Part 15a- Happy reunions?
'Biatches… you all are, I swear! Fine I shall go get the ice cream.. just write all you guys want on this paper im passing down.. no way am I going to be held responsible for not getting the correct flavour.. god save your future husbands and current/future boyfriends from all of youse tantrums.. cuz I surely will never be able to survive all of you people's crazy emotional blackmail.. let me know when you done.. I am just going to go and get my wallet from my room..'
It had been a 5 days since Riddhima had landed in Delhi, with all of the wedding and the functions preceding it along with the shopping and muski and rahul's huge family and friends to handle and entertain, riddhima hadn't had a chance to think of anything other than the present and ofcourse her schedule for the day, she was a planner.. she must know what is needed of her so that she can plan and prepare herself.. otherwise the surprise in her schedule may not necessarily go down well with her. She had been running around crazy so much so that she had little time to think about the most amazing and huge changes that will occur in the lives of her two best friends, the last time she tried to grasp the extent of the situation was on her way over here on the plane.. but back then she hadn't realised what this marriage would mean to the two families, she knew that Rahul and muskaan will officially be tied for life but the aspect of marriage that merges two families had escaped her mind. It's a nice feeling she had concluded looking back, everyone she had come across was so nice and considerate and helpful. She had hardly known anyone from their families, yet one introduction as M's maid of honour was all that was required for all the family to treat her as their own daughter and look after her own needs and requirements in addition to M's. That whole concept was a little new to Riddhima, she hadn't been a part of a wedding for years now, the last when she had just left India to move to Frisco permanently when she was just 10. She was a child back then, and now that she realises she has never made it to the end of an entire wedding ever, and for that matter never been a part of all of the functions preceding a wedding. As a child, she would be here and there and would always be put to sleep by the time of the actual wedding which generally was always extremely late in the night in true Punjabi style. So now after seeing all the hungama of the entire 5 days, ever since she landed her foot here, she has decided to be a part of every tradition and she's generally keen to find out the significance of all the things that were being done. All her knowledge was from the weddings she had seen in Bollywood movies, and whilst they were really informative she still missed out on a lot of little nuances that go in the celebration of a full throttle indian wedding. Even though this wedding was rushed and done on a short scale as per the demand of Rahul who, much like herself preferred less showcase of money and flattery as is the case these days with wedding in India these days with themes and all. But this was nice, this had traditions, this had celebrations and this had hoopla yet it wasn't over the top it was a nice compromise between the wishes of muskaan and Rahul and likeways between the children and their parents' wishes. Many a times during the wedding functions she had wished for her to be present in the time when her own brother had gotten married just a couple of years ago himself. But she had her reasons.. and she'd rather not dwell on those painful memories on such a joyous occasion. Shaking her head of those thoughts she got down the stairs getting her wallet and holding her lehenga up a little slid down the stairs carefully.
They had the mehendi and sangeet evening today and although she was tired and she knew M would be more exhausted than herself sitting their getting her hands and legs done they had stuck to their plan of having a bachelorette night for her, with an altered plan. They would watch movies and eat junk food and gossip and drink and drink and drink.. Riddhima being the saner one of them all and also the one who doesn't enjoy getting drunk as well as being the maid of honour was being forced to go down the street to the ice-cream vendor just down the street to get the sweet tooth fix for all of the ladies, also it was supposed to be her treat to celebrate her best friend's wedding the following day so she had been emotionally blackmailed into getting ice-cream for the lot even whilst being knackered herself and a little tipsy aswell from all the shots she was made to take as part of all of the toasts they had done. And to be honest she really wanted some ice-cream herself.. even though it was supposed to be winter in India, it was pretty warm now.. or so she felt coming here from London, and specially now when the alcohol in her system was making her almost suffocate staying inside. In addition to this all of the stripper moves in the recent flick 'Magic mike' the girls had settled on for the night made her want to get out of the house and away from the girls for a bit atleast to catch a breather of some fresh air.
