AR: Love Is... #2[NewThreadLink: Page 1 & 150] - Page 7

PART 15(b)

They came out of the Museum discussing their favorite paintings. For once, they both liked the same one.

Armaan smiled as they walked towards a cab. He was already enjoying this! He looked at Riddhima and to his surprise she was looking at him with an unfathomable look on her face. Why is she so serious all of a sudden? We haven't even talked about anything "forbidden"! I didn't even ask her anything! Yaar isse baar baar kya ho jaata hai? Bilkul pagal hai.

Riddhima looked at Armaan. In the short time she'd known him he had made a place in her life. An important place at that. I enjoy myself with him. I'm me when I'm with him. He doesn't ask unwanted questions, he understands and somehow he divulges my emotions when I'm trying to hide them. Not to mention I'm attracted to him. I feel out of control when I'm with him and I DON'T like it! Meri life toh poori planned thi...aur iske aate hi saare plans ki dhajiya udd gayi. I didn't expect I'd ever get past checking him out! But we're way past that...he's a good friend now. A very good friend. But then again there's this "thing" between us. And it keeps coming up again and again! Is it something I'm supposed to consider? Or something I should ignore and it'll pass away? Where am I going with this? Where are WE going with this? My plans hang askew because of you Armaan. What the hell are you doing to me? Shit, I gotta stop thinking about this, warna ek din pakka pagal ho jaungi. Humne friends rehne ka decide kiya tha aur hum friends hi rahenge. Rahenge na?

Armaan snapped his fingers in front of her face. She blinked, startled. "Riddhima, I know I'm hot par aise stare mat kiya karo. Bahot obvious lagta hai." He said, winking at her.

Riddhima turned slightly red. She hadn't realized she was staring at him! Regaining her poise, she smacked his arm and said, "You wish! I wasn't staring at you!"

"Haww...you TOTALLY were! You're just embarrassed I caught you!" He sneaked a look at her. He could tell she was fuming.

Riddhima was mad at herself. "Haww...you TOTALLY were! You're just embarrassed I caught you!" That moron! Humesha mujhe embarrass karta rehta hai! I KNEW I was overthinking that attraction thing! I'm never gonna fall in love with this idiot. I'm never gona fall in love period.

She glared at him. Armaan looked at her and did what he hoped was an accurate imitation of her angry face. To his surprise, she started laughing. "Armaan THAT is not how I look!"

"Yeah yeah whatever. It did what it was supposed to do!"

"And what was it supposed to do?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Make you laugh."

She shook her head. He was crazy. A nice crazy though.

They caught a cab and sat in it. Riddhima looked out of the window. Curious, she asked him, "Where are we going next?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"But why not?"

"Ever heard of a surprise?"

"Please...bataao na!" She pouted at him, hoping her puppy dog face worked.

Armaan looked at her. She looked so cute! Maybe he should tell her? Nah. What am I thinking? This is probably the one place she hasn't heard about in New York City. Surprise toh main kar ke rahunga.

"Sorry! As adorable you look, I'm not telling you!"

Riddhima smiled mentally. He thought she was adorable? For some reason she liked that way too much.

"Oh so you think I'm adorable?" she asked him mischieviously.

And he knew he was caught. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, with both of them sneaking glances at each other when the other wasn't looking.

The cab stopped after a while and before she could open her door Armaan opened it for her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. As an answer to her question, he turned her around but before she could see anything he covered her eyes with his hands.

"What-" she started to ask him but he said, "Ssh. Walk straight and in five minutes I'm gonna ask you to open your eyes okay? I'm removing my hands but CLOSE your eyes. You are not allowed to see!!!"

"Armaan, this is ridiculous! How am I gonna walk if my eyes are closed? Gosh. You are SO filmy."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm filmy. Bas? I'll hold your hand silly. I promise I won't do anything. Trust me."

"Okay..." she said, still unsure. She was sure people were staring at them. Ugh. Armaan and his filminess.

