"YOU DID NOT ARMAAN MALLIK.", he stated simply.
Armaan simply shrugged at that looked at him with a sheepish expression on his face. And Rahul did not need words after that. He knew exactly what would have happened.
He knew Shashank Gupta from his Dad's parties and needless to say he knew that he was planning on getting Riddhima married. That was currently the hot-topic in the society circles his mom had told him. Not wanting to distress Armaan, who he knew was madly in love with her, he had never mentioned it to him or Riddhima.
Riddhima Gupta- she was one of the few people Rahul would always remember. She was pretty, amicable, talked without a stop and could make you forget your worries in a second.
But the reason he loved her as friend was for making his stupid best-friend fall for her. And after having known Armaan for what seemed like forever, he knew they would make the prefect couple. They were both completely similar in a lot of ways and seriously different in others; balancing forces in each other's lives.
When he had received Armaan's text about Dr.Gupta wanting to meet him, he had been on the verge of telling him about Shashank Gupta's groom-search but had stopped himself at the right moment and planned on not making his mood sore.
Now, seeing Riddhima sleeping in the guest-room he could guess that Armaan had done what he had feared he would. Quietly Rahul made his way to the single sofa next to the one Armaan was sitting and sat there quietly. Both the friends were now staring at the door together.
About quarter to an hour later Prithvi had come home to witness the same scene. Completely mimicking Rahul's steps, he had had the same expression on his face. But he had screamed his lungs out on finding Riddhima inside the room and Rahul and Armaan had to wrestle him in order to shut him up. Finally calming down he had asked, "What the heck is it?", pointing to inside the room.
"It isn't an 'it', it's a 'she' Prithvi.", Armaan corrected him almost immediately only to find Prithvi glare at him. Gulping he said, "Riddhima."
Prithvi blinked his eyes a few times and then opened the door yet again to have a good look at the girl who had made his intelligent friend, crazy. He still remembered how Rahul and he had been completely annoyed with Armaan's constant confusions about Riddhima and how they had been irritated to the T with his endless chatter about the same. They had been the ones who had forced him to acknowledge the fact that he had fallen for her- hard, straight on his face.
But he had never seen Riddhima; she was a mystery Armaan liked to keep to himself. Of course, Rahul had told him a lot about her and even Armaan could not stop himself from talking about her sometimes. He had always wanted to meet her, but not like this- sleeping on a bed in his house. Taking a deep breath all three of them sat down on the sofa with Armaan in the middle of the other two.
"What is she doing here Armaan?", Prithvi had asked calmly, putting into use the calmness he had learnt to keep while dealing with stupid investors.
"Her dad wanted to get her married. She didn't want to and when he insulted me she got angry and shouted at him. One thing led to another and he was rude to her so I got furious too and told him to back off from her life and brought her here.", Armaan said, his voice lacking any emotion- just stating the facts.
Prithvi and Rahul looked at each other and Rahul said, "So it was a lot of angry people, a lot of shouting and a lot of insulting which led to Riddhima sleeping in our bedroom?"
Armaan cringed as he heard that, realizing that in a spurt of anger he had probably taken a rash decision especially without asking either of his roommates. Before he could apologize Prithvi had asked yet again, "Did you tell her?"
Armaan suddenly looked like a deer caught in the spot light and in barely audible voice said "No", staring at the coffee table before him.
Both of them looked shocked at that revelation and Rahul asked in order to clarify, "Don't tell me you didn't tell her you love her!"
When Armaan didn't give a reply Prithvi flared up and said, "So there's a girl sleeping in your house, you made her leave hers and you didn't even tell her that you love her?
"What kind of a butthead does that Dr. Armaan Mallik?", Prithvi asked in a menacingly small voice.
And from then on Prithvi and Rahul both had riled up at that and then began the scolding match which had eventually led to Armaan shutting himself in his room.
Rahul and Prithvi, after spending a few moments in complete silence decided to call it quits.
Glancing towards the other door, i.e., Armaan's door, Prithvi said, "We should probably not have shouted on him, right?"
