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A Story by Haritha Sivkumar l Monday Blossoms l
Chapter 01
The night had already surrounded the entire Mumbai with its warm blanket. However, through the sparkles of the skyline, the nightly stars remained unnoticed by the busy-dwellers of the city. And, one among those incoherent busy people was Siddhant Tsering Nurugu, whose footsteps run loud through the elegant plush hotel room. In haste, the young man in his early thirties ran his pale fingers through his thick black hair, while clenching his fist into a ball of restraint.
“Hello,” Siddanth answered the call in a deep throaty tone, verbally displaying his displeasure on the meeting he was supposed to have later that very day. “What is her name?”
“Priya. Dr. Priya Shukla.” The man on the other side of the call answered.
“How does she look?” Siddanth asked curtly.
“Sir. Ma’am had emailed you the picture. Didn’t you-“The man on the other end began speaking.
“I am running an enterprise, Sreedhar. I do not have time to meet up with every woman in India. Especially not for blind dates, so that my parents can see their son gets married.” Siddanth snapped.
“Sorry, sir.” Sreedhar apologized.
“How does she look?” Siddhant repeated the question coldly.
“ Sir, as far as I know, Dr. Priya is tall and is supposed to be wearing a pink overcoat-” But Sreedhar’s voice didn’t reach Siddanth’s ear as the doorbell blared through the room irritatingly and startling Siddanth to drop his phone. “Sreedhar, I think she is here. So, I will call you back later.” Siddanth answered the call before he disconnected the call and started walking towards the door in confident strides while Sreedhar’s voice rung through his brain 'Tall and wearing a pink coat.'
The room fell silent as Siddanth reached for the door. He paused and sighed loudly in frustration over this blind date when the door banged loudly startling him again as irritation crept through his black button eyes. Swiftly with a loud clink, he opened the door. And, in the corridor, under the warm lights of sparkling chandeliers, Siddanth’s black eyes locked with a pair of deep-set black eyes filled with sorrow but in them, he found himself in enchantment.
The woman blinked at him while her brown lips parted. As if seizing himself from a seizure Siddanth pulled back from staring at her lips, and looked at her frame- she was a tall woman in a salmon-pink shirt with faded de-stressed mom- jeans. Her sleek black hair was tucked into a ponytail while a few fringes lightly fell over her oval face, and accentuated her brown skin and strong-medium frame in a romantic haze.
“Dr. Priya?!” Siddanth asked in a gruff.
“Yes!” Priya replied grimly as she moved forward, and leaned on the door while she stared at the small twinkling black eyes of Siddanth, hiding beautifully under those monolids.
Siddanth cleared his throat before speaking, “ Hai I am Siddanth Nurugu. Please come in.” Siddanth tried smiling trying not to look at her half-parted lips, which appeared to be in the middle of spelling something. He moved aside, and with a violent bob of the head, Priya stumbled into the room crossing him. A strong waft of alcohol filled Siddanth’s lungs, while he also noticed Priya wearing only one shoe and an earring.
“Wow. She is hammered.” Siddanth rolled his eyes at himself in bewilderment as he closed the door behind him. Priya sat on the couch and began diligently massaging her neat foot while tears welled up in her eyes.
“Dr. Priya, are you okay?” Siddanth enquired as he tried to break the awkward silence walling between them. “ Dr. Priya! Are you okay?” Siddanth asked cautiously when he finally got Priya’s attention by jerking her a bit by the shoulder. When he felt he wasn’t going to get an appropriate response from his companion, he decided to take the first step to end the statements of marriage proposal while handing Priya a glass of water.
“As you know Dr. Priya, this is a meeting purely arranged by my family and I had no say in this. But, I want to be honest with you, that even though I am grateful for my family to take trouble in finding a bride for me, I am not grateful-”
“Grateful! Right. Shouldn’t I be grateful that this break-up happened to me?” Priya finally spoke up leaving Siddanth in seamless confusion.
“Sorry,” Siddanth spoke in confusion.
