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Part 2
Ridhima woke up at 6.30 in the morning inspite of being awake for really late at night… She was determined to impress chachi and make her realize she was good enough for Armaan and his family… Inspite of Armaan and Ishita asking her to not bother, she wanted everything in Armaan's and her life to be perfect… She just had to pay more attention to the household to impress chachi and she was sure she could do that…
She decided to make her daily morning coffee before she starts her day… She brushed her teeth and rushed down wearing her robe, which she couldn't find last night due to the darkness…
She was about to step into the kitchen when someone called her…
Chachi-Ridhima…
Ridhima-Haan…
She turned around to find chachi completely dressed in her pink saree…
Ridhima-Oh, good morning chachi…
Chachi-Morning toh kab ki ho gayi hai… Tum roz itni der se uthti ho?
Ridhima involuntarily looked at the wall-clock… It was only 6:45… she had barely slept for 4 hours and she had an entire day to work ahead of her…
Ridhima-Haan… woh kal raat Ishita se baat ker rahi thi toh late ho gaya tha…
She made an excuse while she woke up later then that usually…
Chachi-It's okay…
Ridhima-Main abhi aapke liye breakfast banakar leke aati hu…
Chachi-Ridhima, kitchen mein aise jaogi?
Ridhima looked at herself and was confused…
Chachi-Don't you know you don't have to enter the kitchen without having a bath? In fact, tumhe toh aise kapdon mein apne room se bhi bahar nahi nikalna chahiye… Shukar hai ki abhi itne toh kapde pehene hai… Kal raat pata nahi kya pehena tha…
Ridhima, again was extremely hurt with the tone chachi used… She treated her like a servant or something… And moreover, she didn't believe in the traditional and orthodox beliefs like not entering the kitchen without having a bath and so on…
However, she again decided to overlook…
Ridhima-Sorry chachi… I'll come back in 15 minutes and make breakfast…
Chachi-Its okay Ridhima… I'll make my tea… I need it the first thing in the morning… You can take your own sweet time…
She went into the kitchen thereafter…
Ridhima walked back to her room with a heavy heart…
She really wanted to impress her but it backfired…
She entered the room to see Armaan waking up…
Armaan-Basket, tum itni jaldi uth gayi? I thought you'll wake up late today…
Ridhima just nodded…
She went towards her cupboard and took out a random salwar kameez for herself, picked up her towel and went in for a shower…
Armaan was confused with her behaviour… She never behaved like this in the morning… She was usually chirpy and over-active in the mornings or lazy and sleepy if she hasn't slept well the previous night but she was not like this ever…
He went down to get coffee for himself as Ridhima hadn't got his cup today…
He entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to find some milk…
Suddenly, Chachi called him…
Chachi-Armaan…
Armaan-Haan chachi…
Chachi-Tumhe bhi yeh baat samjhani padegi ki kitchen mein nahaye bina nahi aate… Ridhima bhi aise hi aa gayi thi… Usse bhi yeh sab samjhana pada… I seriously tell you Armaan… Ridhima hasn't put any discipline in the house…
Chachi kept on talking and Armaan was in no mood to listen… He as usual did not pay any heed to anything she was saying… He just kept on listening and was making his coffee…
Chachi stopped as she wasn't getting any response from Armaan…
Chachi-Armaan… Tum sun bhi rahe ho ya nahi…
Armaan-Uh… haan… haan…
Chachi-Aur ye kya bana rahe ho?
Armaan-Kuch nahi chachi… bass coffee bana raha tha…
Chachi-Ridhima ne bheja tujhe uske liye coffee banane? Thodi derr wait nahi kar sakti? Tumhe kaise coffee banane ke liye bhej diya?
Armaan-Kya? Ridhima ne subah coffee nahi pee?
Chachi-Nahi… maine usse kitchen mein aane se mana kar diya… She doesn't even know ki you shouldn't enter the kitchen without having a bath… I don't know kya seekh kar aayi hai?
