|AN Writing Challenge~Closed*UPDATE pg 150* - Page 71

😭 i cnt believe no more DMG.....i really wish Amit Tandon is casting in season 2 if there is a season 2....

Originally posted by: Khushboo_AN

Oh my friend told me that Armaan will get punched, so I ran to watch the repeat and OMG I was laughing so hard...

It was so effing hilarious!!!

But I'm so happy DMG's finally coming to an end...I was fed up with the cuckoo-ness! 😡

I'll always be thankful to DMG for giving us AN but beyond that...I really don't care. Hehe! 😉

YOU'RE STILL THE ONE

Nikki could not sleep. She could not stop thinking about Abhi. She was tossing and turning in her bed .... wondering what was going on in Abhi's mind. She was very surprised by what Sid told her today. But she had no idea how to interpret it. Today, he wanted to ask her something, and now she wondered what it could have been. But she had told him to leave her alone and to go back to Sneha. She cursed herself for being so transparent and letting him see how jealous she was. And now she wondered why she was so jealous? She was the one who had broken up with him. So what right did she have to be jealous if Abhi was with anyone else? Did she expect him to be alone for the rest of his life? Nikki had to accept the fact, that, finally he will find someone who he will fall in love with and decide to spend the rest of his life with her.

Nikki, suddenly sat up. She could not bear the thought of Abhi with anyone else. She felt as if she had stopped breathing. She had her hand on the chest to ease the pain that was threatening to choke her. Ridhimma, who was sleeping next to her, had felt her move and woke up. Switching on the bedside lamp, she also sat up and asked Nikki,

'Nikki, what is happening? Are you feeling sick? Here take some water and breathe deeply.' She said handing her a glass of water.

After Nikki had a sip of water, she squeezed her eyes, trying to push away the picture of Abhi with Sneha which was hovering in front of her. Ridhimma looked at her with concern,

'Nikki, please tell me what is happening. Are you unwell? Should I call someone? Should I call Papa?' but Nikki just nodded her head. Now tears started rolling down her cheeks. She hid her face in her hands and started crying. Ridhimma gathered her in a hug and let her cry. She kept on patting her back, trying to calm her down. But she understood that this was the pent up pain that Nikki had been bottling up inside her for last one year. This had to happen, she was seeing Abhi after one whole year, and whatever Nikki was telling herself, Ridzi knew that she can never live without Abhi. And the same was true for Abhi. They both were meant for each other, and they had to go thru all this pain till they both realized and accepted this fact.

'Nikki, everything will be ok. We all are with you. You don't have to worry about anything. You want to tell me what is bothering you?'

'Ridhzi, I was living in a hope this last one year that I will get over him. I will be able to leave him behind and make a new life, just like I did after leaving my parents. But today I have realized .... that it is impossible. I am doomed .... I cannot live without him .... nor can I live with him. He does not trust me, he insults me, and every time he gets angry he hurts me, but still I cannot live without him. I don't know what is wrong with me .... why am I not able to accept that he is not the right one for me. Today watching him with Sneha, I realized that I cannot see him with anyone else. I will die if he was in love with someone else. He is mine ........he cannot love anyone else ' she said possessively.

Ridhzi realized that Nikki was talking to herself, trying to sort out her own thoughts. She just went on listening to her without interrupting her, as Nikki poured her heart out.

'You know, there wasn't a single day this last one year that I did not think about him. Most of the days it was in anger, hating him ... because he had hurt me so much. But whatever I did, it always ended with a thought about him.' She went on and on .... talking about her feelings for Abhi.

Finally, after talking to Ridhzi for about an hour, she asked in her child like manner,

'Ridhzi, what should I do? I am so confused. I hate him and at the same time I love him. He always confuses me. I am all twisted up inside .... not knowing where to go from here.'

'Nikki, just relax. There is too much happening around you as well as within you. Just take it easy. Don't worry about anything, take things as they come, discover what you want actually in life. And also give Abhimanyu a chance to talk to you and explain to you what he wants. Then you decide .... okay?' she told her sweetly, ' Now go to sleep, we all need rest, it is a long day tomorrow or should I say today?' She said with a smile.

