Chapter 18:
Almost a week had passed since Anjie and Padma's arrival. It had taken some time settling down, unpacking, shopping, food, etc. And during the whole week, Ridzy had not met Sid even once. And she was missing him like hell. And it was not only because she was madly in love with him. Sid was the type of guy with whom a girl (read: Ridzy) can freely discuss her ambitions, goals, fears, insecurities, choti choti khushiyaan, and in turn share his thoughts too. She was missing the comfort of his arms and his stupid jokes and annoying remarks. She missed him.
Right now it was late Sunday morning. And currently all the females of the Gupta family were sitting on different sofas in the lounge of Riddhima's and Shilpa's apartment, still eating breakfast as everyone had overslept.
Anjie (while eating): Okay this omelette is *nom nom nom* so delicious that *nom nom nom* I can't stop eating it! *Nom nom nom* Waise yeh kis ne banaya hai??? *Nom nom* *Swallow*
Shilpa looked at Riddhima, waiting her to answer. But Rddhima was barely paying attention. She was merely repeatedly stabbing her bechara omelette with a fork and then putting it down again. This had been going on since the past ten minutes. "Ummm, yeh Di ne banaya hai," said Shilpa brightly, trying to make Riddhima talk. "Hai na Di?"
"Hmmm," said Riddhima impassively.
"Wow Riddhima, really? *Nom nom nom* This is awesome! *nom nom nom* Mujhe tho pata hi nahi tha ke tum ek egg boil bhi kar sakti ho! *nom nom nom*" Anjie commented.
"This is an advantage of living alone," said Shilpa in a cheerful. "We learn how to cook! HAI NA DI?" Shilpa almost shouted thw last three words, making Riddhima start in fright. "Oh haan... haan, bilkul exactly! We learn how to cook!" said Riddhima with fake enthusiasm. She hurriedly started to eat her omelette but she ate too fast and choked on it. Anjie thumped her on the back. Shilpa sighed and rolled her eyes.She of course had no idea why Riddhima was acting so distant.
Meanwhile, Padma had been watching her three daughters as she ate her omelette (it really was delicious no doubt). While Shilpa and Anjie were acting the same as ever, Riddhima was very depressed. And she couldn't understand why, especially since during her last conversation on the phone Riddhima had seemed very happy. Of course, what Padma aunty ji didn't know was that during that time Riddhima had been in her post-confession state, while now she was in post-Anjie-telling-her-their-dad's-motives-state. And Padma didn't even think for a moment that Riddhima knew, since heck! She wasn't even aware that Anjie knew! Anjie had come to know in this manner:
Anjali had dropped her phone under the large dining table. She had bent below the over-long tablecloth to retrieve it and crawled under the table. As she got her phone, she had accidentally hit her head hard on the underside of the table. "OWWW!" She had stayed below the table, clutching her head till the pain subsided. That's when Shanky and Padma had entered the room and discussed all there was to discuss. With no idea that their oldest and 22-year-old daughter was under the table and had heard every word.
ANYWAY, *back to the present* the doorbell just rang. "I'll get it," said Anjali. She opened the door and there was Sue. "Oh, hi, you must be Anjali, right?" said Sue brightly.
"Why yes. Yes I am! And who might you be?" said Anjali, liking the look of this pretty girl.
"Oh I'm Sue. Suvarna actually. Suvarna Modi," said Sue, coming in as Anjie closed the door behind her.
"Oh, tho tum ho the famous Sue!" exclaimed Anjali. "Shilpa's - "
"SUUUE!!!!!!"
"SHILPAAA!!!!!!"
Shilpa hugged Sue as if she hadn't seen her in a million years. But still, a week was a long time for not meeting your BFF.
" - BFF..." finished Anjali, grinning at the two soulsisters.
As introductions between Padma and Sue and Shilpa ensued, Riddhima got up and went to her room. The sight of Sue would just make her more depressed, she knew. Anjali saw her get up and followed her.
