NOTE: Daljeet's husband's name is deliberately used as Balraj NOT Balwant😛....
Part 2
"Good Morning, Mr. Prince!" the girl in her white top and pale pink skirt greeted the man in grey suit with a cute smile..... "Good Morning, Miss Angel !" Prem bent down to leave a peck on his niece's pink cheek before taking the seat next to her...."Good Morning, My Cham!!" she again greeted noticing the person to her right....."Good Morning, My Sweetheart!!" Preet left a quick peck on her other cheek....."Here! I made it for you " Tanu held out a triangle toasted bread before Prem....."Thank you Ma'am" like a gentleman he accepted the offer....
"Why him?.....It's me! who buys you all those chocolates" pretending to be hurt, Lalit looked up from the newspaper...."..don't be so jel..jel...jelly-grass..." the little girl frowned as she tried to think of the proper word.... "..jelly-what?.." Preet laughed when sniggering Prem interpreted the word "..jealous.."......"Dead!" Kiran told himself while digging his head into the newspaper, trying hard not to laugh.....
Ignoring the laughter around the dining table, Tanu continued, "...this is because last night Mr. Prince told me that I was looking as beautiful as the moon..." she smiled at the flying kiss that she received from Gayetri..... " ditto!.....by the way PB, which moon you compared her with? " Preet immediately agreed as he poured himself some fresh juice and stole a glance at his father, who shotted him a killing look....
"Relax dad, no need to get excited, I was referring to these two beautiful ladies...." Preet grinned at Kulraj, who was coming downstairs to join the breakfast table..."..Good morning my moon! you are late.."....... "..Jee nahin brother!....I was checking up on the girl...." Kulraj informed her surprised brother as she took the seat in between Preet and Gayetri...."..by the way, how is she doing now?.." Lalit looked over at his daughter..... "..she still seems to be in deep sleep..." Kulraj thoughtfully notified, hoping it's not a bad sign...."don't worry...her blood pressure and pulse are normal. This sleep will reduce down the stress level..." Prem assured her....Kulraj decided to stay with the girl last night and when he went to do a normal check up on her in the morning, Kulraj was in the washroom...
"..oh oh wait!!....who are you guys talking about?? " after coming from the party late, Preet straight headed to his room to hit the bed and completely missed the picture that took place after that..... "...oh my God! you don't know?...Last night Mr. Prince found a beautiful bride just like a Princess...and then she was so tired that she fell asleep on him...." giggling, the little girl excitedly started her own little tale.....for a moment, Prem completely forgot to take the sip from his coffee while the rest of the table suddenly seemed to be engrossed in the short story..... Preet opened his mouth to say something but was instantly cut by his awkward brother "..Shut up!!.."....to avoid further interrogation from his baby brother, he got up from the seat then bidding his goodbyes, Prem walked out of the scene.....
Dropping the briefcase on the passenger seat, he threw himself on the driver seat of the dark blue mercedes, all of a sudden feeling miserable. It seemed like last night's incident had started to take over his mind yet again. As if it was not enough that his mind refused to drift its attention away from her almost the entire night, that now his heart had to act all weird at the mention of her presence in his life......and now mind and heart are definitely not supporting each other.....seems like the doctor himself needs some help !!!....with a hope of getting his full concentration back to work, Prem started the car and drove away ....
******
"I missed you, Miss. Maya" the guy in his late 20's held out a red rose for the receptionist....."Thank you sir" Maya forced a half smile as she reluctantly accepted the flower....Knowing him flirting with her for the last two weeks, it was pointless to argue with him....even though she never gave him any wrong sign, the dude never seemed to stop from trying his luck.....It was not like the guy had ever tried to misbehave with her and she is trying to avoid him.....It was about her....When it comes to this hospital, her first and last priority had been nothing but her work.....--As long as I can manage to finish off my work in between his 'love' lecture, I have nothing against anyone-- Maya smiled to herself as she scanned through the entry list of the patients, completely ignoring the man in front of her desk.....
