~Dil Dosti Etc New thread AR Excerpt pg 37 NEW~ - Page 7

wow ur ff is just awesome made me speechless really

just caught up with this ff today

loved this ff so much loved ur style of writing

keep doing this amazing job

plz add me to ur pm list

continue soon impatient to read next part

Okay! So here is the long-awaited part! I'll be honest, it's more of a filler, because it didn't feel right to straight-away jump into the action-filled stuff at the start of the party. It's mostly focussed on Ridhima and her confusion, whereas Armaan POV is brief. For those of you who were missing Rajeev, he makes an appearance too. Also, this story is going to get slightly darker. So if you are thinking it's all butterflies and rainbows, let me warn you it's not. Hopefully you will all still continue to read :)

So I'll stop my rambling now, please read on, and hope you all enjoy! :)

Part 36

RidhimaArmaanRajeev

There was dull pain in his head, and as the consciousness started to return, the pain started getting worse. He wanted to open his eyes to know where he was, to familiarize himself with his surroundings, but opening his eyes was too much of an effort. It felt like there was some heavy weight on his eyes, and he was just so tired. His mouth was dry and he was craving some water, but moving his arm was too much effort.

Slowly he became aware of some things attached to his arms, a cloth-like substance on his forehead, which he presumed to be the bandage from the surgery. Swallowing the saliva a couple of times, he tried clearing his throat, to call out to the nurse.

His headache was getting worse by the second. Where were the painkillers? Where were the doctors? He had just had surgery for christsake! Experimentally, he moved his eyes around with his eyes still closed. Every time he did that, it felt like his headache got worse. Stopping his eyes from moving, he tried opening his eyes once more, just so he could find the button for more painkiller.

Opening them inch by inch, he allowed his eyes to adjust to the light. There was too much light, and his eyes hurt, his head hurt, and soon his body was hurting too. Too much pain.

Closing his eyes again, he took a deep breath and attempted to open his eyes again. He did so slowly, and allowed his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. There were machines around him, with tubes sticking out of his arm. His eyes roamed till they felt on the button for the painkiller. Pressing on it, he waited for the medicines to start acting and take the pain away. He closed his eyes as the effect took place, and soon sleep took over.

He wished he was back home with his daughter. He missed her.

******

Ridhima stared at the dress in front of her. When she had bought it, she had been excited to wear it for the New Year celebration. But suddenly, she didn't feel like celebrating. The past few days had been such a roller-coaster, that Ridhima wanted to curl up in her bed and go to sleep.

"Ridzi, get ready quickly! The other girls should be coming soon!" Anjali said as she put on her earrings. Ridhima looked at her sister and was taken aback by how beautiful she looked. Her pink dress was tight from her chest to her hips, and then fell graciously from there to her feet. It had small slits on the side, so whenever Anjali moved slightly, a small section of her leg was revealed.

"Wow di. You look...amazing" Ridhima said, as she saw Anjali tie her hair back in a lose bun.

Anjali chuckled, "thanks sweety, but get dressed. I want to see you wearing the red. It'll look amazing on you!"

Sighing, Ridhima took the dress out of her wardrobe and walked towards the bathroom. It was too late. She had to get dressed and go and have a good time. She wasn't going to let Armaan pull her back from having fun. So what if he had hurt her? Just like the guys before, she was going to move on. She would move on.

Slipping the dress on, she took the silver pin and gently pinned the dress to her side. She looked at her reflection. The red stood out against her skin, emphasizing her curves, and flattering her figure, at the same time. Smoothing the dress down, Ridhima pulled the hair tie out of her hair, and let it fall down her back.

Taking the curler, she made lose curls in her hair, so it was straight from the top, and changed into lose curls towards the end. Putting on some make-up, Ridhima put on the silver heels, her silver clutch and her mask.

Walking out of the bathroom, Ridhima saw Anjali staring at her reflection in the mirror, twirling around in front of it. She saw as Anjali stopped when she saw Ridhima.

