A very very hearty thank you to all those who commented, and pressed the like tab. And an even more bigger thank you to all those readers who have waited so patiently for the update.
Hello my dearest readers, shocked to see me, well, i'll heartily accept whatever you all wanna hurl at me. I know i've been absent so long, i mean about 5 months, n no update, i know i deserve u all being very very angry. I know that my hostel n exams isnt an excuse enuf, but i'll just say guys i was helpless. Still, am here with an update, n i promise the next one wont be late again, really n heartily sorry guys, please forgive me.
IMPORTANT: Guys, here is the most awaited part, u'll finally know what's the mystery behind the name thing, n i seriously hope i dont disappoint u all. Over to u for the next part:
RECAP:
-Armaan comes all ready to the college to meet Riddhima
-He is disappointed by her absence
-He discovers she had gone to a friend's engagement with Muskaan and Rahul
-Finally, he does meet her when she comes
-Contrasting his nature, Armaan loves the mehendi on Riddhima's hand
-Riddhima shouts at everyone when her prince charming is discussed
-Armaan drops Riddhima when Muskaan insists
-An interesting drive back in car, Riddhima realises she's the first girl to sit in his car's passenger seat
-Armaan drops Riddhima at a hospital, where Riddhima has come to meet Atul, her to-be-bil
-Armaan realises that there is some big reason that Riddhima never calls him by name
PART 9
It was very tiring for her when she finally reached home at night and lay down to relax in her room. She had tried her best to calm Atul's nerves, and hopefully, the date with Anjali would be a success. She remembered that she was alone, as everyone except Anjali, had gone to attend some function. It was in this moment of tranquility, that todays events played in her mind, everything came flooding back to her, her past, as well as her present, and her thoughts were stuck at one name, 'Armaan Mallik'.
Life had never been easy for her. Her childhood had been a living nightmare, all thanks to her dad, but atleast her mom had tried to protect her. After both of them left, Riddhima was alone, trapped in her shell. But again, her new family was no less than her guardian angels. They gave her everything she could've wished for, but even their love could not fill the emptiness in her. She had managed to link herself to them, but she had cut off herself from the most powerful emotion in the world, 'love'. She hated love, and knew she would never fall in love, never. Her mother's life had been a living hell, all because of that stupid emotion, love. Had she not loved her husband, she wouldnt have suffered so much. Riddhima did not want this to happen to her, she had her mother's dream to fulfill, and hence, she ordered her heart never to fall in love. She promised herself that no one could reach that part of her heart which could still love, but was burried deep down under, with no chances of coming back. She had made herself a cold hearted person, for everyone, except her family. She stayed away from love as much as she could, but when is life the way you want it to be. Love eventually found her in some other way.
As if she wasnt already nervous about her first day in the new college, she fell into something that turned her world upside down. To add to her misery, it wasnt something, it was someone, the bluish grey eyed guy, Armaan Mallik. Her eyes met his, for the first time, when she had finished singing the song. She had looked into his eyes for a few seconds, and lost herself in him. Something stirred in her heart, and she felt a pull towards him. An invisible rope wanted to take her closer to him. Was it something about his eyes, or was it the way he looked at her? She didnt know what it was, but she knew it was something very strong. She somehow released herself from that force, and broke the eyelock which held her captivated. Next she heard the same guy about to give out another punishment, but she'd already had enough. With a certain strictness in her voice, she refused him to do anything more and walked away. It had taken lots of minutes for her to calm herself after that experience.
She'd realised that his name was Armaan, when Principal had called for him n his group to stay. Her heart beat again became erratic, and she lowered her face in order to hide her expressions. As if this wasnt enough, she was introduced to him, Armaan Mallik, that was his full name. All these events were creating an unknown restlessness in her, which she badly wanted to avoid. The walk with Armaan and the Principal to her class seemed too long, like a decade or a century was passing by, and she thought there was no end to it.
In the next days, she got closer to Rahul and Muskaan, and did not have any straight encounter with Armaan, but she was always aware of his presence when he was nearby. His deep grey eyes stared at her everytime she closed her eyes. It was as if she could hear him speak her name many times, and immediately she would respond, involuntarily, by looking back at him. She was too much aware of him, and the worst part was that she could not control herself. She was horrified when the professor had announced that they had to do the project together, but thanks to Muskaan, she was saved from interacting with Armaan.
On the day of submitting the project, in the canteen, she had fallen, and he had held her, to avoid her from falling. Though her eyes were closed, but she could still feel his intense stare on her face, as if caressing her. It was too much a test of her patience when she was so close to him. She feared that had she opened her eyes, she would be lost into his, and her eyes would betray her feelings. They would reveal her deepest feelings, and so, as soon as she got a chance, she ran away without looking at him once.
She had realised Armaan's plan, as soon as she saw her laptop missing. But she did not know why, she wanted him to win. She'd given a perfect excuse to Rahul and Muskaan, that she let him win so that he didnt do anything more dangerous in future, but deep in her heart, she had been happy when she saw him smiling. His smile gave her a sense of victory, which she still didnt know why, was better than the happiness her own victory would have given. All she had cared at that time was that million dollared dimpled smile.