They walked further with Armaan holding her hand. Riddhima smiled widely. She felt like a kid again. Looking forward to a surprise and all. Five minutes passed quicker than she thought and soon she heard him telling her to open her eyes.

Armaan looked at her. Her eyes were widened and she was staring at the little street in front of them in glee. A few loose strands had escaped her ponytail and she looked incredibly cute. He couldn't stop that grin from coming.

Riddhima beamed at the sight before her. It was the most beautiful street she'd seen. She didn't even know this existed! That too in New York? It was like taking a step back in time! The neighborhood was full of quaint brownstones clustered together and cobble stoned streets. It was like virtually going back to the 19^th century! She looked at Armaan and smiled. The place was perfect! She'd be ready to deal with his 'filminess' if he took her to picturesque places like this one!!!

"Oh my God! This place is fabulous Armaan! How come I've never heard of it before?"

"This is West Village. We're in Manhattan. It's a quaint little place where you can't really find a trace of the usual hustle bustle in New York! It's a local thing, not such a major tourist attraction or anything!"

"Wow. But how are we going to navigate this place? The streets are all different and all the signposts are weird too...there's no mention of avenues or anything and how the hell does West 4^th street intersect with West 10^th street? There's a sign post that says it does intersect but how-"

"Whoa whoa whoa Riddhima! God! You talk way too much and you take WAY too much stress. Relax, will you? I know this place like the back of my hand. So, chill out okay?"

"Sorry...I don't like being totally clueless about anything...I got carried away I guess." She said, while smiling sheepishly.

He shook his head, smiling slightly. They strolled down the streets, stopping now and then to look at small quaint houses and a few souvenier shops.

"Armaan! Chalo, we'll stop at this shop! Please? It sells such cute things!"

"Riddhima you've stopped at a million shops already! And you told me you didn't like shopping??? SERIOUSLY?"

"But this isn't shopping? I mean, it is but not the kind I hate! I love shopping for small trinkets and stuff like that! I just hate all those big malls and stores and stuff like that! Please na Armaan! Ruko na! Last shop! Promise!"

He sighed, giving in to her pleas. "LAST shop okay? I'm gonna keep walking ahead without you if you stop at ANY other shop. Capische?"

Putting up an innocent expression she nodded. "Capische. Last shop. I swear."

They went over to the shop and she bought a few small decorations for her room and a few for Rahul and Muskaan too. Quickly finishing her purchasing she rushed back to Armaan. They walked to the end of the street and there were two turns in fron of them. Left and Right. Riddhima started to walk to the left. Once she walked a few paces she realized Armaan wasn't with her and getting panicky, she ran back to the turn where she noticed that Armaan too was running back, but from the opposite direction.

"Why did you go there?" they both said, simultaneously.

"Because I wanted to! Why'd you go to the right?" she said.

"Because I wanted too that's why! Chalo mere saath. We're going my way."

"No we're not! Ab tak toh randomly chal rahe the, toh ab kyun tumhaari choice? We're going towards the left!"

"No we're not! I'm the one who's showing you around! You're supposed to follow ME." He said, glaring at her.

The sun was up and they were tired from walking. Not to mention they were hungry. And the combination had made them short tempered.

"I'm the one who's showing you around! You're supposed to follow ME." She said, imitating him in a nasal, annoying voice. "So what if you're showing me around? I'm not supposed to follow YOU. Whatever okay? I'm going to the left. You can come if you want to!"

"FINE! Go to the left! I'm not following you. I'm going to the RIGHT. And when you get lost, you can join me. IF you can find the way!"

They glared at each other and stalked off in opposite directions.

Riddhima kept walking ahead, fuming over what he'd said. GOD. He is SO annoying. Not to mention he thinks he's the king of the world! He's bossy, snnoying, a jerk, and totally un-chivalrous!!!! Arghh...who the hell leaves someone and stalks off like that?! I don't even know what to do! There's a turn in front of me but what if I get lost or something. And I'm famished. Ugh...Armaan Malik I hate you, despise you and I think you're a goddamn JERK! But what do I do? OBVIOUSLY I'm not going his way...he'll never leave me alone if I give in to his stupid demands! I'll walk back. Wait for a while. Maybe if he comes to his senses he'll come back? Or else I'm taking a cab and going home and NEVER EVER EVER talking to him again. I'm hungry and I'm tired and he bloody left me alone????????????? What the hell?!