"Holy woah girl. I always knew you were so pretty, but damn you hide a good figure behind the suits. You should wear more dresses Ridzi" Anjali said as she came closer to Ridzi and adjusted her straps to make the dress fall better. Ridhima blushed and self-consciously pulled at the dress, that fell just above her knees. Anjali saw this and swatted her hand away.

"Oh god, stop being such a amma! You look beautiful! Trust me, I won't lie to you" Anjali said sincerely, and Ridhima let the smile spread across her face, touched from Anjali's words.

"Knock knock!" Ridhima heard Nikki say form outside their door, before they opened it to come in. Nikki and Muskaan came in, all dressed up with their hair and make-up done, clutching on to their masks in one hand and their clutches in another.

Muskaan's green dress fell up to her ankles, with a deep v-neck, starting with bluish green colour, fading into white and yellowy green. It flowed from just below her chest, hiding how skinny Muskaan was, but at the same time flattering Muskaan's figure by subtly bringing attention to her small curves. Nikki's dress was a blue colour, held together by thin silver straps which came around the front and criss-crossed just below her chest. From then onwards, the blue dress fell gracefully up to her ankles. Ridhima guessed that the dress originally pooled way past her feet, which is why Nikki was wearing high heels to stop the dress from dragging to the floor.

To put it in simple words, the girls looked amazing. Each girl had outdone themselves, by changing into beautiful dresses, amazing make-up and hair that done to perfection. Suddenly Ridhima felt self-conscious for being the only one wearing a short dress which fell just above her knees, and showed off her legs.

Muskaan's eyes fell on Ridhima and she gave out a slow whistle. "Jeez Ridhima, do you plan on snagging every guy at the ball?" She said giving her a small wink. Ridhima blushed some more, and tugged at the dress some more.

"Would you stop that?" Anjali said as she rolled her eyes and came to Ridhima to adjust the dress some more, driving it up a bit more and making it fall better on her body. "You fiddle with it some more, and the pin is going to pop and expose you" Anjali muttered and Ridhima felt her eyes widen in fear. She definitely won't be fiddling with it anymore.

"I am the only one wearing a short dress" Ridhima said out loud as she stared at the ladies in front of her.

"Even better. The guys will remember you" Muskaan said, winking at her, and giving out a small laugh when Ridhima blushed some more.

Nikki rolled her eyes in amusement and put a soft hand of comfort ton Ridhima's shoulders, "Don't worry. I am sure there are going to be girls wearing shorter dresses than you. Also the whole point of this ball was to dress up as someone you are not. And since you wear suits all the time, I'd have to say you have done the best job out of everyone here in dressing up as someone you normally won't" Nikki said, squeezing her shoulder for added encouragement. Ridhima felt a bit better after that, and nodded in understanding. "So what say? Shall we go and surprise everyone?" Nikki asked everyone, adding a wink in Ridhima's direction.

"Chal yaar! I am dying to see that champu's face. Said I don't know how to dress like a girl hah! I'll show him!" Muskaan said, waving her arms around, almost smacking Anjali in the face.

"Muskaan! Watch it! I spent ages on my eye make-up!"

"What's the point Anjie? You are going to wear a mask anyway!" Muskaan said giving out a snort of laughter.

"Whatever. At least I didn't dress up to impress Raoool" Anjali said, laughing at Muskaan's disgusted face.

"Me? Dress up for Raool? Are you shitting me? Uss Champu ke liye toh meri jooti bhi dress up nahi karegi!"

"Muskaan, don't mind. But I've been here for about a week or so now, and even I can tell there is something between you two" Nikki added, giggling when Muskaan turned a deep red.

"Tum dono mere dost nahin. Ridzi is the only good friend of mine. Tell me Ridhima, Raool and I? YUCK!" Muskaan exclaimed, a look of pure horror on her face.

