"My wife… you are my wife right?" His words echoed in the back of her mind. She opened her mouth several times but was unable to form a coherent sentence. He thought she were his wife? Oh, how much she wished it were true. But the harsh reality was that it wasn't. She sighed as a part of her did not want to correct him.
She drew in a deep breath. "No… I am not your wife. I am your colleague, rather your junior. In fact the two men who were there, they also work in ETF," she said, in a calm tone quite contrasting to her inner turmoil.
"Oh… so, we are not together either?" he inquired once more.
Riya rubbed her forehead. This was getting more and more tiring. What the hell was giving him such ideas?
"No… we are not together," she affirmed.
He nodded his head slowly, still unable to digest the fact. For once, he actually thought that there was something between them. He withdrew his hand then, already missing the comfort that her hold provided. He wanted to ask her more like if these people worked with him, then where was his family? And then, who was the woman he saw in her dream. But he guessed he would have to wait to get the answers…
Just then, the Rathore guy entered his room once again. Though this time he didn't address him and directly walked over to Riya.
"Riya, why don't you go home and freshen up? I will be here."
Riya didn't argue this time; she obediently followed his orders and sparing one last look at Arjun, walked away. Without saying another word, Rathore too walked towards the couch and sat there, flipping through the pages of some magazine.
"Can I ask you something?" Arjun ventured out of the blue.
Rathore jerked in his direction, his eyes showing some of his irritation but nonetheless, signaling him to continue further.
"So, I am an ACP and I work in the ETF, right?"
Rathore nodded his head once more.
"But there are still so many things that I don't know… like my family. Can you tell me more about myself?" he literally begged.
Rathore sighed in response, fearing this was bound to happen. But he also had full right to know about himself. Perhaps if anyone knew Arjun better than himself than it was him.
"Well, your family doesn't live here. They live in Bangalore. But because of some reasons you broke all ties with them…" he trailed off. He had a strong desire to tell him more about the "reasons" but he refrained from it. He clearly remembered the doctor's advice of not revealing anything upsetting. And Roshni's topic was more than upsetting.
"Sameer, Sameer… you there?" Arjun asked, disturbing his line of thought.
Rathore looked at him, dazed. Not because he intervened in his train of thoughts but rather because he called him 'Sameer'. Memories of the old times flashed in front of his eyes. Though he would never admit it but he missed his friendship sometimes.
"Rathore… you call me Rathore and I call you Raute," he remarked bitterly, some of his old anger resurfacing.
"Why, the last name? It's clear that you know me very well. Then, why do we call each other on our last name basis?"
It wasn't the question but the sincerity in his question that got him off guard. But two things became quite clear. First, he indeed didn't remember anything and second, he still was this observant man.
He dumped his magazine in the couch then and walked up to where he lay. "Look, Raute, I know you have many questions but I can't help you more than this. You have to find the answers to your questions… yourself." And retrieve your memory as soon as possible as dealing with the older you were much better, than dealing with the newer one.
At this, Arjun pressed his lips in a tight line. What was wrong in telling him the truth?
An uneasy silence surrounded them as Rathore resumed his previous position and Arjun lay there thinking about his next course of action. Both would stare at the other once in a while but they refrained from any sort of communication. Arjun thought to himself, "If Rathore is adamant then I can be too. If he doesn't want to help then I will find the answers myself." He crossed his arms in front of his torso, determined in his pursuit to find the truth.
***
The next morning Arjun woke up to the sound of footsteps in his room. His 'team' was there along with the doctor. They seemed to be in deep discussion.
Riya was there too. Wearing a simple button down blue shirt and dark blue jeans with her shiny black hair open, she managed to elicit a gasp from him. He was still amazed at the connection he felt. In fact when she told him the previous day that he was just his co-worker he could not help but feel a bit sad.
In the midst of the conversation, Riya casually peeked at him only to find him staring unabashedly staring in her direction. She lowered her eyes, a warm feeling gripping her. Ironically, this was the same man who looked past her as if she never existed but now, he looked at her as if she meant something to him. She could not help but feel a little overjoyed by that fact.
She looked at him again, only to find him smiling at her. She could have sworn on God that momentarily she stopped breathing. He looked so different from the 'sadu', 'akdu' Arjun she knew. She too responded back with a smile.
"Riya…" Shree tapped her shoulder, breaking Arjun and Riya's eye contact.
"Yeah Shree, what is it?" She found him grinning like an idiot.
"So, you and Arjun Sir, huh?" he raised his eyebrows, and hit her playfully on the shoulder.
Oh how much she wanted to wipe that smirk from his face. But she maintained her composure. "Seriously Shree, how can you be so immature? Arjun Sir has lost his memory and you are fooling around?"
Shree sobered up quickly at the berating tone. Riya chuckled then, mentally patting herself for the effect she had on him. Chotu, who had overheard their little exchange, too smirked in his direction. Shree could only scowl.
"You don't worry doc, we will take good care of him. I will shift his belongings to my house, where he can stay until he is fit enough," the three of them heard Rathore assuring the doctor, momentarily forgetting their fight.
"Arjun Sir can stay at my place," Riya quickly piped in. That earned her amused gazes from Shree and Chotu and a 'really' kind of look from Rathore.
She pressed, "Sir, I am a girl. I can definitely take better care of him than you can… no offence sir, but ETF will need its head to function well, right? On the other hand, I can stay at home. This way I can keep an eye on Arjun sir and I can work from the home itself. Plus, this might be a good time to utilize the holidays."
Rathore looked at her apprehensively, contemplating the idea. Frankly, it made more sense. After thinking for a long time, he nodded his consent.
Out of the corner of the eye, she saw Arjun smiling to himself.
***
PS The next part is gonna be interesting so stay tuned!!
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