Rishi's POV
Watching Siddharth live his life after so many years, made me really happy. It's been forever since Siddharth has lived his life so... lively. From the past few years, he was just a topper student, who doesn't give a shit about others and has a lot of attitude. This is what people described him to be. But no one knew the real Siddharth except for me. The Siddharth who wanted to live his life to the fullest.
But some things that happened in the past made him the man he is today. However, I know that, deep down, somewhere inside him, is living the Siddharth I knew since we were kids, he is still inside him, and the person who is bringing that side of Siddharth back to life is Ruhi. Their constant bickering is slowly but surely bringing Siddharth back. Today when he agreed to dance with Ruhi, I thought he would just do it for formality, but what he did was great and he did it because he wanted to, not because we forced him to, and this is a really big achievement.
All thanks to Ruhi.
Anyway, after that dance, we decided to play volleyball with a group of strangers. Radhika and I were in one team and the others were in the opposite team. We were enjoying the game, when I noticed something, a guy was constantly roaming around Radhika, bumping into her repeatedly. Radhika said something to him, I couldn't hear it, but her face was stern. In response, the guy raised his hands in surrender and moved away from her.
A small smile formed on my face; she knows how to handle people like him. We continued playing peacefully after that, when the ball was about to hit Siddharth. Ruhi saved him, but she looked hurt. Siddharth left from there without even thanking her. I sighed. I hope he thanks her for this till the end of the day.
As the ball passed the net and came to our side, it was in Radhika's direction. Radhika moved swiftly to hit the ball, but just as she was about to hit the ball, the same guy came in between her and the ball, due to which she stumbled back but balanced herself just in time. In all this, the guy couldn't hit the ball properly and it couldn't pass the net. The opposite team got the point, and they started clapping and cheering while looking at each other. No one seemed to notice what just happened here.
I moved towards Radhika, but before I could reach her, the guy kept his hand on her shoulder and asked something. Radhika didn't reply; however, she clenched her teeth, and I could see the discomfort she felt when he touched her. He said something I couldn't hear.
I immediately moved towards them and removed his hand from her shoulder with a jerk. I moved in between both of them, just as I was about to speak, Radhika placed her hand on my shoulder, saying, "Let it be, I don't want to create a scene and ruin Ruhi's birthday. We shouldn't ruin this beautiful day because of people like him!"
I tried to argue with her about how he deserves to learn a lesson, but she decided to let him go. I glared the guy, saying, "Keep your hands to yourself, unless you want to live without them!"
The guy muttered something under his breath and went away. I so wanted to kill this guy for some reason. I turned towards Radhika and said, "Why did you let him go like that? He deserved a beating for touching you like that! Leave touching! He should be punished for even looking at you like that!"
She looked at me for a few seconds, and her eyes were filled with admiration. However, there was a twinkle in her eyes, which showed that she was cooking something inside the small mind of hers.
I raised her eyebrows and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
She just smirked at me and said, "You really thought I would let him get away so easily?"
My lips curved into a smile as I said, "That's like my honey!"
The next moment, I was forced to steal the guy's water bottle. I casually walked towards where it was kept and grabbed it while being careful no one notices me.
I emptied the bottle and filled it with salt water. I placed it back at its position. While I did this, Radhika dug a small hole just beside the water bottle and placed a towel on it. We then made our way back to the group, smiling like a devil at the small trap we just set.
We were standing just a few feet away, waiting for Ruhi - who went to grab their hoodies- and Siddharth, when Radhika signaled me to look in the direction of the water bottle, I looked there and saw that our prey, the guy was going towards the bottle. As soon as he stepped on the towel, his foot sank in the hole, and he fell on his face.
We burst into laughter. As we were enjoying the moment, a guy who was passing by, said, "You shouldn't laugh when someone falls!"
I looked at him and said, "Didn't you see what just happened right now? A second ago, he was walking like a stud, and the very next moment, his face is in the sand! This is funny!"
Radhika said, "And the fact that he deserves it makes it even better!"
The guy gave us a look and went from there. Who asked him to intervene anyway?
We moved our attention back at the guy who had sand all over his face. He stood up and composed himself. He then grabbed his bottle and took a sip. As soon as he took a sip, he spat the water and coughed.
