Posted:
here's the new thread for my FF....the link to the old one, here you go...
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=944870
and here are the parts from the old thread, all here in one go for u....
~INTRODUCTION~
"every action has an equal n opposite reaction" i said...."thats the third law....the law of attraction" completing i looked up from the book, through my glasses, a bit low on my nose....to see him not taking any notes at all...gosh this guy....such a pain....and to think i had thought i was tutoring the hunk of the school, the basketball stud, the rock star...n how cautious i had been about my clothes for the day, not wanting to make a mockery out of my regular not quite fashionable look....completely redundant effort now i could see...he had irritated me beyond my civil patience limit, the last thing on my mind now was what he thought of my appearencce.....as top of the class, it was part of my mandatory duties to tutor and help one academically weak student in his work, failing which would affect my grades ....n ms.stark, my physics professor had warned me about this guy's level of understanding of the course....and also how crucial it was that i sorted his ambiguities in the course completely, for he was an important student of the school in more than one way despite his academic lack...but nothing she had said was even close to the facts....he was not only the worst possible student they could have assigned me in terms of knowledge but also the worst case in terms of willingness to try....i glared at him.....while he gave me the first keen look in an hour of the peer mentor session saying "really????thats the law????sounds like a new pick up line to me....the law of attraction indeed!!!!" as he grinned at me, that dimpled charming smile which captivated the hottest chicks in our high school, all i could think of was, god when am i escaping from here....how much longer....n maintaining my glare, in fact intensifying it, i retorted "can u think beyond all that???u should if u intend passing the course ever....u know what ,forget it, um going to tell ms. stark that um quitting...they will find u some other mentor who gets flattered with your charm...." interrupting me he said "aahaa!!! the confession at last" while i gave him a quizzical look, he continued "about my endearing inescapable charm of course...." grunting at him n rolling my eyes i got up finishing off with my last strained polite response "good luck! i do hope u will make it to the passing grade at least, though god alone knows how that can ever happen.... if it can....take care" ...with that i walked away....while i intuitively felt his gaze follow me, have no clue why....newton's laws....thats all i could think....they are not even remotely that hard....if only he would put in some voluntary effort....while he interrupted my chain of thoughts calling me from behind, "hey wont that ruin ur perfect A's???" now he had it.....i looked at him with daggers in my eyes...."u worry about ur jinxed F's, il manage my A's......" i said rather rudely..then immediatedly i realized how inappropriate that was, i opened my mouth to correct myself, when he silenced me with his hand and said "i will....u wait n watch..." i stood stunned as he walked past me brushing slightly with that macho body of his, smelling heavenly and...AAAGGHHHH.... c'mon girl....u got tonnes of work...let him go....good riddance!!!!....********
She smiled deeply, as she looked at the half circle arches and the red tile roofs all around her......and that red and white emblem......STANFORD at last she thought.....after years of nothing but dreaming about it here she was....her second time in the united states she mused....and as an epilogue to the incident which had inevitably flashed through her head while remembering her previous experience as an exchange student in chicago during high school she set a tight smile on her face and said "wonder why that came to my mind of all the memories i have of that time" ....then pausing..."AMMY CHRISTOPHER BENZ...wonder if u finally managed to....chuck it ridzi..." then smiling brightly again, cause there was not much which could help her contain her excitement at being in her coveted destination she thought..."oh well...hello stanford....welcome me, ridhima gupta.....here i come.....n not the naive innocent uneasily adjusting high school exchange student anymore.....there's more to the story this time, as you will soon witness....for now....cant say how delighted i am to be here.....
*********
~Part 1~
~three months later~
"hey cleopatra!!!!would u spare this superman a dance while your caesar is away????" n without waiting for her to reply, he swiftly steered her to the dance floor....he had noticed her the moment she had stepped into the party, with her date, dressed as caesar of course....as the party went on he unintentionally but inevitably had watched her mixing with the crowd, from the corner of his eye, not just because she was fairly attractive, something about her, he couldnt pinpoint what, was unsettlingly familiar....he felt like he knew her, which was quite possible...halloween costumes were always effective in masking the real looks of any person although her face was plainly visible, no veils or hats in her costume, she might be some aquaintance for all he knew, and ideally he couldnt have cared less, but...that wasnt it...no he thought....there is more to this than what is obviously visible, but what???not able to hold his curiosity any longer, he had grabbed the very first oppertunity when her caesar had excused himself, offering apparently to fetch her a drink.....now as they danced he looked at her intently, his doubts being reconfirmed....he definitely knew her..BUT WHO WAS SHE????? the DJ, who was doing a great job at keeping the party alive, now changed to the deep purple track apt for describing such confused emotions of many at the costume party....
Can you remember, remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past
I am returning the echo of a point in time
Distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day
And if you hear me talking on the wind
Youve got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers......
the floor was crowded, the party goers mostly drunk, the stranger couple had danced for a few minutes just smiling, n looking around, not talking, since the loud blast of music from the whoofers was not going to make that easy..... and then as an inebriated guy bumped into her she fell into his arms, as he supported her from the push, she stood back up straight, smiling at him to imply a thank you, he thought he just had to ask her..."so ummm, what is your full time role, when u are not enacting the egyptian legendary beauty i mean...." he yelled into her ear even though they were close enough for him to have been audible to her with a bare whisper if it wasnt for the noise racket around....she smiled and yelled back to be heard over the din "i wonder if you really wana know that since my work is way too menial to befit my current get up....for now um enjoying the royal identity...." he smirked, realizing her smart move at not revealing herself to a complete stranger who had just grabbed hold of her onto the dance floor, in a halloween's fret party, which was not unfairly popular for the notoriety of events it annually witnessed....but, he thought, i would assume everybody here would know there homecoming victorious captain for the boys basketball team was dressed at superman tonight....thats was usual anyways....however, he was neither the kinds to be rebuked, nor satisfied with a plain dance when he was looking for answers...he tried again "but um sure u dont stick to that ancient cleopatra name at school....whats your preferred way of being addressed my fair lady????" before she could open her mouth they were both interrupted by a different yell "ridz!!! here goes ur lemon margarita...." then looking at her superman dancing partner he yelled with a grin again "hey captain! congaratulations! the season seems to have gone off your way as usual...the final UCB win was outstanding...." then smiling looking towards her, "mind if i take my lady back, who u very conveniently stole taking advantage of my absence" he finished giving him a friendly punch.... as the superman guy found the mysteriously familiar stranger politely excusing herself he let go of her waist, n saw her walk off with her date while he stood muttering the words he could not even hear himself "ritz???like THE RITZ in NYC???thats her name????guess i would prefer cleopatra if i was her, at least thats a human name even if its way too tacky for the 21st centuary...." scratching his hair he got himself another beer from the bar....the party was on full blast, but he needed to get some fresh air it was suffocating inside now....and this costume...how did superman sport this look....with his underwear over his pants....like c'mon what kinda fashion statement is that???? but his team mates called him that..superman.... n so they had talked him into dressing that way....
*************
as she changed into her night shorts n tee , she smiled thinking of the party she had just returned from....then she slightly smirked thinking of the irony....'egyptian legendary beauty' indeed she mused, remembering the exact compliment..... dressed as the 'commanding queen' in a 'second hand costume' she had bought at a rundown sidestreet store and then fixed for the party...she had not wanted to spend on the expensive brand new costumes up for sale at all leading stores so she had found an alternate when all her friends had insisted that she could not miss the event, considering she had not seen too many halloween bashes back home in India...that was the charm of being an international student in a school like this...the stature, the exposure, the experience was worth the obscenely expensive tuition she was paying them not just academically....she remembered how as an exchange high school student a little less than a decade ago, she had been the all work n no play girl in the same country....but her education during the undergrad as an engineering major had greatly altered her approach to life....she was now a grad student usually submerged neck deep in course work n research, but not forgetting that she had to experience the fun of living in the same life itself.....while maintaining her academic accolades, she had gained another dimension to her personality.....she was now a smart and confident individual with a spark about her that set her apart from most of her lot, who were forever, as she had been in the past, freaked out with work never taking the time to enjoy the process of dwelling in THE STANFY... comfortable with trends and parties, music, dance and nightclubs, she would often be subjected to the standard question "do u ever lose ur cool woman????are u never ever stressed"....of course she was human how could she escape the anxiety of tough moments, but she had just learnt over the years how to take everything coming her way in the same stride....she could now reason herself to peace even during stressful workloads and take appropriate rejuvinating breaks with the gang of people she had eventually managed to claim as dear friends in her few months as a stanford engineering grad student....so much had changed....if she had thought that undergrad had matured her reasonably, then grad school had proved there was never an end to the process of growing up in life....though the initial weeks had been hard, with a sudden surge of work much greater than what she had done in months of her earlier education, and managing the whole house between her and her housemate, and missing being with her family, she had emerged happy and delighted at being in her dream school, her enthusiasm endless....work never ceased to take its toll, but stanfy was a happening place and weekends made up somehow for the packed weeks....as she lay in bed all these thoughts running through her content mind, her phone rang....3AM in the morning????who was it now????she picked the call seeing the name muski flashing...."hey ridzi...u awake????" "why do u even bother asking me that muski....have u ever in the many years of our friendship bothered about indecent hours of calling???? anyways i am awake now i guess....did 'MR.REGGIE' propose???" ridhma said in a teasing tone "why do u think it can be just about him if i call u at 3AM....he did not look out of the circle of the chicks surrounding him even once....n anyways, he is just a crush....a big one, but just that.....but u missy have no reason to jeer at me anymore, i am all out for just a player on the team while u pick the man himself???? i called cause andy mentioned u were dancing with the basketball captain and in case u did not know, reggie's best friend...the great ARMAAN himself????" ridhima frowned a bit, the one thing she had still not quite picked up was the insane sports fanship here....she was the only 'sports illiterate' as her friends had christened her, never quite smitten by the college sports the way all of her gang was....infact all of the nation...it was like a religion....n this was not her first expereince with crazy basketball fanship here in the states....like cricket in india she thought...."hello????u there sweety????i know his mere name must have u in a daze....how was it????gosh cant believe u got to dance with him...." as muskaan's words brought her back she said, "muski, dont be a jerk....u know i dont care about all these sports gods the entire stanford worships....i mean um sure he must be awsome since they are supposed to be nothing less...what did u say the name was????yeh armaan...wait????he's indian???sure did not look like one...but his face was not completely showing and the disc lights were all there was to provide vision so i would not be sure....anyways...i hardly got to interact he just swept me off to the floor....must have been drunk like the whole house....n then andy was back within minutes...end of the story....does that put ur hyped mind to rest????" muskaan heard her tirade of jaded explaination unable to believe how she could take this so casually, aloud she said finding her voice finally "hyped mind????i know you are not the typical stuck-in-the-books engineering girl, but seriously, u need to shed off this ignorance and get a life 'lady physics'....armaan is to stanford basketball what the late mr. newton is to science....n to answer your question, yeh hes half indian...his mother was indian....but his father is an english fellow, some descendent of a chain of english lords or something....and ...." cutting her off ridhima said in a partially sleepy tone "alright thats enough....i am not currently employed by the great english family to pen down a biography for the star basketballer of a son, the heir to the royal heirloom....if thats all, i am off to hit the bed now....gotta report to my advisor early tomorrow....sweet dreams muski!!" with that she yawned cutting off the call before her best friend would start off with another lengthy round of praises for the school's superstar....oopz superman, she corrected herself with a mocking smile on her lips....her man would be a gentleman for real not just a royal bloodline to boast of...chivalrous yet witty, a smart talker...not someone who would assume every girl was dying to be in his arms on the dance floor without waiting for her consent....the sporty macho looks were not gona be impressive, not that she had anything against them....but she had no intentions of being a chick possessed by a popular sports guy amongst his other trophies whom he could show off, a rough egoist to the core but a hunk she could boast of as her guy, who could talk of nothing but his game and fans, insensitive to her eminence as an individual and not just as another babe in his life....not her idea of a love life....she wanted to be special to her guy, in every way....for being herself....anyways she thought....why am i even thinking all this...he just asked me for a dance....not like he's been waiting for a me all his life....must have just been the alcohal or why in the world would he leave all those chicks who go cheerleading for his team and come to me....armaan....the name must be all that is indian about him....um surprised he hasnt changed it into an american homophonic form....switching off these no relevance thoughts, she called it day...
************
"AMMY??!!!" he turned around with a frown as his team mate n buddy rahul grewal, or 'REGGIE' , called him from behind..."its ARMAAN, dude....not AMMY anymore...." rahul sat down beside him taking the empty bottle out of his hand n giving him a new one "yeh armaan it is mate....so what brings u out????lack of oxygen i hope not lack of beauties???" said reggie dropping the topic, he had not gotten used to the change from ammy to armaan in all their years of undergrad together, it would still slip off his tongue, but that was not a discussion where he wanted this night of double celebration to drift off, the halloweens night and the celebration for the homecoming team after their final victory of the season last weekend....since he alone among his friends knew what had caused this transformation....it was the rear end of high school, the last month to be precise, when ammy's mother had passed away from a severe and sudden asthma attack, ending in an inevitable cardiac arrest.....an indian by nationality, she had been a chronic patient for ages but well paid for advanced medical facilities had added to her short life....ammy was a single child, he had a best friend in his dad, and his mother had loved him to bits....but with the lifestyle of a pampered heir, he had never been serious about life, always taking it for granted that things would go his way...he would make them....he knew his mother was not in constant good health, but he had seen the medicines eased her problems and never understood how grave the implications of her medical status was at that age....and so her death had come to him as a complete shock.....that shock, though short lived thanks to his dad's efforts, had left its undeniable mark on him....initially he just renounced everything in his life, but Sr. benz , Mr. Christopher Lawerence Benz had ensured this state was only metastable, and so few months down, he was back, with minor appearing but essential changes....his mother had named him armaan, while the middle name came from his dad, and during his schooling years in chicago, the 'armaan' had found a convenient version of 'ammy', which his mother did not quite take to and mentioned every time he went back to london for his breaks from the boarding school....but the acronym had stuck for good until he lost her, then in his recovery weeks from the shock, he decided he would never be anything other than armaan ever again, as his lifelong tribute to the only lady he truly loved....and so it had been....after months of being with his father in london, post Lady Benz's loss for the family, he had returned to the states for he wanted to live a free life again, without the weight of being a Benz....and joined the music and theatre school at the university of michigan as an undergad....however, he knew his father had expectations out of the Benz heir, which he never spoke aloud, fearing to be an obstacle in armaan's pursuit of his passions- music and basketball....so after undergrad he switched to a completely different discipline....his admission to the stanford graduate business school was a pleasant surprise for his father, and when he asked his son what had eventuated this change of interest, armaan had said "heirs never relinquish upon what is rightfully theirs....music n basketball are mine forever, but um not about to let you down after generations of that family stature father....with a professional degree from Stanford, I will soon be the Benz i am supposed to be...." and without letting his father interrupt he said "and i want to do it, there is no obligation involved dad"....and so it had been....in these last few months at stanford he had indeed done wonders in class, and stolen the show on the game court...."so whats the plan for the thanksgiving week end of next month???another bash just before finals hit us????" asked rahul coming out of his past flashbacks..."actually no....i have to go to india...." seeing the surprise on his friends face he explained, "its clashing with a wedding in mumma's family reggie....dad wants me to go with him....n i said yes....mum would have wanted me to go i know...." hearing that reggie just took a swig from his bottle of wine n said "think i could join u???" armaan smiled at his friend knowing the reason for this request....reg would not let him be alone in a family and a country where he was bound to be flooded with the memories of his mothers last days....he nodded his consent without a word.....draining the last of his drink....
*************
~Part 2~
~a fortnight later~
" wow cant believe, a week more and then we are all set to leave for home....um so excited about the wedding ridzi....imagine anji finally in love.....the whole idea sounds out of the universe...." ridhima looked at muskaan with a tired smile "yeh but i wonder if i will be alive to attend the wedding....getting the professors to take my exams early so i can leave in advance was a bad idea...it is sure playing havoc....wrapping up 3 weeks worth of work in one is no cakewalk....n the time just flies away when u want it to stay still so u can get enough revision done for the test....and..."as her eyes fell on the watch "OMG time....shoot muski....i have the library shift in 10minutes....catch ya later" with that she dumped all her stuff from the desk into her backpack, " hey leave the car keys, i gota pick up some gifts for the wedding..." said muskaan as ridhima ran out of the lab, tossing the keys towards her, shutting the lab door behind ....god please i cant get late another day for the shift in the same week now....she thought crossing her fingers silently....
"ridma, i received your mail mentioning you will be gone from next week for about 3 weeks???will you be back before christmas though, to continue the part time shift????" she heard her boss at the library address her the usual wrong way, as she put forth that question, the moment she entered the locker room to push in her bag..."yes megan, i will be gone for 3 weeks, and be back on christmas eve itself....my sister is getting married so i arranged for the professors to test me early...." she said in a relieved voice, thank god megan had not mentioned how she was barely in time for the shift...."i should get going for my shelving shift....there's alot to be done in the shelves assigned to me and i want to wind up all of that before i leave...." megan nodded and said "sure go ahead....n congratulations for your sister i hope you have a fun break....oh n do one thing leave me a written note for your absence just for my records" with that they each went their own way....
************
As she stood on the step stool trying to arrange the books in call number order on the topmost and last shelf for the day, she cursed her self as usual for being the only not quite tall child of the family....it was so hard to reach the topmost books even with the stool she thought balancing herself on tiptoes, as she took the books, 2 at a time from the shelf to put them onto the cart next to her, so she could sort them out n place them back...."hey excuse me, there's nobody at the help desk n i need a little help here so..." ridhima interrupted without looking at the source of the voice "yeh just give me a minute and il be with you..." saying so she dropped the 2 heavy books in her hand onto what she assumed was the cart only to hear an instantaneous "OUCH" she turned spontaneously to see that the books had hit a guy's head since he had moved the cart to approach her with his question, " oh shoot! um so sorry i did not realize u moved the...." she stopped midway in her sentence as he looked back up after picking the fallen books from the ground and offered them to her...."cart" she finished after that pause, not believing her eyes...."peace, girl...my fault, i moved the cart not realizing the consequences, think u could quickly help me with the book, i need to head for practice soon..." practice?? so it was him she thought....AMMY....for moments she was hesitant to even think the name in her head, such was her state of shock...she was not mistaken in recognizing him at all....SHOOT! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE DOING HERE...AT STANFORD...AND IN A LIBRARY OF ALL THE PLACES????seeing her staring at him, he gave her a 'can we proceed now' smile, he was not exactly unaccustomed to such female attention, but as she kept staring without blinking, while he had been slightly rubbing his head where the books had hit him....he was compelled to look carefully n he realized she looked familiar...just like....before he could think ahead she said, "actually um so sorry but i have only 10minutes of the shift remaining n still need to sort alot but..." speaking a bit louder she spoke to somebody behind armaan "hey mike! can u help someone here with a book look up please", and then getting back to her books without eye contact she said "mike will help u out, i beg your pardon for the inconvenience" finishing in a tone which indicated an end to their conversation...he looked at her a bit startled, his presence often subjected him to completely unexpected reactions from his girl fans...but this had definitely been the weirdest ever...in a hurry right then he just left muttering "girls!!!", giving her a last curious glance, shaking his head...ridhima meanwile heaved a sigh of relief....thank god he had not realized who she was....somehow, she did not know why, but she was not keen about re opening windows in her past, least of all through him, of when she had been the meek dominated girl overlooked by everyone despite her obvious skill and intelligence...she had outgrown the image long ago, and had no intentions of being reminded of that period,definitely not from ammy.....but what could he be doing in stanford???must be here for a game....but then why would he need a book from the library????can he even read????ok now thats too much, of course he can...but....oh well she thought, ample work to get back to ridzi.... he left n did not recognize u....so well...good riddance....she got done with the last of the books on the shelf n then walked back to the lockers to collect her belongings....just before walking out she remembered she had to submit a written leave, hastily she scribbled it out, without thinking much, somehow the encounter had produced a passive effect on her wound up nerves she thought, she moved out towards the main desk where her boss was on the phone simultaneously searching the keys for her car.....as she closed in she looked up only to see....HIM????oh no, not again she thought and was going to turn around when megan held onto her arm n while still talking on the phone indicated her to help him check out the books....ridhima looked at her helplessly, as if she was rooted to the spot, for seconds....WAS THE WHOLE UNIVERSE CONSPIRING AGAINST HER????then getting a 'go on' look from megan she moved towards him, and avoiding eye contact she mumbled almost inaudibly, as if afraid of being identified with her voice, which logically she knew deep inside was not possible, "hello! can i help u with those books?" armaan meanwile, though caught up in his own thoughts, mentally trying to work out a feasible solution to meet his preponed deadlines, had not failed to notice the obvious discomfort the girl before him was undergoing, and not for the life of him could he understand how he had propelled it to happen, for one thing he was sure, he was the cause....handing her the books he had a sudden instinct, and thought that might help him analyze what exactly was happening, so he quipped " yeh mike helped me find them, guess u can help me loan them out atleast....isnt this amounting to an overtime now???" much as he tried he could not make that sound like he was offended, because he was not, he was merely puzzled and somehow thats all his tone indicated, though he had wanted to add a reproaching tone to it....she looked up ever so briefly n then back to the monitor before saying in a soft tone not wanting to attract megan's attention, "i apologize for that....just stressed with work...." he felt an instant guilt pang and said spontaneously "oh um sorry to hear that....ummm...here's my id for checking out the books" as she took it from him nodding slightly to his reply she could not avoid reading the name on it just to reconfirm what she knew now without a speck of doubt was a certain fact....but what she saw now, completely paralyzed her with shock, if a greater extent was even possible after the last stroke in the shelving area....the card clearly said 'ARMAAN CHRISTOPHER BENZ' ....ARMAAN???as in THE ARMAAN she thought....its him AMMY.....the basketball guy....the superman????like the guy who pulled her to the dance floor at the party....OMG she thought....this just cant be happening....the day was turning out to be a pandora's box...and then bingo! here comes the next one she thought looking at the books he wanted her to check out...business and finance related literature????this time she was not even shocked, cause she had already outdone any existing records for display of human reactions in shock over the past few minutes....in complete lack of any synchronism of her thoughts, she blurted out without control over her heightening sense of disbelief with each passing second "business and finance???" then seeing his look with raised eyebrows she said in a more composed voice "i mean...interesting...ummmm interesting subjects to study are they????" he gave her 'funny girl' look and said "yeh i like them sure....prefer math to that newton guy's apple theory n attraction laws any day...."and these last words simply jerked her out of the reverie she had slipped into....was that an intended comment????so he had recognized her then and ....interrupting her thoughts he confirmed her worst fears "by the way i think i finally recognized u....." her heart stopped beating in that moment and she could swear she knew what it must feel like when u die of a cardiac arrest....as she heard him continue in his suave tone "ur cleopatra right?????i mean id love to call u by your real name if you would let me know that of course" she heaved a sigh of relief without realizing and then looking back at him she opened her mouth to put up some spontaneous excuse when megan said coming over, "thanks a lot dear....good luck with the exams....and enjoy the wedding!!!" ridhima shot her a genuine smile, not for the wishes, but for getting her out of the tight spot and without a word she moved at the fastest pace she could, before anything else knocked her out completely this time, she felt faint hearted now, n was sure to not survive another 'surprise' she thought.....
