Hellooooo! Long time! Don't know if anyone is still interesting in reading this. I thought I could finish this all in 7 parts LOL but I am way to wordy so no chance. So I'm turning this into a FF instead so I can write smaller parts so good for you guys I guess but bad for me cause I got to write quickly. Forewarn part 4 is very, very, very long.
Gravity Part 4
He looked at his watch taking note of the time as he stood patiently waiting to get checked in at the hotel. He took off his aviator sunglasses and hung it on the collar of his gray shirt. He was casually dressed wearing a brown leather racing jacket, black jeans, and white sneakers. He rolled his silver hard-case suitcase forward as a spot at the front counter opened up. The young woman at the front counter greeted him with a bright smile and asked, “Checking in Sir?”
“Yes, Dr. Abhimanyu Birla. I’m here for the Malhotra and Bedi wedding,” he answered.
“Welcome to the Venetian Dr. Birla. May I have your license or ID?”
He took out his passport from the inner pocket of his jacket and handed it over. He stood there for some time as the clerk worked on the computer in front of her. She gave a faint smile and informed, “Excuse me Dr. Birla, I’ll be right back.” He nodded and turned his attention to the grand lobby. It was beautifully designed showcasing Italian architecture and frescos. There were various hotel guests and tourists roaming around. He gave a small yawn and tried his best to blink away some of the tiredness in his body. He was hoping to take a small nap before the wedding festivities started for the night. His attention returned to the front when the lady that had been helping him came back with a manager. “Dr. Birla, I apologize but there seems to be an issue with the booking. We have you down for your arrival for tomorrow. Unfortunately, you will have to book elsewhere for tonight. I apologize. ”
He was taken back by this development but nodded his head. He didn’t want to cause a scene as there were plenty of hotels he could check into for one night along the Vegas strip. “I’ll have a room tomorrow?”
“Yes Sir. You will have a room tomorrow,” giving back the passport and handing over a business card.
“This is my card. I will be on duty here tomorrow as well. If there are any issues please do not hesitate to contact me.”
“Okay, well thank you.”
“No, thank you Sir for your understanding,” the manager replied.
He turned around and started to walk towards the main hallway to take a closer look at the frescos decorating the ceiling. Even though he wasn’t going to be staying there for the night it wasn’t going to stop him from exploring some of the hotel and casino floor. He had only walked a few feet away from the center fountain when he felt someone run into the side of his suitcase. He barely got a chance to look up but he immediately reached out to help the person from falling to the floor. His hands gripped their shoulders as he asked, "Are you okay?" He watched a young woman look up at him, some of her black hair slowly falling to the side revealing part of her face. He let out a small chuckle, “Seriously…” and then gingerly moved a few loose strands of hair away so he could look at her mocha eyes.
“Abhi?!”
“Hello, Akshara,” he smiled. “Are you going to blame it on the shoes this time?”
“Your luggage ran into me,” she pouted.
“Correction you ran into my luggage,” Abhi replied with a smile, enjoying how her eyes were widening.
“You two done having your Bollywood filmy moment?” a voice asked. Abhi looked over to the side to see Maya and then looked down, noticing Akshara’s cheeks glowing a healthy pink. He quickly pulled her to her feet and let go. “Hi Maya, when did you get here?” He greeted; scratching the side of his neck trying to act as natural as possible.
“Two days ago,” Maya cheekily replied.
“I meant now.”
“Just now,” she continued, “Well, Akshu and I went for a walk towards the shops. “So did you get checked in?”
“They said my room booking was for tomorrow not today.”
“Wait, what? That can’t be right. Here let me tell my uncle. Trust me the family was very clear about making sure you got a room. There must have been a mix up. There was some last minute scrambling when some family cousin, I don’t know how he is related…some uncle or aunty’s kid from some side of the family…or maybe he’s considered an uncle…you know how it is…anyways who didn’t RSVP and suddenly showed up with his family. Thank goodness this is Las Vegas. There are hotels everywhere but there are several conventions going on in town so there is a bit of an issue with reserving a room near the Venetian. There is a medical convention going on at the convention center which is located at the other end of the strip. And of course some of our family doctors are attending that. So they booked their rooms over there,” Maya replied while she rapidly sent out text messages. “Some of us cousins and friends decided to come a few days before the wedding so we booked ourselves over there. But we are checking into our rooms throughout today and tomorrow here at the Venetian. Ayush is still over there at the Renaissance. Maybe you can freshen up in his room while we get your room matter all sorted out.” She then smiled as she received a call on her phone and turned to take it.
“Medical convention? Isn’t your father attending one?” Akshara innocently asked.
His jaw tightened as he answered, “No need. He’s there for work. It’s best if he concentrates on that.”
“But he's your father, Abhi. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing a room–”
“He doesn't know about this wedding,” he said, cutting her off. “He doesn’t know about our deal. Let’s not complicate matters. Here we are strangers to everyone..”
“The Malhotras’ and Bedis’ are stressed enough with all the details of the wedding. I was just offering a potential solution,” Akshara explained.
“I know. Which is why I don’t mind booking a room somewhere else for the night and coming back here tomorrow. I don’t want anyone fussing about this. The families have enough to think about,” he replied. He looked at Maya and waved his hand. “Maya, please tell your uncle it’s fine. I’ll just check in somewhere else for the night.”
“Hey Maya!” The three looked over to the right to see a middle build young man walking towards them rolling a small carry-on suitcase behind him. “I got the pre-wedding favors to give out. Packed them…”
“Shaan I’m on the phone,” Maya answered, covering the mouth piece of the phone. “This is Dr. Abhimanyu Birla, there is a situation over his room that I am trying to resolve.”
“Oh, the Dr. Abhimanyu Birla?” he greeted, giving him a hardy handshake. “You’re famous in our family. A Hero…”
“I was just helping out. I’m a doctor, it's what we do,” he replied.
“Still thank you,” Shaan replied.
“So those are pre-wedding favors. Do you need help distributing them?” Akshara asked.
“I was going to give it to Maya but she’s busy and I have to go and run an errand to pick up some things from the store. I guess these can wait until I come back.”
