Three days. It's been three days since I landed in this house. It's been three days since the day I found out the truth. It's been three days since the last time I saw Armaan. And to top it off, it's been three days since the last time I had proper food.
Ever since Armaan left me, I haven't done anything except stare at the wall and pictures of Anna in front of me, contemplate my situation and options, and sleep. Whenever I woke up, I saw a plate filled with some random crap on the foot of my bed. As much as I despised it, I had to eat it because of one reason: I simply cannot tolerate hunger. I look like I don't eat anything, but I eat like a pig - seriously.
Now that I've calmed down, I mentally go through everything that happened over the last few days. The more I ponder upon it, the clearer everything gets. As much as I hate to admit it, Armaan is not wrong. He lost so much in his life, all because of my dad. He lost his dad, his wife, his everything because of this one greedy man. Not only that, but my dad killed my mom - his wife! How did that man even have the heart to do that? Okay, I can probably see him killing Armaan's dad and Anna because it was over rivalry, - not that I'm saying it was right - but I sure as hell cannot see him killing his own wife! That was not justified in any way whatsoever. Moreover, that man had dared to tell people I was lying! He made my brother believe I was lying! He made everyone think I was hallucinating or whatever! The more I think about it, the deeper my hatred gets. I simply have no reason to not support Armaan in this matter.
With renewed determination, I get up off the bed and cautiously walk to the door, my heart dropping down to my stomach. I hesitate a little bit before grasping the door handle firmly in my hand and turn the knob slowly and push a little bit. I exhale loudly in relief when the door opens and I feel a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
Once I step out of the room, I am flabbergasted by the sight of Armaan's "house", which is more like a mansion. It is a two-story mansion with... six rooms? I marvel at the Italian marbled floor which reflects the two-feet chandelier hanging from the pyramid-shaped ceiling. There is a small heart-shaped water fountain right below the chandelier which all but enhances the beauty of the mansion. I remember how to move and slowly make my way to the spiral-shaped stairs and begin to descend the steps holding the rails to support my legs. As I reach the foot of the stairs, I walk to the center of the living room and stand there as I look around, taking in every little detail.
Beneath the staircase is a large area which contains an L-shaped beige-colored sofa, two matching loveseats on both sides of the sofa, and a small glass table in the middle. As I look past the water fountain, I see a medium-sized dining area which contains a big coffee-colored dining table. I can almost swear the table can seat up to twelve people. Wow is all I can think. This house is beautiful.
As I turn around to go exploring, I bump into a rock solid figure and lose my balance. I close my eyes shut, waiting my body to hit the cold, hard floor, but instead find myself engulfed in a blanket of warmth and I inhale the sweet aroma of cappuccino. Armaan. I slowly open my eyes and find myself staring into deep black oceans. Once again I am enthralled by those eyes and I see myself in those captivating eyes. I gasp inaudibly as his grip tightens around my waist and my body molds into his. I don't know why, but I feel delighted being in his arms. I feel... safe - secure. I slowly allow my eyes to wander over his face and I take in gorgeous face. It has only been three days, but it feels as if it has been forever.
I suddenly realize our position and tear my gaze away from his. I look everywhere to avoid his hypnotic eyes on cue he stands up and lets me go. I feel embarrassed due to my behavior and my breakdown and I pull a hair strand behind my ear feeling Armaan's gaze on me. What should I say? Sorry? Thank you? Urgh! This is so confusing! I've never felt so confused in my life! Maybe it's because I'm scared of the fact that the man in front of me - the man I had the best sex of my life with - is a f**king criminal, a mafia leader.
"Why are you outside your room?" I look up to see him looking at me with his arms crossed against his chest, voice low, and eyes reprimanding.
"I- I was hungry," I stutter. He's making me feel like a five year old who got caught stealing a candy bar.
"I left food in your room this morning." I lower my gaze and suddenly freeze. Why the hell am I scared? If Armaan was going to hurt me, he would have done so a long time ago. Plus I'm not going to let a guy dominate me. I force my shoulders back and meet his gaze unafraid.
