There! He found the key. Taking it out, he realized it was a key and not the key. It was in fact the key of his motorcycle. Holding it in the other hand, he ransacked his pocket, which, though the size of a jeans' pocket, seemed to carry a mini vacation worth load of stuff, only to come out with his I-pod and earphones.
Somehow holding it in the other hand too, he searched the other pocket for the keys. There he found, a pack of gum, his phone, and the keys to his locker at the University.
All this while, Riddhima stared at the man standing in front of her who, to her, seemed like a patient of some bipolar disorder. Just a few hours ago, he had told off her dad and taken the responsibility of being with her throughout every phase of life and now, similar to some fifth grader trying to find his favorite pencil, he was searching for the house keys.
Controlling the urge to laugh out loud at his antics and priceless expressions of confusion, anger and impatience, she brought forward her hand to hold his "luggage".
Armaan grinned nervously at her and handed over the stuff to her. Mentally, he cursed the keys for making him seem like an idiot in front of her and pouted at the thought of appearing like dafthead.
Finally when he did find the keys, in his back pockets, he took them out and glared at them. Stupid sadistic keys!
Armaan Mallik, from his childhood days, was known to be an extremely happy-go-lucky guy. Rules were never meant for him. To stay confined at one place was something far away; he couldn't even sit at one spot for more than a few minutes. It was as if thorns would prick him if he tried to do the same.
So when asked to live in the hostel for his medical college years, the only thing that struck him was "horror". But then trust him to come up with solutions of his own.
Ahh, the pain he had suffered to bribe his best friend since childhood to persuade his father, a trustee of the university, to let them live at a place of their own. And so, three close friends living in the small house for the past 4 and half years.
So when Riddhima glimpsed into the house what she saw was the most expected of all scenarios. Bottles of Red Bull and Heineken all over the floor, posters of James LeBron and Lionel Messi stuck on the walls where you would expect Botticelli paintings to hang and T-shirts drying up in the living room.
Common for a bachelor's pad, ain't it? But for Riddhima, the Gupta heiress who would probably faint at the sight of a small blotch on her floor, this was quite a ruckus.
She looked sideways at Armaan and found him glancing at the same sight but with a nonchalant smile on his face. Armaan sensed her staring at him and suddenly it stuck him- the same kind of feeling like suddenly he had landed on the earth from the zero gravity of the space.
What in the crazy world was Riddhima doing at a house where three guys lived together. The "Qayamat se Qayamat tak" feeling was suddenly fading away. His smile gave way to a confused look on his face.
He turned towards Riddhima too and for a split second, their eyes met. And this time, they conveyed another emotion, just like always.
Both their faces broke into smiles and just like that, holding hands, they entered the house.
"Uhm, sorry for the mess. Rahul must have left the cans here. It was actually his job to throw this away.", Armaan muttered, shuttering, trying to pick up some cans and the clothes. Inwardly he hoped their 'embarassing' clothes weren't left there.
Riddhima gave him a forced smile and looked around yet again. "Is it just you and Rahul who live here?"
She knew Rahul. A medium-built guy with grey eyes, in medical University with Armaan and a part of the social circle. Another reason to know him well- his father was a good friend of her dad's. She corrected herself mentally. A good friend of Shashank Gupta's.
Armaan, who had by then, dumped everything into Rahul's room, turned towards her.
"No, it's three of us. Rahul, Prithvi and I." Seeing Riddhima's confused face, he added, "Prithvi is another friend of ours. Not at the medical University so you don't know him. Works as an actuary for an MNC.
"Actuary?", Riddhima exclaimed with surprise and it didn't take out long for Armaan to figure out why!
"Yeah, Actuary. Lots of money and still lives here with us?, that's what you're wondering right?" He smiled again when Riddhima stared at him blankly. "You know what? Even we wonder the same thing! But he just says living with us is a far better option than living alone!"
Riddhima gave a small smile as she heard him. Living with him would definitely be a better option than living in the White House for her.
"You want to eat something? Should I order dinner? There's this wonderful Sushi joint near th-", Armaan rant was broken when Riddhima shook her head indicating a No.
In normal circumstances Armaan would have argued with her and made her eat something, but today, at this moment, he knew that it would be the last thing on her mind. Heck! Even he wouldn't be able to swallow anything, she was the one who had undergone the entire torture.