“I can help. These just need to go to those staying at the Renaissance over by the convention center?”
“Oh, I couldn't trouble you Akshara. You’re a guest here.”
“It’s fine. I’m happy to help. I would have accompanied Maya out that way anyways. And I’ve completed some errands over there as well so I’m familiar with the family over there.”
Shaan gave a hesitant look and then glanced over at Maya who was still very busy talking on the phone. “Well, okay. Everything is packed in this suitcase. The bags are all organized. They are all the same so each guest gets one bag. I’ll text you the room numbers.”
“You’re in that group chat in Whatsapp?” Akshara asked.
“Yes, ah I found you. Here I sent you the list. One per room for each family. And for those sharing a room together give them one each. Anyways, the list includes the room numbers,” Shaan explained. “Thank you so much Akshara.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“See you guys around,” Shaan smiled and then left.
“So, do we need to call a taxi or an Uber?” he asked, looking at Akshara.
“I thought you were going to try and book a room nearby? The Renaissance is full due to the medical convention. Unless you changed your mind about your father.”
“That I will never change my mind on. You mentioned your friend Ayush may have some space in his room. And you’ll need help with passing out the pre-wedding favors.” He caught a suppressed smirk on Akshara’s face and continued, “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” she replied and turned around strolling the suitcase behind her.
***************************************************************
He stood there with great curiosity as the brown door of room 215 slowly opened. “Hi Akshara!” greeted a tall and lanky young man wearing jeans and a Star Wars graphic tee. He adjusted his black rimmed glasses and gave a welcoming nod, “You must be Abhimanyu?”
“Hello, nice to meet you Ayush,” he replied, giving a firm handshake.
“Likewise. Come in, you must want to freshen up from your flight. If you need to take a nap you can use the bed furthest away from the window. He nodded and walked in wheeling his suitcase to the free bed. He turned to the side and listened as Ayush and Akshara started discussing the best way to deliver the pre-wedding favors. He gave a small yawn and pinched the bridge of his nose to wake himself before walking back to the door. “So, are we going in the order of the room numbers? Work our way from the highest floor on down?
“We?” Akshara inquired giving him a questioning look. “Ayush and I will be distributing the favors. You are going to rest.” She held her finger up, “Don’t argue with me Abhi. You’ve had to take on three shifts because Saloni was having very bad morning sickness.”
He scowled at her response. “I’m fine.”
“How do you guys know each other?” Ayush innocently asked with a baffled expression.
“We’re friends.”
“We worked together.”
Ayush looked at both of them as they had answered at the same time. “Friends? Work?” Looking at Abhimanyu, “Maya told me you were the doctor that saved her uncle’s life.”
“I did,” he acknowledged.
“So you met Akshara…”
“We worked together for some time at a clinic,” Akshara explained. “I still keep in touch with directors. They are a married couple and the wife is pregnant.”
“That’s how we became friends,” he added to the explanation, making Ayush nod in understanding.
“We’ll see you later, have a good rest,” Akshara waved and walked away with the suitcase with Ayush following behind. He sighed and turned back into the empty room.
***************************************************************
His eyes slowly opened to the sound of the alarm on his phone going off. He sighed into the pillow and reached over to the night stand to turn it off. Sitting up in bed he ran his fingers through his hair and let the grogginess around him fade before getting up from the bed to go to the bathroom to freshen up. A few minutes later he emerged with a white towel around his neck wiping his damp face as he walked towards the door to answer the knocking. “Hi Abhimanyu!” It was Maya. “We got your room issue all figured out. So get your stuff and let’s go back.”
“I was fine staying here for the night. I didn’t want to cause any issue. I know the families must be stressed enough with the wedding preparations.”
“Don’t worry. No one got kicked out. Mohan Uncle was very upset that this happened to you and got things straightened out at the hotel.
“Where is Ayush?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he went to get a snack or a cup of coffee?” Maya answered.
“Shouldn’t we let him know?”
“I’ll text him, no worries. Let’s go before we miss the train on the monorail.”
“I thought those run every 5 - 8 minutes,” Abhi replied and then he walked back into the room to put on his jacket, slip his phone in his pocket, and grab his suitcase.
“Yes, but don’t you want to try catching one pulling into the station as opposed to waiting for the next train?”
“Of course.”
The duo made their way into the elevator and turned around facing the open doors when Maya suddenly said, "And to answer your question Akshu checked in over at the Venetian with the rest of the girls.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Maya smiled, “But the look on your face says otherwise.”
He tried to remain calm while he slyly rested his hand against his left cheek checking himself trying not to admit that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind as to when Akshara had stated she would come back later with Ayush.
A few minutes later the elevator doors opened and they walked out into the lobby. He heard Maya’s phone go off and he turned, seeing her give an apologetic look that she needed to answer the phone. He nodded and walked off towards the side providing her some privacy. He took out his own phone to check if he had any messages when he saw his father walking around the corner. He was wearing casual business attire, a maroon shirt and khakis. “Abhimanyu? What are you doing here?”
“Sir."
"I am here for a conference but you?"
"I was invited to Mr. Malhotra's son's wedding. He was the one I brought to City Hospital."
Harshvardhan nodded his head in recollection. "That was nice of them. Since you rejected all that your mother has sent you perhaps -"
"Not this again. Can you talk about nothing else?" He cut in. "Why have you found suitable candidates here at the conference?"
"Why yes, I have."
"I wasn't asking."
"Yes you did, you just asked me," Harshvardhan replied.
"It was a rhetorical question because I knew you were going to tell me anyway."
"Then why are you asking? Let’s not play a game of semantics."
"I wasn't."
"You were and don't change the subject and start some other argument so we don't talk about this."
"Honesty," shaking his head, unable to understand his parents' insistence in the matter. "Doctors again."
"Well of course. But since you are being so stubborn about it we will accept anyone in the medical field. I did meet someone on the monorail today that was reading Atomic Habits-"
"Wow, expanding the horizons," he replied, clapping his hands.
"It's a great book you can learn a thing or two from it…about breaking bad habits, '' Harshvardhan explained. “Abhimanyu, you left us no other options. Would you rather have someone illiterate?"
