SS: THE SICILIAN...PART 23 pg 49 UPD 29/06 - Page 2

Wow, amazing story. Read both parts in one go. Aparjit, Pia and Karan are so mean. I hate them. Please continue soon.

wow,, plastic surgery ,, mafia,, u really went all out ,, i thougth jai would be a tiny mafia leader but he is still a business man,, get rid of roshini immediately,, bani has been played so badly ,, this is why I believe in abstinence,, 😆 ,, wonder what jai's reaction will be ,, will still do the deal? ,, I mean business and personal should be seen differently,, but ethics should be considered,, waiting eagerly for ur next update

Even when I started second chance, the last parts of it were cut off!!!It was when I went back one day to deit that I found the bottom half missing!!! Had to rewrite the whole thing. Apparently that was what happened this time.

Well now Happy reading..........😉

THE SICILIAN 3

The elevator doors slid closed and Bani who was standing to the far right which was why he hadn't seen her, shifted further away. She recognized him now as Jai Walia. Yes, big business mogul and your regular prince charming if you were still into that kind of thing. He dwarfed her by far and she had to admit in spite of herself, he did have the perfect good looks of a professionally carved Greek sculpture. He shoved his hands in his pocket now and slid what she could best describe as a disgusted look her way, before turning to look forward as though she didn't exist.

Well righteous rage began to simmer inside her. She owed him no explanations and he had absolutely no right to be looking down at her. She did what she did because she had absolutely no choice. The idiot wouldn't see her but she had to give him a piece of her mind before she walked out of his life forever. He had to remember her'and having ruined his meeting with Jai Walia, she had a feeling he was going to remember her, and well too.

Jai on his part was having a hard time believing a woman who looked to be as sharp and intelligent as she could have been taken in by the'what had she called them, nest of vipers? He slid her a quick look and was a little irritated to find her watching him too. He looked forward trying to ignore her. She was a little woman, and looked like she was carrying a really large pot on her belly. But then again that was pregnancy right? He thought of Jigyasa and her tummy which was way smaller than what this woman was carrying!

She was a beautiful woman, and he could understand the allure to use her as a bet. He tried to recall any thing he may have come across in recent times that could have had her in it. He drew a blank as he never read any of those gossip magazines. He was a stock market page kind of guy and apart from government news to see how their policies affected him and the family businesses, he didn't read or listen to news. Well, eighth floor'.seven more to go, he thought.

Downstairs, a fuse box began to smoke in the equipment room. Sparks flew and rubber began to melt. The large room began to fill with smoke and the smoke detector went off downstairs. In a split second there was a mini expolsion as the fuse box blew open and caught fire.

The elevator jerked and ground to a halt, the lights going out and the emergency lights coming on. Jai had grabbed on to the side of the elevator to keep from falling backwards but Bani had smacked herself against the right side of the elevator, only managing to grab onto the railing at the rear to keep from falling.

'What the hell'.' Jai swore and when he regained his balance, went to the switchboard, beginning to push the buttons one after the other, irritated that nothing was happening.

Bani on her part, was still reeling from the shock of being tossed like that. She was looking around, momentarily disoriented before she looked up at the level indicator to see that they were no longer moving.

'What's going on?' she asked in a breathy voice, holding her head which had a dull ache to it now.

He didn't answer and just kept pushing buttons to see if the elevator would start moving. He swore again under his breath and pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. He obviously speed dialed a number and waited a few seconds before barking into the phone.

'Where are you?....I'm stuck I an elevator. Get Aparajeet on the phone and have him rectify the problem immediately.'

He disconnected and swore again.

Bani just stared at him. Aparajeet'.the man seemed to now follow her everywhere. She just didn't want to accept any help from him, especially after their encounter a few minutes ago. She actually prayed he couldn't be reached'.she didn't want to see any of those snakes again. As the realization that they were stuck in the elevator started to dawn on her, she realized that right now nothing could be done.

Well it couldn't be that bad, I mean people only had to wait a while right? The people in charge would soon fix the problem. She calmly made herself comfortable on the floor of the elevator's plush carpeting and crossed her legs at the ankle. Jai Walia turned and gave her a dirty look as if to say shouldn't you be trying to get out of here.

He kept pacing up and down, getting agitated with every passing second. As if anticipating his anger at being locked in the same place for more than three minutes especially where he hadn't decided to stay there, his mobile rang.