Getting all of their orders, she grabbed her shoes, her pretty party heels for the evening but then on second thoughts about her throbbing ankles she stole M's flats and rushed out of the house whilst holding onto her lehenga because the lack of heels made it really long, and she didn't want it touching the road and get spoilt, she really like it.. It was simple and didn't have a low cut blouse or anything, which was the hardest to find. She wasn't used to wearing heavy indian clothes, and to be honest she found the heavy work on them cheap most of the times, and the times she found them nice, she found it impossible to wear because of her sensitive skin being pierced in by the material. And if something she found was simple, it was made to be way too revealing for her own taste. She had actually had a whole conversation with Rahul and muskaan on one of their shopping ventures discussing about how Indians are all traditional and don't like westerners wearing skirts and shorts but they themselves pretty much wear a blouse and skirt.. and the blouse itself was pretty much all backless themselves. Rahul had smirked at the idea of muskaan wearing something like that and commented on how sexy the designs were whereas muskaan had told her they were hot as hell, but riddhima wasn't convinced and she had gone shopping herself and finally found something that met her criteria. Muskaan wasn't too happy that riddhima had bought her dress from those temporary street shops and not a brand name but had finally relented because she knew that she would be making her wear a completely off the charts hot sari for her wedding and she couldn't refuse because she was the bride and the bride gets what she wants for the wedding. Planning this as a revenge she let her have her night, but she was pleasantly surprised that even though the dress was simple it was beautiful and so much like something riddhima would wear, comfort before fashion that was her mantra unlike any other girl.
Collecting all the ice-creams and paying the man who was ever so happy doing so much business on a cold winters night, she started to walk away when she felt her phone vibrate and tried to pick up the call whilst balancing the ice-creams and her lehenga all at once. Seeing a private number call, she just put it to her ear and answered a hello, she was surprised to hear lots and lots of loud noises coming from the other end as if a party going on behind the caller. She hello'ed once more, thinking the caller may not have heard her soft hello due to all the noise.
'hey ridzy, we're here..!'
"hey Rahul.. oh ok great, I'm just down the street getting some ice cream for all the ladies as part of my treat for YOUR wedding.."
'what? Why? It's so cold! Well not for you, You bloody british.. armaan's been the same way, keeps complaining how this is not cold at all everytime my other friends say it's so cold.'
"Armaan? Wait he's here already? Didn't even tell me that loser. But urg yea.. but I've always liked winter Rahul, or don't you remember anything other than your darling fiance's likes and wishes anymore.. You're so whipped man! But its all good that's kind of how M likes her men!"
'Men? What men.. it MAN.. only man sweetheart… and what nonsense I'm not whipped.. and u've really got to stop talking like a guy yaar or you'll never find a guy to get married to yourself and I'm afraid me and muski will just have to adopt you as our kid officially or atleast give you some space in our garage so that you can live there for life. And don't even bother replying I know I know you don't need a guy to be happy nor do you need a man to live a happy life.. but seriously babe that's how lesbos talk! And don't scream at me I'm giving the phone to armaan he's gonna come to you and help with more ice-cream seems like the boys want some too..kk.. byee'
"Rahul you ass!.. where are your manners huh? And dude you speak so fast now won't even let me have a word in.. waise to its good you learnt this skill, will keep in handy in dealing with M for the rest of your life. Seriously man you sure you want to get married tomorrow?"
'Why wouldn't he?' a different voice questioned her and she caught her tongue in between her teeth at being caught.
"Hey armaan.. why don't you just tell me what flavours the boys are after.. im still here I'll just get them myself."
'No it's okay.. im nearly there I can see you..' Well he may not be able to see her fully but he could surely see her figure in the dark with her hair flying and her hands busy with the phone in one whilst the other holding onto the lehenga and the ice-creams, she was having trouble managing he could see, he just slightly shook his head and smirked at her need to manage on her own for everything there was. He just quickened his pace towards and caught the ice-cream that had just slipped out of her hand and he grinned.
"oh thanks! Hey how you've been?" she moved ahead to give him a quick hug which he reciprocated well and took all the ice-creams from her hand whilst she put her phone away in her wallet, then putting her hair behind her ears and over one shoulder to tame it a little she focused on holding the lehenga more properly to not trip over it and took a deep breath and finally looked up only to find no one there. She frowned and turned around to see him buying the rest of the ice-creams. Deciding to wait for him there, in no mood of walking herself as her feet were yet killing she just looked up and got lost in the pretty sight of the moon, it was an absolute clear sky and the moon just looked so much bigger today than she had ever seen it to be. Admiring the beauty of the nature she didn't even realise him walking upto her after he had paid the man.
