...By the next day Riddhima's mood had changed a little; she had decided that she wouldn't make an issue out of the 'Armaan' problem and just let things go the way they were at the moment. She thought that there was no point in arguing now that they were going to become family. While getting ready these thoughts were floating around in her head and she made her mind up that she would try and have a lovely day without any tension.
She went downstairs for breakfast with a bright smile on her face; Padma and Shashank were sitting down at the breakfast table having tea when she walked into the kitchen.
"Good Morning mama...morning papa..." she hugged both of them and sat down.
Shashank smiled at her; "Good morning Riddhima beta..."
"Kya huwa...bohot khush lag rahi ho...kya baat hain?" (What happened...you look very happy...what's the matter?) Padma eyed her suspiciously.
She shrugged; "Kuch nahi mama...bas aise he...dii kahan hai?" (Nothing mama...just like that...where's sis?) she looked around and picked up a piece of toast from the plate.
"Uss ke liye phone aya tha (She got a phone call) ...she had to leave early...she said sorry she won't be able to give you a lift today..." Padma informed her.
Riddhima dropped the piece of toast instantly; "Kya (What?)...I'm going to be late..." she said as she made an annoyed expression.
"I'll drop you to school if you want..." Shashank offered.
"Don't worry papa...your office is in the opposite direction...I'll take the bus..." she said as she stood up; "...I should leave now if not I'll really be late...bye..."
"Theek hain (Okay) beta...take care..." Padma called after her as she left the kitchen.
"Bye..." Shashank called.
Riddhima left the house with a slight frown on her face but as she crossed the road she remembered the promise she had made to herself and quickly brought a smile to her face.
She walked down the road smiling at all the familiar faces as she made her way to the bus stop; she got there a few moments later and waited patiently looking down the road to see if the bus was on its way when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder making her turn sharply.
"Hi gorgeous..." Vivik looked down at her with a cheesy smile.
Riddhima was shocked to see him and become nervous; "Vivik...tum yahan...yahan kya kar rahe ho?" (You here...what are you doing here?)
Vivik deepened his smile; "Babes...I think this is a bus stop...and anyone can come here...right?"
Riddhima forced a smile on to her face; "Umm...I didn't mean it like that...I just meant..."
"It's okay I was just joking..." he put his arm around her shoulder.
Riddhima felt uncomfortable; "What are you doing?" she hated public affection.
Vivik removed his arm from around her; "Okay I'm sorry..."
The bus arrived suddenly and they both got on together; Riddhima felt extremely awkward as Vivik walked her towards the back seat asking her to sit by the window and he sat next to her holding her hand.
"Babes...what's wrong...ever since we've come back to school your attitude towards me has changed..." he stated.
Riddhima looked closely at him; she really wanted to tell him the truth; "Umm...it's nothing like that Vivik..." she decided that it wasn't the right time; "...I've just been busy with coursework and new subjects...you know A 'levels are not easy..."
Vivik watched her nervous expression; "Are you sure?"
"Yeah of course..." Riddhima nodded nervously; she hated telling lies.
Vivik smiled buying her explanation; "Okay...but tonight I'm taking you out...we'll go and watch a movie...we haven't been out in ages..."
Riddhima shook her head; "I'm sorry Vivik...I can't make it tonight...I've got a deadline for tomorrow morning..." she lied again.
Vivik tried again; "Okay then...Saturday night?"
"I'm really sorry Vivik but I won't be able to make it any time..." she said and then quickly covered up her sentence; "...I mean...dii ki shaadi pakki ho gayi hai (Sis's wedding has been set)...we're really going to be busy for the next three to four weeks..."
"Wow...that's cool...when's the wedding?" he said excitedly.
"During the half term..."
Vivik smiled; "That's cool...we'll have lots of fun..."
They carried on talking and Vivik tried to get closer to Riddhima, she realised that they had almost reached the school and suddenly got up before Vivik made a move.
As they got off of the bus Vivik grabbed hold of Riddhima's hand and they walked into school just as the bell rang; Riddhima hated being late and Vivik insisted that he would walk her to her class. When they reached there a few moments later Vivik whispered in her ear that they would have lunch together, he kissed her on the cheek before he left. Riddhima felt disgusted as well as angry at herself for letting this matter go really far.
She walked into class thinking of putting this tension behind her and became excited as she thought of giving her friends the good news about Anjali but as she reached the gang...
"Wow...this is going to be so cool..." Nikita exclaimed excitedly.
Abhi agreed; "Yep...can't wait...thanks yaar Armaan..."
"Hey guys...what's going on?" Riddhima hugged Muskaan and Nikita like always.
Muskaan hugged her tightly; "Hey Ridzi...congratulations..."
"Kis baat ke liye?" (For what?) Riddhima moved back; she looked at each one of her friends with a confused expression before she settled herself down in a chair between Armaan and Muskaan.
