Previously on...
Armaan and Riddhima prepare for the Paris trip.
Dr. Shashank encourages them and the gang wishes them good luck before leaving.
Chapter 39
Armaan and Riddhima settled in their
seats on the flight, gearing themselves up for a long journey.
Riddhima scowled at the air - hostess who was giving Armaan more
bhaav than necessary. She was finding reasons to come to their seat again and
again, asking Armaan (only Armaan and not her, not once) if he wanted anything.
Not to Riddhima's surprise, Armaan was soaking up all
the attention.
"Sir,
ye lijiye aapki coffee," The wicked - botoxed -
witch said, bringing Armaan a steaming cup pf coffee.
"Thank
you, ma'am."
"Ma'am nahi, please. Aap mujhe Sheena bula
sakte hai."
"Thank
you, Sheena," Armaan replied.
"You're welcome, sir."
"Ab
aapne mujhe aapko Sheena bulaane ki permission di hai, toh aap bhi mujhe Armaan
bula sakti hain."
"Please,
agar tumhe kuch bhi chahiye, toh mujhe zarur batana, Armaan."
Armaan thanked her and she left.
"Yeh
lo, Basket, tumhaari coffee pi lo. Tumhaari coffee ka time ho raha hai aur agar
tumne nahi pi toh phir headache hone lagega,"
Armaan said, giving her the cup.
"Rehne
do, mujhe nahi pini tumhaari koi coffee -
woffee. Jaakar us Sheena ko hi pilao tum,"
Riddhima said, annoyed.
Armaan chuckled on hearing her ramble.
He absolutely loved possessive
Basket!
"Basket,
woh toh sirf meri madad kar rahi thi. Ab tumhaare liye coffee laane khud toh
nahi jaa sakta tha na, isliye usse bol diya."
"Aur
woh jo tabse tumhaare saath flirt kar rahi hai uska kya?"
"Woh
flirt kar rahi thi na! Maine kya kiya?"
"Tum
usse bhaav kyu de rahe the? Mazaa toh tumhe bhi aa raha tha na? Itni saari
attention jo mil rahi thi!"
"Basket!" He made her look right into his eyes.
"I
love you," he whispered.
She smiled inspite of herself.
"I
love you, too," she replied.
Armaan handed her the coffee and kissed
her forehead.
Riddhima kissed Armaan's cheek and rested her head against his
shoulder, snuggling closer.
"Ek
baat batao?" Riddhima asked, giving him
the coffee after drinking some, as they shared from one mug.
"Kya?"
"Tum
hamesha kaise jaante ho ki mujhe kya kehke manana hai?"
Armaan looked at her grinned. He kissed
her forehead again and whispered against her skin, "Kyuki main apni Jaan ko bohot achche se
jaanta hu. Aur mujhe pata hai ki usse kab kya sunne ki zarurat hoti hai."
Riddhima blushed and hid her face in
his neck on hearing him.
"Agar
itna pyaar karte ho toh mujhe tang kyu karte rehte ho?"
"Basket,
tum bhi jaanti ho na, jab tak ek baar tumhaara gusse se laal hua chehra, ekdum irritation
se bhara hua, nahi dekhu toh mera din hi poora nahi hota!"
"Achcha?"
"Haan.
Tumhe pata hai, jab kabhi humaari kisi bhi stupid cheez pe ladaayi nahi hoti
na, mujhe lagta hai ki tum mujhse sachma naaraaz ho."
Riddhima smiled and nodded.
"Tumhe
kuch pata hai?"
"Kya?"
"Mujhe
bhi aisa hi lagta hai. Jab tak tum mujhe aakar thoda irritate nahi karte, mujhe
pareshaan nahi karte, mera din kabhi poora nahi hota."
Armaan smiled widely on hearing that.
"I
love you, Jaan," he whispered.
"I
love you, too."
They shared their coffee, whispering
for a while.
Soon, Riddhima dozed off. Armaan shook
his head fondly. He carefully removed the seat divider between them and pulled
her into his arms, snuggling closer to her. Riddhima got comfortable, resting
her head against Armaan's chest, nuzzling closer.
Armaan buzzed for the air hostess and
Sheena went in, smiling in anticipation. Armaan was definitely interested in
her, if all the talking they'd been doing was any
indication. He was hot. And looked like a great catch. She would have fun with
him that was for sure.
However, her smile vanished when she
saw the girl who had been giving her all those dirty looks wrapped up around
him. And, to top it off, Armaan seemed to be loving the fact.
"Hey," she greeted him.
Armaan quickly put his finger on is
mouth indicating her to stay quiet.
She looked confused, so he pointed to
Riddhima sleeping on his shoulder.
