Chapter 138
"Oh, this is divine!" Riddhima exclaimed, as she stood on the deck of the yacht that Armaan had booked for them to journey to Capri. A neighbouring island from Positano along the Amalfi Coast, Capri had come highly recommended as the place to be. At first, Armaan had mulled over docking in Capri for the duration of their stay, but had ultimately decided on Positano because it was easier to travel to the other islands from there as opposed to Capri. He didn't want them lugging their bags around everyday to check into a new hotel. Positano has been perfectly located to take day trips to whatever other islands they wished to. So, it had won in the end, but Armaan was especially excited for their day in Capri.
To get there, Armaan had decided to get them a private yacht, not wanting to travel with strangers. Plus, the benefit of the private booking was that they could take their time to get to their destination. It had always been a dream of his to go deep sea diving from a yacht.
"It's okay," he countered, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back flush against his chest.
"Yahaan har jagah paani itna saaf kaise hai? Despite so many tourists?" Riddhima wondered as she peaked at the ocean.
Armaan laughed. "That's because yahaan pe isse maintain karte hain. Plus, tumne dekha hai yahaan kisi ko bhi kuch kachra fekte hue? Toh it's easier, I guess."
"Hmmm," Riddhima hummed in agreement. "I wish humaare beach ka paani bhi itna saaf hota. That would be so nice, nahi?"
"It would," Armaan nodded. "But Mumbai ke samundar ka paani itna saaf karne mein saal lag jaayenge. Which, I don't even think koi yeh sab karne mein interested hoga."
"I know," Riddhima sighed. "Such a shame."
"Yes," Armaan agreed. "But hum kyun aisi sad, depressing baat kar rahe hain? We should be having fun!"
"Toh humein kya karna chahiye?" Riddhima asked.
"So glad you asked, Jaan!" Armaan cheered. "Let's go!" He took Riddhima's hand and tugged her inside the yacht. They went to the captain's cabin.
"Hello!" Armaan greeted the woman. "Can I drive for a while?"
"Armaan? You know how to drive a yacht?" Riddhima asked, surprised.
"No, but how hard can it be?" He wondered.
"A lot," the woman, Brianne, laughed. "I only trained for a year to do this."
"Can you teach me the basics? I'll drive for like, 5 minutes. Please!" Armaan pleaded. Brianne laughed. "Sure."
She was no stranger to people wanting to try taking control of the yacht, especially when they realized their captain was a woman. It wasn't the easiest profession for women to get into, but the sea had always been her calling. After a few years on the job, she was used to men assuming she didn't know anything about sailing, and they would be better at this than her. Armaan was one of the very few men who actually asked her to teach them. And well, he was paying an exorbitant amount for this whole thing, so she could humour him for a bit.
She turned the yacht into auto-pilot mode and showed him the basic functionality of the controls. "Here you go," she said, taking a step back. "Let's see how well you do."
Armaan enthusiastically stepped in the place she'd vacated and captained the ship. He was surprisingly good at it too, for a first timer. He managed to wonkily manoeuvre the boat to the left and change their direction for a bit, just like she'd shown him. "That's good!" She complimented him. He absolutely preened at the praise.
"Can we dock for a bit and go swimming?" He asked Brianne after steering for a while.
"Sure!" She agreed. "Let me find a good place to stop."
Armaan grinned brightly. "Thanks!"
He handed the reins back to Brianne, and the couple left, already chattering about his little stint as captain. They were a cute couple, Brianne realized. She had seen her fair share of couples by virtue of her job, all kinds of them. Messy, toxic couples. Awkward, new couples. Couples who were in it for everything but love. And couples who were madly in love. Thankfully, they seemed to fall in the last category, which made her job easier. She had been through too many fights and screaming matches to care about them any longer, but they were still annoying. So, it was always good when she had to chauffeur a googly eyed couple, cause really all they did was giggle and laugh at each other's lame jokes and indulge in some PDA, while forgetting she was there entirely, which really was the best situation for her. She got to experience the sea the way she wanted.
Finding a respectable spot that wasn't too crowded, Brianne stopped the yacht. "You can go swimming!" She told the couple.
"Thanks!" They chorussed, quickly dressing down to their swimming costumes.
"I can't believe you're making me do this," Riddhima murmured. Armaan chuckled. "It'll be fun, Basket! We'll do it together, like everything else."