Rahul agreed completely on that, "Yeah, it was such a hard day for him and here we are, yelling our lungs out at him and being a pain in the ass instead of supporting him."
Nodding at each other, both of them decided to make amends and make Armaan feel better.
As they opened the door, they saw a recluse Armaan sitting on his bed staring into space, looking nothing like Armaan Mallik.
Armaan was simply sitting on his bed trying to understand the situation. His friends were idiotic jerks when it came to him. Instead of shouting at him and questioning him for bringing a girl into the house without telling or asking them anything, they were having a shouting match because he hadn't confessed!
He was still deep in thought when he heard the door click open and his moronic friends entering the room with apologizing looks on their face. Armaan almost instantly knew what they were on about; being the stupids they were- cute at that his heart added. Fighting the urge to laugh out loud, he observed them nudging each other to start the talk with him.
Finally deciding that they would apologize together they opened their mouth which hanged open when Armaan's face broke into a smile and hugged them together. After getting over their initial shock of Armaan's completely unexplainable behavior they mentally decided that he was suffering from the symptoms of the "Riddhima Gupta syndrome" as they put it.
It was the name they had given to Armaan's way of PMS-ing whenever Riddhima was concerned. As if understanding that they were both thinking on the same lines Rahul and Prithvi high-fived behind Armaan's back and smiled fully. Armaan Mallik was back, with full signs of being the insanely crazy person he was.
Their moment was interrupted when a voice suddenly intruded the room. A small "Uhm" from a voice, made them come out of their hug and as they turned they noticed Riddhima standing at the door, looking seriously uncomfortable, putting her strands behind her face and trying to steal glances at the triplet.
The trio stood there trying to catch Riddhima's attention while Riddhima stood there in the same position for quite a few seconds. Finally coughing the uneasiness out of her system, she muttered a quiet "Sorry" and turned about to leave the room.
Prithvi, Armaan and Rahul stood there trying to understand what had just happened when suddenly Rahul got a hint of what was happening. "Guys", he called out and when the duo turned to look at him, he pointed towards their position which did not seem anything unusual to them. Armaan had his arms around the other two's necks while Rahul and Prithvi both had one arm around his waist.
Both of them shrugged when Rahul shook his head and said, "Saalon, look at our position." A few seconds later, knowledge dawned upon the other two and they shrieked and separated out of their "position".
"You mean she thought we were'.", Prithvi confirmed, while Rahul nodded his head innocently.
"I think we just broke her heart.", Rahul continued and then started laughing hysterically.
Prithvi chuckled too while Armaan glared at the duo trying to control his own laugh. Rahul deliberately came near Armaan and cupped his face muttering, "Till today I used to call Prithvi and you Mom and Dad. You proved me right today but just enter me in your story too. I could be your secret lover, what say?"
Prithvi sat down on the floor to stop his laughing especially on Rahul's most recent seriously funny gay act with the entire "adaa", sitting on Armaan's lap.
A gasp caught their attention and they noticed Riddhima standing at the door yet again with her hand on her mouth. She quickly closed her eyes and said, "Sorry again. I should have knocked. I came to ask for water. I'm sorry." And ran away still saying sorry.
And this time all the three burst into laughter which didn't stop for a really long time, till Prithvi stood up and wiped the tears of mirth from the corner of his eyes and said, "Let's go and tell her we are not Dostana kinda people. Or else she'll die of heartache; he struck out a dramatic Meena Kumari pose and said "Hayye! Main lut gayi. Barbaad ho gayi. My love and I, both loved the same sex!"
Rahul began laughing yet again, which a pillow dropped onto his face, thrown by Armaan who slapped his head and got up saying, "Shut up Saale."
They reached the guest room to find Riddhima sitting on the naked bed, hitting her head as if trying to erase the picture etched in brain and muttering something like "Oh my God" under her breath.
