Thanks again for the lovely comments and PMs.
I know many of you are eager to know Rishab's secret, and I promise...it will come out soon....just have some patience.
Hope you like the update!
Happy Reading!
Anam
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Chapter 106
Jai sat down at his computer to check his email as well as sending Anjali a quick holiday greeting before going to bed for the night and was surprised to see he had a note from Bani. He chuckled silently as he read her note.
Dear Cuddly,
I know you just left here a few minutes ago but I couldn't go to bed without saying good night one more time. I had a wonderful time today my jaan. Spending the day with you and your family has been truly a highlight in my life. I become positively giddy when I think that from now on all my holidays will be spent with you. How did I get so lucky?
I love you Cuddly, with every ounce of my being.
Until tomorrow,
BD
Jai sighed happily and sent a quick response to her note. There was no better feeling in the world than reading one of BDGirl's emails right before he retired for the night.
Actually, going to bed with her wrapped in his arms would be better, but this was perfect for now. Once he finished reading his note from BDGirl, he opened another email from Anjali. It would see his Anju had beaten him to the punch.
Hey jaan,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I bet you had a great day. I think my only question would be, which did you enjoy more? ... mausi's cooking ... or watching Bani have a real family holiday surrounded by people who love her?
I don't have to ask you how the wedding plans are going, Bani is keeping me up-to-date.
Thanksgiving was good here. Rishab took me to meet some of his friends in San Diego and then I took him to meet some of my friends up here. Oh my, look at how that sounds! Meeting each other's friends on a holiday! I guess this thing we've got going is starting to get serious. Yeah, it is getting serious. Earlier today, in the car, I started thinking in terms of… Maybe…possibly…starting to… fall in… the "L" word.
And now I'm getting scared. Terrified is more like it, actually. I hadn't planned on caring this much for Rishab. The physical attraction was there from the beginning, but suddenly, I find that I'm absolutely crazy about the guy. Stop laughing at me!!
Jai couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Anju you're killing me here" he said as he continued to read her note.
I'm losing my mind here. Rishab is everything I've ever wanted. He's kind and smart and funny and honest and we just seem to fit together perfectly. I can be myself around him, good or bad, and he is the same with me. Not to mention the fact that he's almost as gorgeous as you are - LOL - ok I know, too much info for you - and I did say, almost!
Everything is going great and I'm so happy with Rishab in my life, but… I think we are about to hit a huge wall. We are just about to a point where we are going to have to break it off or take a chance.
See, I can tell he's keeping a secret from me. And it's a big secret too, a deal breaker. You know how I can tell? Because of the secret I'm keeping from him - I recognize the signs. Lately, we have been taking turns pulling back when we start to get too close. So I bet you are going to tell me that one of us is going to have to take a chance and spill their secret and hope the other will reciprocate, or we should end it now, before it gets to be too painful?
So Jai, help me out here? What do I do now? You're probably going to tell me that I should take a risk, that I have to tell Rishab the truth. You're going to say that if I truly care for Rishab as much as I say and if I believe he feels the same way about me, then he has a right to know the whole truth, before things go much farther between us. And I know you're right - I have to tell him. But how? How do I risk what we have? How do I take the chance of losing the best guy (besides you) that I've ever had in my life? How do I tell him? When do I tell him? Jai, I'm really scared that Rishab won't want to see me anymore when he hears the truth. You know my fears are not groundless either. Just because it doesn't matter to you and you love me anyway. You've stood by me throughout all of it before but you've seen how other people have reacted in the past and it's frequently not a pretty sight.
"Oh Anju" he sighed heavily. He knew how she felt about this. He knew she had reason to feel this way from past experiences but also knew not everyone in this world was like that.
I wish you were here - I could really use a hug. :) I'll use my imagination - aah that feels great, thanks.
Ok - serious stuff is over now - thanks for lending the ear and the shoulder - you're such a good cyber listener! I'll let you know what I decide to do.
BTW --- I still hate you (just kidding!!) for doing this wedding thing in the winter time, and making me come there. Do you think there's a chance it can be moved to the summer time? We'll have a blast once again! What do you say? Yeah?
I know the answer is going to be HELL NO cuz Adi emailed me and told me how your driving everyone crazy to get everything done for the wedding. Who would've known, the guy who never wanted to get married is dying to get married LOL!
On the other hand, I can't wait to see you and Bani - I miss you both a lot.
Anju
Though it was late, Jai had to respond to Anjali. What he was going to tell her was nothing she didn't already know herself. In fact, he was about to give her similar advice to that which she had given Bani several months earlier.
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Try as he might to concentrate on the story he was reading, he couldn't. He'd had a fitful slumber as thoughts of her invaded his every dream. Asleep, awake, it didn't matter. Anjali was ever present on his mind. Things had gotten way out of control and decision time was coming. Rishab had to decide if he was going to share his past with Anjali or end things completely.
Taking a mouthful of coffee, Rishab felt his heart become heavy at the thought of ending his relationship with her. He smiled, remembering what a great time he had whenever she was with him. She was all he thought about lately, almost to a point of distraction from work. A mental image came to his mind of never having to leave her again, of waking up with her nestled in his arms. It was an image he rather liked, loved in fact.
"Damn!" He said. "I can't lose her. I want her more than anything. I want her in my life." He took another drink of his coffee and furrowed his brow in thought. "Well Rishab, you know what you have to do then don't you? You have to tell her. You have to tell her everything and do it soon."