'Where is he?' he snapped at whoever was at the other end. Whatever the person said had him swearing again, 'You get him on the line or there will be hell to pay.'

He disconnected and resumed pacing. This was the worst day ever. Bani on her part was thinking of her encounter in the office this morning. He must have thought she was a lot of things after her going off on everyone but she was fighting for her children and well, she wasn't exactly looking at anyone's face.

'It might help if you stopped pacing,' she suggested.

He stopped and gave her a murderous glance and she knew if looks could kill she would have been on her way to being cremated. She shrugged and began to hum lightly, her hand on her stomach as she felt the babies kick. She loved it when they did that. She felt as though they were itching to come and announce their arrival, but at the same time she was scared about the stigma that would come with their arrival. She had been in the public eye, albeit on a small scale but people would still ask questions. Did she not have to wear a burka to leave her house today for two reasons, one being to disguise herself to the world at large.

A voice came over some sort of speaker asking them to remain calm and that the problem was being rectified. They had a full team of technicians working to get the elevators going again.

'They'd better,' Bani said, seeing as they had been stuck for almost fifteen minutes now.

She got to her feet, aware that the mightily pissed off Jai was watching her curiously. She began to pull the burka over her head.

'What the hell are you doing?' he asked, an incredulous look on his face.

'What does it look like I'm doing?' she said from under the voluminous folds of the burka, 'In case you haven't noticed'.it's hot in here.'

Jai watched as she pulled it over her head and breathed a sigh of relief, fanning herself with her hand. He was however relieved to see she had on another free flowing gown underneath. He sighed with relief and cursed his stars for this. If only he had left and not insisted on finding out about Aparajeet's illicit affair, just in case it came in handy some time in the future. Now he was stuck here with the very same.

Reluctantly, he later sat opposite her on the far left. It frustrated him to think that with all the influence he had, all the money and power, he couldn't get out of an elevator. This really was the futility of life'.vanity upon vanity, all is vanity. His wealth couldn't get him out of this right now'.for shame.

Forty five minutes later'''..

Bani was very uncomfortable. It was weird that more often than not, people in an uncomfortable or compromising position usually bonded, but this man was making no attempt to even make decent conversation. He just sat there glancing at his watch and muttering to himself when it suited him. Well, she just kept to herself, humming to her children.

'Do you mind?' he asked irritably.

'Of course I do,' she said casually, she ran her hand over her stomach lovingly, 'You don't seem to be making reasonable conversation so I might as well entertain us.'

He rolled his eyes and went back to muttering under his breath. This was not the way he had envisioned today going. It was just as well that he didn't have any important meetings lined up for today, else he would have someone's head right now. And where the hell was Pushkar when he needed him?

'Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, the fuse box affected has now been replaced and hopefully we will be able to remedy the situation in a few minutes. Thank you.'

Jai glared at the tiny speakers from which music played most of the time. He didn't realize how much he hated those speakers until just now.

'Damn it will you stop that useless yakking?' he almost shouted at Bani.

She was shocked into silence, then in the most outrageous act began to laugh. She laughed really hard when his expression grew perplexed. When she had satisfied herself, she began to wipe her eyes.

'Frustrating isn't it?' she said between giggles, 'All the wealth in this world and right now you can't do nothing but sit tight until Providence decides it's time for you to get off this elevator. I sympathize with you, must be difficult.'

'That's rich coming from you,' he said, disdain filling his voice, 'I would think a woman in your condition and worse still your situation should know a thing or two about difficulties.'

Bani silently watched him a while and said, 'You know, if it weren't for this elevator hanging seven floors in the air I'd have you thrown out of this one. Besides, for some one on your position, shouldn't you have a mini generator tucked away somewhere I your jacket to power this thing so we can both be on our ways and never have to be inside the same space together again?'

He first gave her a measuring look that answered her first barb, that he would like to see how a woman her size could take on a man his size. She knew he was going to say more but then the lights flickered on and then the humming sound announced that the wheels of the elevator had began to turn and blessedly slid past the seventh floor. Jai got to his feet in one lithe movement and Bani struggled with the help of the rail to her feet.

However, no sooner had she straightened than the elevator gave a jerk and tilted to the left, sending Bani flying towards Jai who on reflex caught her.

