For the lack of anything better to say, Riddhima started on something she already knew.

Riddhima : Suvarna kab aa rahi hai?

Sid : Wo kal subah pahunch jaayegi. Uske exams chal rahe hain. Kal hi khatham hue hain.

Riddhima : Hmmm..

Again an awkward silence settles.

Sid : Kya tum.. Armaan se milne aayi thi?

Riddhima shook her head.

Riddhima : Nahi nahi.. Main tho bass aise hi.. Neend nahi aa rahi thi tho..

Sid : Tum chaho tho main Armaan ko bula saktha hoon..

Riddhima : Nahi nahi.. Wo actually, haldi ke baad dulha dulhan ka milna apshagun hotha hai..

Sid nodded.

Riddhima : Tum wapas kyun jaa rahe ho?

Finally Riddhima voiced the one question she'd been meaning to ask Sid for a really long time and she didn't even know she'd wanted to ask him that.

Even as she asked him, she felt her heart pound heavily. Sid turned to look at her and their eyes locked. He did not say a single word but his eyes were speaking. Riddhima could not decipher what his eyes were saying but maybe her heart did coz she felt this urge to cry, to cry over losing something she did not even know she had. How was that possible? She thought to herself. There was pain in his eyes and she felt it in her heart. No, this was wrong. She was getting married to Armaan. She shouldn't be feeling all of this for Sid. She got up abruptly.

Riddhima : Bahut der ho gayi hai.. Mujhe chalna chahiye.

Before Sid could even get up, Riddhima was already jumping over to her terrace. She almost ran inside before Sid's voice stopped her.

Sid : Riddhima..

Riddhima drew a sharp breath. It tugged at her heartstrings whenever Sid said her name. She stopped and turned back to look at him.

Sid : Tumhe tumhara jawab nahi chahiye?

Riddhima felt her eyes stinging with tears but she had no idea why she was crying. Without a word, she turned and fled back to her room while Sid stood there with unshed tears brimming in his eyes. He had finally mustered the courage to tell her the truth; he wanted to try one last time. Somehow, he couldn't put it into words and so he had let his eyes do the talking but he did not know whether Riddhima understood or not.

Scene : Wedding day. Evening time. Gupta house.

Just about an hour or two was left for the wedding to begin and Shilpa was busy giving the final touches to Riddhima's get up.

Shilpa : Di.. Ek baath poochoon?

Riddhima : Hmmm..

Shilpa : Aap khush tho hain na?

Riddhima : Bahut khush hoon..

Shilpa : Aur main aap ke liye bahut khush hoon..

The sisters hug and Shilpa's eyes fill with tears.

Riddhima : Arey pagli, ro kyun rahi hai?

Shilpa : I'll miss you..

Riddhima : I'll miss you too..

They hug again as Shilpa fights back the urge to break down and cry her heart out.

Now as he walked in with Suvarna, he noticed an unnerving silence in the house. It wasn't the same house hustling with activity that he had left in the morning. Something was wrong. He looked for his mom and spotted her sitting on the couch in the corner, her hand on her head, sobbing away. His dad was pacing the length of the living room with a cigarette in hand. Something had to be terribly wrong. Sid knew his dad never smoked unless it was something that really really had him worked up. In fact, he hadn't seen his dad smoke in years. Sid suddenly felt as if his feet had turned into stone for he had to drag them. Dread fisted around his heart as his eyes worriedly searched for a cause of this tension. He couldn't fathom what it could be. As he reached the center of the living room, he took a quick glance through the kitchen window to the house next door. But everything seemed to be going fine over there. So it was something that had happened here.

Sid : Kya hua? Aap sab ithne chup kyun hain?

That's when Sunanda and Shekhar noticed that he had returned.

Sunanda came running towards him and hugged him. She was weeping uncontrollably now.

Sid : Kya hua mom? Baath kya hai?

Suvarna : Haan mom! Baath kya hai? Aap.. Aap ro kyun rahi hain?

Sunanda just continues to cry.

Sid : Dad, aap tho bathayiye, baath kya hai?

Shekhar stops pacing and looks at him.

Shekhar : Armaan chala gaya..

Sid & Sue : KYA????!!!!

Sid : Armaan chala gaya?

Sue ; Bro chala gaya ? Kahan?

Shekhar : Kisi ko kuch nahi patha.. Shaadi ka ghar hai, sau do sau log aa jaa rahe hain. Lekin kisi ko kuch nahi patha ki Armaan kahan hai..

Sunanda gathers herself enough to speak up.

Sunanda : Mujhe laga ki wo kamre mein hi hoga. Subah wo kamre mein tha jab main usse uske kapde dene gayi thi. Usne kaha ki wo thodi der aaram karna chahtha hai tho maine sabse kaha ki usse disturb na karein. Abhi jab main dekhne gayi ki wo thayyar hua hai ki nahi, tho wo.. tho wo kamre mein nahi tha..

Sid : Are you sure mom? Apne theek se dekha?

Sue : Haan mom, bro yahin kahin honge.. Chalo hum dhoondthe hain..

Shekhar : Humne sab jagah dekh liya.. Armaan kahin nahi hai..

Sid raced up the stairs to the bedroom, taking the steps two at a time. He shouted Armaan's name as he barged into the room. He searched everywhere he could think of but he was nowhere to be found. He went back into the room and slumped on to the bed. He noticed something and moved the pillow. There was a single sheet of folded paper. He opened it and read :

I am sorry. I can't do this.