Satisfied he was making the right decision; Rishab folded his newspaper and swallowed the last mouthful of coffee from his mug. He groaned slightly when he noted the time as 4:35 am. "I can't wait till the end of January" he mumbled as he placed his mug in the kitchen sink and rinsed it out. "And I'm glad we don't open at 6 am every morning." He walked around his condo and shut out all the lights except for the one by his front door and looked around to make sure everything was in order. Finding everything the way it should be, he grabbed his keys from the table by his front door and placed them in his pocket. Upon opening the door he realized he'd need a jacket and grabbed his leather jacket from the front hall closet. He chuckled to himself when he thought about how often he actually got a chance to wear it living in Southern California.
Rishab walked out his door taking time to lock it and was headed down the long hallway towards the stairs when it happened…
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Anjali rolled over, a small smile etched on her face. She was in REM sleep and her mind was consumed with thoughts of only one person, Rishab. She didn't realize it at first when her bed began to tremor; she thought it was part of her wonderful dream.
Suddenly Anjali's eyes snapped open. On her nightstand was a digital clock, the red display reading 4:37 am. She jumped out of bed as best she could and ran towards her doorway and crouched down bracing herself as best she could. "Damn" she said holding onto the door frame as she heard glass shattering all around her, "this is a big one." Her heart pounded rapidly as her she felt the floor shaking beneath her from the force of the earthquake. Anjali'd been in California five years and until now had only experienced minor tremors. She'd heard about the larger quakes and was fully aware of the damage they could cause but until now never had a real appreciation of how someone felt while in the middle of a large quake. She fought the fear that threatened to engulf her, reminding herself that she was a strong individual and trained to handle emergency situations, but it was tough. She briefly thought about Rishab, her parents and her best friends Jai and Bani, wondering if she would ever see them again. She forced those thoughts from her mind and concentrated on what she was taught when she had taken the emergency classes with all her employees. She always made sure each one knew what to do incase of an emergency, whether they were at home or at work.
"Please let this be over" she muttered. In the distance she swore she could hear people in the next condo screaming amidst the sound of falling pictures and shattering glass. "Please let this be over soon…"
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Rishab lay on the floor of the hallway motionless, covered in cement dust and plaster. His mind suddenly coming to the realization that it was over he slowly opened his eyes. Rishab gingerly pulled himself to a sitting position groaning slightly from the discomfort. He'd been hit by more than one fallen beam during the quake, though luckily none of them pinned him down. He looked around in the darkness to survey the damage. Because of the early hour the sun wasn't up and he felt his heart lurch when he saw a faint orange glow growing stronger at the other end of the building.
"Oh my God!" He exclaimed. "The building's on fire." Without thinking he began pounding on doors warning the residents to get out of the building. One by one the doors began opening and Rishab's neighbors began to file out carrying varying objects from family heirlooms to photo albums to camcorders. Slowly they made their way to the fire exit at the opposite end of the building from the fire under Rishab's direction. He asked each person he met if there was anyone left in their place or if they knew of anyone who might have trouble making it out. He also requested someone call 911 and inform them of the situation.
Adrenalin filled him as he started knocking down the doors that no one came out of. Since it was the middle of the night for all practical purposes, chances were most people were home. In the condo of the first door he broke down Rishab found a young single mother he knew from meeting in the laundry room on Sundays. She was pinned under a bookcase screaming for her baby who was trapped in the bedroom. With strength he didn't know he possessed, Rishab lifted the bookcase off the woman and then forged his way into the child's room and brought the frightened infant to his mother.
"Can you walk ma'am?" Rishab asked in concern.
"No, my leg… I think it's broken" the woman cried, clutching her four month old son tightly in her arms.
Without thinking Rishab picked up the woman who was holding her child and carried her out of her condo. He was met at the stairs by some other neighbors who took the injured woman from him. "Could someone call 911 to make sure they've been notified we have a burning building and injured people here?" Rishab asked before returning to see if there were any other people trapped in their homes. "I haven't heard any sirens yet." As he raced back to the building which was now engulfed in flames he caught two men videotaping the burning building.
Rishab couldn't believe what was happening to him, to all of them. Living in California for at least the last decade or so he'd felt many tremors, some of them pretty scary but none of them even came close to what was happening at this very minute. The last big earthquake to hit Southern California had only caused few deaths. As he looked around him at all the destruction he had a sinking feeling this one was going to be a lot worse. He hoped to find a radio soon and find out exactly what was happening, but for right now he was concentrating all his efforts on pulling as many people out of the building as he could before fire engulfed it or it collapsed completely from the massive structural damage that was done.
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Anjali felt like kissing the ground when the earth stopped shaking. She immediately stood up and looked around the living room. Besides a few paintings and pictures falling from the walls, nothing seemed to be terribly damaged. She tried a light switch and cursed under her breath realizing she'd lost power. She was pretty sure she'd lost power as she saw the glow of the emergency lights on coming from the kitchen. "I guess checking for structural damage will have to wait. I should walk down to the police station to see if they need any help." Anjali was a certified volunteer of the LAPD. Anjali knew the drill. She was on the "A" team which meant unless it was a physical impossibility; she was to report to the station immediately.
Anjali grabbed a flashlight and found her way around her bedroom gathering clothes and quickly dressed for work. Not knowing when she'd get a chance to come home again, she grabbed a change of clothes to take with her and a few necessary supplies. As she was dressing she made a mental note to email her mother and Jai to let them know she was okay, once her power was back. She hoped Rishab was okay but somehow figured she'd not be able to contact him for awhile. Maybe she'd find something out when she got to the station…
To be continued…
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