***********
OMG WHAT AN EVENING she thought for the umpteenth time as she unlocked the door to her apartment, noticing muski had probably decided to work in her lab that night since all the lights were put out....ammy was armaan...the jr.benz...the guy she had mentored in high school....who had....well she thought...he had never really bothered her except during that mentoring session when he had been so indifferent that she had just given up....that was the whole issue, she had been so insignificant then that people did not even put efforts to bother her....n now here he was....at stanford....the basket ball champ as could have been expected....but a business school student????she had decided to walk back instead of catching the school bus, as she had felt the need for a walk in the fresh air, no productive work could have been done in her then state of mind....now she was back home but her mind was still not at rest....she decided to make herself a cup of coffee before getting down to her last n most hard take home exam....as the coffee brewed in the pot she stood by it absentmindedly thinking......its fine ridzi....its just him....i mean c'mon woman....then u claim to have changed over the years????why did he have that effect on u???why did u after so many years now lose ur head in a situation, which was not even big deal...he just asked u for a book....n thats ur job....so why did u lose ur nerves....no no no....it was just the way it happened she told herself..."completely caught me off guard thats it....yeh thats what....was stanford the only place left in the world for him to have joined.....well now i know it, so fine...yeh now il be alright....confident n relaxed again" with that she sighed deeply n then spoke again "yeh ur good to go now girl....and anyways" she was interrupted by the doorbell....murmuring "that must be muski" she went to open the door....and there it was...the last final blow of the day....the perfect grand finale to the disastrous evening she thought as she came face to face with him again.....as he said in hesitant voice "hey!" she looked at him, and then as he ran is fingers through his hair, her eyes did not want to believe that it was him....as he stood smiling and started "sorry i know this is abrupt but i tried catching hold of u outside the library itself, just could not spot u anywhere out there and i dont even know ur name so ....." but before he could speak any further, she, deciding it was time to end all this, only then would she regain her confidence and calm, she found her voice, n spoke as sternly as she could manage "look, i apologized for the book thing right????why are u stuck with knowing my name????n for heavens sake stop stalking me at least" as the words slowly dawned upon him, his smile changed to a frown, and then his eyes narrowed, and as she moved to slam the door shut, thinking the message had been conveyed loud n clear, he pulled it back firmly, and she just could not move it anymore...and he said "wait wait wait....hang on.....WHAT DID U JUST SAY????" he literally bellowed into her face now....he felt like all the doubts which had been welling inside him had just displayed themselves as this outburst owing to her last statement....he felt furious beyond the control of his wits....here he was trying to help this girl out of her shyness, and do her a favor, despite the cold shoulder she had given him all the times they had met.....and she?????and as she stood transfixed to the spot hearing him yell, he continued "I, Armaan??? is stalking a girl????OH MY GOD...i dont believe u could even get that thought in ur head....who the hell do u think u r anyways????cleopatra for real????giving me that weird attitude all this time....and u think if um being chivalrous enough to not give it back to u, u can do or say what u want????" as she still stood rooted to the point, he pulled her hand and put a paper into it saying "the lady at the desk said u forgot that in there while checking out my books, so i offered to drive along n get it to u....but no no no....bad idea...." then ruffling his hair in frustration he looked upwards trying to control his anger....and then looking back at her he continued "stalking u???....oh please, get a life...what in the world possessed you to believe that even for a second...." with that he let go of the door.....turned around and walked off, leaving her clutching onto the paper he had thrust in her hands...
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~Part 3~
As she finally prepared to catch a much procrastinated short sleep at about 5AM, after managing to do a considerable part of her exam somehow, the turmoil of emotions which she had put aside with considerable effort all came back crashing, n this time she just did not have it in her to push it away....so she lay awake tossing in her bed....ammy had changed nothing about himself except his name she thought....he was still the same as he had been....the star student she had detested for his seemingly easily gained popularity....n yet she couldnt help but admire him.....she admitted the latter after overcoming a boulder of opposing emotions....but somewhere inside she knew it was true.....it always had been....as she thought deeply about what it was that had made her react the way she had today on seeing him she knew it was nothing but escapism.....he was not to blame in the least for what had happened.....she had just never thought her past would rebound into her life so soon.....her thoughts wandered back to that archimedes like 'eureka' moment which had changed her life completely, had helped surface the real me in a matter of moments; which had been dormant for all the past years....it was during the second year of her undergrad when using the newton's laws in a project theory, she had remembered what ammy had said to her during the peer mentor session...and it had put her to thinking, for some unknown reason she looked at it in a way she had never done before....she admitted, with much reluctance, that he had not been exactly wrong....n then the irony of comparing a physics law with a pick up line had just made her laugh....for real....n for the first time she realized that he had not been stubborn to learning, he had just thought in a way other than the obvious....n then it struck her, wasnt that the truth beneath all science????to think outside the box????thats exactly what the great sir newton himself had done....thought of gravity from a falling apple, like c'mon, he wasnt the only person in the world who had seen an apple fall was he????somehow....the chain of thoughts that were triggered that eventful night had changed her perceptions in life, and she had concluded that she had always worked diligently for every task she put herself to in order to be what she was ideally supposed to be, but perhaps not quite what she wanted to be....she had figured that being everybody's ideal was not the trick....u had to be yourself...the unique yourself....which was nobody other than you....doing what u wanted to trully do not what u thought was the accepted best....she had realized that all her life she tried to keep everyone around her happy by sacrificing her self identity without realizing because it was so totally a part of her character to redeem evevryone's wishes that after a point she had lost distinction between what she wanted to do and what she did, fulfilling everyones dreams except her own, and so everyone had just taken it for granted that she would do only what was considered right and best....she figured always being the best had sapped the fun of being so.....just being top of class was not what she wanted in life....she wanted to enjoy being so....n that would not be possible if she kept trying to be the ideal person....ideal people, like ideal situations in physics, were only theoretical, and in practical implementation, imperfections and assumptions would creep inevitably...then it was real....not just theoretical....the realization had changed her attitude in life....from there on she had followed her instincts for everything n not the rules set for her....AND HE HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR IT she thought now....
for she had always wanted to be like him, loved , popular, happy being herself....and she had put everything into making that happen, but it had not....until that night when she had realized that you could not make happiness happen....u had to feel it in doing what u did....thats what he had been like....she had never known him as a person, only as a celebrity, but somewhere she knew now this was the real him....he was a big shot, who followed his own head and heart and nothing else.....
and this brought her back to the current moment....as she thought over the entire evening again, she realized her analysis was correct....he had not changed at all....he had followed his instincts again, and thats why he had bothered to come all the way to give her those papers....she admitted somewhat grudgingly, with a pang of regret, that he was right....there would be no reason for him to follow a girl like her, let alone stalk...and it had been her own hype of him, which had biased her interpretation of his sudden visit...n then with guilt, she thought of what she had said to him....she did not think it would matter much to him or that he would even remember this evening again, but within herself she decided she had to apologize somehow when fate would give her the apt chance to do so.....for somewhere she believed and wished, that this wasnt the last of him in her life....she was not smitten by his looks, nor taken by his charms....just some attraction....as she closed her eyes, she opened them almost the same instant and grinned thinking....THE LAW OF ATTRACTION!!!
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"ammy this is so boring man.....not even a single chic in sight so far...its almost midnight n still another hour before we board the plane n...." he noticed armaan was busy in a sports magazine.... frowning, as he started to speak with indignation, armaan looked at him and said in a serious tone "first, its armaan not ammy when will u start remembering ...." and then with a sly grin he added as he noticed something looking beyond rahul..."and....there is something interesting for u reg my man...look behind u" as rahul turned around to see in the direction following armaan's gaze he saw...HER???quickly turning back he muttered in a low tone "is that her????omg.....dude u gota save me man.....she just goes into a dream when um talking to her n its so embarrasing.....i mean i love the attention, but not from her man....omg omg...no no no....i have to move out of here before she sees me...." as he made a move armaan held him back "too late for that dude....she has obviously seen u which is why she is walking towards us....n anyways, whats with u????she is beautiful and dotes on u.....and seems like a nice girl and"....he added giving him a slanting smile" she is much better than all those brainless cheerleaders u hang around with....atleast she would help u with the homework!!!!...in fact.." said armaan his grin widening, "um sure u like her too.... ur so totally possessive about her that why u've never let even me meet her...." he completed winking at him.....rahul retorted with clenched teeth "dude, u know i cannot mess with this girl.....anybody else but her......if dad came to know, um dead.....and ..." "hey reggie" hearing her chirpy voice behind him, rahul gave an 'um dead now for sure' expression and then turned around with a forced smile "hey muskaan, what a pleasant surprise ....what are u doing here???" before she could answer armaan quipped "well i guess its a possibility she came here to catch a flight reg, " and stepping ahead, then smiling at muskaan with a twinkle of mischief he said "hey beautiful, um armaan....and ????" muskaan interrupted him with a smile, shaking his extended hand and replied " i know ur armaan, who doesnt....um muskaan...nice to meet u finally, reg never introduces me to u even though i insist for it all the time..... n yeh we are catching a flight to india" armaan looked at her, a bit surprised she had said all of that without any of those artificial flutters which he was used to receiving from girls.....she had been natural....no jitters and a lovable smile....."we???so there is someone else with...." and before armaan could speak further, he heard a voice from behind him which made him stop short his mouth still open as he heard her sing "happy birthday to u, happy birthday to u, happy birthday dearest muskaan happy birthday to u" he turned around while she still continued singing, her face hidden behind a huge teddy, and as she walked past him, her face still hidding, wearing a punjabi red suit, he finally felt a piece fall into place somewhere in the jigsaw of his mind.....it hit him now, the suit, indian, ...omg thought now i know.....when he could not even see her, what had not been evident the couple of times he had been with her face to face....it had been irking him ever since that halloween's night....the faint familiarity, n now, this moment when her face was actually not visible to him he realized who she was.....as she removed the teddy from the front of her face, putting it down, and pulled muskaan into a hug twirling her around, they both came face to face.....his guess confirmed.....and both were for that long moment completely zapped....for different reasons of course........
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~Part 4~
As muskaan pulled her out of the hug, ridhima slowly came back from her initial no reaction state, and then almost with a jerk withdrew her gaze from the last face she had expected to see here....as she glanced back at muskaan, who was smiling deeply cause of the surprise she found her voice, but "did u like it???" was all she could utter and before muskaan could answer, armaan who had also finally come out of the shock of realization and now had a different air about him said looking at her "of course she must have, unexpected surprises always make people..... happy," he said the last bit in an intended way, without meaning to...but his reaction was just spontaneous and even he was unable to figure what was causing it....then kicking himself mentally he looked at muskaan and said "so someones birthday girl huh!!!...." then pulling her into a light hug he said, "happy birthday beautiful!!!" and then he let her go, she was brimming with happiness said in an excited voice " omg ridz, this is amazing....i thought u forgot in the excitement of the wedding....n u sly woman, went to the bathroom supposedly huh leaving me to get all that heavy luggage checked in alone....." saying so muskaan hugged ridhima again who smiled, still partially shaken....then hearing rahul clear his throat they let go and rahul moved towards muskaan to give her a hug, then changing his mind just extended his hand and said "happy birthday muskaan" and as the three of them just chattered, while ridhima was completely conscious of the gaze on her......armaan was constantly looking at ridhima hearing and speaking nothing, but his mind racing with thoughts....she had changed a lot, the glasses were gone, to reveal her beautiful light brown eyes, the hair were left open, and......he figured he had not recognized her suddenly today, it had been coming to him n then falling just short of a realization for the previous times they met....perhaps her dress today had finally done the trick ....and observing her top to bottom he realized looks was not the only thing that had changed about her....then he remembered her discomfort in his presence that evening at the library....so u knew all along who i was he thought to himself, and u prefered letting me stay in the dark, preferred no confrontations with ur most worthless student did u lady physics???so what were u avoiding....witnessing a new me....or showing off the transformed u???...slowly a smile crept on his lips, and his eyebrows arched slightly as he thought....hmmmm so someone gained expertise at stuff other than physics....but u did not realize what u were up against i guess.....playing smart here, are we????...alright missy enough of ur hide and seek....i know this game and all its rules....n uv broken enough of them by hiding urself keeping me ignorant about who it was that i had to find....lets play it fair now....u wana run away, lets see how far u go......aloud he said...."well well well, if the happy reunion is over, id say this calls for a substantial treat....ummm reg, buddy....why dont u find the beautiful birthday angel a nice table close to the cafe that side while i go fetch us a cake to occasion this moment...." he did not miss noticing ridhima with a side look as her expression clearly read 'arent u missing someone over here'....letting the pause have its effect he turned towards her n then giving an 'oops! um sorry look' he continued, "i meant i will go get the cake with..." a questioning pause this time, "with her...." then looking back at rahul n muskaan he saw rahul was going to oppose but before he could armaan said "reg, dude ur still standing????Waiting for what man....go on....." rahul gave armaan a murderous look only to get back a naughty smile, and as they made a move, armaan turned towards ridhima and signalled with his arm saying "please....ladies first..." she glared at him, with an underlying helplessness and walked ahead...as he moved to match step with her he said in a slight whisper like hoarse voice "i am sorry..." as she looked up into his eyes all puzzled, he continued with a meaningful glance " armaan....i am sorry armaan....isnt it time u said those words honey???" she frowned at him addressing her that way "huh???"..."yeh...u owe me that id say....wat do u think, about time is it???" she looked at him in irritation now, it was true that she had wanted to apologize to him for the other evening, but this guy, she thought, why was he was always such a pain....speaking stiffly she said "yeh...um sorry....i was rude.... n ....."... "n u arent being too polite apologizing like that....but ur forgiven anyhow...lets say um in good mood....anyways so i guess its time for a formal introduction finally...u already know my name....so that leaves us with....ur name..."he paused keenly observing her conflicting expressions as she, he knew without doubt, was trying to find a way to wriggle out of this yet again....he continued "which i guess i finally know...."as she looked up at him startled he said in a low tone as if saying it aloud might be a bad idea...."i dont mean to embarras u but....well....its a weird name wouldnt u agree????" as her startled look transformed to an indignant one, he spoke again before she could retort "i mean, who likes being addressd by names of hotels....RITZ....how about i continue with cleopatra??it has a definite edge in this case id say"he said all of that with a teasing grin, while ridhima just stared at him puzzled, until she realized what he was thinking....she was relieved for a moment...so he still did not know it was riddhima....he was just saying a wrong version of what muskaan had said.....and making fun of her????then she got all mad at him again....why was he such a bloated ego jerk, aloud she said, "its ridz, with a 'd' not 't'...." with that turned her head jerking her hair hard n walked away towards the only counter with bakery stuff....following her lead, he shook his head still laughing and said to himself "ridz with a 'd'...yeh right ms. 'r' for ridhima....' as she stood deciding the flavor, he said from behind, "could u pack us the strawberry cake???" cringing her nose she said "eeks!!! strawberry thats way tooooo sweet..." looking back she told the guy behind the counter, "pack the coffee cake n could u..." he interrupted "i should have guessed ur choice had to be the bitter coffee against the sweet strawberry, ms. ritz with a 't'....but that lovely friend of urs seems to be an angel.....um sure she prefers sweet stuff..." looking at the guy again he said "strawberry please, its final...." she glared at him without masking it now and said "u know what, do what you want, why do i even care....but pleasssse, just stay away from me, let me live in peace...."saying so she was going to walk off when he said "thats kinda impossible" she stopped curious to hear what he was going to say, but without turning,as he said "cause the harder u keep pushing me away um bound to be pulled closer by the same force, thats how it goes right???by 'the law..... of..... attraction' ???" as she swiveled around instantly by 180 degrees he continued smiling at her a raised eyebrow and said in a softer voice "every action has an EQUAL... and OPPOSITE reaction....i daresay i am entitled to a pass grade this time, ms. ridhima gupta????
now he had completely caught her off guard....bulls eye he thought, thats what u call the rebound shot after missing the real one.....how long did u think u were gona continue winning.....the guy behind the counter broke the stare between the two saying "that would be $40...." armaan turned around to pay while ridhima stepped ahead and putting the cash on the counter....armaan took it away n and handed a card to the guy and offered her the cash back without looking at her....she said "no thanks i dont need u to pay, u can keep it...." he looked at her now and replied "um not doing it for u....its my treat for muskaan" then taking her hand and putting the cash into it "n now if u dont mind, we created enough scene here already...." with that he walked off with an inside smile, leaving her to collect the cake....while she felt it was going to be hard to check her temper much longer why did he always assume things would be done his way...collecting the cake she was going to walk back too when the guy at the counter said, "hey u forgot to collect ur boyfriend's card...here u go...." armaan who had not moved far enough to miss those words stopped in his tracks...and then smirked...aaawwwww ridhima....our mutual ATTRACTION was so visible even to that guy...." saying so he laughed out loud....only to find her standing beside him offering him his card without giving him a glance, and visibly fuming in rage...." omg sweetie...ur the first girlfriend iv had who is ready to give me my card back without overdrawing the account limit!!!" she looked up at him partly startled and partly furious n he winked at her making her go red without her meaning to, and then as she turned and walked away he ran to catch up with her and then said "ok peace....seriously....game is up" as she looked up at him he extended his hand and said "friends???" she just stood a few seconds looking at him trying to read his mind, before giving him her hand and then saying "guess we should get back to them now...." he replied letting go of her hand after holding onto it a momemt too long she felt " sure....so where are u guys headed to in india..." "my sister's getting married in delhi, thats where i will be most of the time and ...." " o wow lady, cant believe how lucky u are, keep going places i go.....u sure its not u who is stalking me now??"...as she looked up at him giving him a nasty look he said grinning "i thought u changed but i guess looks can be deceptive, its still just as easy to irritate u ..." then laughing he continued "alright ...kidding...we both are going to delhi for a wedding as well....wanted to accompany dad"....."who's wedding" she asked...."well its my mother's"....he paused at the word, and then with what appeared to her to be a suddenly altered low voice he resumed "my mother's nephew i think....um not quite sure....just wanted to go with dad, did not check the details well" she gaped at him..."ur going to india all the way for a wedding and ur not even sure who it is????"he just spoke looking anywhere except at her "yeh well.....wedding is not my real purpose".....then turning to face her "anyways, ur sisters wedding huh????u must be excited....is it the usual Indian arranged marriage???" she shook her head and said "no, its the guy she has been dating for a few months now....i have not met him in person but if di fell for him, he must be phenomenal....." with that they had reached the table.....so they both took seats as ridhima put the cake before muskaan, rahul opened it for her while armaan handed her a knife he had picked up at the counter....the moment she saw the cake, muskaan looked up in surprise at ridhima and said "ridz????U GOT A STRAWBERRY CAKE????" before anyone else could speak rahul said "nah it must be ammy.....strawberry is the only flavor he eats....can u beat that???the big shot superbasketballer with a choice that girly" as ridhima giggled both she and rahul hi fived, and armaan just said with a sarcastic smile "yeh whatever...and its armaan, not ammy for heavens sake reg...." then turning to face muskaan he asked "the question is do YOU like it???"...she nodded her head vigorously and said "absoultely armaan...but ridzi never ever gets it....shes just stuck at coffee and i dont mind that either so we compromise on that....but strawberry is my abs fav...." armaan grinned looking at ridhima giving her the 'see-i-told-u-' look and then turning back to muskaan he said "u know what beautiful, um getting a gut feel....we're gona be getting along fantastic....long way to go together i guess!!" he ended winking at her but was slightly disappointed to see that ridhima had not reacted much the way he wanted...no jealousy????just plain indifference....hmmmm he thought....dont worry i always know how to get my way....then followed the usual cake cutting, singing, messing up with the icing and all that, at the end of which they were all laughing and chatting like they had been friends longtime...at one such moment ridhima just couldnt help but stare at armaan, as he laughed in pure glee over some joke he and muskaan had cracked at rahul....and she thought, he doesnt seem so stuck up with that endless attitude when u just see him like that....infact right now he seems so innocently and trully happy....and as he turned to catch her staring at him his smile changed to a curious one, and then a naughty teasing look, and then he slowly whispered close to her ears "spellbound???i have that effect on people!!" and then winking at her got back to his joke with muskaan....while she just shook her head in disgust and regret wondering what had made her think that way about him even for a moment....jerk! she muttered....then as she thought she would get up and get a glass of water he pulled her back holding onto her wrist and said looking at them all...."hang on....u girls must be flying the british airways too if your flight time is same as ours right???" as they both nodded, ridhima did not quite like the smile that started spreading on armaans face as he continued "awsome....where r ur seats???" the moment he said that both rahul and ridhima shot him a really skeptical look now, for their own individual reasons....while muskaan quipped "we r in economy, last block....booked the tickets quite late thats all we could get," she said shrugging..."well muski what r friends for....i have a perfect birthday gift for u."...and looking at rahul he said "reg is always saying he never gets to spend time with friends other than us basketball guys"....then turning back to muski..."and then u both seem to be such close friends....we have our seats in the business class, why dont u go join him there and i can just ...." shooting ridhima a quick sly look before changing it to a sweet innocent smile "join ur friend here... i guess" ....he saw rahul was about to argue so he interrupted "its ok reg i dont mind at all seriously i mean its her birthday she deserves a special time and well dont worry about me," looking back at ridhima again who was also about to protest, "i will manage somehow."...he finished with a sigh.....muskaan meanwile tugged at his sleeve to get his attention " r u serious???its fine....n.."....."no no no muskaan i absolutely insist....its the least i can do..." .and then squeezing her hand with a genuine smile he added..."i mean it..."... as ridhima realized that muskaan really was accepting armaans bait she got horrified....oh no she thought....the whole journey back with him....shoot....no ridzi do something...and so she said..." armaan its really very sweet of u but muski and i have a lot of plans to discuss for the wedding u know and..." ..."o c'mon do u always have to be a spoilsport???u guys are gona be together like all through your visit....let muskaan enjoy her birthday away from u atleast....ok how about we let the birthday girl decide...watsay beautiful???" and he grinned looking at muskaan, as she just shook her head at the two of them...they had not left a single chance to show each other down in the past 45 minutes, n somehow muskaan realized, there was more to these two than she knew...yet....she would have definitely not accepted the idea but for this hunch of hers, cause as far as rahul n she were concerned, she knew it was just a silly crush....but her intuition said she should join in on this plan...whatever it would lead to....and so she spoke aloud, much to the horror of rahul and ridhima, while widening armaans grin "sure dude....um game!!!"