Nikki also gave her a small smile and laid down to go to sleep a bit more relaxed now.

///////////////

Nikki was waiting impatiently for someone to open the door. Her hands were full of presents. And she could hear all the commotion inside the small house. And then,

'NIKKI DIIIIIIIII.......................' Ayesha hurled into her hands hugging her tightly as all the presents from her hands landed on the floor.

And Goofy was barking at her ..... and then started to bite her sandals, pants, whatever he could get into his mouth to get her attention.

'Ayesha .........' Nikki took her in her arms and then bent down to collect Goofy in her arms too. She hugged both of them and her eyes were filled with tears. She had missed them both so much. The day she had to leave both of them was the worst day of her life. That was also the day she had her final show down with Abhi .... and she had told him to keep away from her and her life. She had told him that she did not want to see him for the rest of her life.

'And who is this?' she said with a surprise as another fur ball came rolling in, barking at her.

'She is Sexy. Boyfriend gifted her to me. He said Goofy will be very lonely all by himself and would need company, and so he got Sexy for him.' Ayesha said proudly, now lifting the little dog into her arms. She was another pug.

Nikki was surprised to hear that .... but before she could ask anything more, Ayesha continued with her stories about last one year. How couple of hours flew by, Nikki did not even realize. They talked, played games, opened the gifts Nikki had got for Ayesha and Goofy. And soon it was time for lunch, which she had promised Ayesha that she was having with her and her family.

While talking to Ayesha, Nikki realized that Abhi had been spending a lot of time with her. He spent every Sunday evening with her and Goofy. Took them out for walks, movies, rides and anything else Ayesha wanted to do. She could see that Abhi had adopted Ayesha, Goofy and Sexy, they had become an extended family for him.....just like they had been for her. Once again Nikki's eyes started to water, thinking about how much she had missed them. And it suddenly struck her, that maybe he felt that he had to take care of Ayesha and Goofy in her absence.

Just then the door bell rang, and Ayesha jumped up running towards the door saying,

'That must be him!'

And before Nikki could ask Ayesha, who it could be she was running towards the door. And Nikki just froze to see Abhi enter the hall holding Ayesha's hand. She had not expected to see Abhi here. Her heart was racing, and her hands were cold. She did not know what to do now, or how to react to him?

Then both the dogs ran towards him, jumping up and down to be picked up. Abhi bent down and pick-up both of them, then played with them for a few minutes, giving them his undivided attention. Nikki could not believe, what she was seeing. The last time she had seen him with Goofy, they were the worst enemies. And now the little mite had changed completely ..... he was all over Abhi .... she was sure that he was bribed with dozens of ice-creams .... she thought.

'Hi!' Abhi greeted her after he was done with playing with the dogs.

'Hi!' and then asked softly 'You here?'

'Yup, Girlfriend thought it will be a great idea to surprise you!'

'Yes, Nikki di .... it will be just like old times. We used to have such great time together. And now we have Sexy too.'

They had lunch together and then it was decided to go out for an ice-cream.

Ice-cream was fun time once again. Abhi had to literally drag them out of the parlour, since Nikki, Ayesha, Goofy and Sexy, none of them wanted to stop eating ice-cream even after having 2 rounds each.

'Nikki, you will never grow up, will you? You become a kid along with them!' Abhi exclaimed.

Nikki did not reply. Just threw a sad look in his direction. She had grown up and matured in this last one year .... more than he could imagine. After dropping Ayesha and the dogs back home, it was time for Nikki to leave.

'I will drop you' Abhi said immediately when Nikki said that she had to leave.

Nikki did not fight but just nodded. Then telling bye to Ayesha and her family, hugging Goofy and Sexy and promising to come and see them soon, she left them with a heavy heart. She had missed them so much.

Abhi noticing that Nikki was upset and very silent as they drove towards Ridhzi's home in his car, he asked, 'You okay?' looking at her.

'Hmmm.' She replied. 'I have missed them so much.'

Abhi just kept on looking at her, with a loving gaze on her.

'They have missed you a lot too' he told her in a husky voice.

'You have been really nice to Ayesha. She could not stop talking about what all you guys did together this last one year. She really loves you ......'