Ridhima hid her laughter and refused to comment. Both Rahul and Muskaan had been at each other's throat since their start at Sanjeevani, but anyone could see that both cared deeply about each other. If Muskaan even got a tear in her eye, Rahul would go insane with worry as to what had caused it.

******

Getting dropped off at the venue, the girls piled out of the car and adjusted their dresses and hair before stepping inside the venue. The dcor took Ridhima's breath away. Everything was dim-lilted, with lanterns adorning the walls in white and gold colours. The dance floor was huge, with disco lights bouncing off the stage to walls and zig-zagging across the hall. The tables and chair were set up around the hall, circling the dance floor, and there was a red carpet starting from the entrance till the middle of the hall. It also seemed that some professional photographers had been hired, as she saw people posing and smiling in front of expensive looking cameras, as numerous flashes went off. To say that Ridhima was impressed, would be an understatement.

Stepping inside, Ridhima immediately put on her mask, and the girls followed suit. The last thing they wanted was for people to recognize who they were when they were trying to hide their identity.

Her eyes scanned the crowd. It seemed as though they were a tad late as there already seemed to be a bit of a crowd, and some people were even dancing. She tried finding the boys, but couldn't spot them in the crowd.

She hated to admit it, but she was looking for only one person. And even though she hated herself for it, she desperately wanted to just catch a glimpse of him.

Giving up on her search, she turned around to find Muskaan desperately looking at the crowd trying to find the boys. "No use" Ridhima said, "There are too many people. We might bump into them later"

The girls nodded and moved towards the bar to get a drink for themselves. Anjali, Muskaan and Nikki all ordered alcoholic drinks, and Ridhima decided to follow suit. It wasn't as though she had an aversion to drinking, but she was a major lightweight. She hardly ever drank, but usually when she did, it didn't take her long to get tipsy. Thankfully she had always been surrounded by people she loved to take care of her.

"To a new year!" Nikki shouted as she took a swig of her drink, and everyone followed suit.

The music was getting louder and the mixed beats were getting everyone excited and into the mood of a party. Ridhima hoped that she could enjoy the night and not get called in for an emergency. Feeling a small smile touch her lips, Ridhima let herself be swept up in the beats of the music, and her body started moving slightly to the music. Muskaan saw her and grinned at her. It seemed that Muskaan had found her dancing partner.

"C'mon Ridzi! Let's go!!" Grabbing a hold on to Ridhima's hand she pulled her onto the stage and they both started moving in time to the the music. The heavy bass and the beats, allowed Ridhima to move her hips around and swing her hair from side to side. She had always loved dancing, and having a great dancer like Muskaan dance with her, allowed Ridhima to enjoy the music even more.

"Oh hey sexy ladies. How you doin'"

Ridhima swept around to see Nikki standing behind her, a mischievous look on her eyes as she moved in time to the music. Ridhima gave out a small laugh and moved back to allow Anjali and Nikki to join in with herself and Muskaan in the dance. All the girls laughed and sang along to the music, all the while moving their bodies to the beats.

This couldn't get any better! Ridhima was having so much fun that she almost forgot about the last few days. Almost.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Nikki's phone flashing, and Nikki glancing down to check the message she'd got. She saw as she frowned and give out a small curse.

She motioned to Nikki to ask her what was wrong, but Nikki just shook her head and returned to her dancing. Shrugging her shoulders, Ridhima continued her dancing, laughing every now and then at Muskaan's outrageous movements.

She felt a small nudge at her rib, and she looked at Nikki who motioned at the two guys were were standing at the bar, staring at the girls. From first glance, Ridhima could tell that it was Rahul and Atul. Those two were wearing suits, which made them look quite different as she normally saw them wearing lab coats and jeans.

Looking back at the girls, Ridhima laughed quietly, and wondered if those two had recognised the girls. However Ridhima couldn't help but wonder, if Rahul and Atul were here, that meant that Armaan would be close-by as well. Ridhima felt a small jolt in her heart at that thought, and suddenly she felt very self-conscious of her dancing.

