Chapter 2
“Akshara turn around”
Akshara slowly turned around. Was she dreaming? Otherwise, why would he be standing this close? And why would he call her Akshara? Why would he look at her like that? Why would he-
Her inner monologue was interrupted by a knock on the door and it startled her. Abhimanyu stepped back and Akshara stood to the side. She looked at him with apprehension. Who could it be? This was getting messier. She didn’t know if Aarohi was still with Neil or she was looking for her.
“Bhai?”
“Neil”, she whispered and smiled in relief. Abhimanyu opened the door and Neil stood outside looking at both of them.
“Neil! There you are! I got lost and then couldn’t find the lights. I even fell down”, Akshara rushed out of the door and grabbed Neil’s hand. “Where is she?”, she whispered.
“Neil, what is she doing here at this time?”, Abhimanyu asked.
Akshara looked around to see if Aarohi was there but she couldn’t find her.
“Bhai, I needed her signatures urgently and when I called her, she said she was close by. So, I asked her to come to the house.”
“What kind of urgency is this that you’ll ask a girl to come to the house at this time? And since when did PR and management issues become time sensitive and so critical?”, Abhimanyu asked sharply.
Akshara couldn’t believe her ears. This man! Even at 11 in the night he didn’t let go of an opportunity to undermine her work.
“Excuse me? Do you think only doctors work at midnight? And stop putting down my work! What we do and when we do it is none of your business. And don’t forget that it is me and Harsh Sir who keep you out of trouble. It is us who deal with pesky reporters and it is us who deal with budgets and it is us who deal with Board of Directors and it is us-“
“Akshara”, Neil muttered and pulled on Akshara’s hand to stop her rant. “Stop it. You’ll wake everyone up. Let’s just leave now.”
Akshara glowered at Abhimanyu and turned to leave.
“Wait Ms. Goenka. You can’t go alone. I’ll drop you home.”
It was back to Ms. Goenka again.
“No thank you Mr. Abhimanyu Birla. I can manage.”
“Wait wait wait. I’ll drop her bhai. If you go then you’ll both end up fighting. Let me go with her”, Neil interrupted before they started arguing again.
Abhimanyu nodded and Akshara agreed.
**
“Akshu!”, Aarohi whispered when she saw Akshara and Neil walking towards the car. “What happened? Did you get caught? I was in Neil’s room when the lights turned on. We came out and couldn’t find you so Neil asked me to wait near the car and went back to look for you.”
“I’m fine Aaru. Abhimanyu was strolling outside like a ghost. He saw me.”
“What?!”, Aarohi shrieked. “Abhimanyu Sir? Oh no! We’re going to be fired Akshu. He must be printing our termination letters right now.”
“Aaru calm down! Neil and I made up some excuse for me being there. Everything is fine. Nobody is getting fired.”
“Phew thank god”, Aarohi folded her hands and sent a quick prayer.
“Let’s go now. I’ll follow your car on my bike. You both have had enough of an adventure for today”, Neil said with a smile.
Akshara raised her hands to her hips and looked at Neil crossly. “This is all because of your temper tantrum. How can you get upset with my Aaru?”
“I’m not upset with Aarohi anymore”, Neil whispered and stared at Aarohi who grinned at him.
“Aww..so cute. You both are stinking cute, do you know that?”,Akshara murmured in delight.
“Okay, shall we go before bhai decides to come out and check?”
That made the girls hurry and get into the car. Akshara started driving and she was relieved to see Aarohi happy.
Neil followed them on the bike and when they reached home, Akshara parked and got out of the car.
“Bye Neil. Do you guys want a few minutes of alone time?”
Aarohi went and hugged Neil quickly before running back to Akshara. Akshara hugged Aarohi and was happy that the night was ending well.
“Let’s go inside Akshu before our family wakes up.”
Neil watched them enter the house and then left.
Aarohi waited till they got into their room before jumping with joy. “Thank you Akshu! Thank you for coming up with these crazy ideas!”
