Part 1 - Sometimes the right choice....isn't the best one...
Riddhima Gupta didn't know if she loved Fridays or despised the existence of Fridays in her life but if something held certainty in her life, it was the fact that she could never hold an attitude of indifference towards Fridays. She had woken up, unable to meet her own eyes in the mirror on certain Fridays, some had lit up her morose existence while others had offered her a day to sit back and enjoy the zephyrs that sent chills down her spine...to reminiscence and to contemplate her past. On a certain Friday, Riddhima, the new senior intern at New York Presbyterian Hospital, was relieved off her duties a couple of hours earlier than expected after assisting her seniors in a grueling surgery,leaving her with no choice but to return home and plunge herself into the grave memories of past, to succumb to the loneliness and fear that engulfed her life on a similar Friday, three years ago...before moving to New York....to a New Start.
She drove to her home, one that she had rented just two weeks ago and quickly rushed to the bathroom to relax after a toiling day at work , but more than that to escape the horror of living through the nightmare once again. As she splashed water across her distressed face, one etched with worry and fear, she noticed her toiletries kept on a shelf in an organized fashion, with the labels out front, arranged according to sizes in an ascending order , the way he liked it , almost glaring at her, almost! She dashed across the bathroom and shuffled the toiletries, throwing some down on the floor and putting others back in, in a disorderly fashion. A wave of satisfaction swept her face as she turned around and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. After a refreshing and soothing hot shower, she walked to the patio and made her self comfortable on the canopy swing facing the garden. Sipping on her favorite frappucino, she looked at the abandoned garden, with weeds growing out in here and there, a garden she needed to fix just like her own life, to make it truly hers, her garden... her life! The weeds in the garden reminded her of the obstacles to her self-actualization, of things that deterred her from satiating her soul, reaching her happiness. She drifted back to the day her life changed, in a way she had never imagined, to an extent that it was beyond repair...
Flashback...
Day : You know it by now!
Location: Riddhima's house
Date: October 13, Three years ago.
Fate: Unheard of...
Riddhima swung her bag around her shoulder to go back home after a long day at the hospital she interned at during her last year at Med-school. It had taken a lot to get here- physically, mentally and financially and she didn't want to mess it up at all, her dreams, her mother's aspirations and her dad's wishes. Riddhima's dad had passed away in a deadly car accident when she stood at the brink of infancy. Ever since then, Padma, her mother had brought her up single-handed with great difficulties and if it wouldn't have been for Shashank uncle's generous sponsoring for her education at a private school and a private ivy league school like Columbia, she wouldn't have been the person she was today! Dr. Shashank Gupta, her dad's colleague-neurologist at Presbyterian had nurtured Riddhima like a daughter he never had and had been the only father figure in her life. She would hop into his lap for a bed-time story or cry in his embrace when something went wrong. Shashank had divorced his beloved wife, Smriti due to an unfortunate misunderstanding and missed the presence of both his wife and his only son immensely.
On a typical Friday evening, as students finally took a sigh of relief after the long and grueling week at Columbia, Riddhima rushed back home and entered her house through the kitchen-door. She had received an acceptance letter from New York Presbyterian Hospital for a part-time internship during her last year at Med-school and was excited to let the news out to her mother and her close friends, Muskaan, Sapna and Anjali who were coming over to her house for a sleepover for the long-weekend. They craved some home-made food and Padma was both a motherly figure and a friend to the girls.
"Mom, are the girls home yet? You have no idea what happened to me today... You know about the internship application I had sent to Presbyterian...they frickin' accepted me and I've been asked to join them starting next month...Yabadabadoooooooo....." Riddhima screamed as she did her little victory dance and expressed her delight like her favorite cartoon character, Fred Flintstone! "You know, Anjali says he's fat an all, but ain't that his charm...I still can't believe it, Yabadaba...?..." She said on her way to the living room where she found the most eligible bachelor, the youngest but one of the most promising entrepreneurs, climbing his steps to success steadily, a sensation among media and the elite sitting on the couch, staring at her with an amused expression, smiling to himself at her silly but cute antics.
"Oops! Din't know we were expecting a guest....I'm sorry about that, Sir" said a humiliated Riddhima, blushing with embarrassment.
"Sir???" He looked around and asked her "Were you talking to me, Miss Gupta?"
Riddhima nodded slightly and looked up only to find him grinning at her. There was a certain charm to his stupid grin too. Maybe, Anjali and Sapna were right about "going weak in the knees part" when you look at him...Wat'cha thinking, Riddhima? He's not in your reach...but I wonder why he's here!
"Miss Gupta, I'm barely 27, not old enough to be called Sir outside official premises! In fact, most of my employees call me by my name." He said with a wink.
"Ahh! Riddhima beta, come meet him...May I introduce you to '
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Hey guys! I know - I know...this part was a drab..an introduction of sorts and maybe a little bit too boring. But it's only gonna get better! Bear it for the better parts lol! It was nice to hear from you people. Thanks a lot for welcoming me with such warmth, for encouraging me and for the valuable comments you provided me with. I'll try meeting your expectations with the upcoming parts. Wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year, a year full of surprises and happiness for ya'all! Don't forget to hit the LIKE tab and to shower me with your beautiful comments. 300 views and 15 comments seem a little discouraging!😊 AND Maybe you wanna share who you think this guy is?Oh cmmn, we all know him...!😉
Edited by repercussion - 14 years ago
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