Part 2 : Submission?
Her mind was spinning. Damn,she hadn't even bothered to change. She was still in her pajamas and her sweatshirt,driving like crazy,with rage flurring through her. She just couldn't take it. 'I'm stuck in the rain with him..',her sister's voice repeated itself and her poor mind couldn't stop imagining what they were doing together..What if Armaan was flirting with her again,and charming her? What if they were holding hands and smiling at each other? What if-
"URGH!",she scolded herself loud over the radio's voice,frustrated to no end. Her thought process stopped for a while,and she literally huffed to take deep breaths to calm herself down. It was difficult to even assure herself that nothing wrong was going on. The windsheilds put the rain water away and made a sound around her..while she concentrated back to driving.
But oh no,Afterall its Riddhima Gupta's brain. How can she stop thinking about the thing that angered her? Never. So there her thoughts drifted back to the scene.She HAD to think of something. Armaan wouldn't listen to her easily,she knew. Therefore a full proof plan was needed. Think,Riddhima,Think.
"Finally.",she gave a low sigh and stopped her car engine. The heavy rain almost soaked her,but she soon took out her umbrella and strode towards the CCD. She loved the rainy Mumbai, but obviously,she was way too preoccupied to notice the beauty of it all. The light in the Cafe showed it was still open.That means she was inside. With him.
Pushing the glass door open,she left her umbrella outside and almost strode in. Very Few people were there,most of them trying to take shelter from the rain. Mumbai rains were always long-lasting and heavy. And ALL of them stared at her attire. Flustered,she looked away and searched for her sister. And There she was, sitting in the table near the glass transparent wall, her eyes dreamy as she looked at him talking. And her hand was so close to his. OH NO.
***
Armaan almost went speechless as he saw her. Damn,did she have to look so stunning everytime? Her attire very well showed she cared to less and had come in a hurry- she was in her grey pajamas and a white oversized sweatshirt, her hair tied in a bun. She looked so adorable, so much that he wanted to go and plant a kiss on her pink cheeks. He watched her as she searched,and finally her eyes upon Anjali. He quickly turned to her and started talking random,so as Riddhima would think he hadn't seen her.
He almost groaned as he saw Anjali staring at him with a dreamy smile. This was one of the cases of unwanted attention. He was least interested in flirting with anyone,let alone Anjali Gupta. His lady love's sister. But of course, one thing was there that kept him going and keeping his mouth shut. He knew Riddhima was angry, and maybe jealous because her sister was LITERALLY oogling at him all the time and he in turn gave her attention, being her ex. That meant Somewhere..Something sparked in Riddhima's heart too,maybe? He could just keep hoping that she could also love him..Or not? But till then,he would just sit back and enjoy the ride. Riddhima jealous=Armaan happy!
Thats the time he noticed how close his and Anjali's hands were. His devilish mind started racing and he grinned evily to himself. Aha,Riddhima...Now how will you escape? He trailed his hand slowly away from his coffee cup and towards Anjali's. The poor girl blushed a little,and before he could hold-
"HEY GUYS!",Riddhima almost yelled in a unusually-chirpy voice,almost knocking him off the chair.
Startled,Anjali looked at her elder sister,"Di! God..You Scared us!"
Riddhima smiled and took the seat beside Armaan.Anjali continued,"Thank God you came! I mean we were stuck here for so long..And the rain.."
"Ofcourse I HAD to come..Right,Armaan?",she clenched through her teeth, glancing at Armaan.
Armaan nodded sincerly,"Ofcourse, you would. I knew you were so SO concerned about your sister."
"And still You bothered to take her out for coffee,huh?",she said,her plastic smile plastered on her face.
"Di!",Anjali broke off,not understanding the silent war and the sarcasm going on between the duo,"I think you should thank Armaan. He's been SO Sweet to offer me coffee.Thanks Armaan."
"Oh its truly Fine,Sweetheart. My pleasure.",he dimpled at her warmly,making her blush.
Riddhima smiled and went,"OH THANK YOU SO MUCH,Armaan."
"My pleasure again.",he whispered secretly,winking. Riddhima's mouth dropped.
Smirking,Armaan turned to Anjali,"Anjie you should be going now. Its already 9.And you have to come to office tomorrow too."
Anjali smiled,"Thats so sweet of you..Di,don't you think we should give him a ride home?"
Riddhima's eyes turned wide,"But,But-"
"Thats fine,Anjie..I can manage. Dun worry,Dad is picking me up on his way. So yeah."