Sensing the quietness, she looked up from the computer screen to notice him staring at her, holding his cheek on his palm....--I bet this one must have taken a vow to explode my brain-- Maya murmured to herself with a sigh of hopeless....."Can I help you sir?" She asked, hoping to get rid of his presence....."Actually I was thinking" He did not move from his spot...--Please not again-- Maya sympathized herself....."Glad to hear that" Prem smiled at the poor girl's reaction.....not impressed by the feedback, Harman turned around to see his new buddy standing by the desk, signing some papers....."tell me if I am wrong, did you just insult my thinking ability?" resting the right elbow on the desk while slipping the left hand into his pocket, Harman questioned his specialist....."He is smart!!" Prem winked at the girl with a slight grin and received an appreciation smile from Maya....."So! How is the knee treating you?" He motioned his patient-come-friend to his office.....
"atleast better than YOU but pretty soon my heart will be malfunctioning and all thanks to you, Mr. Nerd! " Harman raised an eyebrow....."My pleasure and don't worry I will be there to fix it for you" Prem winked at his buddy when both men stepped into the office....."Really! Then God bless me!" Harman grinned and Prem let out a short laugh as he put on his lab coat....."the person who refrained his own heart from functioning is going to treat my heart...sure! whoever gave you the PhD should commit suicide....who was it by the way?" Harman settled himself on the comfy chair after grabbing the Men's Health magazine from the corner of the desk....."apparently it was me!!" Harman froze and cursed his mouth for always being messed up in such situation whilst with a half smile Prem looked up from the file that he was reading......
"Good Morning Dr. Patel" Prem greeted the senior surgeon as he walked towards him...."Good Morning Dr. Prem and thanks for the compliment, by the way" the old man in his early 60s looked from Prem to Harman....Dr. Binod Patel too had earned his PhD on Neurological Surgery from McMaster University Medical School.....later he was appointed as a Professor in Department of Surgery at the same educational institute......He had always been a helpful and sincere professor for his students.....During one of the meetings, he got to know about Prem's wish of maintaining his own hospital in Mumbai and Binod immediately put himself into the project as it was a great opportunity for him to help one of his favorite students.....It was then Prem and Harman became friends when Harman hurt himself by a minor car accident and got himself admitted in the hospital for about 12 days. In this short span of time, he had learnt three new things: ' Mr. Prem aka Mr. Nerd is too busy to fall in love......Miss. Maya is too blind to notice his feelings.....and last but not the least, driving on the street of Mumbai is a nightmare '.....
Binod was not surprised when his architect son, Harman, made that comment.....being a typical father, he too expected his son to take the same field as his but Harman had always been a scary cat when it comes to blood, stitches or needles.....noticing his enthusiasm in architecture, Dr. patel could not help but support his son whole heartedly......"You are welcome dad!" Harman shook his head with a grin and went back to read the latest tips about perfect fitness.....
"Anyway, Dr. Prem, just came to wish you all the best....you have managed to carry off the responsibilities pretty quickly, Congratulations son" the surgeon forwarded his hand and received the gesture with full respect as Prem thanked the old man....."I hope a retirement job will be waiting for this old man" Binod laughed as he thought about his retirement after two years....."any time, sir!!" Prem sincerely replied......"Oh! wait....did you just say, you are retiring?.....how old are you?" Harman looked up from the magazine only to notice his father glaring at him with a raised brow and Prem back to his file "..never mind!!....I assume you are in 40's.." ....... "Really?" the amazement in his voice was not missed by the youngsters .... "Just kidding" Harman widely grinned at his father's cute reaction before turning back to the magazine.....
"I tell you Prem, I got a clown for a son"......."and I got an angel for a father.....disaster combination".....after sharing a good laugh when Binod turned to his student, "...My flight is tomorrow morning, so won't be able to meet your family.....my apology but I wish you all, all the very best....will join you soon..." he smiled at the man and turned back to leave. "Love you dad!!"........"Love you too son!!" Binod replied with a smile and walked away....
"So you are not accompanying him..." Prem asked as he made himself comfortable on his chair....."No, I took up a project here....and besides I have some other things to finish up" Harman winked at the doctor.....Prem shook his head as he very well knew where he was coming from "..Good Luck!...now tell me, do you still feel any pain on your knee?"..... "...Not anymore but at the beginning I felt weak, with a minor heartburn..." He notified...... "Oh don't worry, it was just the side effect of Diclofenac....now since the pain is gone, you don't need to take them anymore...but keep doing the regular exercise, it's a part of the prescription " Prem made the last note.... "Perfect! Ok then I will see you, Thanks " Harman got up and took a formal leave from there....."Maya get me the history of Mr. Sharma please" after informing the girl on the intercom, he rubbed his forehead followed by a deep sigh, trying best not to get occupied by the thought that had been taking place at the back of his mind since last night.....