Taking a few deep breaths she bought a water bottle from a nearby store and had some water. Calming down a little, she started walking back.

Armaan stopped at the crossroad all steamed up. Why the HELL are girls SO annoying? Especially Riddhima. Why should I go her way? And she fought with me? For THIS? I can't believe it! She is so bossy! Baat toh aise karti hai jaise NYC uske baap ka hai. I'm hungry and I'm tired and she found this moment to argue with me? God.

He sat down on a bench under a tree, sipping water from the bottle they'd bought earlier. He cleared his mind for a while; whch is when he realized he'd behaved like an idiot. Oh shit. I left her alone? Oh my God. This is New York! What if she's lost? Or something happens to her? What have I done? I can't believe I argued with her for such a stupid reason! And I behaved like a total jerk! I have to go back. NOW.

He got up quickly and started heading back. Unknowingly he'd walked quite a bit.

She looked ahead and saw the turn at which they'd parted ways. She'd walked further than she'd thought and the faigue didn't make walking abck any easier. Now that her thoughts were settled she felt ashamed of the way she behaved. What's wrong with me? Maine usske saath left aur right ke liye fight kiya? I can't believe I was so childish! I mean after all he's the one who's showing me around...NYC ke bare mein usse zyaada pata hoga. I should apologize to him...shouldn't I?

With renewed strength she walked towards the turning, hoping he did come back.

Armaan saw Riddhima at the turning and sighed in relief. She was alright. That was his first thought. But the momentary relief vanished when he realized that she'd probably be angry at him and he mentally shuddered. He'd seen Riddhima's anger and it wasn't pretty. He'd better apologize to her.

Riddhima stood there waitin anxiously for Armaan to arrive. What if he really leaves me alone? He wouldn't do that would he? Agar ussne aisa kiya toh main usko maar dalungi. I will NEVER apologize to him! Oh God...I've been waiting since quite a while now...abhi tak nahi aaya?

She turned around and saw Armaan a few feet away from her. He had come back! She smiled at him and began to say, "Armaan woh umm I'm-"

But before she could finish he said, "I'm sorry Riddhima! Umm actually I was hungry and tired and so I was kind of a jerk to you..." To his surprise she started laughing. He cocked his eyebrows as if to ask, "What the hell just happened?"

In between bouts of laughter she said, "You're forgiven Armaan...woh actually I came back for the same reason! To apologize to you!" He joined her in her laughter then and told her about a small restaurant nearby where they headed for lunch.

Riddhima leaned back on the sofa. They'd finally finished lunch and Riddhima had had what she felt was the best pizza EVER. They hadn't talked much, being so hungry and they'd ordered a few chocolate cupcakes ofr dessert. She had to admit, the meal was probably the best one she'd had in a long time!

Armaan looked out of the window reminiscing their day so far. He remembered all the times they laughed and his lips curved into a smile. He hadn't enjoyed this much since he was with Abhi and Nikki! Out of the blue he remembered Rahul whispering something in Riddhima's ears and she had laughed a lot. Somehow he had a feeling it was about him.

"Umm Riddhima?"

"Hmm?"

"Woh subah mein Rahul ne tumse kya kaha tha ki tum itna has rahi thi?"

Riddhima tried to recollect what he was talking about and she grinned as she remembered. "Trust me. You don't wanna know."

"But I do! Oh come on! How bad can it possibly be?"

"Okay, but you asked for it! Okay umm Rahul is a little what do you say...imaginative? He thinks way ahead of what is actually the thing..."

"You're not making any sense Riddhima! Saaf saaf kaho!"

"Okay, umm Rahulaskedmeifyouweregay."