Nikita rounded up on her friend; "Arre yaar Ridz...you didn't even tell us that dii's getting married...woh Armaan ne bataya aur hume invite kiya hai engagement aur shaadi ke liye..." (Armaan told us and invited us for the engagement and wedding)
"Kya?" (What?) Riddhima stood up in shock; "...Par main (But I) ...I was going to surprise you guys today and invite you guys from my side...lekin tumne..." (but you) she turned to look at Armaan.
"Ab maine kya kiya..." (Now what did I do?) Armaan was totally confused; "...how was I meant to know you were going to surprise them...you didn't even tell me..." he defended himself.
"But guys...tum sab ladki wale ke taraf se ah rahe hai...haina?" (you guys are going to be there from the girls side...right?) she looked at her friends.
Rahul looked guilty; "Umm...but Ridz...Armaan invited us first..."
Riddhima was in utter shock; she couldn't believe what she was hearing; "Kya...Rahul...tum mere dost ho na?" (What...Rahul you are my friend) she had to double check; "...we've known each other all our lives...we are best friends right?" she turned to her other friends; "...Muskaan tum bhi?" (Muskaan you as well)
"Ridzi..." Muskaan started sadly.
"Muskaan...you knew everything from the beginning and you're still taking his side..." Riddhima was outraged; "...this is your friendship..." she looked at all her friends and walked out.
"Riddhima..." Muskaan called after her.
As Riddhima left the room the others look around at each other with guilt; Muskaan and Nikita decided to go after her to settle this problem before it went out of hand. They walked out of the class and saw Riddhima standing a little away from the door leaning on the wall and wiping the tears from her eyes.
Riddhima cried to herself; "Yeh sab mere saath kyon hota hai... (Why does this happen to me) ...I just wanted this day to go well...but...first Vivik and now my friends too...why is this happening to me?" she was still in her own thoughts when Nikita and Muskaan walked towards her.
Muskaan placed her hand onto Riddhima's shoulder; "Ridzi..."
Riddhima wiped her tears away from her eyes and turned to look at her friends sadly.
Nikita felt sorry; "Ridz...please ro mat...hum dono ladki wale ki taraf se ayenge..." (please don't cry...we will both come from the girls side)
Riddhima shook her head; "Sirf woh baat nahi hai Niki..." (It's not just that Niki)
"What's wrong?" Muskaan was concerned.
"I thought that you guys were all going to be with me at this time...I was going to give you all a surprise...but he ruined it all...and on top of it all that..." she sniffed and wiped her tears; "...I've got to do something about Vivik...I can't stand it any longer..."
Muskaan looked worriedly at her; "Did he do something?"
Riddhima shook her head; "No...I just feel really uncomfortable with him around...he's always trying to hold my hand...I don't like all this public affection..."
"We'll sort him out together...we are with you...we're your best friends and we will always be with you..." Nikita said putting her hand on Riddhima's shoulder.
"Niki is right Ridz...we'll always be with you...and about that idiot...you don't worry about him...we'll sort that out later...you just think about this weekend's engagement and the wedding...forget about everything else..." Muskaan assured her.
Nikita nodded; "Yes...we'll really enjoy ourselves...and then we can sort out Vivik later..."
"Thanks guys..." Riddhima hugged both of them and felt slightly better.
Muskaan smiled; "Okay let's go back in...what do we have first?"
"We have a free lesson...that means you have English..." Nikita looked at Riddhima who cringed.
Riddhima and Armaan went to their English lesson where they had to work as a pair. Their teacher had set them a task of reading, researching, creating posters and note sheets and then performing a scene from the classic William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet throughout this term.
They both had sat at the same table but Riddhima made sure she didn't look at Armaan; not once. She carried on reading through the scene throughout the lesson and making her own notes while Armaan did the same but once or twice he would look over at her work to see if she needed help. She, however, completely ignored him and carried on as if she was sitting on her own with no one next to her...
...After having such a bad day at school Riddhima had decided to go home early; Muskaan and Nikita had forced her to come to the chill with the gang at Borders but she refused. Her mood did change for a bit after giving Armaan the silent treatment but it didn't last long as she was forced to have lunch with Vivik. She gave everyone an excuse about her ill health and went home early.
No one was at home when she arrived so she went up to her room to rest. She placed her bag at the bottom of her bed, walked over to the terrace door; she unlocked it and walked out onto the terrace.
This was Riddhima's favourite place; whenever she had things on her mind; she would sit out here for ages and just think. She walked out and had a look around the terrace, a small swing chair was on her right but instead of sitting on it she walked over to the banister and held on. There were flower pots arranged neatly around the floor of the banister and the corners.
