TheWorld'sOldestStory!!#12|pg135 inc updt|03/02/12 - Page 31

Originally posted by: ...zephyr___

Dude! that IS the name of the chapter!!

I really don't know if i should be sad for this whole situation and future Consequence Arman and Ridhima will face from everyone OR should i lagh my heart out thinking Dr. shanky claimed to Arman 🤣 .. ooh god what a situation .. Even Padma mom is super angry and so are everybody.
I just hope Arman does some magic and everything will be ok.

Z E F F F

😭

update soon!!!!

Us Against The World... 2

Armaan was about to insert his key in the ignition of his bike that was parked outside the police station, Riddhima's hand still firmly gripped in his own as she kept close to him , wanting to protect her from the waves of fury coming from their friends and family, wanting to make sure that she doesn't have to face their wrath alone. But before he could get onto the bike and start it, they heard Padma mom's angry and stern voice, "Riddhima! Car mein baitho.. "

Riddhima gulped as she looked at the silent storm that was brewing in her mom's eyes.. There were many times she had seen her this angry.. But that anger was mostly always directed towards her Di! She had never been on the receiving end of her mom's extreme fury. This was bad.. Really bad.. And she didn't want to let go of Armaan.. Her hand involuntarily tightened its grip on Armaan's as she found it almost impossible to move from the spot that she was caught in.

"Get in the car Riddhima! Did you hear me..", this time Padma mom's voice rose to a startling level.. It was even more scary thanks to the pin drop silence around them.. Everyone else was just glaring at them with a fierce fury as they watched on the tamasha..

"Riddhima.. Jao.. I'll follow you on the bike..", Armaan's soothing voice brought her out of her petrifaction. She turned her fearful gaze to him, hoping he'd somehow convince her mom to let her go with him. But she knew it was a moot point. They were no position to negotiate terms with her mom. Even as the dread of the drive back home, alone with her mom and dad, sent a shudder through her, she nodded at Armaan, agreeing to his suggestion. But she couldn't bring herself to let go of his hand..

"RIDDHIMA!!", and this time they knew they'd tested Padma mom's patience beyond her tolerance. Armaan quickly let go of Riddhima's hand and beckoned her to get in the car, assuring her through his eyes that he would take care of everything.. As Riddhima stepped away from him and into the car, she was on the verge of tears.. Just the thought of being subject to her mom's wrath and not knowing what explanation to give was enough to break her down. But she controlled her fear and got into her dad's car.. Armaan watched, as she got into the backseat while Padma mom and Dr. Shashank occupied the front. All of them looked so grim. He couldn't help but feel a little scared for Riddhima.. He hoped they don't give her a hard time and just blame him for all the mess.. The last thing he wanted was for his Basket to be hurt because of his crazy plans!

"Armaan!! Hum log tere ghar aa rahe hain.. To pick up our vehicles.. ", Rahul's curt tone brought him out of his stupor.. He looked at his friend apologetically.. But Rahul wasn't looking at him.. He just turned his back on him and started looking for a cab. Armaan glanced at the others, some ignoring him, some throwing him angry glares, some following Rahul in their pursuit of finding a cab to take them home! He didn't have the heart to tell them that he wanted to follow Riddhima home. Now he would have to go home with them to make sure they were okay. It would be too rude to let them go on their own while he went to reconcile things with his parents-in-law-to-be. He sent a quick text to Riddhima explaining that it would take him some time to get home, hoping she would be okay without him. He sighed as he looked up to see Muskaan's frown, Anjie's glare and Nikki's tired expression.. Atul and Abhi were just ignoring him.. Stealing away his glance from them, he sighed as he got onto his bike, making plans of apologizing to them as soon as he got an opportunity to.. Hopefully they would calm down once they were out of here.. After all this was a big misunderstanding.. Not like he had purposely meant for them to get into trouble.. Moreover, there was no case against them anymore.. It was as good as nothing happened.. But from the mood of the crowd, he was sure this was just wishful thinking.. They were mad at him.. And they were going to make him pay for it! He just hoped they'd leave his Basket out of it!

