Nikki broke out of her thoughts as she heard her mobile ring! Looking at the name of the person who was calling,
'Oh my god! I completely forgot about Sid!' she exclaimed, hitting her forehead with her hand.
There was a satisfied grin on Abhi's face, which inspite of his trying hard, could not be hidden!
'Nikki, pick up the damn phone! However it is, seems to be desperate!' he said in a sarcastic voice when she didnot pick up her phone immediately.
Nikki giving him a glare, picked up her phone finally and spoke into it,
'Hi, Sid! Where are you calling from?' she asked hesitantly, knowing completely where he would be calling her from.
'Oh shit! You are at my place? I am so sorry, Sid! I know I should have called u earlier!'
Abhi could hear Sid's voice from the other end. He sounded agitated. And he saw Nikki now glaring at him angrily. Somewhere deep down inside Abhi derived a sadistic pleasure out of the whole thing!
'I know Sid, you came all the way to see me and now have to go back! But this was kind off out of the blue!' she said as she managed to interrupt his rantings and explain to him.
'I am so sorry, please forgive me!' she continued apologetically, 'What, u got ice-cream for Goofy and me? Oh that was so sweet of you! And now I feel even worse! But I promise to make up for this, ok?' she said once again feeling really bad for forgetting about him.
There was a pause as she heard him say something.
'Sid, we have the whole of Friday and Saturday to get the report done! We go out on the picnic only on Sunday! We can finish off everything in two days, so don't worry. By Monday you will be able to send the report out to your Dad and Dr. Modi', she said steeling a glance at Abhi!
Again, there was a pause as she heard him say something and then slowly her face was covered in a bright smile,
'Oh Sid, you are the best! U are so cute! Ok, take care and I will see you first thing in the morning tomorrow, goodnight!' saying this she cut the line.
When she turned towards, Abhi she saw that he was frowning!
'Abhi! This is all because of you! I completely forgot about Sid! He was so mad! He had come home and we were supposed to work on that report! Bechara, now he had a wasted trip! You are to be blamed for all this mess! You just decided to hijack me and sabotage my evening!' she said sulkily. 'And just look at me!' she said, looking down at her clothes, pretending to be angry at him. But actually she loved the way Abhi had manipulated her into going for dinner with him!
'Uff, my hair is such a mess and instead of my makeup I have flour all over my face! And look at my clothes! Your mom is going to think that you got hold of a clown from some circus and brought her home!' she pouted. She turned on the lights inside the car and moved the rear view mirror towards herself.
'Nikki, please! Do you mind? I am trying to drive the car and I need that mirror!' Abhi exclaimed trying to turn the mirror back towards himself. But Nikki was too fast for him and swatted his hand away from the mirror.
'Too bad, Dr. Modi! I need it more! This is all your fault, so now suffer! Manage without it till I am done!' she said haughtily, looking into the mirror trying to fix her hair.
'This hair na! They have a mind of their own! One of these days if they don't learn to behave themselves, I am going to chop them off!' she said in frustration as she tried to fix them properly.
'Don't even thinking about bringing a scissor close to your hair!' Abhi blurted out without thinking! Nikki was taken aback by his outburst. And when she looked at him, she found him staring at her, and then with embracement looked away from her, staring back straight on to the road.
There was a small satisfied smile on Nikki's face. And then when she turned back to the mirror, something caught her eyes,
'Now, what is this new thing?' she murmured to herself going closer to the mirror trying to figure out what the mark on her neck was in the dim light of the car! And then suddenly she realized what it was! She was shocked and managed to cover it with her hand, before turning to see if Abhi had noticed it too. But she was too late! Abhi had seen it!
'Oh shit!' Abhi, who had seen her examining her bruise and immediately realized what it was, exclaimed softly.
He also saw the embarrassed look in her eyes before she looked away. She just sank into her seat now, looking away from him, covering her neck with her hand, refusing to look at him!
'Nikki, ........' he called out her name softly trying to draw her attention.