'Surprising, isn't it?' Abhi asked sarcastically. Nikki could now see a sadness in his eyes. Ignoring his comment, she continued,

'You also got her Sexy, so that Goofy was not lonely. That was so sweet of you .... so thoughtful.'

'I know from experience, how lonely it could get alone, without a partner. I do not want anyone to experience that loneliness.' He said, now looking at her, holding her gaze intensely. She did not even realize when they had reached Ridhzi's place. She was lost in his eyes, unable to look away from his sad eyes.

Then Abhi looking away, not wanting her to see his pain, said,

'We are here .....Nikki'

Nikki was surprised as she looked out and found that they were waiting outside Ridhzi's home. She unlocked the door, and before getting down said,

'Thanks for the lift!'

'Nikki ........ '

She stopped and looked at him.

'Will you ever be able to forgive me?' he asked her in an emotional voice. He was looking at her with his eyes full of so much love and pain. Her heart started to melt. And then suddenly Nikki saw that his eyes had become watery, but he did not look away this time. She could read everything he felt for her in his eyes.

She kept on looking at him .... unable to say anything. She did not know what to reply. She herself did not know. She was so confused. She knew that she loved him, could not be without him, but at the same time she was not able to forgive him for hurting her. She was also too scared, that he will do it again and again. Finally, she replied,

'I don't know, Abhi ..... I really don't know' she said that and ran out of the car into Ridhzi's home.

Abhi waited till she was inside the house, thinking about her answer. He was happy atleast she had not said outright no. That means that there was hope! And best thing was that she had called him Abhi. He had been craving to hear her call him that.

He just had to focus on winning her back, he told himself as he started the car.

/////////////////////////////

Abhi was lost in her thought, as he drove back home after dropping Nikki at Ridhima's place. He recollected that fateful night when he had stormed into her house, insulted her, broken her heart completely and left her crying. He will never be able to forgive himself for doing that to her. But it was too late by the time he had realized his mistake. It was the next day, when Siddhant had stormed into his office and demanding some time to talk to him, when he came to know about the actual truth.

*****Flashback begins *************

'Dr. Modi' Sid said coming into his cabin.

'Not now Siddhant. I have a meeting to attend. I have another prospect who is interested in financing the New Sanjeevani Project' Abhi said trying to avoid him. Abhi was fuming thinking about how both Nikki and Sid had worked together and killed the prospect of financing New Sanjeevani project.

'WHAT?????' Sid was shocked. 'We did not even finish our meeting yesterday. You have not even heard my proposal fully!' he was shouting now.

'Sidhant, if I am not wrong, you already informed me that it was not beneficial for ACE to invest in this project, right?' Abhi said in a sarcastic tone.

'Yes, but ....' but before Sid could continue, Abhi interrupted,

'Then please don't waste any more of my valuable time. Dr. Nikita and you both done enought damage with regard to this project. I am already behind schedule by a whole month now' he said disgustingly.

'Wait, Dr. Modi. How does Nikki come into this? And once again you are jumping to conclusions. That is very unprofessional of you. Do you always let your personal issues interfere with your business decisions?'

Sid's outburst made Abhi realize his mistake and knew that this only happened where Nikki was concerned. Infact, everyone had always accused him of being inhumane in his business decisions. As Abhi was thinking about this, Sid continued,

'Well, Dr. Modi. As I mentioned to my father yesterday, ACE should not just finance the project, they should tie up with Sangeevani. ACE and Sangeevani should merge. This will be beneficial for both the chains. ACE has presence all over the world, where as Sanjeevani has a very strong footing in India. So in all the ways they both complement each other. It will be a perfect match, a win-win situation. My father was very impressed with my suggestion. He has told me to prepare a presentation for both the Boards. He said you can present it to Sanjeevani Board and I can do it for ACE board of directors'.

Abhi was shocked to hear this. He had assumed that Siddhant had outright rejected the proposal. And Nikki had supported him in doing so. Whereas, actually they both had been working on something much bigger ... much more beneficial to everyone. He just sank down in his chair, trying to gather his thoughts, and sort them out. Dr. Abhimanyu Modi had made the biggest blunder of his life. And he was going to pay very dearly for it, he realized.