"Yeh sab kya hai Riddhima! I had never expected you to behave like this!!", Padma took the first opportunity she got to start her tirade as soon as Naani opened the door for them..Throughout the drive she had seen her daughter steal fearful glances from her, anticipating an outburst! But she had been so angry with Riddhima and Armaan that she didn't know how or where to start! But she couldn't keep up with the silent treatment once they got home. Her temper was way above her levels of tolerance now!

And the way Riddhima looked down at the floor guiltily did nothing to improve her mood. Taking a deep breath in, she tried to control her temper as she sternly asked, "Kaha thi kal raat bhar tum Riddhima?"

But Riddhima didn't have an answer to her mom's question! There was no way in hell she was going to know about their home in Lonavla. It was a secret! And she intended to keep it so! But then her silence was only testing her mom's patience, "Riddhima.. Look at me!! Where were you all night?"

Riddhima sniffed back her tears, partly ashamed of and partly sorry for all that had happened. But she really didn't know what to say.. She had been dreading this confrontation.. Even more when she received a text from Armaan saying he couldn't follow her home coz he had to take care of their friends and settle things at the police station.. So she had decided to just hear out what her mom had to say without an argument.. She had after all a right to be angry! She was just going to listen to the tirade and apologize.. But the way her mom was shouting at her now, she couldn't keep her tears in check..

Dr. Shashank was waiting like Padma, jaw clenched, for an answer from his daughter. He was as mad as his wife was. But he melted the moment he saw tears trickling down his daughters cheeks.. He was mad at her.. But he didn't want to make her cry, "Padma.. Calm down.. Lets get a little fresh.. Lets eat something.. Then shaanti se baithkar discuss karenge..".. Anyway the worst was over.. And there was no harm done! Plus he was very tired.. And a little hung over..

But Padma was really really mad.. "Nahi Shashank! Koi discussion ki zaroorat nahi hai.. I cant believe Riddhima tum aise behave karogi.. Tumhari wajah se Anjali, Atul aur Shashank ko jail mein raat guzaarni padi!! Aaj tak itne saalon mein maine kabhi police station dekha tak nahi hai.. Even Anjali never created so much trouble!!"

"Padma.. Shaant ho jao do minute ke liye..",naani tried to intervene, even though she didn't approve of what her grand daughter had gotten herself into.. But then her daughter had lost her temper.. She knew that Padma, unlike Shashank, lost her head very rarely, but when she did, all hell broke lose!! And she knew her daughter well.. Coz she didn't pay heed to her request..

"Nahi ma.. I've had enough of this now.. Just because hum inhe freedom dete hain iska matlab yeh nahi ki yeh uska fayda uthaye! You have to draw a line somewhere!! There has to be some discipline!! Just because we are being understanding and so trusting, it doesn't give them the right to take advantage of our laid back attitude! The night before also dono itna lad rahe the.. Baccho ki tarah.. And then just because I let Armaan stay back to sort things out for both of them.. God! I cant even say it.. Himmat kaise hoti hai humare ghar mein hote hue aisi harkat karne ki.. And humare hote hue yeh sab ho raha hai toh peeth ke peeche kya karte honge I don't even want to think about it!!", Riddhima flinched as she heard her mom's accusations.. Her words stung her conscience and she knew she was guilty as charged.. But she hadn't expected her to bring all that up right now.. So she had taken note of what had happened the night before the last. And what happened last night only triggered her temper and blew her head.. Her dad however, she knew was feeling almost as embarrassed as she was to hear what her mom had to say.. Hence he tried to play arbitrator.. "Padma lets talk about this later okay.. Riddhima.. Go beta.. Kamre mein jao..", Dr. Shashank tried to get Riddhima out of trouble, lest his wife spill things he really didn't want to hear.. He had learnt to deal with his daughter and her ass of a fiancee the hard way. Now he didn't want details that would take away his peace of mind.. And he absolutely didn't want to play villain.. What he didn't understand though, was why his wife was suddenly being so scandalized by her children and their behaviors.. Wasn't she the one who told him that it was their life and they had the right to take their own decisions!!

