Siddhima Tujhe Bhula Diya 7/15 pg 70 - Page 25

Part 16

Sid walked to Shilpa's room with his coffee mug in hand, he wanted to check in on her and make sure she was still asleep. It had been hours before they had finally returned home, and it had taken even longer for Shilpa to fall asleep. Fortunately, Sue had been by her side, in fact it seemed as though she was still at her side. It seemed as though Shilpa and Sue had an even more sisterly bond than he and Sue had, for she had known instantly that something had gone wrong, and even without hearing the story knew what to do to get Shilpa into bed so that the day could be put behind her even faster. Of course, Sue had only kept a bite on her tongue for as long as it took to hear Shilpa's soft breathing before she turned her questions on him. Seriously he thought to himself, Sue missed her profession she should have been a journalist Diane Sawyer had nothing on her. Of course the second she had heard what had happened it had taken all the strength Sid had to restraint her and to keep her from storming out of the house and onto the next plane to Dallas. Once Sue had calmed, he had told about his conversation with Shilpa, how she had asked that he didn't go after Akash and that Sue couldn't either. Sue was not happy hearing that, but she agreed... for now. He watched as his sisters slept, they seemed so at peace, but he knew that it was an illusion, but he was glad that at least in sleep Shilpa was able to find some comfort. He glanced at his watch and realized that it was almost time for him to leave, he gently shut the door and walked into the kitchen where he left a note for the girls letting them know he had gone out and that he had his cell on him if they needed anything. He grabbed his bag and his coat and headed out to his car. Just as he started to pull out of the driveway his phone rang, as he glanced down at the caller id he felt the smile he had lost for almost 24 hours return.

"Knock knock." Sid smiled as he heard one of the sweetest voices ever, "Who's there?" "Orange." Sid continued to play the game, "Orange who?" "Orange you glad I called you." The last word was emphasized with a burst of laughter that Sid had no choice but to join in on. "Yes, I am definitely glad you called me. What are you up to goofball? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Jr started to giggle as his idol called him a goofball he responded with, "No silly. It's Sat-your-day there is no skool on sat-your-days. Besides Mumma is taking me to Nani's house we are going to bake cookies and build sandcastles." Sid felt a slight twinge in his heart as he realized he was not going to be able to see Jr today, he had become so accostumed to seeing him everyday that he had forgotten that there were other people who loved the boy just as much as he did, and wanted a chance to spend time with him too. "Well, you are right, Sat are your days, and you should do what you want on them. And I am sure your Nani is excited to see you. Make sure you behave okay, and make sure you bring some cookies back for me, you know how much I love cookies." Sid changed his tone so he sounded like the Cookie Monster, "Mmmm me like cookies. Num Num num." Jr started to laugh some more and Sid joined him, after they had recovered from their laugh attacks, Sid asked Jr, "If you are on your way to your Nani's then why did you call me?" Jr responded, "To talk to you duh. Mumma said I could talk to you on the phone today since I wouldn't get to see you until tomorrow. And once I'm at Nani's house I won't get the chance. Besides I wanted to tell you about this cool story Mumma read to me yesterday." Jr then went on to tell Sid about the newly discovered book that he had fallen in love with. Once he had finished he heard Avni tell Siddhant to say goodbye and give her the phone, Jr said goodbye with an I'll miss you and an I lowe you. And Sid returned the sentiments.