"Literacy? You really have to stoop this low? I cannot believe we are still having this conversation," he sighed.
"Of course. You are well educated, why wouldn't we look for someone as educated? She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders."
"It shouldn't matter. None of this matters what profession they are in…they can be blue, black, red…it shouldn't matter. Why can't you treat people as humans instead of looking at their family background, their education, what profession they are in…is it that hard?"
"Who was that girl you were with?"
"What?! You cannot be serious. She is Mr. Malhotra's niece. Mr. Malhotra's son is the one getting married."
"What profession is she in?" His father asked brazenly.
"I really don't understand this line of questioning. She is just helping me get checked into the hotel. Just because I am with someone of the opposite sex does not mean I am interested.
"You complain about our choices so what are your choices?" He questioned.
"I refuse to answer any more questions." He fumed and he walked away.
***************************************************************
He played with the collar of his white shirt as he stood at the bar drinking a club soda with a lime wedge. He had already been welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Malhotra who were doing their rounds with the guests. He made some small talk with a few relatives that had been at the medical convention discussing some of the latest discoveries, programs, and breakthroughs. He scanned the floor noticing how the room was slowly filling up but she had yet to appear. He turned back towards the bartender to request for a refill when he heard some commotion up front at the entrance. It was the bride and groom making their entry. His eyes automatically searched the room seeing if she was among the welcoming crowd. When he found her he couldn't look away. He didn't realize how long he had been holding his breath but when he lost sight of her he felt himself exhaled.
"So what are you having?" He turned in surprise hearing a familiar voice. "Hi," he softly answered as he looked at Akshara, finding himself at a loss for words. She was wearing a pastel pink cocktail dress. There was something about the simplicity in it that made it even more attractive. He watched as her eyebrows raised and her eyes pointed to what he was holding making him aware he had yet to answer her question. "Club soda with lime."
"Bartender," she called as she turned away from him. "Shirley temple, please."
He watched as the man behind the bar filled a glass with ice, added 1 ounce of grenadine, some ginger ale, and then garnished with a maraschino cherry. "Here you go, Miss." He grinned at the non alcoholic fruity drink; it was something that fit her perfectly.
"Thank you," Akshara smiled and took a sip. "Have you been just standing here all by yourself?"
"No, I spoke with a few doctors that went to the convention."
"Any of them know your father?"
"Luckily no," he replied. "I'd rather not talk about him considering all he does is talk about marriage when I see him. He is getting worse than Ma."
"Oh, so you did run into him?"
"I didn't exactly say that," he said looking down at his drink.
"Ah, but the look on your face implied it," she answered with a sly grin. "You aren't very good at hiding things."
"I guess not," he admitted and looked back at her. "Not that you are any better at it either." Their eyes gently locked for a few seconds before they took a sip from their drinks. "So, you ran off without informing me you were done."
"I didn't want to disturb your rest," Akshara replied. "So what new batch of profiles did you receive this time around?"
"The usual though now they are including anyone in the medical field."
"Isn't that a good thing? You didn't want them to only focus on doctors."
"You are far too interested," he replied.
"It's like witnessing real life matchmaking in real time," she teased.
"Be careful or you will be the next one. Would you like me to review the profiles for you?"
"Go ahead, I trust you." He stared at her in awe and then gave an inward smile. Their conversation was soon interrupted by Maya, Ayush, and two other girls whom he assumed were mutual friends.
"Akshu, you look gorgeous!" Peeped one of the girls wearing a green cocktail dress. Her black hair was tied up halfway with a sparkly hair pin.
"Thank you Chris. You are looking gorgeous yourself."
"Hello, Abhimanyu Birla," he said, introducing himself.
"He's the doctor that saved my Uncle Mohan," Maya added.
"This is Christina Lee but we call her Chris and this is Pihu Kumar," Akshara introduced. He nodded and exchanged a few pleasantries with the girls. As he moved onto speaking to Ayush out of the corner of his eye he recognized a young man making his way to the far end of the bar. "Ajay?" He let out in a whisper of disbelief. He looked over at Akshara who had overheard him and was confirming this was no look alike they had just seen.
"If he's here you think?" Akshara mumbled. Before he could reply he heard another familiar voice for the second time in the night coming towards them. “So is this the great doctor? Dr. Abhimanyu Birla?” Abhimanyu and Akshara turned to see Aunt Varsha dressed in a purple saree smiling with surprised eyes.
“Yes, it is him, the man that saved my life,” Mohan Malhotra proudly confirmed.
“At first I thought it would be someone else. It would be far too much of a coincidence to be the same Dr. Abhimanyu Birla. I had to come and confirm myself.” Aunt Varsha replied.
“Wait, you know him?” Mohan inquired with confusion.
“Yes, both of them. Dr. Abhimanyu Birla and his wife Akshara…they rent an apartment from me.”
He could feel Akshara slinking behind him trying to hide herself from Aunt Varsha’s eyes. He swallowed uncomfortably, as small gasps of whispers from her friends filled the air as they tried to process the information that was being divulged. “What! Married? Akshu’s not married,” Pihu replied.
“Yeah, she’s not married,” Chris laughed.
“Ha-Ha-Ha we are just joking. We kid all the time. Ha-Ha Of course we know Akshu is MARR-IEEED,” Maya loudly stated in her attempts to hush up Pihu and Chris’s chatter. She gave them both a meaningful look hoping they caught her hint.
“I mean of course she’s married, we should know we are her friends,” Pihu robotically replied, trying to cover up what she had said earlier.
“Why didn’t you tell us about your wife? We would have made accommodations for both of you. I had no idea.”
“Uncle Mohan, it’s because Abhimanyu didn’t know if he was going to be able to come because of his work he had to do some overtime covering for…”
“Dr. Saloni,’ Ayush continued. “She’s been suffering from morning sickness.”
“Wait, if you knew he was your friend’s husband why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Well, I didn't realize we were talking about the same person. I mean it isn’t like doctors to go around broadcasting who they saved. And I’m more of Akshu’s friend,” Maya explained, hoping his uncle would buy her explanation. She saw Aunt Varsha give a perplexed look. “Well, shouldn’t we all be sitting down at our tables? I’m sure the guests are getting hungry. Right?” Looking at Ayush. “Getting hungry.”