Once inside her room, Anjali crossed over to Riddhima and held her by the shoulders. She said in a gentle voice, "Dekho Ridzy. Tumhe abhi se itna serious hone ki koi zaroorat nahi hai. I told you na, it's no big deal. Mom loves you and Papa adores you; they won't throw your happiness away this easily. Just pretend like I never told you what I did that day. Heck, I'm not even supposed to know myself. It was just by chance that I overheard Mom and Papa," Riddhima smiled at this in spite of herself. ANjali had always been in a habit of sitting behind curtains and under tables. Not to mention squeezing under beds too. Anjie continued, "And I told you just so that you could be prepared. So just leave it now and do whatever you want. You won't get married to anyone for at least 7 or 8 more years. Enjoy your teenage while you can." Anjali sighed as Riddhima looked down to the floor and gave no reply. She was always so inclined to take things seriously. So Anjie added in a teasing voice. "And by the way, I would like to meet this boyfriend of yours."
At the word 'boyfriend' Riddhima's power of speech returned. She blushed and said. "He's not my boyfriend, Anjie." 'Boyfriend' seemed like a really trivial word to Riddhima. It didn't cover Sid at all. She would prefer the word 'soul-mate' or 'love of her life' or something filmi like that. (Hellooo people, she's a teenager. And a teenage girl at that)
Anjie pretended to gasp in horror, "Oh God Ridzy, don't tell me you have a girlfriend!!! Because if you do, I'm sure there is nothing - "
Riddhima smiled in spite of herself. She hit her elder sister playfully and said, "What I meant was, he's much more than a boyfriend. He's - "
"Heyyy girlies!" Sue appeared at the door. "Who's up for a shopping spree???" She immediately raised her own hand and said "Me!"
Shilpa appeared behind her, "Me!"
Anjali also said, "Me! Nothing better to get into the feel of America than hitting the shops!"
The three of them looked at Riddhima expectantly. She stared back at them before saying "Ummm, it's only 10 AM. ANd it's Sunday. The shops will be - "
Shilpa and Sue both made a 'SHUT UP NOW!' signal and RIddhima changed her words immediately, confused "- OPEN! The shops will definitely be open. I'm coming too!"
"Good," came Padma's voice from outside. "I'll be able to have some peace for a change. Be back by evening!"
Sue and Shilpa did a silent high-five. Riddhima grinned. She actually felt good that there was someone else who was responsible now, i.e. her mom. Pushing the subject of whatever-Anjie-had-said-before to the back of her mind, she wondered what those two angels - or devils more appropriately - had planned for today. It wasn't hard to guess, judging by the meaningful looks passed between them to know that it somehow involved her and Sid.
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"Yuvi, why the FREAKING HELL are you following me????" Naina yelled at Yuvi.
Yuvi folded his arms and glared at her. "You think yeh arrangement meri marzi se hui hai???" he asked exasperatedly.
Naina, still angry, said, "Jo bhi ho. I don't care what uncle said! This is really irritating you know. Just lie to your father and go watch a movie... or something!!"
Yuvi rolled his eyes. "You think I haven't thought of that? Lying to him is out of the question because - " he cut off as his phone started ringing. He answered it as Naina watched him furiously. "Hello?" The person on the other side said something to which he replied, "Haan Dad, mein bahir hoon." He rolled his eyes. "Haan haan Naina bhi idhar hi hai." His father must have said something doubtful as Yuvi said, "Dad please! Mein jhoot kyun boloon ga?" Something something. "Oh God Dad! Sahi hai, aap khud uss se baat kar lein!"
Yuvi thrust his phone into Naina's hand. Naina held it to her ear and said, "Umm, hello uncle?"
Yuvi's dad sounded a bit surprised when her answered, "Oh, Naina beta? Tum yahan ho?"
"Jee uncle... koi... baat hai?" Naina asked while glaring at Yuvi (for no reason whatsoever)
"Nahi nahi. Mein bas...errr... acha Naina beta mein ne jaana hai. Tum jao, enjoy karo, fine?" and the line was cut before Naina could protest. She glared at Yuvi's phone as if she could stamp on it. "Enjoy, my foot!!! What was that all about?????" she said angrily while handing Yuvi back his phone.