We again burst into laughter. I looked at Radhika and she was already looking at me. Our laughter slowly faded as we looked into each other's eyes. She took a deep breath and raised her hand for a high five. I gave her a high five, but she intervened her fingers in mine and said, "It was fun!"
I tightened our grip saying, "He deserved it!"
"I am glad our plan succeeded."
"Well, it had to, I was in the plan!"
She gave me a smack on the shoulder. "Ouch!", I said with a dramatic frown on my face, rubbing my shoulder.
We chuckled and went to the bonfire.
We insisted Radhika to sing a song for us. Hesitantly, she took the guitar from Piyush.
Taking a deep breath, she started playing the guitar. I immediately recognized the tune, she was playing Raabta. As soon as I heard her sweet voice, my breath hitched. Even though I've heard her voice a lot, it feels different to hear her singing. I've given her the perfect nickname, honey. Her voice is as sweet as honey. I was looking at her, no, I was lost in her and that beautiful voice of hers. She wasn't looking at me, she had her eyes closed, completely lost in her art.
I was so lost in her that I didn't realize when the song finished. She opened her eyes, and we found ourselves looking at each other. There was something in her eyes that I could not decipher, something intense. They were full of emotions.
Our eye contact continued, and I could feel the tension between us, something I have never felt before. I suddenly got lost in her eyes, everything else around us was a blur.
Wait, I've felt this before, when we were dancing at Marine.
Suddenly, she looked away. I got out of my trance too. She excused herself and went from there. I followed her figure until someone tapped my shoulder. I looked around to see Naman looking at me with a smirk. I raised my eyebrows, "What?"
"Can't keep our eyes away, huh?"
I stammered, "W-what are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on! I saw that intense eye contact of yours, now tell me what's going on between you two?"
"What? Nothing's going on. Don't think too much!"
"Yeah sure!", he said sarcastically.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "What 'Yeah sure', huh?", I said, mimicking him, "Look at you first! Can't even propose your girl!"
He opened his mouth to speak, something but didn't.
I smirked, "What happened now, huh? Cat caught your tongue?"
He cleared his throat and said, "W-whatever."
My smirk widened.
After that, we continued talking, though I wasn't able to pay much attention to the conversation. I was just thinking about Radhika. She hasn't come back yet. Where did she disappear suddenly?
Then I noticed something, that guy, he was not present here. My heart beat quickened, I looked around in panic, but there was no trace of both of them.
I immediately stood up and ran towards where Radhika had gone. I could hear my friends shouting from behind, but I didn't have time to answer them. My mind was filled with too many negative thoughts. I shouted her name at the top of my voice.
Suddenly, I saw a figure behind a tree. The person heard my voice and turned around. It was her! It was Radhika! She stood up and looked up at me in confusion.
As soon as I reached her, I didn't even think for a second and wrapped her in my arms. I felt her stiffen, but after a few seconds, she hesitantly wrapped her hands around me.
I said, "You are safe!"
She rubbed her palm on my back calmingly, while saying, "What could happen to me?"
I didn't reply and just stood like that in her arms. I felt at ease, at comfort, something I've felt after many years.
We finally pulled back and she looked at me in confusion. "What was that about?"
"I thought that... that bastard... no! I don't even want to think of it again! The only thing that matters is that you are safe!"
She was just looking at me, trying to comprehend the whole situation. As soon as she realized what I was talking about, her eyes widened, she said, "Oh god, Rishi! You were so scared that someone might hurt me?", her expressions were one of complete awe.
"What? I was obviously scared! Nothing should happen to you!"
"I didn't know you cared so much about me.", she said teasingly, a smile dancing on her lips
"I didn't know, too.", I said honestly. Her smile faltered, before she could say anything, we heard someone clear their throat. I looked around and saw the four idiots standing there, smirking.
Radhika and I awkwardly looked at each other. I cleared my throat and asked, "Since when are you guys standing here?"
Ruhi replied, "Since you two were busy playing human Velcro."
I could feel my cheeks heating. Radhika asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
Aditi said, "Well, we should be the one asking you this, so tell us, what are you guys doing here?"
Naman teased us, saying, "Is it even something to ask, Adi? Rishi literally ran here because he was missing her!'