"Aaram se kaho! I didn't even get what you said!"

"I said, that Rahul asked me if you were gay."

"WHAT?? Why would he think I was gay?"

"See? I knew you'd react like that. Tabhi toh nahi bataa rahi thi..."

"Of course I was going to react like that? What on earth made him think I was GAY?" he asked her, horrified at the conclusion Rahul had drawn from their first meeting.

"Umm you remember I said how Rahul was married happily? And then you went red with embarrassment when I stressed on the "happily"?"

"Yeah...but what's that got to do with-"

"Let me explain. Well Rahul umm thought that you were blushing on his name when in fact you were embarrassed...also he thought I was stressing on the happily because I wanted you not to crush on him." Noticing his expression she said, "Like I said, he's imaginative..."

"Imaginative? IMAGINATIVE? That's not imaginative Riddhima, that's freaking insane!!!"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Not really...just very very embarrassed! I still can't believe he thought I was gay! God Riddhima...tum pagal ho!"

She laughed at his embarrassment which only embarrassed him further. This was how they were supposed to be. Comfortable.

Their bill arrived and after paying they left in a cab.

Sitting in the cab, Armaan asked Riddhima where she wanted to go next.

"Umm I've been to the statue of Liberty, Rockefeller centre and Times Square...you tell me what's left and we'll go there!"

Suddenly Armaan remembered the date and slapped his forehead. "Uh Riddhima? Do yu mind if we stop at a mall? I need to pick up something for my mom! It's her birthday tomorrow and I've ordered the gift, I just need to pick it up today!"

"Sure! What'd you buy her?"

"A watch and a pair of earings. They were both things she'd liked when I took her shopping one day."

"You took your mother shopping? That's nice." She said, smiling.

"Thanks! After the mall we'll go to the Empire State Building and then dinner and we can visit Central Park if you want to and then we'll catch a train home! Uske bahaane you'll even see Grand Central Station! It's amazing Riddhima! Seriously! Like the heart of NYC or something. I love it!"

"Sure! We'll go to all those places! Thanks so much for this tour Armaan...it's been totally amazing!" she said, earnestly.

"Don't mention it!"

They stopped at the mall and picked up Armaan's gift to his mom. Riddhima smiled inwardly as she recalled the brief conversation she'd had with Armaan's mom in the club. She seemed nice. He was so lucky!

The headed towards Empire State Building but go stuck in the rush hour traffic and reached there only in the late evening.

Riddhima looked at the building in awe. It was colossal. And it made her feel really tiny! She stood with Armaan in the queue for the tickets and he told her all about the history of the building.

Their tickets in hand, they headed towards the elevator and got in. Riddhima shivered in unease. The doors closed and Riddhima stood there, white-faced. She could feel the walls closing in on her and the air being sucked out of her lungs. Beads of sweat formed on her forhead and her heart started beating fast. She was claustrophobic.

Armaan looked at Riddhima and was shocked. He'd expected her to enjoy it but she was pale and sweaty and her breaths were shallow. He realized she was afraid of closed spaces and he held her shoulders and turned her towards him. "Why in the world didn't you tell me you were claustrophobic? Riddhima are you crazy?"

Breathing heavily she whispered, "Noone knows..."

He sighed in frustration. Looking in to her eyes he told her to relax and to breathe deeply.

She looked at him, her eyes full of fear. She breathed deeply and did as she was told by Armaan. Some of the panic eased away and she could feel herself becoming normal again. Closed spaces terrified her. They reminded her of things she desperately wanted to forget. But she'd never let anyone know that. She was Riddhima Gupta. She had to be perfect.

Armaan enveloped her into a hug once she was better. He held her till the elevator doors opened and they were on the 86^th floor. Riddhima, feeling loads better now, smiled at him in gratitude. He blinked reassuringly and they walked over to the railing to see the view.

Riddhima was captivated by New York City. She felt the grin split her face. This is beautiful! I've never seen anything like it! NYC. Trylu the city of dreams huh? Maybe this is where I'll finally feel at home...maybe I'll finally find that happiness? So far it's been amazing...