Akshara laughed and pinched Aarohi’s cheeks. “Stop thanking me. Chalo let’s change and go to sleep. We need to go to work tomorrow.”
**
Aarohi surreptitiously glanced at Abhimanyu the next day after they finished the surgery that they performed together. He was washing his hands and suddenly looked up catching her in her secret perusal.
“What is it Ms. Goenka?”
“Nothing Sir”
“Do you want to ask me something?”
Aarohi shook her head. She knew that he was suspicious after seeing Akshara in his house last night but she didn’t know what was going on in his mind. Neil and Akshara thought they had managed to fool Abhimanyu but Aarohi knew better. She had been working with him for almost an year and knew that he was extremely shrewd.
“See you later, Ms. Goenka”, he said and left.
Later, at the cafeteria Akshara, Neil and Aarohi sat down to have some chai.
“Akshu, I’m telling you! Abhimanyu Sir knows about me and Neil.”
“No way. He would have raised hell last night if he knew already. I’m sure he doesn’t know anything”, Akshara said munching on a cookie.
Just then Abhimanyu entered the cafeteria and bought a bottle of water. He turned to look at the trio who froze and stopped talking.
Akshara smiled widely and waved at him. He frowned and shook his head before turning around and leaving.
“See? You guys need to chill. Kuch nahi pata usko”, Akshara said but Aarohi and Neil looked at each other worriedly.
“I also think bhai knows. I got a strong feeling from the way he looked at us”, Neil muttered.
“Exactly! I also got that feeling. What do we do now Neil?”,Aarohi asked.
“Let’s go and talk to him. I can’t take this suspense anymore”, Neil said and stood up. Aarohi stood up too and pulled Akshara to her feet.
“Woah! Why do you need me?”, Akshara asked pulling her hand away.
“You are the only one who can stand up to him. If things go south then we need you on our side”, Aarohi said pleadingly.
Akshara agreed reluctantly. She could never say no to Aarohi but she was finding it difficult to deal with what happened the previous night. Abhimanyu Birla had always been an arrogant man but Akshara felt like she saw a different side of him yesterday. He made her nervous for the first time and she didn’t want to be in close proximity to him ever again. She did not want those weird feelings to course through her again.
They reached his office and both Aarohi and Neil were hesitant to knock.
“Tum dono na!”, Akshu said and knocked.
“Come in”
They all walked in and Abhimanyu looked at them in surprise.“What happened?”
“Bhai wo ek baat puchni thi matlab batani thi”
“Ha bolo”
Neil looked at Aarohi and gestured her to speak.
“Uh, Abhimanyu Sir. We want to tell you something.”
“Koi kuch bolega?”, Abhimanyu asked in annoyance.
“Wo bhai ek baat batani thi”
Abhimanyu got up from his seat and walked up to Akshara and stood right in front of her. Akshara looked at her feet and she could feel the weight of his stare. She refused to meet his gaze and he smiled smugly before moving away to stand in front of Neil and Aarohi.
“Do you guys really think that I don’t know?”
Akshara’s head shot up and she gaped at Abhimanyu in shock.
“You knew?”, Akshara asked
“I’ve always known”, he replied cockily.
“I’m sorry bhai. I wanted to tell you many times but I didn’t know how to. I’m really sorry bhai!”
“It’s okay.”
Neil looked at his brother guiltily. “But are you okay with this bhai? I was really scared that you won’t approve”
Before Abhimanyu could respond, Akshara chimed in. “I’ll help you both elope if he doesn’t approve.”
Abhimanyu shot her a look before responding to his brother. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with this? It’s your life Neil. And both of you are great for each other. I’m sure our families also will have no objection. So, have you thought of the next step? Are you both ready to get married?”
“Of course, they are”, Akshara beamed at them.
“No, bhai”, Neil replied.
“No Sir.”
“What do you mean by no? What’s wrong with you two? You’ve been in a relationship for an year. Of course, you’re ready to get married! Don’t be ridiculous!”, Akshara chided them.
“Ms. Goenka, can you please stop? These two can speak for themselves”,Abhimanyu muttered and waited.
