The peon voice "Mr Modi where are you? Where have he gone now?" pulled their attention toward it and Abhi drops the hand from either side to released Nikki from his space. Abhi turned to the voice and again looked back to Nikki with frigid scowl "We'll talk later. This is neither the time nor the place". He left instantly for headed toward Sonia's desk after leaving behind shivered Nikki with his impact on her. Nikki took some time to bring herself back to normal but still his word and physical closeness bothering her to the core. This time she was more scared of herself rather than him, her feelings for him making her nuisance. He had behaving opposite to her expectation that he owed her the explanation rather than her. She was committed to Sonia for this summer and had to live in the close proximity of this man whose presence only send chill shiver in her body.

 She wanders that Sonia had high expectation from her, her responsibility toward her daughter which needed this work. She couldn't let down Sonia and herself for this nonsense thing which she feared to face in life from past five years. The fire flushed turbulently in Nikki's determined mind that its high time for her to face the biggest fear of life which haunted her from last five years. She had to finish this once and all in her life which she had carefully avoided uptill now from last summer she spent here. She accepted that there was no turning back, there would be no pleasantries and everything which she hated to do. But she would not accept that this man could made her surrender in front of him, could manipulate her this time also with his smart talk. No, this time she knew what she was against up and she would fight tooth and nail to salvage the summer and future for both herself and her daughter. She would not be his puppet this time but stand determined and confident of what she decided for herself.

She kept cautious eyes on his whereabouts so to avoid the confrontation, always mingled herself with group of people in normal get together of staff and wait until he left his cabin in morning before she did, schedule her work when he'd occupied on the court. In general meeting, eye contacts were frequent and inevitable during meals, invariably two-way frown, scowl or glower over the heads that separated them. If anyone aware of cold war between them than its never be mention. Her work commanded the bulk of her attention, taking her mind off from everything else but infuriated to saw him conversing with several new, younger counsellor who fresh, attractive and appropriately attentive to his charm. It was not that she wanted to talk to him but rather that he was playing his same old game over again that rankled her. She turned her attention with scoff to show that she was not at all bother of whatever he do in his life.

She photographed around the camp to click some really good sight, frequently caught sight of Alya through her lens who making a gradual adjustment to her group, its activities and absence of her mother as an integral force in her everyday life. Alya was doing fine in her group which relieved Nikki in return that her daughter was quick learner and amazingly settled herself to the new environment. Nikki managed to capture more than one grin, even a few broad smiles from her unsuspecting daughter.  The photography profession of Nikki managed to push the image of Abhimanyu Modi, cold and angry, out of her mind but occasionally to her annoyance his face intruded into the scope of her lens.

Several days had elapsed, by the end of the week she had begun to think that she had come to the terms with the ghost of long-ago lover. There was underlying hostility between them but for her Abhimanyu Modi no longer existed. Then came the encounter he had promised or more accurately threatened. They had both attended an evening staff meeting where he as a head counsellor directed a number of question toward her, one more impersonally.  Was she running away from someone? Was she want everyone run after her to have a talk? But she shrugged off every of his question smartly without acknowledge of other people around them. Actually Nikki conceived, he ran his meetings on this consistency business like level, behaving no more or less polite to any of the staff. Nikki quickly made an escaped after the meeting come to end and chooses the short path of bushes for her apartment.

The  moon occasionally showing its glimpse from behind the clouds, path was glittering only with moonlight alternatively, her walk back from meeting's conclusion was accomplished largely by past memories of her encounter with him downstairs. As she neared the clearing, sudden thunder of footsteps from behind startled her, fast approaching on the earthen road to catch her. Turning in fright, she confronted a dark form, physique and gait were easily discernible, though its face was visible but an instant as the moon made short-lived appearance. At this moment of recognition, she whirled to retreat to her cabin in haste but be grabbed by the elbow and swung around with force to face Abhi's shaded countenance.  

"You seem to have become expert at running away from me," he exploded not in the least that would have left other mortal breathless. His fingers dug into her arm with an intensity that frightened her no less than his tone. She thought how different he had grown over the course of five years where he was gentle with her even using her for his motive. She wrenched in pain which was applied by his finger in flit of anger and winced in pain "Ah…..Let me go!" She intimidated by both the darkness and his manner, to answer of her plea he merely grabbed the other arm in similarly clamp fashion. Even in the pitch of night, she felt his gaze on her punishing visually for yet unknown crime she committed. When he shown no sign of relenting, she began to panic weepily "Let me go, please" by twisting continuously in his grip.  

Cursing under his breath, he released one of her arm "So you have become a fighter, have you?" his voice become quieter, the grip on one arm less binding. "You never used to fight with me" his anger suddenly laced with seductive thread which built dry lump in her throat to gulp. But she retorted angrily back "you never used to inspire me before" still trying to free herself from his clasp and arrogantly asked "What do you want, Abhi?" glared at him for an answer. He calmly replied without realising her "I want to talk with you" and got her answered "I believe you had your chances at the meetings. There is nothing else left between us to talk". She knew it the moment the words escaped her lips that she played out her mind's stage over the years. It was one of her favourite, though its goal to keep him at a distance, would certainly suit her present purpose.

He persisted "I think there is. Its about time we cleared the air. Now will it be my cabin or yours?" Despite of firmness in his voice, Nikki was not ready to melt "Neither! I have no intention of discussing anything with you….now or ever. You can just stay away from me". He snarled back "Like hell I will" angrily as he had enough of her nonsense and pestering, she was not giving a single chance him to have a simple talk with her but making it more and more difficult to handle. Without warning he seized her other arm again and drew her flesh against the length of his long, hard body and brutally smashing his lips down upon her before she could begin to protest.

