I stare at her. I am still feeling bad. Is that what happens when you are in love? A tiny little voice in my head says, "Urgh. What's wrong with you? Get back to your normal self." Another tiny voice in my head says, "You know what Armaan? You can't go back to being your own self because.... you are in love." Suddenly, the bus driver applied sharp breaks and I came out of my thoughts. I realised that I had been unknowingly staring at Riddhima all this time. She turned around and our eyes met. I felt so hurt when she looked at me with such hatred. I guess.... urgh.... I am going crazy. Her bus-stop came and she got off. I went right at the back of the bus and saw her eyes search for someone inside the bus. I didn't want to believe that she was looking for me, but somehow I knew (and hoped) that she was. I saw her walk home with a disappointed face and I felt disappointed too. Soon my bus-stop came and I got off. My brother was going to be there (at home). Wasn't I meant to be excited? Urgh, she really was taking over me. I tried to look excited before ringing the door bell, but I knew it looked fake and that bhai would be able to notice it.
"Armaan!! Mere bhai. Kaisa hai?" And saying that my brother engulfed me in a hug.
"Atul bhaiiya, main theek hoon. Arre bachche ki jaan loge kya?" I said.
"Oh sorry!" And he let go of me realising he was choking me.
"Nah, it's all good. Andar chale?"
"Haan, haan.... chal."
So, we went inside and my bro.... he kept ranting on and on about his girlfriend and how they were planning to get married next year. I got so annoyed by his love talks that I made an excuse of studying and locked myself inside my room. After lying on my bed for 2 hours and practically doing nothing but replay the whole day in front of my eyes (and feel bad), I heard a knock on my door. I went and opened the door. It was bhaiiya.
"Arre bhaiiya, kuch kaam tha to mujhe bula lete." I said.
"Armaan, kya baat hai? Tu aise hi uth ke chala gaya. Mujhse dhang se baat bhi nahi ki. What's going on? What's wrong?" Bhai asked. I knew he would find out.
"Kuch bhi nahi. Just padai ka stress and I didn't sleep well last night. Isiliye just feeling a little tired."
"Oh! To ab tu mujhse jhoot bolna bhi seekh gaya hai? Nice. Ghade, you think main andha hoon? Mujhe dikhta nahi hai? Tell me, what's troubling you?"
"Bhaiiya I said na, nothing!"
"Just shut up! And tell me!" He was yelling at me. I knew he got pissed off when I lied to him. "Just because maine tujhse apni girlfriend ke ilawa aur kuch baat nahi ki, tujhe laga ki I won't notice that you are not feeling good. Jhoot bol raha hai ki padai ka stress hai. Tu kabhi bhi studies se stress out nahi hota. Jaanta hoon main. And you didn't sleep well. Dikh raha hai, but kiski ki wajah se aur kyun? What's wrong Armaan? Tell me. Mujhe nahi to kise bataega?"
So, I told him everything. Everything from our first meeting, to how we became good friends, how I started to like her and how she broke my heart and used me.
"And mujhe bura lag raha hai bhai that I insulted her and yelled at her and.... main kya karu?" I felt so tired.
"Armaan, I don't know what to say. But tune usse baat ki. I mean, did you clear things out with her? Ya tune directly apne dost ki baat par believe kar liya?"
"Umm.... wo...." But before I could say anything, bhai continued.
"Tune nahi ki na usse baat. Maybe Garry tum logo ke beech mein misunderstandings create karna chahta hai. I mean, you should have at least talked to her. Armaan, no wonder you are feeling bad. Maybe Riddhima, Muskaan aur Nikki ki koi galti hi nahi thi aur tum teeno ne unhe aise hi blame kar diya."
"But bhai, Garry kyun humare beech mein misunderstandings create karna chahega? And besides that, he is my friend. I don't think wo aisa kuch bhi karega. I trust him, isiliye I didn't talk to the girls."
"Who have you known for longer Armaan? Riddhima or Garry?"