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~Part 5~
"good morning everybody....we welcome you on behalf of British Airways, to what we hope will be a pleasant journey for all our passengers...We are now ready to have the passengers from flight BA 7456 board the plane...please come to the terminal 3 lounge ....we will begin with the passengers in the business class...thank you...." hearing the announcement armaan made the next move quickly before muskaan could be influenced into a change of mind...."alright two of you leave then...we will see u at the stop over in frankfurt....have fun!!" rahul, giving him a last nasty look, turned to leave and so did muskaan smiling and waving back....then she just turned back n hugging ridhima whispered...."this is ur punishment...i would not have ditched u if u told me urself what u still have to tell me...but for now it waits...till we get home..." with that she broke apart and went ahead with rahul....as armaan stood smiling watching them disappear ridhima cleared her throat to gain his attention, he turned around to find her giving him a sarcastic questioning look, waiting for him to explain..."what???" he said....and before she could speak..."actually, no i dont wana know what....um not upto lectures at this early morning hour much as ud like to give me one um sure....i have a better idea....um gona go grab a book for the flight.....how about u get one too, so u treat us both to some peace n quiet...." she just glared at him, and stomping her foot hard on the ground walked off to the ladies washroom....at least that was one place he would not enter and she could spend some 'armaan free minutes' in peace....as she walked away she cursed muskaan in an undertone for all she was facing, and would have to put up with for the next 22 hours.....
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as they found their seats, he put his carry on into the upper storage shack, and offered to do the same for her, but she just stood there tapping her foot, indicating that she was waiting for him to move so she could fix her bag herself....he merely shrugged and sat down taking the window seat.....she fit her bag into the shack, with considerable trouble since she wasnt quite tall, while he just looked at her shaking his head, knowing she would not let him help.....she had decided to not speak at all....that was the only way she thought, of surviving the flight with him by her side...cause nothing she would say could ever extract a normal reply or reaction out of him.....why the heck was he such a pain she asked herself for the infinte time that evening.....as the announcement was made for take off they both made a move to get their seatbelts on, but armaan moved in the wrong direction, not having travelled much on economy class he was used to independent seating...and so their heads collided "ouch!" said ridhima giving him an angry look and rubbing her head while he said "oops um sorry, got the wrong side...." as she said nothing, he looked at her with narrowed eyes, and said "what now???they dont tax u extra for speaking here on the plane missy" as she shot him another furious look, he said "oooohhh now um scared....ok seriously what???that was an accidental collision, n i did not make half that amount of fuss when u dropped those 2 books weighing a ton on my head....i could have suffered from memory loss for all u know....." seeing that she did not even react to his awful joke he figured he would just have to explain....so he said...."fine i give up....u wana know why i sent muskaan with reg????" now ur talking she thought and gave him the first look of interest in the last 20minutes....as he continued "i always thought u were dumb at everything that was not physics n now ur confirming it....." this time she just gave him a tired look, not wanting to argue anymore even with silent expressions, and said "can u ever make the point without digressing into a discussion about how hopeless i am in every possible way??? he grinned at her frustration, it was so much fun to irk her, cause she was such a soft target, then comimg back to the point he said in a more solemn tone "well u make it hard to not comment like that...r u blind to the obvious chemistry between them???look, u probably dont care about ur friend, but i give a dam to reg n his life....he spends too much time with worthless chicks, and iv seen muskaan at all our games....she absolutely dotes on him....n she is a really nice girl....the only one perhaps i would like to see in his life for real....and he will not make any moves with her cause she is a close family friends daughter, he's just not the kind to take a chance on something which involves his family he cares too much about them....but i know him....somewhere he loves the attention he gets from her....if she gets late at the end of a game we have won, i see him searching for her in the crowd unintentionally....he doesnt know this, but i have seen pictures of the two of them from our game celebration bashes hidden away under his clothes in the closet....he just would not realize it, nor give it a chance if something did not make it happen....u know he never even lets me meet her cause he knows um going to bring this up....u still think i should have skipped this golden oppertunity????" as he finished he looked up to find her staring at him with an intent yet unbelieving look.....as he raised his eyebrows in a questioning way she spoke up, in a voice he had not heard from her so far, it was genuine, concerned and reflected her surprise, "armaan this is....i mean....its just that.....gosh!i cant believe ur even capable of thinking this way....i mean...." before she could express herself more he spoke with mock indignation..."although badly put forth it was, il take that as a compliment from u ms gupta, perhaps the first n the last um likely to encounter for myself between the two of us....." ridhima shook her head and trying to explain " no ur right i didnt mean it to sound that way....somehow i just...." n she left it at that not knowing what words to explain in that she never thought he could fit this image so perfectly as well.....the sensitivity he had projected completely yet pleasantly took her by surprise, she had not seen, nor expected to see this face of him.....armaan meanwile figured what was going on in her head....n then remembering that he was not intending to be her angel guy he said with a grin..."alright whatever...u keep thinking...." and getting his book out of the bag "i have more interesting stuff to do than hear u praise me, theres no dearth of girls in my life who do that..." he said the last part giving her an indifferent look, but was keen to observe her reaction....he couldnt see why, but getting attention from her seemed to be affecting his actions....he was coming up with all those gimmicks just to trouble her....n he was intentionally mentioning the female craze over him trying to draw the jealous streak he had never failed to obtain this way from a girl, in fact mostly he had to put no effort into that at all....but somehow, the fact that she did not look too interested in his fanship and stardom did not come to him as an acceptable idea....he was used to being the loved guy, the charmer, the spellbounder, but much though he had teased her in the past couple of hours of how she was attracted to him, he knew she wasnt....at least not the way he was used to witnessing.....now what could be the reason for that he wondered....a voice at that moment broke his chain of thoughts, and he realized with a start, his stare at her, which he thought with relief she had not noticed....he looked up to see an airhostess who said "sir, i am told u exchanged your business class seat with a girl from this section of the plane...could i see ur ticket once again, just a confirmation formality...." "sure why not" he said, flashing her a charming dimpled smile, which had never failed to leave an effect....well not yet, he thought giving a sideway glance to ridhima....he fished into his wallet for the ticket and then finding it he leaned over ridhima, since she was on the outer aisle seat to hand it over to the airhostess.....for that one moment, as he inhaled her jasmine fragrance, he was unable to check his reaction n just closed his eyes in the pleasant effect, but then he lost sensation of her rhythmic warm breath on his neck within a moment, causing him to open his eyes, realizing she had slightly stiffened, n was definitely holding onto her breath...that brought a small smile to his face, which he quickly masked and got back to his seat, while maintaining his intent gaze on ridhima, who, as he had anticipated, had definitely been affected by those short moments of proximity....he grinned looking out of the window...she was a mere mortal after all, nobody could resist the charms of jr, sir benz!!! and then turned back to the airhostess with a normal look, as she returned his ticket saying "thank you sir, that will be all...enjoy the flight!" ridhima meanwile was still recovering from that moment....she kicked herself mentally....whats up with u ridzi....what happened in that moment n...goodness gracious!....thank god he moved away, or i was really gona have done something insane...the urge to just make him stay that way his cologne smelling heavenly was just....NO NO NO....wat crap....no ridzi get a grip girl....thats what he is exceptionally good at....for heavens dont add to his list of target girls he can boast of....he has enough of them for u to adorn his achievemnt list.....with that she faced the other way trying to distract herself with other thoughts....as she saw a mum playing with her little kid, she smilied unknowingly, and seeing her smile armaan followed her gaze.....it made him stiffen, while she found the site so cute that she turned back to find some candy in her purse to give the kid, but she froze to her seat as she saw armaan's expression.....he was looking at the same mother child scene too, except that...huh????his eyes looked like they were getting red, and...no it couldnt be....but yet it seemed like there was a threat of tears????as she spontaneouly placed her hand on his arm, he jerked out of the scene n looked away towards the window....then within seconds as he looked back towards her, trying desperately to say something n break the silence, ridhima said breaking the gaze right away..."what book is that u got????" picking it up, she said "kane and able...oh thats the best archer work iv read...just love it....specially the matthew lester character, though they kill him even before the book is half done...." armaan smiled thankfully, he knew without her saying that she had saved him an explaination which he could in no way offer, and had let go of the situation, which no doubt had given rise to several questions in her mind....but since she had been considerate enough to give him the break, he took her bait and then getting back his naughty grin with a little effort he said "thankx a ton miss know it all....il have that book back, thank you, before u reveal the rest of the plot to me without me starting with page 1....." she looked at him, angry now, here she was helping him out, and look at this guy "aloud she said "dont know why i even bothered to......never mind...." with that she turned her face the other way again, while armaan smiled, knowing what she had stopped herself from saying...and he thought, silly girl....but i guess she isnt that bad....in fact....i guess she is quite sweet after all, if u dont rub onto her wrong side....swiftly he pulled out what he had got for her from his laptop bag and before she knew, he thrust a book right under her chin....she turned around, and he urged her with his eyes to take it, which she did, and read the title 'EXODUS' by leon uris.....as she looked back at him quizzically he explained, "well when i got a book for myself i figured i should buy u one as well....i mean its no match to my company of course, but since i wont be chatting much, i got u something worthwile to spend ur time on as well...." before she could interrupt "and yeh i was going to get u a science fiction, but stopped just in time....i guessed u must have already read them all, so i got this....its miles away from anything scientific....n one of my personal favorites...hope u like it...." she just looked at him, a couple of moments not knowing what to say, this guy was so weird....she would never figure out what he was really like.....but for then she just took the book and said a quiet 'thanks' and opened to read it.......
***********
"oh no....ridz matthew lester just died n u were right he is such a ...." he stopped as his eyes fell on her face....she had dozed off, with her reading glasses on, clutching on to the book.... he had been too engrossed in reading for the past almost couple of hours and had not seen her fall off to sleep.....that was the way he was when he got hooked to a new book....now as he looked at her, he smiled inevitably, her head had fallen off towards the aisle, finding no support, a slight frown on her face due to the uncomfortable position he guessed, but even that had not kept her from sleeping....must have been tired he thought...gently, and cautiously trying not to wake her up he moved her head on the inside, so she could rest it on the seat, but much as he tried it would not stay, so at long last, he just made it rest on his shoulder lowering himself in his seat to match her short height....as he felt her clutch onto his shoulder for further support in her sleep, while a smile formed on her lips as she snuggled into her now comfortable headrest.....removing her glasses he thought...,OMG...shes such an angel...well when she is sleeping that is, he thought with a naughty grin...and got back to reading his book.....
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~Part 6~
As she opened her eyes, slowly, she remembered where she was.....she must have slept really long she thought and quite like a log, for she was taking so much time getting back to her surroundings, n then with a start she realized where her head was resting, and hastily moved to sit straight in her own seat, armaan meanwile looked up from his book, as he felt the head lift off his shoulder and said "how was the beauty sleep missy???" she looked at him, slightly blushing and said in a lower tone "i ummmm... did not realize....i mean, u could have just woken me up u know....sorry for the trouble" she said a bit awkwardly while armaan still grinning didnt intend to let go of the chance and said "oh c'mon why dont u just admit that was the best sleep of ur life....all girls love to get an oppertunity like that with me...." as he saw a slight frown form on her face, he said further "well personally i dont mind, a beautiful lady resting on my shoulder..."as she looked at him in surprise with a small smile replacing her frown, he continued "except that u r neither....." seeing her look change to an indignant one now, he couldnt help laughing while she just continued staring at him in disgust until he stopped laughing and then gave him a nasty look, in response to which he laughed a bit more and said in betwen giggles "OMG ur hilarious ridz.....they should put u up in an exhibition some place in london ...ur sure to give the master of all expressions Mr. Bean a run for his money i can bet...how do u even do that????i mean the speed with which u alter ur expressions....OMG....just so...."and he burst out laughing again...while she just sighed deeply cursing being stuck with a jerk like him....when he finally stopped she said "u know ur lucky to be a sports star...its probably the only reason girls cling to u the way they do.....or with ur lack of etiquettes , correction, ABSENCE of etiquettes, girls would not spare u a glance or thought....."... "well um sorry to say uv just got an extremely bad taste in that case honey.....theres a lot more than my sports stardom which attracts beautiful ladies, of course now you would not know all that....." and before she could interrupt..."i do wonder though how ur boyfriend ever manages to deal with u????" and with that he looked at her intently, he did not have a reason in the world to give a thought to this issue, but some spontaneous impulse had made him add that last statement, n now he was waiting for her to reply, not sure of what he was hoping to hear from her...ridhima meanwile was taken by shock again, gosh this guy really did talk smart to get his answers she thought....not finding an escape out of his question she said, "excuse me i need to use the washroom..." and got up before he could stop her.....while he muttered to himself "no answer????now how do i interpret that???no boyfriend, or a relation she doesnt want to discuss????" without speaking aloud ahead of that he knew what he hoped the case was....then shaking his head he said "hang on dude....why do u even care....ok yeh u know what, um just plain curious....have not known too many girls like her, kinda curious to know what kind of guys they like and fall for....yeh of course, you should always update ur knowledge base about female issues, never know what comes in handy when....well...guess il have to await another chance to get that answer out of her...." with that he got back to his book again, but somewhere in the back of his head, he was still wondering what her answer would have been......
**********
As they stood next to the conveyor belts, armaan trying to get the bags off one by one, while ridhima trying to call muskaan as she had still not spotted the two of them....in fact they had missed them at frankfurt too, since muskaan had called excitedly to tell her that she n rahul were at a chocolate shop where he was buying her some for her birthday...and ridz thought about what armaan had told her, and decided to give them space, while armaan insisted she should accompany him for something he had to show her....it turned out to be the music store....he took her to the Q jam machine and fixed the headphones on her head n played a track.....as she heard it she wondered why it was so familiar....it was rock, she knew cause muskaan was a die hard rock freak, and always had that stuff playing in the room....ridhima meanwile did not mind it until it got way too harsh....but this was nice....n familiar....she had heard it before she was sure but felt like long ago, "what song is that iv heard it i ...." and before she could speak another word he cupped her mouth, his face showing shock, then he looked at other people around smiling at them apologetically, and looking back at her his hand still covering her mouth as he pulled off her headphones, with the other hand n said in a reproaching whisper..."r u insane??? why did u yell that loud, um not deaf u know...." then as she looked around at the attention she had caught, she started turning red in her face a bit embarresed, and a bit conscious since he had still not let go of her mouth....she realized that he had forgotten to do so, so she slowly pulled it off with her own hands and said in what would have have been an indignant voice had she not been so embarrased at the moment "um sorry, ....but it isnt my fault, i did not realize i was that loud cause u turned the volume of the track so high....n then u know all these rock songs....too much noise n no song....." he looked at her a bit offended, and asked "u thought that track was just a lot of noise????" she nodded her head, then shook it n seeing his confused expression she said "well much as id like to say it was horrid, since apparently u must like it alot to make me hear it, i have to admit u dont have a tragic taste...it was definitely a better one from the lot....i could hear the lyrics, n they actually made sense....music was not bad....in fact i kinda liked the guitar strumming in the background all through i guess...." and she paused as she saw his wide smile....puzzled with what she had said to make him so delighted she gave him a quizzical look, in response to which he put his arm over her shoulder, brought the CD cover in front of her from behind him, holding onto it with his free hand, and then as he moved his finger from the hand around her shoulder towards the cd to point at something, she inevitably got pulled into his hold around her tighter, which made her gasp ever so slightly....omg she thought, not the cologne again....while he, not getting a reaction from her for what he was showing looked to see her eyes lightly shut, and he guessed what was happening....he smiled even more, his dimples digging deeper, and then whispered into her ear slightly, "heylo????um not showing u a horror flick, u can open ur eyes n see its just a CD cover...." she opened her eyes instantaneously now emabarrsed to an extent she could not hide, she knew....but to avoid thinking anymore about it she looked at what he was pointing...it said " Stanfy Rockrz: lead guitarist- Armaan Christopher Benz, ....." she did not read ahead of that, just looked up at him and could not stop herself from saying "omg ur on the band????o yeh i remember, u were a guitarist in high school too right????" as he grinned nodding, she smiled seeing his excitement, so pure n obvious....as he said "yeh thats the new record we brought out a fortnight ago....it was awsome doing these tracks, since it was my first album here in stanfy.....and well the track i just played for u is ....well special...." he went off into a dazed look...which was happy yet solemn...then something brought him back, perhaps her intense gaze upon him....he continued "and apparently we hit the charts quite high and ..." as he rambled on excitedly, her audio senses faded out gradually, cause in his daze he seemed to have tightened his grip around her and now as he lead her out of the store, still chattering excitedly....all she could think of was how comforting his hold was....she was no longer feeling a jitter from his touch....in fact ideally she should have shook his grip off herself, but she felt so relaxed that way, that unconsciously she let it stay, seeing him talk, hearing nothing......
she was brought out of her thoughts as she heard muskaan's voice bellow into her ears from the other side of the phone..."HELLO????RIDZI???" as she answered without further delay "yeh... yeh um here muskaan, y u yelling in my ear....just wanted to ask where u both are....armaan is getting the luggae for us and um looking for u ppl but cant see u" muskaan replied in a normal voice now" well what do u expect me to talk like when u call urself n then dont speak up for almost a minute...where were u lost girl???" ridhima blushed, shoot, she thought she reads me even without looking at me....while muskaan continued "and i just spotted u dont worry we r walking towards u...u help armaan with the luggage poor guy having to get all of that alone, n ur bag is way too humungous" indignantly ridzi quipped "muski???can u stop supproting that jerk he's ..." ...."a wonderful guy im falling in love with" she heard armaan's cheeky voice from behind completeing her sentence not quite the way she was going to....while muskaan did not miss his line either and said still on the phone "oooohhhh i c....interesting....well um putting the call down...this has to be discussed in person i guess..." and with that she cut the call without letting ridhima correct her....so she swerevd around and almost yelled at him in an angry voice " do u ever get serious????what was that all about....muski thought u were talking for real....armaan this is not funny do u understand????" as his look changed from a grin to a quieter expression, she immediately felt guilty....she knew he was just teasing her...but somehow, she just lost her temper....she knew it wasnt cause of what he had said, but cause she was still feeling weird, she really had been so lost in his thoughts that she had not heard muskaan answer her phone for almost a minute....and then muskaan guessing she had been lost.....and then while she was still confused he had come up n said that stuff....n then muskaan teasing her about him.....she was just getting too bogged down by her own confusing thoughts about what she was feeling....and hence her unreasonble irritation at jokes she would normally laugh off....and her confused frustration had just found a vent in him...."um sorry" he muttered realizing something was not right with her, he had teased her all through the journey but though she would get mad at him and scornfully retort, this was the first reaction out of her which really was intense...and he did not want to extend this issue...."i was just joking...dint mean to...." " no its ok....um sorry....duno why i got mad over something that silly" she said and as he looked at her she tried to smile back to reassure him that it was nothing except a wrong moment....and then they both turned as they heard muskaan's chirpy voice...."ARYAN!!!" the moment she saw him ridhima ran towards him with the same excitement, that they had heard in muskaan's voice, and as rahul walked towards armaan, he smiled at him but armaan just turned back to the scene....only to find ridhima jump with joy and hug the stranger hard, and as he hugged her back, armaan felt a strong surge of emotions rise within his chest, he could not define at that moment what, why or how that was happening....but as he continued seeing them hug, his eyes narrowed with an effort as he could not keep the doubt from invading his mind.....was this the answer she had avoided mentioning?????