'Dr. Modi ....' Sid tried to draw his attention.

'Yes, Siddhant, I am listening ....' he said distractedly.

'And what do you think? Is the proposal good? I have worked out all the numbers, would you like to look at them?' Sid asked him holding out a file in front of him.

'Yes, Siddhant, please leave the file here. I will look at it before the end of the day and give you a call.' Abhi said slowly, still looking lost. He was thinking about yesterday, and about what all he had accused Nikki off. He could now see why there was such a shock and disbelief on her face.

'Okay, then .....' Sid said leaving the file on Abhi's table and turning to leave Abhi's cabin.

'Siddhant ..... just one more thing. Did Nikki know about the merger proposal?' Abhi asked.

Sid was now looking at Abhi intently. Even Nikki had asked him about what had happened in the meeting with his Dad and Dr. Modi. Sid knew something drastic had happened between the two of them yesterday, and now as he heard Dr. Modi's the question, it was confirmed.

'Why, Dr. Modi? Do you have any doubts? From day one, all she was interested was to convince me to finance the project. She worked relentlessly, without looking at the time or effort she was putting into it, so that you could get this financing issue out of the way. Only thing she told me was that she did not want to get into the nitty gritty of the way it was going to get financed. For her merger or financing, did not make any sense, all she cared about was that the project should get funded.'

Hearing this Abhi, felt even worse. He was at a loss .... he did not know what to do. How was he going to face her? Will she ever forgive him? Will he ever forgive himself? He had never felt so terrible in his whole life. He realized that he had been the biggest jerk on this earth!

By the time, he had been free from his meetings and figured out what he was going to tell her, it was evening. When he went looking for her, he found a very upset Nikki at the reception, saying her good bye to Ayesha and Goofy. She was looking so tired, her eyes were red and swollen, and she was having a tough time controlling her tears. As Abhi joined them, she did not even look at him. She just avoided him completely. And as usual Goofy started to bark at him. Nikki just picked him up and tried to calm him down.

'Hi, Boyfriend, I am so glad that you came to see me off!' Ayesha told him giving him a big hug.

'So Girlfriend, you are leaving me and going? I am going to miss you!' he said sadly, twitching her nose fondly.

'But I am not going far, you can come and see me whenever you want, haina? Even Nikki Di has promised me that she will come and see me often' she replied with a teary smile.

Then she hugged Abhi once again, took Goofy from Nikki's hands, hugged Nikki tightly, told them her byes and left with her family.

No sooner as she was out of sight, Nikki broke down. She ran out, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Abhi ran behind her. She was going towards the basket ball court. She reached there and just collapsed on the steps, with her face in her hands, crying uncontrollably.

Abhi stopped and stood at some distance, letting her cry. He knew that she was very upset. A lot had happened since yesterday, and now with Ayesha and Goofy leaving her, she will be completely broken. She was too attached to them.

When he saw that she was unable to stop crying, he went up close to her, kneeled in front of her and took her face in his hands slowly, making her look at him.

'Nikki, please stop crying. You are only going to make yourself sick. They have not gone far away, you can go and see them daily.'

Nikki realizing that Abhi was there, so close to her, suddenly sat up straight, moving away from him. She wiped away her tears, and tried very hard to stop her sobs.

'Dr. Modi. Thanks. I do not need your advice. I can take care of myself.' She said in between her sobs.

'Nikki, please .... listen to me. About yesterday .....' Abhi continued in a pleading voice.

'No, you listen to me. You told me loud and clearly .... what you thought about me. I am not interested to talk to a person who thinks so lowly of me. So please stay away from me. I am not interested in keeping any ties what so ever with you.' Nikki continued gathering all her strength. She joined her hands in front of her, and said pleadingly,

'Dr. Modi, I beg you, just keep away from me, let me finish my internship exams, and then you will never see my face again.'

