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Power of Love
He fell in love with her all over again'when he saw her entering the door wearing a very pretty blue sari. She looked breathtaking. He stood there in the corner, leaning against the wall adoring his beautiful wife. In her arms was his one year old daughter Ayushi. She was a carbon copy of him'he smiled as his eyes got moisten. He saw them after 1 whole month. How he wanted to go and hug his family'he wanted them to know how much he loves them and how he would always be there for them till his last breath. But it was his misfortune that he couldn't do that.
From the crowded house, he somehow made his way to the backyard where he can shed his tears and nobody will notice him. Knowing his lovely wife'he knew no matter how angry she was with him if she sees him in tears'she would come and ask millions of questions and calm him. Of course he wanted her to calm him and be with him but the fact of him leaving them forever would shatter her. Therefore he hid the truth.
Looking around to see if there were any familiar faces'She made her way into one of the rooms where she saw bunch of girls. She smiled seeing her best friend sitting on the chair dressed in dark red lehnga. Yes, it was her best friend Muskaan's wedding today. She knows Rahul as well but not as much as she knows Muskaan.
"Shilpuuu" Muskaan yelled getting up. Shilpa walked up to her and hugged her. Muskaan hugged Shilpa and Ayushi back.
"Ayushiii you look chooo chweeet" Muskaan pulled her cheeks lightly and kissed her cheeks leaving light lipstick mark.
"Sorry for being late'had to finish up some work" Shilpa said handing Ayushi to one of the girls.
"It's ok yaar chalta hai'you came before all the rasams so it's all good" Muskaan smiled.
"You look gorgeous by the way" Shilpa said "Rahul would faint after seeing you" she winked making Muskaan blush.
"Waise you also look beautiful and am sure Armaan ka bhi Rahul jaise haal hoga" Muskaan laughed but stopped in mid way noticing Shilpa looking down "He is here'I saw him earlier" she said placing her hand on Shilpa's shoulder "Everything will be alright don't worry" Muskaan hugged her tight.
Armaan sat on the swing with his face buried in his hands remembering their last conversation.
"What are you hiding Armaan?? Who was that girl in the hospital?" Shilpa asked fuming.
"She is a doctor and my friend" Armaan said frustrated of the constant argument.
"If she is just your friend then why did you tell her that you LOVE her?? And you also told her that'that you especially went to see HER" Shilpa cried.
"I did go there to see her'and yes I love her she means the world to me" Armaan yelled.
That was their last conversation. He did that act in the hospital for her and Ayushi only. That girl in the hospital Anjali'she was just a doctor and very good friend of Armaan. But to make Shilpa hate him'he had to play that dirty game with her. To stay away from her'only he knows what he is going through. It must be as hard for Shilpa as it is for him. What else could he do? He can't tell her the truth'it will destroy her'and he couldn't see that.
Wiping away his tears he went back inside as Rahul might need him by his side today. As Armaan was already married, Rahul had asked him to give him some tips.
Shilpa walked out and went to the kitchen to get some milk for Ayushi. On her way back she stopped in her tracks when she saw him on the stairs. He had worn coffee colored sherwani, which she had bought for him when they had gone shopping. He looked dashing as usual but he looked kind of weak. Of course he would look weak coz when he was on his own'he would just eat junk food rather than making something healthy. Shilpa was going to move out after that argument and knowing that he 'loved' someone else. But he pleaded her to stay coz Ayushi was with her'and he left instead. The last time she went to the hospital for Ayushi's regular check up'she had seen him with that doctor again. Though she didn't bother going up to them.
Washing off all the thoughts'she took a deep breath and went back to the room.
"Armaan yaar'where were you?? I need you" Rahul said looking at Armaan closing the door behind him.
"I was just'anyways are you ready?" Armaan plastered on a fake smile. But Rahul being his best friend caught him in a second.
"You saw her didn't you?" Rahul asked buttoning up his black and red sherwani.