**********
~Part 7~
"Hmmm more serious than the usual cajoling this time, are we???" armaan almost choked on the beer he was sipping, as he was ripped out of his maze of thoughts by the sudden words, zooming around , he said with a tired yet puzzled sigh, "DAD???whats that supposed to" Chris interrupted "u know what its supposed to mean, but if u want me to put it in words, very well then, thats exactly the precision i will expect in your answer...." as he paused, armaan looked at him, still bemused but not completely unaware of what was likely to hit him next, as he heard his father continue, his doubt was confirmed...."who's the lady in question???" It was not the first time he had faced this question from his father....they had always been close friends, and their bond had only been strengthened further by his mother's sudden demise, and his father's parenting role in that period...but for this once armaan did not know what to say....was it even a lady in a question he wondered????and if yes, was it that particular lady in question.....how silly is that dude, he thought, of course its her....i mean....no no no... this girl....gosh armaan ur losing it...ok hang on.... the point is there's no lady in question here at all....but the lady we are talking about is her....WHAT????...ok lets sort this out... she is the girl dad is asking about but not the lady i am thinking of....oh but wait ...how can that be....dad is asking about the girl i am thinking of so they have to be the same right????but how can they be the same if she is not the lady in question????what the ...."so um not wrong, it is more than a thought worth dismissing....." he heard his father interrupt his chain of thoughts as chris settled on the couch besides the pool...."armaan sat down too, a bit absent mindedly.......and then recollecting his wits somehow, without any idea of what he was going to say he spoke up..."do u really want to know???..." and then after a pause, on a sudden thought he added "promise you wont be jealous???" chris looked at his son, and within that quick look he knew armaan had found an answer to escape the real issue, chris knew neither what this escape route was, nor the issue he wanted to escape....but he decided to play along bidding his time for the appropriate moment anyways and said "oh yeh whatever....there is no woman in the world who would chose you over your father....such are the charms of Sir Christopher Lawerence Benz" armaan chuckled....he knew he had his mother's heart, but instead of being the serene beautiful image like his mom....he had been the gallant enchanter, all of his charming persona was from his dad....aloud he said "well there was one....i mean, there was, is and will be...." pausing he said in a slow voice, which was delibearte yet wistful "mum....", chris looked over at him bowled over for a few seconds that followed, until armaan broke the silence continuing..."was just missing her dad", and he could say that looking straight into his father's eyes, because it wasnt untrue in the least, only not....well he thought thats enough for dad for now for he himself wasnt sure of what more there was to it exactly...while chris was figuring out, um sure that is the truth son....just not the complete truth....aloud he said "well she chose me first too...." to which armaan retorted "that was only until she had not laid her eyes on me....c'mon dad, admit it, the most beautiful, charming lady of the world would have chosen me over you at any given time!!!" as he grinned giving his father a cheesy challenging look, chris said "maybe" he paused, then looking armaan into the eye to not miss even a flicker of reaction he continued...."but i can assure you this apparently reaonably beautiful, charming lady....the lady in question here....not ur mum as we both know....will definitely take to my charms before yours....not every worthy woman makes the same blunder son......" now armaan was dumbfounded, fidgeting with his fingers he mumbled looking at his shoes "there is no lady in question dad....the question here is about a guy " "WHAAAT???" chris could not stop himself from that reaction to his son's words and their obvious implication, while he thought, completely tensed now, how and when could this have happened????armaan had always been.....while armaan realizing how his words had been misinterpreted said quickly to correct any misconeptions "i dont mean it like that dad....gosh how u let your mind run on such insane thoughts...." as chris sighed in relief, armaan chuckled again..."u really thought i....omg dad....ur hilarious...." and armaan fell off the couch onto the floor besides his father laughing....while chris smiled now, thinking what a foolish thought he had entertained even if for a second, and then he remembered what had caused it so he asked again "so then why is a guy on ur mind...who is it first of all...." , "aryan chadda.... i think...." he said in a quiet voice....then resting his head in his father's lap he said "can we skip this talk for now dad....it is not like i want to hide anything....but to be honest, i dont know exactly what it is u want to know n i need to tell.....anyways i dont think it is that considerable a topic of discussion" hearing the finality in armaan's voice chris knew it was a good idea to drop it ....for now he thought at least, because this 'not a considerable topic' as armaan had called it, had visibly been prying on his mind ever since their hug at the airport...considering the father son reunion had happened after quite a few months this time, chris had found armaan had spoken much less being quite engrossed in something which was not obvious....it is considerable son, thought chris, but il let u take ur time before u reveal it to me...n perhaps to yourself, cause something makes me believe u completely when u say ur not sure of what to tell me....aloud he said..." well alright then, come into the house ur grandmom wants u to join everyone for dinner....u know, a half english grandson, stydying at stanford....ur quite a star here son!!!" saying so chris winked at the exasperated look which had appeared on armaan's face hearing him say this, and they both got up to walk back in for dinner...."and yeh," continued chris, "i would not think u would maintain ur star status at quite the same level unless u chuck that beer can away from prying eyes....i know u are not much of a drinker, but the can is not likely to stand by my statement before ur mum's family"....armaan shrugged looking up towards what he assumed was heavens, and dumped the half full can into a bin close by, and the followed his dad inside the sliding doors....
*************
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHH...u jerk mr. underpants... get out of my kitchen if u want to even see dinner tonight" yelled ridz at him, at the same time trying to tend to her almost burnt finger by blowing air onto it rapidly, "yeh right frisco, as if u were even remotely concentrating on whats cooking in those pots, if only u could find spare time from whatever has been cooking in that pea sized brain of yours ever since u got home....say thanks to me for bringing u back to mother earth from whichever cloud 9 u were on...." aryan teased relentlessly with an evil grin... ridhima turning slightly red, retorted trying to defend herself " by burning my finger in the steaming coffee???" " well be glad it was just that, the way ur lost in ur wonderland all off that food would have burnt out...i think ur finger is a preferable victim anytime" he completed, ducking behind the kitchen table as she threw the rolling pin towards him "god frisco...i thought stanford might have atleast turned u into a remote resemblance of a lady, but not in the least, the poor guy u were dreaming of right now....tell me who it is quickly so i can warn him before he falls for ur deceptively innocent looks, you are lethal when ur trully urself" and he ducked yet again as he saw a plate flying towards him this time, catching it swiftly in the air meanwile, and chuckling at her....as she turned her back on him, in a disgruntled way, he knew she had avoided his question....they had been best friends since they were kids....muskaan, ridhima, anjali, and him, aryan....although muskaan had been a great sibling to grow up with, and anjali a perfect classmate and friend as they both decided to opt for medical studies....aryan had found his closest friend in ridhima, and the two of them had been inseperable, and were transparent to each other to the extent of reading the other's mind of thoughts which were yet to occur.....as he saw her get back to the pots on the stove, he walked towards her and sitting on the slab facing her he spoke again....."so whats cooking" she heard his unpoken last words 'in ur head' in his deliberate tone, n knew her supposedly well concealed restlessness had not escaped him even after months of not seeing her.....he never missed her latent and unspoken emotions...avoiding his gaze by walking towards the cabinet on the pretext of getting salt she said..."chicken biryani....did u suddenly get food blind, or lose your power to recognize ur favorite dish when it is being cooked before ur eyes???" he waited for her to come back, knowing she couldnt stay there forever to get salt, and as she walked back he said...."if ur done with that awful attempt at humor....or hiding facts....can i get the real answer???" she looked up to see him looking back at her intently, no smirk or grin, a genuine questioning look, and she knew there was no way to escape it....."aryan it is not...." she started only to be interrupted "ARYAN RIDHIMA...u both do ur reunion talks later or we will never get the biryani u promised us ridz....n aryan bhai...come here fast....u just have to see this...."with this muskaan dragged aryan away, much to ridhima's relief, but not a long lived one, as aryan tuned back giving her a look which she read clearly to say 'thats not the end of our conversation'....but putting it off her head for now she got back to the cooking, both in the pots and inside her head as aryan had accurately said....she still could not understand why she was so uneasy....and so she replayed the events of the last 24hours in her head yet again, she had done so enough times already to have lost count, her quest for a satisfactory answer was all but in vain....thats what aryan, she thought, its not that i dont want to answer u....i just dont know what it is u want to hear n i have to say....she shut her eyes momentarily, wary of the pace at which her mind was racing, only to jerk them open....for that one moment she had smelt his cologne again she was sure....cautiously she turned to look all about her making sure, he wasnt there...then standing back straight up she gave a nervous giggle and said "silly ridzi, how could he be here....girl...ur losing it"....with that she went back to the biryani trying to block out all ambiguous thoughts.....
*************
as he threw his jeans and shirt from the journey into the laundry basket, he heard a small yet audible sound of something metallic fall to the ground....he turned around scanning the floor for what could have resulted in the sound, just as he was going to give up and turn around his eyes stopped at a small shining silver speck....he bent and retreived it and brought it close for inspection, at first he couldnt understand for the life of him what it was, but then it struck him, like a bolt of lightening, and he gave it a closer look narrowing his eyes, undoubtedly it was a broken tiny tinklet from her dangler....as he wondered how that happened to have reached here, he remembered how she had rested her head on his shoulder while sleeping "oh i see, thats how....it must have jerked off the dangler and got stuck to my shirt at that time..." as he gazed at the tiny silver piece, it unknowingly brought a smile to his face and he whispered "i wonder if you are thinking of me too ms. short tempered know it all.....but i have to admit....there is something about u ...which i inevitably seem to miss just so...." and shaking his head slowly as he muttered those last words as if trying to contradict his own obvious thoughts, he wondered why he was feeling so, and then why was he denying the feeling......dropping to the bed, he slowly shut his eyes, trying to shut his mind and heart, as they both all of a sudden yearned to feel her resting her head on his shoulder.....as he smiled with closed eyes, running like a movie the events of the journey, his smile widened until he reached the rear end....their parting scene at the airport......
***************
~Part 8~
"What was that look on his face when we bid adieu???" she asked out aloud the question that had been so heavily on her mind that it had not even let her get involved in the family reunion after several months, and for such a special occasion....standing by herself in the balcony of her room now she gave up on trying to check her dwindling concentration in her own family affairs....all through dinner and post dinner chats she had hardly participated in all that had been discussed amongst her parents, cousins, n other family members, and muskaan n aryan...she had not however been unaware of aryan's constant observation of her lost daze, but she figured she would handle it when it came along, she had to tell him anyways, there was nothing she never told him, the thing was she needed to sort out things in her head first so she knew what to tell him....the journey had been fun, she admitted smiling with reluctance, he had teased her endlessly but she had enjoyed every bit of it without a speck of doubt she knew now, ....n what about those 2 close encounters she wondered blushing, looking back in retrospection.....what was that effect he had on her....it was so intoxicating that she semed to lose sense...he was not the first guy who used cologne n came close ....what???ok silly reason, it obviously has nothing to do with the cologne ridzi....even other than aryan, she had a whole bunch of really close guy friends in her life.....people she had danced within inches of distance, people who hugged her, or for whatever reasons had shared close moments with her as friends...n he too was a friend...perhaps even less, then why did his casual touch make her feel differently....why could she not control her reactions to his touch, his feel, the fragrance she would now associate with him forever, his...whole persona....well thats why they all fall for him i guess, she thought....thats what he is a master at, enchanting girls, who will never be anything in is life except another crazy female fan, he can flaunt each one the way he was all through the conversations we had.....with a streak of jealousy creeping in which she had not even felt when he had actually mentioned them, she argued in her mind like a stubborn kid trying to fight a lost battle....yes thats what he just chrms people....she was not being blind to logic, but then again, had she lost senses while with him??? why had she voluntarily let him keep his grip around her, rather enjoying it...why had she felt so spellbound looking into his hazel eyes each time, why did she have to fight the urge of staying close n not breaking the proximity each time they had been close....wel there was an attraction, she concluded, but it could not be allowed to proliferate and take over her the way it was right now.....cause he obviously did not feel the same way...with a grudging shudder she remebered how all of a sudden he had become cold to her when they said goodbye....he had been so warm n friendly all the time....was that all just a part of his charming pretense which he put up before each girl????it hurt her to admit that it might be just that, but then she thought, why would he bother himself with all that for her, she was not one of his usual damsels.....he had seemed so genuine.....but that cold shoulder just before the parting, pretending to be busy on phone getting mushy with some clinging chick of his she thought disgusted....what could have caused it???could he not have let it go with a normal bye, to match their interaction on the plane????what pinched her most was the fact that this sudden attitude had been directed at her alone...he had been the same warm armaan with muski....oh well she thought he had not spared much warmth to aryan either but that was cause they did not even know each other.....something just provoked that sudden pricey act out of him, and she couldnt think what....with a start she remembered how she had yelled at him post muskaan's call just before aryan appeared on the scene....but as she recalled it all, she decided he had seemed to have taken that fine too accepting her apology.....or so she had felt at that moment....well maybe he did not take it fine ridzi, she thought....he is a superstar, why should he take that yelling n tantrum from a geek like you second time in less than 2 weeks....slowly she slipped to the floor leaning her back against the wall n sat down....still perplexed, but she knew one thing now....without speaking she worded it in her head....she was attracted to him....n missed him....in just the past 24 hours he had her under a spell....but she had to get out of it, n better now since they were in no way meeting for the next 3 weeks till she was in india even if she could not escape his presence in stanford....yes she decided with a strengthening resolve, i have to get out of this fantasy infatuation for something which will never be.... there was nothing plausible in a single sided attraction...a small voice quipped up in her head...there can never be a single sided attraction its a mutual force...he must feel it too....nah... he doesnt or he would be attracted to 90% of the stanford girls....all that balancing out of forces is limited to the physics in the labs she thought sighing, and closing her eyes, tired from the day, its events n her endless puzzling non acceptable thoughts n emotions....
************
he frowned hard, as a whole gush of loud voices entered his ears all at once, opening his eyes reluctantly cursing whoever it was, he saw the whole gang of his girl cousins and maybe their friends standing over him giggling....as his frown deepened, he realized with a start he was just in his boxers n vest, pulling the satin sheet over himself completely except his face he sat up instantly looking at all the intruders, embarrased, puzzled and then quite irritated...while one of them, said " its ok bhai....if u have it u should flaunt it...." and she winked at him in a naughty way.....to which armaan reacted with almost a violent jerk, looking up at her....never in his life had he been embarrased to, as she had said, flaunt his well built body, but at this moment he wished the he could disapparate....."that will be enough minz....take ur gang out of the room, i need to catch a word with armaan bhai...." hearing a new voice, armaan looked towards the door to see atul, the groom and his mother's nephew, and then looking back at the cheeky girl he remembered she was his younger sister, minnie....o boy, he thought....i pity the poor bride, this sister in law will be one mischief maker for her to handle i can foresee....unless of course she has had experience with similar spoilt siblings....as the girls moved outwards grumbling, one of them turned around to give him a flying kiss, which now completely turned him red, while atul came inside grinning at the scene....then getting sober he said "i apologize about that they are all brats....but they have been so excited, about the wedding, and about u and uncle joining us this time....bua always did come for the functions, but we just have never seen enough of u n uncle....n well.....its not just them armaan" said atul looking up staright into his half indian cousin's eyes..."u both are really special to me, since bua was my favorite aunt....u know anjali, the girl i am going to marry, and i were friends in high school too, we only just committed much later....but bua had teased me about her for many years before our confession to each other....i wish she had been here to see this wedding...." as he saw armaan look away he paused his own eyes moistening and then said "it means a lot for me to have her family here...." at which armaan looked back smiling deeply, and hugged atul, who hugged him back....as they parted atul quipped "u know i have to agree with minnie for once....u do have a body to flaunt man....gyming all the time???!!!!" armaan chuckled and said "yeh that, and basketball....not the usually loved and worhipped indian sport cricket though....mum n dad tried putting me to that, but i guess american schooling altered my ideas of what i prefer"... " awww that sucks dude" said atul," cause just that one addition to ur list of activities, with looks like that n u have all the indian maidens u find attractive running after u" armaan's thoughts immediately drifted back to the only indian girl who had occupied his thoughts lately, and he spoke spontaneously, without meaning to "not all perhaps....", while atul looked up with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look...armaan came back and put up his defense guard up almost as soon and said "so what did u want to talk to me about???" atul remembered what he come for and replied forgetting the controversial comment armaan had just made, "oh yeh...good u remind me...well as u can see we have a whole bunch of girl cousins, but hardly any grown up boys other than me and u...and a few more distant cousins, n some of my friends....but u really are the closest male cousin of the groom...me" he said smiling, dreaming about anji, while armaan just chuckled seeing him like that bringing his thoughts back to the room by snapping his fingers before him, as he resumed clearing his throat "so u have to go to anjali's place with what we call the shagun....the parents usually take it, but i insisted that uncle should go for this...as my ummmm....u know i mean i would have wanted bua n uncle to go.....would u..." armaan interrupted "yup il accompany dad dont worry....n reg will join us too if u dont mind????" ,"oh no let him stay back with me...i need some help here too cant survive in an all woman house please....n we seem to be getting along well....he's a fun guy", armaan nodded n continued as an after thought "but u think u could let someone else join us, since we are both not quite 'INDIAN TRADITION LITERATE' people u know" to which atul said, after scratching his head in thought for a few moments..."i guess minnie would be the right person....she knows more traditions than possibly exist anyways..." armaan looked up a bit apprehensively, and atul seeing his look smiled and said "shes a brat i know, and can be awfully naughty....but bua used to narrate quite a lot of ur mischiefs....if u have not lost the touch, how about some competition???!!!!" armaan laughed, hearing how his mum had jeopardized his reputation everywhere....then looking at atul he nodded and said "alright....lets have this settled as to who's boss here before the wedding,....cause after this we have to play as comrades right???i mean mum used to mention a lot of those fun games between the bride's and the groom's side....guess if we both are on one team, nobody can beat us!!!this is going to be fun..." breaking his victory dreams atul snapped "well fun yes, but dont be so sure of winning easy....not until u meet anji's younger sister n her two best friends...they can be quite a team trust me" as armaan looked up with a confident dont worry smile atul resumed "they interviewed me for 6 hours....that too online cause they were not here.... before i could formally propose anji"....armaan grinned and said "well champ...its our turn now....leme go check out the enemies today with minnie, and also their base camp....then leave it to us....what did u call ur fiance again...anji????" as atul nodded, armaan could not remember where he had heard that name....it sounded so familiar, yet not quite....was this his month of unravelling familiar puzzling personalities he wondered, thinking about her again.....
***********
as he stepped out of the car, minnie looking like a angel in her turquoise silver sharara linked her arm into his and said "till they come to know we're cousins, i dont mind everyone thinking i hooked up with the hottest hunk in town!!!" armaan shook his head laughing she had been her upto her chirpy mischief all through the ride, and his initial perception of her had faded into a new one, he decided he like her company, they did make a good team as he had anticipated....she was pretty and witty...beauty with brains - a rare combination he thought, then thinking of ridhima yet again he wondered, or was it a common trait in indian girls....his mum had been one too....as she tugged onto his arm, he smiled at her and said "thanks for the compliment gorgeous.....il be glad to have u around, not quite sure of this indian outfit um wearing who knows when i will need help again, then who better to fix it than u!!!" he winked as she giggled at him, fixing the stole in his neck so it would stay put longer....and with that they followed chris, who was deeply pleased to have seen the bond armaan was building with his cousins...just as his mum would have wanted him to....as they were welcomed into the house by a warm lady, who introduced her self as anji's mom to chris, armaan moved forward n bent to touch her feet, the lady, padma she introduced herself as, was warmly taken aback....atul had called to let her know who was coming with the shagun, and she had not expected him to know the customs being half english....he smiled back at her and said..."i am armaan....dont know what u prefer being called, but dont be too impressed thats the only thing i know from the endless list of indian customs which mum taught me as a kid!!!" smiling back him she blessed him with a happy long life and said "call me PM it will do....." seeing his eyebrows raised in a question she resumed "Padma mom!!" armaan smiled at her showing his pleasure at her gesture, while minnie not losing focus from their aim of getting to know their supposed enemies well, quipped from behind..."aunty where's bhabhi????bhai mentioned she will introduce us to her sister n their gang" to which padma said "oh anji is in her room getting ready, n the rest of them are scattered and running errands...but go meet up with anji she will introduce u to all"...with that armaan and minnie strode towards the stairs, while chris stayed back as shashank had appeared to join padma and him, and they walked in another direction....as they climbed the step, they drew some attention, armaan was not an obviously indian looking boy, and this was his first appearence in this house, all the girls, as minnie had anticipated, were whispering about who it was with her....while she giggled and whispered in his ears..."see what i meant" to which armaan said "yeh i know, isnt the first time girls are fluttering in my presence gorgeous...they always do!!!" minnie looked at him with a look of hurt pride and said "well dont be so sure, they would not have noticed u so had i not been accompanying u....minnie has that effect on people too!!!" to which he merely chuckled and said "no offense intended gorgeous...um sure u do!!!!!!" as they almost reached the door of the bedroom, a girl ran towards minnie and said "hey minz finally ur here come on fast n see bhabhi's dress...." with that minnie gave armaan a quick look to excuse herself and ran inside.....while armaan at the threshold of an obvious girl's domain now wondered which direction to proceed in, just then he heard his cell ringing....and he turned his back to the door, leaning against the edge talked to reg....until......
**********
" oh god muskaan, i told to u get the tika from mum dint i....ok chuck it now, il go bring it, u do di's hair meanwile".....as she rushed out of the bedroom, closing in on the door, she felt it again....oh no she thought, please not that cologne again, ridzi come on girl this is no time or occasion to lose ur head....but as she neared the door, and finally was crossing it, the fragrance was too strong for her, and she shut her eyes momentarily, then opening them again, hearing muskaan's loud chirpy laugh, she she shook her head hard and moved hastily out of the door, only to feel a tug at her neck....n she realized her long shimmery coffee brown n gold dupatta had got stuck in....she turned around to see what...in the wrist watch of a guy standing with his back, talking on the phone oblivious of this fact...."standing and chatting on the cell outside the girls dress room...wow what an idea...."she muttered...n who was this????she had not seen any guy wear the shade she was wearing in the house so far, brown n gold, with a black stole... n somehow....he looked familiar from the back????....anyways she thought and moving closer she tapped him on his shoulder to get her dupatta released, but even before he turned she knew that cologne....she knew why he seemed familiar....."hang on reg" he said turning around and then, they both stared at each other, unbelievably.....
************
here goes part8 folks....extraaaaa looonnnggg coz so many of u complained abt the last one, although it was the same length as always guess due to justa couple of scenes in talk it appeared short....enjoy reading this one!!!