We both were completely red at this moment. Finally, Siddharth spoke, "Okay, enough of the teasing, now tell us what happened?"
I told them everything that happened, about the guy, how we took revenge and how I was scared he might do something to Radhika. They were shocked after hearing this and Ruhi and Aditi immediately went beside Radhika asking her if she was okay and telling her how they would have helped her hide the guy's dead body. We laughed at the last part and just like that, everything was back to normal.
We then decided it was time to head back home. We got our stuff and bid farewell with the volleyball group. Just as we were moving towards our vehicles, Aditi said, "Oh god, guys! We completed forgot about the gifts!"
Oh yes! We forgot to give Ruhi her birthday gifts. We reached our vehicles and started giving her the gifts.
Ruhi's POV
When Rishi suddenly stood up and ran, we all decided to follow him only to find him engulfed in a hug with Radhika. I was too shocked when Rishi told us everything that happened. After everything that happened, we decided to go back.
Then they realized they hadn't given me my gifts. So, it is now the favorite part of my birthday. Time for the gifts!
Radhika and Aditi together gifted me a bouquet, but not just any bouquet, it was a book bouquet of the whole shatter me series, that too hardcover. I thanked and hugged them. Though I have read the whole series, I wanted it's hardcover. And here it is!
I mean, I am just a book girly.
Naman gave me a bouquet full of chocolates, while Rishi gave me a bouquet which contained those trending flower hairclips and a few make up items. I thanked them too.
They definitely preplanned this. I thanked everyone again and told them how much I loved these gifts. I genuinely did.
I didn't even bother looking at Siddharth, why would he gift me anything?
It's not like I want something from him anyway. I said, "Let's go then!"
Everyone looked at Siddharth, I looked at him too. He was holding something in his hand. My eyes widened; he brought a gift! I moved closer to him and asked, "You brought a gift for me?"
He shrugged, saying, "I don't like going to a birthday party empty handed."
"I thought you didn't like going to a birthday party in the first place!"
"You want it, or should I-"
"I obviously do!", saying this, I grabbed the gift from his hand and started examining it. "You weren't ready to come with us, then how does this gift look so ready? I mean, it's so well wrapped!"
It was, neatly wrapped with a ribbon drawn on it.
He said, "I bought this when we were going to Lonavala and Aditi wrapped it for me. Now will you stop asking questions and just open the gift already?"
I opened the gift and gasped. It was a book. Not just any book, the book due to which we had our first fight. My eyes sparkled with awe as I looked up at him, "But this book was-", he interrupted me saying, "Limited edition, I know, but I arranged it through my sources."
I blinked, completely shocked. I didn't even know if I should thank him for the gift or scold him for fighting with me over a book he could arrange on his own.
"Thank you?", I said hesitantly, because I didn't know what else to say.
He cleared his throat and said, "It doesn't mean that we can be friends or something, okay? I still hate you."
I looked at him, then at the book in my hand and shrugged, "Okay, who cares! Anyway, I won't ever forgive you after what you did at the cafe.", saying this, I turned away from him and towards my girls and smiled and screamed, jumping as I showed them the book. "Finally!", I squealed.
They joined my excitement and cheered along with me. Who even needs a friend like Siddharth when I already have these two idiots.
After I was done with the celebration, we decided to finally head back home.
I sat behind Siddharth, and he started the bike.
We sat in silence, the cool night breeze hitting our face, my hair was flying in the air. I was lost in my world, everything felt perfect, when suddenly nothing was perfect. The bike stopped with a sudden screech.
I heard Siddharth curse under his breath. He sighed, "Get off."
I frowned, but got off the bike anyway. He started examining the bike and soon declared, "The tyre got punctured."
"What the hell! How am I supposed to go home now? Can't you keep your bike up to date?", I exclaimed.
He snorted, "Says who"
I opened my mouth to answer back but couldn't. He was right, I can't say anything when my own scooty is kept out there in a miserable condition.
Siddharth called the others, but they were too far to come back for us.
"How are we going home now?", I asked, "Others went ahead of us long ago."
I tried to book a cab, but it got cancelled every time, because of the location being remote! Ugh! Bloody cab drivers! Why do they even call themselves drivers if they don't want to do their task properly!