What are you doing? She scolded herself He doesn't like you. Stop thinking about him

"Should we go to the bar and see if they recognize us?" Muskaan asked, her eyes constantly darting towards the two men at the bar. Ridhima grinned, it was so obvious that she wanted to see Rahul's reaction, but she didn't say anything.

"Sure" Nikki said grinning, passing a small wink to Anjali, who just laughed out loud.

Walking towards the bar, Ridhima saw as Atul nudged Rahul and nodded towards the girls. She saw as Rahul looked at all four of them, and then his eyes transfixed on Muskaan, who was walking with a small blush on her face, looking at the floor, refusing to look at him. Ridhima smiled at their interaction. If only the two of them woke up and realised their love for each other!

As they neared the bar, Atul straightened up, and fixed his tie. Clearing his throat, he came and stood next to Anjali, and said "Anjali?"

"Who Anjali" Anjali asked, pretending to be someone else.

Atul rolled his eyes, "seriously? I know you are Anjali. Tumhe toh pata hain na, ki meri dhadkan tumhe kahin bhi pehchaan legi"

Anjali groaned, "Oh God Atul. At least don't try your filmi dialogues today!" as she walked past him and sat on the stool at the bar. Atul gave a triumphant grin at Rahul and winked in his direction as he came and stood next to Anjali, "well at least I got you to reveal your identity" Atul said, winking at Anjali. Anjali rolled her eyes and hid her amusement by facing the other way.

Ridhima noticed that Rahul was openly staring at Muskaan, not even trying to be subtle. Muskaan was self-consciously looking everywhere but at him. Rahul cleared his throat and finally said, "Muskaan?"

Muskaan finally looked at him, and nodded, a grin coming on her face.

"You look...g-good" Rahul stammered, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his head, and she saw as his neck flushed a deep red. Biting her lip, Muskaan muttered her thanks and sat next to Anji on the stool.

Ridhima shook her head in amusement, and once again found herself looking around for the one person.

Stop! She scolded herself yet again. But she couldn't. She had to see him, just once.

"Oh shit, Deepak and Raj are here, and Armaan is nowhere in sight!" Nikki said, frustrated as she looked around for Armaan. "Oh crap, oh crap they are asking where I am!" Nikki exclaimed as she stared at the text she had received. As she typed her reply, she gave out a few choice words for Armaan.

From the distant she saw two guys make their way towards the group. Ridhima recognized them to be Deepak and Raj and realised neither were wearing masks. Deepak was dressed smartly in a 3-piece suit, which showed his muscular, yet lean figure, whereas Raj was wearing a suit, his hair messy, giving the impression that he truly didn't care about being here.

She saw that as they got closer, Nikki got even more frantic in spotting Armaan. Ridhima felt sorry for Nikki, if Armaan was meant to be helping her out, the least he could do was show up, and not abandon his friend. Frowning, Ridhima looked around for Armaan as well, he had to be somewhere here. Failing in spotting him, Ridhima looked back at the two men who had approached Nikki by now and were greeting each other.

Nikki shook both their hands, and offered pleasantries, however Ridhima could see that Nikki's eyes were still darting from side-to-side. Ridhima decided to rescue Nikki and came forward to greet the two gentlemen,

"Hey guys!" Ridhima said as she removed her mask so they would recognize her. She saw as both looked taken aback by Ridhima's attire, and both smiled at her warmly. "Both of you look good" Ridhima said with a smile as she shook both their hands.

"Same to you Ridhima, you look amazing" Raj said, his eyes not leaving hers, and suddenly Ridhima found herself feeling a tad odd. Here she was trying to save Nikki from the two guys, and she was suddenly wishing she hadn't. Giving him a polite smile, Ridhima said her thanks.

"Sorry I am late babe, the line for your drink had been so long!"

