Part 19
Abhi stood under the shower, letting his anger slowly wash away with the cool water. The water, emerging in thin jets from the shower hit his back sharply, almost hurting. But it felt good.
He didn't know why he felt so angry all of a sudden. Nikki must have left the phone somewhere again.
But didn't she know he was going to call? Didn't she even expect him to call? And even if he forgot, she should have called him once…he didn't even get a missed call from her in the whole day.
Turning off the shower, he grabbed a fluffy white towel off the rack and dried himself, pondering over the fact that he hadn't heard his phone ring even once, and he had taken it into the shower with him.
Dried, he reached for his clothes. Making a face when he realised that he had forgotten to bring his clothes in his frustration, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom.
He walked over to his cupboard, droplets of water that had dripped from his hair glistening on his shoulders. He pulled out a pair of black tracks and pulled them on.
As if suddenly remembering something, he put his hands on his hips and turned around to glare at his phone, which lay innocently on the bedside table, on charge. Forgetting about the vest he had planned to wear, he closed the cupboard and walked to the phone, checking it for any proof of Nikki missing him.
Not finding any he moodily set the phone back down and lay down on the bed. After a few minutes of fuming, he switched the bedside lamp off, pulled the covers over his head and gave in to a fitful sleep, worried about how Nikki was doing and angry because they hadn't talked once in 24 hours.
*****
They packed their stuff into the car at the end of the medical camp. They would be leaving the next morning.
Akash looked sideways at Nikki, who was behaving very coldly towards him ever since their hug the previous day.
He couldn't understand why she was suddenly so distant. He hadn't even seen her smile once, and it was already almost evening.
Her phone rang, and she excused herself and walked over to a more private place.
"Hello?" she answered tentatively. It was Abhi who had called.
"Where are you?" his furious voice questioned her without a mere greeting.
"I…I'm at Paligaon, we're just pack-" she attempted to tell him that they would be on their way back tomorrow but he cut her off.
"I know where you are!" he snapped. "I meant where were you yesterday? I called you God-knows-how-many-times and you never picked up!"
"Abhi I-"
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" he continued on his rant, not letting her speak.
"Abhi I meant to call you but…"
"But what?" he asked sarcastically. "You forgot, right? You saw so many missed calls from me yet didn't even bother to ring me back? I was out of my mind with worry!"
"I understand that, but my phone didn't have any charge so it switched itself off and-"
"So where is Riddhima?" he sounded incredulously angry. "What happened to her phone? Jumped off the edge of a cliff? Or did that Mathur confiscate it in order to make her work in peace without being disturbed by lover boy?"
"Abhi will you listen to me?" she ignored his jibes at Akash and Armaan.
"No!" he fumed like a child in a candy shop whose mother had refused him his favourite chocolate. "I couldn't concentrate on my work the whole day, Nikki…it's almost evening! Didn't you even remember me once throughout the day?"
His tone had changed to a hurtful one. She immediately felt guilty for not having called him this morning. It was true that her phone had been switched off, but she had still refrained from calling him.
She didn't know what she would say to him, how she would explain what she had done yesterday. And to say the least, she feared for Akash's life. Abhi would skin him alive if he knew…and she didn't want to fight again.
But it looked like he was geared up for a fight. And she deserved it.
"Abhi…I'm sorry, I…" she drifted away, feeling bad about not talking to him.
"Nikki, why can't you call me once every day?" he asked tiredly, the anger still evident in his voice. "I worry for you. Have you forgotten that somebody cares?"
She found no answer to his question, and just stayed silent. As if it weren't enough that she had hugged Akash, even Abhi wasn't prepared to listen to her. He was angry, and she knew that it would be futile to talk it out with him. So she just let it go with a sigh.
"Abhi, I'll talk to you later…I…I need to go now", she said wearily.
He didn't say another word, just cut the call. She knew she would have to face his wrath once she got back. Well, angry or not, at least she could be near him. She could live with that.
*****
Abhi cut the call and set the phone down on the table with a loud thud. Even though he knew she had work to do, he was furious. And he had every right to be so. How could she ignore him like this?
He grabbed a file off the desk and turned the pages, glaring at each as if to burn a hole through it.
He looked up when he heard a knock on the door, and watched as Shehnaz walked in with her laptop and two files.
Settling herself on the chair opposite to him, she placed her things on the table and looked at him.
He was observing her with coldness in his eyes. Nikki, she thought mentally.
"Have you decided to kill me with your eyes?" she asked him sceptically.
"What?" he asked confusedly.
"Why're you looking at me like that?"
"Uh, nothing", he mumbled, and taking a deep breath, walked around the desk and pulled up a chair beside her.
"Let's get started", he stated professionally and opened her laptop.
Placing her hand on his, she stopped him from continuing with the presentation. He first glanced at their hands, and then at her.
"Tell me what's wrong", she said almost tiredly.
Slipping his hand away, he stared back at her quietly. She knew something was wrong. He was in a strange mood, she could figure that out. He seemed angry, confused, and miserable at the same time.
Nikki definitely had something to do with it.
"Abhi…" she implored, looking at him meaningfully.
"Nikki", he sighed.
"I know that", she answered crisply. "Tell me what happened between you two that's making you mope around so much."