Armaan glared at the other two when they began laughing and finally keeping a straight face they entered the room and coughed in order to gain her attention which, much to their surprise, didn't work. Rahul coughed louder but without much effect on her. Finally Armaan patted her back to get her back from her act and she looked pleasantly surprised to see the trio standing next to her.
As soon as Prithvi opened his mouth to speak, Riddhima intervened and said, "I'm really sorry I came in. I mean I wasn't planning on entering the room again. " "Not after seeing that the first time.", she muttered under her breath and began off again, "But I wanted to drink water- "
"Surely we know why you would want to drink water after the first time.", Rahul added from behind Armaan and Prithvi chortled at that.
Ignoring his statement, Riddhima continued, "But I swear I closed my eyes as soon as I came in. I didn't know you were you know, ", she cringed after that looking at Armaan as if thinking, 'I was so sure he loved me, and what about the innumerable girls he flirted with.' And then suddenly widened her eyes and added, "No, No not that I don't support the LGBT community but it was all so sudden and I was completely shocked, no, make that surprised to see you uhmm, so you see'.".
She would have continued if it were not for Prithvi's intervention. "Does she always speak so much?", he asked with shocked eyes and a defeated expression on not being able to shut her up.
The other two nodded and finally Riddhima was quiet. After a long time.
Prithvi gave her the glass of water he was carrying with him. She needed it more now, after speaking without a stop. He smiled at that thought.
Riddhima sheepishly took the glass of water and gulped the entire thing in while Armaan told her to take a few deep breaths and made her sit down on the bed yet again with him sitting on the floor.
Rahul finally emerged from behind him and sat next to her on the bed while Prithvi scotted over a chair and sat near them. Riddhima looked at the three with questioning eyes and the other three looked at each other trying to start a talk.
"Actually Riddhima we are not what you made us out to be.", Armaan started off.
"You are not Armaan?", Riddhim asked, not for the life of her understanding what was happening. She had just realized that the love of the life was not only not interested in her but in the entire female clan. She wanted to cry her guts out and here he was telling her he was not what she thought he was.
And then getting the cue she said, "You are not straight, you mean? I realized that then, ermm, in the room, Armaan."
"What? No. I mean Yes. I mean, Shit! Rahul, you explain."
"Ri, We were not, you know, doing anything then." Rahul explained completely mortified with the entire situation.
"Riddhima, WE ARE NOT GAY.", Prithvi spelled it out for her, finally complying to craziness of the entire scenario while Riddhima looked confused.
"But you were '", she began but was finished off by Rahul who said, "acting."
As comprehension dawned on Riddhima, she bit her lip and muttered "Sorry."
All three of them seemed proud to have made her understand the situation and Armaan finally introduced his friends to Riddhima.
"By the way, Riddhima, they are my, I mean, our roomies. Rahul, you know him right?", he pointed towards Rahul who waved his hand as if showing himself off while Riddhima smiled at him confusedly. Why the heck was he waving like a idiot?
Armaan shook his head and rolled his eyes at his crazy friend and turned towards Prithvi and said, "And this is Prithvi."
Prithvi took her hand and kissed the back saying, "Always a pleasure to meet beautiful women."
Riddhima took away her hand quickly terrified at his flirtatious demeanor while Armaan slapped his head and narrowed his eyes at him. "Quit flirting with her jackass", he said when a voice from behind him, undoubtedly Rahul's inserted, "Aur nahi toh. Bhabhi hai teri."
Armaan blushed at that and glared at Rahul while Riddhima stood there with widened eyes, trying to understand where the conversation was heading towards and understanding that his friends knew which even she wasn't sure about. But now that Armaan wasn't gay, he would love her right?, she pondered.
Giving her a small forced smile Armaan took Rahul by the wrist and forced him to come out with him and Rahul joked, "Chod Saale. Or else she'll take us to be Abhishek and John again."
Once they were out of earshot and the room, Prithvi took his steps forward to step out of the room but as soon as Riddhima took a deep breath to calm her racing nerves down, a voice whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. Rahul and I won't come in your way. He's all yours." Prithvi winked at Riddhima's shocked and blushing self and whistled his way out of the room.