"Absolutely not!! Bohot ho gaya.. Agar Armaan or yeh kal raat party mein hote toh yeh saara drama hota hi nahi!! Forget that! Agar at least one of them would have been available on the phone all this could have been avoided! Saari raat main phone karti rahi!! Par innhe toh humari koi fikar hai hi nahi.. Half the staff of Sanjeevni was in that lock up Shashank! Now all of them know that our daughter was missing all night with Armaan! I can tolerate indiscipline even.. But I don't want people gossiping about my family! And now I cant even shut them up!!", Padma had never felt this outraged before regarding all that her daughters did.. She had in fact even been tolerant when she thought what they were doing wasn't right.. But never before had Armaan and Riddhima's actions brought trouble in their lives.. Never had their family's honor and pride been at stake because of their behavior.. She trusted them to make sure no one would point fingers at their family coz of their actions.. At least they used to be responsible earlier.. But from the last few days they'd been behaving completely out of control.. Somehow, it was getting on her nerves.. And spending a night at the police station trying to talk to the extremely insufferable and rude police personnel had only worsened her temper, leading to this out burst..

"It's okay Padma.. Hum iske baare mein baad mein baat karenge..", Riddhima heard her dad speak up for her again.. But she couldn't take this anymore.. She had to make things clear to her mom.. Somewhere that lack of trust from her mom was pricking her conscience.. Coz she knew that she herself had prompted her mom to assume and accuse.. Sniffing back her tears she tried to get through to her mom, hoping she'd understand her, "Mamma I'm really sorry.. We didn't think aisa kucch hoga.. And we just wanted to spend some time together.. Aap jo samajh rahi hai waisa nahi hai.."

But her mom didn't buy it one bit.. "Really Riddhima.. Kal subah maine apni aankho se dekha.. Don't take me for a fool.. Mujhe sab pata hai kya ho raha tha.."

Another bout of tears flooded Riddhima's eyes as she saw that anger and disappointment in her mom's eyes.. She knew she was guilty as charged.. But it wasn't relevant to what had happened last night at all! "Mamma that's not even the point.. "

"Don't argue with me Riddhima.. Everything is not about Armaan.. Armaan ke aage tumhe kucch aur, koi aur nazar hi nahi aata.. I don't understand how much more time you want to spend with him!! Ab toh sab tumhari marzi se ho raha hai na.. Shaadi hone waali hai.. Roz roz saath mein kaam karte ho.. Roz raat ko yahan milte ho.. Party mein bhi saath mein hi toh the! Aur kitna time spend karna hai tum dono ko! Just because we've given you the freedom doesn't mean you misuse it.. At least think about your dad.. Hospital ke dean hai.. Aise awaragardi.." and that was it for Riddhima.. She couldn't take the insults anymore.. "Mamma please.. Hume nahi pata tha ki people are going to get arrested.. And it's not even Armaan's fault that they did!! Hum bas ek drive ke liye gaye the to get away from the noise.. We weren't doing anything wrong..", she almost shouted back in frustration.. She knew she wasn't being completely truthful and was probably wrong in doing what she did last night.. But she wasn't sorry for spending time with Armaan.. God knew it wasn't as wrong as it was being made out to be..

Padma realized that she was probably being unreasonable. But somehow, this time she couldn't find a reason to justify what her daughter had done.."If you weren't doing anything wrong then why did you switch off your phones Riddhima!! You didn't even think of the consequences before running away like that.. You were never so irresponsible.. I mean.. What if it was a serious emergency.. Why did you have to switch your phone off!! How could you act like a couple of teenagers.. I mean.. What if one of your patients needed you.. Or what if something was seriously wrong with us.. What if I was dying or something!!"

"Padma enough!!!!", Dr. Shashank's furious voice resounded through the living room and no one had the nerve to challenge it, "Ab bass.. Iss baare mein aur koi discussion nahi hogi.. The matter is over! I do not want to hear a word about what happened last night.. Riddhima.. Apne kamre mein jao..", his wife was definitely over reacting now and he needed to stop the conversation before it got out of hand..