“For the last one month, everyone has been saying this to me, that I should be ‘grateful’ that the love of my life- the man I was impeccably in love with for six years has cheated on me and broke up with me over a text. And, I am supposed to be immensely grateful for this onerous torturous pain that I am enduring right now. But, do you know what?” Priya spoke through gritted teeth and knitted eyebrows in pain.
“WH—What?” Siddanth stammered in surprise.
“I am not grateful. I am not grateful at all, for this torture that is gnawing my heart every single second of my existence.” Priya chewed on her lower lip while a tear slowly rolled down the inner corner of her eyes and dropped on her lap. Slowly, she pouted her lips and stared at the opposite cream wall, and whispered, “ He was my Chingu.” Priya’s gaze fell on Siddanth, “ You know, he was my Chingu, and now I have no Chingu!” Priya bellowed before slamming herself on the handrest dramatically.
Siddanth covered his mouth with his fingers while contemplating whether to laugh or sympathize with his companion while he heard her whisper ‘Chingu’ multiple times. “That is an unusual name,” Siddanth whispered to himself as he stood up and removed his beige coat and placed it on the nearby chair while he rolled up his sleeves and stared at a sobbing Priya on the couch’s hand-rest. ‘She is so drunk right now. I am not even sure if she even recognizes me. Does she even know who she is with her, right now? I guess not.’ Siddanth thought to himself.
“He was my chingu.” Priya sniffled again, “Mine. But not anymore- Why? Why I am not crying? Why are there no tears?” Priya patted her face while looking at Siddanth who was just scratching his head in frustration.
“I don’t know.” Siddanth answered, but as Priya’s foggy intoxicated eyes pressed further for a reply, he bit on his lip and racked his brain, “ May-Maybe – Maybe they all dried up because you have been crying for over a month – Six ( Priya stated the fact)- Ya, six months now.”
“Ahh. Right. Right, you know. We and I-“ Priya pointed her finger to both and clicked her fingers in the air, as she struggled with making more sense.
“We connect.” Siddanth completed the sentence.
“Yes. Connect. But I thought we connected,” Priya mumbled before returning to her reverie, “ Then how could he do this to me? How could he cheat on me with her? You know she is not even my height. She is such a small little one, how could he like her? He can’t even kiss her properly without picking her up. Oh my God! I wanted a K-Drama for myself, and it is happening in my life, but not for me.”
“Oh my Mom, did you plan to get me married to her?” Siddanth whispered to himself as his head started pounding while he held out the tissue box to Priya.
“I don’t understand men. What is it with you tall guys liking short girls, what are you planning to carry around in your pockets?” Priya demanded an answer while Siddanth disapproved with a nod.
“Then why did he cheat on me? She is not even as pretty as me, apart from the fact that she has fair skin and- No. NO. Priya we might be drunk and we might have got cheated on, but that doesn’t justify you looking down on people. We shouldn’t break the oath as a doctor. Respect all “ Priya spoke to herself.
“It’s okay you can diss them. I will not judge you.” Siddanth replied.
“Thank you.” Priya pouted earnestly, “ You are a nice man keep going.” Priya patted Siddanth’s thighs before continuing the overwhelming drunk narration of her lover cheating on her. It continued for non-stop twenty minutes leaving Siddanth more exhausted than ever in his life. So, when Priya’s phone rang, he sprang up like a Marvel hero and beamed, “Why don’t you pick up the call? It might be urgent.” Needing no further instructions, Pooja obediently followed his order before tumbling her purse and scattering the things on the floor.
“Oops...Can you put all these inside my bag? I am on a call. Thank you.” Priya batted her eyelids which in her sheer consciousness would have jammed herself between the hinges of the door under the pure embarrassment of that action. Plopping loudly on the couch, Priya crossed her legs and put on a fake smile, before answering the call in a fake American accent, “Ello!”
Siddanth stared at her with an intensity of radar and dislike as he absent-mindedly threw her contents from the table and floor into her bag.
“Yes. It is Dr. Priya. May I know who's on the other side.” Priya asked with her eyes closed.