"Sorry about that Sid. This rugrat was hounding me for the past hour to call you because he had something really important to tell you. Had I known it was to recount his bedtime story I wouldn't have let him." Sid smiled, "No its not a problem. In fact, I'm glad. I have been looking for some good reading material." Avni let out a laugh, she glanced at Siddhant to make sure he was occupied with his toy plane before she continued, "I'm sure you were waiting for the latest installment in the Magic School bus series. But no I'm sorry, I didn't want to disturb you at home, I know there's a lot going on right now." Sid shook his head in amazement at this woman who instinctively knew what to say and when, "Believe me it was needed. And I'm not at home right now anyways, I had to run to the hospital to check up on a few patients so I'm on my way and car rides are so boring without the background chorus of 'Wheels on the bus'. But seriously, things are okay at home. Granted Shilpa was asleep when I left, but she seems to be handling it pretty well." Avni nodded her head as she said, "Yeah, Shilpa's a strong woman. She'll be alright, it will take time, but nothing can keep her down. Not even if they tried. Besides she has overcome a lot more pain in her past than a foolish man." Sid gave his agreement, "You're right she is a strong woman and she will overcome this. I just wish someone could've had a happy ending." Avni responded with, "Who says that there won't be a happy ending? Sid this life is a long life, and we are nowhere near the end. This is simply another mile marker she has passed, there are many more to come." Sid and Avni talked for a little bit longer about how far she was from her Mom's and when she would be back. Avni was just about to pull up to her mother's when she said, "Sid I have to go, I just reached Mom's. I'll call you when I leave after the kids are settled." Sid responded, "Wait you're not staying over at your Mom's too? Just the kids?" Upon hearing confirmation from Avni he continued, "Then how about we go out to eat for dinner, a grown up place I'm sure it's been a while since you've had the chance." Avni said, "It most certainly has been. Sure I'll call you when I get done with work and we can meet up at the restaurant that sound good?" Sid replied, "That sounds perfect. See ya soon." "See ya." As Sid hung up the phone he turned into the parking garage and grabbed his things and headed towards his office.

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In a way Riddhima was glad Shilpa wasn't home today, so that she was able to have an excuse to spend one more day in Houston. She left the Hotel and early and decided to just stroll without aim, to just go where she felt like when the time came. She had always wondered what the States were like, especially Houston. And had wondered even more the past few years. Not only because it was in a foreign country, but because it was where Siddhant had grown up. She had hoped that one day they would come back and visit together, that he would show her all of his favorite spots, tell stories about himself as they went along. In fact, she had secretly hoped he would have picked Houston as their destination for their honeymoon, figuring it would give them a chance to get to know each better. Of course, her father had stepped in and set up a whole another path for them to take. She spent hours walking around the city, randomly sitting down and people watching, walking into cafes as she smelt something that pricked her appetite. She shopped a little for people back home, and enjoyed the scenery. As she got familiar with the city she couldn't help but feel as though a weight had been lifted, she finally felt free and like the woman she was three years ago. The more time she spent in the city the lighter she felt. At first, she didn't know what it was, but as the hours passed it became clearer and clearer. The reason she felt like her old self was because every second she spent on the streets of Houston she felt Siddhant with her, it was as if he was walking beside her, holding her hands and giving her the safe and secure feeling that only he could provide. She finally found the spot she had subconsciously been looking for. She hadn't known that she had had a specific destination in mind until she read she sign. Her face began to glow as she entered one of the few places in Houston that Sid had actually talked about.

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Avni let out a sigh of relief, she had finally finished with work and had called her Mom on her way out to make sure the kids were doing alright. She knew she had nothing to worry about, after all her mom had raised her, but she was a mom and couldn't stop the worry genes even if she wanted. Besides she had missed her son's chatter and girl's giggling. After talking to Siddhant and hearing about his day and his plans for the evening, she had a quick chat with her Mom promising she would take her time tomorrow when it came to picking up the kids. She hung up and walked into the restaurant Sid had given her directions too. As she walked up to the concierge she glanced at her watch and realized she was 15 minutes early she figured she'd grab the table and get a drink while she waited. She was just about ask the concierege for a table when someone grabbed her from behind and yelled, "Gotch ya." She reacted automatically and stomped on the foot and elbowed the person in the stomach. She heard an 'Oomph!' and she turned around ready to blast, when the guy behind her lifted his head a little and she realized she recognized him. Her hands flew up to her mouth and she tried to hold in her laughter.