“Famished,” Ayush loudly stated.
“Oh, yes I could go for some appetizers,” Chris replied.
“We also only have this place booked for a specific period of time,” Maya reminded.
“Ah, yes, you are correct we should get dinner served,” Uncle Mohan nodded. “Come Varsha,” he called when he noticed she was not walking with him.
Abhimanyu looked at Akshu’s group of friends and gave a grateful grin. “Thanks.”
“Wait, I don’t understand Akshu, you are married?” Chris asked.
“It’s complicated,” Akshara replied.
“In short, in order to live at the current apartment we had to pretend to be a married couple.”
“Yes, what Abhi explained," Akshara confirmed.
“What?” Pihu gasped.
“If Varsha Aunty finds out we aren’t, we will get kicked out of the apartment. Please help us keep this secret,” Aksara pleaded.
“Of course we will, won’t we?” Maya asked the group looking at Pihu, Chris, and Ayush. The three nodded their heads in agreement.
“I still don’t quite understand all of this,” Chris sighed.
“We can talk about this later, maybe in a more private setting?” Maya offered. Their conversation was interrupted by someone talking into a microphone asking for the guest to head to the tables to get seated for the welcome dinner.
Abhimanyu watched as Akshara’s friends started to walk away. He turned towards her and asked, “You all right?”
“I don’t have sindoor or the mangalsutra with me,” she worriedly replied.
“We are in western attire. I think it will be fine.”
“But what about the rest of the week? We don’t even have rings. What are we going to do?”
“We are at an Indian wedding. I'm sure you can get a hold of some sindoor,” he calmly answered. “There are other ways to show we are together.” He confidently intertwined his fingers with hers and held her right hand tightly. “Shall we Mrs. Birla?” He caught the timid surprise in her eyes and inwardly smiled as she nodded her head ready to walk with him hand in hand to their table.
***************************************************************
He stepped back with a satisfied grin looking at how he had carefully arranged the coffee table to sit in the corner by the desk while still leaving enough space to maneuver around the pull out bed. Two white pillows were properly fluffed and placed nicely on the duvet. The knock at the door interrupted him from further admiring his work. He straightened his shirt and hurriedly went to answer the knock. It was one he had been anticipating but also one he was nervous about. He pulled open the door, his left lip raised apprehensively as his eyes met the gaze of Akshara’s. She was standing in the hallway with her suitcase and purse in hand. “Hi…” he greeted.
“Hi” she answered and then arched her eyebrows at the silent pause.
“Oh yes, come in,” he replied and moved out the way allowing her to enter the room. It was agreed that in order to continue their marriage charade they had to share one room together. It was inevitable as everyone now at the wedding knew they were married. “Bathroom is on the left,” he pointed to a set of double doors. “The bed is a king. But don’t worry,” stepping down two steps into the living room, “There is a pull out sofa. You can have the bed. I’ll sleep here in the living room.”
“Abhi, that’s okay, this is your room. You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the pull out.”
“It’s fine Akshara. I’ve already made the bed. I already put my clothes in the drawers there. I used the left side. The right side is available.” He walked back up to the main floor and placed her suitcase on the luggage rack next to the drawer. “I’ve pulled out the luggage rack for you. I’m sure you’ll want to unpack.”
“Thank you Abhi,” she replied softly with a smile.
All he could do was give a bashful grin in return. He didn’t know why he was feeling warm and started to search for his water bottle. He took a few long drinks and started to play with the collar of his shirt. “Akshara, I hope…I mean…”
“Hmmm?” she answered with slight hesitation.
“Sharing the room…you-you’re okay?” he stuttered looking in her direction.
“We live in an apartment together.”
“Right of course,” he nodded, trying to shake off the trepidation in his voice. “Heh…”
“Why, are you?” Akshara asked, never quite finishing her question as their eyes locked.
“No,” shaking his head. “Why, are you?”
“No, no,” she repeated.
“Fine.”
“Fine,” she nodded and then quickly looked down, continuing to rummage through her suitcase.
They both let out a sigh as they heard a loud knock at the door. It was a welcome relief of the awkward moment they were having. When the door opened it was Maya. “Hey guys,” she smiled as she entered the room. “So I did some checking and lucky for both of you Varsha Aunty and family are not on this floor. But she is still on this side of the hotel so you may run into her in the elevator.”
“Well, I guess it’s better than having her on the same floor as us,” he replied.
“Thank you for covering for us at dinner,” Akshara said with grateful eyes.
“Of course. I was afraid Varsha Aunty was going to say something when Chris and Pihu wouldn’t stop talking. Fingers crossed she won’t cause any problems.”
“How is she related? I mean out of all the weddings to attend?” Akshara asked.
“I am not sure. I think she is a friend of my Aunt Nita’s sister-in-law? Aunt Nita is my Uncle Mohan’s older sister. Either way a far family friend that I never really met that often. I had no idea she was renting apartments. Life really is like seven degrees of separation from some Indian relative or friend of an Indian relative.”
“Life is full of coincidences sometimes,” he mused out loud.
“I’m working on getting the sindoor next since tomorrow we have the mehendi.”
“Thank you Maya,” Akshara said, “I don’t know what we would do without your help.”
“Maybe buy me a drink tonight at the karaoke bar,” she answered with a smile. “The bride and groom heard about how much fun we had at the karaoke place that they wanted to come out tonight. You’ll join right?”
He saw Akshara glance at him and then back at Maya. “I think I’ll stay in tonight.”
“Don’t stay back on account of me. If you want to go you can go.”
“But if anyone else sees? Anyways, you're tired.”
“What are you talking about? He replied with a perplexed tone.
“It’s a karaoke place where you get your own private room and sing at. Just some harmless fun,” Maya assured looking at him.
“Don’t make me look like the bad husband here refusing to let his wife go out and have some fun.” Maya laughed at his remark while Akshara turned to him with raised eyebrows. He nodded his head, “Let’s go.”
“Abhi…” Ignoring Akshara’s words he picked up his dark blue suit jacket from a chair and slipped it on and then gestured with his hand for them to leave.