"You call that food? Do you have any idea how tasteless that shit was? No salt, no spice, nothing!"
"Be grateful you're at least getting something. Most people don't even get water here."
"Oh yeah? Why am I getting this special treatment then?"
"Because my intention is not to kill you. In fact, if there's anyone I'm going to kill, then it's your father." Oh... right. I close my eyes and stop talking as I prepare my apology.
"Look, Armaan, I'm sorry for the way I behaved. I know the way I behaved was irrational because of what my father did, but I have realized the truth now. I..." I close my eyes and pause for a moment. "I know that you're right and that you have the right to take revenge for what he did to you, your father, and... Anna." I pause and glance at Armaan to see his eyes lower as I say Anna's name. I glance away from him and resume talking. "Therefore I just want to say that I'm with you. I will support you in whatever decision you make and I'll help you reach your goal."
"Look, Riddhima, you don't have to help -"
"I want to help you, Armaan. I'm not doing this because I feel obliged to you or whatever. I seriously want to help you. And don't think I'm doing this for you. That man ruined my mother's life. He brutally murdered her and he deserves to be in pain. I hate him, Armaan. And I will do anything to make him suffer. Please let me help you." Armaan looks deeply in thought. I can tell he's contemplating my offer and I exhale in relief as I see him nod to himself before turning to me.
"Fine. You will help me. But you need to understand what this means, Riddhima. Your life will be in danger along with mine. You won't be able to step out of this house unless I tell you to and you cannot talk to your friends or anyone." Naw shit, Sherlock.
"I know this, Armaan. It's not like you would've let me if I wasn't helping you anyways."
"You will have to train," he continues as if I had never spoken a word and takes slow, measured steps toward me and I move back. "You have to exercise, work, learn how my world works, and what not. You will have to become like me, Riddhima. You will have to learn how to fight. You will have to kill people - coldly, heartlessly, cruelly. Will you be able to do it? Will you be able to keep to keep up with me? Do you still want to help me?" By the time he finishes, I'm pressed against the wall, staring deeply into his eyes.
I should be running for the hills right now, screaming for help - but I'm not. Why? I have no idea. His words play in my mind over and over again, challenging me, provoking me. Can I do it? Can I kill someone? Can I coldly, heartlessly, and cruelly kill someone? Will I be able to do it? If I wasn't so appalled, I probably would have laughed at the irony of this situation. I want to be a doctor, a life-savor, but what will I be doing? I will be taking lives, instead of saving them. God, what kind of dilemma is this? I can almost taste the word "no" on the tip of my tongue, but then I remember all the things my so-not-dear father did and the word dies in my throat.
"Tell me, Riddhima. Can you do it?" I look up into his eyes with renewed determination and take a deep breath.
"Yes," I say with a nod. "I will do it." I stare up at him, refusing to back down and I see the corners of his mouth curl up. In turn, I felt my own lips curling up into a smirk.
"Alright then, Riddhima. It's on," he paused and slowly leaned in close to my ear. "Welcome to my world." His hot breath hit my ear and heat exploded in my stomach and filled my veins. I clench my fingers into tight fists in an attempt to stop myself from launching at him. Although the challenge was clear in his voice, I could also hear the slight hint of pride and admiration in it - as if he was proud of me for wanting to become a part of his world. He slowly and teasingly pulls back. Instead of walking away from me as I had expected him to, he firmly grasps my hand and slowly tugs on it.
"Wait, where are you taking me?"
"Well I figured that since you're going to be here for a while, I should show you around. You need to know where everything is before you start to help me." Oh, duh, I think to myself. I nod in agreement and let his firm hand guide me throughout the house.
He shows me around his house and I just follow around with my jaw touching the floor. His house is beautiful. First, he takes me to his kitchen and I automatically fall in love with it. The kitchen is every woman's dream. It's not too big nor too small, but just perfect. I wonder what it would be like to cook my favorite recipes in the kitchen. Next, he takes me to his garden and shows me around before he decides to show me the biggest gym I've ever seen in my life - which definitely explains why he's so f**king fit.