"Leave it yaar'and dude what's up with your hairs?" Armaan said changing the topic.
Rahul shook his head thinking Armaan would never change. Armaan had always kept things to himself'he never shared his pain with anyone except for'Shilpa. But he did hide something big from her and therefore they had been separated. Though, they haven't thought about getting a divorce, not yet at least. Their love was not that weak.
"I was taking a nap but then Tani came in asking if I was ready'so I just wore this and you walked in. I didn't get time to spike up my hairs" Rahul said looking in the mirror and putting gel in his hairs. Through the mirror he saw Armaan massaging his temples lightly "Headache?" he asked and continued fixing his hairs.
"Uh yeah'lack..of sleep probably" Armaan said giving him a weak smile and sitting on the bed as he was also feeling kind of dizzy.
"Ok I am ready'now time for tips" Rahul grinned and sat next to Armaan.
"For you I can only say that if you wanna stay alive at the first night'just don't do anything stupid that would make Muski to kill you" Armaan chuckled.
"Yeah yeah very funny" Rahul rolled his eyes.
"Ok seriously'don't wait for her to say or do anything coz girls hate that when their new husbands do that on their first night" Armaan said putting his arm around Rahul's shoulder.
"Gotcha buddy" Rahul grinned.
While they were chit chatting'some aunty came in and told them to come downstairs. Rahul had to sit in the mandap till Muskaan came. Armaan stood by his side looking around and waving here and there when he saw known faces. Noticing everyone's gaze was fixed on the stairs; he looked in the direction and saw Muskaan being brought down. His gaze shifted to Shilpa'who was standing on the right side of Muskaan. He smiled seeing Ayushi clapping her tiny hands. Muskaan settled next to Rahul slightly blushing at his constant gaze.
Their eyes met as their arms brushed. Shilpa stood in front of him staring into his deep blue eyes.
"Can I?" Armaan brought her back to reality by asking if he could take Ayushi. Shilpa nodded and handed Ayushi to her. Ayushi happily went with him as she loved her daddy.
Armaan had seen the pain in her eyes'the pain of being alone. He could still see the love she has for him. He wanted to embrace her right then'he was yearning to take her in his arms and she was yearning to be in his arms.
"My baby'I missed you" he kissed her cheeks and forehead.
"Da..da" Ayushi smiled holding his nose.
"Dada loves you my princess" he said caressing her hairs.
Shilpa smiled seeing the duo and remembered the old days'when the trio used to have lots of fun together.
"Ayushi say mum'ma" Shilpa tried teaching her.
"No'say da'da" Armaan said making Ayushi sit on his stomach.
"No Armaan'she will learn to say mumma first" Shilpa pouted.
"No Shona'she will learn dada first" Armaan pouted as well.
"Mumma!!"
"Dada!!"
"Mum..ma'da..da" Ayushi pouted seeing her parents fight.
"Omg she said it together" Shilpa grinned.
Armaan picked Ayushi up and threw her in the air'making her giggle. Shilpa had tears of joy seeing her little angel saying mom and dad together. Armaan set Ayushi on free on the floor to play with her toys and embraced Shilpa.
"She is growing up" he smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Kaisi ho?" he asked making her come back to reality.
"Am ok" She replied quickly wiping the tear away from the corner of her eye "how..how are you?" she asked back.
"Fine" He smiled at her.
"Fine my foot'he looks so weak" Shilpa mumbled to herself.
Armaan kept on playing with Ayushi till all the ceremonies were over. They bid bye to Rahul and Muskaan together. The newly couple were very happy seeing Armaan and Shilpa together. Well at least they talked nicely after a long time. Armaan and Shilpa had been living separately from past three months. The first month they argued constantly but from the past two months they had not seen each other at all.
"Uh'Armaan I have to leave" Shilpa said.
"Oh am sorry'" he said. Ayushi was sleeping peacefully on his shoulder "I can drop you off to the car" he said and they walked towards her car in silence. He buckled up Ayushi in her car seat and closed the door.