She smiled again at him. They all stood up,Riddhima was thankful she was leaving. She had enough for a day. She turned to tell Anjali to go ahead,when her eyes almost popped out seeing the two hugging each other goodbye. It looked formal,but still.
"AHEM.",she coughed loud,enough for them to get the clue.
"Anjie you go the car,I'm coming.",she told her sister. "But Di..",she protested. Riddhima gave her a look and she shut up. She started walking,but then turned to wave to Armaan. He waved back.
Riddhima patted her foot impatiently for Armaan to look at her. "Yes?",he said.
"YOU HAVE TO STOP DOING THAT.",she told him threateningly.
"Stop What?",he asked innocently. Riddhima started,"That-That- URGH!", giving him a last glare,she followed her sister out of the cafe.
Armaan grinned to himself. 'God,I love her. My fiery queen.',he thought and chuckling,picked up his cell phone to call up his Dad.
***
She tossed and turned in her bed,thinking. Why wasn't it easy to let go of this unwavering feeling? Despite her frustration,she asked herself thousands of times-why did it bother her? Why was she angry of the way her sister smiled with Armaan? She was never this possessive when she saw her sister with someother guy-but why with Armaan ONLY? Just because he was her Ex? No,not possible. Maybe because she had never seen her sister SO Smitten before.
She sat up and got up from the bed towards her cupboard. After rumaging through it in the dim moonlight,she saw a picture. Of them together. Her throat constricted. Was she falling for it? Was she sad that it had ended? Hadn't she moved on? She corrected herself. Of course she had. Thats why she was successful,smart,confident,and happy. She didn't need Love-shove and nonsense like that in her life. Or did she?
Keeping the picture away in a drawer, she closed her eyes and tensed herself,and came back to her form. Oh no,whatever the reason may be,mission PAFAYSO was SO on. She had to keep an eye on Armaan..But how? She had her own office to take care of,and Anjali would be there in his office,and if she went there,her own work would be hampered. Then how?
An idea clicked and Riddhima Gupta rolled back in bed,pulling the sheets to herself and grinning.She knew exactly what to do.
***
In the moonlight,her face shone,gleamed like a ray of hope,a ray of light that was in his heart. Dimly he wondered how everytime she grew more beautiful than she ever was,and how,every single time,he fell heads over heels in love with her. She stared right into the moon,more serene,calm and magical than he'd ever imagined. It sent a amazing fuzzy warm feeling in his heart,and he did what he wanted to..Slowly remove her strand of hair from her face.
She closed her eyes with a smile and then looked at him in silence. His blue eyes sparkled against hers,and slowly,he outstreched his hand and she held it willingly,letting herself sank in his arms. The feeling of holding her in his arms was fantastic...something so magical that it set his heart beating,and he could no longer feel the sound of the heavy music downstairs. In that moonlit room,her figure clung to his was the only thing that mattered. He wanted to say so much,but words were less. He held her softly.
Everything changed,at that very moment,and the only words he uttered were,"You're beautiful.."
She seemed to snuggle deeper into his chest,as if absorbing his warmth,and then sighing,"Say it,Armaan.",she said,ever so softly.
He smiled against her hair. He had never said those three words to her,and he knew,what a terrible wait this was. He whispered,
"Je t'aime,Riddhima."
She looked up. Her emrald green eyes shone with slight tears and pure love,as she just lifted her head slowly and put her lips on his. The feeling so exotic,the moment so perfect,shivers ran down their hearts as they lived in the time of their lives. He got his answer,loud and clear,without any doubts. Finally pulling back,breathless,she sobbed slightly as she said,
"This isn't gonna end,Armaan..I will never do this to us. Never again. I love you too much to end it again..."
"ARMAAN!",came another voice. He flinched. Why was Riddhima shouting all of a sudden? They were about to kiss right? Like,she had just confessed she loved him,then why the hell ?
"baby why are you shouting..",he murmured,frowning in his sleep.
"I'm No baby,you Idiot,its YOUR MOM!"
"HUH?",his eyes popped open. His mother had her hands on her hips and was staring at him. It was morning,he noticed..and there was no moonlight,instead,the scorching sunlight from his window almost blinded him.
"Mom?",he questioned again,just to confirm.
"Its 9 already Armaan,and you're still sleeping!",his mom said exasperated,"I was trying to wake u up from the past hour!"
