Ecoutez Moi, Love!
~1~
"Green, pink or lavender?"
His brow wrinkled deeply, eyes refusing to open just yet, even as the sound of her voice could not fail to register with his slumber affected head, and be recognized. Formal, and informal greetings she had foresaken, of course, cause she rarely bothered with the whole 'hey I'm so and so' triviality, but her alter opening was majorly elusive, even by her usual conveniently non-explicit standards ... "Nik-ki...? he managed, sounding deeply hoarse and croaky himself, as if heavily drugged; a consequence technically of being woken up from the shortest spell of sleep that he had barely earned for himself after 40 hours of none.
"Holy gee AM! You're sleeping!" The few words he may just have mumbled in response were smothered by a wide consuming yawn. The few seconds of silence prompted her to continue expressing utter displeasure. "You don't mean to tell me you're already in bed at 8PM? I thought your Friday psychiatry shift never went past noon? You can't be reduced to such dead meat state, you better say no!"
"I ... no ... why ... yes I sort of ..."
"And now you're struggling with one straight sentence, awesome!"
"But ... "
"There's no scope for a but here! You're insensitive about us. We're hundreds of miles apart, and you never make plans for weekend visits anymore and it has always been like this for so long and now you don't even consider calling me during your meal breaks so I know what's been up with you and when I finally can hold up my pride no longer against my worry I make a call myself and find you're doing what? Catching a lovely beauty sleep?!"
"Nikki," he begun resignedly, more awakened than he could have expected himself to be so soon, even if not half as refreshed as he would have hoped. "I was ... never mind. You called?"
"I called?! Why yes I did!" She was so unstoppable with her tirade, that his passive reaction went down as 'disinterest' rather than a more concern worthy something. "Is there something wrong with me considering calling my guy at least 'once' a day?" The 'my guy' bit twisted something inside him. Her guy was Armaan Malik, not him. He was Abhimanyu Modi. But that aside, she wasn't being all that unfair in wrecking this wrath upon him. He had avoided her most entirely for almost two days now. She didn't know the reason, and explaining that was what had exactly kept him sort of incommunicado as far as she was concerned. Who was he fooling, he'd never escape her, or even want to. He wanted all of this to get right, he wanted her to know the truth, the entire truth, oh why had he ever started off with a lie in the first place. A little voice inside him told him because it had not mattered as it did now, back then.
"HELLOOO?!" His eyes jerked open. Wide open. Miserably he rubbed a palm over the ear she had screamed into, and grudgingly made to sit up in his bed, finding his way out of the sheets that had rolled themselves around him, while simultaneously searching for the switch to the bedside lamp. "Armaan Malik, I warn you to start speaking up if ..."
"I'm here," he said hastily, mostly because the entire deal of hearing her call him by that name wasn't helping his survival ... what would happen when she learned of the truth?
"That helps!" She muttered, barely appeased.
"I'm here, and I'm listening to you Nikki ... and I'm sorry ..." he paused meaning the apology so much as he had never meant in his life, though not for the reason she would imagine. Then realizing he had lapsed into a silence again, he went on, "I think ... I ... " he fumbled with words again as the golden glow of the lamp momentarily blinded him. Oh he was so tired ...! And he couldn't tell her anything about it ... not just yet. Because then... he'd have to explain about the entire ... well, he couldn't. "I'm sorry the signal snapped I think ... what were you saying again?"
Nikki didn't answer him right away. Something about the humble conceding in his voice and words quietened her. She had definitely woken him up - but it wasn't like him to be sleeping in so early anyways. And she'd gone on telling him off and what not without inquiring about the basic why. And now, she assumed from the greater alertness of his voice, despite its somewhat lingering slowness, that he had been woken enough so as not to just crash back unaffected by the interruption. Suddenly, she felt all guilty about it.
"I ..." she begun, stopping herself from asking the obvious question, cause it also only occurred to her, that he wasn't making effort to explain himself. "How're you doing?" He was taken aback by her asking. Had he been dreaming about the rant she had begun this call with? The tender note of her words made him smile, bitter sweet.