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=944870
and here are the parts from the old thread, all here in one go for u....
~INTRODUCTION~
"every action has an equal n opposite reaction" i said...."thats the third law....the law of attraction" completing i looked up from the book, through my glasses, a bit low on my nose....to see him not taking any notes at all...gosh this guy....such a pain....and to think i had thought i was tutoring the hunk of the school, the basketball stud, the rock star...n how cautious i had been about my clothes for the day, not wanting to make a mockery out of my regular not quite fashionable look....completely redundant effort now i could see...he had irritated me beyond my civil patience limit, the last thing on my mind now was what he thought of my appearencce.....as top of the class, it was part of my mandatory duties to tutor and help one academically weak student in his work, failing which would affect my grades ....n ms.stark, my physics professor had warned me about this guy's level of understanding of the course....and also how crucial it was that i sorted his ambiguities in the course completely, for he was an important student of the school in more than one way despite his academic lack...but nothing she had said was even close to the facts....he was not only the worst possible student they could have assigned me in terms of knowledge but also the worst case in terms of willingness to try....i glared at him.....while he gave me the first keen look in an hour of the peer mentor session saying "really????thats the law????sounds like a new pick up line to me....the law of attraction indeed!!!!" as he grinned at me, that dimpled charming smile which captivated the hottest chicks in our high school, all i could think of was, god when am i escaping from here....how much longer....n maintaining my glare, in fact intensifying it, i retorted "can u think beyond all that???u should if u intend passing the course ever....u know what ,forget it, um going to tell ms. stark that um quitting...they will find u some other mentor who gets flattered with your charm...." interrupting me he said "aahaa!!! the confession at last" while i gave him a quizzical look, he continued "about my endearing inescapable charm of course...." grunting at him n rolling my eyes i got up finishing off with my last strained polite response "good luck! i do hope u will make it to the passing grade at least, though god alone knows how that can ever happen.... if it can....take care" ...with that i walked away....while i intuitively felt his gaze follow me, have no clue why....newton's laws....thats all i could think....they are not even remotely that hard....if only he would put in some voluntary effort....while he interrupted my chain of thoughts calling me from behind, "hey wont that ruin ur perfect A's???" now he had it.....i looked at him with daggers in my eyes...."u worry about ur jinxed F's, il manage my A's......" i said rather rudely..then immediatedly i realized how inappropriate that was, i opened my mouth to correct myself, when he silenced me with his hand and said "i will....u wait n watch..." i stood stunned as he walked past me brushing slightly with that macho body of his, smelling heavenly and...AAAGGHHHH.... c'mon girl....u got tonnes of work...let him go....good riddance!!!!....********
She smiled deeply, as she looked at the half circle arches and the red tile roofs all around her......and that red and white emblem......STANFORD at last she thought.....after years of nothing but dreaming about it here she was....her second time in the united states she mused....and as an epilogue to the incident which had inevitably flashed through her head while remembering her previous experience as an exchange student in chicago during high school she set a tight smile on her face and said "wonder why that came to my mind of all the memories i have of that time" ....then pausing..."AMMY CHRISTOPHER BENZ...wonder if u finally managed to....chuck it ridzi..." then smiling brightly again, cause there was not much which could help her contain her excitement at being in her coveted destination she thought..."oh well...hello stanford....welcome me, ridhima gupta.....here i come.....n not the naive innocent uneasily adjusting high school exchange student anymore.....there's more to the story this time, as you will soon witness....for now....cant say how delighted i am to be here.....
*********
~Part 1~
~three months later~
"hey cleopatra!!!!would u spare this superman a dance while your caesar is away????" n without waiting for her to reply, he swiftly steered her to the dance floor....he had noticed her the moment she had stepped into the party, with her date, dressed as caesar of course....as the party went on he unintentionally but inevitably had watched her mixing with the crowd, from the corner of his eye, not just because she was fairly attractive, something about her, he couldnt pinpoint what, was unsettlingly familiar....he felt like he knew her, which was quite possible...halloween costumes were always effective in masking the real looks of any person although her face was plainly visible, no veils or hats in her costume, she might be some aquaintance for all he knew, and ideally he couldnt have cared less, but...that wasnt it...no he thought....there is more to this than what is obviously visible, but what???not able to hold his curiosity any longer, he had grabbed the very first oppertunity when her caesar had excused himself, offering apparently to fetch her a drink.....now as they danced he looked at her intently, his doubts being reconfirmed....he definitely knew her..BUT WHO WAS SHE????? the DJ, who was doing a great job at keeping the party alive, now changed to the deep purple track apt for describing such confused emotions of many at the costume party....
Can you remember, remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past
I am returning the echo of a point in time
Distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day
And if you hear me talking on the wind
Youve got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers......
the floor was crowded, the party goers mostly drunk, the stranger couple had danced for a few minutes just smiling, n looking around, not talking, since the loud blast of music from the whoofers was not going to make that easy..... and then as an inebriated guy bumped into her she fell into his arms, as he supported her from the push, she stood back up straight, smiling at him to imply a thank you, he thought he just had to ask her..."so ummm, what is your full time role, when u are not enacting the egyptian legendary beauty i mean...." he yelled into her ear even though they were close enough for him to have been audible to her with a bare whisper if it wasnt for the noise racket around....she smiled and yelled back to be heard over the din "i wonder if you really wana know that since my work is way too menial to befit my current get up....for now um enjoying the royal identity...." he smirked, realizing her smart move at not revealing herself to a complete stranger who had just grabbed hold of her onto the dance floor, in a halloween's fret party, which was not unfairly popular for the notoriety of events it annually witnessed....but, he thought, i would assume everybody here would know there homecoming victorious captain for the boys basketball team was dressed at superman tonight....thats was usual anyways....however, he was neither the kinds to be rebuked, nor satisfied with a plain dance when he was looking for answers...he tried again "but um sure u dont stick to that ancient cleopatra name at school....whats your preferred way of being addressed my fair lady????" before she could open her mouth they were both interrupted by a different yell "ridz!!! here goes ur lemon margarita...." then looking at her superman dancing partner he yelled with a grin again "hey captain! congaratulations! the season seems to have gone off your way as usual...the final UCB win was outstanding...." then smiling looking towards her, "mind if i take my lady back, who u very conveniently stole taking advantage of my absence" he finished giving him a friendly punch.... as the superman guy found the mysteriously familiar stranger politely excusing herself he let go of her waist, n saw her walk off with her date while he stood muttering the words he could not even hear himself "ritz???like THE RITZ in NYC???thats her name????guess i would prefer cleopatra if i was her, at least thats a human name even if its way too tacky for the 21st centuary...." scratching his hair he got himself another beer from the bar....the party was on full blast, but he needed to get some fresh air it was suffocating inside now....and this costume...how did superman sport this look....with his underwear over his pants....like c'mon what kinda fashion statement is that???? but his team mates called him that..superman.... n so they had talked him into dressing that way....
*************
as she changed into her night shorts n tee , she smiled thinking of the party she had just returned from....then she slightly smirked thinking of the irony....'egyptian legendary beauty' indeed she mused, remembering the exact compliment..... dressed as the 'commanding queen' in a 'second hand costume' she had bought at a rundown sidestreet store and then fixed for the party...she had not wanted to spend on the expensive brand new costumes up for sale at all leading stores so she had found an alternate when all her friends had insisted that she could not miss the event, considering she had not seen too many halloween bashes back home in India...that was the charm of being an international student in a school like this...the stature, the exposure, the experience was worth the obscenely expensive tuition she was paying them not just academically....she remembered how as an exchange high school student a little less than a decade ago, she had been the all work n no play girl in the same country....but her education during the undergrad as an engineering major had greatly altered her approach to life....she was now a grad student usually submerged neck deep in course work n research, but not forgetting that she had to experience the fun of living in the same life itself.....while maintaining her academic accolades, she had gained another dimension to her personality.....she was now a smart and confident individual with a spark about her that set her apart from most of her lot, who were forever, as she had been in the past, freaked out with work never taking the time to enjoy the process of dwelling in THE STANFY... comfortable with trends and parties, music, dance and nightclubs, she would often be subjected to the standard question "do u ever lose ur cool woman????are u never ever stressed"....of course she was human how could she escape the anxiety of tough moments, but she had just learnt over the years how to take everything coming her way in the same stride....she could now reason herself to peace even during stressful workloads and take appropriate rejuvinating breaks with the gang of people she had eventually managed to claim as dear friends in her few months as a stanford engineering grad student....so much had changed....if she had thought that undergrad had matured her reasonably, then grad school had proved there was never an end to the process of growing up in life....though the initial weeks had been hard, with a sudden surge of work much greater than what she had done in months of her earlier education, and managing the whole house between her and her housemate, and missing being with her family, she had emerged happy and delighted at being in her dream school, her enthusiasm endless....work never ceased to take its toll, but stanfy was a happening place and weekends made up somehow for the packed weeks....as she lay in bed all these thoughts running through her content mind, her phone rang....3AM in the morning????who was it now????she picked the call seeing the name muski flashing...."hey ridzi...u awake????" "why do u even bother asking me that muski....have u ever in the many years of our friendship bothered about indecent hours of calling???? anyways i am awake now i guess....did 'MR.REGGIE' propose???" ridhma said in a teasing tone "why do u think it can be just about him if i call u at 3AM....he did not look out of the circle of the chicks surrounding him even once....n anyways, he is just a crush....a big one, but just that.....but u missy have no reason to jeer at me anymore, i am all out for just a player on the team while u pick the man himself???? i called cause andy mentioned u were dancing with the basketball captain and in case u did not know, reggie's best friend...the great ARMAAN himself????" ridhima frowned a bit, the one thing she had still not quite picked up was the insane sports fanship here....she was the only 'sports illiterate' as her friends had christened her, never quite smitten by the college sports the way all of her gang was....infact all of the nation...it was like a religion....n this was not her first expereince with crazy basketball fanship here in the states....like cricket in india she thought...."hello????u there sweety????i know his mere name must have u in a daze....how was it????gosh cant believe u got to dance with him...." as muskaan's words brought her back she said, "muski, dont be a jerk....u know i dont care about all these sports gods the entire stanford worships....i mean um sure he must be awsome since they are supposed to be nothing less...what did u say the name was????yeh armaan...wait????he's indian???sure did not look like one...but his face was not completely showing and the disc lights were all there was to provide vision so i would not be sure....anyways...i hardly got to interact he just swept me off to the floor....must have been drunk like the whole house....n then andy was back within minutes...end of the story....does that put ur hyped mind to rest????" muskaan heard her tirade of jaded explaination unable to believe how she could take this so casually, aloud she said finding her voice finally "hyped mind????i know you are not the typical stuck-in-the-books engineering girl, but seriously, u need to shed off this ignorance and get a life 'lady physics'....armaan is to stanford basketball what the late mr. newton is to science....n to answer your question, yeh hes half indian...his mother was indian....but his father is an english fellow, some descendent of a chain of english lords or something....and ...." cutting her off ridhima said in a partially sleepy tone "alright thats enough....i am not currently employed by the great english family to pen down a biography for the star basketballer of a son, the heir to the royal heirloom....if thats all, i am off to hit the bed now....gotta report to my advisor early tomorrow....sweet dreams muski!!" with that she yawned cutting off the call before her best friend would start off with another lengthy round of praises for the school's superstar....oopz superman, she corrected herself with a mocking smile on her lips....her man would be a gentleman for real not just a royal bloodline to boast of...chivalrous yet witty, a smart talker...not someone who would assume every girl was dying to be in his arms on the dance floor without waiting for her consent....the sporty macho looks were not gona be impressive, not that she had anything against them....but she had no intentions of being a chick possessed by a popular sports guy amongst his other trophies whom he could show off, a rough egoist to the core but a hunk she could boast of as her guy, who could talk of nothing but his game and fans, insensitive to her eminence as an individual and not just as another babe in his life....not her idea of a love life....she wanted to be special to her guy, in every way....for being herself....anyways she thought....why am i even thinking all this...he just asked me for a dance....not like he's been waiting for a me all his life....must have just been the alcohal or why in the world would he leave all those chicks who go cheerleading for his team and come to me....armaan....the name must be all that is indian about him....um surprised he hasnt changed it into an american homophonic form....switching off these no relevance thoughts, she called it day...
************
"AMMY??!!!" he turned around with a frown as his team mate n buddy rahul grewal, or 'REGGIE' , called him from behind..."its ARMAAN, dude....not AMMY anymore...." rahul sat down beside him taking the empty bottle out of his hand n giving him a new one "yeh armaan it is mate....so what brings u out????lack of oxygen i hope not lack of beauties???" said reggie dropping the topic, he had not gotten used to the change from ammy to armaan in all their years of undergrad together, it would still slip off his tongue, but that was not a discussion where he wanted this night of double celebration to drift off, the halloweens night and the celebration for the homecoming team after their final victory of the season last weekend....since he alone among his friends knew what had caused this transformation....it was the rear end of high school, the last month to be precise, when ammy's mother had passed away from a severe and sudden asthma attack, ending in an inevitable cardiac arrest.....an indian by nationality, she had been a chronic patient for ages but well paid for advanced medical facilities had added to her short life....ammy was a single child, he had a best friend in his dad, and his mother had loved him to bits....but with the lifestyle of a pampered heir, he had never been serious about life, always taking it for granted that things would go his way...he would make them....he knew his mother was not in constant good health, but he had seen the medicines eased her problems and never understood how grave the implications of her medical status was at that age....and so her death had come to him as a complete shock.....that shock, though short lived thanks to his dad's efforts, had left its undeniable mark on him....initially he just renounced everything in his life, but Sr. benz , Mr. Christopher Lawerence Benz had ensured this state was only metastable, and so few months down, he was back, with minor appearing but essential changes....his mother had named him armaan, while the middle name came from his dad, and during his schooling years in chicago, the 'armaan' had found a convenient version of 'ammy', which his mother did not quite take to and mentioned every time he went back to london for his breaks from the boarding school....but the acronym had stuck for good until he lost her, then in his recovery weeks from the shock, he decided he would never be anything other than armaan ever again, as his lifelong tribute to the only lady he truly loved....and so it had been....after months of being with his father in london, post Lady Benz's loss for the family, he had returned to the states for he wanted to live a free life again, without the weight of being a Benz....and joined the music and theatre school at the university of michigan as an undergad....however, he knew his father had expectations out of the Benz heir, which he never spoke aloud, fearing to be an obstacle in armaan's pursuit of his passions- music and basketball....so after undergrad he switched to a completely different discipline....his admission to the stanford graduate business school was a pleasant surprise for his father, and when he asked his son what had eventuated this change of interest, armaan had said "heirs never relinquish upon what is rightfully theirs....music n basketball are mine forever, but um not about to let you down after generations of that family stature father....with a professional degree from Stanford, I will soon be the Benz i am supposed to be...." and without letting his father interrupt he said "and i want to do it, there is no obligation involved dad"....and so it had been....in these last few months at stanford he had indeed done wonders in class, and stolen the show on the game court...."so whats the plan for the thanksgiving week end of next month???another bash just before finals hit us????" asked rahul coming out of his past flashbacks..."actually no....i have to go to india...." seeing the surprise on his friends face he explained, "its clashing with a wedding in mumma's family reggie....dad wants me to go with him....n i said yes....mum would have wanted me to go i know...." hearing that reggie just took a swig from his bottle of wine n said "think i could join u???" armaan smiled at his friend knowing the reason for this request....reg would not let him be alone in a family and a country where he was bound to be flooded with the memories of his mothers last days....he nodded his consent without a word.....draining the last of his drink....
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~Part 2~
~a fortnight later~
" wow cant believe, a week more and then we are all set to leave for home....um so excited about the wedding ridzi....imagine anji finally in love.....the whole idea sounds out of the universe...." ridhima looked at muskaan with a tired smile "yeh but i wonder if i will be alive to attend the wedding....getting the professors to take my exams early so i can leave in advance was a bad idea...it is sure playing havoc....wrapping up 3 weeks worth of work in one is no cakewalk....n the time just flies away when u want it to stay still so u can get enough revision done for the test....and..."as her eyes fell on the watch "OMG time....shoot muski....i have the library shift in 10minutes....catch ya later" with that she dumped all her stuff from the desk into her backpack, " hey leave the car keys, i gota pick up some gifts for the wedding..." said muskaan as ridhima ran out of the lab, tossing the keys towards her, shutting the lab door behind ....god please i cant get late another day for the shift in the same week now....she thought crossing her fingers silently....
"ridma, i received your mail mentioning you will be gone from next week for about 3 weeks???will you be back before christmas though, to continue the part time shift????" she heard her boss at the library address her the usual wrong way, as she put forth that question, the moment she entered the locker room to push in her bag..."yes megan, i will be gone for 3 weeks, and be back on christmas eve itself....my sister is getting married so i arranged for the professors to test me early...." she said in a relieved voice, thank god megan had not mentioned how she was barely in time for the shift...."i should get going for my shelving shift....there's alot to be done in the shelves assigned to me and i want to wind up all of that before i leave...." megan nodded and said "sure go ahead....n congratulations for your sister i hope you have a fun break....oh n do one thing leave me a written note for your absence just for my records" with that they each went their own way....
************
As she stood on the step stool trying to arrange the books in call number order on the topmost and last shelf for the day, she cursed her self as usual for being the only not quite tall child of the family....it was so hard to reach the topmost books even with the stool she thought balancing herself on tiptoes, as she took the books, 2 at a time from the shelf to put them onto the cart next to her, so she could sort them out n place them back...."hey excuse me, there's nobody at the help desk n i need a little help here so..." ridhima interrupted without looking at the source of the voice "yeh just give me a minute and il be with you..." saying so she dropped the 2 heavy books in her hand onto what she assumed was the cart only to hear an instantaneous "OUCH" she turned spontaneously to see that the books had hit a guy's head since he had moved the cart to approach her with his question, " oh shoot! um so sorry i did not realize u moved the...." she stopped midway in her sentence as he looked back up after picking the fallen books from the ground and offered them to her...."cart" she finished after that pause, not believing her eyes...."peace, girl...my fault, i moved the cart not realizing the consequences, think u could quickly help me with the book, i need to head for practice soon..." practice?? so it was him she thought....AMMY....for moments she was hesitant to even think the name in her head, such was her state of shock...she was not mistaken in recognizing him at all....SHOOT! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE DOING HERE...AT STANFORD...AND IN A LIBRARY OF ALL THE PLACES????seeing her staring at him, he gave her a 'can we proceed now' smile, he was not exactly unaccustomed to such female attention, but as she kept staring without blinking, while he had been slightly rubbing his head where the books had hit him....he was compelled to look carefully n he realized she looked familiar...just like....before he could think ahead she said, "actually um so sorry but i have only 10minutes of the shift remaining n still need to sort alot but..." speaking a bit louder she spoke to somebody behind armaan "hey mike! can u help someone here with a book look up please", and then getting back to her books without eye contact she said "mike will help u out, i beg your pardon for the inconvenience" finishing in a tone which indicated an end to their conversation...he looked at her a bit startled, his presence often subjected him to completely unexpected reactions from his girl fans...but this had definitely been the weirdest ever...in a hurry right then he just left muttering "girls!!!", giving her a last curious glance, shaking his head...ridhima meanwile heaved a sigh of relief....thank god he had not realized who she was....somehow, she did not know why, but she was not keen about re opening windows in her past, least of all through him, of when she had been the meek dominated girl overlooked by everyone despite her obvious skill and intelligence...she had outgrown the image long ago, and had no intentions of being reminded of that period,definitely not from ammy.....but what could he be doing in stanford???must be here for a game....but then why would he need a book from the library????can he even read????ok now thats too much, of course he can...but....oh well she thought, ample work to get back to ridzi.... he left n did not recognize u....so well...good riddance....she got done with the last of the books on the shelf n then walked back to the lockers to collect her belongings....just before walking out she remembered she had to submit a written leave, hastily she scribbled it out, without thinking much, somehow the encounter had produced a passive effect on her wound up nerves she thought, she moved out towards the main desk where her boss was on the phone simultaneously searching the keys for her car.....as she closed in she looked up only to see....HIM????oh no, not again she thought and was going to turn around when megan held onto her arm n while still talking on the phone indicated her to help him check out the books....ridhima looked at her helplessly, as if she was rooted to the spot, for seconds....WAS THE WHOLE UNIVERSE CONSPIRING AGAINST HER????then getting a 'go on' look from megan she moved towards him, and avoiding eye contact she mumbled almost inaudibly, as if afraid of being identified with her voice, which logically she knew deep inside was not possible, "hello! can i help u with those books?" armaan meanwile, though caught up in his own thoughts, mentally trying to work out a feasible solution to meet his preponed deadlines, had not failed to notice the obvious discomfort the girl before him was undergoing, and not for the life of him could he understand how he had propelled it to happen, for one thing he was sure, he was the cause....handing her the books he had a sudden instinct, and thought that might help him analyze what exactly was happening, so he quipped " yeh mike helped me find them, guess u can help me loan them out atleast....isnt this amounting to an overtime now???" much as he tried he could not make that sound like he was offended, because he was not, he was merely puzzled and somehow thats all his tone indicated, though he had wanted to add a reproaching tone to it....she looked up ever so briefly n then back to the monitor before saying in a soft tone not wanting to attract megan's attention, "i apologize for that....just stressed with work...." he felt an instant guilt pang and said spontaneously "oh um sorry to hear that....ummm...here's my id for checking out the books" as she took it from him nodding slightly to his reply she could not avoid reading the name on it just to reconfirm what she knew now without a speck of doubt was a certain fact....but what she saw now, completely paralyzed her with shock, if a greater extent was even possible after the last stroke in the shelving area....the card clearly said 'ARMAAN CHRISTOPHER BENZ' ....ARMAAN???as in THE ARMAAN she thought....its him AMMY.....the basketball guy....the superman????like the guy who pulled her to the dance floor at the party....OMG she thought....this just cant be happening....the day was turning out to be a pandora's box...and then bingo! here comes the next one she thought looking at the books he wanted her to check out...business and finance related literature????this time she was not even shocked, cause she had already outdone any existing records for display of human reactions in shock over the past few minutes....in complete lack of any synchronism of her thoughts, she blurted out without control over her heightening sense of disbelief with each passing second "business and finance???" then seeing his look with raised eyebrows she said in a more composed voice "i mean...interesting...ummmm interesting subjects to study are they????" he gave her 'funny girl' look and said "yeh i like them sure....prefer math to that newton guy's apple theory n attraction laws any day...."and these last words simply jerked her out of the reverie she had slipped into....was that an intended comment????so he had recognized her then and ....interrupting her thoughts he confirmed her worst fears "by the way i think i finally recognized u....." her heart stopped beating in that moment and she could swear she knew what it must feel like when u die of a cardiac arrest....as she heard him continue in his suave tone "ur cleopatra right?????i mean id love to call u by your real name if you would let me know that of course" she heaved a sigh of relief without realizing and then looking back at him she opened her mouth to put up some spontaneous excuse when megan said coming over, "thanks a lot dear....good luck with the exams....and enjoy the wedding!!!" ridhima shot her a genuine smile, not for the wishes, but for getting her out of the tight spot and without a word she moved at the fastest pace she could, before anything else knocked her out completely this time, she felt faint hearted now, n was sure to not survive another 'surprise' she thought.....