"WHAT? SHIT SHIT SHITTT.",he said hurriedly,literally jumping off the bed by throwing off the covers and then hurrying into shower. Luckily for him,his energy was back and he was ready in 15 minutes.
After munching on his breakfast like a speedometer,he grabbed his keys from the table and got out his car.
It was a bright sunny day in Mumbai,and the usual flow of people all around the city didn't fail to make him look outside the window and feel the air on his face. Yes,he was worried-worried for himself. Shit,he was Dreaming of their confession. He was Dreaming,JUST DREAMING that one day,Riddhima also would fall for her. But a tiny part of him knew,it was never going to happen. If she would have feelings for him,she wouldn't have left.
It was like a Submission. Like he was surendering to his feelings. No.You're Not Weak,Goddamit No,Armaan. He needed something to cheer him up. 2 years back,it would always be Riddhima. Now? He just shook his head and continued to drive till his office.
***
"Hey Armaan..Di-I mean,Sorry..Ms.Gupta wants to meet you. And Mr.Grewal too.",Anjie's voice told him through his phone. He nodded,almost confused,"Yeah,send them in."
"Morning Armaan!",said a voice he knew too well. He looked up and grinned. Standing up,he hugged and slapped his back,"Saale Morning Armaan ke bacche,Itne din kahaan tha?"
"Iss Maate ke seva mein..",Rahul told him in a very distressed tone. Riddhima smacked his arm. "What?Sach bolta hu toh mar padhti hai!"
"Okay then..I understand your position. You're forgiven."
"Gee Thanks Dude,tere alava mera DARD kaun samajhta?",he went dramatically.
Armaan widened his eyes and he said,"I think I finally Realize that You REALLY ARE married to Muski."
"AHEM.",Riddhima coughed her signature loud cough and both men turned to look at her,"Rahul,weren't we here to say something Important..Related to..Business?",she narrowed her eyes.
Rahul looked flustered and then quickly turned to Armaan,"Armaan yaar..We all are friends. Like,from college. And we're having different..Almost rival companies? Not done yaar! And therefore.."
"Therefore?",Armaan placed his hand on his chin,looking interested. He knew it was Riddhima's plan.
"Therefore..",Riddhima said,"We were thinking that we should work together on this project..You know the Lonalva Tender one? I've heard that both the companies have recieved the offer."
"Okay..I have no problem with that. But then,we need to work simultaneously too..I mean like,we need to know what each of us is doing."
"Oh thats fine,Armaan. I'll be staying here in YOUR office till the project is completed and someone from your office can go to ours!"
Armaan smirked to himself. 'Not bad,Gupta..Nice Plan to keep a watch. Good,you're making it happy for me..I'll get to see you everyday,YES!' He twirled a pen in his hands as he pretended to think and then nodded at Rahul,"Deal.You'll stay here in my office,Riddhima. And Nikhil from our office will go to yours. And we have a project done together!"
"DUDE,We're officially partners!",Rahul said excitedly. Armaan hugged him and looked at Riddhima. She gave him a challenging and triumphant look,and he knew exactly what she was thinking. 'Wait up,Armaan Mallik..Now your life will be Real Hell.'
"Okay so here are the papers..",Rahul said,and as Armaan turned,his elbow hit the file and the papers scattered everyway. Almost together Armaan and Riddhima both went,"I'll get it!",and dropped down to the floor collecting the papers. When Riddhima reached the last paper and put her hand over it, she realised that Armaan's hand came right over hers.
Ready to fire,Riddhima looked at Armaan. Their eyes met,and her mind was in a frenzy. His blue eyes sent a shiver down her spine,and she thought she couldn't move. She could no longer think..but stare.There was a strange oneness she had with the eyes,they gave her a feeling of peace and something so inexplicable and unknown that she couldn't decipher. She felt herself floating..like she was defeating the raging fire inside her. Her hearts raced..and all she could think for once,was..What was this? Something like..Submission?
Armaan gazed into her face and read her eyes like he had. And almost automatically his mind went,'You're so strangely beautiful,Riddhima..You were the one to break us,and now you are only being the medium for us to meet again?'
***
Well, HELLO !! 😆 Surprised that I updated this? Well I wanted to from a long time..Its been months since I've written this one! I hope you guys missed this all this while :P Anyways here's the update. I know you're disappointed (because it lacked practically everything) and you want to kill me..(because that AR sequence was a dream) but I still want Comments! Do Comment,Like! <3
Love,
Maitree <3
Edited by ..Maitree.. - 13 years ago
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