..|Badmaash Dil|AR OS|..

To say that I was besotted by the beauty on stage would have been an understatement. God who is she? An angel, a fairy? God must have spent ages crafting her. She is truly beauty personified. Everything about her is perfect. Her gorgeous eyes, beautiful complexion and dazzling smile ' everything. Her rich blue gown hugged all her curves and that merely added to her beauty. That is not all though, she has such a melodious voice too. Everyone seems to have been enthralled by her beauty and her voice. As her sweet voice resonated in the auditorium, the once bored and restless crowd too was silenced. Everyone was hypnotised by her voice and they simply remained quiet, imbibing in the soothing song that she was singing.

Who could have imagined that my boring evening could take such a pleasant turn? I was almost regretting my decision of deciding to attend this fund-raising event. I would have given it a miss if I could but unfortunately, I couldn't. I was cordially invited by the organiser of the event as the Guest-of-Honour and saying no to him was not an option. I was never too fond of attending such events. No! Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't have the heart to help or anything. I just dislike how the organisers spend half the time trying to please me. They just can't stop chanting about my greatness and big-heartedness in actually taking out some time to grace their events. They conveniently forget about all those who actually put in the effort to make the event a success. Not only that, how can they resist the golden opportunity of pocketing some of the funds raised. Two-faced bas***ds! That's why I usually send my secretary on my behalf and come up with various excuses for not having attend the function myself. But since Rahul was the one organising this event, I had to come. Sigh, things we have to do for the sake of friendship, but no complaints. Rahul has been there for me through thick and thin, this was the least I could do for him.

Coming back to the present, I caught myself staring at that green-eyed girl and I instantly felt hot around my ears. Thank god no one had caught me staring more like gawking at her. Just as I was about to look away, our eyes met for a fraction of a second and it felt as though sparks were flying. I immediately found myself drowning in those gorgeous se-green orbs of hers. Drowning had never seemed this pleasurable. I could not pull my eyes away from hers; they were so magnetic and ended up staring at her until the end of her song. I was only brought back to reality with the thundering applause that she received from the public for her song. Man, not only was she beautiful, she was one hell of a talented woman too.

After giving us all a final smile, she made her way down the stage, allowing Rahul to walk towards the podium to give us the closing speech. My eyes never left her, not even for a moment. i saw her walking towards the backstage and all of a sudden, she was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. I blinked twice, just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating. No she was really gone. Feeling a pang of disappointment making its way slowly yet steadily through me, I sank back in my seat waiting to be called on stage. It didn't take long. Within a few moments, I was invited on stage to say a few words. After the event was over, I was exchanging pleasantries with the other organisers, hoping that I would manage to catch a glimpse of that ethereal beauty, but to no avail. Rahul too was shocked to actually see me hanging around even after the event was over. Soon, I prepared to make my leave.

As soon as I reached my car, I felt a tap on my shoulder. As I turned around, I was shocked beyond my wits. It was that girl, Ms Gorgeous. "So we finally meet Mr Mallik", she said. Okay, now this was getting interesting. "Um sorry but do I know you?", I asked, feigning nonchalance, hoping that she would not be able to see through my indifference.

She let out a soft laugh which instantly melted my heart. The mask of indifference was sliding away and before I knew it, it was gone. "I suppose so, if not you would surely want to know me. Why else would you be staring at me the whole time when I was performing up on stage?", she ended with a wink. Great, all for trying to pococurante! I broke into a smile but before I could say anything, she continued. "I thought only girls used to chase after The Armaan Mallik. Armaan Mallik chasing after a girl, that's new!", she said, flashing a toothy grin. Wait, hang on a moment. How the hell did she know this! A knowing smile adorned her face as she waited for realisation to dawn upon me. Crap! It was her. Riddhima. The change in my expression became a source of laughter for me.

"Do I still need to introduce myself Mallik? I can't believe you have forgotten me! To hell with all your fame if you can't even remember your best friend!", she said frowning away with hands on her hips looking utterly cute. "I had never forgotten you to begin with," I added cheesily and almost laughed as I saw her roll her eyes. Man, I missed her. Not even for a second had I forgotten her but having not met her for 13 years, I couldn't recognise her. The last I saw her, she was a beautiful adolescent and now, she is nothing less than a Greek goddess.

"Do I have to ask you for a hug Basket?" "Shouldn't it be the other way round, now that you've become famous and have paparazzi chasing after you 24*7? Who knows maybe the picture of us hugging may just land up in the papers as the cover page tomorrow? I mean, the most attractive and sought after bachelor in town hugging an ordinary girl? Should be enough food for rumours right? Aren't you concerned?" she asked, teasingly. "Cut the crap Basket.", and those were the last words I spoke before engulfing her in a rib-crashing hug. I really did miss her. She had this calming effect on people, on me, not to forget an aura of positivity as well.

"Mind if I take you out on a late-night coffee date?". "Of course! Why not Armaan?" "So ... what are you waiting for? Jump in!"

With that, we drove off to the nearest Starbucks cafe. Surely coffee would be needed to sustain us throughout the night. After all, it's been 13 years, not 13 weeks or anything. A lot of catching up and coffee was awaiting us. A foolish grin was etched onto my face throughout the drive to Starbucks. Man, I haven't had been this happy in quite some time.