'Abhi, I want to go back home, please! I am not coming with you to meet your mom!' she said, nearly on verge of tears.
Abhi slowly pulled out on one side of the road. He turned towards her and took hold of her shoulders gently, and turned her around to make her look at him. He took hold of her hand which was covering her bruise, and removed it and gave her a kiss on her palm.
'Nikki, look at me!' he told her gently. But Nikki refused to look up. Just shook her head. He now gently held her face with both his hands, his thumb moving rhythmatically along her jawline, trying to sooth her down.
'Please, Nikki, look here!' he said once again, lifting her head, but she refused to open her eyes. Slowly one tear rolled down her cheek. Abhi bent down and kissed it away. Then he kissed her love bite gently, he could feel her shiver!
'Nikki, do you trust me?' he asked her gently. She still refused to look at him, but nodded her head indicating a yes. 'Then will you do, what I tell you to so, please!' he continued, looking lovingly at her.
This time she looked up and nodded a yes once again. To Abhi, right now she looked like a 5 year, who was extremely upset!
'Ok, then relax and leave everything to me,' he said. Then he released her and started to drive. After some time he stopped the car, and turning towards told her, 'Just wait in the car for me, ok? I will be back in 5 minutes max', saying this, he was out of the car, without even waiting for her answer. Nikki did not bother to see where he was going. She was too upset to care! All she wanted to do was go home. But she had agreed to do whatever he said, so now she will have to wait and see. Once again she looked at her love bite in the rear view mirror and touched it gently. The scene of how he had kissed her there, in her kitchen flashed in front of her, and she became beetroot red. She was thinking about how both of them had lost all control. Then once again she looked away and sank back into her seat.
Abhi came back before the five minutes were up, just as he had promised. He got into the car and have her a bag.
'Here this is for you', he said with a smile. 'See if you like it'.
Nikki was puzzled, but took the bag from his hand, and peeped inside.
'What is it?' she asked curiously.
'Go ahead, remove it and see it' he told her still smiling.
Nikki pulled out what looked like a piece of clothing, in beautiful purple and pink print. It was made out of the softest cloth she had ever felt. She held it up in front of her to figure out what exactly it was,
'Oh Abhi, this is so beautiful!' she exclaimed she soon as she realized what it was.
'I love it!' she said with a smile.
'Then wear it!' he said. He was looking straight into her large beautiful eyes. He was glad that look of sadness had gone now.
'Now? Here? I can't do that! She exclaimed.
'Why not, Nikki? Just pull it over your head! Anyway there is no one here except me!' he told her teasingly.
'Oh shut up!' she said.
Nikki now realized why he had got the beautiful dress for her. It was the sweetest thing he had done until now! Spontaneously, she leaned towards him and gave him a hug and whispered in his ears, 'Thanks, you are the best!'
He had found a perfect dress for her! It had a ruffled collar, which would cover her love bite, the neck plunged deep, which would show off her purple tank top, and would hug closely at her waist before flowing down and stopping just above her knees.
As Abhi turn to looked away from her, slowly, she pulled the new dress over her head, over her tank top, and all the way down. She them adjusted it properly over her shoulders, by the waist and over the knees. It fitted her perfectly!
'Abhi! Does it look fine?' she asked, a bit consciously.
Abhi turned and looked at her. Then slowly he adjusted the collar, making sure that her love bite was properly covered.
'Perfect!' he said looking into her shy eyes. It fitted her just the way he had imagined. He wondered how she managed to look so beautiful in whatever she wore!
'Chalein then!' she said, now giving him her 1000 watt smile.
'I have to just fix my face, and then I am all set to meet your mom!' she exclaimed happily.
She fished out her make-up kit from her purse, and did something to her face for next few minutes, and by the time they reached his home, she looked perfect. As he parked the car and looked at her, he saw that the flour was gone from her face, her lips and cheeks were beautifully glowing with pink color and her eyes looked even larger with a black outline.