"I think you know what that was about," said Yuvi in a meaningful voice. Naina glanced at him and turned very slightly pink. "Whatever," she said. Then she sighed in a resigned way. "Well, now that I'm stuck with you anyway, what should we do?"
Yuvi's face lit up mischievously. "Let's meet your friends again! There's always something going on there!"
Even Naina smiled at this suggestion. "You're right. C'mon, chalte hain."
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In Ridzy's car:
"Whew!" said Shilpa. "That was close! Thank God Mom didn't think about the shops being open at this time!" She cleared her throat accusingly so that Riddhima in the front seat could know about the close call they suffered because of her.
Riddhima ignored this jab.
"Sooo if the shops really are closed," said Anjali, who was in the passenger's seat, "where are we going then???"
Sue and Shilpa exchanged evil looks. "Oh, nothing special,"" said Sue. Shilpa added "We just thought we'd show you some of our friends. Like Naina and... umm... Yuvi and umm *cough cough* Sid of course."
Riddhima took an unnecessarily sharp turn, causing Shilpa to bump into Sue and Sue to bump into the side of the car. Hard.
"What was that for?" muttered Sue under her breath.
"Can someone please tell me where I'm supposed to be driving to??" asked Riddhima sharply.
"We're already here!" said Shilpa delightedly. "And, OMG, LOOK! Naina and Yuvi are here! And I hadn't even called them yet! It's like we're all connected here somewhere," she tapped her head. Riddhima rolled her eyes as she pulled up.
Sue and Shilpa both got out first and hugged Naina and slapped Yuvi on the back. At the same time. As Yuvi rubbed his back, Naina asked curiously, "Since when have you become such good friends?" Referring to Yuvi and the soulsisters.
"Last week," said the soulsisters. "We bonded over mutual interests," explained Shilpa. "Like motorcycles," added Sue. The three of them high-fived. (Explanation: just because Sue & SHilpa are girly, doesn't mean they can't like motorcycles! 😃)
Anjali joined them. "Hi guys! OMG, Naina! Tum bhi yahan ho! And you must be Yuvi" Excited chatter ensued.
Riddhima was the last to come. She hugged Naina and smiled shyly at Yuvi (the last time they had met was at Naina's party, remember?) So no time for 'mutual bonding' lol)
"But hey," said Sue loudly. Everybody looked at her. "Where's superboy??"
"Yeah," said Shilpa in a confused voice. "Where's Sid?"
As if on cue, they all heard a car door slam. Everyone turned around together. And coming towards them was none other than Riddhima's dashing-handsome-amazing-awesome-cute-mesmerising boyfriend. (Lucky her) Yes it was Sid. And the moment Riddhima saw him (it had been a long time: ONE WEEK PEOPLE!) it seemed as if everything was going in slow motion: Sid, the wind, her heart...
Moment broken: "Oh God. Who is this????" Anjali asked in obvious amazement, her mouth dropping open. Sue replied proudly, "This is Mr. Siddhant Modi, my bro and everyone's superboy!"
"And...?" Anjali glanced at Riddhima accusingly. Shilpa noticed this and giggled.
Then the unexpected happened. Before anyone could think about what was about to happen, Riddhima, who had been at the back of the group, literally ran and flung her arms around Sid. (Naina sniggered, Yuvi looked exasperated, Sue and Shilpa sighed happily, and Anjie looked plain shocked). Sid got the breath knocked out of him, but obviously still wrapped his strong arms around her. Immediately Riddhima felt sooo much better. She smiled into his shoulder and said "Hey."
Sid replied, "Looks like someone missed me a lot." Riddhima pulled back and hit him playfully. "Hamesha apne baare mein sochte ho," she accused him.
But before anyone could do anything else, Anjali intervened. She walked over to SR's now-separated figures and: "You..." she said pointing at Sid accusingly and then saying, "can not be," she looked at Riddhima in disbelief "Riddhima's..." Anjali couldn't say the word 'boyfriend'. She was shocked. Tooo shocked (Because obviously Sid was the kind of guy who could have any, any girl he wanted. Anjali could not believe that quiet, shy Riddhima, of all people had ended up with him. But there's sacha pyaar for you. Unconditional and unpredictable) After gaping at him for a few more seconds, Anjie held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Anjali, Riddhima's and Shilpa's older sister."