Ridhima immediately stiffened. He was here, and Ridhima had no idea how to act. Should she turn around and greet him, or ignore him. She clutched and wrung her hands around, as she saw Nikki turn around to face Armaan from her peripheral vision.

Looking at the ground, she waited for Armaan to come into her vision. She wouldn't turn around. She was still mad at him, right?

"Armaan! Babe!" Nikki exclaimed as she took the glass from him, and hugged him. Ridhima felt a pang in her chest, and looked at Raj, who seemed to be giving Nikki a disgusted look. So it seemed that the plan was working.

Suddenly Raj caught her looking at him, and gave her a small smile.

Oh shit Ridhima thought, as she quickly averted her eyes. The last thing she needed was for Raj to think that she was interested in him.

"Deepak, Raj, you remember Armaan yeah?" Nikki offered. Even though Ridhima's back was still facing Armaan, she could practically imagine the sickly sweet smile on Nikki's face as she made the introduction.

Taking a small step forward, she went and stood beside Raj, and therefore ended up facing Armaan and Nikki. Now that Armaan was standing right in front of her, she had to look up and make eye contact. She couldn't ignore the presence in front of her, no matter how much she wanted to.

Lifting her eyes slowly, Ridhima's green eyes met his stormy grey eyes, and Ridhima felt her breath leave her in a rush at the intensity of his gaze. She felt her heart completely stop and her palms got sweaty, while her knees felt week.

He was wearing a fitting suit, with a red shirt, and the first few buttons were undone. She had to admit, that he looked, breathtaking. He continued to look at her, and Ridhima had to look away to break the eye contact and not bring any attention to herself.

Taking a few unsteady breaths, she discretely wiped her sweaty palms at the side of her dress.

Stop responding like this! He played around with your feelings! He was probably laughing behind your back, mocking your feelings!

She saw as he took both Deepak's and Raj's hands in greeting, and made small talk. Ridhima stayed quiet through most of it,and refused to look at the man standing right in front of her, even though she felt his gaze on her again and again.

"Ridhima, would you like another drink?" Raj asked as he pointed at her empty glass. Looking down Ridhima realised that she had been holding the empty glass for a while. It wouldn't hurt to get another drink, to let lose and have some fun. She just wanted to forget everything tonight.

"Sure" Ridhima said, smiling, and she felt a small hand on her back as Raj guided the two of them towards the bar. She would be lying if she didn't admit that the heat of Armaan's gaze when Raj took her away, left her feeling quite happy and giddy; something that the alcohol hadn't achieved yet.

********

Armaan was standing in the massive crowd around the bar to get a drink. It seemed that everyone had come here with one intention in mind ' to get drunk.

Tapping his foot impatiently, his eyes scanned the crowd, wanting to find Ridhima, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Giving out an impatient sigh, he wished the line would move faster so he could go and look for Ridhima. His phone buzzed, and he saw it was a text from Nikki.

Armaan Malik. Where the f**k are you, you loser? You are meant to be here as my boyfriend to show Deepak! If you don't come in another 5 minutes, I swear to god I am going to make you regret it!

Wincing slightly at the aggressive text, Armaan became even more impatient to get the drinks. Finally after what seemed like ages, Armaan bought two drinks and made his way back to where he had left Atul and Rahul. He saw both were talking to two beautiful women, however he didn't have time to wait around to make introductions. Passing a discrete wink at both Rahul and Atul, he made his way to Nikki who wasn't standing too far from them. He saw that Nikki was wearing a long blue dress, and standing next to her was a girl wearing red dress. He admired her shapely legs as he came closer to Nikki.

"Sorry I am late babe, the line for your drink had been so long!" Armaan said, as he draped an arm around Nikki and handed her a drink. He passed her a dimpled smile, hoping that she won't be too angry with him.