"I'm ... better ... now that I've heard your voice." It was a solemn reply. Mentally he bid himself to drop the gravity or she would sniff the trouble. And that could get very, very ugly. "I'm glad you called Nikki." He added anyways, cause coming up with an impromptu deviation to the topic was just not happening with how preoccupied his thoughts were at the moment.
Nikki's mind was indeed working at a furious pace. Something was wrong, and if her intuition was not enough to tell her as much, all signs about him were glaring. She wanted desperately to know what and why. And yet, it seemed to her the moment was not yet come. Fine then, she mused, she would give him his time and space. If only she could stop worrying about the mystery of it meanwhile ...
"So ... erm ... did you end getting held up by the senior doctor for a longer session than usual?"
"Hmm." he responded briefly. Not trusting himself to word another lie. Which senior doctor could hold him up, Abhimanyu Modi, a senior himself in the Neural Department. But how was she to know that? What she did understand was that he was only excusing himself on a false alibi, one that she had offered him knowingly, in the effort of not pressing him for the truth. He couldn't be anymore thankful, and he'd never know how to do without her presence in his life anymore. He'd tried, two long days, involving himself with every case that came to his unit, in vain. At the end, he was one hell of a tired surgeon, who had to walk out on a major operation because his eyes would refuse to focus on the needle anymore. Thankfully there had been another senior to fill in for him - or he dreaded to think what may have become of the patient. No, he had decided driving back, this would not do. He could not expect to keep his personal dilemma at bay at the cost of his patients.
"Armaan?" He flinched, at the soft note of his voice, and at the name it was spelling. Then taking a deep breath he said, "Let's not talk about me for now. How've you been?"
"Worried." she replied, honestly.
"I'm sorry Nikki. I should have called. Its just ... anyways, you did instead. Thank god one of us has better sense. Now tell me what were you saying?"
"You mean you want me to repeat all of the 'you're an irresponsible boyfriend' lecture again?" She inquired in a childlike cute way, and inevitably, it made him smile, even if crookedly.
"No ..." he said with a light chuckle, which she heard and felt brief relief about, "I mean ... what was all that about the colors in the beginning."
"Colors? Oh! Oh, yeh, jeez, how did I forget?! So I was calling to well ... you know that potluck I mentioned? The one my new neighbors are hosting? By the way, the guy is just fine, but his girlfriend, goodness, she's a loud screechy, whining, ordering, arrogant, narcissistic ...
"Ahem!"
"Sorry, I get carried away! But she is all that, and quite more, trust me! Anyways so I have to totally show her who's better tonight, and I was hoping you could pick one for me - green, pink or lavender." Abhimanyu had to laugh, even though he kept it quiet. Shaking his head he said, "How about black, brown or blue?"
"AM!" she exclaimed, demanding. His fist tightened over the phone. Well, at least there was this silver lining of sharing common initials with 'Armaan Malik' - AM still felt like it could be him. "Hello? ..." Her reminder softened the scowl that was coming on.
"Okay, how about ... lavender?"
"Yeh? Awsome! I'll call you back in 20." He quipped hurriedly before she could cut the call on him.
"Nikki...?"
"Yeh?"
"Erm ... how long will you be?"
"I just said twenty!" She said with a little happy smile. After quite a while, and quite was to be highlighted here, he had sounded like the guy he had been at the start of their affair, always calling her, keeping her up late nights, and imploring to her for '5 more minutes' every time she said she must hang up ...
"No ... I mean, how long will you be out tonight?" Tentatively, she held back on her breath. In anticipation, and speculation. Were they finally going to talk all night on a call - like they used to before, a time that felt so far away - she had thought they were done with that exciting part of the early relationship ...
"Why ... do you ask?" she whispered, half hoping, half fearing what he may tell her.
"Well I ..." he stopped, knowing he couldn't give her the real reason. There was no telling what all she would imagine about his being in town right that moment, some 10 minutes of drive away from her. What was he doing here, why had he not told her, and if this was even his twisted idea of a surprise, why was sleeping at 8PM instead of being with her ... the questions would be endless, and he just could not let her be so prepared in expecting him this time. He had flown into the eastern metro, so tired, and the matter for which he had arranged to be here this weekend, with her, was so very convoluted, and even more important, that he didn't trust himself with a confrontation without at least a recovering few hours of sleep. He had taken a room in the hotel closest from the 'Med Ghetto', as the students lovingly named their campus residence, and crashed into the bed without a change of clothes or a bite to eat. These few minutes of being on a call with her however, had revived him more than a fitful sleep could have, he supposed. "Just feel like a chat ..." He told her quietly.