Riddhima sat on the bed smiling like an idiot to herself as she finally got some sort of conformation that he loved her too. It wasn't just her feeling; his friends knew about it too. Now only if things would move forward.
A new day. As the sun made its appearance in Mumbai, the entire city's population woke up to the beck and call of the morning. People all over the city began with their jogging, morning exercises, rushing off to work, driving lessons, cooking, eating, neighbors fighting and what not. The entire city was wide awake. Except for the residents of a particular house in the city, where resided three guys and a girl who hated being woken up early, or any time before the afternoon for that matter.
When the clock finally struck 1 on the grandfather clock in the drawing room, Prithvi Aggarwal yawned and stretched his arms coming out of his sleep and accidentally knocked off his pal, Rahul Garewal out of the bed.
Rahul, a victim of Prithvi morning waking routine, fell straight out of the bed onto the floor and shrieked, waking up the other residents of the house from their slumber. A sleepy yet worried Armaan rushed out and met an equally disheveled and groggy Riddhima on the way to Prithvi's room. Entering the room, they noticed a sleep-driven Prithvi staring at Rahul, who sat on the floor rubbing his back and glaring at Rahul.
As they saw Riddhima, Rahul hurriedly put on his jacket from the side table while Prithvi clarified, "We were just playing cards last night and must have fallen asleep then. We are still not gay."
Riddhima bit her tongue at that while Rahul added, "And because someone thinks my room is a dumpster for plastic cans", narrowing his eyes at Armaan who realized that he had thrown everything in his room in order to make the drawing room look clean to Riddhima.
Everyone smiled at the odd beginning of the morning and yawning and rubbing their eyes, they all finally woke up completely and made their way into the living room. Lazing around on the sofa, everyone was trying to figure out something ' "Wasn't this morning supposed to be awkward?" Then why wasn't it?
It seemed quite normal and instead of feeling weird they were quite comfortable in the house. The incident at night had seemed to be quite a nice beginning for the group because Riddhima seemed to have understood the craziness of the place. She didn't seem like one of Rahul's nagging girlfriends who invaded everyone's space crazily. How they were jumping to these conclusions, even they didn't know because Riddhima hadn't been there for even a day.
When Rahul went to the kitchen and brought out a carton of milk which he began drinking straight out of it, Riddhima solemnly asked, "Aren't you gonna brush your teeth first?"
Rahul looked at her as if she had asked him the capital of Sierra Lyon that too in African and then nodded his head, if bobbing it unconsciously is called the same thing. Keeping the carton on the dining table, he walked to the common bathroom while Armaan smiled and said, "Seems like he got another parent too." Saying so he high-fived Prithvi who laughed along with him and smiled at Riddhima.
Riddhima gave a confused smile while Prithvi and Armaan also got up to brush their teeth. Prithvi went inside his room, but as Armaan was entering his, he stopped in his tracks when a voice behind him said, "Armaan. What do I do?" He turned around to see a sad Riddhima standing behind him with something he couldn't decipher, in her eyes. Ignoring it, he shook his head and gave a smile, "I'll give you a new toothbrush. You can brush with it right?"
Riddhima nodded and then asked, "And clothes? I don't have any to change into today."
Before Armaan could come with a solution for that, Rahul butted in, "For today, you can wear mine."
Riddhima and Armaan, both looked petrified at his suggestion and when Rahul, a few seconds later, understood what he may have sounded like he said, "I meant my past girlfriends'. I think they've left some behind."
Riddhima smiled at him and uttered a Thank you but her mind was in what Rahul had said. He had said "they" instead of "she". How many girlfriends had he had then, she wondered.
An hour later all of them sat on the sofa yet again looking awkwardly at each other. The awkwardness which seemed to have disappeared in the morning started to seep in now.
Armaan was awkward because he was still wondering as to how Riddhima, the non-stop Radio Mirchi was quiet and tranquil today. He knew everything was a haze for her after yesterday but calm and Riddhima didn't go together and he couldn't understand that. Some part of him knew that after yesterday some things were going to change but he couldn't come to accept that Riddhima's bubbliness was going to be missing for some time.