"Armaan! Babe!" Nikki exclaimed as she took the glass from him, and hugged him, her other arm going and rest on his back. She passed him a sweet smile, and silently thanked him for saving her.

Turning her attention now to the men standing opposite her, she passed them a sickly sweet smile and said, "Deepak, Raj, you remember Armaan yeah?"

However before Armaan could offer a greeting of his own, he saw that the girl standing beside Nikki had gone to stand beside Raj now, so her back was no longer facing Armaan, and he could see her face.

His shocked eyes met Ridhima's green eyes, and he was left speechless. For him it seemed that the moments seem to slow down, Nikki, Raj and Deepak seemed to fade away, and the only person who actually mattered was standing right in front of him.

Her dress fell above her knees, not indecently short, however enough to emphasize her legs. The red colour brought out the green eyes and brought attention to her fair skin. Her dress showed all the right curves, and suddenly Armaan found it hard to breath.

He thanked the heavens for not wearing a tie tonight, because he's pretty sure he would have started choking if he had been wearing one. The arms that was looped around Nikki became heavy, and was almost falling from her waist.

Armaan itched to go to Ridhima, and wrap her in his arms, to claim her as his, so no other man in this venue would look at her indecently. Didn't she realize how beautiful she looked?

He found it hard to tear his eyes from hers, and wanted to keep looking into them. She looked breathtakingly gorgeous, and he wanted her to know that.
It was only when Ridhima looked away and Nikki discretely pinched the side of his waist that he realised he had been ogling Ridhima in front of a crowd. Recovering from the beautiful distraction, Armaan extended his hand to both Deepak and Raj and offered pleasantries. Small talk continued from then on, and Armaan couldn't stop looking at Ridhima every now and then. How her hair fell in lose curls around her shoulders and waist, how her eyes were being emphasized tonight, how beautiful her almond-shaped eyes were, how inviting her lips looked, how her slender waist looked so soft that Armaan wanted to wrap his arm around her waist and hold her close. How the heels that she was wearing made her legs look even longer than they usually are. How Ridhima's innocence made her look even more beautiful than any other girl in this room, how she was gorgeous and didn't even know it made Armaan want her even more. Armaan wanted her. He wanted her so bad, that it almost hurt him.

He was in the middle of answering Deepak when he heard Raj question Ridhima for another drink.

Drink? Armaan thought, and his eyes darted towards Ridhima and her empty glass. Ridhima is drinking?

He trailed off in the middle of his sentence when he saw that Ridhima accepted his invitation for a drink, and walked off with him, with his hand on her back. Fury engulfed him, and he wanted to go to Raj and push him away from Ridhima. It hurt him to see Ridhima with anyone else.

Nikki noting his anger, gently rubbed his back and talked to Deepak, as to not bring attention to Armaan's constant stare at Raj and Ridhima.

********

Ridhima was sitting on the stool, gently sipping her drink, as her eyes scanned the crowd. Nikki was right, there were girls whose dresses were so short, that if they bent over, they were flashing everyone. However, that definitely didn't stop any of them from rubbing against strangers or partners. Ridhima found this curious, she had always been grown up in a conservative family. Not having a mother, had left her father to be extra protective of the two girls, to keep them from harm.

A 10 year old Ridhima was sitting on her father's bed, her head hanging off the edge as she stared at the ceiling above. Her father was reading a book, his reading glasses perched on his nose, and the book kept a distance from his eyes. This amused Ridhima, whenever she read, the pages of the books usually ended up touching her nose. Giving out a small giggle Ridhima rolled onto her tummy and faced her Dad. Ridhima's hair fell in front of her face, and covered most of her eyes, but she didn't bother moving it away..

She saw as he licked his thump and the gently turned the page, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Ridhima was bored. She wanted her Dad to play with her, lift her high in the air, do an airplane, or tickle her till her stomach ached from laughing so much.

"Papaaa" Ridhima whined as she put her hands under her chin and gave him her best puppy-dog eyes. Shashank glanced at her briefly before looking back at his book. "What beta?"