Her smile widened. She thought about the last couple months and the kind of distance she had felt creep between them. No, he had still always been every bit as considerate and loving in his moments - even in their inevitable regular doze of trivial arguments was a comfort of intimacy she always would seek - but something had still changed. Initially she had dismissed it on account of his work load - after all, clinical year was meant to hard, and beyond it kept getting tighter, at least for a while - medical was not the easy field of study, even lesser when one was just a student and still had a long way to go before establishing oneself, whatever else its charm may be! But gradually, it had become odd between them - starting from few times a week, to at least once a day, they would have extremely clipped, rather formal quick talks on the phone, not the fight-and-hangup kind, or the hurried ushering of 'love you(s)' while rushing to or from work, but the remain distant and neutral and monosyllabic kind. Sometimes they would start off just fine, and then somewhere in the middle she would lose him, he would abruptly, for no reason she could fathom, become really quiet and just 'hmm' and 'yeh' before ultimately claiming a pager buzz sooner than expected. Yes. There had been a certain pattern which had felt like feeble estrangement to her, and now, the past two days, he had not called her once! She had gone from being in wait, to being angry, to being hurt and furious at once, to pretending indifference, to finally worrying like crazy. Back from a long day of lectures and anatomy demonstrations, for she was still in her second year at Med school, she had been undecided over the potluck today, and so tensed about not hearing from him that she didn't think she could keep up a cordial farce for anyone in the world. And so, she had called him. And now, with his latest words, she was so glad she had. It was like a moment of rediscovering the man she had found her love with.
"Well ..." she said, rolling the 'l' phonetic more in a teasing, somewhat coy manner, "I can bail myself out of that potluck and just stay at home ... if you insist enough ..." A second time he could help laughing, though a little. She was such a child at times, such an adorable child! How could he not be so in love? His face hardened at that cause it reminded him of the nasty business he had come for. "Let me clarify that if you sit smiling at the other end of the phone AM, I shall absolutely not be persuaded to miss the potluck."
"And I thought I heard you calling your dear hostess all those lovely names not so long ago?"
"Good food is worth some casual trouble when one is as famished as I am." she answered back tartly. It reminded him, among other thoughts, how truly hungry he was himself. Not only had he over worked himself, but he had also skipped meals cause taking those breaks made him restless about not calling her. A handful of granola bars was all he had eaten in the past 40 hours. Not to mention the pots of coffee that he had not kept count of.
"I suppose I can't disagree with you there."
"Then you should think of something smart and convincing to say to me real quick."
"Say Nikki, what lavender dress were you going to wear for the potluck anyways?"
"Dress?! I see you're buying yourself time. But for your very ill-updated information, I don't have a lavender dress."
"You don't right? I thought as much ... but then you were asking me to chose ..."
"Oh you mean green, pink and lavender? That was for the food."
"WHAT?" She giggled rolling her eyes at his first loud word. "I thought..."
"Its for what I should wear?"
"Well no I wasn't exactly thinking what it may be, but only clothes seem to make sense, more than food anyways. I've never eaten anything 'lavendar'." She could just imagine him string the last word in the air as he spoke it, a typical of him.