'Nikki .... please listen to me. I am sorry .... I jumped to conclusion yesterday ... and said things ....' he said this in a soft voice, placing his hands over Nikki's joined hands. But she snatched her hands away from him,

'Don't touch me! Just promise me that you will not bother me till my exams are over. Else I will leave now .... without completing my internship .... and do not think I am just threatening ..... I will leave. I have no place for people, who do not love me, in my life ..... for how much ever I love them, if they do not love me and respect me and trust me, I do not want them in my life.'

Abhi was shocked. He did not know what to say. She was very firm in what she was saying. He knew that she had the guts to do anything ....

'Nikki, atleast listen to me once ....' he tried to explain to her what had happened.

'Why Dr. Modi? Why should I listen to you? Did you listen to me even once yesterday? I did not even know why you were so angry at me. Neither did you explain to me what my fault was nor did you give me a chance to defend myself. So why should I listen to you now? You made it very clear what you think about me. So after that I have nothing to tell you or there is nothing I want to hear from you. So now if you will please excuse me .......' saying that she walked away, leaving Abhi there standing all by himself.

After she left, Abhi just sank down on the steps, and sat there at the basket ball court for a long time. It was completely dark by the time he got into his car and left for home.

The next month was very painful for Abhi as Nikki completely ignored him. If she saw him coming from the opposite direction, she would change her path. She avoided all the meetings which would have made them come face to face with him. Anyways there was not much chance of any interactions between them, as all the interns were very busy preparing for their exams. A few times he had found Nikki and Sid together either at the cafeteria or the basketball court, chatting. But he hardly saw Nikki happy and smiling. Ridhimma had asked him about what had happened between the two of them, and Abhi had explained to her the whole thing, hoping that she would be able to convince Nikki. When Ridhzi had tried to talk to Nikki about it, Nikki got very angry and upset and had told her to keep out if it. After that no one dared to talk about Dr. Modi in front of Nikki.

Soon the exams were over. And Abhi tried talking to Nikki once again. But she told him in no uncertain words that she was not interested.

'Dr. Modi .... please leave me alone. I have already told you, I am not interested in anything that you might have to say.'

But this time Abhi lost his cool. They were near the fire escape, so he pulled her by her hand, took her into the fire escape and pushed her against the wall. He had his hands on either side of her, her hands flat on his chest, trapping her with his body, so that she could not escape. Bringing his face close to her, he said threateningly to her in his huskily voice, his chocolaty brown eyes starring straight into hers,

'You have to listen to me Nikki. You have no choice. I have been patiently waiting for the exams to get over. Now you damned well listen to me.'

Seeing the fear in her eyes, he realised his mistake and now controlling his temper said softly,

'Nikki, I am sorry. I shouldn't have got angry at you like that. But please listen to me. I want to tell you how sorry I am ..... about misjudging you, not trusting you in the first place, and accusing you of all those nasty things. Can you please listen to me, and let me apologize properly? Can you ever forgive me for what all I said to you the other night, Nikki?'

'Can you forgive yourself, Abhi?' she asked him instead. She could see the regret and pain in his eyes, but refused to give in.

Taken aback by her question, unable to answer her, he stepped back, away from her.

'Then how can you expect me to forgive you? Abhi, from the beginning I have been telling you, how important it for me to have trust between us. For me there can never be love without trust.'

'But Nikki ....thought I have never told you thins before ..... you should know that I love you. This last month has been impossible for me. I have missed you so much. My life has been a hell without you.' He confessed to her in a very emotional tone. Nikki had been dying to hear him say that he loved her, but now all that was in the past. Everything had changed after those insults he had showered on her. Slowly he moved close to her, and holding her face in both his hands, he continued, 'Nikki, please can't you forgive me this once.'

'Abhi, put yourself in my place. Would you trust me if I had told you the same things you told me the other night? You have not been able to trust me after that pool incident, how do you expect me to trust you after those allegations you threw at me?'

There was no answer that Abhi could give her. He knew that she was right. But he was desperate to convince her. He could see her slipping away from him .....

'Nikki, do you remember this?' he asked her showing her the mark on his palm. 'Don't you remember the pain and love that we both shared that day? How can you forget that?'

'How did you forget it, Abhi? How come you did not remember that I was more in pain than you yourself were, with that glass piece inside your palm. How could you ever believe that I would do anything against you or hurt you?' she asked in a soft tone. Now there were tears in her eyes.

