*
Finally finished, he shut down the laptop and closed it with a slight click, eliminating the last source of light in his study. The heavy rain had stopped, but remnants of lightning still flashed from time to time. As he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose Abhimanyu allowed his mind to wander as it did every night, to cross a boundary he had long ago set for himself and think of her.
Niki. Pain did not recede with time, memories never faded, and guilt...guilt was a price he would never stop paying. Work helped, but although Abhimanyu was a busy man there was never enough work to shut out this helpless self hatred.
As another flash weakly illuminated the room a figure caught his eye. Jiah was standing just beside the door, watching him. They remained still for just another split second, caught in a suddenly candid moment, Abhi disarmed by her unexpected appearance, by the unreadable expression on her face.
Only a split second.
"Abhi..." she moved forward, wrapping her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. She was familiar again, childlike annoyance plainly showing in her face. But her masked expression as she had watched him by the door lingered like an unpleasant taste, and he felt an urge to shiver that was completely unrelated to the cold. "Baby, this has gone on long enough, you have to come to bed. When was the last time you slept a whole night?"
"Look, Jiah, I'm the head of Sanjeevani," he began his customary reply.
"Yes, yes, I've heard your excuses, Boss of this huge hospital and everything. I understand, baba. Now - " she put her arms around his neck from behind, "are you coming, or not?"
"Jiah - it's late. Go to sleep, I'll be along in a minute."
Usually, it ended there. And Abhi would be dressed before Jiah was awake in the morning, ready with his coffee and prepared to drive to the hospital before she sat down to breakfast. But there was already something different about tonight, a tension that settled on his shoulders. He didn't want this conversation to continue. He firmly placed a hand over one of hers, now resting on his shoulders, and in as warm a voice as he could muster, asked her again to leave.
Her hands left his shoulders, and then she was in front of him, leaning against his desk.
"I don't think alldoctors work this much." She pouted. "Dr Keerthi always has time for a chat. And Niki - "
Their eyes met briefly before Abhimanyu looked away and began to rearrange a few papers. He stopped abruptly. Why had she paused?
"What about Dr Nikita?"
"Well, Niki isn't the best example," she smiled ruefully. "You two rub off on each other. I suppose you should stop spending so much time with her."
"Actually Jiah, I don't know Dr Nikita too well." He leaned back in the chair and looked up at her, keeping his tone light and dismissive. "She's a capable doctor, but until a few months ago she was only an intern. I've never spent too much time with her."
Jiah didn't reply immediately, and Abhi frowned, his stomach twisting slightly. He had trusted her - once upon a time. And suffered the consequences. So why didn't he feel more ready to face her? After all the pains he had gone to this time, to prevent exactly this - he still didn't feel prepared enough.
"She must have been a very good intern if you chose her above the others for the New Sanjeevani Project."
The words jolted him, perhaps the sudden dart from the past and the fact that she had reached a possible lead to the truth. As covert as his relationship with Niki had been, he sometimes worried that it was simply a matter of time - and the right questions, before Jiah would realise. Yet she remained so unsuspicious, so happy -
"What are you trying to say?" He was on his feet now, outwardly calm but alarm growing inside him.
She moved forward and hugged him, and Abhi stood frozen, trying to wonder who she could have talked to, any past records that she could possibly have come across.
She broke away and met his eyes. "Niki's a very beautiful woman, don't you think, Abhi?" She gave a little laugh and another quick hug, before turning to leave.
"I like her a lot, Abhi. I like Niki very much."
Well there you are! An Abhi-Jiah scene, and i apologise for the lack of AN romance, but since there is AN angst in the beginning, i thought it just qualified for this thread (and thank you Fatima, for pointing that out 😆...and all your patience last night while I was writing this 😛)
I thought Jiah's entry was okay but I've been lusting after an A-J scene for a while just give us a little backing on Jiah's character. Her own dirty true colours I'm sure she reserves for herself, but I always liked to think there would be a sense of anticipation and menace whenever it was just her and Abhi. So that's that I wrote.
Edited by anyalolita - 16 years ago
Udne Ki Aasha