'Would you be''

The words were cut of as the elevator dropped sharply half a floor and Bani screamed while Jai cursed loudly as they dangled a bit, before coming to a complete stop.

Panic didn't even let them take stock of the precarious position they were in with Bani wrapped snuggly in Jai's arms, afraid that either of them moving might cause the elevator to drop some more.

'Oh God!' Bani was repeating over and over as tears began to fall from her eyes.

'Quiet!' Jai hissed, trying to keep her still so her sudden movement would not cause the elevator to drop further, taking them both with it.

'We have to get out of here,' she said, craning her neck to look beseechingly at him.

'You think?' his voice dripped sarcasm, 'Where's your laughter now?'

She looked round the elevator which had been put back on emergency lighting, a cold fear gripping her as it dawned on her that they just might not get out of here. The elevator could fall the remaining six floors and kill them both'.and her babies? Fresh panic attacked her as she grabbed her midsection.

Jai was watching her, wondering what the hell she was going to try to do now. There was nothing as bad as a panic stricken woman in a delicate situation. They just made everything worse.

'I have to get out of here'.I can't be here, I have to get out of here,' she whispered, disentangling from his arms and crawling towards the doors of the elevator. She pulled herself to her feet and began to bang on the door, 'Get me out of here! Help! Somebody please help me!'

'Will you cut that out?!' Jai bellowed this time, his last nerve snapping as he too got to his feet.

'You shut up!' Bani snapped at him, 'If you want to go down with this elevator then fine, but I'm not going with you. Help! Help me please!'

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard, 'One more word from you and I swear I will smack you so hard the last thing on your mind will be getting of this elevator.'

She was frozen into immobility at the hardness of his eyes, the fingers biting into her soft flesh going unnoticed. Then there was the sound of running water and for a moment, confusion registered on his face while shock registered on hers. His grip on her loosened and he took several steps backward, his expression blank. As if fearing what she would find, slowly lifted the hem of her gown. To her dismay, she saw a puddle of water around her feet which confirmed her worst fear. Her water had broken, in an elevator that at the moment was going nowhere.

She raised alarmed eyes to Jai, who was looking at her as though he was seeing her for the first time, and then her face crumpled.

'Oh God, no!' she began to cry, 'Not here, please.'

Her desperate whispers and the tears that flowed now had him rooted to the spot. He had completely forgotten in his anger that she was pregnant! What was going to happen now? She couldn't give birth here! And she was crying harder now. What on earth was going on today? It really wasn't his day today.

TWO HOURS LATER'''''

'This isn't happening,' Bani muttered, laughing in disbelief through her tears. She had been acting all paranoid the last half hour since the labor pains began, 'I am not about to have my babies in this elevator. Of all the injustices in the world this has to take the cake'I can't have them here'..it's criminal!'

'Latch is that way, you can climb out and get to a hospital,' Jai said dryly, pointing to the roof of the elevator where a small trap door could be seen. To his surprise, Bani who had been pacing, stopped to look at it considerately, and then her gaze fell to Jai, 'Don't even think about it.'

She was about to retort when a sharp pain caused her to double over, gripping her sides as she struggled to regain her breath. This had been going on for about an hour and half now, the wracking pains coming faster and faster on the heels of each other, each one worse than the last.

'Serves you right,' he said nastily, 'Maybe next time you'll learn to keep your legs together.'

He didn't see it coming until something blunt smacked him right dab in the forehead. Stunned for a few seconds, he looked down to see one leg of a shoe lying at his feet, and Bani glaring at him as she breathed deeply to try to ease the pain in her sides.

'You will not insult me Sir,' she said in between breaths, 'I will not allow'.ahhhhh!'

Another wave of pain hit her hard and this time she slowly slid to the ground, feeling herself about to fall. Her eyes were now huge with fright and like child whose lollipop had been taken away, her face first crumpled and she hiccupped and began to cry. In this moment, she realized how alone she was. Her she was stuck in an elevator with a man whose only thought was to insult her, the father of her children had disowned them even before they were born, she didn't have her parents here to tell her it was going to be okay'the feeling of loneliness and helplessness weighed heavily on her as the tears ran freely.