Sid had gotten out of the hospital faster than he had thought. He put his charts on the nurse's station so they could file them back and headed out to his car. On his way to the restaurant he dialed Sue to check in on Shilpa. Someone picked up and said, "Hey, bro what's up? You done with work?" Sid was shocked upon hearing Shilpa not only answering Sue's phone, but sounding normal. He wanted to ask her why she was normal, but intead he automatically responded with, "Shilpa? Yeah, I'm done with work. Is everything alright?" Shilpa smiled on the other end as she thought about what a good big brother Sid was. How he was always worried about her, and yet didn't want to ask her about it incase he ended up reminding her. She responded, "Yes Bhaiya. Everything is okay. I wouldn't say it's great, but it's definitely okay. You coming home for dinner?" Sid let out the breath he was holding glad that Shilpa was definitely okay. That she wasn't trying to hide how she was really feeling by saying everything was great, but that she hadn't let what happened bring her so far down she was nonfunctional. When she asked about dinner Sid didn't know what to do. He had already made plans with Avni, but if Shilpa was expecting or even wanting him home, then he would want to be there for her too. He knew Avni would understand, in fact she'd probably make him go, but if he was honest with himself he would have to admit that he was looking forward to some grown up talk with his favorite confidant. He was silent for so long that Shilpa decided to make the decision for him, "Bhaiya from your silence I take it you have already either eaten or made plans to eat somewhere else, with someone else. And please don't cancel your plans on my behalf, in fact I'm glad you got plans. Because Sue and I have been having a girls day in and were hoping to end the night with a girls night too. So go have fun and we'll see ya when you get home." Sid said goodbye, shaking his head once again in amazement at the smart women he was surrounded by as he got out of the car.

Sid entered the restaurant and figured he was the first one there so he was walking up to the concierge to grab the table when he heard a familiar voice ask the same thing he was going to. He glanced in the direction of the voice and was pleasantly surprised to recognize his dinner companion. He decided to give her a little retaliation for beating him to the restaurant by giving her a scare. He walked up to her wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned down so that he could yell 'boo' into her ears. He was so unprepared for what came next. Before he knew what happened he ended up doubled over gasping for air as he hopped on one foot and wrapped his arms around his middle. All that come out was an 'oomph'. It took him a good bit of time to finally catch enough air in his lungs to get a sentence out. He weakly managed to get out, "Avni, geez." Before he once again lost his breath.

Avni couldn't hold it any longer the laughter came out and she nearly doubled over with the cramp she got for her enjoyment. She could feel Sid's annoyed look, well his attempt at looking annoyed, but she couldn't help herself. It was just too funny watching a six foot man doubled over with tears in his eyes especially when the culprit was a slender woman of 5'3''. After a few minutes of tears, both in pain and in laughter, they were able to gather themselves enough to move aside to a bench and collapse. Avni was still letting out a giggle every few seconds while Sid tried to breath. Once Sid caught his breath and the pain subsided enough he turned towards Avni with his best angry look, "What the hell was that for? I was trying to have some fun and you attack me? And now you're laughing at my pain?" Avni had to take a few deep breaths before she could get the next words out, "I'm sorry, it was just reflexes. You of all people should know that women in the city have to be self protective. Besides that's what you get for sneaking up on a lady." Sid shook his head in defeat and then couldn't help but smile as he reached over to wipe Avni's eyes he said, "What a sight the two of us make, doubled over grasping our stomachs as tears fall down our eyes. We better straighten ourselves up before they call the crazy ambulance to take us to our padded rooms." Avni let out another burst of laughter before she let her serene smile shine as she reached over to wipe the tears that had fallen on Sid's cheeks. Once both were satisfied that the tears had been sufficiently wiped Sid got up and reached his hand down and helped Avni get up. They walked up to the concierge who started to lead them towards their table. Sid turned to follow, but before he could complete his turn he was surprised once again by the woman he was with. As Sid turned Avni stood up on her toes and leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek followed by a whispered 'I really am sorry' before she turned to follow the concierge with a smile of victory on her face, leaving a stunned Sid behind.