Riddhima walked out of the maternity ward tired and grumpy and groaned when she saw that break was almost an hour away. It was just one of those days, when all you could think about was curling up and forgetting about the rest of the world. Sadly, being a doctor means being on call 24x7, so that luxury very rarely presented itself.
She decided to drop in and see Muskaan before heading out to her next duty. Muskaan could always cheer you up with her bubbly nature and infectious laughter. Feeling a bit better already she started walking with dreams of her cozy bed still at the back of her head when she was suddenly pulled into a fire escape.
Now for some people, such a situation would mean instant panic and fear, but for Riddhima Gupta, former girlfriend and current fiancee of one Armaan Mallik, it only meant rolling her eyes and looking up to see her above mentioned fiancee smiling at her cheekily. After all you kinda get used to being dragged in strange places specially like this fire escape when it has happened to you a million times in the past two years which is the exact time that she had known and loved Armaan Mallik.
"Hi Armaan, tum kab aaye?" Riddhima asked brushing his hair away from his eyes. She chose to ignore his pulling her into the fire escape again because she was too exhausted and he never really stopped, no matter how many times she reprimanded him.
Armaan simply put his both hands on the wall thereby trapping her between them. Riddhima often wondered if he did this to intimidate her or stop her from escaping. Maybe both, she decided as she gazed into his twinkling eyes.
"I missed you, abhi aaya, thodi der pehle" Armaan replied nuzzling his face into her hair making her ticklish. "Armaan" Riddhima giggled and moved her head as Armaan tried to kiss her neck. Pouting slightly, he looked up at Riddhima, his hair coming between his eyes again. Riddhima frowned and moved them away again,"You need a haircut" she said brushing them to the side. Armaan kissed her hand and shaking his head said,"I need a Riddhima".
Laughing at him, she fixed his hair as best as she could while he simply gazed at her. He took in the tired face, droopy eyes, the once prim but now scrunched up suit and the hair falling out of the bun she had properly tied hours back. Inspite of all this, she looked a vision to him, with her smile and slight blush that was exclusively for him only.
"Hey, tumhari shift kab khatam ho rahi hai?" he asked looking at her in concern. He hoped she had not taken on double shifts again.
"Ek ghante main" Riddhima answered making a face. Armaan smiled at her,"Good, go home and rest, uske baad yaad hain na, aaj kya hai?".
"Kya?" Riddhima asked confused. Armaan glared at her till she let out a giggle looking at his expression,"Very funny Riddhima, hamari pehli date ka mazak mat urao".
"Pehli date???" Riddhima asked bewildered. "Aur nahi to kya, engagement ho gayi aur main apni girlfriend, I am sorry, fiancee ko ek date pe bhi nahi le gaya, tumhe pata hai, koi sunnega to meri reputation ka to keema ban jayega" Armaan said in a serious voice.
"Kya bol rahe ho Armaan, hum kitni baar to date par gaye hai" Riddhima protested.
"Acha, kis date ki baat kar rahi ho tum, ha? Woh waali, jisme tumne meri sab ex-girlfriends ko bhej diya tha, ya jab hum movie gaye the aur tumne poori sanjeevani bula li thi. Ya jab hum dinner karne gaye the, aur seedha jail pahuch gaye the, apne sab doston ke saath aur uske baad jab Dr. Shashank police station aaye the, aur unhe hamare baare main pata chal gaya tha" Armaan asked.
Riddhima bit her lip as she pondered on what he had just said, come to think of it, he was right. They had never actually had a proper complete date, always been interrupted or some other problem. She smiled at the irony, people called them Sanjeevani's most romantic couple, and they had'nt yet been on a date even.
"Hmmm, you are right, kitne kanjoos ho tum, mujhe ek date pe bhi nahi le gaye, very bad Armaan" Riddhima said thoughtfully.
"RIDDHIMA!!!" Armaan shouted with hands on his hips as she laughed at him. Tweeking his nose she started to go out and resume her duty when she was pulled back into his arms. "Madam, aaj ke baad aap aise kabhi nahi keh payengi, get ready to be swept off your feet" Armaan whispered huskily into her neck and kissing her cheek walked out leaving a dazed Riddhima behind.
Shaking her head to come out of the Armaan induced haze, Riddhima walked to her next duty with dreams of Armaan instead of her bed this time. After an hour, her shift was over and she looked for Armaan to say goodbye but being unable to find him, she left a note in his locker and went home to get some sleep and become refreshed and ready for their first date.
Meanwhile Armaan who had gotten his first dose of Riddhima worked hard, so that he could get off quickly and start his evening. Nothing would go wrong this time, no friends, no father, no sister interrupting them and definitely no police. He would make sure that they had a fabulous time, one which would wash away all their previous disastrous attempts at dating.