She looked out over the terrace and down onto the massive garden and had a flashback of her and her elder sister running around and playing catch. She quickly blinked tears away; she turned to her right and looked at her favourite spot...there was a small rooftop, she climbed up on to a small bench and sat on the roof, hugged her legs close to her letting tears drop from her eyes.
It was one depressing day for Riddhima; she had come home to an empty house; Shashank was still at work, Padma had gone out to visit one of the neighbours and Anjali had not yet returned home. This thought had finally hit her that Anjali would be leaving her; she was so happy that her sister had found such a lovely family that she hadn't realised that soon her beloved Anjali Dii will be leaving her and moving away from home. She hugged her legs closer to her as more tears rolled down her cheeks and thought of all the times she needed Anjali more than anything.
Riddhima sat outside on the terrace for so long lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that it had become a little breezy. She had only come out of her thoughts when her room light was turned on by Anjali. She quickly wiped her tears as she heard Anjali call her name; Anjali had seen Riddhima's bag but no Riddhima.
"Ridzi?" Anjali called her name for the second time.
Riddhima wiped her tears away quickly; "Main yahan hoon dii..." (I'm out here sis) she called from outside.
Anjali walked out onto the terrace to see Riddhima sitting on the slopped rooftop hugging her legs; "Ridzi...tum yahan kya kar rahi hoon (what are you doing here)...you'll catch a cold if you stay out here...come i..." she was cut off by Riddhima.
"Dii...ao na (come)...come sit with me..." she pleaded.
Anjali looked at Riddhima and smiled; she stepped up on the bench and sat on the rooftop next to her sister. Riddhima hugged her around the waist and leaned her head onto Anjali's shoulder.
Anjali brushed her hair then looked down at her sister in concern; "Kya huwa Ridzi?" (What happened)
Riddhima shook her head; "Kuch nahi dii...bas aise hi..." (Nothing sis...just like that)
"Riddhima...tujhe jhoot bolna bilkul nahi aati toh koshish bhi mat karna...ab batao..." (you don't know how to lie so don't even try to...now tell me) Anjali told her.
"Dii...it hasn't been my day..." Riddhima didn't know where to start.
Anjali looked closely at her; "Kyon?" (Why?)
"First I had to walk to school with Vivik...I feel so bad about lying...dii I think I made the wrong decision about him...I don't know what to do...then uss idiot ke saath mera jagda huwa tha...aur phir se Vivik ke saath mujhe lunch karna para...aur jab main wapas ghar ayi to aap yahan nahi thi..." (then I had an argument with that idiot...and again I had to have lunch with Vivik...and when I got home you were not there) by now she was in tears again; "...dii...aap mujhe chor kar jaane wali hai...main aapke bina..." (sis...you're going to leave me and go away...without you I'm) she broke down unable to carry on.
Anjali hugged her little sister close; "Bas...bas..." (Stop)
Anjali was also close to tears but didn't want to show it as she wanted to be strong for Riddhima, she realised how difficult this was going to be for her. They both sat in silence for a while until Anjali spoke up.
"Riddhima...aaj nahi to kal...sab ko jaana parega...aur... (if not today then tomorrow...we all have to leave and go...and) I'm not going that far...just three roads away from here...we'll meet every week..." Anjali informed her.
Riddhima looked up; "Promise?"
"Promise..." Anjali smiled and wiped Riddhima's tears from her cheeks; gently putting a lose strand of her hair behind her ears; Riddhima still looked upset.
"Aur sun (And listen) ...about Vivik...I think you should speak to him after the wedding...just leave it for now and talk to him after the wedding...end it once and for all...then you just concentrate on your studies okay?" Anjali told her.
Riddhima was still upset but nodded; "Haan dii..."
"Okay...listen...do you want to design my wedding dress?" Anjali said slowly.
Riddhima sat up quickly; "Are you serious?" she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"Yeah...very serious..." Anjali nodded with a big smile; "...you know I love your designs...I want you to design my wedding dress by Monday so that I can have it made in two weeks just in time for the wedding..."
"Wow...dii...I can't wait...main abhi shuru kar deti hoon..." (I'll get started right now) Riddhima jumped down from the rooftop and was about to go into the room.
Anjali followed her inside; "Nahi...abhi nahi... (No...not now) I was thinking...why don't we go Southall now...just have a look around and decide on something for the engagement...its only three thirty...if we leave now we'll have plenty of time to look for a good outfit, jewellery and accessories before the shops close..."
Riddhima beamed; "Awesome idea dii...lets go..."
They went shopping in Southall to get their outfits for the engagement in the coming weekend. They were both really excited and Riddhima had such a good time and was so happy about designing Anjali's dress that she had forgotten about her bad day and slept with a smile on her face that night...
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Hey everyone...what did you all think of the chapter...it really was a bad day for Riddhima...will things get any worse...?
Please comment and Vote