***************************************************************
The karaoke place the group had wanted to visit was unfortunately booked upon arrival. It would take approximately two hours before a large enough private room would be available for their party to use. Not wanting to waste time the bride and groom suggested they put their names on the waiting list and then go to a nearby club to hang out until it was their turn.
After having danced a few rounds the group broke apart as some needed to use the restroom, others decided to find a table to rest at, and a few went to get some refreshments for all. He was standing in line at the bar with Jai waiting for their turn.
"Abhimanyu, thank you for saving my father."
"Jai, you've already thanked me," he replied.
"Still I feel like I need to say it. If it wasn't for you my father wouldn't have been able to attend my wedding. And it's been a bit crazy like I knew weddings were going to be busy but almost every moment someone needs our attention. I felt like I haven't had the proper time to speak to you. I mean here we are in line at the bar," chuckling a little as he gestured around the room.
"I see your point." He nodded, laughing along.
"Really, I am very grateful to you."
"So what is everyone ordering? My treat."
"No way. It will be my treat," Jai firmly stated.
"But you've taken care of my hotel stay and your father even gave me money for the taxi fare from the airport to here. You all have already done so much."
Jai shook his head, "Not enough in my books. And your wife Akshara has been running errands with my cousins. I mean you guys have to be the sweetest couple we have ever met. Veera has been saying you guys are like angels. Maya has also been talking about…in fact all my cousins have been saying…how great of a singer Akshara is. We were really looking forward to hearing her sing tonight."
"She is a great singer," he confirmed with a grin and then noticed Jai's sudden panicked look. "Is something the matter?"
Jai was patting his pant pockets in a frantic way. "I gave my phone to Veera to get the list of drinks from everyone," hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Let me go get it back."
"I believe she went with Maya and Akshara to the restroom?"
"Ah, you are right. I'll talk to Rishi and get everyone's orders."
"I'll stay in line," he replied. A few seconds later he noticed a group of young Indian men walking towards the bar. As far as he could tell they were not guests from the Malhotra-Bedi wedding. He didn't recognize any of their faces. "You all can go ahead. I'm waiting for my friend," he offered.
"Thanks man," one of them, wearing a red dress shirt, replied.
He stood quietly reviewing some emails on his mobile but couldn't help overhearing some of the conversation the men were having.
"Nice crowd here. Even better than the last place. The girls are looking niceeeee and we even have some Desi ones. Wonder if that group we saw is at the same hotel as us. There was a Patel wedding I think?"
"Bro, it's Las Vegas. Weddings happen here all the time. It's sort of their thing you know."
"Well, we are here on a boys trip. Maybe that one in purple would like to hang out after she attends the wedding.”
“She’s taken Sunny.”
“How do you know? They could be cousins all hanging out together.”
“Because you need to check the hand, neck, and forehead. And she most definitely has an engagement ring on and she was with that bulky guy with the trimmed bread.”
“Doesn’t mean she can’t have her mind changed.” One laughed causing the rest to also snicker along. “Besides her there is that one in teal, blue, and um, green…she is looking pretty good too. But there is one in…”
“Pink,” someone in a deeper voice continued. “She looks innocent but I bet deep down she’s a firecracker…she’d be fun to take back…uff, you know what I mean.” A round of heavy chuckles exploded at the last comment.
He clenched his jaw and was about to turn to give a few choice words when he was interrupted by a slender young lad in a black dress shirt running towards him. “Jai Bhaiya sent me the list. He ended up needing to use the restroom.” He nodded and gestured with his eyes behind him, “Rishi, those guys back there, we need to keep an eye on them.”
“Oh them. Yeah, I saw a couple of the guys… one in the gray shirt and one in the black shirt with white pinstripes lurking by the restrooms staring at all the girls going in and out. They definitely give the there are up to no good vibes.”
“I was going to tell Jai and the others but then the guys disappeared into the crowd. I guess they made their way to the bar. And they just got all their drinks.”
He turned around and with Rishi made his way to the next available bartender. The bartender was kind enough to give them a tray to bring the drinks to the table as there were only two of them. When they arrived he immediately noticed Maya and Akshara were not there. “Where are Maya and Akshara?” he inquired, interrupting Rishi as he was telling the group about the rowdy young men that everyone needed to be careful of.
“They were here a minute ago,” Veera informed.
“I’ll go look for them,” he replied and quickly disappeared into the crowd to search for the girls. His eyes found some relief as he bumped into Maya. “There you are. What are you doing here?”
Holding up a tall glass, “Getting some water. You guys went to get drinks.”
“We got some water too,” he answered. His eyes looked about in a worried fashion as he asked, “Where is Akshara?”
“She’s just behind me,” Maya replied, gesturing behind her.
“Well, I don’t see her.”
“Why? She was right behind. I’m sure she’s coming. Is something wrong?”
“Yes, something is wrong. Go back to the table and stay with them. Don’t go anywhere without one of your male cousins or Ayush.”
“What?”
“I don’t have time to explain. I have to find Akshara,” he hurriedly answered and pushed his way through the crowd in a frantic manner. A few minutes later, he found her in a corner talking to a man in a black dress shirt. By her body language he could tell the conversation was not going in a good direction. Just as the man reached out and held onto her wrist he saw her throw a glass of water into his face. She was only temporarily able to move away when the man reached back out and grabbed her arm again. Abhimanyu rushed forward and gripped the man’s wrist commanding, “Let go!”
“Abhi!” Akshara gasped.
He gave a steely look as the man winched in pain as his grip tightened and he pulled his arm away. He felt this unexplainable rage suddenly flowing through him. “How dare you touch her!” he growled and gave a firm punch. The man stumbled back from the force but then scowled and lunged forward ready to fight. There was soon a scurry of activity as people around the club began to move away from them. Abhimanyu landed a couple more solid punches when out of nowhere someone came from the side and tackled him down to the ground. He looked up in time to see two men hoist him up, each holding onto one of his arms so the man in the black shirt could punch him in the stomach. He barreled over in pain but was soon freed as he heard the voices of Ayush, Rishi, and the other Malhotra cousins coming to his aid.
