SS : Aienkien ... Part 1 updated, page 1

Nachiket stood in front of the dresser, adjusting his tie. It was pretty early in the morning, he had to reach the Hospital earlier than usual - there was a Meeting scheduled for further expansion of the Hospital and a probable tie up with a foreign health service provider.

After Dadaji's death, he had taken over the reins of the Hospital and was enjoying every bit of this new role, in addition to the widespread fame and recognition that he was getting as a renowned Cardiologist.

His dimples deepened as he, in his mind, thanked the one person who was responsible for this monumental turnaround in his life - for providing him with emotional support when he needed it badly; for believing in him when he was at a low and for loving him unconditionally, placing him above everything else in her life.

Sometimes the intensity of her love scared him and he often contemplated whether he would ever be able to love her back with a similar passion. But he knew he had made the correct choice, for once. For the umpteenth time, he thanked God for bestowing him with Ragini's love. Dadaji was right; he had never realized the intensity and depth of relationships, until Ragini happened to him.

His smile widened into a grin as he glanced at his watch sitting idly on the counter of the dresser. Another 12 hours and then she would be with him.

...

A few hours later ...

It was dark. Ragini sat staring at the inky black water of the Powai Lake; the lights from the adjoining areas and the buildings opposite shimmered on the surface of the near still water, which occasionally got ruffled by a frivolous wind; and which always returned to play with her hair as well, blowing it in all directions.

She glanced at her wrist watch. She had been in this small, quaint Lakeside cafe for nearly half an hour now, waiting for him. She sighed as she realised that she would have to wait for some more before his arrival.

The Cafe belonged to a common friend, who was always happy to see them together, since they had started dating seven months ago. Ragini smiled amusedly as her mind slowly processed the word dating. Never in her life had she thought, even for a precious nanosecond, that one day fate would have her dating Nachiket Khanna - the eternal playboy.

Billions of blue blistering barnacles, her mind offered as she broke into a smile.

After a while, her brows puckered in concentration as she moodily reflected on the change that he had embraced in his life, to simply be with her. She herself had fought a million demons in her head and heart before accepting his proposal, and now she could hardly think of a minute of her life without him.

'Is it love? Or just a quirk of fate?' she sat thinking as the minutes trickled by.

As the darkness deepened and more lights sprang into life and glittered like distant mermaids offering assistance and direction to wayward seafarers, a sense of foreboding enveloped Ragini. What if he was wrong? What if she was wrong? What if they were both wrong about this? What if this was just a phase in their lives, which would wear them away and soon?

Her mind contemplated questions as a vortex of emotions swirled around her. She tried to imagine the next day of her life without Nachiket; she couldn't.

Scrap it', she thought. She again tried imagining her life the next week without him; she couldn't remember the dates for the oncoming week suddenly.

Pushing her specs up the bridge of her nose, Ragini thought of her life a year from now. 5 years from now. A decade from now. Without him. She could see nothing. She could form no pictures.

She was uneasy now. Her answer was staring right in front of her and she was afraid. What if ... ?

As if on intuition, she forced herself to look away from the water towards the entrance of the Cafe. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him entering, looking all around for her and then finally dimpling up when her eyes locked with his. A casual hi to his friend and an accompanying pat on his back, Nachiket was soon weaving his way through the small crowd of occupied tables towards the only one that held his interest. And heart.

He looks tired', Ragini thought while taking in his lopsided tie, the tiredness around his eyes, the creased shirt and the half- folded sleeves. Yet, he was the most handsome person in that small cafe. The only man in her entire universe.

Ragini did realise how tiring it was for him to meet her everyday at this Cafe. They avoided his usual hangouts since they offered them no peace nor privacy to share their lives, after a long, hard and tiring day. Until one day they came to know about the Cafe from another friend. Nachiket often had to drive through the crazy Powai traffic to make it to the Cafe, but he never for once grumbled.

Ragini got up from the table as he came nearer and held out his hand to take her in his. His surprise knew no bounds when she simply walked into his arms, breaking down another wall between them.

'I missed you', Ragini murmured as his arms went around her.

They stood there in each other's arms for an eternal minute, before settling down on their respective chairs.

'So, how's your preparation going on?' Nachiket asked, as he ran a hand though his already disheveled hair.

The waiter arrived with his usual cup of coffee.

...

... Bas ! 😉