Armaan

"Oh God! Armaan! What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" Sid thought to himself. He closed his eyes and the first image that came to his mind was Riddhima's, from 15 years ago, that single tear drop that had rolled down from her eyes. How would she handle this? Why did things have to always go wrong? It was all his fault. If only he'd never replied to Riddhima's letters posing to be Armaan. If only they hadn't fallen in love. If only he had been honest with her from the start. If only they hadn't come to India. If only she hadn't fallen in love with Armaan even after realizing that he wasn't the same as the person she'd written to for 15 years. If only.. But nothing could be done now. Sid took the piece of paper and went back downstairs with a heavy heart. Shekhar, Sunanda and Sue watched him. He went up to his dad and gave him the paper. Shekhar took one look at what was written, crumpled it and threw it to the floor. Sue immediately picked it up, smoothened it out and Sunanda and Sue read what was written. Sunanda started crying again.

Shekhar : Its all a joke for him.. Its all a bloody darn joke for him..

Sue : Sid.. Armaan.. Aise.. Do you know why he wrote this?

Sid shook his head. He thought that Armaan had taken to Riddhima and he had no clue at all why he would ditch her at this very end moment. If he had an issue with this marriage he could have voiced it earlier on. Why at this end moment? What had happened? Sid had no clue.

Shekhar : Ab iske baare mein discuss karke koi fayda nahi.. Mujhe Shashank se baath karni hogi.

Sid : Dad.. Agar hum aise wahan jaayenge tho sabko patha chal jaayega..

Shekhar : Sabko waise hi patha chal jaayega Sid.. Its not something you can hide.

Sid : Jaantha hoon Dad.. I was just thinking, agar wahan sabke saamne yeh baath khul gayi tho unki kithni badnaami hogi.. Isse achcha hai hum unhe yahin bula len..

Shekhar lets out a sigh and nods. He picks up the phone and calls Shashank.

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Half an hour later, at the Modi house. Shashank sat with his head in his hands, Armaan's note lay beside him and Padma was crying away while Sunanda tried to console her. Shilpa stood in one corner, not reacting at all, as if the life had been sucked out of her.

Shashank : Samajh mein nahi aa raha ki yeh sab kya ho raha hai.

Shekhar : I always knew Armaan was immature but I never knew he was this irresponsible. I am really sorry Shashank.

Shashank : Armaan ne aisa kyun kiya? Ab main kya karoon? Sab log wahan baarat ke aane ka intezaar kar rahe hain.. Meri beti.. Meri beti dulhan bani baiti hai.. Kya kahoon main sabse? Aur.. asli wajah chahe jo bhi ho, galath tho hamesha har koi meri beti ko hi teherayega na? Uski iss sab mein kya galthi hai? Main kya karoon kuch samajh mein nahi aa raha...

It pained Shekhar to see his best friend since childhood in so much of pain. But even he did not know what to do. He looked away from Shashank's defeated figure and his gaze rested on Sid.

Shekhar : Shashank, agar tum bura na mano tho main ek baath kahoon?

Shashank looks up.

Shekhar : Main ab bhi chahtha hoon ki Riddhima hamare ghar ki bahu bane.

Shashank looks at Shekhar puzzled.

Shekhar : Kya tum Riddhima ki shaadi mere bete Siddhant se karaoge?

Everyone is stunned. Sid was shocked. He had not seen that coming.

Shashank : yeh tum kya keh rahe ho Shekhar?

Shekhar : Sahi keh raha hoon.. Mere ek bete ki galthi ki wajah se main hamare barson purani dosti par aanch nahi aane doonga. Tumhari beti meri bhi beti hai Shashank. Jaise Suvarna, waise hi mere liye Riddhima aur Shilpa. Aur apni beti ki takleef main nahi dekh saktha. Koi uspe ya tumpe ungli uthaye yeh main bardashth nahi kar saktha.

Shashank was stunned into silence.

Shekhar : Tho bolo. Kya tum apni Riddhima ki shaadi mere Siddhant se karaoge?

Shashank : Pehle Siddhant se tho pooch lo.

Everyone turns to look at Sid but he had left.

Sid was standing on the terrace. Shekhar went up to him and placed his hand on Sid's shoulder.

Shekhar : Siddhant..

Sid turns to his dad.

Sid : Dad aap?

He quickly wipes away the tears from his eyes.

Shekhar : I am sorry, maine tumse bina poochhe hi tumhari aur Riddhima ki shaadi ki baath chhed di..

Sid does not say anything.

Shekhar : I hope ki tum iss situation ke seriousness ko samajhthe ho..

Sid nodded but still did not say anything.

Shekhar : Beta, Shashank aur main bachpan ke dosth hain.. aur jo kuch bhi maine neeche kaha, wo sab sach tha.. Agar hamari wajah se unko takleef hui, ya unki badnaami hui, tho main apne aap ko kabhi maaf nahi kar paoonga. Lekin yeh bhi sach hai ki main apne bete ki khushi chahtha hoon. Main tumhe force nahi karoonga Siddhant. Tumhe jo decision lena hai, tum soch samajhkar lena. I am with you in whatever decision you take and I trust you to make the right decision.

He runs his hand over Sid's head and walks away. Sid watched his father's receding figure. He knew that even if he refused to marry Riddhima, his father would stand by him. But the question was should he or shouldn't he?

Sid : " Main Riddhima se shaadi karne ke liye thayyar hoon.."

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