Riddhima, on the other hand, was quiet because she didn't know what else to do. The event from yesterday seemed to not have affected her in any way and she felt as normal as ever. She wanted to smile and talk and have fun as usual but her mind was on an overdrive thinking that if she did any of those things the others would consider her to be some heartless creature that doesn't even care that she had just left her father's house and had just been disowned. And she was also worried as to how she would live between three guys, could she trust them, till when would they allow her to live here after all, and though thankfully for her the clothes, pair of jeans and a spaghetti top, seemed to have fit her fine, she wondered till when she could survive on wearing someone else's clothes.
The other two were awkward because one, Armaan was staring at Riddhima continuously and they couldn't understand how to tell him that it was freaking them out and would seem scary to Riddhima too, if only she was in the same world right now because she seemed all lost and astray; two, they had no idea what to talk to Riddhima about. I mean, how long could they base their conversations on them being gay? They needed something to talk about, which they had no idea whatsoever of; three and most importantly, the live coverage of the match between India and England had just been disrupted and they were busy mourning over their loss.
As all of them sat there feeling odd, Rahul decided to escape the irritatingly uncomfortable situation and said, "I have to meet up with Kritika in an hour. I better leave.", and left the place.
"His girlfriend", Armaan informed Riddhima as an answer to her unasked question. A few seconds later Rahul returned and said, "Prithvi, don't you have to come too?"
Prithvi and the other two too looked confused at Rahul's sudden reappearance and even more so when Prithvi said, "Where? To meet your girlfriend? No, thanks, keep the whining machine to yourself."
Riddhima surpressed a giggle at that while Armaan got a hint of what Rahul was doing.
Rahul gritted his teeth and answered, "To meet your girlfriend pinhead."
"I don't have a girlfriend idiot.", Prithvi replied, confused at the claim of Rahul's.
"Oh, Yes you do."
"I do? When? Where? How? Leave all of that aside, first answer, "Who?"?
Riddhima looked at them oddly. Was it just her or this conversation had no head or legs in any freaking way? Armaan looked at the bickering duo and slapped his forehead. This entire drama was so obvious that he felt like kicking both of them in the shins.
Rahul dragged a confused and reluctant Prithvi out of the house where they continued bickering.
"I don't have a girlfriend Rahul."
"Ok, then why don't we get you one? We'll find one right now."
"Is this some kind of stupid joke, because it ain't funny."
"Pssht it's not a joke dumbass. You just suck at understanding signals." And so the fight continued.
And what Armaan thought was completely right. Rahul was escaping the house when he came up with the idea that Armaan and Riddhima needed to talk and sort out issues they had. After all they had just taken such a huge decision a day earlier. And if god would have it probably Armaan would open up with his feelings too, though he doubted that completely.
And the only way to get them to speak to each other was to provide them with privacy; therefore he had gone back and signaled Prithvi to get out of the house. But that stupid didn't understand a word and was stuck on his effing girlfriend. Now as a satisfied Rahul and grumpy Prithvi made their way to the nearest hotel to get something for lunch, Riddhima and Armaan sat there, the awkwardness coming back to haunt them.
"That was.. weird.", Riddhima said, smiling uneasily at Armaan who returned the same kind of smile.
A few more seconds of silence later Riddhima decided to end the clumsy situation.
"Ok, I know all of this is awkward and new and not at all comfortable but I can't bear being quiet. I mean I know I'm supposed to be feeling really sad, but of course, sadness doesn't come to me. I can't bring myself to cry even for the sake of it. I know right!? Who can't cry! But I seriously can't. I sometimes feel like Cameron Diaz from "The Holiday", I swear. But that is far from the point. I don't know what to do now. I left that house yesterday but I have no idea whatsoever of how to move forward from there. I know you bought me here so that I could live here but how can I live under a roof with three guys. Forget that. I don't even know if they want me here or not. They may just get fed up of me and tell me to leave the house tomorrow itself. Then where do I go? And I don't even have clothes to wear, clothes are like vanity, I don't even have my own toothbrush or slippers to wear to the bathroom, what am I supposed to do? And what about the bills? I don't even freaking earn a penny. This is like crazy, some kind of Bollywood flick with the damsel in distress scenario going on. And top of it all, I don't even feel unhappy about leaving my house of 21 years in a split second. I do-"
"Do you want me to kiss and shut you up Riddhima?", Armaan said, sporting a teasing grin on his face.