“We need to get out before the police come,” someone said.
He got to his feet and tried to help Rishi fend off an attack and then was pulled to the side by the man in the black shirt again. He blocked a few punches and was able to pin his attacker to a table where he began slapping him. “This is for laying your dirty hands on Akshara! This is for her respect! This is for hurting her! This is for your indecent thoughts! This is for having no manners! This is for your damaged mind! This is a reminder to you in the future if you dare to do anything like this again!” The man underneath him squirmed and flared his arms out trying to find something to help him escape. Eventually his hand grabbed a hold of an object and slammed it up against the side of Abhimanyu’s head. He then took the second of confusion to run off. Abhimanyu stumbled backwards feeling lightheaded as his vision began to blur. His hearing was starting to grow faint as the commotion around him increased. He heard a muffled call of his name before everything went dark.
***************************************************************
“Akshara!” he called out in a panic as he suddenly came to his eyes staring up at white ceiling. He winced as he began to look around him. “Ah awake Dr. Abhimanyu Birla.” said a man in a white coat wearing green scrubs.
“Where?”
“You are in the emergency room at Sunrise Hospital. I am Dr. Green I’ve been taking care of you.. It appears you and your friends tried to stop an assault from happening at a local club. For your efforts you received a nice beer bottle to the head, a light concussion, a few stitches, and some bruised knuckles,” pausing as he held his hand up, “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Three.”
“Excellent. Now, follow my finger here. Very good. Dr. Birla.” He took out his pen and wrote some notes down on a clipboard. “You are fine. I’ll go call in the medication for you. And then we will get you checked out.”
“Dr. Green? Akshara, she’s…”
“She’s fine. I’ll let her know you are awake.”
“Thank you Dr. Green,” he replied. The doctor nodded and left the room.
A few minutes later his eyes lifted as the door to his room opened and Akshara came in. Her eyes spoke volumes, the worry etched in them. “Abhi?” she softly called out. He raised the back of the bed to sit up and replied with a thoughtful grin. “Your head! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine Akshara. Just a few stitches.”
“You fainted back at the club. Jai and them had to carry you out.”
“Doctor said I suffered a slight concussion,” he replied.
“Oh God!”
“Hey, don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay,” he said as he reached out in reflex and held her hand giving a reassuring squeeze, “What about you, are you okay? You didn’t get hurt did you?”
“No,” shaking her head, “I’m fine Abhi.”
“Good.” He saw her glanced downward at their hands and then back up at him making him slightly nervous. His eyes followed as she rested her other hand on top of his, the beating of his heart drummed loudly in his ears. He knew that it wasn’t a reaction from the concussion. Their eyes briefly met before he glanced to the side and continued, “Um, what about the others? Jai, he didn’t get hurt badly did he?”
“He’s fine,” Maya answered as she walked into the room. She glanced down with a sly smile as she saw Akshara and Abhimany’s hands pull away. “Rishi sprained his shoulder so he has a sling but everyone is doing okay.”
“A sling?” he said with concern. “I didn’t mean to get Rishi hurt.”
“He was trying to help Chris. Some of the guys were harassing her too. We’ve given our statements to the police regarding what happened. They are looking for the men. They ran off before the police came. The officers said they would get in contact with you tomorrow to get your statement since you were still unconscious.” He nodded his head in response. “Everyone else has gone back to the hotel but Ayush and I stayed behind with Akshara. We didn’t feel comfortable leaving you guys.”
“Hey guys,” Ayush greeted as he walked into the room. “I found a vending machine with snacks. Anyone want a bag of Cheetos?”
“Your glasses,” he pointed questioningly, noticing how the right hinge had white tape wrapped around it.
“Oh, it's nothing,” Ayush answered. “It broke during the fight. The tape is keeping the hinge together.”
“I’m so sorry Ayush.”
“It’s not your fault for those b*stards’ behavior. These are quite old. I’ve been meaning to get a new pair. I’ll probably do that when Stephaine’s in town next week. She loves going to the mall so at least this time I can spend my money on something other than clothes.” Holding up his arms to show the bag of snacks again, “You sure you don’t want anything?”
“Toss me a bag of chips. I’m kind of feeling hungry.”
“It’s nice not having to hide this anymore. We should be truthful if we are friends. You guys let us in on your truth. It was only fair to let everyone know about me and Stephanie. I can’t wait for you all to meet her. It’s been awhile since I went over to the Chows’ house. Mrs. Chow is a fantastic cook and Mr. Chow is a great baker.”
“I want that chicken bun recipe,” Maya firmly stated.
“And the mapo tofu recipe,” Akshara chimed in. “Last time you had Chinese take-out it was from them wasn’t it?”
Ayush gave an embarrassed grin, “I guess I did have a little too much Chinese food in my fridge.”
“Your Chinese take-out obsession?,” Maya teased, making everyone laugh.
***************************************************************
He walked side by side with Akshara as they made their way to their room. “Wait a minute,” she commanded and opened the door with her key card. She then held the door open, gesturing for him to come inside. He followed along and then grimaced as he turned towards the dresser putting down his folded jacket from his arm so he could take a bottle of water. “Abhi, here let me help,” Akshara offered.
He shook his head, “I can open it,” and twisted the cap off the bottle to take a satisfying long drink. He could feel a sudden soreness radiating from his right side where he had been tackled.
Akshara took his blue suit jacket from the dresser and walked towards the closet. “This will need to be dry cleaned,” noticing the dirt and discoloration from the night’s events. She was certain the stains were a mixture of spilled cocktails and blood. “I believe the hotel offers that service if you want to get that taken care of tomorrow.”
“You’re right it may be worth looking into.” He grunted a bit and started to pull his clothes from the dresser. “I’m going to take a shower and freshen up.”
“Abhi…”
“Actually, you should go first,” he replied. “I can wait.”
“Your stitches. You are not supposed to get them wet,” placing a large Walgreens shopping bag on the dresser.
“I know. I’ll be careful. Why did you think I bought some extra gauzes and tape?” he said with a smile as he pulled them out of the bag. “I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” she asked with great concern seeing how he was moving very slowly gathering everything up.