"I am boreddd" Ridhima said, pouting at not being given the attention.

"Go and play with Anjali, Ridhima beta" Shashank said, as his eyes skimmed over the page.

"But, but..she is teasing me!" Ridhima said, pouting some more, sitting up cross-legged, and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Accha? Why?" Shashank asked.

"She keeps saying ki woh Ranvir hain na? Woh mera boyfriend hain" Ridhima said, her pout turning into a frown as she told on Anjali.

"Ranvir kaun?" Shashank asked, as he turned another page.

"Papaaa. Ranvir, humara padosi!" Ridhima said, rolling her eyes. Her Dad didn't know anything!

"Woh tumhara boyfriend hain?" Shashank teased, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips, as Ridhima gave a disgusted sound.

"YUCK! Boyfriend? YUCK!" Ridhima exclaimed in horror and her hands clapped onto her mouth to hide her disgust. Shashank gave out a small laugh and asked, "Why, what's wrong with having boyfriend, Ridhima?"

"Ewww! I am never getting a boyfriend!"

"Then what about when you get married?" Shashank teased some more, his book now forgotten, and lying on his lap.

"Simple. I won't get married" Ridhima said, a wide smile on her face. "Boys are dumb anyway." However realising what she had just said, hastily added, "Except you papa. You are the bestestestest boy ever!"

Shashank grinned and pulled Ridhima closer to him, his arms circling around her waist as he hugged her to his chest. "Everyone has to get married someday beti"

"I won't" Ridhima mumbled into his chest. "And if I do, he has to live with us in this house"

Shashank laughed, "Well I won't give you up so easily either. The boy will have to do some hard work to take my precious daughter away from me" Shashank said, his eyes twinkling with love as he dropped a kiss onto her forehead and hugged her even tighter. Ridhima's small hands fisted the kurta he was wearing, and felt sleep beckoning her. Leaving the smile on her face, Ridhima succumbed to sleep, on her Dad's lap.

"So, how was your day today?"

Ridhima snapped out of her memories as she heard Raj questioning her, trying to make some small-talk. She looked at him and said, "Not too bad. Had a surgery to do, and some rounds and work. Since it was half day, I was just happy to finish early"

"Oh really? What surgery did you perform?" Raj continued the conversation. Honestly, Ridhima wished he would stop, and leave her. She knew she did wrong when accepting his invitation for the drink, but Armaan's presence and the looks he was sending her, sent her mind whirling in circles, and the next this she knew, she wanted to see Armaan feel the same emotions she had felt when he had Nikki draped around him.

But was it worth leading a guy on? Since Ridhima had bought another drink, after profusely denying Raj's insistency of paying for it, Raj hadn't left her side. When she had sat on the stools near the bar, he had come and sat next to her. And now that she was lost in her thoughts, he kept trying to make conversation with her.

"Just a brain surgery" Ridhima said off-handedly. She really did not want to go into detail about her day at work. She wanted to keep tonight as separate from her workplace as possible. Raj gave out a slow whistle as she said that, impressed. Oh well, at least she was impressing someone in this room.

"Woah. That's intense. Did you like cut him open and throw up or something?" Raj attempted a joke and laughed. Ridhima smiled to be polite and shook her head. "No. I didn't throw up."

"Really? I would have thought that girls would be weak in all this shit" Raj said, laughing some more at his jokes. But Ridhima really could not understand what was so funny.

"Why just girls?" Ridhima asked, hoping that if he elaborated, she'd get his sense of humour, but when he opened his mouth and replied, Ridhima just wanted to take the heels she was wearing and bang it on to his head.

"Dude, girls are born weak. So it's completely natural for a girl to either faint or throw up in the sight of blood..or anything gore" Raj laughed some more.

