UPDATE FF:Mujhe Pyaar Karr-The Story Of The Second Lover CH.7P20 3/15 - Page 2

                                                    Chapter 2

Oh no!I am so late today!Astha,you're dead today.I thought as I grabbed my pass card for the doctor's parking lot and quickly drove my car into an open parking space.

      "Astha you're dead.For sure.First day of residency and you're late!Last time the proctor for the USMLE exam took pity on you and let you in,but not today!Do you really think that the Kavanaugh Hospital will take pity on you.Nope they do not and will not"I mumbled as I grabbed my bag and purse before rushing into the hospital.

     "Excuse me ma'am,can I see your badge?"The security guard asked the minute I entered the lobby.I weakly smiled before handing my badge to him.

    "Oh...so you're a new resident to the hospital, am I correct?"The security guard questioned as I shook my head.

    "Do you,by any chance, where I go sir?"I asked hoing to get an answer.The security guard smiled.

   "Of course, you're first meeting is supposed to be in Auditorium B, but you have to take the sky bridge for that,"The security guard noted.

   "Sky bridge?What sky bridge?"I questioned as I turned by head to the side a little bit.

    "Oh...do you see the elevator over there.Take it to the sixth floor.Go down to the end of the hallway and there will be two large glass doors through which you enter on to the sky bridge and just walk through it till you reach the end of the hallway where there will be Auditorium B" the security guard noted. I thanked him as I made a quick dash for the elevator.

    "Hurry up,"I mumbled as I kept pressing the up button on the elevator waiting for it to come down and pick me up.Not even one of three elevators was coming down.Not even one!I sighed as I tapped my foot against the tile floor.The doors finally opened of the middle elevator.As the door opened a noticed a familiar face.

 Her face was golden colored as her hair was pulled back into a braid.Having oddly colored blue eyes and high cheek bones,the girl stood in front of me.Ellie.My best friend.

     "Ellie!Oh My God!Weren't you supposed to be at the residency meeting?"I asked as I walked into the elevator besides her.

      "Good morning to you too Astha. And duh...Astha,I know I'm supposed to be at the meeting,but didn't you get the memo that our residency meeting got postponed to nine o'clock A.M.?"Ellie asked as took a sip of warm hot chocolate from her coffee cup.

      "What?!So,I woke up so early in the morning just to know that the meeting got postponed?!"I exclaimed as I felt my eyebrows furrow in anger as I slapped my hand against my forehead.

      "Yeah,we got the message today in morning on the home phone.You didn't get it?"She questioned as she held on to the elevator railing as the elevator went up.

 My eyes widened as I realized what could've happened.

       "Oh God!I know what happened.Mummy forgot again!God...what am I going to do about my mom's forgetfulness problem!God...do you know my mom has horrible memory!"I said as Ellie giggled and gave me a piece of gum.

      "Ellie,this is why you're my best friend.You are the only one who knows that I have a habit of chewing gum the minute I get angry or stressed.What will I do without you?"I asked as she smiled.

      "Nothing Astha jaan...you're best friend is always going to be here for you.Like now, I am joining the neurology residency with you,"Ellie said as I smiled and high-fived her.

      "Oh God!Why is this elevator going so fast yaar?!"I exclaimed as I held on to the railing and chewed on my gum really quickly.Ellie laughed as she hit my shoulder.

     "Astha,what am I going to do with you?!You are scared of elevators and esclators!There is like no way of transportation for you!But,now you have to get used to this because now you're a doctor,you work in a hospital and will be going up and down floors to see your patients,"Ellie said as the elevator stopped and I took a sigh of relief before walking out.

     I felt awed the minute I stepped out of the elevator and noticed a rush of nurses on the floor as doctors grabbed their clipboards while their pagers rang.The floor was huge as it was the color of sea blue while the white tiles reflected the yellow colored ceiling lights.Patient rooms ran around the whole floor while visitors rushed into them.It was amazing.I smiled as I held on to my leather bag and looked back at Ellie as her eyes were also widened and running around the whole floor.

     "It looks so nice,right Ellie?"I asked as Ellie nodded and looked at everything.

     "I am so excited yaar!We will be working here!Oh my God!Do you know how lucky we are Astha?!We are working in the number one hospital in California,but now only in California,but the U.S."Ellie exclaimed as we began to walk down the hallway.

     "I know.And Ellie,you begun to say some words in Hindi!You're dad must be so proud of you,"I said as I hit her shoulder.

     "I know!Dad is so proud to see me speaking Hindi and my Italian mother is just shocked,"Ellie said as we laughed.

     "Waisa...why did our meeting get postponed?"I questioned as we reached the end of the hallway to the glass doors.

