Next 7
Next day Nikki entered Sanjeevani with a determination , as she approached the gates her new discovery and what lay ahead made her heart thump at enormous speed. She searched around for the cause of her raised heart beats till she saw him in the lab , she stood mesmerised looking at him. The whole day she followed him with her eyes OPD ,general ward , talking to Doctors , shouting at his staff, attending meetings , she wanted to be near him , she wanted him to speak to her , to seek her out , to look at her. But to her bad luck today she had no excuse to go near him. Sad and sullen she sat down to work on some reports ... All efforts to talk to him had failed , might as well work . In some time she heard footsteps approaching her , the whiff of his perfume told her it was him ,she looked up at his approach .. he had come to see her , her heart went in an overdrive.
"Nikki , I was looking everywhere for you..". He was looking for her .. what luck , the thump of her heart must be sounding all over the place now !
" Yaa Abhi .. why were you looking for me .." she said trying to control her grin at the same time trying to control getting nervous ...
" Here , I have got one more file for you , just incorporate it with the other work..."
Huh , he was looking for her for this ... just her luck to fall for this sadu !
She had fallen for a sadu , getting a reaction out of him was going to be a tough task .. it would need some strategising ... Nikki though sitting on her bed :
Strategy no 1 Avoidance : not being able to see him and meet him meant so much to her , surely it would mean something to him to if he cared about her , she decided to avoid him and act all disinterested around him . She would put this strategy to work from the next day itself.
Nikki did not make any effort to meet Abhi the next day . Abhi had called her in the evening to discuss the presentation and she decided to act all cool around him . To all his questions and queries she answered in monosyllables yes no ok ... Having finished discussion and not yet getting a reaction out of him , she made to go when Abhi called after her
"Nikki..."
" Y y yes Ab .. Dr Modi ...?"
" I must say Dr Nikita you have matured quiet a bit , it's nice to see such professionalism in you."
Maturity be damned she wanted to push him against his table, she had gone against her nature , drunk her blood , swallowed her pride only to be misinterpreted ...smacking him would raise questions on her maturity ' .. why changing the one bit that was going good. Making a face she left the sadu to his 'professional and mature' world..
Strategy no 2 clothes , impress him with her looks: There was a class in Shelly's dressing , long ago she had given up her mini's for comfort clothing .. now she wanted all the combat gear , though she felt shy to wear her minis .. maybe something else... She went for a complete wardrobe change and got nice pastel shades to go with her leggings... these new cuts and styles would surely help her catch his eye.
As she entered the gates of Sanjeevani she saw a group of outpatients eying her, this brought about some confidence in her. Next she met Dr Shubhankar at the entrance was also not able to stop himself on commenting on how nice she looked.
Full of confidence now, straightening her gait she entered the Hospital ,as she entered she found the nurse station was empty but to her luck ,Abhi was standing there , much as she wanted to see the effect in his eyes she decided to play it cool and walk past him .
"Nikki " she heard his silky voice calling after her...
'Nikki' hum... this was promising ... a look of triumph entered her eyes and she turned to look at Abhi
" You are late Dr Nikita ,let me remind you ... " he started his lecture . Oh God ! was he even human ?
Strategy no 3 Jealousy: Nikki entered the hospital nervous and anxious ... how to make her mission to make sadu jealous a success ... she needed a suitable scapegoat for this mission ... Armaan ... Atul ...Rahul ..? Yes Rahul ! he was the perfect bet as muksaan was also on leave. To her luck she found Rahul signing the duty chart at the nurse station ,luck was definitely on her side today as from the corner of her eyes she saw that Abhi was fast approaching them , the mere thought of him made her heart flutter. But coming back to her senses , her mission of prime importance now, she took courage in her hand she went up to him and gave him a big hug and wished him Good Morning in her best sing song voice. Ofcourse the poor guy was in shock. " Dhan tan a!! You didn't tell me Rahul, how do I look today?" she continued. Rahul was having a hard time. He swallowed and wiped sweat from his forehead,
"G..ood Morning N..ikki. Umm you are looking gorgeous." He somehow found his voice. "oww you are such a sweetheart ." Nikki hugged him again for a brief second.