“I’m fine Akshara,” he said, trying to appease her worry. “Go and freshen up first.”
“No, you go ahead Abhi. I can wait. I have some things to take care of first,” she said.
He nodded and made his way into the bathroom. It did take him a bit longer than normal to get himself cleaned up. But he was thankful for the hot shower. He felt clean and refreshed. He was in a black tank and red and black plaid pajama pants. He lifted his hands to stretch and groaned at the soreness he was feeling from the left arm to the right side of his torso. He took a tissue and wiped it across the mirror to remove some of the fog so he could take off the thick cushion gauze he had tapped over his stitches to protect it from getting wet. He made sure not to stand directly underneath the shower head and lightly washed his hair with his head lowered and his face turning downwards. The extra cushions he placed did the trick as his stitches were still dry. He folded his dirty clothes and placed them in a laundry bag. When he opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom he saw to his surprise a bread basket and a round silver dome placed on the round table in the living room. Dabbing the side of his face with the hand towel draped around his neck he asked, “Room service?” He was met with a distressed call of his name making his eyes widen in confusion.
“Your hand and your shoulder,” Akshara replied in an almost frantic manner. “The bruising…” She held his right hand and shook her head seeing how his knuckles were red, “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. If you hadn't gotten into the fight none of this would have happened. You have some cuts that need to be bandaged.”
“Akshara, it’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about this.” He rummaged through the Walgreens bag taking out some antibiotic ointment and adhesive bandages.
“But I do,” she instantly snapped back, causing him to raise his eyebrows somewhat painfully wondering why she was behaving in this manner suddenly. “You’re a surgeon Abhi. You got hit on the head and received a concussion. You have stitches on your left eyebrow! What if your eye had gotten hurt? You need your eyes to do surgery!”
“My eyes are perfectly fine,” he replied and then groaned as he tried to twist the cap off of the antibiotic ointment.
“And your hand. This is the most important part of your body! For your patients…to treat your patients…and because of me they could have lost their surgeon…how can it not be my fault?” she lectured as she took away the ointment tube and dabbed some on an adhesive bandage and wrapped it around the knuckle of his forefinger. “And this…Refusing my help when you clearly need it. Why? I’m here for you Abhi. Don’t make me feel even more guilty than I already am.” She continued to add ointment on the next adhesive bandage to cover the middle knuckle of his hand.
“Ah le…Akshara, I told you I’m fine. I think I would know better about my own health,” he replied with irritation. “Why are you behaving like this?”
“Why!? Why am I behaving like this? Because of me you ended up in the emergency room! What if your injuries were more than a concussion and bruised knuckles? Do you know what that would do to me? I don’t like seeing you getting hurt. I was so worried when you started fighting. You should have just walked away.”
He took a sharp breath at her last words as it pierced him deeply, “Walk Away?!” he exploded in anger. “You expected me to walk away after that guy laid his hands on you?”
“There was no reason to fight him for my sake,” Akshara replied rather angrily that he was suddenly raising his voice at her. “If we had just left then all of this could have been avoided and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt!”
“Do you even understand what you are saying? No reason? No reason to punish a man who was having indecent thoughts about you? No reason for the filthy things I am sure he said to you? No reason for the indecent way his eyes were looking at you? No reason? I have every reason because when it comes to you I will never tolerate anyone misbehaving with you!” Akshara’s eyes widened at his confession. “Do you know what it would have done to me if something happened to you? Do you?!” then suddenly dropping into a soft tone almost on the verge of tears, “It would break me.” He then shook his head vehemently. “No!” as his voice grew louder and stronger again, “In this matter call me selfish, unreasonable, or whatever you want! But I will never…never compromise on your honor or your safety no matter how many bruises or broken bones I receive! Over my dead body!” His breath hitched as he felt a soft hand clasp over his mouth. His eyes locked onto a pair of watery mocha eyes.
“Don’t ever say that,” Akshara said in fear.
He watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek when she blinked. He slowly moved her hand down and whispered, “It's the truth.” He then gently brushed away the second tear escaping her other eye. The intimate moment was soon broken when there was a knock on their door.
“Oh,” Akshara quickly responded with a sniffle and wiped her eyes. “It’s room service.”
“More room service?” he asked. He looked onwards as the door opened and Akshara allowed the room service staff to enter the room. He was carrying a small tray that had a mug with a lid on the top.
“You can place it on that round table where all the other food is at,” Akshara instructed. “Thank you.”
“Our apologies for missing the hot chocolate the first time.” He smiled and gave a nod of his head before leaving the room.
“Hot chocolate?”
“I was thirsty,” Akshara answered innocently. “You have to eat something before you take your medication so I thought of ordering some room service.”
He suppressed his smirk when he heard her stomach gurgle loudly. “Oh, I see,” he cheekily replied. “So what have you ordered for us?” taking the silver dome off.
“Just some breakfast items. Two eggs hard boiled, with extra potato hash, and toast. A Viennoiserie pastry basket that has croissants and danishes. I ordered orange juice for you instead of coffee since it's late.”
“What time is it?” he wondered out loud.
Licking her lips as she finished taking a sip of hot chocolate, “Four in the morning.”
He yawned and sat down on one of the chairs and started to split some of the food items up to share. “Sit down and let’s eat.” He grinned as she took a spoonful of potato hash into her mouth, chewing it happily.
“Oh, listen…tonight sleep in the bed. I’ll take the pull out,” Akshara simply stated. His eyebrows crinkled at her words as he tried to swallow the big piece of toast in his mouth so he could respond. “Ah-ah,” she warned. “Abhi, no arguments on this. You’re hurt and you should be sleeping on a supportive mattress.”
“It won’t be that bad,” he answered. “I’ll be fine. I don’t want to kick you out of your bed.”
“You said it isn’t that bad so no problems,” Akshara replied.
“But you’ll have to pull the bed out and…”
“And I can do it. I’m not some weakling,” she said as she raised her arm and flexed it.
“Wow,” he sarcastically answered, seeing how skinny her arm was, “So strong.”
“Don’t patronize me Abhi.”