"Take care Shona" he said and hugged her. Shilpa wanted to hug back but her ego didn't let her so she turned around and got into the car. She had been holding them back ever since she had seen him and she definitely didn't wanted to break down in front of him.
"Am sorry Shona'am sorry" Armaan said running his hand through his hairs as he saw her car disappear in the dark.
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"Armaan, can you talk? We've been sitting here from past hour" Anjali said rolling her eyes.
"Oh yeah'sorry I was just thinking'" he sighed and sipped on his lukewarm coffee.
"About Shilpa?" she asked placing her hand on his.
"Yes'I can't stay away from her" he said burying his face in his hands.
"I never told you to'" she replied.
"I need you though" he said squeezing her hand.
"I know you do'" she smiled "By the way you still have to tell me about yours and Shilpa's first meeting" she added biting on her sandwich.
"Our first meeting'was at the most romantic place" he said dreamily "We met at the beach'" he starter'
Shilpa was new in Mumbai'she had lived most of her life in California and because of her dad's business they had to move to India. Beach had been her favorite place'so that day she was there for a walk. It was late evening and the sun had almost set. It was the most beautiful evening of their lives. Shilpa was standing looking at the sun set'her feet were soaked till her ankle. She was in navy blue Capri and tight white t-shirt. Her hairs were flying back due to the cool breeze and she had a smile on her face.
Armaan frowned seeing her standing on his usual spot. That was his favorite spot to stand and watch the sun set. He would go to the beach everyday at this time to get fresh air'and some time to think about life.
"Perfect view isn't it?" He asked standing next to her.
"Yup'looks beautiful" she smiled.
There was a long silence after those few words that they spoke. They haven't even seen each other and yet they enjoyed seeing the sun set together.
"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked finally looking at her. He was mesmerized by her simplicity'there was no mark of make up on her face and yet she looked elegant.
"Wanna flirt kya?" She spoke in her American accent looking straight into his blue eyes'which she fell in love right away.
"Whatever you wanna think" he winked giving her his million dollar dimpled smile.
The way she fell in love with his eyes and smile'he had also become a big fan of her big sea green eyes. They talked as they walked bare foot'feeling the wet and cold sand which brought a very clam feeling.
"Do you talk with all the strangers?" he asked a bit surprisingly coz girls always think the other way when a stranger'especially a guy stranger tries talking to them.
"Nah'not really but you seem to be a nice guy" she smiled looking ahead. She was surprised herself for behaving like that with a stranger in a completely new country'that was very unlike her. For some reason she felt some old connection with this stranger.
"I am a nice guy" he said proudly.
"Conceited huh" she giggled and so did he.
So they talked for good 1-2 hours and it was dark. They enjoyed each others' company very much. Shilpa's parents called and she had to leave.
"It was nice talking to you'Stranger" Shilpa said shaking his hand.
"Same here'" he replied.
As they shook their hands, they got this strange feeling'feeling of some connection'as if they have known each other from many years. None of them wanted to leave'they wanted to talk more and wanted to get to know each other better. Both wanted to ask if they will be in touch or not but were afraid of what the other might think about them. Asking for phone numbers and emails etc was not right at the first meeting'that's what they thought. Though, they both secretly prayed to meet again.
"Hey what's your name?" Armaan asked as she headed towards her car.
"Remember me as a stranger for now'stranger" she winked and ran off to her car. Although, she was dying to know his name but didn't dare to ask after that reply of hers. Armaan shook his head and smiled.
""WOW'that was sooo cute" Anjali said dreamily "Am jealous" she pouted.
"You should be" he chuckled.
"So did you guys meet again?" She asked excitedly.
"No'we got married in our dreams" he replied sarcastically.
"Stop kidding and tell me how did you guys meet again? And where? Same place?" She asked impatiently.
"Dude'its 2 am'aren't you sleepy?" he asked coz Anjali was an early sleeper.