"I assure you neither have I." she shot back, giggling more. He frowned at her secret joke while stifling a yawn. "I just asigned three options to three colors. Mushrooms for green, chicken for pink, fried rice for lavendar." His eyes rose in mild amusement at her answer, but the smile was hard to keep away. Such a way to make decisions!"That's very... girly ... you know," he said, through a yawn, working his way out of the sheets which were really entangled around him now. "Bingo! I'm glad the news that you're dating a 'girl' has finally hit you. And now, since you still haven't come up with one good reason to keep me from ...""Actually, there is a reason." he said interrupting, pouring himself a glass of cold water from the jar that had been placed by room service. "Which is ...""I can't tell you ... yet." She would have scoffed him to be trying bluff with her, but there had been no insinuation of any jest in his words."Why don't you ... err ... what were those options again, yeh, cook the pink and green in lavender? And I shall call you back in 20?" She narrowed her eyes curiously, before knowing the question to ask. "What exactly are you trying to ...""Please Nikki. No questions, 20 minutes. Then I shall answer them all." His tone was so serious, she knew not a way to disagree. "Okay," she said, "Okay, 20 minutes. I'm waiting ..." "And I shall not keep you any longer. I promise." The last of his words held more meaning than she would have known, even if her intrigue was getting the better of her. "Love you ..." he murmured before flapping shut the cell. He took in a deep breath, gave a quick look to the watch on his wrist, then looked at himself in the mirror - still in the formals he'd been wearing for two days now, and the shoes were on, cause he'd not even cared about taking them off before crashing onto this hotel bed. Well, he was here now, and he'd promised her no more wait ... evidently, the time had come to spill some beans. ************************************
hello everyone! i'm new to the thread, and even to the very gang of AN fans - but coming upon this thread, something of an idea occurred to me, and it seemed like i could do a short story - when i say short, i'm hoping for 2 chapters, and expect not more than 3!
would love to hear back your views on this first chapter of the 2 or 3 that there will be! and, i shall be posting the next one within 24 hours =)
ps: the title Ecoutez Moi, Love! means hear me out love/listen to me, love! When i mention clinical year, it implies, in terms of numbers of years in the US medical study system, the third year at med school - which in general means third year of masters for other disciplines. if there is any other doubt, i'd be glad to clarify!
until chap 2 then,
cheers,
nj
*****
Apologies everyone, this is coming in 2 times 24 hours which was how long i was supposed to have taken - but my hard disk suddenly decided to come up with a head of its own and started threatening me with smart failures and all - i freaked out pretty bad, cause there is so much of lab stuff on this ONE hard disk, that i couldn't even think of letting it crash and die out on me ... spent a good 10 hours from yesterday to today backing up my data and its all done now!
To cut my rant short, i somehow lost the file that contained the earlier version of this chap 2 and had to redo it much to my agitation! but while doing so, i figured i wanted to take it another way (as i have done now) than the way i had in the original version. just like i had anticipated, it doesn't finish here, in 2 chapters, although it was meant to with the original version ... but in this chapter, although i linger on more with the mystery of armaan and abhimanyu - i give away some points for the readers to toy with - while adding a lighter AN reaction ... not entirely a necessary addition, but i had fun doing it, which is good for me, considering i had to do chap 2 twice!
Aite, enough from me - enjoy reading! AND, don't forget to leave the feedbacks!
Ecoutez Moi, Love!
~2~
The snow flakes were falling big and heavy but they never made a sound. Softly, each flake touched upon the brown and gray contours of the ground. To disappear into anonymous few drops of water. He grudgingly marveled the ease with which they lost their identities. If only it was possible for him ...
The over cast skies were so low upon the city, so ready to open up and let go of what they had held back upon too long - Abhimanyu wondered if nature was conspiring to become a reflection of his present state of mind. He quickened his pace keeping his head low and burrowed into the raised collars of his over coat, while his feet, which had once upon a time been accustomed to these icy sidewalks and unpaved inner trails alike had not forgotten the trained caution in their steps, without his active attention now.
It was only late in fall for the first snow to already have been falling all day today. Certainly, the winter was come far too early this year.
He thought back of the time he had been a student in this same campus - late nights out and repeated snoozing of the morning alarms, the grudging awakening when the sun finally became too bright to avoid even with eyes tightly shut, the sight of the white blanket from the dorm passage windows which would make one stop in their step and smile the silly smile however groggy with sleep one may be, the mid day snow fights on the Central Diag in between classes, the range of snowmen with all kinds of props imaginable usually built by girls and occasionally by the guys who were talked into the kiddie play by their pouting sulking girlfriends ... it was four years ago that he had last witnessed the falling of this first snow on the campus he had graduated from. And four years ago, that life had been only ever as complicated as it could be on a night before an exam one was most likely to fail, or the morning after a drunkard frat event which gave horrible headaches and occasional memories to be embarrassed and teased about ...