***********
OMG WHAT AN EVENING she thought for the umpteenth time as she unlocked the door to her apartment, noticing muski had probably decided to work in her lab that night since all the lights were put out....ammy was armaan...the jr.benz...the guy she had mentored in high school....who had....well she thought...he had never really bothered her except during that mentoring session when he had been so indifferent that she had just given up....that was the whole issue, she had been so insignificant then that people did not even put efforts to bother her....n now here he was....at stanford....the basket ball champ as could have been expected....but a business school student????she had decided to walk back instead of catching the school bus, as she had felt the need for a walk in the fresh air, no productive work could have been done in her then state of mind....now she was back home but her mind was still not at rest....she decided to make herself a cup of coffee before getting down to her last n most hard take home exam....as the coffee brewed in the pot she stood by it absentmindedly thinking......its fine ridzi....its just him....i mean c'mon woman....then u claim to have changed over the years????why did he have that effect on u???why did u after so many years now lose ur head in a situation, which was not even big deal...he just asked u for a book....n thats ur job....so why did u lose ur nerves....no no no....it was just the way it happened she told herself..."completely caught me off guard thats it....yeh thats what....was stanford the only place left in the world for him to have joined.....well now i know it, so fine...yeh now il be alright....confident n relaxed again" with that she sighed deeply n then spoke again "yeh ur good to go now girl....and anyways" she was interrupted by the doorbell....murmuring "that must be muski" she went to open the door....and there it was...the last final blow of the day....the perfect grand finale to the disastrous evening she thought as she came face to face with him again.....as he said in hesitant voice "hey!" she looked at him, and then as he ran is fingers through his hair, her eyes did not want to believe that it was him....as he stood smiling and started "sorry i know this is abrupt but i tried catching hold of u outside the library itself, just could not spot u anywhere out there and i dont even know ur name so ....." but before he could speak any further, she, deciding it was time to end all this, only then would she regain her confidence and calm, she found her voice, n spoke as sternly as she could manage "look, i apologized for the book thing right????why are u stuck with knowing my name????n for heavens sake stop stalking me at least" as the words slowly dawned upon him, his smile changed to a frown, and then his eyes narrowed, and as she moved to slam the door shut, thinking the message had been conveyed loud n clear, he pulled it back firmly, and she just could not move it anymore...and he said "wait wait wait....hang on.....WHAT DID U JUST SAY????" he literally bellowed into her face now....he felt like all the doubts which had been welling inside him had just displayed themselves as this outburst owing to her last statement....he felt furious beyond the control of his wits....here he was trying to help this girl out of her shyness, and do her a favor, despite the cold shoulder she had given him all the times they had met.....and she?????and as she stood transfixed to the spot hearing him yell, he continued "I, Armaan??? is stalking a girl????OH MY GOD...i dont believe u could even get that thought in ur head....who the hell do u think u r anyways????cleopatra for real????giving me that weird attitude all this time....and u think if um being chivalrous enough to not give it back to u, u can do or say what u want????" as she still stood rooted to the point, he pulled her hand and put a paper into it saying "the lady at the desk said u forgot that in there while checking out my books, so i offered to drive along n get it to u....but no no no....bad idea...." then ruffling his hair in frustration he looked upwards trying to control his anger....and then looking back at her he continued "stalking u???....oh please, get a life...what in the world possessed you to believe that even for a second...." with that he let go of the door.....turned around and walked off, leaving her clutching onto the paper he had thrust in her hands...
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~Part 3~
As she finally prepared to catch a much procrastinated short sleep at about 5AM, after managing to do a considerable part of her exam somehow, the turmoil of emotions which she had put aside with considerable effort all came back crashing, n this time she just did not have it in her to push it away....so she lay awake tossing in her bed....ammy had changed nothing about himself except his name she thought....he was still the same as he had been....the star student she had detested for his seemingly easily gained popularity....n yet she couldnt help but admire him.....she admitted the latter after overcoming a boulder of opposing emotions....but somewhere inside she knew it was true.....it always had been....as she thought deeply about what it was that had made her react the way she had today on seeing him she knew it was nothing but escapism.....he was not to blame in the least for what had happened.....she had just never thought her past would rebound into her life so soon.....her thoughts wandered back to that archimedes like 'eureka' moment which had changed her life completely, had helped surface the real me in a matter of moments; which had been dormant for all the past years....it was during the second year of her undergrad when using the newton's laws in a project theory, she had remembered what ammy had said to her during the peer mentor session...and it had put her to thinking, for some unknown reason she looked at it in a way she had never done before....she admitted, with much reluctance, that he had not been exactly wrong....n then the irony of comparing a physics law with a pick up line had just made her laugh....for real....n for the first time she realized that he had not been stubborn to learning, he had just thought in a way other than the obvious....n then it struck her, wasnt that the truth beneath all science????to think outside the box????thats exactly what the great sir newton himself had done....thought of gravity from a falling apple, like c'mon, he wasnt the only person in the world who had seen an apple fall was he????somehow....the chain of thoughts that were triggered that eventful night had changed her perceptions in life, and she had concluded that she had always worked diligently for every task she put herself to in order to be what she was ideally supposed to be, but perhaps not quite what she wanted to be....she had figured that being everybody's ideal was not the trick....u had to be yourself...the unique yourself....which was nobody other than you....doing what u wanted to trully do not what u thought was the accepted best....she had realized that all her life she tried to keep everyone around her happy by sacrificing her self identity without realizing because it was so totally a part of her character to redeem evevryone's wishes that after a point she had lost distinction between what she wanted to do and what she did, fulfilling everyones dreams except her own, and so everyone had just taken it for granted that she would do only what was considered right and best....she figured always being the best had sapped the fun of being so.....just being top of class was not what she wanted in life....she wanted to enjoy being so....n that would not be possible if she kept trying to be the ideal person....ideal people, like ideal situations in physics, were only theoretical, and in practical implementation, imperfections and assumptions would creep inevitably...then it was real....not just theoretical....the realization had changed her attitude in life....from there on she had followed her instincts for everything n not the rules set for her....AND HE HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR IT she thought now....
for she had always wanted to be like him, loved , popular, happy being herself....and she had put everything into making that happen, but it had not....until that night when she had realized that you could not make happiness happen....u had to feel it in doing what u did....thats what he had been like....she had never known him as a person, only as a celebrity, but somewhere she knew now this was the real him....he was a big shot, who followed his own head and heart and nothing else.....
and this brought her back to the current moment....as she thought over the entire evening again, she realized her analysis was correct....he had not changed at all....he had followed his instincts again, and thats why he had bothered to come all the way to give her those papers....she admitted somewhat grudgingly, with a pang of regret, that he was right....there would be no reason for him to follow a girl like her, let alone stalk...and it had been her own hype of him, which had biased her interpretation of his sudden visit...n then with guilt, she thought of what she had said to him....she did not think it would matter much to him or that he would even remember this evening again, but within herself she decided she had to apologize somehow when fate would give her the apt chance to do so.....for somewhere she believed and wished, that this wasnt the last of him in her life....she was not smitten by his looks, nor taken by his charms....just some attraction....as she closed her eyes, she opened them almost the same instant and grinned thinking....THE LAW OF ATTRACTION!!!
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"ammy this is so boring man.....not even a single chic in sight so far...its almost midnight n still another hour before we board the plane n...." he noticed armaan was busy in a sports magazine.... frowning, as he started to speak with indignation, armaan looked at him and said in a serious tone "first, its armaan not ammy when will u start remembering ...." and then with a sly grin he added as he noticed something looking beyond rahul..."and....there is something interesting for u reg my man...look behind u" as rahul turned around to see in the direction following armaan's gaze he saw...HER???quickly turning back he muttered in a low tone "is that her????omg.....dude u gota save me man.....she just goes into a dream when um talking to her n its so embarrasing.....i mean i love the attention, but not from her man....omg omg...no no no....i have to move out of here before she sees me...." as he made a move armaan held him back "too late for that dude....she has obviously seen u which is why she is walking towards us....n anyways, whats with u????she is beautiful and dotes on u.....and seems like a nice girl and"....he added giving him a slanting smile" she is much better than all those brainless cheerleaders u hang around with....atleast she would help u with the homework!!!!...in fact.." said armaan his grin widening, "um sure u like her too.... ur so totally possessive about her that why u've never let even me meet her...." he completed winking at him.....rahul retorted with clenched teeth "dude, u know i cannot mess with this girl.....anybody else but her......if dad came to know, um dead.....and ..." "hey reggie" hearing her chirpy voice behind him, rahul gave an 'um dead now for sure' expression and then turned around with a forced smile "hey muskaan, what a pleasant surprise ....what are u doing here???" before she could answer armaan quipped "well i guess its a possibility she came here to catch a flight reg, " and stepping ahead, then smiling at muskaan with a twinkle of mischief he said "hey beautiful, um armaan....and ????" muskaan interrupted him with a smile, shaking his extended hand and replied " i know ur armaan, who doesnt....um muskaan...nice to meet u finally, reg never introduces me to u even though i insist for it all the time..... n yeh we are catching a flight to india" armaan looked at her, a bit surprised she had said all of that without any of those artificial flutters which he was used to receiving from girls.....she had been natural....no jitters and a lovable smile....."we???so there is someone else with...." and before armaan could speak further, he heard a voice from behind him which made him stop short his mouth still open as he heard her sing "happy birthday to u, happy birthday to u, happy birthday dearest muskaan happy birthday to u" he turned around while she still continued singing, her face hidden behind a huge teddy, and as she walked past him, her face still hidding, wearing a punjabi red suit, he finally felt a piece fall into place somewhere in the jigsaw of his mind.....it hit him now, the suit, indian, ...omg thought now i know.....when he could not even see her, what had not been evident the couple of times he had been with her face to face....it had been irking him ever since that halloween's night....the faint familiarity, n now, this moment when her face was actually not visible to him he realized who she was.....as she removed the teddy from the front of her face, putting it down, and pulled muskaan into a hug twirling her around, they both came face to face.....his guess confirmed.....and both were for that long moment completely zapped....for different reasons of course........
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~Part 4~
As muskaan pulled her out of the hug, ridhima slowly came back from her initial no reaction state, and then almost with a jerk withdrew her gaze from the last face she had expected to see here....as she glanced back at muskaan, who was smiling deeply cause of the surprise she found her voice, but "did u like it???" was all she could utter and before muskaan could answer, armaan who had also finally come out of the shock of realization and now had a different air about him said looking at her "of course she must have, unexpected surprises always make people..... happy," he said the last bit in an intended way, without meaning to...but his reaction was just spontaneous and even he was unable to figure what was causing it....then kicking himself mentally he looked at muskaan and said "so someones birthday girl huh!!!...." then pulling her into a light hug he said, "happy birthday beautiful!!!" and then he let her go, she was brimming with happiness said in an excited voice " omg ridz, this is amazing....i thought u forgot in the excitement of the wedding....n u sly woman, went to the bathroom supposedly huh leaving me to get all that heavy luggage checked in alone....." saying so muskaan hugged ridhima again who smiled, still partially shaken....then hearing rahul clear his throat they let go and rahul moved towards muskaan to give her a hug, then changing his mind just extended his hand and said "happy birthday muskaan" and as the three of them just chattered, while ridhima was completely conscious of the gaze on her......armaan was constantly looking at ridhima hearing and speaking nothing, but his mind racing with thoughts....she had changed a lot, the glasses were gone, to reveal her beautiful light brown eyes, the hair were left open, and......he figured he had not recognized her suddenly today, it had been coming to him n then falling just short of a realization for the previous times they met....perhaps her dress today had finally done the trick ....and observing her top to bottom he realized looks was not the only thing that had changed about her....then he remembered her discomfort in his presence that evening at the library....so u knew all along who i was he thought to himself, and u prefered letting me stay in the dark, preferred no confrontations with ur most worthless student did u lady physics???so what were u avoiding....witnessing a new me....or showing off the transformed u???...slowly a smile crept on his lips, and his eyebrows arched slightly as he thought....hmmmm so someone gained expertise at stuff other than physics....but u did not realize what u were up against i guess.....playing smart here, are we????...alright missy enough of ur hide and seek....i know this game and all its rules....n uv broken enough of them by hiding urself keeping me ignorant about who it was that i had to find....lets play it fair now....u wana run away, lets see how far u go......aloud he said...."well well well, if the happy reunion is over, id say this calls for a substantial treat....ummm reg, buddy....why dont u find the beautiful birthday angel a nice table close to the cafe that side while i go fetch us a cake to occasion this moment...." he did not miss noticing ridhima with a side look as her expression clearly read 'arent u missing someone over here'....letting the pause have its effect he turned towards her n then giving an 'oops! um sorry look' he continued, "i meant i will go get the cake with..." a questioning pause this time, "with her...." then looking back at rahul n muskaan he saw rahul was going to oppose but before he could armaan said "reg, dude ur still standing????Waiting for what man....go on....." rahul gave armaan a murderous look only to get back a naughty smile, and as they made a move, armaan turned towards ridhima and signalled with his arm saying "please....ladies first..." she glared at him, with an underlying helplessness and walked ahead...as he moved to match step with her he said in a slight whisper like hoarse voice "i am sorry..." as she looked up into his eyes all puzzled, he continued with a meaningful glance " armaan....i am sorry armaan....isnt it time u said those words honey???" she frowned at him addressing her that way "huh???"..."yeh...u owe me that id say....wat do u think, about time is it???" she looked at him in irritation now, it was true that she had wanted to apologize to him for the other evening, but this guy, she thought, why was he was always such a pain....speaking stiffly she said "yeh...um sorry....i was rude.... n ....."... "n u arent being too polite apologizing like that....but ur forgiven anyhow...lets say um in good mood....anyways so i guess its time for a formal introduction finally...u already know my name....so that leaves us with....ur name..."he paused keenly observing her conflicting expressions as she, he knew without doubt, was trying to find a way to wriggle out of this yet again....he continued "which i guess i finally know...."as she looked up at him startled he said in a low tone as if saying it aloud might be a bad idea...."i dont mean to embarras u but....well....its a weird name wouldnt u agree????" as her startled look transformed to an indignant one, he spoke again before she could retort "i mean, who likes being addressd by names of hotels....RITZ....how about i continue with cleopatra??it has a definite edge in this case id say"he said all of that with a teasing grin, while ridhima just stared at him puzzled, until she realized what he was thinking....she was relieved for a moment...so he still did not know it was riddhima....he was just saying a wrong version of what muskaan had said.....and making fun of her????then she got all mad at him again....why was he such a bloated ego jerk, aloud she said, "its ridz, with a 'd' not 't'...." with that turned her head jerking her hair hard n walked away towards the only counter with bakery stuff....following her lead, he shook his head still laughing and said to himself "ridz with a 'd'...yeh right ms. 'r' for ridhima....' as she stood deciding the flavor, he said from behind, "could u pack us the strawberry cake???" cringing her nose she said "eeks!!! strawberry thats way tooooo sweet..." looking back she told the guy behind the counter, "pack the coffee cake n could u..." he interrupted "i should have guessed ur choice had to be the bitter coffee against the sweet strawberry, ms. ritz with a 't'....but that lovely friend of urs seems to be an angel.....um sure she prefers sweet stuff..." looking at the guy again he said "strawberry please, its final...." she glared at him without masking it now and said "u know what, do what you want, why do i even care....but pleasssse, just stay away from me, let me live in peace...."saying so she was going to walk off when he said "thats kinda impossible" she stopped curious to hear what he was going to say, but without turning,as he said "cause the harder u keep pushing me away um bound to be pulled closer by the same force, thats how it goes right???by 'the law..... of..... attraction' ???" as she swiveled around instantly by 180 degrees he continued smiling at her a raised eyebrow and said in a softer voice "every action has an EQUAL... and OPPOSITE reaction....i daresay i am entitled to a pass grade this time, ms. ridhima gupta????
now he had completely caught her off guard....bulls eye he thought, thats what u call the rebound shot after missing the real one.....how long did u think u were gona continue winning.....the guy behind the counter broke the stare between the two saying "that would be $40...." armaan turned around to pay while ridhima stepped ahead and putting the cash on the counter....armaan took it away n and handed a card to the guy and offered her the cash back without looking at her....she said "no thanks i dont need u to pay, u can keep it...." he looked at her now and replied "um not doing it for u....its my treat for muskaan" then taking her hand and putting the cash into it "n now if u dont mind, we created enough scene here already...." with that he walked off with an inside smile, leaving her to collect the cake....while she felt it was going to be hard to check her temper much longer why did he always assume things would be done his way...collecting the cake she was going to walk back too when the guy at the counter said, "hey u forgot to collect ur boyfriend's card...here u go...." armaan who had not moved far enough to miss those words stopped in his tracks...and then smirked...aaawwwww ridhima....our mutual ATTRACTION was so visible even to that guy...." saying so he laughed out loud....only to find her standing beside him offering him his card without giving him a glance, and visibly fuming in rage...." omg sweetie...ur the first girlfriend iv had who is ready to give me my card back without overdrawing the account limit!!!" she looked up at him partly startled and partly furious n he winked at her making her go red without her meaning to, and then as she turned and walked away he ran to catch up with her and then said "ok peace....seriously....game is up" as she looked up at him he extended his hand and said "friends???" she just stood a few seconds looking at him trying to read his mind, before giving him her hand and then saying "guess we should get back to them now...." he replied letting go of her hand after holding onto it a momemt too long she felt " sure....so where are u guys headed to in india..." "my sister's getting married in delhi, thats where i will be most of the time and ...." " o wow lady, cant believe how lucky u are, keep going places i go.....u sure its not u who is stalking me now??"...as she looked up at him giving him a nasty look he said grinning "i thought u changed but i guess looks can be deceptive, its still just as easy to irritate u ..." then laughing he continued "alright ...kidding...we both are going to delhi for a wedding as well....wanted to accompany dad"....."who's wedding" she asked...."well its my mother's"....he paused at the word, and then with what appeared to her to be a suddenly altered low voice he resumed "my mother's nephew i think....um not quite sure....just wanted to go with dad, did not check the details well" she gaped at him..."ur going to india all the way for a wedding and ur not even sure who it is????"he just spoke looking anywhere except at her "yeh well.....wedding is not my real purpose".....then turning to face her "anyways, ur sisters wedding huh????u must be excited....is it the usual Indian arranged marriage???" she shook her head and said "no, its the guy she has been dating for a few months now....i have not met him in person but if di fell for him, he must be phenomenal....." with that they had reached the table.....so they both took seats as ridhima put the cake before muskaan, rahul opened it for her while armaan handed her a knife he had picked up at the counter....the moment she saw the cake, muskaan looked up in surprise at ridhima and said "ridz????U GOT A STRAWBERRY CAKE????" before anyone else could speak rahul said "nah it must be ammy.....strawberry is the only flavor he eats....can u beat that???the big shot superbasketballer with a choice that girly" as ridhima giggled both she and rahul hi fived, and armaan just said with a sarcastic smile "yeh whatever...and its armaan, not ammy for heavens sake reg...." then turning to face muskaan he asked "the question is do YOU like it???"...she nodded her head vigorously and said "absoultely armaan...but ridzi never ever gets it....shes just stuck at coffee and i dont mind that either so we compromise on that....but strawberry is my abs fav...." armaan grinned looking at ridhima giving her the 'see-i-told-u-' look and then turning back to muskaan he said "u know what beautiful, um getting a gut feel....we're gona be getting along fantastic....long way to go together i guess!!" he ended winking at her but was slightly disappointed to see that ridhima had not reacted much the way he wanted...no jealousy????just plain indifference....hmmmm he thought....dont worry i always know how to get my way....then followed the usual cake cutting, singing, messing up with the icing and all that, at the end of which they were all laughing and chatting like they had been friends longtime...at one such moment ridhima just couldnt help but stare at armaan, as he laughed in pure glee over some joke he and muskaan had cracked at rahul....and she thought, he doesnt seem so stuck up with that endless attitude when u just see him like that....infact right now he seems so innocently and trully happy....and as he turned to catch her staring at him his smile changed to a curious one, and then a naughty teasing look, and then he slowly whispered close to her ears "spellbound???i have that effect on people!!" and then winking at her got back to his joke with muskaan....while she just shook her head in disgust and regret wondering what had made her think that way about him even for a moment....jerk! she muttered....then as she thought she would get up and get a glass of water he pulled her back holding onto her wrist and said looking at them all...."hang on....u girls must be flying the british airways too if your flight time is same as ours right???" as they both nodded, ridhima did not quite like the smile that started spreading on armaans face as he continued "awsome....where r ur seats???" the moment he said that both rahul and ridhima shot him a really skeptical look now, for their own individual reasons....while muskaan quipped "we r in economy, last block....booked the tickets quite late thats all we could get," she said shrugging..."well muski what r friends for....i have a perfect birthday gift for u."...and looking at rahul he said "reg is always saying he never gets to spend time with friends other than us basketball guys"....then turning back to muski..."and then u both seem to be such close friends....we have our seats in the business class, why dont u go join him there and i can just ...." shooting ridhima a quick sly look before changing it to a sweet innocent smile "join ur friend here... i guess" ....he saw rahul was about to argue so he interrupted "its ok reg i dont mind at all seriously i mean its her birthday she deserves a special time and well dont worry about me," looking back at ridhima again who was also about to protest, "i will manage somehow."...he finished with a sigh.....muskaan meanwile tugged at his sleeve to get his attention " r u serious???its fine....n.."....."no no no muskaan i absolutely insist....its the least i can do..." .and then squeezing her hand with a genuine smile he added..."i mean it..."... as ridhima realized that muskaan really was accepting armaans bait she got horrified....oh no she thought....the whole journey back with him....shoot....no ridzi do something...and so she said..." armaan its really very sweet of u but muski and i have a lot of plans to discuss for the wedding u know and..." ..."o c'mon do u always have to be a spoilsport???u guys are gona be together like all through your visit....let muskaan enjoy her birthday away from u atleast....ok how about we let the birthday girl decide...watsay beautiful???" and he grinned looking at muskaan, as she just shook her head at the two of them...they had not left a single chance to show each other down in the past 45 minutes, n somehow muskaan realized, there was more to these two than she knew...yet....she would have definitely not accepted the idea but for this hunch of hers, cause as far as rahul n she were concerned, she knew it was just a silly crush....but her intuition said she should join in on this plan...whatever it would lead to....and so she spoke aloud, much to the horror of rahul and ridhima, while widening armaans grin "sure dude....um game!!!"