"We haven't talked in the last two days", he complained. "I called her yesterday from home, but she didn't pick up. So I gave up…"
"And? She must've called in the morning, right?"
"No", his face displayed a mingled feeling of fury and hurt. "She didn't call, and didn't even send a message."
"Is she okay?" she asked concernedly.
"I think so", he answered. "That's what I was scared of. So I called her a few minutes ago and she said that her phone had been turned off due to lack of battery and then she forgot! Can you believe it?"
"Oh", she commented, not knowing what else to say.
He proceeded to roll the file and unroll it for lack of anything to do. Despite his sadness, she found his actions amusing. He looked like a little child.
"It's been two weeks, Abhi…how much more will you fight?" she asked after a while.
"I don't know. And it's her fault anyway, she was the one who didn't answer…I called!" he supplied the logic, and she heaved a sigh, knowing it was no use trying to knock sense into his head.
"Abhi…I heard that they're returning tomorrow", she spoke, and he looked up immediately.
"Really?" he asked, his face glowing with happiness, and she nodded in confirmation.
Suddenly, his expression changed to one of stubbornness, and she rolled her eyes.
"So? She chose to ignore me through two whole days…I've better things to do than look forward to her coming back."
"Achha?" she grinned.
"Yes", he raised his chin in defiance.
"You're impossible, Abhi. I'll see how you manage to stay away from her!"
He chose not the reply to that, which she found even more amusing.
*****
Nikki turned sideways on the bed, and fished under her pillow for her phone. Unlocking it, she was shocked to see that it was 1:30 am.
And Abhi hadn't called or sent a message after their conversation in the evening. Her guilt increased furthermore.
She typed a small message and sent it.
Sorry. I miss you.
Nikki.
***
Abhi's phone vibrated on the bedside table, making a loud irritating noise and waking him from his sleep.
Groaning in disapproval, he turned over and grabbed the phone off the table. Opening his eyes just a crack and making a face when the bright light hurt his eyes, he tried to make out without his glasses who had sent him the message.
Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that it was Nikki. The sleep immediately vanishing from his eyes, he opened it to read what she had sent.
A small smile graced his handsome face when he saw it. He typed a reply.
Miss you too. Goodnight.
***
She smiled when she saw the reply he had sent. She felt so relieved to know that he wasn't mad enough at her not to reply.
It was a good sign, she thought and slowly drifted off to sleep.
They left Paligaon early in the morning so they could reach Mumbai by the afternoon. Akash drove once again, and Nikki and Riddhima sat on the back seat.
Riddhima was busy texting Armaan who seemed even more excited since she was coming back, and was probably jumping with joy back at the hospital.
Nikki had actually fallen asleep, Akash noticed through the rear view mirror with a pout. She had been behaving strangely with him for the past two days. Yet, the rest of their days at the camp had been fun.
She did seem a little sad all through the 2 weeks but the last couple of days had been the worst. He was yet to figure out the reason for her coldness.
*****
Abhi walked into his cabin after three back-to-back meetings in the morning. It sure was a tiresome day.
Planting himself on his chair, he propped up one leg onto the other, and rested his head against the backrest, taking a deep breath.
He had given presentation after presentation in the meetings, and finally they had gotten the project. Now he could work in peace.
He needed to write an email to an investor. Straightening up, he opened his laptop to get started right away.
The wallpaper of the computer caught his attention. It was a picture of him and Nikki, taken during Armaan and Riddhima's roka. He had set it as the background while Nikki was away. At least he could smile at it while missing her.
She was wearing a pink strappy salwar kameez and he was clad in a white sherwani. He had his arm around her waist, and they were both beaming at the camera.
He wondered how he had managed to strike that pose, holding her waist, since they had been too busy fighting during that time. He thanked his stars he'd escaped alive despite daring to hold her waist. It must've been my lucky day, he thought with a smile.
That was the first time he had truly felt something for her, but he hadn't realised it. He recalled how he had tied the dori of her kameez, almost in a trance.
She had turned around, and looked at him bewildered, embarrassed. And he had noticed something else in her eyes.
Her beauty had overwhelmed him. He had never truly noticed how pretty she was before that. Her long, curly hair flew about her face, and she looked like an angel in her deep pink salwar, which looked wonderful on her ivory skin.
His hand had automatically risen to brush her hair out of her eyes, and he hadn't failed to notice how her eyes had closed slightly with his touch.
Her silky hair felt so soft in his hands. He'd wanted to touch her again, but she had moved away. He'd stood there, mesmerised by her simple beauty, looking at her.
But the beautiful moment had ended as abruptly as it had started. They had again fought over something inconsequential, and he didn't even remember the cause.
She had actually thrown her show at him, which hadn't hit him due to his fast reflexes. He remembered taking her shoe from Armaan and returning it to her sheepishly.
Even she had appeared flustered when he had made a small remark about the size of the heel. She had seemed unnaturally conscious of her height, or the lack of it, standing barefoot in front of him, her stiletto in his hand.
They had fought again over snide his remark, he thought with a small laugh.
They had fought so much…and it never mattered what they fought over. They just needed to argue over something. They needed an excuse to talk to each other, to be near each other.
Shaking her head slightly, he bit his lip and started typing the email. Who was he kidding. He missed her like hell.
CID
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
15