Riddhima heard the finality in his tone and nodded, her tears gushing down her cheeks as the hurt of what her mom had uttered seeped in through to her heart, "Mamma I'm sorry.. I'm really sorry..", she stopped to apologize as she started towards her room.. But her dad interrupted her in time, "Riddhima beta just go.. Please..", and this time he pleaded..

Riddhima didn't need telling twice.. As she ran up the stairs to her room, her hand on her mouth, trying to control her sobs, Dr. Shashank sighed, while a lone tear escaped Padma mom's eye.. Maybe this was just a little too much..

"This is too much Armaan!!! How could you just run away without telling anyone! Who sab chod yaar.. Tum dono ne phone kyun band kar rakha tha! Do you know how much we tried calling you!! Pagal ho gaye the yaar hum log!! Woh inspector dhamki pe dhamki diye jaa raha tha.. I mean.. You just.. I hated you so much at that moment I swear!!"

While Riddhima was getting thrashed by Padma mom, Armaan was getting his share from his friends. Once they were back to the cursed party venue, Rahul had completely unleashed his pent up anger on his friend. He had tried to keep up with the silent treatment like all his other friends, but just couldn't stand it when Armaan had apologized to them before they left!! And the fact that Armaan just stood there and listened to his tirade with eyes wide open almost in amusement just added to his frustration.. He could have punched the guy right then!!

"Chod Rahul.. Jo ho gaya uske baare mein ab kya kar sakte hai.. Lets just get out of here and cool off a little..", Atul suggested in an extremely indifferent tone.. True to his character, he was trying to maintain peace. But clearly he was as annoyed as the others were..

Muskaan for one was dying to scream at Armaan.. And at that suggestion from Atul she lost her cool, "Please Atul!! Ho gaya ka kaya matlab hota hai!! Yeh kya baat hui yaar.. Armaan aur Riddhima saari raat maze kare aur hum unki wajah se apna New Year jail mein kaate!! Aur who kameena policewaala.. Usse kya hum chor nazar aate hain!! Agar phir kabhi dikha toh kameene ka muh tod dungi.."

"Muskaan calm down.. Galti uss policewaale ki nahi thi.. Who toh sirf apna kaam kar rahe the.. And anyway.. Atul's right.. No point discussing this right now.. Let's leave.. But I'm officially off all parties that Armaan Mallik throws.. Seriously! Nikki chalo.. Lets go..", Abhi asked Nikki to get into the car as he put in his few words and got into the car himself. Nikki looked towards Armaan, who was looking at her hopefully.. But she was in no mood to say anything at the moment.. She just got into the car behind her husband as Armaan sighed, watching their car disappear out of the gate..

"Humein bhi chalna chahiye Atul.. Lets go..", Armaan's attention was caught by Anjali's voice, who had spoken for the first time since last night.. But her voice an demeanor had this sense of foreboding that Armaan didn't like at all.. He could feel that she was raging mad at him and Riddhima.. But she was bottling it up.. He only dreaded the moment it would all explode on them! He certainly didn't want to be at the receiving end of her gussa.. Much like her dad's!

Atul promptly agreed to his wife's suggestions and before Armaan could say his 'sorry' they were gone! He turned to Rahul and Muskaan who were already half way into their car. As he saw Rahul buckle his seat belt, Armaan bent over the closed window to mouth a sorry.. But none of them seemed to be interested.. Rahul just shifted his gears, roughly reversed his car and zoomed out of the gate.. Armaan twitched his nose in disappointment.. Somehow he felt a little cheated.. As he went through all that happened last night, he couldn't help but think if he was really at fault.. Only someone with bad luck like him could find himself in this spot.. Sighing, he looked up at the sky.. Then at the empty porch he was standing in.. Then at the deserted road in front of his house.. It felt eerily barren after last night's madness.. He couldn't believe that it was the same road that had been blocked due to haphazard parking by the guests of his party that had not even been invited in the first place.. All of them had disappeared from there without a word.. At least his friends had stayed back to yell at him, a complete contrast to the way they were raging about his party last night.. He wondered if they would have even realized that he was missing had the police not interrupted the fun.. Even if they did, he didn't think it would have mattered so much.. But in any case.. He was guilty as charged.. Shaking his head in defeat, he went inside his house to pick up his liquor license.. He would have to quickly withdraw money from the ATM and file them at the police station, so he could go to Riddhima's house.. He was about to get into his car, hoping that Padma mom and Shanky weren't giving her a hard time, when his phone beeped.. It was Riddhima's text, 'Don't come home.. See you at the hospital..'