"Okay, let's go!" Riddhima agreed, steeling herself after taking a deep breath. They both jumped at the same time.
They swam for a while, enjoying the relative calm and separation from the crowd. The entire exercise was so soothing, just floating away where the tide took you, being disconnected from everything else in the world. The spectacular view only added to the charm of the whole thing. Riddhima also requested Brianne to click a few pictures of them, which Brianne was happy to do. After spending time in the water, they went aboard the yacht, continuing to Capri.
Once they'd docked, Armaan & Riddhima took some time to wander about town. Capri was definitely more upscale than Positano had been with the streets littered with big brands, lesser crowds, and more clubs than cafes and bistros. They took the opportunity to go shopping, ticking a lot of items in the list that their friends had given them, buying everything from clothes and shoes to decor and books. Armaan made them try a gelato at every shop they came across.
In the afternoon they stopped for lunch at a beach club. "Apparently yahaan bohot celebrities aate hain," Armaan told Riddhima as they took their seats.
"Oh?" Riddhima asked, looking around to see if she could find a recognizable face in the crowd.
"Wahaan dekho!" She exclaimed, subtly pointing at a table on the other end. "Woh raha George Clooney!"
Armaan whipped his head at the speed of light, wanting a glimpse, only to be disappointed when the man was definitely not George Clooney. "Haha," he huffed. "So funny, Basket."
Riddhima giggled. "I know. But seriously, Armaan. Tumhe sach mein laga ki George Clooney wahaan baitha hai? How can you be so naive?"
Armaan shrugged. "You never know."
"Oh my god! Woh dekho SRK!" He said a moment later, garnering the same reaction from Riddhima. He burst out laughing at the look she gave him when she realized he was joking.
"I hate you," she announced.
"Basket, don't you think tum mujhe jitna I love you bolti ho usse zyada I hate you bolti ho? So much violence for what?" Armaan asked.
"Tum harkatein hi aisi karte ho, toh main kya karun?" Riddhima fired back.
"But, agar main aisi harkatein nahi karunga toh humaari life kitni boring ho jaayegi. Thoda entertainment toh chahiye na!" Armaan defended himself.
"Whatever," Riddhima scoffed. But then, of course she couldn't let Armaan have the last word so she said, "Oh. My. God. Armaan!! Aishwarya Rai looks so hot!"
"What?! Where?!" He burst out, frantically searching for her.
"That was an objective observation," Riddhima laughed. "Aishwarya Rai haina hot. Toh main bas keh rahi thi."
"That was a low blow!" Armaan accused.
"You started it with SRK!" Riddhima pointed out.
They spent the rest of their time at the club name-dropping more celebrities, each more ridiculous than the last and somehow feeding off each other's frustration. They both knew that it was impossible that these very big A-listers would be hanging out at the same place as them, yet on even the 0.01% chance that it was true, they kept taking the bait.
"Why are you so annoying?" Riddhima cribbed while walking down the harbour back to their yacht.
"Kahaan jaa rahi ho?" Armaan replied to her question with a question.
"Yacht pe, aur kahaan?" Riddhima scoffed. "Kyun?"
"Tumhe aur nahi ghoomna?" Armaan questioned, surprised. "We hadn't explored the entire town."
"Armaan, iss waqt mujhe tumhaare saath kahin nahi jaana," Riddhima answered.
"Basket!" He exclaimed, running up to her. "Tum kyun gussa ho rahi ho? Gussa toh mujhe hona chahiye na? Start toh tumne kiya tha!"
"Maine start kiya tha?" Riddhima looked at him, absolutely appalled at the insinuation.
"Yes! Tumne hi pehle George Clooney kaha tha," Armaan reminded her.
"But tumne SRK kaha!" Riddhima accused. "You know that you shouldn't take his name in vain like that!"
"He's not god, Basket," Armaan laughed. Riddhima raised an eyebrow at that.
"Fine, fine," Armaan agreed. "I know you love him more than me and want to marry him. I shouldn't have done that. But phir tumne Aishwarya Rai kehke badla le liya na!"
"Toh uske baad tumne kyun Chris Pine ka naam liya? You started it again!" Riddhima exclaimed.
"Toh tumhe uske aage baat nahi badhaani chahiye thi na!" Armaan responded.