I spend my time looking around the gym and observing all the equipment he has in here. As I look around, the only question that ones to my mind is, "is there an equipment that you don't have". Yeah, it's that bad.
"Armaan, why the hell do you have so many exercise machines? What are you going to do with them? Are you trying to become Hulk or something?" Armaan laughs at my rhetorical question and looks at me with mischievous eyes.
"These machines aren't only for me." I look at him quizically, my brows joining together in confusion. "You're going to use them as well." My head jerks around and my eyes scan over the machines incredulously.
"Armaan, I am a woman! I don't need to get ripped, you know? I don't want freaking thirty pound muscles in both arms or a f**king eight-pack!"
"Who says you have to exercise only to get muscle? People exercise to stay fit, Riddhima. If you want to be here and more importantly stay alive, then you will have to exercise - regularly. If not, then you won't survive. As harsh as it sounds, it's the truth." Although he says it casually, the words send a jolting shiver down my spine. If you want to live... If you want to survive... I glance up at him skeptically, unsure of how to response, but after much debate, I finally come up with just a nod. His lips curl up once again at my response.
"Come on. You need to get some food. Good food, as you said earlier today." As if on cue, my stomach grumbles loudly and I can feel my mouth starting to water up, telling me how famished I really am. God, all this looking around made me forget my appetite, but now I'm starting to feel it, and damn it's bad.
I follow him and find myself in the dining room I had seen earlier. On the table is delicious-looking food. On one end I see our main course - pasta and mashed potato - along with some vegetables. I can pretty much taste the food on my tongue and, God, I am ready to attack the food. On the other end, I see the desert which contains scrumptious-looking cake, pie, and all that good stuff.
"You know you can eat the food, right? You don't have to just stare at it," he teases me and I can feel a snarky remark rising in my throat, but I suppress it. Instead, I go and sit down at one end of the dining table.
Not caring about manners or anything, I delve right into the food, relishing the wonderful taste of the mouthwatering food. The pasta is sweet and a bit spicy at the same time, tasting like heaven on my tongue. I have no idea why, but something makes me look up as I am eating and see Armaan staring at me with an amused glint in his eyes and a mischievous smirk in playing at the corner of his lips.
"What?" I ask unembarrassed. Okay, maybe I was eating like a caveman... "Okay, you don't know how I felt eating that bullshit those three days and nights! No taste, no salt, no spice, nothing! Like you can't even call that stuff food! Where did you get it from anyways? God!"
"It wasn't that bad, Riddhima," he states with an eyebrow raised.
I scoff and roll my eyes. "My ass it wasn't that bad,'" I even put air quotes around it to illustrate how I feel about his statement. He doesn't say anything else, though I'm 500% sure he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. God, this girl is so weird, I imagine him saying to himself.
I quickly gulp everything else down and lean back against my chair feeling fully satisfied. I look up to see Armaan standing and I follow suit.
"Wait, where are you going?" He stops and looks at me.
"I figured you would want to go to bed a bit early tonight. You do have a long day ahead of you, you know?" I knit my brows together in confusion. What are you talking about my dear kidnapper? Seeing confusion' written all over my face, he fully angles his body towards me and leans against the rails of the stairs as he begins to clarify his statement.
"We're going to start your training tomorrow at exactly seven o'clock in the morning. And for that, you have to be well-rested because I'm not going to have you fainting on me or spraining a muscle. Understand?" I nod with my eyes wide and mouth open in shock. "Good," he says with a hint of a smile. He turns back and retreats to his bedroom and I am left staring at the door.
Exercise, eh? Jesus Christ, help me. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be very interesting. With this thought it my mind, I go back to my room and sleep, resting as much as I can before the torture session tomorrow.
Edited by Medha. - 11 years ago
116