"Right. You want to take a wink then?"
Riddhima stood there, not knowing what to do. "Where are your friends Armaan?"
"Oh them? Rahul is off to a camping trip with his girl friend and Prithvi is probably stuck in another one of his boring meetings.", he replied a monotone, as if it happened every day. And then Riddhima realized, it did happen every day!
"Where do I sleep?", she asked after a few seconds. There was no use feeling odd and sheepish, she decided, this was where she would have to live anyway.
Wondering where her apprehension went, Armaan looked at her confusedly and pointed towards a door on the far end of the corridor.
"That's the guest room. It's empty, so you may use it. Do you want to change by the way? I mean, I don't have clothes to give you but well I'll se-"
"No, it's fine. This is comfortable. I'll just go." Saying so, Riddhima turned towards the room and Armaan took a deep sigh and sat on the couch.
Just as she reached the door, with her hand holding the door knob, she stopped. She turned back at Armaan and saw him looking at her intently as if asking her what happened.
Riddhima wanted to say "Thank you", with all her heart but after a few seconds of contemplating, she simply smiled and said, "Good Night Armaan."
Armaan gave her a warm smile, his dimples digging in, and replied, "Good Night Riddhima." Turning back Riddhima smiled again, contentedly, a similar one to the one adorning Armaan's face. Both because of the same reason.
Armaan was happy because she did not say anything which made him feel like a stranger helping her while Riddhima was happy just to see the dimples setting in on his cheecks.
Closing her eyes, as if to capture his image for ever, she took a breath, her smile not leaving her face.
Once inside the room, Riddhima looked around. It was a simple room- a single mattress bed, a night stand, a small cupboard and a dressing table with a small table some feet away from it which she assumed was supposed to be a study table.
Walking towards the bed, she sat on it, only to get in a coughing fit a second later. As she stood up and waved her hands, in order to drive the dust which had escaped the bed sheet as she sat on it, she looked around yet again.
That is when she noticed that everything in the room had a thick layer of dust on it. It took her a few seconds to register the fact that the three residents of the house probably had never even visited the room once in quite a long time.
She touched the dressing table with her index finger and saw how the dust had accumulated on her finger. She cringed at the thought of having the dirt over her, a frown adorning her face.
Taking another breath, she turned towards the night stand and frowned yet again on not finding a jug of water there. "Yeah! Here you can't even find yourself a clean place to sit and you expect to find a bottle of water waiting for you on the bed side.", her mind said and she scowled at her conscience. Why couldn't her mind stop being sarcastic towards her for a change!
Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw someone looking at her. Her reflection.
Riddhima Gupta was staring right back at her from the mirror before the dressing table. Somehow the girl she saw was different from the Riddhima she knew till this evening. She wasn't sad and looked as normal as anyone could except for something unknown which glittered on her face.
Riddhima wiped the dusty mirror with her hand to look at her clear reflection. As she smiled involuntarily, she realized what was different. Her eyes didn't have any kind of curtain hiding her emotions. They were simply hazel colored with a perfect shine in them, clearly showing that she was madly, irrevocably in love.
Blushing at that thought, she moved from the table to the other end of the room. A French window occupied most of the space on the wall with cream-colored curtains hiding the room from the outside world.
This time she smiled as she knew that the real color of those curtains was probably white. She drew them apart and opened the windows letting a cool breeze hit her face.
Looking up at the stars, she felt like staring at them for some time, taking in the tranquility of the night. She sat on the window ledge and thought of the entire day. The feeling that everything had really happened today made her feel odd and weird.
It had begun to set in that this was reality. This was happening. For real. It was not just an out of the body experience. Her dad, his rejection, Armaan's stand, leaving her house, everything looked like out of a Bollywood movie. Except for- it was not.
As she thought over it, she knew this was probably the most impulsive decision of her life. She had defied her dad and left his house, something she could never have dreamt of if it wouldn't have been for Armaan.
She had no idea how she had ended up here, in a dusty house, with three guys, but still it seemed better than her palace right now. The way Armaan had held her hand felt so right. The way they had entered together felt so right. No, this couldn't be wrong. It could never be worse than living a lonely, hidden life inside Rapunzzel's castle.
She knew, she could leave the place right now, just a phone call to one of her friends and Baam! She would have a perfect place to live in, without the fear of the society speaking about how she was living with three men, but it irked her because she knew that no place could be more perfect than being with Armaan.