For all the emotional welling Abhimnayu had fought to keep at bay, a strong sense of nostalgia filled him. He missed being a boy now that manhood had been completely attained. And momentarily his eyes stung threateningly. In an undertone he cursed the frigid air and blinked rapidly before regaining his overt composure again.
So many times, over the last few months, he had heard her talk of professors and lecture halls, take home tests and anatomy lessons, campus cafes and bar crawl Fridays, and so much of everything that had been as much a part of his own life as it was her own now. Except, she didn't know one real thing about his side of the story. His, for her convenience, was the make believe world of Armaan Malik, a Med student like herself, enrolled at an esteem midwestern Med school. When fact was that the hospital unit of the same college was where he had been a fellow for over a year, before being hired on their staff as a surgeon. He was over six years her senior, as opposed to the one year she had been led to believe.
So caught up in his thoughts between the past and present he was, that when he finally stood at her doorstep, he realized he hadn't been quite aware of the roads and streets crossed while making way from the hotel to her apartment. For a moment he just watched the snow flakes fall and melt upon the little shrubbery beside the pathway to her door. Finally, grim, but resolved, he pulled his cell and speed dialed her number.
*********
Nikki stood mulling over thoughts, while occasionally stirring the contents of the pan, absent mindedly, her gaze stuck mid air, unblinking. She'd been trying to gather the pieces of facts she knew, and put them together to make sense. A rather futile attempt, considering she didn't have all the pieces yet. It didn't stop her from endlessly contemplating. Awaiting an explanation was hard, and here she couldn't even figure what the explanation was to be for?
Somewhere in the background, she had the kitchen radio playing, to an empty kitchen, barring her, its inattentive audience ...
Can't stop the rain from falling down, oh
Can't stop the world from turnin' round, oh
Can't stop my heart from loving you
No,
no [No, no], no matter what you do, baby ...
It had been Christmas time last year, when they met the first time. A bunch of high profile Christians who happened to be major donors to his college hospital funds had succeeded in getting the administration to organize a festive season Cancer Awareness week, which in addition to the few talk sessions that were typical of any cause oriented event, had included much else, remaining considerate about time of the year and the consequent mood of the participants. A smart decision for their fund raisers - the Christmas day fete, couple days of rally around the four campus quads, and ... the eventful winter ball on New Year's eve ... had raised quite an amount for their cause.
Why she had chosen to be there instead of spending time with her own family in the south, while additionally escaping the bitter winter, was not one reason to explain - although the prominent one could have been her unwillingness to spend another break shuttling between the homes of her real mother and step father, and real father and his current girlfriend. The only reason she ever went back to visit her scattered family was to spend time with her twin step siblings, both boys and 7 years each, whom she was absolutely fond of. But somehow, last winter, even that had not persuaded her into not spending another holiday without experiencing the spirit of celebration in the air, unaffectedly. She knew being alone was something she had not tried before, but when she'd seen posters of the Cancer awareness week outside the office of her Department Chair, she had proceeded to take her chance and volunteer. She had never been to that side of midwest before anyways, and if nothing, she could spend time exploring a new city - what better time could there be than Christmas.
Looking back at all the things that had led to her participation in the week long events, she had always found herself pinning it down as a fateful decision to have made, one that had eventuated her meeting Armaan Malik.
A shrill ringing from her cellular, tore her out of the reveries of the past, and she most certainly missed a beating of her heart before registering it as such.
"AM," she muttered, leaving aside the laddle, the pan, and its contents, not before she had lowered the flame of the stove, and rushed to get it from the TV couch across from the kitchen in her studio apartment.
"Hey!" she said, somewhat rushed. "You called ... " her eyes checked the wall clock and she completed, "In 19 minutes!"
"I did say I wont hold you up didn't I?"
"You did." He could hear her smiling through those words, and it did good to his nerves, which weren't relaxing no matter how much he tried. "But there are times you don't keep your word, so I can't be certain." The tone of her blame was only of harmless teasing, but given his own prevalent thoughts, he couldn't help feeling guilty.
"Are you done cooking?" He could do with a good filling meal, and he could do with a temporary change of topic.
