|AN Writing Challenge~Closed*UPDATE pg 150* - Page 18

PART 5

The first day of orientation was over for Nikki or so she thought. Sid Modi had not left her side for even one second and his incessant chatter had given her a headache. She slipped to the restroom to give her some break.

"Nik….iii….taaaaaaaa" how much time do you need in there?" Sid's voice screamed from outside the door and Nikki rolled her eyes. This was enough. She was going to tell that serial dater and now her stalker to stop bothering her and leave her alone.

She pulled open the door angrily and looked at him with her eyes sparkling with anger and her hand on her waist, ready to give him a piece of her mind when he softly smiled and said, "It has started raining…..thought I would give you a ride home" and Nikki gasped.

Here she was about ready to fight with him and he was waiting to help her. She sighed and calmed down and a smile appeared on her face.

"Thanks Sid but I can go myself…..you are very sweet …….but I don't want you to go out of your way" she says sweetly, returning his smile.

"Nor do I Nikita…..but its Mom's orders" he replies and Nikki smiles. He was such a kid…..just said what was in his mind. Her thoughts immediately flew to the other Modi she knew who fought with his eyes and expected her to understand everything rather than opening his mouth. She sighed and gave herself a mental kick.

"Madam….are you done dreaming or are you waiting for the snow to fall before you decide?" Sid snaps a finger in front of her face and Nikki comes back to the present.

"I….s….sorry…..it is very sweet of your mom……but really you don't have to" Nikki said formally but he waved her protests away and finally Nikki concedes to be dropped.

So what are you going to eat for dinner?" Sid can't help asking. He had really liked Nikki but he wanted to know her more to understand what she possessed that she had actually made his strong willed older brother fall for her.

"Food" Nikki replies, not wanting to answer the question as she knew that her answer would make him probe further.

"Incredible…..I eat food too….so what food?" Sid rolls his eyes but continues cheekily.

"Why Sid ….why?" Nikki asks sighing. There was something about this name MODI….these men never gave up. She had dealt with a very difficult Modi man and fate had dealt her another MODI man to deal with.

"Well since you ask so nicely, I was thinking lets have dinner together….what say? Good Idea….right….right…..ok lemme take you to my favorite pizza parlor" Sid drawled in his accented English and Nikki looked at him in shocked surprise.

"I…..thanks but no…..I don't think" she starts to protest but he looks at her with those familiar eyes and knocks her breath away. She had never seen Abhi's eyes filled with so much laughter….which looking into Sid's eyes, she wish she had.

"Nikita….your boyfriend won't even know you are dating me" Sid cut her protests and winked and Nikki couldn't help but laugh.

"Fine…….lets go……and you Sid….don't you rat on me about our dating to him ok" she joked back. Enough was enough. She had decided to move on and now she was going to. It was harmless flirting with Sid but that didn't mean that she was going to lose her friendship with him.

Sid and Nikki have a good time and slowly but surely they start becoming good friends. Sid made sure that he gave her some space to adjust but also kept an eye on her. His brother had told him that she was living with her father but he soon found out that though her father lived in Chicago, it was never Nikki's intention to live with him. She had definitely taken his help to come here but her sole aim was to make a life of her own, where she was independent.

"Sid…..would you stop it?" Abhi's irritated and jealous voice yelled at him from half way across the world. He had been going on about how hot Nikki was looking at the Saturday night party they had gone to and how he had to almost fight with other men to keep their paws of her. He knew it would make his brother mad and that was his sole intention.

"Ooopps sorry bro….what happened? You interested in her?" he finally asked the question he already had a sure shot answer to.

"What….shut up Sid….she is my intern" Abhi replied, still not ready to accept what she meant to him in front of Sid. He had decided to finish the new Sanjeevani project and then head to United States. He had taken the decision to make sure that he gave Nikki some time and also himself. He was tired of the cat and mouse game they had been playing since the day they had met. He was going to test the waters the last time and if he thought it would work, he was not going to leave any stone unturned to claim his love.