Armaan-Chachi… We don't believe in all this… Ab usse head-ache ho gaya hoga… She needs a coffee first thing in the morning… Ab poora din theek se kaam nahi kar payegi…
He quickly poured his coffee into a mug and rushed to his room with it…
He tried to open his room's door and was surprised to find it locked…
Armaan and Ridhima never locked their door as they lived alone and they never felt the need to lock the door because of each other…
Armaan-Ridhima… jaan… Open the door basket… It's me…
Ridhima unlocked the door and Armaan entered to find Ridhima trying to zip up her kurta…
He kept her coffee aside and zipped it up for her…
As Armaan knew, she had started having a head-ache… She opened the first-aid kit and took out a tablet for her head-ache… Armaan snatched the tablet from her and handed her the coffee mug…
Armaan-The coffee isn't that bad…
Ridhima smiled meekly and had a sip…
Ridhima-Tumne banayi?
Armaan-Nahi… Sanjeevani ke canteen se leke aaya hu... Obviously maine banayi…
Ridhima-Rachna chachi let you go into the kitchen?
Armaan-Haan… But she was giving me some lecture about how I should have a bath and enter but I didn't listen… Aur kal se even you are going to do that… If you don't have your coffee in the morning then you have had it from me…
She smiled wide…
He kissed her forehead…
Armaan-I hope the head-ache has reduced…
Ridhima-It's completely gone now…
Suddenly, Ridhima's cell phone buzzed…
She answered it while Armaan went in to shave and get ready for Sanjeevani…
Ridhima hung up…
Ridhima-Armaan… I need to rush… Karan has got an attack…
Armaan-Yeah okay… Drive safely…
Ridhima-But Armaan… Breakfast for everyone?
Armaan-Don't worry… I'll tell the maid… You don't bother… I'll manage…
Ridhima-Thanks… Bye… I'll see you in the hospital…
Ridhima rushed down and ran out of the house…
Rachna chachi watched her surprisingly… Ridhima didn't even bother informing her before leaving… Moreover, she left the house in the morning mess without preparing breakfast for anybody and seeing if the guests need anything or not…
Ridhima reached the hospital and found Karan in a very bad state…
She operated on him but still he was extremely critical… He wasn't responding to any therapies… She was very worried about Karan to think about anything else at the moment…
While at home, Chachi had created a big scene about Ridhima leaving the house in a rush and not informing anyone… She kept blabbering things about how she wasn't the right choice for Armaan which Ishita and Armaan chose to ignore… But she soon started commenting on Ridhima's character and how irresponsible she is… She has no manners and doesn't know how to treat guests… She happened to go overboard and also commented on her upbringing and her parents…
Armaan got extremely angry when he thought Chachi was crossing her limits… She didn't have any right to question her upbringing and Shashank papa's and especially Padma mom's upbringing… He back-answered her in a very stern manner and asked her to never go upto Ridhima's parents.