"Tum bhi toh chup ho sakte the!" Riddhima pointed out. "Tum nahi hue toh main kyun peeche hatu?"
Armaan mulled over it for a second. "Okay, fine. Meri galti thi," he agreed. Riddhima looked absolutely victorious. "But sirf meri nahi!" He added. "Tumhaari bhi thi!"
"Okay… Fine," Riddhima sulked. "Meri bhi thi. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry," Armaan echoed. He opened his arms and Riddhima immediately stepped into his embrace, hugging him tight.
"Did we just have our first big fight as a married couple?" Armaan wondered out loud. They'd had their minor arguments before, but those were to be expected. If the two of them didn't pass any smartass comments about the other at least once a day, Armaan doubted either of them would get a good night's sleep. But, this time, it had been different. A little harsher than their usual banters, especially towards the end. They'd been purposely catty to each other in a way they rarely were. Riddhima had actually started walking in the opposite direction because she didn't want to talk to him. Armaan didn't remember the last time that had happened.
Riddhima's laughter went straight to his heart, making all other thoughts disappear. "I think so," she said. "That definitely counts as a big fight in my opinion."
"Of course we fought over something so silly," Armaan mused.
"Hmmm," Riddhima hummed in agreement. "But at least iss baar yeh stupid ladaayi kuch serious nahi bani warna humaari almost hear ladaayi aisi kisi stupid cheez pe hoti aur phir bohot badi bann jaati hai."
"Yes, like a mustard mountain," Armaan replied, making Riddhima giggle.
"Raayi ka pahaad, Armaan," she corrected.
"Haan, wohi. Tumhe samajh aa gaya na!" Armaan answered.
"Haan, aa gaya," Riddhima laughed.
"Okay, toh ab toh ghoom sakte hain ya ab bhi hotel jaana hai?" Armaan questioned.
"Lead the way, captain!" Riddhima announced, winding her arm around Armaan's.
He guided her in the direction of the docks again, giving her a pause. "Baby, hum uss direction mein kyun jaa rahe hain?" Riddhima asked.
"Cause agli jagah hum boat se hi jaa sakte hain, sweetheart," Armaan explained. Riddhima's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed. "Are we going to see the grotto now?"
Armaan laughed. "Haan, kyunki sunset ke pehle dekhenge toh better hoga na! Natural lighting rahegi. Kya pata phir baad mein achche se dikhe na dikhe?"
"Armaan, Amalfi meri dream destination sirf isliye hai kyunki mujhe woh grotto dekhna hai!" Riddhima cried.
"I know," Armaan told her.
"Aaahhh!" She squealed, throwing herself into his arms. "You're the bestest husband ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"
"Anything for my wife," Armaan replied. He put his finger under her chin and gently raised her head so that he could look her in the eye. Then, he bent his head to press his lips to hers in a kiss, which turned out to be an impossible task seeing as Riddhima was grinning so wide. Armaan laughed against her mouth.
Pulling back, he said, "Let's goooo!"
Riddhima took his hand and practically ran the rest of the way. Once they were on-board their rowboat (because you couldn't enter the grotto on a tall ship as its opening was short), Riddhima talked Armaan's ears off about the place. The Blue Grotto in Capri was a cave in the water that was possibly one of the most beautiful places in existence. The water inside the grotto was a clear crystalline blue, flowing in the middle of huge rocks. The place was once a temple but now was just an empty cave that was a hot tourist attraction.
She hadn't even finished extolling about the beauty of the place before they reached there. Since Armaan had paid extra, they were able to bypass the queue and enter the cave immediately. It was even more beautiful than Riddhima had imagined. She was absolutely in awe, gasping at every little movement of the water. Armaan lost interest in the picturesque location pretty quickly, instead focusing on Riddhima's reactions. His heart warmed at the sight of her bright smile. They ended up spending the rest of the day there, only leaving once the authorities closed entry to the cave.
"This was the best day ever," Riddhima whispered into Armaan's neck as they lay in bed that night. "Thank you so much. I love you."
"I love you," Armaan replied, kissing her temple. He gathered her close, squeezing her in a hug. "See you tomorrow, Basket."
"See you tomorrow, baby," Riddhima replied, already half asleep. Armaan laughed, placing a kiss to her forehead before following suit.
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