His smile, his dimples, his support, his friendship- she knew he loved him. It didn't matter if he didn't say it out loud, his actions spoke decibels. The way his eyes always seemed to be searching for her in the University corridors, the slight blush on his face whenever they were teased together, the zoned out expression as if he was lost in her when he began her tirade about random stuff. She knew that he loved her, which was the only thing she knew today.
Her future was hanging on a thread, but as long as Armaan was the one holding it, the smile adorning Riddhima's face as she fell into a dreamless sleep on the sill, with the moonlight seeping in the room would be there. Always.
Armaan was still sitting on the couch. Now that Riddhima had disappeared from in front of his eyesight, restlessness began to take over. He had heroically spat onto Dr. Shashank Gupta's face about how he was going to take care of her and rushed her out of her house, but what now?
Armaan Mallik was supposed to take care of a girl by himself. He had no idea how anything was going to turn out. He himself was on a scholarship, he didn't even earn! His scholarship paid for his University and boarding rents along with which he could a small share for his daily needs. All that money was usually used up in pooling the rent by the three guys and the rest was spent on the travelling expenses- his bike.
Frustrated he ran a hand through his hair and reclined on the couch. His scholarship ended in less than a month, as his internship began. How the heck was he supposed to make money for the rent, the daily necessities and Riddhima?
In the spur of the moment, he had taken up her responsibility but now everything in their future seemed a blur. He cursed himself out loud for ruining Riddhima's picture perfect life and felt uneasy. Everything was going hazy for him.
Before he could lose control over his raging emotions, he took a deep breath and concentrated on something which would calm him down. The only thing which came to his mind was Riddhima's face. A serene smile made way on to his face and just before he could go into his favorite past time in Love Land- dreaming about Riddhima, his inner self scolded him. "At least "act" responsible Armaan!", his mind chided and Armaan scowled.
First he had to set his priorities right. The number one thing on his list was Riddhima's happiness and comfort. He had to try his best not to make her feel like a damsel in distress because he knew her independence was what made her go through the day.
And then, money would come with his internship but he knew that it would never be sufficient. Probably Prithvi could advise him on that. Having a friend with an Accounts degree should at least mean that!
His thought process was interrupted when he found that his throat was parched. Walking towards the dining table he picked up the bottle of water and drank while his eyes unknowingly made their way towards the door of the guest room.
His mind scolded him for going towards the room but hell! Armaan Mallik never listened to anyone! Reaching the door, he knocked softly and when he didn't receive any reply he called out her name. Not having patience of waiting for more time, anxiously he opened the door hoping nothing wrong had happened.
He choked on his breath when he found the bed empty but before he could freak out, he noticed his angel sleeping on the window sill. Walking towards her, a his dimples gave way when he saw her sleeping with lines on her fore head, possibly due to the cold wind troubling her but a beautiful smile on her lips.
Unable to stop himself, he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, and smiled even deeper when he saw those lines disappear and a small moan of comfort from her mouth.
Careful not to wake her up, he took her to the bed and noticed the dust on the sheet. So this was why she was sleeping on the ledge, daft head, his brain scolded, while he placed her on the sheet itself.
Slowly, trying not to disturb her, he took off the sheet from beneath her and let her sleep comfortably on clear mattress. As he was going out of the room, he decided to close the window but then stopped himself.
Instead he simply got a duvet from his room and covered her with it. Today he wouldn't stop the moon and the wind outside from seeing her because probably they were the only ones who had seen their silent confession on the street today.
Controlling the urge of watching her the entire night, sleeping peacefully, Armaan made his way out of the room. If he got to see that beautiful and serene smile every day, this mess was worth it. They would work it out.
Done! Finally. Fingers crossed about the speed of the FF. If you find it torturingly slow, please tell me!!
-A small update after eons. Terribly sorry but school's a pain atm. I did not want to update this pea-sized installment but then decided that something's better than nothing!
AND an important note: Add NiNi_PMAccount to receive PMs. I would not be sending PMs from my account after this chapter. So pleased do so if you wish to receive PMs.
-That's the first installment! Yeah, I know nothing much happened but well, I came to the conclusion that I already made three years zoom by in a chapter so for now, to be slow and descriptive.
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