A few hours later, with his shift over, Armaan gleefully walked to the locker room, when Dr.Keerti stopped him,"Dr. Armaan, there you are, yeh rahe files, sab details yahan hai, aur agar koi bhi major problem hui, to corresponding doctor ko immediately call kar dijiyega, warna I am sure aap handle kar payenge, after all you have handled such cases before" she said as she handed 5-6 files to a stunned Armaan.
"Dr.....Dr.Keerti.........yeh sab kya, I mean aap mujhe kyu?" Armaan asked hoping she had made a mistake.
"Dr.Armaan, what do you mean? Aap jaante hai na ki aaj aap night duty kar rahe hai, instead of Dr. Atul" Dr.Keerti asked narrowing her eyes at Armaan who had paled at the mention of night duty,"Aapne apna duty board para tha, shift main aane se pehle, right?".
Armaan mentally kicked himself, in his rush to meet Riddhima, he had not noticed the change. He wondered if Dr.Keerti would let him go, just this once, looking at her face, he knew it was a lost cause. Sighing, he tried to give her a smile but instead just nodded his head and muttered curses to her and Atul as soon as she walked away.
Entering the locker room, he dropped the files into a bench angrily and removed his coat, stuffing it into the locker while making a face. His eyes fell on the note left by Riddhima and he sat down depressed when he read her cheerful goodbye. How could he do this to her??? She must be waiting for him, all dressed and ready. He knew he would'nt be able to hear the sad tone in her voice when he called to cancel, even though she would try and assure him that it was all ok. Damn it! Why did it always happen to them only???
Grudgingly, he picked up his phone and gave her a sms, and then switched it off. He knew that she would call him to make him feel better and reassure him, but at the moment he did not want to be reassured. All he wanted was to go on a date with his girl, was that too much to ask???
Riddhima had just gotten up all refreshed from her nap when she got the sms from Armaan. Reading it, her smile vanished and she dropped down on her bed again. She tried to call Armaan but he had switched off his cell. Riddhima's mood turned sour, she knew that Armaan must be feeling bad that their date had been cancelled and must be blaming himself.
Suddenly an idea popped into her head and her eyes widened, she looked at the watch, there was still time left, maybe they could have their first date after all. She got up quickly and rushed out to prepare her surprise for Armaan.
The hospital was silent as all the patients slept soundly and the few doctors and nurses moved about quietly making sure all was ok. Armaan checked his patient's progress report and after making sure that the correct medicine was administered moved on. Looking at the time, he saw that it was his break already. Still in a bad mood, he was not at all hungry, but he really missed Riddhima, and thought about calling her. Maybe talking to her would help him feel better.
In the locker room, he searched for his mobile when he saw a post-it inside. Peeling it off he saw that it simply read 'Come to the fire escape'. A bit curious, he gave up his mobile search and went off in the direction of the fire escape. Having a clue as to who had done this he smiled a bit but he certainly did not expect the sight that greeted him there.
His beautiful fiancee looking radiant stood before him smiling widely with a large picnic basket and a blanket at her feet. An I-Pod was placed carefully on top of the blanket and she had also brought along a few potted plants with beautiful flowers which she had placed carefully on each step.
Taking in the whole scene, Armaan gaped at Riddhima who winked at him."Surprise" she said after Armaan continued to just stand and watch her in astonishment,"Welcome to our first date Dr. Armaan Mallik".
"Riddhima, what...." Armaan finally said but was cut off by Riddhima,"You know Armaan, main soch rahi thi, acha hua ki aaj tumhari night duty hai, aur hum uss date pe nahi jaa paaye jo tumne plan ki thi" she started while Armaan looked at her incredously,"Mera matlab, hamari first date to definitely iss fire escape main honi chahiye, after all tumne mujhe yahan par kitni baar laaya hain, aur agar aaj hum kahin aur chale jaate, to yeh fire escape humse naraaz ho jaata, phir kabhi hume panaah nahi deta".
Armaan burst out laughing when he heard her and hugging her said,"You are the best Riddhima". "Pata hain, warna aur koi ladki tumhe khud banakar nahi degi" Riddhima answered.
"Tumne khana banaya?" Armaan asked excitedly looking at the picnic basket with glee. Riddhima nodded at his enthusiasm and sitting on the stairs with him, served him food. Armaan happily muched away at her home cooked meal, he loved Riddhima's cooking and devoured anything prepared by her within minutes.
They ate and talked listening to the songs from the I-Pod and finally had their first date. It was'nt like the usual first dates, there was no uncertainty, no pressure to please, no fake smiles or uncomfortable silence, it was a joy, light, relaxed and comfortable, just like Armaan and Riddhima's beautiful relationship.
W E L C O M E T O 
.:. AR KINGDOM OF MAGIC .:.
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