Her musing was cut short as she heard Armaan say, "How's the view?"

"You're really asking me that? It's breathtaking Armaan. I think I just fell in love with New York!"

"I'm glad you liked it...Do you miss India Riddhima?"

Riddhima thought about the question. She didn't miss India. India had bad memories attached with it. She missed those paani-puri stalls and all but the answer to his question would still have to be no. Her time in India was not something she ever wanted to think about.

"No. No, I don't miss India."

"Really? Do you mid me asking why?"

Riddhima sighed. She decided to be honest with him. As honest as she could afford to be, that is. He'd been amazing to her and he deserved an honest answer.

"I don't miss India because...because it has...I was...umm...let's just say it has bad memories attached to it."

Armaan looked at her. She was looking ahead in the distance...and once again he wondered what her past was. But he decided not to ask her anything about it. For all he knew, it was none of his business!

Her voice jolted him out of his ruminations. "Armaan, do you have any coins on you? I wanna view the city through this machine but it needs 5 cents and I don't have any change!"

He went to get some change from the souvenier counter. Exchanging his dollar for some change he walked back to Riddhima and tapped her on her shoulder.

Riddhima was engrossed in looking at the view and the tap on her shoulder startled her. She turned around a little to fast and found her face inches away from Armaan's. His eyes locked into hers and they stared at each other, lost in nothing but that moment.

Armaan looked at Riddhima. Her eyes were widened and her ponytail was flying everywhere. She looked endearing and he couldn't take his eyes off her. They broke away flustered when someone bumped into them.

Riddhima quietly took the change and put it in the machine and looked in it. Although she was looking into the machine, her mind was somewhere else. She couldn't make any sense of this "thing" between them and she feared that maybe it would get out of hand...

They went down in the elevator and this time Armaan made sure she didn't feel too uncomfortable. However, they hadn't spoken a word to each other in all this time.

Armaan sneaked a glance at her. Things would get awkward if he didn't break the ice soon. "So...where do you wanna have dinner?"

"Umm anywhere...you say it!"

Riddhima frowned as she realized the awkwardness between them. She looked up at him and saw the same question in his eyes too. When was this "thing" gonna stop coming up? Their eyes locked for a moment and they both drew the same conclusion.

"It isn't worth it is it?" he asked.

She knew exactly what he was talking about. "Nah. It isn't!" Grinning they made their way to the nearest Burger King.

It was nighttime by the time they were done and they rushed to Grand Central Station to catch a train to her neighborhood. Grabbing their tickets, they sat in the train, exhausted after the day's events.

The train started and after a while Riddhima nodded off to sleep on Armaan's shoulder. He smiled at the adorable sight before him and drew her closer to make her more comfortable. An aura of calmness prevailed in their compartment and Armaan enjoyed the piece and quiet after the tiring day.

Halfway through their ride, an old man came to the compartment. He smiled at Armaan who politely smiled in return. After a while he asked, "How long have you been dating her?"

Armaan was dumbfounded. He was surprised that the ols man thought he was dating Riddhima!!! "Oh umm we're not uh together...as a couple I mean."

The old man looked taken aback and offered his apologies saying that they looked perfect which was why he'd drawn the conclusion. Armaan just smiled. He really didn't know how to react to that.

The train stopped and it was time for them to leave. Armaan slowly woke Riddhima up. She was still drowsy as they walked towards the cab.

He dropped her at her doorstep and she looked at him through her sleepy eyes. Stifling a yawn she gave him a peck on the cheek, surprising both of them. "I had a great time. Really. Goodnight!" she said a little sleepily.

"Me too." He said, smiling. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." She confirmed as she opened the door and went inside, shutting the door after her.

~~~~~~~~

The part is FINALLY done after 4 installments :D It's a humongous part and I'd love big comments :)

Do read the author's note in Part 15(a) if you haven't already! PMs will be sent tomorrow :)

xoxo

Aanya