He said, "We have to push the bike to the nearest garage, that's the only option."
"Are you serious? Can't you just keep this bike here and come back tomorrow? How are we supposed to take this thing to the garage? I am tired already!", I said.
"No way I am keeping my bike in the middle of nowhere! What if someone steals it? I can't take any risk. If you want to come, help me get this bike to the garage or stand here for the whole night!"
I sulked my face and stood there with my arms crossed. Siddharth was searching for a garage on google maps. I looked around me, the road was empty, not a single life was present nearby. Huge trees were on both sides of the road. It was nothing less than that showed in horror movies.
I can't stay here, no! I'll just help Siddharth. What's the big deal? I am strong enough.
He said, "I've found a garage nearby, it's not much far, I'm going now, are you coming?"
I sighed and nodded, and we both stood on the opposite side of the bike. We started pushing the bike slowly, it was heavy, obviously, but together, it got a bit easier.
After about 10 minutes of continuously dragging the bike, we finally reached a garage, and he dealt with everything while I stood outside the garage.
He came out a few minutes later, and said, "The bike won't be repaired until tomorrow, we will have to go home by ourselves."
"What? Nooo!", I whined. "I have no energy left in me!"
He looked at me for a few seconds and then started walking away without saying anything.
"Hey! You can't just leave me here!", I exclaimed and followed him.
I was walking behind him with a sulking face, this walk is too boring for my liking. I grabbed my phone thinking it would help me make this walk a bit interesting, but to my dismay, the phone had only 5% charge left, and I can't waste it.
I walked faster so that we are now walking together. I can't handle this silence anymore, so I took a deep breath and said, "I know our conversations always turn into arguments, but I can't handle this silence anymore. So... can we just talk or something?"
I regretted it as soon as the words came out of my mouth. But hey, what's wrong in just talking?
He asked, "Who is finding a reason to talk to whom now?"
"I-I am just saying it because... we both are stuck here, and I am really getting bored! So, can't we just forget the fact that we hate each other just for now?"
"Why would I talk to you?"
"Aren't you a human? Don't you ever get bored or something?"
"I don't-", he was interrupted by my ringtone. It was from one of the companies in which I had applied for a job. I immediately picked up the call and a lady greeted me. I greeted her back and then she said, "I am speaking from AV group of industries, is this Ms. Ruhi Mehta speaking?"
"Yes.", I answered.
"I am delighted to inform you that after reviewing your application and completing the selection process, we would like to offer you the position of Assistant marketing coordinator of our company."
[A/N: I have no idea how all these professional stuff work, to kuch ulta sidha hua to samaj lena]
"Oh my god! Thank you for giving me this opportunity...", we then talked about all the formal stuff. I have to join the company after Diwali. Before that, I will have a few days training. I have never been more excited about working!
After cutting the call, I was way too excited, and I had to give this good news to someone. So, I turned towards Siddharth, who was already looking at me, he seemed to be wondering why I was suddenly so excited.
I gave him a wide grin and exclaimed, "I got a job!" and started jumping with joy but soon stopped after seeing Siddharth's face showing no signs of joy.
"Which is the company who will have to handle you?", he asked.
"AV group of industries! And excuse me, what do you mean by 'handle you', huh?"
"I mean that- wait, AV group of industries? Isn't Avinash Verma that company's CEO?"
"Yes, he is, why?"
"Umm... he is an old friend of mine."
My eyes widened and I gasped, "He is what?"
"An old friend, what is so shocking about this?"
"What is shocking? You are friends with a bloody CEO, who is now my boss!", I exclaimed. Narrowing my eyes, I said, "What if you do something like you did at the cafe to get back at me? Oh my god! I can't afford losing my job again just because of you! I swear I'll kill you if you did anything like th-"
"Stop!", he interrupted me, "Kitna bolti ho! Thakti nahi ho kya? And yes, I am not going to do anything till you behave properly."
"Who do you think I am, huh? Your pet? or your student? Bada aaya 'behave properly'", I said, mimicking him. "I am not at all scared of you!"
We were so busy talking that we didn't realize we were already on the main road. People and vehicle, both were now visible.