“I want to do my MD Sir and Neil wants to do his MBA. So, we don’t want to get married for the next two years.”
“So, boring you two are”, Akshara murmured.
“Thank you for your opinion, Ms. Akshara Goenka”, Abhimanyu said sarcastically before continuing. “That’s a good decision. I’m happy that you both are thinking about your respective careers first. We can inform both the families at the right time. There’s no need to tell anyone now.”
Neil and Aarohi smiled at each other and agreed. Neil hugged his brother. “Thank you bhai!”
“You’ve both been great at keeping your relationship discrete both outside and in the hospital. I hope you continue to do that.”
“Of course, Sir”
Neil turned and opened the office door. He walked out and Aarohi followed. When Akshara turned to follow them out, Abhimanyu grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Her back hit him and she shivered when he whispered in her ear, “What is this weird fascination that you have with elopement and marriage?”
“Main bhi aari hu. Ruko tum dono”, she shouted and pulled away from him before rushing out of his office.
**
Harsh Birla paced in his office and looked at his watch again. It was close to midnight but he was no where close to ending his day.
“Akshara did you send all the documents properly? They’re very strict with their rules of participation and I don’t want us to be disqualified due to any silly mistake from our end.”
Akshara was used to working late hours. Harsh Birla was a tough taskmaster and she had learned a lot under his tutelage.
“Don’t worry, Sir. I made sure that everything is in place. I also confirmed with their team and they said that we’ve already made it to the final round.”
“That’s great news”
Harsh sat behind his desk and tapped his feet nervously. Birla Hospital was on the verge of winning a very prestigious award and this was being conducted on a national level. Everybody had worked extremely hard and Harsh was confident that they would do well on all fronts. The doctors, staff, Board of Directors, management and everyone who was a part of Birla Hospital had contributed to it’s success and Harsh was waiting eagerly for the resultst o be announced.
“These past few months have been really hectic but thank you for all the hard work Akshara. You’ve done well.”
Akshara beamed in surprise. She had worked hard and the late nights were taking a toll on her but she had never expected Harsh Birla to praise her.
“Thanks a lot Sir.”
“Keep up the good work. You and your sister are an asset to the Hospital.”
Akshara smiled and she couldn’t wait to go and tell everybody at home that Harsh Sir had praised her and Aaru.
Akshara’s phone beeped and Harsh’s phone also beeped at the same time. They both grabbed their respective phones and checked their emails.
“Congratulations Sir!”, she shouted as soon as she saw the email from the Award Committee.
“Thank you Akshara. Let me call home and give this good news to bhai saab.”
Akshara called Aarohi and gushed loudly. “Aaru! Birla Hospital won the Best Hospital Award in the country! Can you believe that? I’m soooo happy!”
“Wow really?! That’s great news. Let me tell everyone at home. Do you want me to come there to pick you up?” Aarohi asked.
Akshara looked at Harsh who was still on the phone. “I have a lot of work to do and Harsh Sir might need my help in arranging everything. I think I’m going to pull an all nighter.”
“Okay, take care of yourself. I’ll inform bade papa.”
Harsh got off the phone and sat down again. “Let’s have a small party in the hospital tomorrow in the evening.”
“Sure Sir.”
“They’re going to officially announce the results tomorrow so please make arrangements for handling the media.”
“I think we need to have a press conference after the results are announced Sir”, Akshara suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
**
It was late in the evening the next day when Akshara supervised all the arrangements for the party at Birla Hospital.
“This is going to be a great party and we all deserve it!”, Aarohi exclaimed looking at the set up.
“Of course, we do. Everybody worked so hard”, Akshara said and gestured to the decorator to arrange the flowers properly.
The senior doctors sat in a group, followed by junior doctors and interns. The nurses and ward boys sat to the left and some of the patients along with other staff were seated to the right. The Board of Directors were seated at the front row. Akshara expected Harsh to either sit with the Board of Directors or with his family members but he surprised her by sitting beside her.