"Ek
blanket chahiye thi," he whispered.
She smiled fakely and moved to get him
a blanket. Who was that girl? With the attention Armaan was giving her, she was
sure he was single. Maybe she was just a friend.
"I
love you, Basket," she heard him mumble as
she got back with the blanket. Not a friend then, she thought.
She reached just in time to see him
kiss her head.
"Here
you go," she said, moving to drape
the blanket around Riddhima. Armaan stopped her before that.
"Thanks,
Sheena. I got it from here," he said taking the
blanket.
She walked away, looking at how Armaan
draped the blanket over the girl and himself, tucking her into himself.
Definitely
not friends,
she thought. Shame. But, atleast they
made a cute couple.
Armaan and Riddhima slept for most of
the flight.
When they weren't sleeping, Armaan was trying
innovative ways of romanicing with Riddhima in a room full of people.
When they got to Paris, a driver was
waiting at the airport, ready to drive them and some other doctors to the
hotel.
They waited for 2 more doctors, whose
flight was scheduled to land in a few minutes.
Armaan and Riddhima took this
opportunity to get acquainted with the others who were to be a part of the
conference.
The people were really friendly and
everybody gelled along well. In no time, they were talking as if they had been
friends for life. There were Akshay and Anuj, who were doctors from LifeLine,
the other leading Indian hospital, just after Sanjeevani. From Holy Hills, LA,
there were Skye and Alex, both of whom Riddhima had met when she had gone to LA
with Anjali, from London, there was Charlie and Bill who worked at New Hope and
from Sydney, there was Julia and Ronnie who worked at The Guardian.
"Nate!" Riddhima shouted on seeing a guy
walking towards their group. The guy looked up and smiled widely on seeing her.
He broke into a jog, quickening his pace and hugged Riddhima on reaching them.
"Hey
Ridz! I didn't know you were going to be
here."
"Well,
I didn't know you were going to be
here either!"
Nate just shrugged sheepishly.
"So,
are you alone or...?" Riddhima asked.
Nate grimaced. "Definitely not alone."
"Who?
Don't tell me, Erica?"
Nate nodded miserably.
Riddhima burst out laughing. Then, she
patted his cheek in a sympathetic manner. "All
the best, hun."
Just as they were talking, a drop dead
gorgeous girl came and stood behind them who had all the boys gawking at her
openly.
"Ridzy!
Hi! I didn't know you were going to be
here," she said, with a smile
that was clearly fake and forced.
"Like
I was just telling Nate, I didn't know you guys were going
to be here either," she replied with a smile
that was just as fake.
"Come
on, I want to introduce to somebody, Nate."
She pulled Nate by the hand and pulled
him towards Armaan.
"Armaan,
this is Nate, one of my friends from London. Nate, this is..."
"Ammy.
Your Ammy," Nate completed for her.
"Yes,
Armaan. How did you know?"
"Doesn't take rocket science to figure it out,
Ridz," he replied.
"Hey,
I'm Nate, Ridz's friend from Seven Cross."
"Nice
to meet you," Armaan replied, holding
his hand out to shake. Nate looked at him and shook his head, pulling Armaan
into a hug instead.
"You're Riddhima's man! That makes you family. And we
always hug in our family, don't we, Ridz?" Nate asked as he let go off Armaan.
"Uh
huh."
Nate and Erica were introduced to the
group and then they all headed towards the car. The driver helped them place
all their luggage and settle into the car before driving off.
As soon as the car was moving, Nate
removed his cell phone from his pocket and punched in a few numbers, calling
someone.
"Hey,
beautiful," he greeted.
"Yes,
we just landed... on the way to the hotel now... yes she behaved, mostly... uh
huh... yes... yes... I know... I miss you, too, sweetheart... you wouldn't believe who I found here! Ridzy! And
her boy! Can you believe that? Yeah... now? Sure hang on," he said, rolling his eyes. He gave the
phone to Riddhima.
"For
you," he whispered.
Riddhima smiled widely before accepting
the call.
"Hey,
Lav - Lav," she greeted. "Yes, I'll
make sure she behaves... no, I'll make sure the bitches
stay away. Promise... yes, I won't
let Nate flirt with anyone either... yes, I'll
look after him... yeah... no... yes, I'm
sure... no don't worry about that! Yes, of
course! Uh huh. I'll see you at the wedding!
Of course!"
Nate rolled his eyes, taking his phone
back from Riddhima.
"I
was talking na!" Riddhima exclaimed.
"Yes,
you were. I am talking to her now,
okay? You guys can gossip later," he said into the receiver,
so that Lavender heard him as well.
Riddhima burst out laughing. "Okay, Mr. Romeo. You can talk to your
wife. I get the point."