Riddhima was trudging along the corridors of Sanjeevni, her eyes on the floor as she avoided the accusatory and furious glares of the people around her.. Half the staff of the hospital had been behind bars last night apparently because of her.. It didn't matter that they had crashed into the party.. But the fact that Armaan and she were responsible for their inconvenience was being thrown into her face every time she looked one of them in the eye.. But even more ridiculous were the vicious glances she got from those people who weren't even there at the party last night.. But apparently the gossip had spread like wildfire.. And somehow, everywhere she looked, she could only see hate in people's eyes.. Earlier in the day, her dad had called for a general staff meeting so that Armaan and Riddhima could apologize to them.. She found it extremely unfair considering they shouldn't have even been there at the party last night.. But she went through it anyway on Armaan's insistence.. Coz the board had been asking questions about the fiasco.. And Dr. Shashank thought to settle it amicably between the defaulters and defaultee as it was after all a personal matter.. The 'sorry' had however done nothing to soothe the agitated staff.. That included their friends.. They were giving them the royal ignore.. So much that when Armaan and she had joined them in the canteen for lunch, all of them had gotten up and moved to another table. Only Atul and Nikki stayed back for courtesy sake before making some excuse of having work to get away.. All this added to the way her mom had berated her this morning was seriously taking it's toll on her emotionally. She had cried all she could in her room this morning.. But she had decided she wouldn't do so again for Armaan's sake.. He already had a lot on his plate without her acting like a cry baby. She could handle herself.. But that didn't stop the depressing feeling from taking over.. She felt like running away again.. Going to a place where everyone loved her.. But she couldn't.. She had to stay here.. Face this.. Do her time.. The only solace was that Armaan was in this with her.. A ray of hope inadvertently made through to her heart whenever she saw him.. Or even his name for that matter.. A small smile crept up her face as she saw his name glistening in red outside his cabin.. It just made her feel happy in spite of all the negativity that had flooded her world.. He was her lifejacket.. Her float..

"Hey Basket.. Why are you standing outside?", Armaan's voice in her ear startled her as she turned to find him standing right behind her.. She hadn't realized that she had been standing outside his cabin for so long, just lost in thought.. But seeing him in flesh was even better than reading his name.. She smiled as she looked into his tired eyes, "You got a minute?" she asked him, hoping to spend some time with him.. They had not gotten the opportunity to talk properly to each other and discuss what had happened all day.. And talking to him seemed the only remedy to the pounding in her head..