"So……anyways bro…..I have pasted some pics on Facebook…..if you wanna check it out" S id said cleverly, knowing full well how jealous they would make his brother.

"Fine….I'll do that later" Abhi replied but immediately logged on to facebook. Sid heard him swear loudly and he smiled to himself. That meant that Abhimanyu Modi had just seen a picture of Nikki in Sid's arms, when he had lifted her and made sure that their friend clicked the picture. He didn't think that Abhi needed to know the fact that she had actually stomped on his foot, given him a piece of his mind and fought with him for doing that.

"Bhai….what happened?" Sid asked, pretending to have not understood why his brother was flying off the handle.

"Nothing….talk to you later" Abhi slammed the phone down and stared at the picture. She had surprised etched on her face but her arms were around his brother's neck and her other hand was bunching his T-shirt. He knew that Sid must have taken her unawares but jealousy spiked through him.

That picture had the effect of Abhimanyu getting the New Sanjeevani project finished with such a pace that it looked like a hurricane was working. He told the investors that he was taking a break for a month as he was going to attend some conferences in Chicago and then taking some personal time off.

It had been a month but a difficult month for Nikki. Her work was going great, she had been studying hard, making new friends but the longing for Abhi refused to go away. She had called him a few times but as soon as he had picked up the phone, her eyes had welled up and she had cut the line.

Today her adviser had asked her to get one reco letter from Abhimanyu Modi, to qualify for the scholarship. The color had drained from her face as the request had been conveyed to her. She asked why Dr. Gupta couldn't do the needful.

"Dr. Nikita…..Dr. Modi is an alumni of this very hospital…..his recommendation would hold a great weight in deciding the scholarship in your favor" Aarti Modi explained and Nikki's heart constricted with pain.

She had run away from him but her destiny had landed her in his Alma Mater? She couldn't believe it.

She nodded her assent and decided to call him. They told her at the hospital that he wasn't coming in today so her best bet was to call him on his cell phone. Nikki closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart.

After full fifteen minutes of gathering courage, Nikki called him but as soon as the phone rang she disconnected it. She continues this for 3 times when on the fourth time, Abhi picked up on the first ring.

" I won't eat you through the phone Dr. Nikita" were his first words, extremely irritated. Nikki's hands clasped the phone tighter and closer to her erratically beating heart. He had recognized the fact that it was her calling without her saying a single word. That made her happy.

"H….How did you know it was me?" she can't help asking softly.

"No one else loves to bother me so much" he replied equally softly.

"S…Sorry…I" Nikki stammered, taken aback by his answer.

"Don't be….how are you?" he asked unexpectedly and Nikki drew in a breath. Did he care?

"Good……and you…..you didn't go to the hospital?" she asked the question which was bothering her.

"Yeah ….am sick" he lies, wanting to know if she would even care and trying to hide the fact that he was packing to come to America.

"Oh" was all Nikki could say as her heart started worrying about how sick he was as she knew he would never admit to being sick if it wasn't something serious. Abhi tried to understand her monosyllable answer but there was just silence on the line.

"Hello?" he finally said when for a full minute it felt like the line had gone dead.

"Yeah…..am here" comes the soft reply.

"What happened?" he asked, dying to know the answer.

"You….are sick…..who will take care of you?" she asks helpless at her beating heart's hand.

"No one…..I won't die…..don't worry….why did you call?" he deliberately changes the topic.

"I…had some work….but it can wait…..y…you…t ….take care….please" she said softly, having forgotten all her work at the news he had given.

"Nikita…..I am just sick….not an invalid….what's the work?" he snaps.

"Nothing….I needed a recommendation letter….from you" she replies.

"Oh yeah….I got the email…..will do….anything else?" he asks.

"No….and thanks…..and….get well soon" she blinks her tears at her helplessness and gently keeps the receiver back. Tears flow unchecked from her eyes while her heart starts worrying about his health. She prays feverishly that he feels better soon but her whole day is spent worrying about him.