Jai watched the woman before him and in spite of himself began to feel sorry for her. He even felt responsible for her water breaking which was kind of why he was lashing out at her to stop himself feeling guilty. She was frightened, he knew, but what could he do? He wasn't a doctor and being stuck here, there was nothing he could do for her. She seemed to be hyperventilating now. Her eyes squeezed shut and though he saw her valiantly try to swallow the scream, it tore from her and filled the elevator. He didn't even have the courage to say anything to her. She looked so small, sitting alone at the far end of the elevator, crying like a baby.

He rose from his leaning position against the far left of the elevator and stood before her. Fear first crossed her face as she looked apprehensive of what he was going to do to her.

That irked him. He was not a cold blooded person, so why was she so scared? His quick thinking brain was quick to remind him of his nearly shaking the babies out of her.

Right, she had cause to look scared.

'Do you have a Doctor you'd like to call?' he asked as calmly as he could.

The fear in her face slowly gave way to relief as she nodded in the affirmative. He fished his cell out of his pocket and handed it to her. She frantically began to dial, and to her amazement when she pressed dial, Dr. Tarun Sablok appeared on the screen. Her eyes flew to Jai's in shock.

Now what, he thought, a hint of irritation clouding his face.

She was about to say something but then her eyes grew large again and her eyes snapped shut. He immediately knew what was coming. She gripped the phone tightly, her hands gathering what little of the plush rug it could grab as another sharp cry erupted from her very being. Jai knelt beside her and for a moment, was grateful the phone was pure gold, else he was sure she would have crushed it in that vice like grip he heard pregnant woman were famous for.

As she struggled to regain her breath, he laid her gently to the floor and when he heard a tiny voice, looked at his phone to see that it was Tarun she had called. No wonder she had the surprised look on her face.

He put the phone to his ear and spoke, 'Tarun'.'

'Jai, what's the matter?' Tarun asked, concern lacing his voice, 'Is everything alright? How's Jigyasa?'

'I'm stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman who's about to give birth right here Tarun,' he said slowly, 'Apparently you're her doctor.'

'What? Who?'

He looked at Bani, 'Name?'

'Bani' Bani Dixit.'

'Bani Dixit,' he repeated to Tarun.

'Bloody hell!' Tarun swore, 'What the hell is she doing outside?'

'Good question,' Jai muttered.

'Can she talk?'

'She can scream,' Jai said carelessly, and immediately glanced at Bani whose eyes began to fill up again at his unwarranted barb, 'Hell'.I'm sorry''

'What?' Tarun was confused.

'Never mind,' Jai snapped at himself, 'Talk to her.'

He knelt beside Bani and held the phone to her ear and heard Tarun ask, 'Bani, how are you?'

'It hurts Tarun, it really hurts,' she said, her voice breaking on a sob

Jai couldn't help noticing they wee on first name basis but said nothing.

'I know Bani, but that's only natural. Where are you?'

'In an elevator,' she said.

'When did your water break?'

'About two hours ago,' she answered, and gasped.

Almost immediately she dug her nails into the rug as another bout of pain ripped into her middle, the acute pain causing her breath to seize for a few seconds, such that she was gasping when the pain subsided.

Jai took charge again, 'Tarun, is there anything you can do for her?' he asked.

'Where are you two?'

'Hussein House.'

'I'll get an ambulance and I'll try to be there as soon as possible. If possible make her sit in a reclining position. We don't want her crushing the babies by being in the wrong position.'

'Babies?' Jai repeated in surprise.

'Yes, she's having twins,' Tarun informed him.

Jai glanced at her to find her watching him through glazed eyes. Lord, how could someone as small as she was carry two people inside her? She must have more brawn than he gave her credit for.

'How far apart are the labor pains?' Tarun asked.

'The what?' Jai was confused.

'How long between one scream and the next?' Tarun had to speak layman's English for Jai to understand him.

'Oh, about five minutes or so.'

'Shit!' Tarun was obviously rummaging around for certain things as he talked on the phone, 'I might not make it in time for the delivery''

'What do you mean you may not make it in time?' Jai snapped.

'At this rate the babies might come before we get there,' Tarun explained, 'The pains apart means she's almost fully dilated which means the babies can come any minute.'

'I want to push!' Bani exclaimed from the floor, writhing in pain.

No!' Tarun panicked, 'She can't push just yet. Jai, she needs your help.'

'What can I do, I'm not a doctor,' he said indignantly.