Really? Really?!?! Ridhima thought furiously

"Ha. Ha. Well I guess this girl is not so weak" Ridhima replied dryly, however Raj still didn't get the hint that Ridhima was not finding any of this amusing, and carried on.

"Yeah sure whatever you believe. But c'mon, it's evolutionary that guys are generally more stronger, and better" Raj said, looking around, completely oblivious to the look of outrage on Ridhima's face.

"Um-" Ridhima started, however was cut off when Anjali and Atul joined them in the conversation.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Anjali said, as she came and stood in front of Ridhima, passing them both a smile.

"Good thanks. Just telling Ridhima about men and how women are weak" Raj said, laughing a bit.

Was this guy for real? Ridhima though. She truly, did not get his sense of humour.

"Girls are weak?" Anjali asked slowly, her eyebrows rising questioningly. Ridhima bit her lip in amusement as she saw Anjali become the feminist that most men cowered from. She saw as Atul put a calming hand on Anjali's arm, but his face clearly showed the amusement he was desperately trying to hide.

"W-well. Men are physically stronger...and better..." Raj trailed off as Anjali's fierce glare fixed upon him, and she regarded him with cold eyes.

"Well I'll have you know that while men are physically stronger, there is something known as mental strength and women most definitely do not fall behind men in that category. Also better? Dude, what era are you living in? This is the 21^st century and a woman works, manages the house and her kids at the same time, we are most definitely not falling behind in any field, be it engineering, or politics. Are you forgetting the president of India is a woman?" Anjali ranted of, her anger slowly escalating, and Raj turning whiter by the moment from Anjali's anger.

"I-I realise, but it was a joke" Raj backtracked feebly.

"A joke? Did you see anyone else laughing? Maybe before you start cracking jokes Raj, you might want to see whether there is an appropriate audience or not. Something you men should already know, seeing as you think you are better than us." Anjali snapped, a loose tendril escaping from her bun and gently curling around her face and shoulder.

"Sorry" Raj mumbled, embarrassed. Ridhima was biting her lip to hold in her laughter. She wanted to go up to her sister and hug her for shutting Raj's bigoted mouth, but she held onto her urges so Raj won't be humiliated any further.

"Well. This was fun" Atul said, his eyes twinkling in amusement as he looked at the cold face of Anjali to the red face of Raj. Ridhima couldn't help it, she let out a small giggle, and Atul threw a wink in her direction.

"Arrey yaar! Tera toh glass khali hain!" Atul said, as he pointed towards Raj's glass. "Chal boss, let's get a drink" Atul slapped him on the shoulder, and steered him away from the girls to the bar.

"What a bloody pig" Anjali muttered as she sat on the stool which was previously occupied by Raj. Ridhima laughed and patted her sister on the thigh to calm her down. While Ridhima was usually quiet and mindful of other's feelings, Anjali always spoke her mind regardless of others. Maybe that's why Ridhima always knew she could count on Anjali to be honest with her, no matter what situation.

Sighing Ridhima's eyes automatically found themselves looking towards Armaan and Nikki. They were still talking to Deepak, however it seemed that Nikki was doing the most talking with Armaan, while Deepak just stood there with a drink in his hand. She truly felt sorry for Deepak, however after having encountered Raj and seen his point of view on things, Ridhima really didn't want Nikki to be married to Deepak.

Ridhima sighed. This evening so far was going a bummer. It had started off so well, but then the encounter with Armaan and Raj's ramblings were slowly bringing on a headache. Ridhima took a huge gulp of her drink, trying to push back the pain.

"Let's dance" Anjali said, as she got up. "I want to have some fun"

Ridhima agreed and quickly finished her drink as she got up. Walking to the dance floor with Anjali, Ridhima was determined to have fun tonight. So what if Armaan was there as well, draped around Nikki. She would still have fun. At least that's what she hoped.

REMEMBER TO SHOWER ME WITH YOUR LOVE IN THE FORM OF COMMENTS ;) Constructive criticism is welcome as well :)