“Everybody is sitting with their work mates”, he explained and Akshara smiled broadly.
Neil was acting as the MC today. He was not an official part of Birla Hospital but he helped out regularly whenever he could find some time.
“Hello Everybody, a warm welcome to all of you. As you may already know, we’ve bagged a very prestigious award and we’re all here to celebrate it. I would like to invite Dr. Abhimanyu Birla who is a very important part of Birla family and Birla Hospital to say a few words.”
Akshara clapped loudly and noticed that Abhimanyu looked happy. It was very rare to see him in a good mood and she felt nice to know that the award was special for him too.
“Good Evening everybody. It’s a great honour to win such an award and I would like to thank each and every one of you for it. The Board of Directors for supporting all the decisions made, the senior doctors for sharing their valuable expertise, the junior doctors for taking care of the interns, the interns for being so eager to learn, the nurses, ward boys and staff for being so efficient, the patients for being so understanding. We would not have gotten this award without your support so thank you.”
Akshara’s smile slipped and she felt a heavy weight settle in her stomach when Abhimanyu didn’t care to mention Harsh’s or her efforts in his speech. He addressed everyone from the doctors to the staff to the ward boys to even the patients but he neither looked in their direction nor mentioned the management team.
She saw Harsh fist his hands and she wondered how he felt. They had worked hard to get nominated for the Awards and had been working for this for so long. The party also had been arranged by them and now Abhimanyu had snubbed them and ignored everything that they had done.
“Excuse me, Sir”, she whispered and walked towards the washrooms. She shut herself in and looked into the mirror as a few tears slipped out of her eyes.
“Stop it Akshu”, she instructed herself and grabbed a few tissues to dab her eyes.
“Who cares about his opinion? It doesn’t matter”, she splashed some water on her face and wiped it.
He regularly commented on her work and his father’s work but Akshara had never thought anything of it. She always gave it back to him and that was that. But she never expected him to put them down on a public platform. She felt humiliated and insulted.
A knock sounded on the door. “Akshu?”
“Give me a minute”, Akshara said and dabbed her face again before opening the door.
“Are you alright?”, Aarohi asked in concern. “You know him, right? He doesn’t really care for PR and management. But everyone else knows how hard you worked and how hard Harsh Sir worked. Anand Sir and Mahima ma’am were also talking about it.”
“I’m fine”, Akshara whispered. “Let’s go.”
They walked back to the party and most of them were on the dance floor. Akshara looked around to see if Harsh Birla was still there but she couldn’t find him.
She watched Abhimanyu dance with the kids from the children’s ward and it broke her heart. She could admit to herself that she was looking forward to hearing appreciative words from him. She wanted him to commend her for her work. But he had ignored her altogether.
She was getting teary again so she blinked quickly. It was painful to watch all the happy faces and she didn’t want to a part of the celebration anymore.
“Aaru, I have a headache. I’ll go back home and send the driver for you, okay?”
Aarohi didn’t look convinced. “Akshu, if you don’t want to stay then I’ll also leave.”
“Don’t be like that. Neil is here and you hardly get to spend time with him. I’ll just go home and go straight to bed. I’ll text you after reaching home.”
“Akshu, are you sure you’re okay? Is this about Abhimanyu Sir?”
Akshara smiled and said, “I’m fine. It’s just a headache and I don’t care what your Abhimanyu Sir thinks of me or my work.”
“Okay, text me once you reach home and drive carefully.”
Akshara nodded and grabbed her bag. She walked towards the lobby and saw Harsh’s car leaving. She realized that Harsh also must be feeling like her. She walked out of the hospital and got into her car.
While driving home, she thought of Abhimanyu’s behavior. She felt like she couldn’t keep up with all the versions of Abhimanyu. That night at his house he was so different, then he went back to his usual arrogant self at the hospital and today he had done something that crossed the barriers of mere arrogance and ventured into vile and vindictiveness.
That's all for now!! I know this was too long. I'll try to keep the next one short. Let me know your feedback please. I know a lot happened in this update. 😊
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