OS:Saiyyan
by
Libra
HAPPY 1st. ANNIVERSARY KTLK
"Dr. Nidhi may I have a moment of your time please." Nidhi turned her head in the direction of the voice. " Yes sir". She looked at him with questioning eyes,"There's something important I need to talk to you about, please come to my cabin as soon as you have time".
"Yes sir. I will be there as soon as I can ". He nodded, and turned around and left.
On her way to his cabin Nidhi kept on thinking what he wanted to talk to her about. He had sounded very stern, and that made her nervous.
She knocked on his door, and when said "come in", she hesitantly opened it and went in, and closed the door behind her. "Sir, you wanted to see me?" Ashutosh looked up at her, and saw that she was looking at him nervously. He smiled and said,"Nidhi itna darri hui si kyon ho"?
- "Aap ko mere se koi baat karni thi Sir"?
- "Haan baat toh karni thi, par tum pehle batao, why are you looking so scared"?
- "Well, you sounded very stern, when you asked me to come to your cabin, so mujhe laga ke shayad mere se phir koi galati ho gai hai."
On hearing that, Ashutosh laughed and got up and walked over to her, and put his hand under her chin, and lifted her face so that he could look at her.
- "Nidhi, meri taraf dekho. Kya main tumhe naraz lag raha hoon"?
Nidhi lifted her eyes to look at him.
- "Nahin aap naraz toh nahin lag rahein hain. Phir wahan ward mein itne gusse se kyon bole the aap mere se"?
- "Nidhi, aur sab ke samne tum se kaise bolunga? Agar meri Awaz mein mai woh sab kuch aane deta jo mere dil mein hai, toh problem ho sakti hai na? Aur iss tarha se kisi ko kuch bhi out of place nahi laga. After all, I am famous for being Dr. Heartstone, toh agar mai stern nahi behave karunga, toh aur kaun karega? Waise bhi calling you hear for personal reasons was very unprofessional on my part".
Nidhi looked at him questioningly, confusion clearly written all over her face,
- "Personal reasons, Sir? Matlab maine koi galati nahi kari? Aapne mujhe yahan daantne ke liye nahi bulaya hai"?
- "Nahin maine tumhe daantne ke liye nahin bulaya hai. And Nidhi, since I have already said that I asked you her for personal reasons, can't we drop the Sir, part. Please."
Nidhi smiled shyly, and blushed. She sometimes, still had trouble believing that he loved her. But when he looked at her like the way he was now, well that kind of just turned her whole system topsy turvy, and her insides just went to mush.
Nidhi, also could not get over the fact that Mr. Stickler for rules and regulations, had just broken his own rules. That he had called her out of duties in the middle of the day for personal reasons, must mean that it was something important, otherwise he would never have done so.
- "Theek hai, thodi der ke liye, I will drop the" Sir". Ab aap batayiye kya baat hai? Must be important, jo aapne iss tarha se mujhe apne paas bulaya hai".
Ashutosh smiled and took one of her hands in his, which surprised her even more. Her Ashutosh was not one for these kinds of things. Up until now, ever since the day they had confessed their love, he had kept contact between them at a bare minimum, so the fact that he was holding her hand was really unusual, not that she was complaining, she loved it. And also, since these contacts were very few and far in between, and very brief when they did happen, she treasured them all that much more. Nidhi waited for him to speak.
- "I like the way you just said, that maine tumhe apne paas bulaya hai.
Because, that is exactly right, Maine tumhe apne paas bulaya hai.
Nidhi I was wondering...you know...if are ...if you can... What I mean is that, if you are free...and if you feel comfortable enough with me... Please have dinner with me this evening, at my house"?
Nidhi's eyes widened in surprise, and she laughed delightedly.
- "Itni si baat thi, bas? Aur main dar gayi thi, ke pata nahin kya hua?
Issme itna sochne ki baat toh bilkul bhi nahin thi, you should have just said, you wanted me to come for dinner. Aapko kya laga tha, mai aapko mana kardungi"?
- "Nahin...That is, I knew you would not say no, but you could have had other plans. I didn't want to assume, I mean, it's only polite to ask first, yeah? Pehle poochna toh chahiye na"?
- "Dr. Ashutosh, mere aur Aapke beech mein ab yeh polite hone ki bhi zaroorat hai kya? Theek hai, aage se main bhi aapse koi bhi zid karne se pehle, yah hamare liye koi bhi plans banane se pehle pooch lungi. I guess I was being kind of pushy and rude, just assuming that I could make plans without consulting you, and assuming you would want to go along. Next time se I promise, I will confirm with you first".
- "Nidhi, you don't have to do that. I like it jab tum mere saath zid karti ho. Mujhe achcha lagta hai jab tum mere upar apna haq samajhti ho. It feels good that you know I belong to you".
- "Agar aap ko achcha lagta hai jab mai aise karti hoon. Then, how do you think I feel when you hesitate to make even the tiniest demands, and act formal with me. I want to know that you feel I belong to you also. Achcha, chodiye, yeh sab baatein toh shyam ko bhi ho sakti hain, when i come to dinner. But I have to go now, abhi bahut kaam hai. Agar finish nahin kare to dinner par der ho jayegi, and mere boss se bhi mujhe daant padegi, for not finishing my work".