     "Oh...you know the head director of the hospital who was supposed to give us the speech at the meeting was running late or something and this is very rare.Do you even know how strict he is?He is so strict about rules and regulations,"Ellie mumbled as I opened the door.

       My eyes widened as the stared at the single hallway that ran down to the building across the one we stood at.The sky bridge.Oh my God,it looked so scary.It was just a single hallway with only black colored tiled floors and everything else in glass.The windows were made of glass and even the ceiling!I gulped as I perked my head to the right and noticed that we were right above a large street that intersected in middle between the Main Hospital Building and the other building used for only doctor appointments. I swallowed my spit as I began to chew on my gum.

      "Come on Astha let's go!Stop being a scardy cat like you always are,"Ellie noted as I shook my head while I felt my skin turning pale.

      "Isn't there no other way yaar?I mean we can just cross the street and that's it,"I said as I held on to my leather purse.

     "Shut up Astha and don't make us go all the way around the hospital again ok?We are going to get late if we turn back around again.So let's go!"Ellie hissed as she grabbed my arm and began to drag me down the sky bridge. Oh God please help!I thought as I felt my legs wobble and weaken as I walked down the hallway really slowly.

     "Ok...let's talk about something else.Oh yeah...the managing director.Dude...God he is so strict.He so strict the way doctors dress too yaar.Like,you can't even put your hair down or put nailpolish or anything chemical on you body,"Ellie mumbled.

       "What?!Now you are telling me this Ellie.Can't you see my hair is down?!"I exclaimed as I slapped Ellie's arm.

    "Oh yeah...your hair is down!I forgot to tell you that Astha.Sorry.here,take my extra rubber band"Ellie said as she handed me one. I rolled my eyes.

     "Ellie,you are getting my mom's disease.Be careful,"I said as Ellie laughed while I slowed down to put the rubber band in my hair.

      "Waisa...what were you saying about the managing dir-"I said as I suddenly felt a foot stepping on the back of my heels.Suddenly,I felt my feet slipping against the tile floor while I felt my hands fly up in the air.I felt my twenty pound weight bag fall on me.I closed my eyes to feel the fall.

       Suddenly warmth wrapped around me as I smelt a strong smell around me like the Calvin Kelin Perfume.Am I in heaven?How did I get in?!Oh God,is being so gracious!I thought as I smiled.But,then I realized two hand were being wrapped across my chest as I felt my breath tighten.I could feel warm air next to my ear as I heard Ellie scream while I placed my hand against my bag.

      I felt the hot air closer to my ear as I tried to find it. I turned my head around and slowly opened my eyes only to see another right in front of mines.The eyes were dark liquidy, chocolate brown and were so deep and clear that I could clearly see myself through them.I noticed that this person had a nice carved nose that looked like as if an arc was used to make it. And a nice oval face was made with an extremely nicely done jawline that also seemed to be drawn.But,mostly what attracted my attention the most were the dark,full cherry colored lips that seemed to opened just a little bit and let out the hot air against my face.I suddenly noticed the eyebrows drop down a little bit down as I felt a loosened grip around me.Suddenly,the person let go of me as I realized I was back on Earth.

      "Are you ok?"The man asked as he looked down at me.Wow,he was tall as I looked up at him as if I was looking at a skyscraper.

       I felt dazed as I looked at him and seemed to admire his features as I took a glimpse at his strong arms that seemed to tight the suit's arms that buried his own under it.

       "Oh My God!Astha,are you ok?"Ellie asked as she grabbed my arm and looked at me.My daze broke away as I shook my head a little bit as I looked back at the man.I noticed the same security guard down at the lobby behind the man who had just caught me.

        "Mr.Ahuja,are you ok?"The security guard asked.

        "Yeah I'm fine.I asked you a question,"Mr.Ahuja said as he turned back and looked at me.

        "Huh...?I'm...fine.Sorry I was walking too slow,"I mumbled as I looked down at my feet and felt my cheeks redden.

        "No,it's ok...Well it was your fault,but also that I should've looked more carefully while walking since I know some people cannot walk properly,"Mr.Ahuja said coldly as he looked back at me and before I could say anything else,Mr.Ahuja walked away with his team of security guards walking right after him.Wow,talk about arrogance.I guess he only has a pretty face and that's it.

        "Talk about manners,"Ellie said as I looked back at her and rolled my eyes as we began to walk.I quickly tied my ponytail up as we rushed our way to Auditorium B.

    The minute we walked into the auditorium, we met a rush of people as all the new residents were trying to fill seats up in the hallway.The hallway was beautiful as beautiful chandlier covered the large ceiling of the large auditorium and reflected the light brown color of the walls.I noticed about hundred white colored seats that went in rows in the auditorium as a large stage stood in front of it. A long glass colored desk sat on it with the head board of directors sitting there while a brown colored podium stood besides it.