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~Part 5~
"good morning everybody....we welcome you on behalf of British Airways, to what we hope will be a pleasant journey for all our passengers...We are now ready to have the passengers from flight BA 7456 board the plane...please come to the terminal 3 lounge ....we will begin with the passengers in the business class...thank you...." hearing the announcement armaan made the next move quickly before muskaan could be influenced into a change of mind...."alright two of you leave then...we will see u at the stop over in frankfurt....have fun!!" rahul, giving him a last nasty look, turned to leave and so did muskaan smiling and waving back....then she just turned back n hugging ridhima whispered...."this is ur punishment...i would not have ditched u if u told me urself what u still have to tell me...but for now it waits...till we get home..." with that she broke apart and went ahead with rahul....as armaan stood smiling watching them disappear ridhima cleared her throat to gain his attention, he turned around to find her giving him a sarcastic questioning look, waiting for him to explain..."what???" he said....and before she could speak..."actually, no i dont wana know what....um not upto lectures at this early morning hour much as ud like to give me one um sure....i have a better idea....um gona go grab a book for the flight.....how about u get one too, so u treat us both to some peace n quiet...." she just glared at him, and stomping her foot hard on the ground walked off to the ladies washroom....at least that was one place he would not enter and she could spend some 'armaan free minutes' in peace....as she walked away she cursed muskaan in an undertone for all she was facing, and would have to put up with for the next 22 hours.....
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as they found their seats, he put his carry on into the upper storage shack, and offered to do the same for her, but she just stood there tapping her foot, indicating that she was waiting for him to move so she could fix her bag herself....he merely shrugged and sat down taking the window seat.....she fit her bag into the shack, with considerable trouble since she wasnt quite tall, while he just looked at her shaking his head, knowing she would not let him help.....she had decided to not speak at all....that was the only way she thought, of surviving the flight with him by her side...cause nothing she would say could ever extract a normal reply or reaction out of him.....why the heck was he such a pain she asked herself for the infinte time that evening.....as the announcement was made for take off they both made a move to get their seatbelts on, but armaan moved in the wrong direction, not having travelled much on economy class he was used to independent seating...and so their heads collided "ouch!" said ridhima giving him an angry look and rubbing her head while he said "oops um sorry, got the wrong side...." as she said nothing, he looked at her with narrowed eyes, and said "what now???they dont tax u extra for speaking here on the plane missy" as she shot him another furious look, he said "oooohhh now um scared....ok seriously what???that was an accidental collision, n i did not make half that amount of fuss when u dropped those 2 books weighing a ton on my head....i could have suffered from memory loss for all u know....." seeing that she did not even react to his awful joke he figured he would just have to explain....so he said...."fine i give up....u wana know why i sent muskaan with reg????" now ur talking she thought and gave him the first look of interest in the last 20minutes....as he continued "i always thought u were dumb at everything that was not physics n now ur confirming it....." this time she just gave him a tired look, not wanting to argue anymore even with silent expressions, and said "can u ever make the point without digressing into a discussion about how hopeless i am in every possible way??? he grinned at her frustration, it was so much fun to irk her, cause she was such a soft target, then comimg back to the point he said in a more solemn tone "well u make it hard to not comment like that...r u blind to the obvious chemistry between them???look, u probably dont care about ur friend, but i give a dam to reg n his life....he spends too much time with worthless chicks, and iv seen muskaan at all our games....she absolutely dotes on him....n she is a really nice girl....the only one perhaps i would like to see in his life for real....and he will not make any moves with her cause she is a close family friends daughter, he's just not the kind to take a chance on something which involves his family he cares too much about them....but i know him....somewhere he loves the attention he gets from her....if she gets late at the end of a game we have won, i see him searching for her in the crowd unintentionally....he doesnt know this, but i have seen pictures of the two of them from our game celebration bashes hidden away under his clothes in the closet....he just would not realize it, nor give it a chance if something did not make it happen....u know he never even lets me meet her cause he knows um going to bring this up....u still think i should have skipped this golden oppertunity????" as he finished he looked up to find her staring at him with an intent yet unbelieving look.....as he raised his eyebrows in a questioning way she spoke up, in a voice he had not heard from her so far, it was genuine, concerned and reflected her surprise, "armaan this is....i mean....its just that.....gosh!i cant believe ur even capable of thinking this way....i mean...." before she could express herself more he spoke with mock indignation..."although badly put forth it was, il take that as a compliment from u ms gupta, perhaps the first n the last um likely to encounter for myself between the two of us....." ridhima shook her head and trying to explain " no ur right i didnt mean it to sound that way....somehow i just...." n she left it at that not knowing what words to explain in that she never thought he could fit this image so perfectly as well.....the sensitivity he had projected completely yet pleasantly took her by surprise, she had not seen, nor expected to see this face of him.....armaan meanwile figured what was going on in her head....n then remembering that he was not intending to be her angel guy he said with a grin..."alright whatever...u keep thinking...." and getting his book out of the bag "i have more interesting stuff to do than hear u praise me, theres no dearth of girls in my life who do that..." he said the last part giving her an indifferent look, but was keen to observe her reaction....he couldnt see why, but getting attention from her seemed to be affecting his actions....he was coming up with all those gimmicks just to trouble her....n he was intentionally mentioning the female craze over him trying to draw the jealous streak he had never failed to obtain this way from a girl, in fact mostly he had to put no effort into that at all....but somehow, the fact that she did not look too interested in his fanship and stardom did not come to him as an acceptable idea....he was used to being the loved guy, the charmer, the spellbounder, but much though he had teased her in the past couple of hours of how she was attracted to him, he knew she wasnt....at least not the way he was used to witnessing.....now what could be the reason for that he wondered....a voice at that moment broke his chain of thoughts, and he realized with a start, his stare at her, which he thought with relief she had not noticed....he looked up to see an airhostess who said "sir, i am told u exchanged your business class seat with a girl from this section of the plane...could i see ur ticket once again, just a confirmation formality...." "sure why not" he said, flashing her a charming dimpled smile, which had never failed to leave an effect....well not yet, he thought giving a sideway glance to ridhima....he fished into his wallet for the ticket and then finding it he leaned over ridhima, since she was on the outer aisle seat to hand it over to the airhostess.....for that one moment, as he inhaled her jasmine fragrance, he was unable to check his reaction n just closed his eyes in the pleasant effect, but then he lost sensation of her rhythmic warm breath on his neck within a moment, causing him to open his eyes, realizing she had slightly stiffened, n was definitely holding onto her breath...that brought a small smile to his face, which he quickly masked and got back to his seat, while maintaining his intent gaze on ridhima, who, as he had anticipated, had definitely been affected by those short moments of proximity....he grinned looking out of the window...she was a mere mortal after all, nobody could resist the charms of jr, sir benz!!! and then turned back to the airhostess with a normal look, as she returned his ticket saying "thank you sir, that will be all...enjoy the flight!" ridhima meanwile was still recovering from that moment....she kicked herself mentally....whats up with u ridzi....what happened in that moment n...goodness gracious!....thank god he moved away, or i was really gona have done something insane...the urge to just make him stay that way his cologne smelling heavenly was just....NO NO NO....wat crap....no ridzi get a grip girl....thats what he is exceptionally good at....for heavens dont add to his list of target girls he can boast of....he has enough of them for u to adorn his achievemnt list.....with that she faced the other way trying to distract herself with other thoughts....as she saw a mum playing with her little kid, she smilied unknowingly, and seeing her smile armaan followed her gaze.....it made him stiffen, while she found the site so cute that she turned back to find some candy in her purse to give the kid, but she froze to her seat as she saw armaan's expression.....he was looking at the same mother child scene too, except that...huh????his eyes looked like they were getting red, and...no it couldnt be....but yet it seemed like there was a threat of tears????as she spontaneouly placed her hand on his arm, he jerked out of the scene n looked away towards the window....then within seconds as he looked back towards her, trying desperately to say something n break the silence, ridhima said breaking the gaze right away..."what book is that u got????" picking it up, she said "kane and able...oh thats the best archer work iv read...just love it....specially the matthew lester character, though they kill him even before the book is half done...." armaan smiled thankfully, he knew without her saying that she had saved him an explaination which he could in no way offer, and had let go of the situation, which no doubt had given rise to several questions in her mind....but since she had been considerate enough to give him the break, he took her bait and then getting back his naughty grin with a little effort he said "thankx a ton miss know it all....il have that book back, thank you, before u reveal the rest of the plot to me without me starting with page 1....." she looked at him, angry now, here she was helping him out, and look at this guy "aloud she said "dont know why i even bothered to......never mind...." with that she turned her face the other way again, while armaan smiled, knowing what she had stopped herself from saying...and he thought, silly girl....but i guess she isnt that bad....in fact....i guess she is quite sweet after all, if u dont rub onto her wrong side....swiftly he pulled out what he had got for her from his laptop bag and before she knew, he thrust a book right under her chin....she turned around, and he urged her with his eyes to take it, which she did, and read the title 'EXODUS' by leon uris.....as she looked back at him quizzically he explained, "well when i got a book for myself i figured i should buy u one as well....i mean its no match to my company of course, but since i wont be chatting much, i got u something worthwile to spend ur time on as well...." before she could interrupt "and yeh i was going to get u a science fiction, but stopped just in time....i guessed u must have already read them all, so i got this....its miles away from anything scientific....n one of my personal favorites...hope u like it...." she just looked at him, a couple of moments not knowing what to say, this guy was so weird....she would never figure out what he was really like.....but for then she just took the book and said a quiet 'thanks' and opened to read it.......
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"oh no....ridz matthew lester just died n u were right he is such a ...." he stopped as his eyes fell on her face....she had dozed off, with her reading glasses on, clutching on to the book.... he had been too engrossed in reading for the past almost couple of hours and had not seen her fall off to sleep.....that was the way he was when he got hooked to a new book....now as he looked at her, he smiled inevitably, her head had fallen off towards the aisle, finding no support, a slight frown on her face due to the uncomfortable position he guessed, but even that had not kept her from sleeping....must have been tired he thought...gently, and cautiously trying not to wake her up he moved her head on the inside, so she could rest it on the seat, but much as he tried it would not stay, so at long last, he just made it rest on his shoulder lowering himself in his seat to match her short height....as he felt her clutch onto his shoulder for further support in her sleep, while a smile formed on her lips as she snuggled into her now comfortable headrest.....removing her glasses he thought...,OMG...shes such an angel...well when she is sleeping that is, he thought with a naughty grin...and got back to reading his book.....
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~Part 6~
As she opened her eyes, slowly, she remembered where she was.....she must have slept really long she thought and quite like a log, for she was taking so much time getting back to her surroundings, n then with a start she realized where her head was resting, and hastily moved to sit straight in her own seat, armaan meanwile looked up from his book, as he felt the head lift off his shoulder and said "how was the beauty sleep missy???" she looked at him, slightly blushing and said in a lower tone "i ummmm... did not realize....i mean, u could have just woken me up u know....sorry for the trouble" she said a bit awkwardly while armaan still grinning didnt intend to let go of the chance and said "oh c'mon why dont u just admit that was the best sleep of ur life....all girls love to get an oppertunity like that with me...." as he saw a slight frown form on her face, he said further "well personally i dont mind, a beautiful lady resting on my shoulder..."as she looked at him in surprise with a small smile replacing her frown, he continued "except that u r neither....." seeing her look change to an indignant one now, he couldnt help laughing while she just continued staring at him in disgust until he stopped laughing and then gave him a nasty look, in response to which he laughed a bit more and said in betwen giggles "OMG ur hilarious ridz.....they should put u up in an exhibition some place in london ...ur sure to give the master of all expressions Mr. Bean a run for his money i can bet...how do u even do that????i mean the speed with which u alter ur expressions....OMG....just so...."and he burst out laughing again...while she just sighed deeply cursing being stuck with a jerk like him....when he finally stopped she said "u know ur lucky to be a sports star...its probably the only reason girls cling to u the way they do.....or with ur lack of etiquettes , correction, ABSENCE of etiquettes, girls would not spare u a glance or thought....."... "well um sorry to say uv just got an extremely bad taste in that case honey.....theres a lot more than my sports stardom which attracts beautiful ladies, of course now you would not know all that....." and before she could interrupt..."i do wonder though how ur boyfriend ever manages to deal with u????" and with that he looked at her intently, he did not have a reason in the world to give a thought to this issue, but some spontaneous impulse had made him add that last statement, n now he was waiting for her to reply, not sure of what he was hoping to hear from her...ridhima meanwile was taken by shock again, gosh this guy really did talk smart to get his answers she thought....not finding an escape out of his question she said, "excuse me i need to use the washroom..." and got up before he could stop her.....while he muttered to himself "no answer????now how do i interpret that???no boyfriend, or a relation she doesnt want to discuss????" without speaking aloud ahead of that he knew what he hoped the case was....then shaking his head he said "hang on dude....why do u even care....ok yeh u know what, um just plain curious....have not known too many girls like her, kinda curious to know what kind of guys they like and fall for....yeh of course, you should always update ur knowledge base about female issues, never know what comes in handy when....well...guess il have to await another chance to get that answer out of her...." with that he got back to his book again, but somewhere in the back of his head, he was still wondering what her answer would have been......
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As they stood next to the conveyor belts, armaan trying to get the bags off one by one, while ridhima trying to call muskaan as she had still not spotted the two of them....in fact they had missed them at frankfurt too, since muskaan had called excitedly to tell her that she n rahul were at a chocolate shop where he was buying her some for her birthday...and ridz thought about what armaan had told her, and decided to give them space, while armaan insisted she should accompany him for something he had to show her....it turned out to be the music store....he took her to the Q jam machine and fixed the headphones on her head n played a track.....as she heard it she wondered why it was so familiar....it was rock, she knew cause muskaan was a die hard rock freak, and always had that stuff playing in the room....ridhima meanwile did not mind it until it got way too harsh....but this was nice....n familiar....she had heard it before she was sure but felt like long ago, "what song is that iv heard it i ...." and before she could speak another word he cupped her mouth, his face showing shock, then he looked at other people around smiling at them apologetically, and looking back at her his hand still covering her mouth as he pulled off her headphones, with the other hand n said in a reproaching whisper..."r u insane??? why did u yell that loud, um not deaf u know...." then as she looked around at the attention she had caught, she started turning red in her face a bit embarresed, and a bit conscious since he had still not let go of her mouth....she realized that he had forgotten to do so, so she slowly pulled it off with her own hands and said in what would have have been an indignant voice had she not been so embarrased at the moment "um sorry, ....but it isnt my fault, i did not realize i was that loud cause u turned the volume of the track so high....n then u know all these rock songs....too much noise n no song....." he looked at her a bit offended, and asked "u thought that track was just a lot of noise????" she nodded her head, then shook it n seeing his confused expression she said "well much as id like to say it was horrid, since apparently u must like it alot to make me hear it, i have to admit u dont have a tragic taste...it was definitely a better one from the lot....i could hear the lyrics, n they actually made sense....music was not bad....in fact i kinda liked the guitar strumming in the background all through i guess...." and she paused as she saw his wide smile....puzzled with what she had said to make him so delighted she gave him a quizzical look, in response to which he put his arm over her shoulder, brought the CD cover in front of her from behind him, holding onto it with his free hand, and then as he moved his finger from the hand around her shoulder towards the cd to point at something, she inevitably got pulled into his hold around her tighter, which made her gasp ever so slightly....omg she thought, not the cologne again....while he, not getting a reaction from her for what he was showing looked to see her eyes lightly shut, and he guessed what was happening....he smiled even more, his dimples digging deeper, and then whispered into her ear slightly, "heylo????um not showing u a horror flick, u can open ur eyes n see its just a CD cover...." she opened her eyes instantaneously now emabarrsed to an extent she could not hide, she knew....but to avoid thinking anymore about it she looked at what he was pointing...it said " Stanfy Rockrz: lead guitarist- Armaan Christopher Benz, ....." she did not read ahead of that, just looked up at him and could not stop herself from saying "omg ur on the band????o yeh i remember, u were a guitarist in high school too right????" as he grinned nodding, she smiled seeing his excitement, so pure n obvious....as he said "yeh thats the new record we brought out a fortnight ago....it was awsome doing these tracks, since it was my first album here in stanfy.....and well the track i just played for u is ....well special...." he went off into a dazed look...which was happy yet solemn...then something brought him back, perhaps her intense gaze upon him....he continued "and apparently we hit the charts quite high and ..." as he rambled on excitedly, her audio senses faded out gradually, cause in his daze he seemed to have tightened his grip around her and now as he lead her out of the store, still chattering excitedly....all she could think of was how comforting his hold was....she was no longer feeling a jitter from his touch....in fact ideally she should have shook his grip off herself, but she felt so relaxed that way, that unconsciously she let it stay, seeing him talk, hearing nothing......
she was brought out of her thoughts as she heard muskaan's voice bellow into her ears from the other side of the phone..."HELLO????RIDZI???" as she answered without further delay "yeh... yeh um here muskaan, y u yelling in my ear....just wanted to ask where u both are....armaan is getting the luggae for us and um looking for u ppl but cant see u" muskaan replied in a normal voice now" well what do u expect me to talk like when u call urself n then dont speak up for almost a minute...where were u lost girl???" ridhima blushed, shoot, she thought she reads me even without looking at me....while muskaan continued "and i just spotted u dont worry we r walking towards u...u help armaan with the luggage poor guy having to get all of that alone, n ur bag is way too humungous" indignantly ridzi quipped "muski???can u stop supproting that jerk he's ..." ...."a wonderful guy im falling in love with" she heard armaan's cheeky voice from behind completeing her sentence not quite the way she was going to....while muskaan did not miss his line either and said still on the phone "oooohhhh i c....interesting....well um putting the call down...this has to be discussed in person i guess..." and with that she cut the call without letting ridhima correct her....so she swerevd around and almost yelled at him in an angry voice " do u ever get serious????what was that all about....muski thought u were talking for real....armaan this is not funny do u understand????" as his look changed from a grin to a quieter expression, she immediately felt guilty....she knew he was just teasing her...but somehow, she just lost her temper....she knew it wasnt cause of what he had said, but cause she was still feeling weird, she really had been so lost in his thoughts that she had not heard muskaan answer her phone for almost a minute....and then muskaan guessing she had been lost.....and then while she was still confused he had come up n said that stuff....n then muskaan teasing her about him.....she was just getting too bogged down by her own confusing thoughts about what she was feeling....and hence her unreasonble irritation at jokes she would normally laugh off....and her confused frustration had just found a vent in him...."um sorry" he muttered realizing something was not right with her, he had teased her all through the journey but though she would get mad at him and scornfully retort, this was the first reaction out of her which really was intense...and he did not want to extend this issue...."i was just joking...dint mean to...." " no its ok....um sorry....duno why i got mad over something that silly" she said and as he looked at her she tried to smile back to reassure him that it was nothing except a wrong moment....and then they both turned as they heard muskaan's chirpy voice...."ARYAN!!!" the moment she saw him ridhima ran towards him with the same excitement, that they had heard in muskaan's voice, and as rahul walked towards armaan, he smiled at him but armaan just turned back to the scene....only to find ridhima jump with joy and hug the stranger hard, and as he hugged her back, armaan felt a strong surge of emotions rise within his chest, he could not define at that moment what, why or how that was happening....but as he continued seeing them hug, his eyes narrowed with an effort as he could not keep the doubt from invading his mind.....was this the answer she had avoided mentioning?????