Nate just stuck his tongue out to her.
They reached the hotel and the driver
unloaded their luggage. The receptionist was waiting for them already.
"'Ello!
Eet ees our pleazure to have you as our guests,"
she greeted in a thick French accent.
"To
increase ze interaction between ze docteurs, ze organizers ave decided to put representativez of
different countries in the same suites. Each will ave 4 rooms. Hope you do not mind," she continued.
When she was met with sounds of
approval, she proceeded to give the doctors their room keys.
As fate would have it, Armaan,
Riddhima, Nate and Erica were all in the same room.
"Well,
this is great! Now I don't have to go through the
awkward process of getting to know my roomies!"
Riddhima exclaimed.
Armaan and Nate chuckled and Erica
smiled fakely. Truth was, Erica didn't
want to be anywhere near Riddhima, but then, she didn't want to miss out on the eye candy
that was Armaan and Nate either.
Riddhima had been one of those girls
who everybody liked. When she had started coming around with Rahul, everyone at
the hospital had immediately taken a liking to her. She quickly got close with
Tessa, Ray, Donna and Nate. And Tessa and her never backed on an opportunity to
make Erica realize her mistakes or point out her behavior. So what if Erica liked
to flirt with men? If they were married, it was their responsibililty to stay faithful, not hers. So, she never
minded any of her flings with anyone.
Erica sighed. It was going to be a long
week.
They went to their room and quickly
settled in. Everyone decided to rest for some time before they had to meet all
the doctors in the evening for dinner. As the conference was going to start
from the next day, the organisers had decided to give the participating doctors
sometime to get to know their peers.
Armaan and Riddhima made plans to go
exploring, mainly because Riddhima didn't
have the patience to wait for long. They weren't
really tired as they had slept on the flight.
Armaan took a shower and changed,
coming out of his room.
"Hey," he greeted Erica, who was sitting in
her PJs, watching TV.
"Hey," she replied, turning to look at him.
He loloked even more handsome now that he had washed the trip away.
"I
don't think we got acquainted
properly. I'm Erica," she said, holding her hand out.
"Armaan," he replied, shaking her hand.
They made small talk for sometime, but
Armaan was feeling uncomfortable with the way Erica was checking him out.
Riddhima's
phone started ringing, which Armaan was thankful for. He could finally move
away from Erica with a legitimate reason. He thanked Heavens that Riddhima had
forgotten her phone in the living area when she had retired to her room.
Erica sighed. "It's
been ringing for quite a while now. She should have taken it in," she said.
"I
got it," Armaan replied, answering
the phone.
"Hello,
beautiful," he greeted.
Erica was surprised that Armaan had
answered Riddhima's phone.
"Armaan,
beta tum theek se pohonch gaye the na?"
She asked.
"Haan,
Maa. Bas abhi hotel mein check in kiya hai."
"Safar
mein koi problem toh nahi hui."
"Nahi,
Maa. Sab achche se ho gaya tha. Aap itni fikr mat kijiye."
"Kaise
nahi karu. Mere dono bachche hai wahaan."
Armaan chuckled.
"Ek
baat bata, Riddhima ne tujhe zyada pareshaan toh nahi kiya na?"
"Nahi,
Maa. Riddhima ne mujhe pareshaan nahi kiya."
"Aur
tune usse kitna pareshaan kiya?"
"Maa!
Aap sabko aisa kyu lagta hai ki main usse bohot pareshaan karta hu?" He asked indignantly.
"Matlab
thoda toh kiya, haina?"
Armaan sighed. "Ab thoda bhi pareshaan nahi karunga toh
din kaise poora hoga mera?"
Padma Mom chuckled on hearing this.
"Bas
itna pareshaan mat karna ki tujhse naaraaz ho jaaye. Nahi toh phit mujhe
kahega, dekhiye na, Maa. Aapki beti toh har choti baat pe naaraaz ho jaati hai."
"Haan,
baba. Nahi karunga. Pakka."
"Theek
hai. Ek doosre ka khayal rakhna, samjha?"
"Haan,
Maa."
"Riddhima
hai kya wahaan?" She asked.
"Nahi,
Maa. Riddhima toh fresh hone gayi hai. Uska phone bahaar hi pada reh gaya.
Bhool gayi hogi apne saath le jaana."
"Achcha
theek hai. Usse keh dena ek baar Rahul se baath karle. Phone aaya tha uska."
"Jee,
Maa."
"Theek
hai. Rakhti hu main ab. Dhyaan rakhna."
"Haan,
beautiful! Love you!"
"Love
you, too!"
Armaan smiled as he hung up. He loved
that Padma Mom was so worried about him.