"No just continue with your story'I don't have work tomorrow so I don't have to worry" she grinned.
"Ok baba'So I continued my beach routine but she didn't show up for another 2-3 days'but she came on the fourth day'"
Armaan was standing there enjoying the cool breeze and waiting for his stranger. He didn't know why but now his reason to go to the beach was her. And today too he was thinking about her'her silky long hairs'perfect body with perfect curves'sea green eyes'angelic smile'soft skin'frowning at the tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see who broke his chain of thoughts. His frown turned in to a grin as soon as he saw her. She was wearing a beautiful light yellow knee length summer dress, which landed right above her knees.
"Hey stranger" She was as happy to see him again as he was. Her happiness didn't go unnoticed by him.
"Hi" he grinned.
"Do you have a name?" she asked slightly giggling.
"Armaan'Armaan Malik is my name" he smiled taking her breath away. She had been thinking about his eyes and smiles a lot after their meeting. She loved his dimply smile and wanted to poke his dimples.
"The famous business man?" she asked with her mouth hung open.
"Yup'but how do you know?" he asked surprisingly.
"Finally'dude I wanna kill you" she said narrowing her eyes. Armaan was taken aback by her words.
"Uh'why?" he asked nervously.
"Coz my parents love YOU more than ME'I mean why did you have to be so smart and famous at this age" she said rolling her eyes. He giggled looking at her cute face. And the fact that her parents knew him made his heart jump in joy.
"Awww my bad'coz of me your parents don't love you'totally my fault" he laughed.
"Armaaan'it's not funny ok" she pouted. Oh he wanted to kiss her cheeks. She looked adorable'just like a baby.
"Ok ok sorry'" he said holding his ears cutely. Shilpa wanted hug him for his cute gestures "You still didn't tell me your name stranger" he said putting his hands in his jeans pocket.
"Shilpa Malhotra" She smiled.
They talked and walked just like their first meeting. It was fun for them to find out each other's hobbies and interests. It made it interesting coz both of them had a totally different choices but the loved it. Opposites attract after all. As they say'time flies by when you are having fun and that's what happened with them. They didn't realize the time while talking. This time Armaan's dad had called and he had to leave. However, they exchanged numbers this time to keep in touch. Shilpa wanted him to meet her parents sometime, because they would be really happy to see him.
"HOW SWEET" Anjali almost screamed with excitement.
"Oye lower your volume'normal people sleep at this time" Armaan said folding his arms.
"Third meeting'continue" Anjali sat there waiting for him to continue.
"Tomorrow'am too tired now" he yawned stretching his arms.
"Ok'you need some rest tum so jao'but you will HAVE to continue tomorrow" she said getting up with him.
"I will'" he smiled and hugged her "Good night" he wished coming out of the hug.
"Armaan'everything will be fine" she said kissing his forehead "Good night" she ruffled his hairs and went to her room.
"I hope so" he whispered.
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"Mom'can you make some milk for Ayushi real quick please? Am getting late for work" Shilpa said washing Ayushi's milk bottle.
"Sure beta'" Mrs. Malhotra smiled. She was there to help Shilpa after Armaan had left. She was taking care of Ayushi while Shilpa went to work.
She and Armaan worked in the Malik's empires, after their marriage Shilpa had joined in with him. She went to work every day after their separation coz Armaan had asked her to coz he would be away. Without asking the reason she agreed and she very well knew not to mix personal problems with professional.
"Bye mom'bye baby" She kissed Ayushi's forehead and headed to work.
"Hey Roy'give this file to Shilpa when she comes" Armaan handed his PA a file.
"Sir where have you been? And are you leaving again?" Roy asked as Armaan had not showed up for a month.
"Uh'I had to go out of country and I couldn't inform'Shilpa didn't tell you that?" Armaan asked.
"Oh she had'I forgot'so sir when are you joining back"
"Tomorrow'I am not feeling well enough today" Armaan said giving him a weak smile.