"WHAT?", Riddhima shouted and stood up from the sofa, shocked, coming out of her rant.
"What else do you want me to do? I've been saying Shut up for the past few minutes but you seem to be so lost in your ramble that you don't even listen to me!"
"So you decide to kiss me? Just like that? Crazy, you are Armaan!", Riddhima asked in horror.
"Yeah, it's me who is crazy. After all I have been the one who has been talking without a stop for the past 10 minutes. And just for my knowledge, how can you possibly connect yourself to Hollywood and Bollywood flicks in the middle of a talk about your life crisis?", he asked in mock seriousness.
Riddhima drew a sheepish expression at that but then sighed and sat down yet again. Running her hands through her hair, she closed her eyes and tried to gather herself. The endless talk seemed to have given way to the real Riddhima inside her, who unlike Cameron Diaz, did cry herself to sleep on some nights. Talking, the act which ironically used to calm her down on most occasions seemed to have had the opposite effect today.
Armaan who was having fun seeing the old Riddhima back in action was suddenly worried on seeing her worked up. He hurriedly sat in front of her and forced her to look into his eyes by cupping her face.
He was shocked to see the same emotion in her eyes which he had seen in the morning. He couldn't identify what it was but he decided that he certainly didn't like the feeling of it. It held something he didn't know, he couldn't decipher, although he seemed to be the only one who had seen at least a little part of the real Riddhima.
As she started shaking a little, Armaan realized that she was on the verge of giving way to her tears. All the air was suddenly knocked out of him when she hugged him with full force and started crying uncontrollably. He steadied himself and got worried seeing her crying silently yet hysterically in his arms. He tried to stop her "Ssh"-ing her but without any reward. In order to stop her, he decided to talk to her but she refused to come out of his embrace. Finally he decided to apply full force and jerked her out of the hug and forced her to look into his eyes.
"Ssh. Quiet. No tears, understand."
Riddhima stared innocently at him and soon her sobs gave way to hiccups indicating that her outburst was on an end.
Taking that opportunity to keep his word forward, Armaan started "Riddhima, you are not supposed to feel anything. You don't actually make up your mind to be sad. It happens naturally. It's not something you plan okay? And the fact that you are not feeling unhappy is probably because you are not that affected by the decision. You may perhaps always have wanted this but didn't have the courage to do it. So you do not have to feel guilty about not feeling the way people expect you to. And coming to Prithvi and Rahul, they do not suppose you to do anything either. They are just friends- talk to them, enjoy with them, that's all you need to do. If you haven't noticed it already, they aren't what you call "expectators." And about bills, we'll see to that. Right now, it's not even a day since you left home. Things will be alright Riddhima, you just need to give it time. Hmm?"
Riddhima nodded but hugged him again and hid her face in his chest, having no idea that she was driving Armaan to the edge of his desire. She was clinging to him and he couldn't even hold her without feeling slightly nervous about their closeness.
He was brought out of his own land when Riddhima mumbled into his chest, "First expectator isn't a word.", she said matter if factly and then added "You know, I haven't even gone to the shop down the street without dad's permission. "Dad, can I paint a picture today?""Dad can I wear the red skirt to the party?""Dad, can blue be my favorite color though it is supposed to be a boy's shade?" Everything revolved around him. He took all my decisions and I thought that would give him happiness. What I wear, with whom I eat, who are my friends, everything, he decided everything."