"Riddhima."
"And you go and believe Garry. Mera bhai itna smart kyun hai?"
I stared at my brother, puzzled. I didn't quite get what he meant. "Matlab?"
"Matlab ye ki tu Garry ko Riddhima se kam time ke liye jaanta hai. Wo Riddhima ko tujhse kam jaanta hai. Tu Riddhima ko usse jyada jaanta hai. And you believed him. Armaan, tu, Rahul aur Abhi stupid ho, ghado. Now it's up to you guys to clear these misunderstandings."
"But bhai, how can you be so sure?"
"How can you be so sure ki jo Garry ne kaha wo sach hai? Bol?"
"But.... shit!"
"Ya.... shit about it now!"
"Ab main kya karu?"
"Ab Riddhima tujhse baat nahi karegi. I can bet you on that. Nahi Muskaan, nahi Nikki tum teeno se baat karengi. Now you just got to wait. Sabse pehle, find out the truth. Nahi, usse pehle, call Rahul and Abhi. I want to meet them, talk to them. Now you do as I tell you to. Clean up this mess Armaan Mallik."
I felt like a moron, retard, idiot, ghada, ullu. Jo bolna hai bolo. I can't believe it that I didn't think about clearing things out with Riddhima and the girls even once. Well, full fault meri nahi hai. Rahul and Abhi are the culprits too. So, I called Rahul and Abhi to my place.
Half-an-hour later
"Atul bhaiiya, kaise ho?" Rahul said.
"Bilkul theek nahi hoon. Because tum log theek nahi ho." Bhai said.
"Hume kya hua hai?"
"Tu bhi mujhse chupane ki koshish kar raha hai? Great yaar. Armaan ne bata diya mujhe. He had to."
Abhi just stood there. He had never met bhai before (remember he met Armaan this year itself). Rahul being my childhood friend was like another brother to bhai.
"Bhaiiya, this is Abhi. Abhi, this is Atul bhaiiya." I said.
"Nice meeting you... aa..." Abhi didn't know what to call bhai.
"Main tumse bada hoon.... to tum mujhe bhaiiya bulaoge.... right?" Bhai said.
"Umm... if you don't mind me calling you bhaiiya.... then I'd like to."
"Abe angrez ki aulaad. Sabse pehle tu mujhse Hindi mein baat kar. Mujhe pata hai tujhe Hindi aati hai. And rahi baat mujhe bhaiiya bulane ki, then listen. Tu Armaan ka dost hai. Armaan ke dost, mere bhai ban jaate hai. Automatically. Samjha?"
"Umm.... ok!" I knew Abhi was getting a little emotional. He didn't have a brother or sister and since he had lived overseas all his life, he never really got to stay with his cousins a lot. Bhai hugged Abhi, which surprised him a little. Me and Rahul just smiled.
"Welcome to the family buddy." Bhai added with a wink.
"Thank you! Umm.... to hume yaha kyun bulaya hai?"
"Tum teeno ki band bajane ke liye. Kya kiya tum logo ne?" And bhai talked to them about everything. At the end of the long lecture, anyone could say that Abhi and Rahul were guilty.
"So, ab kya?" Rahul asked.
"Main ye nahi keh raha ki Garry ne definitely aisa kiya. But possibilities are high. Isiliye, sabse pehle sach ka pata lagao. Alright?"
"Ok! As you say bhaiiya. Now you help us!"
"That I will. Don't worry. Main hoon na! Chalo, I'll drop you guys home. And Armaan, you go sleep. You need some rest. Go!"
"Ok! Bye guys. See you tomorrow." And with that, I went upstairs. I was able to sleep properly tonight, maybe because I knew that bhai was there with me. Maybe because I knew things were going to be set right soon. Hopefully!
O~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~O
Heyya guys! I hope you all like this part. 😊 Please do comment and let me know how it was! 😳
Love you all
🤗
Edited by jm2506 - 14 years ago
Anupamaa
308