     I grabbed Ellie's arm as I noticed a group of chairs in the middle row.I quickly pushed people away before I finally reached the group of chairs and sat on it.

     "Thank God,we found these seats Ellie or else we were going be stuck in that large group over there,"I said as I pointed to the residents that were struggling to get the front row seats in order to gain an impression of the Board of Directors.

      "Attention,ladies and gentlemen.Please have your seats as we will be hearing a few words from our managing director,"An older man announced as he tapped the microphone.After twenty minutes of struggle,everyone was finally seated.

      "Ok,then.Hello everybody and I hope you all are having a great morning.I am Dr.Forrest and the Assistant Direct here at the Kavanaugh Hospital.You all are few of the luckiest people to have obtained a residency here at this hospital and to have the opportunity to work in such a great hospital.Can everybody please give their full attention to our managing director.This young man,only at such a young age has come to such a high level of success after taking over his grandfather's owned hospital-the Kavanaugh Hospital.Up until,the past ten years,nobody was familiar with this hospital,but now everybody knows about it for it dedication to society and,not,only the middle-class and the rich,but also the poor.So,now can everybody give out an applause to this amazing young man, Dr.-oh sorry,he doesn't like being called that, so Mr.Shlok Ahuja,"Mr.Forrest announced and soon the auditorium bursted out in applause.

   I began to applaud as I noticed the auditorium's lights dim as the podium lit up.I turned around and noticed Ellie turn pale as her mouth widened.

      "What happened Ellie?"I whispered as I nudged her on the shoulder.

      "Yaar...don't you even know who that is?Mr.Shlokh Ahuja.Oh My God!He is the world-class Neurosergeon,"Ellie whispered as she turned around and give me a 100 watt smile.I looked at her in confusion.

      "Stupid,Mr.Shlokh Ahuja is the neurosurgeon that was only 23 when he graduated from medical school and then performed neurosurgeries all over the world.He has performed more than 100 before he turned 30.Do,you know how awesome that is,"Ellie exclaimed as she turned around and looked at the podium.I rolled my eyes and looked back at the podium.

    I noticed a familiar figure walk up to the podium.Oh My God, is this the same person I met before.God,why him?Great job Astha,you have put such a nice impression on your new head boss.You're gone.Your habit of making bad impression authorities has not gone yet,I see.Thank God,you didn't talk back to him when he took a tease at you at the sky bridge.I thought as I bit my lip.

    It's the same Mr.Ahuja into which I bumped into at the sky bridge. He had a stern look on his face as he walked up to the podium in all black as he fixed his tie and tilted the mike towards him.Wow,he looks so serious.I thought as I fixed myself up in my chair.

        "Thank you everybody and thank you for showing up at the correct time even after I postponed the meeting by an hour.I would like to thank Dr.Forrest for setting such a good impression about me,but please don't think I'm like God or anything.My goal was to just fulfill my grandfather's goal and applying the values he had instilled in me to my work.He had grown up in a lot of poverty in India back at Punjab and once had to even live on the streets with his single mother.Such poverty he had seen, led him to e and grow as an ambitious person and pursue medicine.He had once told me to recognize the poverty that surrounds us as such recognition is very hard to achieve especially after one get's the degree, the stethoscope and the 500K paycheck because after that one focuses on individuality,but I have to forget that.And I did and my only goal as a doctor,as a managing director, and as a human being is to help those who need it.And I believe that you all as doctors should use your degrees as a powerful way to serve the underprivileged and to never forget that,"Mr.Ahuja spoke as I seemed to be awed by the way he spoke.

   Wow,I was impressed.God,he spoke so eloquently and in such a nice and great way.I felt so relateable to him as I had seen the poverty he was talking about.I had seen my parents struggle with three jobs and I had seen my Christmas,Birthday and Holiday wishes break as I realized my parents didn't have enough money to afford me anything.Perhaps,this rich guy,Mr.Ahuja did have a heart.

     Through the speech, I felt extremely awed by Mr.Ahuja yet the speech dragged on as all of the ten of the Board Directors decided to make a speech.I sighed as the day dragged on as official duties as residents began tomorrow morning 6 o'clock A.M. sharp and today was the day to divide into groups,get lockers and familiarize with other residents and the head doctors of each and every group. I was bored to death as I yawned and tried to pass time,but I couldn't.Oh God,the life of a resident.

                                           ***

     I yawned as I grabbed my coffee and took a sip of it.

       "Yaar,so much paperwork and too much to remember,"I complained as I rubbed the side of my forehead.

       "I know.God,I cannot wait till tomorrow.And thank God,we're in the same group or else I would've died.So,many serious people.They all want to be top doctors like Mr.Ahuja,"Ellie said as I shook my head and agreed.