"There's a shocker," muttered Naina. Yuvi and Sue grinned.
Sid shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sid, as you might already know."
"Self-centered," Riddhima muttered. Sid smiled at her and took her hand, and her heart melted at his touch. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, but an eternity seemed to pass in those few seconds.
God, they had missed each other.
"WELL," said Shilpa loudly, loud enough to break SR's trance. "Now that reunions (slight emphasis) are over, let's do something fun!"
"Fun?" said Naina, a wicked look coming into her eyes. "What exactly is your definition of fun? Because I have a few things in mind..."
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"Naina, I flatly refuse to do this," said Riddhima in a scared voice. "Mein yeh nahi karoongi. Mein abhi uttar rahi hoon!"
Riddhima made as if to get off of Naina's motorbike. All of them had been driven over to the Mehta house with its large grounds to do Naina's idea of 'fun'. Which was: Riding motorcycles. And there were at least three motorcycles standing there, much to the excitement of everyone except Riddhima. Since all of them, except Ridzy, were expert motorcyclists. So far, there was a tie between Sid and Yuvi in matters of speed and awesomeness.
Naina immediately stopped Ridzy. "Nahi Riddhima, tum ne chalana hoga. Hum sab ne chala liya hai ab tumhari bari hai!"
Anjali urged her on, "C'mon Ridzy! If I can do it and SHilpa can do it, then YOU can do it too. It's in our blood!"
"I still can't believe Naina loves motorcycles and never told me," grumbled Yuvi. Shilpa and Sue agreed wholeheartedly.
Riddhima, meanwhile was terrified, having never even touched a real motorbike before. She said to Shilpa crossly, "When in the world did you even learn to ride these things without me knowing??"
Shilpa waved her hand nonchalantly "When I became Sue's best friend!"
"Sid, meri madat karo!" RIddhima wailed, when Naina refused to let her get off.
"Ok, look, this is the back brake, don't use it now, and here's from where you accele - " Sid started an explanation that was cut short by Riddhima, "I meant meri madad karo as in help me get off of this thing."
"It's called a motorcycle, Di," Shilpa rolled her eyes at Riddhima's disgust.
"I know what it's called!" yelled Riddhima. "What I don't know is how to freaking DRIVE this thing."
"Is she always this whiney?" said Naina in Shilpa's direction. SHilpa shrugged and said, "Now and then." Ridzy glared at them both, but took advantage of Naina's distraction and quickly got off the bike. "Ha!" Riddhima said and moved quickly away from Naina's reach.Anjali and Naina groaned. Yuvi laughed. Riddhima moved over to Sid and started pulling him, "C'mon Sid, let's go."
Naina said, "Oh, you're not going anywhere! Because you know what time it is??"
"Umm, lunch time?" suggested Yuvi eagerly. Naina hit him. "Owch! What did I do???" Yuvi protested.
"No, idiot. Well, yes it is, but its also time for..." Naina looked in Sue and Shilpa's direction. They both said together, "SHOPPING!!!"
"Right on! C'mon!"
"WAIT!" Yuvi and Sid said.
"Ab kya hua?" asked Naina.
"Hum ne shopping nahi karni!" said Yuvi, pouting. "Meaning that hum ne tum ladkiyon ke," said Sid, gesturing at the five girls, "shopping bagd or carriers nahi uthane!"
"Exactly!" said Yuvi.
Naina rolled her eyes. "Fine, tum dono jao, koi macho guy stuff karo. We'll meet you at - " she looked expectantly at the others.
"Five," said Anjali.
"Three" that was Ridzy
"Six!" soulsisters of course
"Fine, six it is! We'll meet you at six!" concluded Naina.
"But - " said Riddhima.
"No 'but's," Naina took hold of Ridzy's arm and started dragging her (you know, sorta). "Ab chalo!"
