Recap: Milind is very disrespectful to Prachi while at his cabin. She leaves and gets lost in the woods. He realizes he still loves her and goes to find her.
Part 41:
Milind called the hotel as he rushed through the woods. He quickly asked the concierge is Prachi was back at the hotel.
"Prachi, sir?" asked the concierge.
"I mean Pari. Is Pari back yet?"
"No sir. Perhaps she has gone out for a walk."
Milind abruptly ended the phone call. He looked up and realized that it was about to rain. Gray clouds loomed above him in the sky. The weather was taking a turn for the worse.
"PRACHI" yelled Milind, "PRACHI!!"
As if on cue, he heard thunder. In seconds, torrential rain started falling. The soil underneath Milind's feet was turning into wet mud. He didn't care. He needed to find his wife.
He kept walking for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, a miracle occurred. He saw Prachi walking through the woods, with a confused and upset look on her face, trying to figure out where she was going.
"EH PRACHI!" he yelled.
She turned around, and her expression pulled at his heart. She looked over at him and disgust was clearly visible on her face. She abruptly turned around, and continued walking, trying to get away from him.
Milind was not in the mood to play games. Taking large strides, he caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm and pulled him close to his chest.
"LET GO OF ME MILIND!" shivered Prachi.
He looked down at her. Her clothes were fully soaked, as was her hair. Her face was pale.
"Prachi, are you okay?"
Instantly, Prachi broke into tears. "MILIND, LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Milind released her from his grip, but continued holding her wrist. "Prachi, listen, I am sorry. I need to tell you something."
"Milind, I don't care. Please leave me alone. I've moved on," she stated, while avoiding eye contact.
Before Milind could say another word, before he could yell, or even tell her what was in his heart, Prachi fell to the ground.
"PRACHI!" yelled Milind, lunging towards her fallen body.
He quickly put her in his arms and tried waking her up. She was unconscious. He felt her head, and it was burning up; she had a fever.
Not wasting a second, Milind picked her up in his arms and ran towards the hotel.
***
Milind arrived in the hotel in a panic. It was seven o'clock and the entire staff was in the dining area, having their dinner. Milind paid no heed, as he stepped into the elevator and made his way to his hotel suite.
He gently put Prachi down on his large bed, and dialed his friend, a local Sydney doctor.
"Dr. Dilip Saklani speaking," answered the man.
"Hi Dilip, it's Milind. Listen, how far away are you right now from my hotel?"
"Hello Milind. I am about ten minutes away by car, why?"
"I need you to get here immediately. My wi-," Milind refrained from calling her his wife. One thing was certain; he had a lot to work out with Prachi. He did not want to let the world know of their relationship, without her permission.
"One of my employees is terribly sick," spoke Milind.
"Okay, I will be there in ten minutes."
"Thanks. Just come up to my suite."
"Your suite?" asked Dr. Saklani, wondering why an employee would be in the boss's personal hotel suite.
Milind realized what Dr. Saklani would be thinking, and made up an excuse, "Yeah, she fell sick outside and not thinking, I just brought her to my suite."
Dr. Saklani chuckled, "Okay, I'm on my way."
Milind ended the call and walked over to Prachi. He placed his hand on her forehead; she was indeed burning up. He rushed to the bathroom and brought a wet towel. He placed it on her forehead, and held her hand. He couldn't help but feel responsible. What he has said to her in the cabin has been inexcusable. He had hurt the one person in his life who he loved the most.
Milind's cell phone rang. It was Anjali. He ignored the call.
His phone rang again, and this time it was one of his staff, Diya. He answered, "Hello".
Diya was petrified. She couldn't believe she has called her boss. She has barely said two words to the man before, and here she was calling him. "Hello'hello sir," she stuttered.
"Yes? Do you need something?" asked Milind irritated. Prachi was sick right now and he didn't need his staff asking him useless questions.
Diya was so scared and intimidated. She answered Milind in just one breath, "Well sir'um, have you seen our event planner? Her name is Pari - I have not seen her all day and the last time I saw her she was talking to you and this is really out of character for her to not be seen all day -I thought you might now. I am sorry if you don't, but I really thought I should just ask you anyways and see if you knew anything and sorry for bugging you, sir."
Diya spoke in record speed.
Milind couldn't help but smile. He was happy that Prachi had made a friend like Diya in just a matter of days. She was clearly concerned for his wife.
"Yes, Diya. She is actually with me right now. She fell sick outside, so I brought her upstairs to my suite. A doctor is on his way. Could you actually please come up here as well? She is wearing wet clothing and probably wants a friend to help her change."
"Ok sir. I am on my way."
***
Prachi slowly opened her eyes. She saw three people standing above her. Diya, Milind and another man in a white coat.
The strange man spoke first, "Hello Miss Pari. I am Doctor Saklani."
Prachi tried getting up, but Dr. Saklani gently stopped her and made her lie down.