"Ok sir'feel better" Roy smiled and left his cabin.
Armaan and Shilpa bumped into each other in the hall.
"Oh am sorry" Armaan said holding his head.
"Be careful next time" Shilpa said angrily picking up the files. She stood up and saw him losing his balance. She quickly placed the files on the closest desk and held his arm "Armaan, are you ok?" she asked.
"Am fine'" he brushed off her hand gently and walked away.
"What's his problem? Yesterday he was acting so normal and now he just ignored me?" Shilpa sighed and went to her cabin.
"Good Morning ma'am'" Roy greeted Shilpa "Sir left this file for you" he smiled and handed her the file.
"Thanks Roy'but where did he go?" she asked.
"He said he was not feeling well" Roy said and went to his cabin.
"Armaan ki tabyat theek nahi hai'" Shilpa was now concerned. She just saw him losing his balance and now Roy informed her that he was not well.
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"Anjie'did you get the results yet?" Armaan asked impatiently.
"No not yet'" she replied "He will fax the results to me tomorrow" she smiled.
"Oh ok'" he said and lay down on the couch.
"Are you ok?" she asked touching his forehead.
"I've been feeling dizzy" he replied weakly.
"You should not drive in this condition'am just gonna make a quick phone call for the results" she said taking out her phone "You'll be fine" she said squeezing his hand. Anjali made a phone call to US'but nobody answered the phone "I think it's late there'but I will call at night for sure" she told Armaan.
"It's ok'he told you he will call you when he get the results right? So you don't have to call'coz he will call you" Armaan smiled getting up.
"I'll make milkshakes for us and you can continue your story'the third meeting" she winked.
"Ok" he grinned.
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"You guys are leaving tomorrow? That was quick" Shilpa was on phone with Muskaan. Rahul and Muskaan are going on their honeymoon tomorrow.
"I know'actually he surprised me with the tickets last night" Muskaan blushed.
"Awww that's so nice of him'where are you guys going?" Shilpa asked unlocking her house door.
"Paris'" Muskaan said excitedly.
"Wow that's beautiful place" Shilpa replied.
"Yup'I can't wait to be there" Muskaan danced.
"I will definitely come to the airport tomorrow'.ok talk to you later, am home now" Shilpa said placing her bag on the couch "Ok bye" saying that cuts the call and smiles at Ayushi, whole out crawling. "Plinshesh (princess)" Shilpa extended her arms for Ayushi. Picking her up Shilpa gave her a sloppy kiss on her cheeks making her giggle.
"Shilpa you came on right time'I have to rush home coz your dad came home early form work and had been calling me" Mrs. Malhotra said.
"Oh ok mom' see you" Shilpa hugged her and dropped her till the car. Coming back inside she went to her room with Ayushi to get changed. She puts her in her crib and gets changed.
"Mumma'nini" Ayushi said rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Awww my angel is sleepy" Shilpa took her out the crib and took her to the bed.
"Dada'" Ayushi pointed to the photo frame on the bed side table.
"You miss dada?" Shilpa asked making her lay in her lap. Ayushi nodded in yes with a small pout.
"We will see him tomorrow ok?" She kissed her forehead and patted her to sleep.
Shilpa missed Armaan like hell but who could she tell that? Yes, she was mad at him coz he loved somebody else'the one thing that she is not ready to accept. She knows how much Armaan loves her'he loves her beyond any limits. Even yesterday, when she looked deep in his eyes, she saw the same love in his eyes. Before their argument, she had noticed that from past few days Armaan used to stay lost and he used to hold her tightly while sleeping as if he was scared of losing her. She sensed that something was wrong and she had even asked him but his excuse was work. However, his excuse was not quite satisfying to her coz he had never stressed about work. Questions were roaming around in her mind'but she no answers. Was he hiding something from her? If he was, then what was it? He never hides anything from her, and then what is it that it made him leave her?
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