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After almost 5 ecstatic (if you're Shilpa) or grueling (if you're Ridzy) hours of shopping, phinallyyy the girls exited the mall.
Anjali: Yaar, that was awesome!
Ridzy: Thank God that's over!
Naina: Oh be quiet Ridzy!
Shilpa: I think I should have gone with blue instead of this black blouse...
Sue: I think I should've gotten black instead of blue...
Shilpa: Let's exchange!
Sue: Great idea!
*Exchanging blouses*
Riddhima rolled her eyes. Naina giggled. Anjali pointed towards the parking lot: "Woh dekho. The boys are here." Riddhima and Naina's expressions changed: Ridzy looked relieved and happy while Naina looked irritated.
Everyone dumped their bags in the car. They were arguing on where to go or what to do next, when Naina turned around to ask Riddhima and saw that she had gone. And there was no sign of Sid either.
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Riddhima and Sid were walking and had nearly reached the Boston harbour (it exists, I swear!) with the aim to watch the sunset in mind. They were discussing random things like what had happened in class and the upcoming exams (Its still May in this FF. God, I'm slow). But all the while Riddhima was mentally debating with herself whether to tell Sid what Anjali had told her or not. Tell him, tell him not, tell him, tell him not... it seemed to beat in time to her pulse...
"Are you ticklish?" Sid asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Riddhima didn't hear him properly due to her mental struggle.
"I said, are you ticklish? Tumhe gud-guddi hoti hai?" Sid asked lightly.
"No," Riddhima replied too quickly.
"Are you sure?" Sid asked, coming towards her and locking his eyes with hers, an evil-ish expression in them
"Y-yes, I am." Riddhima replied, trying to be convincing. But she still took a step backwards to every step Sid took towards her. Sid smiled a naughty smile and, quick as a flash, his hands swooped down and started tickling her. Riddhima was in fact extremely ticklish. And I don't think I need to explain what happens when you tickle extremely ticklish people:her
"Nooo Sid! Stop!" Riddhima was laughing too hard and barely got out the words. However, Sid was having too much fun to stop so quickly. Her laugh was infectious and Sid was laughing with her. Tears of laughter started out of Ridzy's eyes, and as she couldn't see where she was going, both due to laughing and tears, she tripped backwards, taking Sid down with her.
So now the situation was that Riddhima was sprawled on the grassy ground and Sid was right on top of her, supporting his weight with his arms, which were on either side of her, as well as his knees. Riddhima was still smiling in the after-effects of laughing to much. (Thankfully for us SRians, there was no one around in that particular area 😉)
"Sid, sometimes, I just hate you," said Riddhima, though her words were contradicted by the loving smile that adorned her face.
"Ab mein kya karoon? I love your laugh too much," Sid said in a casual tone. (Even if there was nothing casual in this situation)
"There's no need to make me laugh THIS much, na, even if you do love it," Riddhima's heartbeat started to speed up under Sid's intense gaze.
Sid didn't reply. He wasn't smiling now and merely replaced a lock of her hair behind her ear and slowly stroked her cheek, his eyes roving over her face, his heart beating a pace to match hers. Then Riddhima lifted her right hand and placed it on his forehead, moving her hand down across the length of his face, caressing it, stroking it while his eyes were closed... until her fingers reached his lips. She stopped there and raised her other hand and both her hands secured his face. Sid opened his eyes and locked them with hers, and he could see the desire in them. He could feel the subtle force of Riddhima's hands, pulling his face towards hers, until they were separated by only a few centimetres.
Riddhima covered the next few cms herself, by slightly raising herself off the ground and covering his lips with her own. She moved her arms to around his neck, pulling herself closer and deepening the kiss. Sid took her face in his hands, adding heat to the kiss, and, not breaking the liplock, pulled her to a somewhat sitting position. Riddhima barely noticed, she was too deep into the kiss to acknowledge anything else.
They only parted, long moments later, because of the human need for air (shoot). Breathing heavily against, eyes still closed, Riddhima whispered, "I think we should go."