Prachi tried to speak, but she felt drained and could not say a word. Everything seemed a little blurry.
"Miss Pari, you are a very lucky girl. You have an extremely caring boss and a very caring friend. Both Mr. Mishra, and Miss Diya have been sitting next to your bedside for the last hour. You were unconscious and suffering from a very high fever. It's a good thing Mr. Mishra called me. Your fever has subsided, but due to its intensity you are probably feeling very weak. This is natural. I am going to advise you to have complete bed rest for all of today and tomorrow, or until you feel stronger. I am also going to write you some medicines, which you will need to take all week. Take care, and call me if you have any further problems."
Prachi gently nodded her head, acknowledging the doctor's instructions.
Milind shook Dr. Saklani's hand.
"Pari, I will be back," spoke Diya, "I'll just walk Dr. Saklani outside and I also just have to check up on the other staff to make sure they are not just being lazy. I will be back in fifteen minutes."
Diya and Dr. Saklani left the suite.
Now it was just Milind and Prachi. Prachi realized this, and felt her rage boiling over. She realized she was in Milind's personal suite. She didn't know how she got here, but decided that she was not going to stay in here for another second.
She tried getting out of the bed. She felt her body go numb, and pain took over. She didn't care. She tried getting up again, and this time Milind reacted.
He angrily walked up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and placed her back in the bed. "STAY HERE!" he spoke, through gritted teeth.
Prachi tried protesting, but she found her eyes closing, as she fell asleep.
***
Prachi woke up and looked over at the clock. It was 11pm. She was feeling much better. She was still weak, but she felt better than she had before.
She looked around, all of the lights were dim. She looked to her left, and saw a figure approaching her. She clenched her fists, thinking it was Milind.
"Leave me alone!" she yelled.
"Wow Pari calm down! It's just me, Diya," spoke Diya, as she turned the light on.
Prachi breathed a sigh of relief, "Sorry. I thought you were'"
"I know, I know," laughed Diya, "you thought I was a burglar or something. Well how are you feeling now?"
"I'm okay."
"Good!" smiled Diya, as she sat by Prachi on the bed, "Oh wow, okay so remember how I was afraid of Mr. Mishra? He's actually pretty nice, behind that intimidating exterior. Do you know that you fell sick outside and he immediately brought you here, and called his doctor friend? I called him to ask where you were, and he asked me to come up here to take care of you. He didn't even try any creepy moves on you while you were vulnerable."
"What do you mean?" asked Prachi, annoyed at Diya gushing over Milind. She clearly didn't know him that well. He was not the nice guy that Diya thought he was.
"Well, when I came up here, he asked me to get your clothes and help you change, because you were soaking wet! He left the room while I helped you change. That's pretty nice. Even when you were unconscious, he never left your bedside. He was so concerned. It's nice to see him care so much about his staff."
Prachi was surprised with what Diya was saying. She couldn't believe Milind's decent behavior. Regardless, Prachi thought, "I still hate him."
"Well, look at me talking non-stop! I should let you rest. Mr. Mishra said that you could use his room for the night. I think he's staying with that witch Anjali Nagpuri tonight. Seriously, Mr. Mishra could do so much better. But I think she's the current hot model in the industry. That's probably why they're together. I don't know. Oh my! I'm still talking! Okay, I'm leaving! I have to finish some paper work before I sleep. Good night, Pari. Call me if you need anything!"
Diya hugged Prachi, turned off the lights and left.
It was 11pm, and pitch dark. But, Prachi could not fall back asleep. She couldn't help but think of Milind spending the night with Anjali. She hated him now more than ever, especially after all of the cheap things he has said to her earlier in the day at the cabin. Still, every time she closed her eyes, she thought of Milind holding Anjali or Milind kissing Anjali or Anjali all over Milind. She could feel tears building up in her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way, but she couldn't help it. She was furious with herself. She tried to not cry.
Suddenly, Prachi felt the door open. "Diya?" she asked, as she sat up straight in the bed.
The door closed. No answer. She felt a figure coming closer to her. "Diya, is that you? Could you please turn on the lights? I can't go to sleep anyways."
She felt someone reaching over her and turning on the bedside lamp. The dim light of the lamp illuminated the figure. There, standing over her, was Milind Mishra.
She quickly looked away from him. But not before he saw her watery eyes, on the verge of tears.
He sat beside her on the bed and touched her face, "How are you feeling?"
She looked at him defiantly, "Can you please leave me alone?"
"Listen Prachi, I need to talk to you," he spoke gently.
"NO! Can you please just go back to Anjali's room," she snapped.
"What?!" asked Milind, clearly confused.
"Didn't you say that you can easily bed any woman you want? Then go! Why are you here?" she retorted.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that," Milind tried explaining.
"Well it doesn't matter. I don't care Milind," said Prachi, as she turned away from him and lay down on the bed, "Good night."