He was something about how he won't come in my way if I don't and all that, when I noticed a car coming in full speed in our direction. He was too busy talking and hence didn't notice the car. My eyes widened as the car came closer, I instinctively reached out, grabbed his arm and pushed him towards me and away from the car. He bumped into my shoulder, and we stood like that until the car left.
As we moved apart, a group of ladies, looked at us with a twisted expression. One of them said, "Aaj kal ke bache! Na laaj, na sharam, raaste par sabke samne dekho toh kaise chipak rahe hai!"
The others agreed with us and started talking about 'today's generation'. My jaw clenched and I looked at Siddharth, who had the same expression.
"Bloody judgmental aunties!", I said in a low voice.
Then with determination, I grabbed Siddharth's arm and moved closer to the ladies. Still holding his hands, I said, "What were you saying about aaj kal ki generation, huh? It's our lives, aunty! We will do whatever we want, you don't get to judge us!"
They glared at me and started murmuring among themselves. I snorted and said to Siddharth, "How can they judge us like that?", to which he said, "Don't listen to these aunties. They won't think before bad mouthing about anyone."
"How can I not listen to them? If we don't react now, they would continue judging people and that's wrong! Judging people is wrong!", I said the last part loudly, so that they could hear me. But instead of apologizing or even react with anything, they just left from there. What the hell!
I gritted my teeth and said, "Bhagwan kare ki inke saare baal jhar jaye!"
Siddharth sighed, "Come on, leave them, let's go home."
I nodded and then walked in silence to our way home. As we reached the turn where we had separate ways, he turned to me and said hesitantly, "W-walk home safely."
I blinked at him, definitely not expecting something like this, after a few seconds, I finally said, "Y-yeah."
After that we left for our separate ways. I reached home in a few minutes and kept my belongings in a corner. I had no energy left in me to make dinner and wasn't even too hungry. So, I just ordered myself pasta. I freshened up and changed into my pajamas. The pasta arrived soon, and I sat on the sofa with pasta in one hand and the book that Siddharth gifted me in the other.
I clicked some pictures of the book and posted it on Instagram. It has become a ritual to me to post the photos of the book I read on Instagram. I read a few pages while simultaneously eating pasta and then decided to sleep.
Sleep took over me as soon as I laid on bed as I was completely exhausted. But before sleeping, I whispered one last time, "Happy birthday Ruhi!"
Aditi's POV
Yesterday was fun. Ruhi's birthday went really well.
Today, I woke up and got ready for college. Radhika and Ruhi had already arrived when I entered the class. As soon as I sat on my seat, Ruhi excitedly said, "Guys! I have good news!"
Radhika and I looked at each other and smirked. "So fast Ruhi, you guys spent just one night together, and we already have the good news?", I said teasingly, to which, she looked at me in confusion. Radhika said, "I knew from the beginning that there was something going on between you two! So, tell me, when are we becoming aunts, huh?"
Ruhi finally realized what we were trying to say and her face turned into a shade of pink and she smacked our shoulders, saying, "What is wrong with you guys?! Oh god!"
We burst into laughter seeing her reaction. The guys joined us and saw us laughing. Naman asked, "Why are you guys laughing so much?"
I replied, "Oh, Ruhi just gave us the good news." Siddharth, who was drinking water, almost spit it when he heard me, while Naman and Rishi smirked looking at Ruhi.
Naman said, "Uh huh, Ruhi, so fast!"
Rishi said, "By the way, who is the fath-", Ruhi interrupted him, saying, "Stop it, guys!"
She was completely red at this moment. We again laughed hard. As the laughter subsided, Radhika asked her, "What was the good news anyway?"
Ruhi excitedly said, "Oh yes! I got the job!"
"Oh my god, Ruhi! Congratulations!"
Everyone congratulated her and we asked her more about the company and the position.
Soon, the professor came and started teaching. We were attentively listening to the lectures, when a person entered the class with a paper in his hand. He gave the paper to the professor and the professor after reading it, declared, "Your exams will start from 8th of November, the timetable and other details will be shared on your WhatsApp group."
A collective groan was heard from the students. Exams are just after Diwali, how are we supposed to celebrate the festival? The professor continued with the lecture, but now, half of the class was not paying attention as everyone had only one thing in their minds, exams.
Write a comment ...