"Its getting done, but I can keep talking. Or you can, and I will listen." It was a mild hint from her, a hint of unassuming assurance, cause whether he had said it out loud or not, she had sensed his need to talk. As in, him talking, her listening. Would he ever find a way to be worthy of this girl? Clearing his throat, he rung the doorbell, heard it in person, and heard it resounding in his phone.
Then promptly, he quipped, "Someone's at your door ..."
"There is ... wow, you heard the bell?"
Double heard, he wanted to correct her but didn't, even if she was this close from discovering his physical presence so close to herself. And for that one moment, he couldn't help a small smile from warming his otherwise cold lips - for the instant, before the gravity of the evening would set in and begin to play spoilsport, she was bound to award his person at her doorstep with the most priceless reaction he could imagine. Because even the brief happy anticipation of meeting her did little to ward away the chill that was settling upon his now stationary form, he shuffled his feet, and nestling the headset between his ear and the right shoulder, gave his hands a rub.
"Go on and get the door!" he urged her, then realized it was a little too much urging to sound impersonal, and added hastily, "I mean ... it must be freezing outside with the snow and all ..."
"Snow? How did you know it was ... snowing here?" Her suspicion was not misfound, and he wished she would be a little slow to catch on things once in a while.
"I ... er... from the weather forecast."
"You had time to check the weather in New York, but not call me once?" This time, there was an edge of complaint in her words, in addition to the suspicion. He rolled his eyes, and rubbed his hands with greater vigor than before.
"Nikki, sweetheart, can we talk about all my insensitivity after you attend to your doorbell? Cause however callous I may be, with your own considerate attributes you cannot allow a guest to freeze and die upon your doorstep."
"Hmm... yeh ..." she murmured making way towards her main entrance, and he could hear the shuffling inside of the door on his phone, given the stillness outside. Then abruptly, he thought there was no movement.
"AM ..." she started tentatively, "Who would it be at this hour on a Friday night? I mean ... I'm certain I'm expecting no one." It took effort for him to keep the curse on the tip of his tongue unspoken. Aloud, that is.
"You're never going to find out if you don't go open the door." He said, not sounding too warm, cause well, how could he, when warmth felt like such a far cry with all the delay.
"I know ... but ... " she paused, and Abhimanyu was seriously tempted to tell her it was him, and if she could please, PLEASE let him inside! "You know what, I'm going to run up and grab my pepper spray first ..."
"WHAT?!"
"Hush! Stop yelling!"
"Why?!" he said unable to cut the sarcasm, cause this was getting tiresome now, "You think the stalker on your door may have supersonic auditory skills to detect my pitch from inside of your phone?"
"Hush! No! Its cause I thought I heard someone's voice outside just this second ..." she paused, then grasping his mean remark a tad bit late, retorted back, "And you will do yourself good by not being mean to me after ignoring me two whole days!"
Awesome, he thought resignedly, just awesome! Why were girls oh-so-impossible to deal with!
"Fine," he said in a whisper, not just to obey her bidding, but because it was him she had heard outside of course. Although, come to think of it, why was he hiding the existence of a human on her door ...? "Exactly!" he exclaimed, "Of course you can hear someone, cause hello? ... you just heard your door bell ring, and that can only happen if someone is at your door to ring it, right?"
"That's very enlightening Armaan Malik. What would I do if it weren't for you?!"
It wasn't her jab that reminded him of his primary purpose, but the name she had called him. At least she would stop calling him that after tonight, he mused, although there was a bright possibility that she would stop calling him anything at all after everything ...
"Well are you going to open the door or not?" He asked her simply.
"Actually, now that you put it that way, maybe I wont. Whoever it is can just tire of waiting and go back." Oh no, he thought desperately!
"But ... what if its someone you know. I mean, it could just be a harmless unexpected guest ... you know?"
She didn't answer him right away, and he prayed something would make her open the door and let him in ... or he was so going to tell her it was him - why wasn't he already doing that again? ... No bright reason ... except, the surprise was better this way, and he still cared about catching that reactionary expression on her face ...
"If it is someone I know, they can call me and say they are at my door and ringing the bell ... yes. Someone I know would do that ... I'm sure."