Armaan smiled in relief at that question of hers, leading her inside his cabin as he nodded his assent.. "Basket.. I don't believe what we got ourselves into.. I mean.. Seriously.. Mera bad luck bhi kharaab hai..", he joked as he took Riddhima into a hug as soon as he had shut the door behind him.. Riddhima returned his hug generously, feeling at peace in his arms.. She didn't feel the need to even say anything to him.. She just needed some time with him.. And everything would take care of itself on its own.. In that pursuit, she took Armaan's hand and pulled him towards the couch as she settled on his lap and hugged him tight.. Armaan planted a kiss on her forehead as he pulled her closer into him, caressing her back lovingly, and let her be for sometime.. She had not told him about what had happened at home yet. He had not gotten an opportunity to even ask her about it.. There was so much going on.. Their friends were giving both of them a cold shoulder.. The hospital staff too.. Even the nurses who hit on him were being cold.. The interns too seemed bugged.. But they couldn't help but listen to him.. Payal seemed to be the only one who was behaving completely normally with him.. If she could be called normal in the first place.. But then she was a completely different story altogether.. Other than that, there were negative vibes coming from all over the place.. He had never felt so burdened to work before.. But then he also found solace by burying himself in work.. At least his patients weren't glaring at him! Them and his Riddhima.. Everything seemed just good when he got so much as a glance at her! And now with her in his arms, all the negative energy had just been replaced by her love.. He was at peace as long as he had her on his side.. But he would have been more at peace if everyone would quit blaming her for what happened.. He knew it bothered her when people hate her.. He knew she was insecure about being left alone.. That's why she had that compulsive need to please everyone.. He was sure the hate from all ends wasn't going down well with her.. And worst bit was that even her family was mad at her.. He knew Anjie wasn't talking to her.. She had made that much clear at the lunch table this afternoon.. And he was sure Dr. Shashank must have skinned her at home.. Hopefully Padma mom must have cut her some slack.. But she had seemed too mad today.. He felt really bad that Riddhima had to face them on her own.. He had to know what they said to her.. And even as he asked her, "Basket what did Padma mom and papa say..", he hoped they hadn't said anything to her..

Riddhima tightened her grip around Armaan's waist as she heard his question.. She didn't want to think about it.. That was what she was trying to forget since morning.. But she could hardly keep it from Armaan.. He had the right to know.. "Kucch nahi Armaan.. Mamma is really angry with me.. Papa bhi gussa hai.. But he didn't say much.."

"Really! Padma mom yelled at you and Shanky papa didn't!! That's a little hard to believe..", Armaan pulled out to look at her in genuine surprise..

Riddhima just rolled her eyes at that remark of his.."No Armaan.. In fact Papa was trying to calm her down.. He was kind of taking my side.." she told him as she thought about how her dad had tried playing mediator.. It was surprising.. But true!

But Armaan quickly found the catch, "I know why! Coz he's going to put all the blame on me!!", he remembered how Dr. Shashank was glaring at him at every instant he came across him today..

Riddhima just shook her head in defeat and hugged him back, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she sighed, "Forget it Armaan.. Lets not think about it.. Humne sorry keh diya na.. I don't know what else we can do.."

"You're right.. And Basket.. I'm sure everyone will forget about it in some days.. They're just a little mad.. Even Padma mom!", he assured her, kissing her hair as he caressed her back.. Riddhima couldn't hold back her tear as he said that.. But she sniffed it back.. "Hmm.. I know.. But Armaan I'm just glad you're there.. I just want you..", and that was true.. Somehow she knew he would just make things okay.. And somehow, in his arms, she didn't feel she guilty of doing any wrong at all!

Armaan smiled his genuine dimpled smile as he heard her for the first time since morning.. "I'm all yours Basket.. All yours..", he whispered, burying his face in her hair so he could take in her fragrance.. It made him feel at peace..

"I love you..", and this time Riddhima's voice was teary, as she tightened her hold on her Armaan..

"I know..", he returned with that naughty grin, tongue in cheek, feeling her wet tears on his neck where her face was nestled..

"Armaan!!..", she complained, as she hiccupped back a sob..

He pulled her out against her hold to look at her face, smiling as he put forth his conditions, "First you stop crying.. Then I'll say what you want me to.. Nahi toh aisa lagta hai ki you're crying because you love me! And I don't like that..", he put up a fake frown only to make her scowl through her tears, "Armaan! Tum kyun itna dimaag lagate ho.. Kyun itni bakwaas karte rehte ho.. Why don't you just talk sense sometimes.. Or just shut up!"

Armaan just grinned at her babble as he gently wiped her tears away from her cheek with his thumb.."Yeah.. I like that idea.. Lets shut up..", and with that he took her in a kiss that told her just how much he loved her.. So much love.. That it was enough to convince her that they would always be together even when the world turned it's back on them..

..to be continued...

hey di

Awsm part.
Shanky behind the bar thats an rocking one.
Luuuvvvddd it.
Thanx 4 d pm.
T.c.
And waiting 4 d nxt part.

Aunty!!!!