Chapter 2:
"We don't meet people by accident, they are meant to cross our path for a reason."
When they reached the avenue, the party was going on full swing. They were late because not only were they trapped in the traffic but also due to Mihika who took four good hours to get ready. She wanted to look her best for her Buddhu Ram who was going to introduce her to his brother.
Mihir immediately spotted them as soon as they crossed the doorstep and left everything to welcome Ishita and Mihika. Side hugging Mihika, he hissed:
- My baby is looking gorgeous in my favourite colour!
Mihika was indeed a sight in a nuanced blue Georgette saree which was highlighting her model-like silhouette. And the subtle make up was adding to her natural glow. She smiled coyly which was a rare phenomenon and winked at Ishita who smiled lovingly at the sweet couple.
It was Mihir's night so he left the two sisters for some time to attend to his guests, to shake hands with other businessmen and to pose for photographs. Standing in a corner, away from the limelight, to admire the man she was so much in love, Mihika looked on proudly.
"Wow! I am so happy for my Buddhu Ram!".
Genuinely happy for her sister, Ishita squeezed her hand. "Mihir is a hardworking man and he deserves what all these accolades and success".
"Yeh to hain Akka! But his brother has a huge hand in his success. Mihir says that without him, he wouldn't be where he is now...oh Akka...look...here he is...Raman Bhalla...aren't these Punjabi men handsome?
Ishita lifted her head from her orange juice and looked at the man whom she would recognize anywhere in a crowd.
Raman!
She blanched.
Mihir's brother? How was it possible? Mihir's surname was Arora and...
" Raman Kumar Bhalla is the CEO of the year. He is Mihir's mentor, guide and everything..."
Ishita felt weak and her head started spinning. She felt as though she had opened a door and found a nightmare behind it and which was now standing in front of her.
Immediately the pleasing atmosphere with the soft music turned thick with tension and Ishita started feeling suffocated and nauseated. She looked on horrified when Mihir went to Raman, pointing to their direction.
Ishita swiftly turned her back to them and with a shaking hand, put down her glass of juice on the nearby table. She was pale.
"Akka are you ok? Kya hua?"
" I have a headache Mihika. I need some fresh air...I am going on the terrace...
"Ok I am coming with you...
" No it is ok...You stay with Mihir...his speech will follow soon...some fresh air and I will be fine."
She hurriedly walked towards the open door and disappeared in a flash of red and beige just seconds before Mihir joined Mihika to introduce Raman.
One hand on her heaving chest and another clutching the handrails to support her trembling feet, Ishita tried to calm her labored breathing. Minutes later she could hear people applauding inside and she heaved a sigh of relief. Mihir's speech was over. She could now get out of this place. She would just give Mihika a call to tell her that she was waiting outside. She couldn't risk going inside when he was around. She fished her hand in her clutched bag but stilled. The voice just behind her freezed her blood in her veins.
- Ishita!
She turned around to come face to face with the man she had been trying to avoid and from whom she had been running away from months.
Their first encounter, on that fateful night, six months ago in Mumbai, flashed in front of her as if it was just the previous day...
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It was 8 p.m when Ishita was getting ready to leave the clinic after working overtime. It was not really for the money. To get herself busy and drown in work was a choice in order not to feel homesick and miserable. It was not easy to stay alone, away from her loving parents, from her sisters and nephew, in a city where she had no family.
It had been almost a year when she left Delhi for Mumbai. She wanted to get away from all those bad memories and from people who kept reminding her of the past. Her fianc had ditched her on their engagement day when the Pandora box snapped opened and revealed the bitter truth if her life.
On that day she fainted and was rushed to hospital. Ishita always had irregular menstruations and excessive bleeding at times and it was due to major complications to her reproductive organs. But she was shocked to find out that her Fallopian tubes were damaged and she would never be able to conceive, to have babies, to have a family of her own.
She was infertile. She would never be a mother. She, who was so much in love with children, who purposely chosen to be a pediatric dentist would not have kids if her own. Could fate be more unfair and cruel?
Yes it could. The man she was in love and spent years together shaping their career and life, decided to leave her when she most badly needed him. The engagement was called off. Her mother was devastated. Her sister who was also the sister in law of her fianc was helpless.
Awkwardness has settled in between the two families. Ishita knew that it was best to go away for sometimes. Away from her parents would be easier for them to live with that bitter fact if life. It would be easier for sister and brother in law too. She knew how guilty they were feeling.
Time is the best healer, isn't it? She got the perfect opportunity when doctor Bhatra proposed to her to move to their Mumbai branch.
Ishita was locking her cabin when something grabbed her attention. Somebody was arguing with the security guard.
- I am going inside. I am in pain dammit. I want to see the dentist.
- Sir, the consultation is over. Madam is...
- Get lost you idiot! Let me go inside.
Ishita rushed to the main door and was surprised to see a man smartly dressed in a branded blue suit barking rudely at the poor security guard who was clearly very intimidated. The man was clearly not in his senses. A drunkard dressed in suit and boots! Have Mumbai progressed so much? Ishita thought.
- Will you please stop shouting? The security guard is right. We are closing.
- This is an emergency! I need immediate treatment. This bloody tooth is killing me. Are you the secretary? Call the dentist. He is a professional and he will...
- I AM THE DENTIST. And I am telling you that I can't. It is late and you are clearly not in your senses. So please leave!
Ishita turned away but felt her wrist being grabbed from behind. Obfuscated she wriggled to free her arm, ready to fire that shameless man but he was quicker than her.
- Dentist ho toh dentist ke tarah behave karo! A patient is here in pain and instead of behaving like a professional you are behaving like a pea size brain female...
- Behave yourself Mr...
- Raman Kumar Bhalla!
- Mr Bhalla , mind your tongue. Firstly I am not your maid. Secondly I am a pediatric dentist and even if I can, I refuse to treat a drunk person...
Ishita had no time to complete her sentence.
- Why? Maine sharaab pee hain apne dimaag nahin! What do you think? I will misbehave with you? Sorry to disappoint you but I will not. Because firstly I never force myself on a woman and secondly you are simply not my type.
Ishita gasped at the rude man in front of her. He definitely had one uncontrolled razor blade tongue. She immediately understood that it was futile arguing with him. She was no fighting cock and this man seemed to be an expert in it. She didn't want to call the police and create a scene there too.
- Ok! Let's go.
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Six months later they were meeting again and as abrupt as it was on their first encounter.
Ishita felt her mouth completely dry as his eyes scanned her face till their eyes clashed.
Affaire a suivre...😳
Edited by omshreejaanu - 9 years ago
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