Nikki's shock quickly yielded in fury and then she did fight, struggling at first with the strength left in her arms and legs. She tried to hit her legs to him in order to relieved from the attack then twisting her head from side to side in an attempt to escaped from the violence of kiss. But in contrary, her efforts only angered him more, with single swift moment he secured both of her wrists behind her within the span of his one large hand. While the other hand took her neck in his steel grip to immobilizing her face and lending even great power of the lips which punished her for avoiding him. His passion intoxicated her so much that her feeble attempt also get calmed and composed with his compassion that all the vows she had taken were vanished with his one simple attempt.

It was devastating onslaught, knotting her stomach with inside summersault, outraging her senses, gasping for breath and her knee buckled. Only then he did release her, holding her arm's length as she struggled to catch her breath, glaring at her mercilessly as his own breathing steadied. She half expected him to resume his torture but he was as drained as she and kicked herself mentally for this thought. "How dare you…." She whispered shakily and her idea was either to hit him or rum away from him but neither was possible however the well-corded hands held her shoulder guardedly. She wandered what madness possessed him to attack her so savagely?

The darkness shielded his expression from her but tension of current emanated from his every touch point of her. He spoke in low and frigid "Yes, I dare … and I'd do it again. Now which cabin, your or mine?" She had no choice of his last ultimatum, to refuse him would only spark another attack and she would avoid that at all cost. She finally spoke in surrender "Mine" with lowering her head to show him that he wins this time. He propelled her in its direction immediately, wordlessly escorting her up the steps and through the door finally releasing her arm.    

He switched on the light of room, resting his back on the door with crossing his arms over his chest which unnerved Nikki as much as had the darkness. Quickly she tears her gaze from his statue, turning her back to him and stared out in the night to ignore the presence of this man in her room. He finally spilled the beans after a while "Why didn't you replied to any of my mail Nikita?" His word jolted her, the last thing she had expected to hear, a pain tearing her from inside because he waived the past memories which she forgot long back during the initial stages of heart broken. She trembled as her mind made dangerous journey back to those first, oppressive months following after their night stand.

The mails had come for several months, at the time her nerve were raw and exposed as she was angry, hurt and desperately struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered hopes. She wanted to wipe out Abhimnayu Modi from her life completely and the best way had been to deny his existence. This was before she knew that she was pregnant of his child, this situation would make her could no longer do that as well. She refused even then to acknowledge him by reading any of his mail that continued to haunted and hurting her all over again. She would have liked to know what he had written out of curiosity but then there were no more mails left in her inbox.

Her mind flipped back to present, Nikki felt driven of revenge, desires to inflict the pain to its ultimatum source and lashed out her anger while turning in fury "I never read any of your mail Abhi because I never interested in it. There never been opened but deleted every time as it arrived". A heavy silence prevailed between them for long, she saw he visibly flinched, his lips thinning to hard line as he drew himself up straighter. "Why?" his voice was cold and controlled his frustration but yet demanding as answer from her. His gaze pierced her very soul, she clutched the windowsill for support and sat on the edge of window "There was no point in dragging on something that had no future. The summer was over, we each had our lives to lead outside this summer camp and the time over here was to just enjoyed ourselves inspite of kept anything serious in life. You should never have written all those mail on first note when there was no point".

Nikki's anger diluting with dose of pure unhappiness for blurting out all this which she never really meant in her life. She stiffened at his approaching, his each deliberate step toward her making her shiver and told herself over and over again salvage her dignity. Nikita desperately fought the trembling that threatened to betray her fear as he was no more than a foot from her, he stopped, his eyes steel like and his jaw taut. She could bear anything but a repeat of that earlier violence no way, in contrary the instant of shock Nikki realized that her body, mind, heart and soul craved that old, remembered touch, that mind-blogging passion which once he had bestowed on her.

"No point" his words bring her back to her senses, thought now it was totally sound odd that assailed her "How can you say that….after what we shared". Suddenly Nikki came to life, shaking her head as her voice in her exasperation "I don't believe you. After five years what do you expect me to come running back to you? You are out of your mind". An unsteady arm pointed in the direction of the clearing from which they'd come "Is that what it was all about there?" Now she was fighting with herself as well as him and the battle seemed to heat up by the minute. He angrily demanded "Why did you come back here?" She replied guarded her words consciously "I was offered a very exciting job" to be truthful without revealing her deeper secret. "Had I known you would be here, I would never have accepted" she regretted uttering these last words. Her words had been hateful yet she didn't hate him. Why had she spoken thus? What was it which he seemed to bring out in her?

Abhimanyu's face was hard and strong as the aura of anger and irritation which enveloped both feelings, vein throbbing convulsively at his temple, examining each of her features in turn and stirring a totally different nerve within her. He spoke softly and with same sadness she had noted before so strange and unexplainable yet oddly arousing. "Just for the record, had I known you would be here I might have second thought myself. We're stuck with it, aren't we, Nikki?" he murmured softly and left.

Nikita stood frozen for long moments afterwards, she realized that he had effectively summoned up the situation. They were locked, these two into a state of affair which neither would have sought nor could alter. All that remained was to determine how best to cope of this awkward situation. Nikita lied down on her bed but sleep would be a long time coming this night, as her mind swung up in the marathon session of dos and don'ts would and could, why and why not. Everything what she decided and planned were failed in front of him but she had to build the borderline which he fear to crossed from now onwards.