Ashutosh smiled,
- " I promise, aapko aapke boss se koi problem nahin hogi aaj. Mai unko samjha doonga. But, yes, by all means go get back to work. And Nidhi, jaldi aane ki koshish karna shyam ko. I'll be waiting".
That one sentence of his, "I'll be waiting", carried her through the rest of the day.
Nidhi went home to get ready, and made sure that she did everything she could to look extra nice for him. She wore a blue colored chiffon saari, because blue was his favorite color, with a narrow golden border, and a golden colored matching blouse. She also wore matching accessories, golden and blue bangles, blue bindi, and a pair of turquoise earrings. She also knew that Ashutosh did not like too much make-up, so she left that at a minimum.
When Ashu opened the door for Nidhi, he could not take his eyes off of her. She looked stunning, an absolute vision of loveliness. It pleased him, and made him extremely happy to know that she had dressed up because she wanted to look beautiful for him. He smiled and gestured for her to come in, and closed the door. Inside, Nidhi turned to him and blushed, when she saw him staring at her.
- "Dr. Ashutosh, aap aise kyon dekh rahein hain mujhko"?
- "Kyon ke tum itni sunder lag rahi ho ke tumpar se aankhen hi nahi hataa pa raha hoon".
Nidhi was absolutely delighted, and totally floored. She had never heard him talk way ever before. But his intense stare also made her feel very shy, so she tried to change the topic.
- "Accha toh ab mujhe batayiye, ke aaj aisi kya khaas baat hai, jo aapne mujhe dinner par yun invite kiya hai"?
- "Kyon mujhe koi wajah chahiye tumhare saath waqt bitane ke liye. I just wanted to spend some time with you. I know that we see each other everyday at the hospital, but its not the same. I miss you. We haven't had any time alone together, since we had dinner together on valentines day. That's all. So, Dr. Nidhi, is that a good enough reason."
- "Yes. I have missed you too. So, where is HK, I will go and see if he needs any help in the kitchen".
- " Nidhi, no one is here but you and me. HK made dinner, before he left. I gave him the evening off".
- "Woh kisliyein"?
- "There are two reasons for that. The first one I have already told you. I wanted to spend some time with you, without any one around us".
- "And the second"?
- "The second, I have something that I want you to do for me. Just wait here for a second please, I need to go and get something from my bedroom".
And he hurried off, leaving Nidhi thoroughly confused. What did he want to ask her, she thought. A few second later he came out, and she saw that he was holding something in his hands. Ashutosh walked up to her and held out the blue tie that she had given him a couple of weeks ago.
- " I know you've been disappointed that I haven't worn this yet. I have seen it in you face everyday. At first I was hesitant because, I didn't know if something this bright would look good on someone my age. But later, I knew that it didn't matter. If this was what you wanted me to wear than that was all that was important".
- "Agar aapko yeh pataa tha, ke mujhe bura lag raha hai, and my preference mattered, toh phir aapne abhi tak kyon nahin pehna hai iss tie ko? Bahut man se layi thi aapke liye".
- "I know that Nidhi, and I am really really sorry. But, I was waiting for the right opportunity, first. Tumhe yaad hai, valentines par tumne mujhe apne kamre mein bula kar, mere haath on se woh necklace pehenna chaha tha, jo maine tumhe diya tha. Actually, I was waiting for the same thing from you. Mai chahta hoon, ke tum ye tie mujhe aapne haathon se pehenao, usske baad hi mai isse hospital pehenke aaunga. Pehenaogi na Nidhi, mujhe yeh tie apne haathon se"?
Nidhi, couldn't have spoken a word, even if her life had depended on it. He had left her totally speechless. The love in his eyes, and the total innocence of the way he asked her, told her in a way no words could ever have, how much she meant to him. So, with tears in her eyes, she nodded and took the tie from his hands. Ashutosh smiled at her with love and tenderness, and came closer to her and then, slowly, giving her enough time to say no, brought both of his arms out and placed his hands on her waist, and drew her still closer to him. Nidhi slowly put her hands on his chest and slid her arms around his neck, her eyes never never leaving his face, and proceeded to tie the tie. When she finished she smiled at him tenderly, leaned forward and gently put her head on his chest. Ashutosh sighed, and tightened his arms around her.
- "Nidhi for the first time in all my life I feel as if I have finally come home."
He felt the smile that came to her face.
- "Dr. Ashutosh, aapko to yeh baat aaj pataa chali hai. But jis din se mujhe pataa chala hai ke aap bhi mujhe utna hi pyar karte hain jitna ke main aapse karti hoon, mujhe uss din hi iss baat ka Ehsaas ho Gaya tha ke aapke bahon mein hi mera sab kuch hai. Aap bahut slow hain, after all age does slow a person down, hai na?"
Ashutosh laughed, at the teasing in her voice, and hugged her tighter to himself, unwilling to let her go just yet, feeling extreme peace at finally having her in his arms. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. And the way she fit so perfectly in his arms, proved to him that she had been put on this earth specially for him.
- "Nidhi, how about we drop the Dr part and just go with Ashutosh? It's about time don't you think?"
- "Ji, you are right, it is high time. I love you,...Ashutosh".
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