'Do I look fine?' she asked self-consiously feeling a bit scared.
'Nikki, don't worry! You look perfect! My mom will love you!' he told her, holding her small hands in his big ones and squeezed them gently, trying to reassure her.
They kept on looking at each other for a few seconds, and then Nikki took a deep breath and heaved a deep sigh. She lifted Goofy up from the back seat where he had been sleeping peacefully.
'Theek hai, then lets go and get this done!' she said with a determination. 'You go ahead and take Goofy with you. I'll follow you in a minute', she told him as she pushed Nikki in his hands. She waited till he got out of the car and started walking towards the main door, with a bit of surprised look on his face. He didnot understand what was happening. But by this time, Goofy was wide awake and realized what was happenning and that he was in Abhi's arms. He didnot appreciate that at all and started barking.
'Oh, shut up, you goof ball! Nikki is just coming! I am not going to eat you up!' he exclaimed.
But Goofy just refused to stop. He kept on barking relentlessly, and by the time Abhi reached the door, his mom had heard him and opened the main door.
'Abhi, what is this? I thought you were bringing over a friend of yours!' she exclaimed with a surprise.
By now Goofy was turning his head towards Abhi's face and barking more furiously.
'Ma! Shut up!' Abhi shouted, but immediately realized his mistake. Looking guiltily at his mother, he said, 'Oh, I am sorry, Ma!' then lifting up Goofy high in the air so that he could look straight into his eyes and said sternly, 'Goofy, will just shut up!'
And suddenly there was a pin drop silence. And Abhi heaved a sigh of relief!
'Abhi! You were so mean', Anitha scolded him,' You scared the poor mite! Why did you shout at him? Here, let me hold him! I am sure he is scared of you now!' she said taking Goofy in her arms. There was a sad look in Goofy's eyes as he readily went to Anitha, ' Where did you come from, sweetheart? Whaz your name, dear? Are u hungry? Come Ma will feed you something!' Anitha started talking lovingly to Goofy, cuddling him and patting him. She ignored Abhi, who was standing there gaping at her talking to Goofy. She turned around and started walking inside the house.
'Ma!' Abhi exclaimed irritatedly shaking his head unbelievably, 'Can u just wait!' he told her holding her shoulders to stop her and turned her around. 'I did bring someone, Ma!'
Anitha looked at him raising one of her eyebrows questioningly.
He turned to one side to see if Nikki had joined him or not, then he turned to the other side. But she was not to be found anywhere!
Then he felt a tap on his back and heard, 'I am here!'
And then when he turned his head around completely, he found her standing right behind him, where her small frame was completely hidden behind his big one.
'Here she is! Ma, this is Dr. Nikita Malhotra. She is an intern at Sanjeevani and is working with me.'
He pulled her from behind him and introduced Nikki to his mom.
'And Nikki, this is my mother. Anitha Modi' he said, affectionately holding his mom by her shoulders and giving her a squeeze.
'And that devil, you are holding, Ma, is Goofy. He is Nikki's protector, who apparently just loves me!' he added sarcastically, glaring at Goofy.
'Oh shut up, Abhi! Leave Goofy alone! He is not a devil! But yes, he barks at devils!' Nikki retorted spontaneously.
Hearing this Anitha started to laugh, and found Abhi now glaring at Nikki.
'That's very true, Nikita!' she extended her hand in welcome, 'Do come in, beta! I am so glad to meet you.' She said with a welcome smile.
'Hello, mam! Sorry for creating such a rukus! This is what happens every time, when great Dr. Modi and my sweet little Goofy meet!' she said, giving a mocking look to Abhi.
'And please accept my apologies for barging in your dinner time like this with such a short notice!' Nikki said, feeling a little embraced.
'Please call me Anitha or Aunty! There is no formality! And don't worry, beta! I know my son, he would have road rolled into coming here! I am used to his high handed ways! So just relax, this is nothing new for me!' Anitha replied to her as they all walked in and she handed over Goofy back to Nikki.