Pointing to himself, “I didn’t say anything. I was just agreeing with you.” He took a sip of orange juice and continued, “We could just share the bed. It is a king. Put some pillows between us.” He could see her eyes widen at his suggestion making him somewhat self-conscious. “I-um, it was just a suggestion. I trust you wouldn’t take advantage of me.”
“Why? Well…I wouldn’t take advantage.”
“Oh, that pause. Are you saying you would?” He replied unable to stop himself from teasing her for some reason.
“No! Are you saying you would?”
“Would you want me?”
“Huh? No. Why would you want me?” she asked in an almost panicked tone.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he answered.
“I’m confused about what we are talking about.”
“You tell me what we are talking about?” he asked, finally giving into the smirk he had been hiding.
Akshara was wordlessly mouthing for a few seconds before she answered, “End of discussion Abhi. You’re sleeping there tonight.” She then stuffed the other half of the toast he had been eating into his mouth preventing him from speaking any further.
***************************************************************
His eyes gently fluttered open hearing the sound of the air conditioner turning on. He moved his head to the right and then to the left feeling the soft fluffy pillow underneath him. He felt something fall from his left shoulder making him search with his hands on what it was. That is when he recalled what happened the night before. He had been forced to sit on the bed and rest with an ice pack on his shoulder. He recalled his original plan was to wait until Akshara started to take her shower and sneak back into the living room and set up the pull out bed to sleep for the night. He realized that he had instead fallen asleep. He looked to his side thinking perhaps Akshara was sleeping there but he found the place empty. He looked into the living room and saw that Akshara was putting the pull out bed back into its place. He sat up and groaned that he had moved a tad too quickly.
“Abhi?” Within a few seconds Akshara was by his side. “Are you okay?”
“Heh, I’m fine, I just moved a bit too fast. I’m just feeling a little sore.”
“I knew it,” Akshara berated. “This is why you needed to sleep on the bed. You would have felt a lot worse if you had slept on the pull out.” He tenderly rubbed his shoulder and winced. "You've got a bruise there now." He looked down and saw that it was a deep shade of purple. The knuckles of his right hand were also matching in color.
"How is your right side? It's sore there too isn't it?" She inquired.
He instinctively held his side and responded, "Why?"
"What do you mean, why?" Akshara walked over to one of the dresser drawers and pulled out a small jar of balm.
"What are you doing?"
"Lift it up."
"Excuse me?" He was perplexed by her direct command. He jerked back when he saw her hand reach out to hold the bottom of his tank top. "Ah, Akshara…"
"L-l-ets's not make this more difficult," she replied. He noticed how her cheeks were glowing a rosy pink. “It’s aloe. Warm or cool compressions will help the most but putting a little of this one will help with the skin. It has vitamin K. I totally forgot about it last night. She opened the jar showing the clear jelly-like contents inside. She swiped some into her fingers and before rubbing it onto his shoulders she warned, “It will be cool.” He took in a breath as the gel touched his skin feeling the rise of goosebumps on his arm. “I warned you.” Her voice; soft, warm, and very close. He looked towards her and simply nodded. He then took the corner of his tank top and gingerly lifted it up giving her permission. He swallowed and just silently watched her as she walked closer to inspect him. “How bad is it?” he asked as he felt the cooling gel spread against his back.
“The bruise starts a little from your back and spreads across your right side.” He could smell the fragrant scent of something flowery and familiar but was having trouble placing it. His mind was focusing on the scent instead of how close Akshara was to him. “Roses…” He mumbled to himself not realizing he had actually spoken his thoughts out loud.
“Hmm?” Akshara responded. “Roses?”
“New oil?” He replied. “You usually put hibiscus oil in your hair at night.”
“Oh, I forgot it at home. But I did get a new shampoo that is rose scented.” She stood up and smiled, “All done.” She stepped backwards only to suddenly lose balance as she tripped over her own foot. He quickly reached out and pulled her into his arms. His hand around her waist while her hands laid on his chest. He looked down while she looked up at him both a little surprised.
“You okay?” he whispered, noticing how close their faces were.
“Yes, um, thank you,” Akshara replied and bit her lower lip as he continued to hold her.
“Oh,yes sorry.” He let her go trying his hardest to hide the sudden nervousness that was overtaking him. He could feel his heart beating fast. "Wh-what time is it?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"It's twelve thirty in the afternoon," she answered.
They both turned their heads relieved that there was a knock at the door. “I’ll go check,” Akshara offered. He fixed his tank top and smiled as he heard Maya’s voice sounding louder as she walked into the room.
“Sorry to have disturbed you guys. I probably should have called beforehand to check if you were awake. I know everyone had a late night last night, but I came with gifts!” Smiling as she held up the two styrofoam containers. “Freshly made masala omelettes!”
“Masala omelette?” He and Akshara repeated together.
“That’s right! You will not believe it but some Aunty had one of those portable electric griddles. She got some groceries and just started making omelets. She’s already fed so many people but eventually her son came and shut down the operation. It is a fire hazard and all. But I managed to swipe two before she stopped. And by the way it is delicious!” She placed the containers on the table and smiled. “Did you guys eat anything yet?”
“No, not yet.” Akshara replied.
“There is even buttered toast?” He said in surprise as he opened the lid.
“I know! It’s crazy. Somehow they had a toaster too. I don’t know how. I didn’t ask,” Maya laughed.
“It smells wonderful.” Akshara said, closing her eyes taking in the scent.
“Eat up!” Maya encouraged. “I’m so glad the mehndi and sangeet isn’t starting until late afternoon. How are you doing Abhimanyu? That looks like a nasty bruise.”
“I’m fine. I’m icing it and just put some ointment on it to help with the bruising. Moving a little slower but okay.”
“You had us really worried last night. I’m glad you're fine.”
“Me too. What time are the festivities again?” He asked as he swallowed his bite of food.
“The girls are supposed to come down earlier around 4:00pm to get their mehndi done. Everyone else can come down at 5:30pm. Then the buffet opens at 7:00pm. We are supposed to be out by midnight. There are a few family performances planned and then the dance floor will be opened.” Maya looked down at her phone and sighed.
“Important?” Akshara asked with some concern.
“I have to go handle something with Shaan. I’ll see you guys later! Bye!”
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