"Doctors! Can I ask you what is going on here?" did she detect jealousy in his voice ?
Rahul gulped ,recognising the voice of the one man who held his future in his hands.
"Oh! Dr. Modi! You know normal people, generally, greet each other in the morning by wishing a 'Good morning". "Dr. Nikita, unlike you I've got a duty to perform. To make sure that this hospital runs properly and not leave it to the whims and fancies of Interns like you who walk in whenever for their duty and then waste time in wishing good morning, good after noon, good evening, good night,..."
Was it only about duty...? he cared nothing for her flirting and being close to Rahul meant nothing to him ? Nikki's eyes burned with anger and hurt ... Why did she fall in love with this pigheaded man.. why does it always have to be about rules and duty for him ? Why did she love him.. why??
Out of nowhere Armaan's walked in "Hey Nikki! Good Morning baby.. You look ravishing today." Armaan greeted her cheerfully and hugged her. Then turning to Rahul. "Hey dude, good morning. Let's have coffee. " He punched Rahul's shoulder and winked at Nikki' "Chalein?"
That was the limit for Abhi's patience. "Doctors, If you are done with your college campus talks, resume your duties right now". "Dr. Modi, there's still ten minutes to go for start of our duty". Armaan looked at his wrist watch and retorted. "What more can I expect from you Dr. Mallik? Just like you, your wrist watch is running late." Abhi replied back sarcastically. "Oh really Dr. Modi? I guess just like you, your watch has this bad habit of running faster than time."
Just like Rahul a few minutes before Nikki too started sweating hard.. This wasn't there in her plan.. What she had wanted to be proof of his love was fast turning into dangerous issue for her friends... "Dr. Mallik, watch out your language. It's high time for you to learn how to behave with your seniors". Abhi spoke with a hand on hips.
"Dr. Modi, You know I.."
Nikki held Armman hand and pleaded him to stop with her eyes. "Armaan we will have coffee in our break. Let's start with duty." Nikki somehow diffused the situation. Just managing to save everyone's skin and future too.
She sat on the steps of the basketball cout , sad at her failed attempts , sad because her heart hurt , he didn't love her... but there were so many times she had felt ... that he ...even today ... maybe ...
Abhi stepped on the terrace for a breath of fresh air when he saw her. He studied her small frame .. she was so beautiful and her new wardrobe made her look even prettier than before. Then he saw she looked sad ... a sadness creeped in his body, he had riled her once about Armaan but had not been able to see her cry and had gone up to her and given her his hanky , same in the Sanjeevani concert. He just couldn't see her sad, all her pranks, all her trouble but he could never hurt her or see her hurt. Some how she never seemed to care about him so much and had troubled and hurt him many times beyond the limits. Still he couldn't stop himself to go and sit by her. Nikki was shocked to see the object of her thoughts next to her .
" What's wrong Nikki ..." he was asking her what's wrong ... it was so difficult to control her emotions as it is ... she broke down and didn't know how it happened but she was in his arms .. it felt so warm soothing and safe to be here. This beautiful girl crying in his arms was like a delicate baby he really couldn't see her sad. Who had hurt her so bad .. what was wrong with her...
Abhi realised what was happening and slowly pulled away , still in a daze Nikki raised her luminous eyes to him , what he saw there send a jolt of shock inside him and he nervously dropped his gaze. Nikki realised that she had given herself away . Her look had told him all that she felt for him , a feeling of relief went through her , now at least he knew it , it was taken over by panic... what had she done , she couldn't expose herself like that... make her self vulnerable ... She ran away from there.
Abhi lay awake on his bed that night unable to sleep, what was happening... Nikki ... she was so pretty and cute, he couldn't see her sad , he was supposed to know better but she was slowly taking over his senses. Her beauty, her innocence , her smartness in the project... her pranks, her stupidity, her new wardrobe ... her luminous eyes and what he had seen in them .. but No ! he couldn't... he couldn't think like that ... he knew better than that ...But still sometimes he wished that things could have been different ... that his past could have been different...
Edited by mitzification - 12 years ago
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