      "Attention.There is a silver,1996 Honda parked in the Rose Garden parking lot.The vehicle needs to be removed immediately.The parking lot is reserved for the hospital head only"I heard the operator say repeatedly.

      "Oh poor, person who has their car parked there.I bet they are going to get a serious lecture from Mr.Ahuja,"Ellie said as I laughed and took a sip of my coffee.

      "Waisa...where is the Rose Garden?"I asked as I looked at Ellie.

      "Oh,it's in the Doctor's Parking Lot near the end of the parking lot and near the Main Hospital Building,"Ellie noted.

   Crap...why do I feel that's my car?I had parked over there...I think.Oh God!I'm gone.I though as I grabbed my coffee and made a dash for the elevator.

       "Hello Asthat!Where are you going?!Finish your coffee yaar"Ellie yelled after me.

       "I'll see you later Ellie!Ok!Bye!"I yelled as I quickly pressed the elevator button and ran into it.

        Thank God, I was on the ground floor.I thought as I ran out of the elevator on to the first floor and made a dash for the parking lot.I slipped in my flats,but I didn't stop.I mean how can I let my only car get towed?!

        I ran down the graveled pathway and noticed a large yellow towing truck standing in the hospital parking lot. I quickened my steps as I ran down the sidewalk where my car was.

           "Hello!Wait!"I yelled as I noticed the towing truck guy talking to somebody whose back was towards me.I felt my feet out of control as I ran and suddenly I felt my flats trip on the gravel.

       I suddenly felt my left foot trip on the gravel as I grabbed the person's arm for support.My coffee spilled a bit as I held on to my bag.I placed my hand on my chest as I panted and tried to gasp for air.Suddenly,I felt the figure turn around towards me.

          "Thanks"I said as I smiled and looked up.But,my smile disappeared as I noticed it was Mr.Shlok Ahuja.He stared down at me with a death glare towards me.His eyes were dark cold as his mouth was pressed against his jaw.He was mad.He looked down at my hand on his arm.I quickly removed my hand from his arm.

         "Sorry,Mr.Ahuja,"I said for the secondth time today.He turned around towards me with his hands in his pockets.

         "What do you think you're doing huh?!Are you trying to get my attention or something like that because that is not working!First,you park your God damn old car in MY parking lot,then pretend to fall,so I can grab you and physically touch you and now you had the right to pretend to trip and fall,so you could grab my arm again to get my attention huh?!"Mr.Ahuja yelled as he looked down at me.

        I could not tolerate screaming of any kind especially when it's on me.I remember the moment when my mom used to spank me only on my cheek and I used to cry so much that I started to hypervenlate and get an anxiety attack.I even once remember when my fourth grade teacher attempted to correct me on my spelling and I had ended up tearing up and crying out a lot.And now,I felt the same way.

        "I know girls like you and I personally know one.And plus, don't you know this is my parking space,not for your stupid little junk of a car!"Shlok exclaimed as he pointed his finger at me.

       I felt like I could bury myself down into the ground as I felt my lips quiver as I felt the air sucked out of my throat.My vision became blury as I felt water filling up in them.I looked down at my feet as I felt my cheeks turn hot.

         "I'm... sorry... Mr.Ahuja...I seriously didn't know...and...if...I really...did then I wouldn't...have parked in...your parking space,"I mumbled as I felt my voice squeak.I was ready to hear another critical comment and a blow to my character,but I didn't.

     I looked up as I felt a tear drop down my cheek.I noticed Mr.Ahuja's clenched jaw a little bit relieved and noticed that his eyes didn't seem that much too dark and cold,but they seemed softened.I noticed Mr.Ahuja gulp a little bit and take a large sigh.

         "I'm really sorry,sir..."I mumbled as I fidgeted with my finger.

         "It'sok,alright?...Just don't make the same mistake anymore ok?Mr.Jerry you can go back now.We don't need a tow anymore...And you,take your car out of my parking space,"Mr.Ahuja ordered as I shook my head.

     I noticed Mr.Ahuja walk away before I could thank him.God,he's so weird.One minute he's yelling the next minute he cools off.First day of residency with such a bad start.Oh,God I wonder what will happen next.

Promo:

"Want some paratha Mr.Ahuja?"I asked as I noticed him giving a death glare to me.

"No thanks.Do you know how much chlorestrol is in that?Are you trying to promote ill health as a Doctor?"Mr.Ahuja questioned.

"Sorry,but I cannot restrict the whole,total diet of my patients and plus life is to eat food.Of course we could minimize it,but we need it for taste and pleasure.So here have some,"I noted.

Mr.Ahuja stared at me before grabbing a piece of it.