'I hate to break it to you but right now, you kind of are,' Tarun banged a door and barked orders to some people around him, 'She is not allowed to push. I need you to check to see how wide she is.'

'What?!' Jai bellowed, 'Are you completely out of your mind?!'

'Jai, a woman and two children are involved,' Tarun said with the patience of a father talking to a little child, 'They have no one but you in this instance so can you for the next hour or so, get over yourself and lend a helping hand!'

Jai was silent. They were friends, but in no way as close as he and Pushkar. For Tarun to raise his voice at him showed the dire circumstances they were all in and in spite of himself, Jai realized the woman' Bani, truly had no one right now, especially after what he just witnessed in Aparajeet's office.

'Hold on a minute.'

He laid the phone down beside Bani's head and when he saw her ashen face to which her hair was now stuck as she was sweating profusely from all the exertion, something twisted inside him. He reached out and brushed the errant hairs back from her face. She opened her eyes and stared at him.

'Tarun says I'' he broke off, not quite knowing how to articulate what he wanted to say, 'He needs to know''

'Just tell her dammit!' Tarun yelled through the mobile next to Bani's ear and she looked questioningly at him.

'Dilation,' he managed weakly, giving her an embarrassed yet helpless look.

She stared at him a few more seconds, and averting her gaze, lifted the hem of her gown and lay still, waiting for him to look.

'I can't,' he sqeaked.

She turned back to look at him, 'You will have too.'

She held his gaze and wouldn't let him look away, and for the first time in many, many years, Jai Walia blinked first. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the gown further over her knees. Taking a deep breath, he inched his head closer, his eyes lowered as he swallowed hard.

The irony, he thought. Under different circumstances this would be a moment to relish.

'Will you look already?!' Bani snapped this time.

Taking a steadying breath, he peeked and immediately reared back, crashing into the rear of the elevator his face completely white. There was a huge gaping hole between her legs! He saw Bani look at him in confusion but it didn't register.

'Jai?' he heard the phone on the floor as if from a distance, 'Jai, where are you?'

Bani reached out and took the phone and tossed it to him, 'Tell him.'

Jai wondered how she could be so calm with what he had just done.

'Jai?' he heard Tarun again.

'Yes?' his voice was little more than a whisper.

'How wide is she?' Tarun asked.

'I'I don't''

'Look again,' Tarun ordered.

He was about to look when Bani let out another scream of pain, starting to cry.

'Jai, hurry!' Tarun urged him.

As though in a daze, he lifted the gown again and looked more closely and informed Tarun, 'She is almost a full ten.'

'Is there any way you can get towels and some water?' he asked.

'How the hell should I know? I'm stuck in an elevator aren't I?' he snapped.

'I understand, but try to see if you can arrange some as you are both going to need it,' Tarun said, 'We are on our way, but if the babies start coming, then I'll walk you through the process. Hang in there.'

With that Tarun disconnected the line and Jai just stared at his mobile. Bani was writhing again. Slowly, he put the phone aside, lifted her to a sitting position and cradled her.

'It's going to be alright,' he heard himself say, 'You're going to be fine.'

'My back hurts,' she cried into the crook of his arm.

Wordlessly, he reached behind her and began to massage the lower back as best her could, trying not to hurt her in the process. He remembered the towels and grabbed his phone again.

After three rings, 'Pushkar where are you?'

'On my way to you. I'm almost there.'

'I need you to get at least a dozen towels.'

'What?'

'No time to explain. I need you to get me''

'Oh God,' Bani's voice was full of dismay and he dropped the phone to hold on to her as the next bout hit. She screamed again in a shrill voice, crushing three of his fingers in her death grip on them.

He had to admit, it hurt like crap men!

'Jai, what are you doing?' Pushkar asked, a mischievous edge to his voice.

'Get your mind out of the gutter!' he snapped at Pushkar, 'I'm stuck in an elevator with a woman who is two minutes away from giving birth right here and I would appreciate those towels and water within the minute.'

'Don't you need a doctor instead?' Pushkar protested.

'Pushkar,' Jai said in irritation, 'Within the minute.'

With that he hung up and returned to massaging her back as she began complaining. Suddenly the pain was in the back of her chest. He had just started on that when it fell back down to her waist. This really was getting confusing.

END!!!