'What took u so long in the car?' Abhi asked Nikki irritatedly, whispering in her ears.
'Why? Did you miss me?' Nikki asked teasingly, 'Shorts? Remember?' she asked with sparkle in her eyes.
And suddenly Abhi realized what she had been doing! He stared at her with surprise and then both of them burst out into laughter!
Anitha made a mental note of the way both were looking at each other and laughing. She looked at her son, and saw that he looked so much younger when he laughed. He needed to laugh more!
'Tia .....' Anitha called out for her daughter, 'your Bhai is here! And come and see who else is here'
'Coming, Ma!' Nikki heard Tia reply.
They all had reached the living area now. And Tia stopped ih her track when she notice Nikki with Goofy in her hands.
'Hi, Tia!' Nikki greeted her.
'Hi, Dr. Nikita!' she replied with a surprise. Then turning to his brother, she continued 'Bhai, I thought you had gone to the gym, how did .....?' but was interrupted by Abhi with a warning in his eyes.
'Yup, I was at the gym. And that reminds me that I need a bath. Please excuse me!' saying this he moved to leave the room. As he came close to Nikki, he whispered in her ears,
'U will be okay?' and Nikki just nodded.
Mother and daughter saw this exchange but kept quiet for now!
Once Abhi left, all the three of them sat down and started chatting! Nikki noticed that Anitha was very much like Tia. Friendly, frank and fun loving! It was very easy to relate to the mother-daughter duo! And they both had one more thing in common - they dotted on Abhi.
Suddenly there was a whiff of Abhi's aftershave. She could have recognized it anywhere! And when she looked towards the door, she saw Abhi enter the room. He looked fresh out of the shower, his hair still wet, and looked atleast 10 years younger in his white bermuda shorts and navy blue t-shirt.
She had never seen him in shorts before! And he should be banned from wearing them in public, she thought! She had never seen him look more dashing! She just was not able to look away from him!
But the spell broke, as soon as she heard Tia say,
'Bhai! Now that you are clean, come give me a hug!' she got up and went towards him. And whispered into his ears mischievously,
'Kya baat hai, Bhai! Finally you are learning how to play the game! You were pretty fast this time! Didn't give any chance to Mr. Sid, did you?'
Abhi could not hold back his laughter at Tia's comment. Then giving her a hug, he said softly with a warning, 'Chup kar, meri nani! Usko pata chal gaya, toh bas, mahabharat will start here!'
Both brother and sister, walked towards Nikki and Anitha, with Abhi's hand wrapped around Tia's shoulder.
'Abhi! Come and join us now! Nikki had Tia and me laughing so much that I have a stomach pain now! She was describing all those pranks that she had pulled on you when you first joined Sanjeevani! How do you guys get any work done when she is around? She is so funny!'
'No way, Ma! I am not joining you guys! The three of you will have a field day! Mein bechara, akela mard, kya kar paonga!' he said with a laugh.
'Why scared, Dr. Modi?' Nikki asked, trying to bait him.
'No ..... no .... no way, I am not going to fall for that one, Dr. Chi ' ki ' ta', he said with a knowing smile and waging a his index finger at her. 'You have tried that trick once too often on me. I am not falling for that one!' he winked at her and said with a smirk on his face.
She was taken aback! He remembered what he used to call her back then! She never thought he would remember! Nikki had never seen this side of Abhi! He was so relaxed and smiled so often! With his family he was one person and with everyone else, someone completely different! She wondered why? The more she tried to understand him, the more complicated she found him! Getting to know Abhi, was like peeling an onion, she thought to herself! He had so many layers, and every time she removed one, she found one more lying underneath! And every time she did that he made her cry ... either with tears of joy and happiness or tears of sorrow or sadness!
Soon after they were done with their dinner and were having coffee at the dining table, Anitha asked Nikki about her parent,
'So Nikki, tell me what do your parents do? Are they in Mumbai? Do you stay with them? I am new to this place, so maybe you can introduce me to them! That would be a good way for me to start making friends here!'