"Prachi, don't pretend to be asleep. You just said, a minute ago, that you weren't sleepy."
"Well, I changed my mind," spoke Prachi as she closed her eyes.
"Okay, whatever. But I'm sleeping in here tonight too."
Prachi sat up again, "No you're not!"
"Yes I am," said Milind defiantly, "You're still sick. I'll sleep on the couch. I can't leave you alone while you're in this condition."
"I'm fine. Just leave Milind. Anjali's probably going to be mad."
"I don't care what Anjali thinks."
"Well, I don't want you here either," said Prachi.
"Well, I guess I don't care what you think either," said Milind as he moved over to the couch.
"Milind, you're still wearing your business suit. I think you should change before you go to sleep," said Prachi.
"I've been sleeping in my business suits for the last six months. I am used to it by now."
"Well it's irritating me!"
"For someone who was unconscious a short while ago, you sure have a lot of energy," smiled Milind.
His smile irritated her. "Well whatever, I don't care. I'm going to sleep," she spoke, as she lay back down.
Milind got up from the couch and went to change his clothes. Prachi noticed. Despite hating Milind, she couldn't help but smile inwardly.
***
It was 3am and Prachi woke up screaming.
Milind heard her scream and quickly rushed to her bedside. "Prachi, are you okay? Prachi, what's wrong" he asked, as he took her in his arms.
She gripped his arm tightly, and started crying. He felt her forehead. She had a fever. He quickly took out her medicines and gave them to her.
Not realizing what she was doing, she rested her head on his shoulder. For a second, both Milind and Prachi felt like everything was okay. They both fell asleep on the bed, with Prachi's head on Milind's shoulder and Milind's arms wrapped around her waist.
***
The next morning, Prachi woke up horrified. There she was in bed with Milind. His arms were wrapped around her. She reacted instantly, and tried pushing him away from her. She broke out of his grip and this woke him up. It took him a second, but he too realized that they had fallen asleep in the same bed.
"What did you do?!" screamed Prachi, "Why did you sleep in this bed?"
She started crying as she got out of the bed.
Milind stood up too and wrapped his arms around her. "Sorry Prachi. You had a fever during the night and I came over to see if you were okay, and I think we just fell asleep."
Prachi broke out of his grip. She was furious with what she has woken up to. Furthermore, she was infuriated with Milind's calm tone.
Not wasting a second, Prachi walked out of Milind's suite, into the elevator, and to her own hotel room. She had a shower, and was relieved to be feeling so much better. She put on a pair of dark jeans with a pink Guess shirt, and made her way downstairs to the lobby. She had a lot of work to do.
She walked into the dining area, and sat with Diya and some of the other staff. Diya was glad to see Prachi feeling better. It was obvious that she was still a bit weak, but it was nice to see Prachi still trying to work and mingle. Every now and then, Prachi couldn't help but glance over to the table where Milind, Anjali, and some of the other hotel executives were sitting. Milind and Prachi's eyes locked a couple times, but every time, Prachi just looked away.
After breakfast, Prachi made her way to the lobby to make some phone calls. Milind followed her there to finally tell her how he felt. Last night had made him realize that he couldn't live without her, and he wanted to tell her as soon as possible.
As he was about to approach her, he heard a man yell "PARI!"
He saw Prachi turn around and look towards the hotel entrance. Her face instantly lit up and she ran towards the man. "Aryan!" smiled Prachi, as he pulled her into a hug.
Milind recognized Aryan from before, but he was surprised to see his warm interaction with Prachi. He was also astonished to see Prachi embrace this man.
He saw Aryan grab Prachi's hand. Milind felt like punching him in the face.
Aryan, noticed Milind standing in the lobby, and walked over to him, still holding Prachi's hand and smiling. Prachi felt a jolt go through her when she saw Milind. She also noted his expression, which might have been undetectable to other people, but she knew perfectly well that he was angry. She had lived with him long enough, to know how Milind looked when he tried to mask his anger. Prachi was happy to see him this way, and hoped that with Aryan's arrival, Milind would leave her alone.
"Mr. Mishra!" smiled Aryan. Prachi took her hand out of Aryan's and allowed him to shake hands with Milind.
"Hello," said Milind, through gritted teeth. He did not like Aryan's closeness to Prachi at all.
"Sorry I'm late. I had some personal matters to attend to."
"Fine," muttered Milind, as he walked off in rage.
"What's wrong with him?" Aryan asked Prachi, oblivious to Milind's jealousy.
"Nothing, he's just always like that," responded Prachi.
***
There's a long update for you guys!
I haven't been on IF for a while, but I know you all wanted this update badly, especially with the tv strike going on.
OkI tried to give you guys an extra long update today, as an apology for my lack of updating for the last month.
Okay, now I must get back to studying.
Please leave your comments and thoughts.
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