Sid, in the same state as her, said, "Agreed."
PAUSE!
ACTION REPLAYYY:
At the time when SR fell to the ground, Sue, Shilpa, Naina and Anjali were secretly positioning them in nearby bushes. (Yuvi had been left in the car, as he preferred sitting alone listening to CDs in his car rather than joining in girly activities like spying on oblivious teenagers in love.) Sue and Shilpa carried on their James Bond activities, and Naina joined them, while Anjali refused to roll around and sneak like ninjas and boringly walked to the assigned bushes.
They didn't see Sid tickling Riddhima or them falling, and just saw them when they had actually fallen. This confirmed Sue and Shilpa's suspicion that the two of them had just gone off for romancing (even though this moment had not been consciously put down by SR in their schedule). Naina had joined their spying because she was also now a member of Mission Siddhima. Anjali had just come out of curiosity.
During the time when SR had been caressing each other's faces and almost *cough cough* you know *cough cough* Naina had made Sue and Shilpa turn around, which they obediently did as they forgot for a moment that they were not 13 any more. Naina looked awkwardly at Anjali who was staring open-mouthed through the leaves. (and the ahem ahem thing hadn't even started yet) Anjie saw Naina looking at her and, like the elder sister she was, turned and gestured to Naina to turn around as well (LOL). Naina had retorted with a turn-around gesture of her own, and a turn-around-gesture war had ensued b/w Anjie and Naina. (Thankfully missing the entire liplock scene)
They both started giggling helplessly (that often happens in awkward situations like these, like the time when - nvm), and Sue and Shilpa turned around to see what was happening. Shilpa clamped her hand over Anjie's mouth and at the same time, Sue clamped her hand over Naina's mouth. Remembering that they were both almost legal adults, they eagerly peered through the bushes, only to find SR gone. (Again)
Moving on:
Before the nikammiz in the bushes could even think of where Siddhima could have gone, the victims in question were already in their planned area, watching the sunset. It might be a little anti-climatic to stand silently side by side after...ummm all that had passed, but SR were happy anyway. There is nothing that feels better than watching a beautiful sunset in silence with the person you love.
As the last rays of the sun peered over at them from the horizon, Sid took Riddhima's hand in his. No words were spoken, no words were needed. Both knew that this, their first sunset together, would always be sealed in their hearts and the parting rays of the sun would remind them of each other during the years to come.
(^^^ I think I went overboard there. Pardon me.)
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*Ring* *Ring *RRRING*
"Oh shoot," Anjali took out her phone. It was her Mom. "Haan Mom, kya hua?" Shilpa looked at Anjali anxiously and started praying silently 'Please don't let it be, please don't let it be, please don't let it be - "
"WHAT??? PAPA POHNCH GAYE???" Anjali shouted into the phone. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry Mom. Zarra jhatka lag gya. Haan, tho Papa abhi airport pe hain?" Sue and Shilpa were getting really anxious right now. Naina just looked on as if she didn't know what the big deal was. "KYA?? PAPA GHAR PE HAIN?? HE'S RIGHT THERE WITH YOU?? *pause* Ok. Haan. Theek hai. *pause* That doesn't sound good. *pause* Ok. Fine. Hum abhi aate hain. Bye."
Anjali looked slightly hysterical when she said, "We have to get home. Now."
______________________
Wellwellwellwell.
Well.
Ok, so I know that practically nothing happened in this chapter. But whatever. I liked it, so I hope you'll like it too. When I started writing this FF what I had in mind was to write something realistic. You know. Like a realistic teenage love story. And while I have gone overboard in numerous areas, I haven't really added something practically unbelievable to it. Something that would NEVER happen in real life. So yeah.
Most of the focus here is mostly on the 'gang' of this story. I could bring some guy/guys for the soulsisters, but I don't want to. Not yet.
Sooo anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and as always, everything is appreciated. Though if you do want to throw your chappals at me, can you please throw some nice, new platform heels? I'm in dire need of some.
Love you all! Muah!
Anushka
Edited by PraSha_SidMa - 14 years ago
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