'okay got em all!'
"oh yea ok, here pass some over.."
'It's okay, you just handle yourself'
"what do you mean, handle yourself?"
'I meant the whole outfit and the hair, why is it so long anyway.. is that meant to be fashion?'
"No, it just meant to be worn with heels, which I had been doing the whole time.. but left my ankles completely messed up so I thought to just wear flats.. the vendor was only a small distance away. But I didn't realise he wouldn't have a bag on him, but I guess I can't blame the guy, he probably hadn't anticipated all of these crazy drunkards raiding his business on a winter's night"
'Oh.. well anyway. I can manage, you just manage all of that!' he said pointing at her outfit up and down.'
"so when did you land? Didn't even tell me. I thought you were only coming tomorrow?"
'yea flight landed about a couple of hours ago.. Rahul and his buddies were at a pub nearby and since aunty and uncle have no clue about the bachelor's party they asked him to pick me up. Which he was kind enough to do even though he had to abandon his own night's plans. You're right he is a nice guy!'
"he is.. but don't worry you didn't ruin their night. It's not exactly a bachelors/bachelorettes.. they are just basically drinking lots that's all. And Rahul and M had plans to have the night's last drinks together anyways. So he was meant to be getting out of that pub and get his ass down here anyway."
'I see so what did the girls get upto? If you don't mind me asking? I mean you don't exactly look like your dressed for a bachelorettes.'
They both laughed at that and riddhima proceeded to tell him all about the night, and the whole day actually. She was just going upto the part where the girls decided to watch 'magic mike' for the night and not only that but had invented a drinking game of sorts, basically taking a shot everytime Channing Tatum showed up on screen without a shirt.. and since that's all the whole movie was about.. they all ended up being extremely drunk before the end of the movie.. and not being able to handle any more drinks herself she had thoughts of going out to get the ice-cream as a safer bet than staying indoors with those crazy girls.
"Wow.. that explains the screaming inside.. I swear these girls know how to party better than Rahul.. I mean he may be my cousin and all but I swear he's nothing like me man! He just went to the pub.. not even a strip club for his bachelors.. and I'm sure he's less drunk than the 'to be bride'. Truly whipped! I must teach him things, it's my duty after all I am his older brother.. but then again it may have been too late since he's to be wed tomorrow"
'ouch'
"you okay? Hey you!! Watch where you're going!!!!" yelled Armaan at the guy on the bike who had driven extremely close to riddhima walking beside him. So much so that she had tripped over her foot and whilst holding her hand to stabilize her he turned around to catch a glimpse of the insane biker and give him a piece of his mind if he could but unfortunately the guy had just zoomed off so armaan just turned back around to riddhima and saw her face contorted in a painful expression still and her grip on his hand was stronger.. thinking she might have twisted her ankle or something whilst tripping he was just about to ask her if her foot was alright when he saw her reach her other free hand to her neck and dropping the dupatta and touching what now he could see was to be a deep wound. Gathering himself from the shock he held her more firmly.
"wait don't touch it, may i?"
'Yea. I don't know how this happened. First that bike, then I tripped and then it was just felt wet so I touched it and it hurts so much, it's burning armaan. I don't understand how it's hurting so suddenly.'
"I know, it's a really deep cut and its burned your skin aswell, I don't know how it.. wait a second what's this?" whilst he was talking his eyes caught sight of something shiny gleaming from her otherwise non shiny dupatta that she had thrown on the floor. Picking it up he saw a locket on a chain which was now open. "Is this yours riddhima?" he asked raising this the locket and chain in his hands.
'yea it is. Wait I was wearing that. Oh god.. I think I just realised why I have a cut on my neck. That.. that man on the bike who rode so close to me, he tried to grab that off me I guess, I was just too stunned to notice anything but then the pain and the cut must be as the chain got caught on my dupatta and whilst he tried to pull it, it just grazed my skin badly and now it hurts so much.. its actually burning.. what.. quit pulling my hand away I want to touch it.'
"No I can't let you, it's a deep cut you might infect it. And I know it hurts hun.. wait let me call Rahul, you need stiches for sure and some septic cream for the burn." And with that he pulled out his phone and began to call Rahul.
Anupamaa
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