Armaan left the house on a very bad note that morning… He was extremely angry… He reached the hospital and found Ridhima nowhere… Soon, he got busy with his patients… He eventually calmed down by lunch and went around looking for Ridhima everywhere…
Again, he couldn't find her anywhere, so he asked a nurse about the state of Karan's case to which she answered that he was very critical…
Armaan was extremely sad as he came to know that… Now, he had to find Ridhima… He knew she would have been shattered since the incident… And now, he knew the exact place to find her… He ran towards the terrace and found Ridhima standing in a corner looking towards the sky…
He stood next to her and put an arm around her pulling her towards him… She put her head on his shoulder and her hands went around him unconsciously… She hugged him for a while and both said nothing… Soon, she was almost back to normal…
They both soon returned to work after lunch and the day passed in a flurry… Ridhima's mind was too occupied with Karan to think of anything else… She had specially informed the nurse to inform her about anything related to Karan at any point of time…
Armaan and Ridhima returned home together and Ridhima was extremely quiet throughout the day… Armaan didn't push her as he knew her emotional turmoil…
They returned home extremely worn out and tired… The maid had already made dinner and was setting the table… Ridhima was in no mood to have an argument or listen to one more of her lectures and hence she just started serving dinner to everyone…
Chachi-It's okay Ridhima… You don't need to put up this act of caring for everyone… We can help ourselves like we did in the morning…
Ridhima felt even more humiliated now but she didn't have the time to argue… She wanted to get to her research as soon as possible… She asked the maid to serve food to everyone while she settled on the couch with her laptop…
Armaan came down in the meanwhile after freshening up and saw Ridhima with the laptop trying to research… He immediately picked up his plate, served food and went and sat next to her… He started offering food to which she kept eating involuntarily… Chachi started detesting her complete ignorance towards the house…
Ridhima, in the meanwhile, found something which could help Karan and wanted to try it immediately… She went back to the hospital pretty late at night… This went on for quite a few days… Ridhima was trying day and night to save Karan while Chachi was getting pissed… Ridhima definitely tried to live upto Chachi's expectations but she never succeeded…
Inspite of telling her infinite times about her irregular and busy schedule, she was not willing to co-operate… She kept complaining about her irregular working hours and returning home extremely late in the night… But Ridhima didn't care… Karan was far more important… Armaan understood her and so he didn't object at all instead he supported her… He helped her in every possible way… He covered up for Ridhima in front of Chachi everytime… He often dropped and picked her from the hospital at odd hours…
Once, Ridhima had to suddenly go to the hospital at around midnight… She left after informing Armaan who was extremely tired that day to drop her and fell asleep as soon as Ridhima left… He knew Ridhima would come back after a good 4 or 5 hours… These nights were pretty taxing for Ridhima… She wasn't sleeping well and Chachi's constant tortures were affecting Ridhima's health constantly… He knew he couldn't do anything about her hospital times… They were bound to happen but he wished that Chachi wasn't here at this point… She tended to increase Ridhima's stress levels to a large extent… It was pointless telling Chachi anything but Ridhima wasn't used to such behaviour at all… It affected her big time… And she was one of those people who couldn't let go off easily… She kept thinking and re-thinking and blaming herself mentally for everything… All this together, i.e. Karan's health and his tension, her sleepless nights, household responsibility, Chachi's taunts, Ishita's engagement preparations, etc. were adding to her stress levels… He was extremely worried about her health now… She had just recovered from a viral fever a few days back… He hoped that she did not fall sick again… He knew that she would have a bad menstrual cycle this month i.e she would be extremely irritated and there would be body aches before and during her menstrual cycle… Her body often reacted to stress in that manner… He was prepared for it but he knew Ridhima wasn't… And the most important thing which was disturbing him was that he knew everything and still he couldn't do anything about it…
Ridhima returned at around 5 in the morning and as she stepped in, she found Chachi reading the newspaper… It looked like she had just woken up… She wished her good morning to which she merely nodded but she also gave her a look full of disgust trying to indicate once again that she didn't like her staying out the entire night… Ridhima knew she wouldn't acknowledge her but she still hadn't given up on trying impressing her… She left her things on the dining table and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast… She thought since it was already 5, she rather make breakfast and then rest and hence she started with the cooking…
It was nearly 6 when Armaan woke up for a bit and realized Ridhima wasn't back yet… He got worried immediately… He called on Ridhima's phone which she didn't answer and then he called the hospital where he found out that Ridhima had left nearly one and a half hours back…
He dialed Ridhima's number again and heard her ringtone somewhere in the house… He breathed a sigh of relief… He went down to find Ridhima's bag lying on the dining table and Chachi sitting on the couch and watching television, watching some satsang…
Armaan-Ridhima… Ridhima… Where are you jaan?
Ridhima-Kya hua Armaan? Why are you yelling at the top of your voice in the morning… Ish so rahi hai…
Armaan went into the kitchen as he realized she was there…
Armaan-I'm yelling because you deserve it… You are supposed to sleep after the night duty… Doctor ho but you don't deserve to be one… Khud apna khayaal rakhna nahi aata… You know you haven't slept a wink in the past 36 hours… What are you waiting for? To feel giddy and faint and then you'll realize… What was the need to get into the kitchen after coming back?