Suddenly Nikki stiffened, her smile disappeared and her face was drained of all the color. She looked at Abhi, with pain in her eyes, not knowing what to say!
Abhi could see the change in her immediately. He extended his hand under the table to hold her hand, which he knew would be clenched tight. He kept on rubbing it gently till he found her fist unclenched and her face relaxed a bit. Then he entwined his fingers into hers and squeezed it tightly showing his support. She did not know how he understood her so much, for she had never told him about her parents. Armaan was the only person who knew everything! Deriving strength from him, she said,
'Aunty, I live alone! I ran away from my parents! I never told them my whereabouts! My parents never loved each other, nor me! They blamed me for all the problems they were facing. So as soon as I became 18, I left them and started my own life. Now they are divorced, each living a life of their own!' she said, putting together all the courage she had.
She looked up and straight gazed into Abhi's eyes. She was so scared of what she might find there. For a lot of times, she had seen rejection in the eyes of the people who heard her story. So now, for a long time, she had stopped telling anyone about it. And she was surprised to see the pride there! She could see in his soft brown eyes that he felt so proud of her! And she felt so happy .... it was she who gave a gentle squeeze to his hand this time, thanking him silently for his support and gave him a faint smile!
Anitha had been observing the silent exchange between her son and this beautiful girl. And she was proud that her son had chosen well! Nikki was not just a beautiful girl with a great sense of humour, but was also a very strong person, with a heart as pure as gold!
She stretched her hand, and covered Nikki's other hand which had been on the table, and told her,
'Beta, I am so proud of you! At such a young age you had the courage to leave the people who did not love you to make a life for yourself among those who loved you! No one can know more than me, how difficult that is, because most of us choose the easier way out. We live in a fool's paradise believing that we are being noble by sticking around and loving someone, without our love being returned. But in actuality we are just cowards and do not have the courage to accept the fact and choose happiness for ourselves! For happiness comes at a price too! Nothing is free in this world! I too realized this myself, but at a very late stage! Only when my husband left me for another lady! I had been a fool, living in a bubble, ready to burst anytime, thinking everything will become fine, because I loved him enough for both of us! But only after a lot of contemplation, I realized that it was the strength I had lacked to leave him and face the world alone, and that is why I had let him trample over my pride. Nikki, when my husband left me, I was much older, had an education and a job to fall back on and most important had my two children beside me, and I tell you they were my real source of strength. Whereas u were so young, yet to complete your studies and make a career of your own! It must have been so scary for you to be all alone in this world! I must say that there are very few like you, who would have had the courage to do what you did, beta! So always be proud of yourself, love yourself and do not accept anything less than what you have given, especially from the ones you love, that is what I teach my children, and that is what I want you to remember, always! God bless you, my child!' she patted Nikki's head and said with a smile.
Nikki's eyes were watering by the time Anitha finished telling her all this, and for the first time in her life, Nikki felt accepted, accepted as an individual, accepted as an dependent person and loved for herself! She had never thought, anyone would understand her or her need to take that tough decision so well. Everyone had always thought she was childish and selfish and had just run away to punish her parents! The only person who had supported through all this was Armaan. He had firmly stood by her, understanding her and loving her for what she was. And she had returned his love, unconditionally, though for a short time she had misinterpreted that love for something else!
She will always be indebted to Abhi for today and all the love and understanding she had received from his mom!
'Thank you!' is all that Nikki could say to Anitha, for if she tried to say anything else she would have just broken down and cried like a child.
Much later, when Abhi and Nikki left his home, with Goofy fast asleep in Nikki's arms, she was so happy that Abhi had brought her here today! This house had held terrible memories for her and she had dreaded coming here. But after today, it had become a home to her, filled with beautiful memories of today's loving encounter with Abhi's family and will always look forward to coming back here.
/////////////////
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
473