**********
~Part 7~
"Hmmm more serious than the usual cajoling this time, are we???" armaan almost choked on the beer he was sipping, as he was ripped out of his maze of thoughts by the sudden words, zooming around , he said with a tired yet puzzled sigh, "DAD???whats that supposed to" Chris interrupted "u know what its supposed to mean, but if u want me to put it in words, very well then, thats exactly the precision i will expect in your answer...." as he paused, armaan looked at him, still bemused but not completely unaware of what was likely to hit him next, as he heard his father continue, his doubt was confirmed...."who's the lady in question???" It was not the first time he had faced this question from his father....they had always been close friends, and their bond had only been strengthened further by his mother's sudden demise, and his father's parenting role in that period...but for this once armaan did not know what to say....was it even a lady in a question he wondered????and if yes, was it that particular lady in question.....how silly is that dude, he thought, of course its her....i mean....no no no... this girl....gosh armaan ur losing it...ok hang on.... the point is there's no lady in question here at all....but the lady we are talking about is her....WHAT????...ok lets sort this out... she is the girl dad is asking about but not the lady i am thinking of....oh but wait ...how can that be....dad is asking about the girl i am thinking of so they have to be the same right????but how can they be the same if she is not the lady in question????what the ...."so um not wrong, it is more than a thought worth dismissing....." he heard his father interrupt his chain of thoughts as chris settled on the couch besides the pool...."armaan sat down too, a bit absent mindedly.......and then recollecting his wits somehow, without any idea of what he was going to say he spoke up..."do u really want to know???..." and then after a pause, on a sudden thought he added "promise you wont be jealous???" chris looked at his son, and within that quick look he knew armaan had found an answer to escape the real issue, chris knew neither what this escape route was, nor the issue he wanted to escape....but he decided to play along bidding his time for the appropriate moment anyways and said "oh yeh whatever....there is no woman in the world who would chose you over your father....such are the charms of Sir Christopher Lawerence Benz" armaan chuckled....he knew he had his mother's heart, but instead of being the serene beautiful image like his mom....he had been the gallant enchanter, all of his charming persona was from his dad....aloud he said "well there was one....i mean, there was, is and will be...." pausing he said in a slow voice, which was delibearte yet wistful "mum....", chris looked over at him bowled over for a few seconds that followed, until armaan broke the silence continuing..."was just missing her dad", and he could say that looking straight into his father's eyes, because it wasnt untrue in the least, only not....well he thought thats enough for dad for now for he himself wasnt sure of what more there was to it exactly...while chris was figuring out, um sure that is the truth son....just not the complete truth....aloud he said "well she chose me first too...." to which armaan retorted "that was only until she had not laid her eyes on me....c'mon dad, admit it, the most beautiful, charming lady of the world would have chosen me over you at any given time!!!" as he grinned giving his father a cheesy challenging look, chris said "maybe" he paused, then looking armaan into the eye to not miss even a flicker of reaction he continued...."but i can assure you this apparently reaonably beautiful, charming lady....the lady in question here....not ur mum as we both know....will definitely take to my charms before yours....not every worthy woman makes the same blunder son......" now armaan was dumbfounded, fidgeting with his fingers he mumbled looking at his shoes "there is no lady in question dad....the question here is about a guy " "WHAAAT???" chris could not stop himself from that reaction to his son's words and their obvious implication, while he thought, completely tensed now, how and when could this have happened????armaan had always been.....while armaan realizing how his words had been misinterpreted said quickly to correct any misconeptions "i dont mean it like that dad....gosh how u let your mind run on such insane thoughts...." as chris sighed in relief, armaan chuckled again..."u really thought i....omg dad....ur hilarious...." and armaan fell off the couch onto the floor besides his father laughing....while chris smiled now, thinking what a foolish thought he had entertained even if for a second, and then he remembered what had caused it so he asked again "so then why is a guy on ur mind...who is it first of all...." , "aryan chadda.... i think...." he said in a quiet voice....then resting his head in his father's lap he said "can we skip this talk for now dad....it is not like i want to hide anything....but to be honest, i dont know exactly what it is u want to know n i need to tell.....anyways i dont think it is that considerable a topic of discussion" hearing the finality in armaan's voice chris knew it was a good idea to drop it ....for now he thought at least, because this 'not a considerable topic' as armaan had called it, had visibly been prying on his mind ever since their hug at the airport...considering the father son reunion had happened after quite a few months this time, chris had found armaan had spoken much less being quite engrossed in something which was not obvious....it is considerable son, thought chris, but il let u take ur time before u reveal it to me...n perhaps to yourself, cause something makes me believe u completely when u say ur not sure of what to tell me....aloud he said..." well alright then, come into the house ur grandmom wants u to join everyone for dinner....u know, a half english grandson, stydying at stanford....ur quite a star here son!!!" saying so chris winked at the exasperated look which had appeared on armaan's face hearing him say this, and they both got up to walk back in for dinner...."and yeh," continued chris, "i would not think u would maintain ur star status at quite the same level unless u chuck that beer can away from prying eyes....i know u are not much of a drinker, but the can is not likely to stand by my statement before ur mum's family"....armaan shrugged looking up towards what he assumed was heavens, and dumped the half full can into a bin close by, and the followed his dad inside the sliding doors....
*************
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHH...u jerk mr. underpants... get out of my kitchen if u want to even see dinner tonight" yelled ridz at him, at the same time trying to tend to her almost burnt finger by blowing air onto it rapidly, "yeh right frisco, as if u were even remotely concentrating on whats cooking in those pots, if only u could find spare time from whatever has been cooking in that pea sized brain of yours ever since u got home....say thanks to me for bringing u back to mother earth from whichever cloud 9 u were on...." aryan teased relentlessly with an evil grin... ridhima turning slightly red, retorted trying to defend herself " by burning my finger in the steaming coffee???" " well be glad it was just that, the way ur lost in ur wonderland all off that food would have burnt out...i think ur finger is a preferable victim anytime" he completed, ducking behind the kitchen table as she threw the rolling pin towards him "god frisco...i thought stanford might have atleast turned u into a remote resemblance of a lady, but not in the least, the poor guy u were dreaming of right now....tell me who it is quickly so i can warn him before he falls for ur deceptively innocent looks, you are lethal when ur trully urself" and he ducked yet again as he saw a plate flying towards him this time, catching it swiftly in the air meanwile, and chuckling at her....as she turned her back on him, in a disgruntled way, he knew she had avoided his question....they had been best friends since they were kids....muskaan, ridhima, anjali, and him, aryan....although muskaan had been a great sibling to grow up with, and anjali a perfect classmate and friend as they both decided to opt for medical studies....aryan had found his closest friend in ridhima, and the two of them had been inseperable, and were transparent to each other to the extent of reading the other's mind of thoughts which were yet to occur.....as he saw her get back to the pots on the stove, he walked towards her and sitting on the slab facing her he spoke again....."so whats cooking" she heard his unpoken last words 'in ur head' in his deliberate tone, n knew her supposedly well concealed restlessness had not escaped him even after months of not seeing her.....he never missed her latent and unspoken emotions...avoiding his gaze by walking towards the cabinet on the pretext of getting salt she said..."chicken biryani....did u suddenly get food blind, or lose your power to recognize ur favorite dish when it is being cooked before ur eyes???" he waited for her to come back, knowing she couldnt stay there forever to get salt, and as she walked back he said...."if ur done with that awful attempt at humor....or hiding facts....can i get the real answer???" she looked up to see him looking back at her intently, no smirk or grin, a genuine questioning look, and she knew there was no way to escape it....."aryan it is not...." she started only to be interrupted "ARYAN RIDHIMA...u both do ur reunion talks later or we will never get the biryani u promised us ridz....n aryan bhai...come here fast....u just have to see this...."with this muskaan dragged aryan away, much to ridhima's relief, but not a long lived one, as aryan tuned back giving her a look which she read clearly to say 'thats not the end of our conversation'....but putting it off her head for now she got back to the cooking, both in the pots and inside her head as aryan had accurately said....she still could not understand why she was so uneasy....and so she replayed the events of the last 24hours in her head yet again, she had done so enough times already to have lost count, her quest for a satisfactory answer was all but in vain....thats what aryan, she thought, its not that i dont want to answer u....i just dont know what it is u want to hear n i have to say....she shut her eyes momentarily, wary of the pace at which her mind was racing, only to jerk them open....for that one moment she had smelt his cologne again she was sure....cautiously she turned to look all about her making sure, he wasnt there...then standing back straight up she gave a nervous giggle and said "silly ridzi, how could he be here....girl...ur losing it"....with that she went back to the biryani trying to block out all ambiguous thoughts.....
*************
as he threw his jeans and shirt from the journey into the laundry basket, he heard a small yet audible sound of something metallic fall to the ground....he turned around scanning the floor for what could have resulted in the sound, just as he was going to give up and turn around his eyes stopped at a small shining silver speck....he bent and retreived it and brought it close for inspection, at first he couldnt understand for the life of him what it was, but then it struck him, like a bolt of lightening, and he gave it a closer look narrowing his eyes, undoubtedly it was a broken tiny tinklet from her dangler....as he wondered how that happened to have reached here, he remembered how she had rested her head on his shoulder while sleeping "oh i see, thats how....it must have jerked off the dangler and got stuck to my shirt at that time..." as he gazed at the tiny silver piece, it unknowingly brought a smile to his face and he whispered "i wonder if you are thinking of me too ms. short tempered know it all.....but i have to admit....there is something about u ...which i inevitably seem to miss just so...." and shaking his head slowly as he muttered those last words as if trying to contradict his own obvious thoughts, he wondered why he was feeling so, and then why was he denying the feeling......dropping to the bed, he slowly shut his eyes, trying to shut his mind and heart, as they both all of a sudden yearned to feel her resting her head on his shoulder.....as he smiled with closed eyes, running like a movie the events of the journey, his smile widened until he reached the rear end....their parting scene at the airport......
***************
~Part 8~
"What was that look on his face when we bid adieu???" she asked out aloud the question that had been so heavily on her mind that it had not even let her get involved in the family reunion after several months, and for such a special occasion....standing by herself in the balcony of her room now she gave up on trying to check her dwindling concentration in her own family affairs....all through dinner and post dinner chats she had hardly participated in all that had been discussed amongst her parents, cousins, n other family members, and muskaan n aryan...she had not however been unaware of aryan's constant observation of her lost daze, but she figured she would handle it when it came along, she had to tell him anyways, there was nothing she never told him, the thing was she needed to sort out things in her head first so she knew what to tell him....the journey had been fun, she admitted smiling with reluctance, he had teased her endlessly but she had enjoyed every bit of it without a speck of doubt she knew now, ....n what about those 2 close encounters she wondered blushing, looking back in retrospection.....what was that effect he had on her....it was so intoxicating that she semed to lose sense...he was not the first guy who used cologne n came close ....what???ok silly reason, it obviously has nothing to do with the cologne ridzi....even other than aryan, she had a whole bunch of really close guy friends in her life.....people she had danced within inches of distance, people who hugged her, or for whatever reasons had shared close moments with her as friends...n he too was a friend...perhaps even less, then why did his casual touch make her feel differently....why could she not control her reactions to his touch, his feel, the fragrance she would now associate with him forever, his...whole persona....well thats why they all fall for him i guess, she thought....thats what he is a master at, enchanting girls, who will never be anything in is life except another crazy female fan, he can flaunt each one the way he was all through the conversations we had.....with a streak of jealousy creeping in which she had not even felt when he had actually mentioned them, she argued in her mind like a stubborn kid trying to fight a lost battle....yes thats what he just chrms people....she was not being blind to logic, but then again, had she lost senses while with him??? why had she voluntarily let him keep his grip around her, rather enjoying it...why had she felt so spellbound looking into his hazel eyes each time, why did she have to fight the urge of staying close n not breaking the proximity each time they had been close....wel there was an attraction, she concluded, but it could not be allowed to proliferate and take over her the way it was right now.....cause he obviously did not feel the same way...with a grudging shudder she remebered how all of a sudden he had become cold to her when they said goodbye....he had been so warm n friendly all the time....was that all just a part of his charming pretense which he put up before each girl????it hurt her to admit that it might be just that, but then she thought, why would he bother himself with all that for her, she was not one of his usual damsels.....he had seemed so genuine.....but that cold shoulder just before the parting, pretending to be busy on phone getting mushy with some clinging chick of his she thought disgusted....what could have caused it???could he not have let it go with a normal bye, to match their interaction on the plane????what pinched her most was the fact that this sudden attitude had been directed at her alone...he had been the same warm armaan with muski....oh well she thought he had not spared much warmth to aryan either but that was cause they did not even know each other.....something just provoked that sudden pricey act out of him, and she couldnt think what....with a start she remembered how she had yelled at him post muskaan's call just before aryan appeared on the scene....but as she recalled it all, she decided he had seemed to have taken that fine too accepting her apology.....or so she had felt at that moment....well maybe he did not take it fine ridzi, she thought....he is a superstar, why should he take that yelling n tantrum from a geek like you second time in less than 2 weeks....slowly she slipped to the floor leaning her back against the wall n sat down....still perplexed, but she knew one thing now....without speaking she worded it in her head....she was attracted to him....n missed him....in just the past 24 hours he had her under a spell....but she had to get out of it, n better now since they were in no way meeting for the next 3 weeks till she was in india even if she could not escape his presence in stanford....yes she decided with a strengthening resolve, i have to get out of this fantasy infatuation for something which will never be.... there was nothing plausible in a single sided attraction...a small voice quipped up in her head...there can never be a single sided attraction its a mutual force...he must feel it too....nah... he doesnt or he would be attracted to 90% of the stanford girls....all that balancing out of forces is limited to the physics in the labs she thought sighing, and closing her eyes, tired from the day, its events n her endless puzzling non acceptable thoughts n emotions....
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he frowned hard, as a whole gush of loud voices entered his ears all at once, opening his eyes reluctantly cursing whoever it was, he saw the whole gang of his girl cousins and maybe their friends standing over him giggling....as his frown deepened, he realized with a start he was just in his boxers n vest, pulling the satin sheet over himself completely except his face he sat up instantly looking at all the intruders, embarrased, puzzled and then quite irritated...while one of them, said " its ok bhai....if u have it u should flaunt it...." and she winked at him in a naughty way.....to which armaan reacted with almost a violent jerk, looking up at her....never in his life had he been embarrased to, as she had said, flaunt his well built body, but at this moment he wished the he could disapparate....."that will be enough minz....take ur gang out of the room, i need to catch a word with armaan bhai...." hearing a new voice, armaan looked towards the door to see atul, the groom and his mother's nephew, and then looking back at the cheeky girl he remembered she was his younger sister, minnie....o boy, he thought....i pity the poor bride, this sister in law will be one mischief maker for her to handle i can foresee....unless of course she has had experience with similar spoilt siblings....as the girls moved outwards grumbling, one of them turned around to give him a flying kiss, which now completely turned him red, while atul came inside grinning at the scene....then getting sober he said "i apologize about that they are all brats....but they have been so excited, about the wedding, and about u and uncle joining us this time....bua always did come for the functions, but we just have never seen enough of u n uncle....n well.....its not just them armaan" said atul looking up staright into his half indian cousin's eyes..."u both are really special to me, since bua was my favorite aunt....u know anjali, the girl i am going to marry, and i were friends in high school too, we only just committed much later....but bua had teased me about her for many years before our confession to each other....i wish she had been here to see this wedding...." as he saw armaan look away he paused his own eyes moistening and then said "it means a lot for me to have her family here...." at which armaan looked back smiling deeply, and hugged atul, who hugged him back....as they parted atul quipped "u know i have to agree with minnie for once....u do have a body to flaunt man....gyming all the time???!!!!" armaan chuckled and said "yeh that, and basketball....not the usually loved and worhipped indian sport cricket though....mum n dad tried putting me to that, but i guess american schooling altered my ideas of what i prefer"... " awww that sucks dude" said atul," cause just that one addition to ur list of activities, with looks like that n u have all the indian maidens u find attractive running after u" armaan's thoughts immediately drifted back to the only indian girl who had occupied his thoughts lately, and he spoke spontaneously, without meaning to "not all perhaps....", while atul looked up with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look...armaan came back and put up his defense guard up almost as soon and said "so what did u want to talk to me about???" atul remembered what he come for and replied forgetting the controversial comment armaan had just made, "oh yeh...good u remind me...well as u can see we have a whole bunch of girl cousins, but hardly any grown up boys other than me and u...and a few more distant cousins, n some of my friends....but u really are the closest male cousin of the groom...me" he said smiling, dreaming about anji, while armaan just chuckled seeing him like that bringing his thoughts back to the room by snapping his fingers before him, as he resumed clearing his throat "so u have to go to anjali's place with what we call the shagun....the parents usually take it, but i insisted that uncle should go for this...as my ummmm....u know i mean i would have wanted bua n uncle to go.....would u..." armaan interrupted "yup il accompany dad dont worry....n reg will join us too if u dont mind????" ,"oh no let him stay back with me...i need some help here too cant survive in an all woman house please....n we seem to be getting along well....he's a fun guy", armaan nodded n continued as an after thought "but u think u could let someone else join us, since we are both not quite 'INDIAN TRADITION LITERATE' people u know" to which atul said, after scratching his head in thought for a few moments..."i guess minnie would be the right person....she knows more traditions than possibly exist anyways..." armaan looked up a bit apprehensively, and atul seeing his look smiled and said "shes a brat i know, and can be awfully naughty....but bua used to narrate quite a lot of ur mischiefs....if u have not lost the touch, how about some competition???!!!!" armaan laughed, hearing how his mum had jeopardized his reputation everywhere....then looking at atul he nodded and said "alright....lets have this settled as to who's boss here before the wedding,....cause after this we have to play as comrades right???i mean mum used to mention a lot of those fun games between the bride's and the groom's side....guess if we both are on one team, nobody can beat us!!!this is going to be fun..." breaking his victory dreams atul snapped "well fun yes, but dont be so sure of winning easy....not until u meet anji's younger sister n her two best friends...they can be quite a team trust me" as armaan looked up with a confident dont worry smile atul resumed "they interviewed me for 6 hours....that too online cause they were not here.... before i could formally propose anji"....armaan grinned and said "well champ...its our turn now....leme go check out the enemies today with minnie, and also their base camp....then leave it to us....what did u call ur fiance again...anji????" as atul nodded, armaan could not remember where he had heard that name....it sounded so familiar, yet not quite....was this his month of unravelling familiar puzzling personalities he wondered, thinking about her again.....
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as he stepped out of the car, minnie looking like a angel in her turquoise silver sharara linked her arm into his and said "till they come to know we're cousins, i dont mind everyone thinking i hooked up with the hottest hunk in town!!!" armaan shook his head laughing she had been her upto her chirpy mischief all through the ride, and his initial perception of her had faded into a new one, he decided he like her company, they did make a good team as he had anticipated....she was pretty and witty...beauty with brains - a rare combination he thought, then thinking of ridhima yet again he wondered, or was it a common trait in indian girls....his mum had been one too....as she tugged onto his arm, he smiled at her and said "thanks for the compliment gorgeous.....il be glad to have u around, not quite sure of this indian outfit um wearing who knows when i will need help again, then who better to fix it than u!!!" he winked as she giggled at him, fixing the stole in his neck so it would stay put longer....and with that they followed chris, who was deeply pleased to have seen the bond armaan was building with his cousins...just as his mum would have wanted him to....as they were welcomed into the house by a warm lady, who introduced her self as anji's mom to chris, armaan moved forward n bent to touch her feet, the lady, padma she introduced herself as, was warmly taken aback....atul had called to let her know who was coming with the shagun, and she had not expected him to know the customs being half english....he smiled back at her and said..."i am armaan....dont know what u prefer being called, but dont be too impressed thats the only thing i know from the endless list of indian customs which mum taught me as a kid!!!" smiling back him she blessed him with a happy long life and said "call me PM it will do....." seeing his eyebrows raised in a question she resumed "Padma mom!!" armaan smiled at her showing his pleasure at her gesture, while minnie not losing focus from their aim of getting to know their supposed enemies well, quipped from behind..."aunty where's bhabhi????bhai mentioned she will introduce us to her sister n their gang" to which padma said "oh anji is in her room getting ready, n the rest of them are scattered and running errands...but go meet up with anji she will introduce u to all"...with that armaan and minnie strode towards the stairs, while chris stayed back as shashank had appeared to join padma and him, and they walked in another direction....as they climbed the step, they drew some attention, armaan was not an obviously indian looking boy, and this was his first appearence in this house, all the girls, as minnie had anticipated, were whispering about who it was with her....while she giggled and whispered in his ears..."see what i meant" to which armaan said "yeh i know, isnt the first time girls are fluttering in my presence gorgeous...they always do!!!" minnie looked at him with a look of hurt pride and said "well dont be so sure, they would not have noticed u so had i not been accompanying u....minnie has that effect on people too!!!" to which he merely chuckled and said "no offense intended gorgeous...um sure u do!!!!!!" as they almost reached the door of the bedroom, a girl ran towards minnie and said "hey minz finally ur here come on fast n see bhabhi's dress...." with that minnie gave armaan a quick look to excuse herself and ran inside.....while armaan at the threshold of an obvious girl's domain now wondered which direction to proceed in, just then he heard his cell ringing....and he turned his back to the door, leaning against the edge talked to reg....until......
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" oh god muskaan, i told to u get the tika from mum dint i....ok chuck it now, il go bring it, u do di's hair meanwile".....as she rushed out of the bedroom, closing in on the door, she felt it again....oh no she thought, please not that cologne again, ridzi come on girl this is no time or occasion to lose ur head....but as she neared the door, and finally was crossing it, the fragrance was too strong for her, and she shut her eyes momentarily, then opening them again, hearing muskaan's loud chirpy laugh, she she shook her head hard and moved hastily out of the door, only to feel a tug at her neck....n she realized her long shimmery coffee brown n gold dupatta had got stuck in....she turned around to see what...in the wrist watch of a guy standing with his back, talking on the phone oblivious of this fact...."standing and chatting on the cell outside the girls dress room...wow what an idea...."she muttered...n who was this????she had not seen any guy wear the shade she was wearing in the house so far, brown n gold, with a black stole... n somehow....he looked familiar from the back????....anyways she thought and moving closer she tapped him on his shoulder to get her dupatta released, but even before he turned she knew that cologne....she knew why he seemed familiar....."hang on reg" he said turning around and then, they both stared at each other, unbelievably.....
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here goes part8 folks....extraaaaa looonnnggg coz so many of u complained abt the last one, although it was the same length as always guess due to justa couple of scenes in talk it appeared short....enjoy reading this one!!!
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