Abhi inhaled with effort, to calm himself, and also because breathing was becoming laborious with the extreme cold descending upon him. It would have done him good to be more prepared for this weather - say a hat, gloves and an extra thermal inside ... but his plan had been so sudden, he only had the one over coat upon him which he'd worn yesterday morning while leaving his home for the hospital. That time in a well heated car, to be inside a well heated hospital - it wasn't meant to shield him from the weather he was subjected to now!
"Hello?! AM? You listening to me? What do you think?"
"Uh ... yeh ... yeh I am ... Nikki ... I ... I still think you should open the door and see who it is." Nikita frowned to herself, pulled her phone off the ear and gave it a weird look wondering why he wouldn't let go of the issue ... did he not see her point, or was he so unconcerned with her safety? "What if ... what if its ... you know ... " he fumbled on, urgently seeking himself to come up with something convincing, "What if its your neighbors? Yes! The new ones, who's potluck you're missing?" He was relieved, and even pleased with himself to have come up with this ... Meanwhile, having seated himself on the freezing step outside her door, the cell cradled between left ear and left shoulder now, he continued to rub his hands and shoulders to instill surviving warmth.
"You think so ...?" she begun thoughtfully, then went on, "AM, how did you guess that, you could be bang on!" He wanted to tell her there was no intelligence involved in the guess, only dire need ... but yet again, he remained quiet as she continued, "You know I excused myself on the pretext of having caught a chill and ... maybe ... oh I know what!" she exclaimed as if with sudden realization, and he only wished with all his might that she would cut short her talking and let him into the house now. In a much lower voice than the already subdued volume, she went on in the way of explaining, "Why that witch! I bet she's here to check on me, to make sure I wasn't just lying and backing out ... Her gall to be so presumptuous!"
Transiently, Abhimanyu couldn't help chuckle, and be amused. Poor dear missy new neighbor, who was getting cursed behind her back for no real fault of her own! Oh Nikita Malhotra, he thought feeling inevitably fond of her naive ways, you're such a child!
"Well good for her to be freezing outside, that snoop! I'm not opening the door and she can go back without getting the satisfaction of having caught my lie!"
A part of him wanted to laugh out loud, but another part of him felt such immense self pity at her final verdict, that laughing was out of question. Plus he was so cold, he doubted his facial muscles and jaw would be obliging enough to even smile now. At the very thought, his teeth began to chatter.
"AM?!" she said promptly, in obvious concern, and he pursed his lips to stop himself, as shivers went through his entire body in recoiling. "Are you ... were those your teeth ... I mean ... where are you?" It was his chance. He just had to tell her he was at her door step and the worst would be past. He had almost given into the temptation too, but his words seemed to have a mind of their own.
"I ... I'm in my bed ... I mean ... erm ... I just got out of the comforter and ... brrrr ... its ... its cold!" There was no act involved in the latter bit. It came naturally, from how true it was at the moment.
"Well then get on a robe or something duh!"
Soundlessly, Abhimanyu pounded his head thrice with a soft fist. Was there anyway he could convince her to open the door? Anyway that is, without telling he was waiting for her to? Yet again, he shivered, not quite inaudibly.
"Armaam Malik get your robe on before ..."
"I am ..." he cut her short, flinching at the name. Why couldn't she stick to AM? "I am ... looking for one ... I er ... haven't sorted out my clean laundry from yesterday yet." He lied, so easily, that the guilt of his bigger lie returned to turn him grave.
"Someone's organized ..." she muttered. "Anyways ... so ... erm ... you said you felt like a chat?" Another subtle reminder that she was waiting.
He couldn't get himself to be appreciative of her understanding this time, cause here he was at her doorstep, freezing to death, because she had to wreck vengeance upon a mean missy new neighbor!
"Nikki ... I think you should ... "
"Please! Please, do not say you're still hung up on the doorbell." Of course I am, he thought, shaking his head. "She must have already gone AM, cause I don't hear a sound no more and ..."
*DING DING*
"She hasn't I suppose," he quipped hopefully, having taken her cue and rung the bell again.
"Why that little piece of varmint, she can't be serious about ... "
"Time out Nikita Malhotra!" Abhimanyu cut her short. "You know, I'm sorry I suggested it might be her, cause .." he almost got himself to tell her the truth, almost. "Cause, just in case its someone else, you've already had them half frozen to ice age folks and ... and that's not good."