*****
Both the girls jerked up from their seats at the sound of the door shutting.....the lady in her late 30's had noticed the girl in a bridal attire, her eyes were red and swollen, it could be guessed that she was crying for a long time....."Why the hell are you all dressed up like a bride?" Daljeet bursted out, making the girls glare at her with confusion....."Oh Please Mom!! Stop it now!....you and dad are slaughtering her for that stupid land and now---" Ash opened her mouth when her mother cut her off "Don't you dare drag me into this land sh*t.....I admit I never tried to stop this marriage but I have nothing to do with that bloody land.....I do not belong to a poor family who will go nuts over such worthless things anyway" Daljeet warned her daughter and looked back to the girl beside her daughter.....
"And you.....have you got no self respect?" She noticed the girl bent her head down......"Look at me Heer!... your uncle had got some gits for you to get married and without a single word you got ready to sit on the mandap??....after your parents death, did I ever taunt you or torture you for staying with us for free??....I admit I never cared about what you think or what you do....in fact I never interferred in your life.....and that's because I was never interested in your life and nor I am now.....anyway, didn't you have any mouth to refuse this Goddamn proposal?" Heer did not need to open her mouth as the tears had explained more than everything.....yes! she was doing a favor for her chacha-chachi....she wanted to remove the burden, which she considered as herself, from their lives.....after her parents death, her chacha had brought her in to this house without revealing the true motive....but when she requested Balraj to study further as she just finished her graduation, Heer was strictly restricted from even stepping out of the house by him.....and later he emotionally blackmailed her to agree to this marriage with Manmeet!.....Only God knows, how many times she wished she was blessed by the God to be with her parents, away from this cruel world.....
Before she could come out of her thought, Daljeet had already dragged her to the back door. Without a single word, Ash followed her mom and cousin. "listen girl, I don't care what you are thinking about me right now. All I know is that, you are NOT going to marry that dumbass. Period! Now Get out of here"....Heer could not believe her luck....should she be happy or sad?.....She did not want to marry Manmeet neither did she want to put her cousin and Chachi into trouble because of her as she knew Balraj will not take her disappearance that easily....."But"..."Shut up! and do what I just said....you see that street..." Daljeet did not want to change her mind when she grabbed both the girls attention on the quiet street where a couple of decent people can be seen walking under the street light "...Take a right turn and go wherever you want to..."I know nothing about this place" Heer quietly informed, running away is not so easy after all....."If I had the option then I would have sent Ash with you to drop you somewhere but Balraj may show up anytime and if he notices her missing then, we all will be in big trouble....so GROW up!! and learn to fight for your life..." Daljeet was losing her patience.....
A smile escaped through her tears as Heer looked from Ash to her Chachi.....She had this sudden urge and Heer threw herself at the woman, who was taken aback but later wrapped her arms around the girl.....pulling back from Daljeet, Heer gave a warm hug to Ash, who had tears in her eyes....."what are you doing??" Daljeet interrupted as she noticed Heer trying to take off the golds...."Don't !!.....you are looking pretty.." the last sentence came as a surprise for Daljeet herself when she immediately caught herself "I meant, don't waste your time and just GO!...all the best"......stealing a last glance at the two ladies, Heer vanished from there.....
Wrapping her arms around her mother from behind, Ash whispered, "I love you mom".....for a reply, Daljeet had a slight smile on her face.....She did not know, why she did this but she genuinely felt better after releasing the girl....may be it was the motherhood that took the step.....now all she can do is to pray that the girl falls on the safe hands.....
The surrounding was quite creepy and she was almost freaking out.....she had no idea where she had landed up.....only God knew the time at that very moment and for how long she had been walking down the street......no one can be seen walking, not even a cockroch......this was worse than she expected....she felt as if her entire body was in the verge to break down any moment and her eyes begged for some rest....the sudden cool breeze made her wrap herself with the heavy dupatta when Heer sensed some shadows following her.....without bothering to look back, she accelerated her speed as her heart was beating at the hightest rate possible when she bumped into someone---.....
The first thing that caught her eyes was the sky blue color smooth ceiling....then gradually her gaze examined the place when she realized she was at someone's house......
luv
rehana
Edited by Rehana86 - 16 years ago