Later that day , when she'd gone to take back her laptop, she had again bumped into him, and she was wincing with pain because of hitting her forehead. Armaan had seemed worried at this, and his worry in turn worried her. Why was he being so polite and caring? Didnt he know that his every action effected her in one way or the other? Why was he confusing her with his suddenly changed nature? She had no answers!
After this, she had successfully managed to ignore and miss him for the next week, but how long could this go on? Her next encounter with him wasnt too far, was it? It had been the day when Sumit was going to propose Simran. Sumit, yes, Armaan's best friend Sumit, but when had they both come closer, even she did not know. It was on a random day, when Riddhima bumped into a very upset Sumit, she managed to get out the reason from him. Her initial worry had been that their was something wrong with Armaan, but it had turned out to be his relationship problem. She offered to help him, and there he was, ready to propose Simran. But he was nervous about it, and she helped him calm down. As soon as she stepped out of the class, her foot twisted, and she was falling down. With her closed eyes, she imagined how it would be if Armaan came and saved her from getting hurt, and she felt a sudden touch on her face. How could she not recognise his touch, she opened her eyes, and saw him staring at her. She was shocked to see her dream come true like this. As soon as she realised that he was true, and not mere a dream, the horror of their position came in her mind, and she made an ear piercing loud scream. Armaan's immediate reaction was to leave her, and she was gonna get hurt, badly. But as soon as he realised this, he again made a catch for her, falling with her in the process, with Armaan downside, and she was upside. Riddhima stared into his eyes as she landed on him, and his hot breat was creating a havoc in her heart. He was hugging her tightly, and this only added to her restlessness. Somehow, she managed to mutter,
"I need to get up"
He left her, and saying a thank you, she was about to go, when he held her hand, and stopped her,
"Uh, Riddhima, why did you scream?", he asked her,
Blood flushed to her face, as she remembered the reason, but in order to save herself from the embarassment, she spoke whatever came to her mind,
"Woh, actually, i, i saw a wasp on your forehead, and it could've bitten you. I got scared, and screamed"
Then she saw a play of emotions on his face, and he asked her hesitatingly,
"Riddhima, what will be the answer to Sumit's proposal?"
This was certainly not a question that she was expecting, so she also answered him with a question,
"You know him better, no girl will ever say no to a person like him?"
The next emotion that she saw on his face, she could not make it out. In other times she would have called it anger, or hurt, but when it came to him, all the natural things just didnt go right.
"So, should i take it as a yes?", he asked next,
Riddhima did not know what was playing in his mind, so keeping it aside, she asked to leave. After that was the great proposal by Rahul as well as Sumit in the canteen. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered Sumit stopped by Rahul's scream, as if someone had choked him right away. Next, she knew she had to put up with Rahul's anger, but she managed to get away easily. Later, her dupatta was stuck on the tree as she was running in the garden, and she made futile attempts to get it back. Just then she realised his presence there, Armaan was there, which made her self-conscious, and she tried to hide herself, and the embarassment. Armaan had seen her discomfort, and he looked away, and in a single attempt caught hold of the dupatta and his eyes still closed, gave it back to her. Her fingers brushed his when she took it, and created a spark in her body. She realised the effect of his touch on her. So to avoid any embarassment, she ran started leaving immediately, but had to stop when he called her.
"Riddhima?", she did stop, but did not turn,
"I wanted to say something", she heard him say, and this time, she did turn, but did not look at his face, or in his eyes,
"Yes", she only spoke this much,
"I really wanted to thank you for what you have done for Sumit, and Muskaan as well", he continued,
"I did all that for my friends, so you dont need to thank me anyways", she replied,
"I know, i felt i should, so i did, but i also wanted to ask you something, wo Muski, and, wo, i mean do you think...?", his question was cut-off in between,
"Rahul is a very nice person, Muskaan n him, they both love each other very much, i know Rahul will never hurt her, or break her trust, never, i can guarantee that, and about his back ground, he belongs to a good family, i could give you the details..." Riddhima was suddenly quitened, as he placed his finger on her lips, and he leaned really close to her,
"Bas karo yaar Riddhima, tum kitna baat karti ho, chapar chapar chapar chapar chapar, i always thought you never talked, lekin aaj, are you sure you are the same Riddhima?", Armaan said, with an amused expression,
Riddhima did not say anything, but kept on staring at him, making her eyes wider, Armaan didnt understand anyhting, she kept on looking up and down, but he only got confused, finally, she lifted her finger, and pointed to his finger on her lip, realisation dawned him, and he took back his hand,
"Oh, i am so sorry, i didnt realise, but how did you know what had i wanted to ask you?", he asked her,
"Tum Muskaan ke bhai ho, so it was obvious you will be worried about her getting into a relationship. And now, if you are done with your questions, can i go", she said this, n walked away,
"Just one last question Riddhima, tum mera naam kyun nahi leti, why dont you ever speak my name?", Armaan shouted his question,
Riddhima pretended she hadnt heard him, and went away, how could she tell why didnt she take his name. She didnt know how he would react, if he realised why she couldnt take his name. She knew the truth would change their lives, completely.