"Hmm." she said after some seconds, and he dared to raise his hopes. "Okay ... maybe I'll go get my ..."
"No! No pepper spray please!" he literally pleaded catching her thought, "You don't want to blind them after killing them most nearly! Is it what against the statutes of the American Constitution to pay you a visit on a Friday night?! Geez! What's the big deal?!"
"Okay okay, peace!" she muttered, taken aback by his sudden reprimand. What was wrong with him! She was being more than nice to him and he ... Argh! On his side, Abhimanyu raised an exhausted head to the skies not so far above tonight - and saw more and more and more snow coming. The fact that he'd lasted so far made him stubborn about giving in now. Then again, how long could he keep on like this? He'd better just tell her and get himself inside.
"Listen Nikki ..." he begun, but this time she cut him short.
"Fine! I'm getting the door, happy?! But please keep civility lectures to yourself, really! After two days of not calling me up when I was so dead worried and ... " He tuned out to her remaining words, concentrating on the sound of movement inside once more, through the phone, and he couldn't help his long sigh! Oh thank heavens at last! Yes yes yes! He'd survived, and he would still manage to give her the wildest surprise of her life, woot! Before the second most wildest, and not quite the appealing way as the former...
"Armaan ...?" she said tentatively, and very, very softly ... so much, that the emotion of her voice, which was definite of worry and fear, distracted him from the agitation of being called the wrong name. "There's ... no ... no one at the door ..." she whispered, and it was now distinct, the fear in her voice.
"What?!" he shot back bewildered, his voice cracking, slightly from the cold, keeping its volume in check. "What do you mean? I mean ... how can ... how can that be? The bell just ... just rang!" Inside his head he was majorly confused. With a start he wondered if she'd moved houses and somehow not mentioned it to him? He'd been here last like over 3 months ago ...
"I know!" she whispered back ... "AM ... I'm ... I'm really scared now ... do you ... do you think ..."
"Hush Nikki!" He said in an assuring voice, cause she was sounding truly worried. Then cautiously, he asked, "How do you ... how do you know there is no one?" The door was still shut. How could she ...
"Well I'm looking through the door eye and I can't see a soul!" she explained. Huh? Oh! It struck him finally! He was sitting low on the step, too low for her to see from the door eye! Ha ha! This time, he really wanted to laugh out loud! Relieved, that he was at the right place, which really he should not have doubted now that he thought of it - cause how eerie would the coincidence of the doorbells be at her different house, same time as his own at this apartment! Ha ha, duh him!
"Er ... Maybe ... maybe its a parcel for you? Nikki, listen to me - just open the door." He said it with a collected assurance, "Trust me ..."
"Okay ..." she replied in a small voice, of a little girl, and he had the instant desire to hug her tight and cuddle her ... just as the door knob made the clicking sound, and the door opened upon him ...
She stared at him, her eyes widening slowly, but surely, as the sight of him took its own time to register.
"Armaan ..."
She finally whispered, sounding highly uncertain of her eyes, and her own voice ... Abhimanyu, this once at being called that name, could only smile. Genuinely. Because the sight of her in the sponge bob tee and pj's had gladdened her heart in a way that not even the name could undo .. for now ... In that one instant he believed he'd made the best decision of his life to fly down tonight ... to come to her ... so he could tell her all and never fear losing her again ...
Yes, he believed it would all work out. Somehow he did.
"Its Abhimanyu ..." he told her softly, getting up from the cold stone step, even as the weather had briefly ceased to affect him. "Abhimanyu Modi." He told her, simply, seriously, and earnestly.
And closed in on the distance between them. His smile widened at her doe like baffled eyes, which sought him, without blinking, and he had reason to believe she hadn't heard him yet. She was still getting over him standing there, before her. As if to prove his point, gently, he pulled her into a hug, and then, because she was so warm, and because the warmth was so welcome to his freezing self, and because it was her ... he couldn't help tightening the hug into much more than a greeting gesture.
"I missed you ... " he whispered into her hair, and the disbelief in her sort of left in that second, cause he found her fit into his arms and relax - like she had always been meant to ...
************
Edited by spln - 14 years ago
CID
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
473