'Abhi, please let me go. We are not meant to be together. We are always hurting each other. I rather take this pain once and walk away from you now, rather than getting hurt again and again by your mistrust.' Then looking at him, she continued, 'Abhi, I am leaving Mumbai today. I have applied to medical collages all over India, and which ever collage gives me admission for my residency program I will move there.'

Abhi was shocked once again. She was moving out today. He had no time left to convince her. He also knew that once she made up her mind.... it was very difficult to change it. She was a survivor. She will fight in life, but never give up. Things were happening too fast ... he was loosing control .... he did not know what to do. He just kept on looking at her back as she walked away from him, out of the fire escape and out of his life.

He was completely shattered after that. Atleast, the last one month, he was able to see her and hear her. But now even that was not possible!

The Sangeevani and ACE merger had worked out well. He had become the CEO of the merged company, with Mr. Shah as the Chairman and MD and Sid as the CFO. The Board of directors of both the companies were very happy, and everything had gone off smoothly. The results were out, and everyone had done well. Muskaan and Rahul had joined Delhi Sanjeevani, Atul and Anjali had decided to go to US in one of the ACE hospitals to do their Residency. Armaan and Ridhima wanted to stay in Mumbai and do their residency in Sanjeevani. Ridhima had no problem but Armaan was short of a few marks. Abhi had worked out something on request of Ridhima so that Armaan could get into Mumbai Sanjeevani too. And Nikki ...... he had not heard from her even once after she had left Mumbai.

Luckily for Abhi, as he became the CEO, it gave him a valid excuse to spend all his time in various hospitals. He would work 20 hours daily. He used to go to office before everyone, and leave after everyone left. And sometimes, he slept in the hospital itself. There was a lot of travel involved, and so that kept him on his toes too. All he did was work and exercise. Even after a hectic day, when he hit the bed, inspite of being dead tired, he could not sleep. Thoughts about Nikki haunted him. He remembered there beautiful times together. He missed her smile, her playful eyes, her kisses, ...... everything about her. As soon as he closed his eyes, he would see her accusing eyes. He used to worry all the time about her, who would be taking care of her, if she was eating well or not, if she was sleeping well or not.

Armaan, Ridzi and Sid refused to divulge anything to him, for they had promised her that they will never tell anyone about her whereabouts. Abhi did not persue it after that, for he ddinot want to create any trouble between Nikki and them. Though he was completely heartbroken, and dejected, he could not help worrying about her. Through his own sources he found out in which hospital she was and under whom she was doing her internship. Luckily he knew that Doctor personally, and so was able to keep tabs on her, and how she was doing without her finding it out.

He knew that he was not taking care of his own health. But he did not care about anything anymore. He started to feel faint sometimes in the hospital or at home. But he did not pay any heed to it. Then one day, during lunch break when Tia had come to see him, he suddenly felt dizzy, his head started to swim and he had blacked out. Tia, poor thing, had a fright of her life as she tried to hold him and make him sit down so that he did not fall down on the ground. After he had recovered, both Tia and Ma had read him a riot act.

'Abhi, you have let me down' Ma told him in a stern voice, 'I did not expect this from you. I never knew my son was a loser'.

'Bhai, ff he really loved Nikki, this is not the way you would act' Tia continued. 'If you continue like this you will never win her back, you that no?'

'Instead, why don't you think about where you went wrong. What you need to fix and how to make yourself capable of winning her love and trust back'.

This had hit him hard. He realized his mistake. He took a couple of days off. He drove off to Khandala all by himself. He spent time thinking about what he wanted and how he was going to get it. That is the day he decided, that he was no longer going to wallow in self-pity. He was going to try and change himself, so that when he met Nikki next time, she will have no choice but to fall in love with him all over again!

*************Flash back ends*******************

And that is exactly, what was happening, he smiled. Nikki was getting confused. She was seeing the changed Abhi ..... and he was going to make her fall for him, forever. He had made up his mind a long time ago that he will do whatever it takes, to fix that mistake that he had made and to bring back Nikki into his life.

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