Ridhima-Armaan, I was just making breakfast… Chachi is awake ever since I came back…
Armaan got even more pissed… Ridhima would never give up…
He called out for chachi angrily…
Armaan-Chachi… Chachi…
Chachi came into the kitchen…
Chachi- Kya hua Armaan? Subah subah chilla kyu rahe ho?
Armaan-Chachi, aap jaante ho ki Ridhima 2 din se soyi nahi hai phir bhi aapne usse kaam karne se roka kyu nahi?
Chachi-Maine thodi kaha usse kaam karne ke liye… woh toh khud hi kaam karne lag gayi…
Armaan- Aur aapne usse karne diya?
Chachi- Toh usme galat kya hai? Apne ghar mein kaam karna koi galat baat nahi hai…
Armaan-Galat ye hai ki woh 2 din se continuously kaam kar rahi hai aur mujhe pata hai ki usne kal dinner ke baad kuch khaya bhi nahi hoga… This is the limit Ridhima… You have become so careless about your health…
Armaan was yelling because of Ridhima's negligence… And also the fact that his Chachi was so insensitive… Due to Armaan's loud noise, Ishita woke up and came down running as she knew Armaan wouldn't yell without a reason… She came into the kitchen to find Armaan yelling at Ridhima about her health and stress…
Ridhima-Armaan, today is Sunday… I have the whole day to sleep… I promise I'll go to sleep after making breakfast… I'll just take 10 minutes…
Armaan-You are not working for a minute more than this… Ish, can you please manage today's breakfast till the maid comes… I have to stay with Ridhima and see if she sleeps well or not…
Ishita-Yeah sure, don't worry… Main aur mom sab handle kar lenge…
Ridhima-No Ishita, its okay… tumhe ya chachi ko kuch karne ki zaroorat nahi hai… it won't take too long…
Armaan-You're not going to listen to me, right?
Ridhima-Armaan… I told you I'll come up in 10 mins…
Armaan-And like I said… I'm not letting you work…
He just picked her up and walked out of the kitchen towards their room…
On the way, he yelled out…
Armaan-Ish… Bring some breakfast to my room… I want to feed Ridhima before she sleeps…
He carried her to their room and put her down straight in the bathroom and asked her to shower and come…
Ridhima did as she was told… She knew Armaan was pissed off with her…
She tried to talk to him but he didn't answer…
Ridhima-Armaan… Armaan… Talk to me at least…
Armaan-I will only talk to you after you wake up…
Ridhima-Armaan… please…
She kept running behind him in their room in her towel all the time to try to manaofy him but he didn't budge…
He went to her closet, took out a random T-shirt and shorts and handed it to her and went to the door as someone was knocking it…
It was Ishita with a tray of breakfast for both Armaan and Ridhima…
Armaan-Thanks Ish…
Ishita-No problems Bhai… Bhabhi ko theek se khila dena…
Armaan-Yeah… that's one more task now… Ab main usse baat nahi kar raha toh she won't eat at all…
Ishita-You both are so adorable….