The next events didnt help her either, her appointment as Editor's Assistant was one of them. Had it been any other normal day, she would have been the happiest person, but her biggest problem was, that Armaan was the Editor in post. As much as she was trying to avoid him, the more and more it was becoming difficult. Next, when he asked for her number, the situation didnt improve, it worsened, maybe because Rahul was there, but she was thankful for it, because had he not been there, she didnt know how she would've reacted to Armaan's presence.
And today, how could she forget her interaction with him. The closeness they had shared while standing next to each other, it was getting on her nerves. And then, he had offered to drop her home, actually ordered would be a better word. He had confessed that she was the first girl to sit in his car, she knew he was telling the truth, she could tell from his eyes, they never lied to her. She was still puzzled about the mehendi thing, though she had her own theory, but she hoped her theory was wrong. She was thinking that maybe, somewhere down the lane, just a little, just tiny winy bit, Armaan did feel something for her. But as much as she wanted this to be true, she hoped she was wrong. She couldnt afford it, she was having a hard time controlling herself, and after that, controlling Armaan too was something she knew she didnt want to get into.
Apart from all this, lay the reason of why she didnt call him by his name. She was aware of the fact, that Armaan had also observed her habit of not calling him by name, and he was getting impatient to know the answer, but she knew she could not afford to tell him the truth. She knew she was scared of the after effects of this one small truth.
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Armaan, the word itself held so much magic in it, that it didnt help that this name belonged to a guy, whom Riddhima knew she could describe till eternity without stopping. He was the dream man of every girl. With looks as his, Riddhima felt it an insult to him, if she called him handsome. Infact, he was the most beautiful creation of God. How she'd wished so many times that she could go upto him, and stare him till infinity, and no one would stop her. In her dreams, she'd caressed him lovingly, tracing every single feature of his face, spending as much time as she wanted. She laughed as she remembered how she'd poked his dimples in her dream, like an over excited child was playing with his favourite toy. The thought made her blush, she wanted Armaan to be her toy. The best part of her dreams was that she could stare into those blue-gray eyes for as long as she wanted. Not even Armaan himself stopped her. His eyes were his most appealing feature, the eyes that captivated her, and made her a prisoner of his. She could bet that she would do anything if Armaan promised to mesmerize her life long by looking into her eyes, allowing her to wander the world in his eyes. At times Riddhima was confused as to what was the exact colour of his eyes, blue, or gray. But she concluded that it was a mixtur of both, suiting his nature perfectly. To the world he seemed hard like ice, blue in colour, and presented an image of his dark nature, gray like clouds. But actually, his eyes reflected the blue and gray sea water, which managed to disguise itself under its various shades. No one can be sure about the colour of the sea water. The sea water could be blue, oceanic blue, or any other blue, sea green, gray, colourless, and so much more. But what mattered was that the sea water was very deep, deep beyond anyone's thought, and thus it always remained a mystery.
At times, Riddhima would wonder at the extent that her thoughts and dreams went when it came to Armaan, and at this, she would blush furiously, and mutter herself a few curses. Words would finish up, but her thoughts about Armaan, no, they would never finish. 'Armaan' meant 'desire', and whenever Riddhima thought of the word desire, all that came to her mind and heart was passion, intensity, attraction, infatuation, sensuousness, and, and love. Armaan, this word reminded her of the one word she was bent like hell on avoiding, and that was love. As soon as this name came to her, she was lost in a different world, a world full of feelings and emotions she did not want to experience. Whenever she heard this name, or thought about it, she couldnt help herself, she lost all the self-control that she'd built since so long. Her emotions had been long suppressed, and were now finding a way out. This was what Riddhima had always feared, and though she managed to hide it perfectly in front of all, she did not hesitate in confessing it to herself. It was only that she feared the consequences, of falling deeply and crazily in love with Armaan Mallik.
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Armaan slumped down on his bed, as he smiled thinking about today. It had been an eventful day for him, n he was very tired. But this had also been an immensely important day. On his way back, he'd decided that he'd know soon, the mystery about his name. What was it tht Riddhima was hiding, he just had to know it. He knew it wasnt going to be an easy task. So he'd thought of going off with his plan of action, his new mission, Mission 'Bol Riddhima Bol', in short Mission BRB. He just cudnt wait to sleep off, the new day was gonna be a new start, for both Riddhima and him.
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In the coming updates:
-truth n dare
-a new chick enters, Mallika
-Riddhima finally discovers the secret Armaan had hidden from the whole college, n
-Riddhima sees sumthing, which she shudnt have...
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Please do share ur views abt the part, n my late update too ;)
NOTE: I am forming a final pm list. All those who want a pm from next time, r requested to plz press the like tab for the next post, or do mention abt a pm in ur comments. No other ppl shall receive a pm,
luv
poojaEdited by kweetrockstar - 12 years ago
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