She came out of the hug and had a distant look in her eyes, as if trying to recollect memories from her past. "I thought that would make him happy, that he would spend time with me like normal fathers do. I thought he would adore me for those actions." She laughed in a derisive manner as if making fun of her thoughts. "All that did was him taking me for granted. All my life, I tried to please him only to gain scathing looks and a monotone talk from him. The only thing I expected from him was to love me like normal parents. Then why didn't he Armaan? Why did he have so many conditions for loving me even after I gave him the reins to my life? And one decision I wanted to take myself, just one, he refused blatantly. Why Armaan?"
She looked at him with so much vulnerability and innocence on her face, that Armaan had absolutely no idea how to answer her. He could only take her in his arms again. This Riddhima scared him. He did not know how to handle this little girl in her, how to make her feel happy. He killed Shashank Gupta in his mind a thousand times more than he already had for putting her through this.
He brought her out from the hug and wiped off her tears mumbling, "I don't know why Riddhima. But one thing's for sure, if he hasn't respected your feelings for all these years, not much can change in the future. But the Riddhima I know doesn't give up, does she? She pesters, pleads, tricks and finally if nothing works, she blabbers her way into the most thick-skulled brains.", he finished with a naughty grin on his face.
Riddhima frowned at that. "Hey! I don't speak that much, stop exaggerating."
"Oh really? Prithvi asked me yesterday if you were planning to give Basanti from Sholay a run for her money in the arena of chattering away to glory."
Riddhima scowled and hit Armaan hard on his arm in anger. Then sobering down she asked, "Is there something I need to keep in mind around them?"
Armaan smiled as he heard her cautious voice, "Yeah. Be your normal self. Don't be really quiet or anything. You make it awkward for them too. And avoid girly conversations about clothes and shoes, they freak out."
"I don't talk Pink the entire day Armaan."
"Oh yes. You speak about actors and your crushes on them and about chick-flicks and chocolates and.."
"Okay. I get the point."
"And oh, most importantly", he came near her ear and whispered as if disclosing some huge secret, "don't leave your embarrassing clothes around."
Riddhima took a moment to understand his words but as soon as she processed it, she shrieked out loud and hit him continuously on his arm. "Eew. I can't believe you said that. Gross. Oh My God. You are unbelievably disgusting Armaan."
"What disgusting?! I just said it, not like I'm wearing it or anything.", he mocked.
"Shut up before I leave this house right at this second. Or better throw you out!" Riddhima shouted.
"Need some help with that? We can gladly oblige with that you know." Rahul offered from the entrance of living room. They had entered the room to find a very red in the face Riddhima hitting Armaan and threatening him and amused as they were, they couldn't help but butt in.
Riddhima's eyes widened in shock on realization that the conversation had been overheard by them and probably even the embarrassing part. She turned around to see two amused faces staring at him and sobered up immediately, leaving her boxing championship with Armaan.
Seeing the smile fading from the faces of Prithvi and Rahul, she remembered Armaan's words and suddenly smiled.
"I would love that.", she answered with a smile and both of them, though confused, smiled at her.
Armaan scowled at the trio, ready to through him out of the house and complained at the unfairness of it all which the other three very readily ignored.
"So what did we miss?" Prithvi asked.
"Nothing new. Just Armaan being an ass.", Riddhima replied nonchalantly while Armaan's jaw fell open in shock. The other two nodded their heads in sheer understanding and the three proceeded to sit on the sofa leaving a grumbling Armaan behind.
Noticing the bags in their hands, Riddhima enquired about them in a naturally concerned sort of way while they replied that they brought them food.
So there they sat, sitting around the coffee table eating Japanese cuisine from a nearby Sushi joint, talking about Armaan's jerk-ness with a whining Armaan complaining and still being happy inside at how Riddhima had gelled with the guys, even if it was on his expense. If he could see that radiant smile on her face and that shine in her eyes as she talked about his mischief, he was ready to commit several more just to give her something to talk and laugh about.
Hope that's long enough. Please leave behind your comments and criticisms.
Bisous,
Neha
😆
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