She pulled Armaan's cheeks with that…
Armaan-Isshhh… Stop it and now bye…
He shut the door behind him…
He placed the food in front of her and as expected she didn't even touch it…
He decided to finally talk to her about her health and make her eat…
He picked the plate and sat next to her on the bed and offered her a bite…
She didn't take it…
Armaan-Basket, bhaav khaana band karo aur khaana khao…
Ridhima-Mujhe nahi khaana… Jab tak tum mujhse baat nahi karoge tab tak main khaana bhi nahi khaungi aur soungi bhi nahi…
Armaan-Blackmail karna toh koi tumse seekhe… Ye lo jaldi khao… Main tumse baat kar raha hu na…
Ridhima-Aise? Aur tumne mujhe kitna daanta neeche…
Armaan-Woh zaroori tha… Ridhima, do you even realize ki in sab mein you are neglecting yourself and your health so much… If I check your blood pressure right now, tumhe pata hai kitna low hoga… I'm really proud of you that you're thinking about everyone so much but I want you to think about yourself… If not yourself, then I want you to think about me… You know I can't see you in any kind of pain… Take care of yourself for me… I don't care about whatever Chachi thinks of you… Her opinion doesn't matter to me as much as you do… You know you just recovered from fever a few days back and how all this stress is going to affect your monthly cycle, inspite of that, you are stressing so much? What's the need Ridhima? You know even if Chachi doesn't approve of you I'm not going to leave and it's not going to affect our relationship in anyway, then why are you so adamant on impressing her and getting yourself sick?
Ridhima-I don't know Armaan… I just can't bear the fact that someone doesn't approve of us together… Everything is just perfect in our life except this… I can't see anything imperfect in our life…
Armaan-What is so imperfect Ridhima? You and I are together… Nothing can be more perfect than this…
Ridhima-It's not that… When Papa wasn't agreeing to get us married; you did every possible thing to convince him… You almost gave up on everything you had for me… And now, when its my turn, you're asking me to back out… Armaan, all these are very small things that I can do for you, for us…
Armaan-Oh… so its payback time now… You're just trying to impress my chachi because I did so much to convince your father? Ridhima, since when did we start distinguishing as "mine" and "yours" between us? Isn't everything "ours"?
Ridhima-Yes, it is… But… I don't know how to explain this to you…
Armaan-Listen… you don't need to explain me anything… Just listen to me for once… I did everything I could to convince Shashank papa because he mattered to you, his opinion mattered to you, you love him and he loves you… But Rachna chachi's opinion doesn't matter to me… I have no kind of love and affection for her because she was a mere spectator when my parents were getting divorced or when my childhood was getting ruined… She did not take me in when I had nowhere to go… She didn't care if I was being raised by Bi… All she cared was for her own kids that time… And if she is here today, that is only because of Ishita because Ishita is the only sister I have… She means a lot to me and as a brother, I want to be by her side when she gets married… But if Chachi affects you or your health then I don't want them to be home… Like I told you before, you mean the most to me… So, you have to do this for me jaan… you have to take care of yourself… Will you do that for me?
Ridhima nodded meekly…
Armaan-Promise?
Armaan put out his hand for her to hold it…
Ridhima-Promise…
She held his hand first and then she just hugged him tight and started sobbing…
Ridhima-Sorry Armaan… I promise I'll take care of myself…
Armaan smiled and hugged her back…
Armaan-Now, madam, you need to eat and then go to sleep…
She parted from the hug and Armaan picked the plate again and fed her…
Armaan-Basket, aajkal bahut lazy ho gayi ho… Roz roz mere haathon se khaane lagi ho…
Ridhima-Sorry…
She was going to take her plate back and eat on her own when he took it back…
Armaan-Nahi… Main hi kilaunga… I love pamering my sweetheart…
She smiled and he kissed her nose…
She kept eating whatever Armaan was offering but she was very quiet also at the same time…
She was lost deep into thought…
Armaan-Basket, kya hua? Why are you so quiet now?
Ridhima-Armaan, why don't I know everything about your childhood? Why do I come to know little little things every now and then?
Armaan-That's because I don't like talking about it… All you need to know is that my childhood wasn't a very pleasant one… I know you deserve to know about it but some other day… please?
She smiled…
Armaan-And now, no more talking… Go to sleep now…
Armaan picked the plates and put them back onto the tray while Ridhima got into the blanket…
Armaan darkenend the room by putting the curtains on… He slid next to Ridhima on the bed and she hugged him tight and within a minute she was asleep…
No wonder she fell asleep instantly, she was bound to be tired…
He, then decided to have a nap himself as well as he had woken up extremely early on a Sunday morning…
Ishaani
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
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