"Checking
in at home?" Nate asked as he came in.
"Yeah.
It was Riddhima's mom. She..."
"Worries
too much?" Nate cut in.
"Yeah,
you could say that."
Both the boys chuckled.
"I
see you're dressed up," Nate said, eyeing Armaan who was
dressed in a tee and jeans.
"I
see you aren't," Armaan countered, pointing at Nate's shorts.
"Lazy
day," Nate grinned.
Armaan shook his head. "Riddhima wants to go exploring."
"Of
course she does," Nate replied, rolling his
eyes.
"Basket!" Armaan shouted, banging her door. "Kitna time lagega? Jaldi chalo! Late ho
raha hai!"
When he didn't get any reply, he knocked again. "Basket?"
And a third.
And a fourth.
"Basket
main andar aa rahan hu!" He warned her.
When he didn't get any reply still, he opened the
door and went in.
"Basket?
Jaan? Riddhima?" He called out, when he saw
that the room was empty.
He was looking around, confused as to
what to do, when Riddhima came out of the washroom, dressed in jeans and a tee.
"Kya
hua Armaan?"
Armaan who was too busy staring at her,
didn't realize that Riddhima had
asked him something.
She was just so beautiful. He couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to
call her his.
"Armaan!" Riddhima called again, snapping her
fingers in front of him. This brought him out of his trance.
"K
- kya hua?"
"Yahi
toh main pooch rahi hu. Kya hua?"
"Kuch
nahi," Armaan replied shrugging, "Bas dekhne aaya tha ki tum ready ho ya
nahi."
"Oh.
Bas 5 min haan Armaan. Phir hum chalte hain,"
saying so, Riddhima moved to the dressing table.
Armaan moved with her and hugged her
from behind. "You're so gorgeous, baby," he whispered in her ear, kissing her
earlobe.
"Well,
you're not so bad yourself," Riddhima replied, applying her
mascara.
"Main
yahaan tumhe compliment de raha hu, aur tum... huh," he said, nuzzling her neck.
"Haan,
toh main bhi toh compliment hi de rahi hu. You're
not looking all that bad."
"Basket..." Armaan whined.
"Achcha
baba. Tum bohot his handsome lag rahe ho. Khush ab?"
"Bohot
khush," Armaan replied happily,
kissing her neck.
"Armaan!" She yelled, exasperated, yet pleased.
"Kya?" He asked innocently.
"Tumhaari
badmaashi phir shuru ho gayi na. Chalo, jao, mujhe ready hona hai."
"Toh
main yahaan hut oh tumhe kya problem hai?"
He asked, placing a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Riddhima grinned and kissed his cheek
in return.
"Problem
yeh hai ki tum toh apni shaitani se baaz nahi aaoge. Aur agar main jaldi ready
nahi hui toh hum baahar nahi jaa paayenge!"
"Haan,
toh baahar jaana zaruri thodi hai! Hum yahaan room mein bhi bohot mazaa kar
sakte hai," Armaan replied cheekily.
"Armaan!
Please na! Mujhe baahar jaana hai! Aur Di, Muski, Nikki aur Dr. Kirti ki itni
lambi list hai, shopping bhi toh start karni haina. Please!"
"Yaar,
yeh Nikki aur Dr. Kirti toh theek hai, lekin Anjy aur Muski ne kyu tumhe list
di hai? Woh bhi toh aa rahin hai thode time mein."
"Haan,
Armaan. Lekin tab shaadi ke preparations mein busy honge na. Toh time nahi
milega."
"Hmmm," Armaan agreed, nuzzling her hair.
"Toh
jao ab."
"Hmmm."
"Armaan."
"Hmmm."
Riddhima pushed Armaan away, who was
too busy nuzzling her hair and neck to listen to what she was saying.
"Kya
hua?" He asked, annoyed.
"Jao
ab. Main aa rahi hu."
"Okay," he said sadly.
"Nautanki," Riddhima muttered, shaking her head. "Armaan!"
She called as he moved towards the door.
He turned to look at her with the same
sad expression.
"Kya?"
Riddhima just shook her head and gave
him a peck on his lips.
Armaan smiled widely.
"I
love you," he said, moving out.
"I
love you, too."
xxx
And an update! Trying to get into my weekly update funk again and it seems to be working, for now atleast! :P
Let's keep our fingers crossed for the coming weeks! My boss may put me to work again soon! :(
There is this particular client which requires a lot of work and effort and it's starting soon. But, I'm hoping I'll be update even then!
Anywho! This update is for Megha, cz it's her birthday and she wanted a gift :P
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGS! :*
Have a great a birthday! Have fun, party hard! :D
Edited by DMGThings - 8 years ago
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