“Ninde Kettyon (A female shouted through the phone in Malayam) – Your unlucky husband, you moron. Where the hell is you, Priya?”
“Oh, Kavuu!” Priya broke into a toothy smile still with her eyes closed, “ See I am with my chingu, and we are having a very serious conversation. I will call you late-"
“No. NO. NO!” Siddanth rushed and snatched the phone from Priya, who seemed unperturbed as she sunk into sleep, while Siddanth spoke in a rush, “ Hey! Dr. Priya is in room no: 524, Golden Regency Hotel, Bandra. When can you pick her up?”
“Who the hell are you?” The female sounded horrified.
“I am Siddanth Nurugu. I am an entrepreneur and your friend is safe with me. But please do hurry.” Siddanth informed the listener.
For the next five minutes, Siddanth waited patiently and in silence with a snoring Priya before her friends came, woke her up from her sleep, and took her away. By then Siddanth felt such a spike in his stress that it was pounding painfully on his head, while he watched the three strangers walking away and disappearing inside the lift when a slow yet sweet voice called him by his name, “Mr. Siddanth Nurugu?!”
Siddanth turned around to meet a pretty young woman of 25 years with fair skin, elegantly styled golden beach wavy hair, and red –lips.
“Yes?”
“I am Dr. Priya Shukla. We were supposed to meet today, for our blind date. Is it a good time to speak?” She titled her head with a smile.
“Blind-date? You- Dr. Priya?” Siddanth stammered as his eyes scanned her pink coat. “ If you are my blind date Dr. Priya, then who was that Priya in the pink shirt?”
“Who?” Priya looked confused as she watched Siddanth’s gaze down the corridor.
“The chingu. The woman I was talking to till now.”
“I have no idea who you are talking about. “ Priya answered awkwardly.
“Neither do I,” Siddanth answered before he decided to ignore the happenings of the last thirty minutes of his life and headed with actual Dr. Priya for dinner. They spent exactly forty-five minutes together having dinner and discussing various topics. Surprisingly Siddanth found her to be amusing and intelligent, however, he found himself constantly remembering the drunk woman and her antics throughout the evening. Even though her grudge and whimpering Siddanth found a broken heart with only warmth for people.
‘Are you having a headache? It must be due to be me talking loudly. So stuff a bun in my mouth and have a glass of warm milk before sleeping, and if the headache persists, only then take medicine. Okay.’ Siddanth heard Priya’s instructions playing in his mind as he chuckled the same night while lying on the bed, “Stuff a bun in my mouth- The woman is hilarious.” Siddanth said to himself before closing his eyes to sleep and thinking he will never meet the woman again in his life.
.
But how wrong was he? Exactly after two weeks, during the 25 th anniversary of Garuda Super Specialty Hospital, Siddanth met her again.
Life had different plans for them, as Siddanth walked through those impeccable cream and blue walls looking like a handsome ramp-walk supermodel, while his conversation with his parents echoed in his head.
“At least a small smile would do instead of you sulking at the pictures. Remember, it is a huge milestone for us. So, please look excited.”
“Ma. I am honestly happy for you and your achievement, and I am also happy to represent you here in this function. But, that can never take away the fact that I can never compensate for your presence and Papa’s stardom among the doctors and the whole team. These people are your fans.” Siddanth replied.
“Oh, my boy. We would have never asked for this favor if the ceremony we are having here in Leh isn’t as important as the anniversary. Moreover, you always surprise me with the fact that how can an introvert like you can even imagine building an empire and run it! Do you think that is the reason your business isn’t flagging up?” Tsering Nurugu, Siddanth’s father’s melodious voice which the whole of India considers the blessing of the country, felt like a horrid shrill in Siddanth’s head. “ I am afraid I will ever make you proud dad.” Siddanth voiced to himself and was caught in his reverie when the Dean of the Neurological Department got his attention.
“We are sorry that Dr. Ritu and Tsering Sabh couldn’t join us today as they are in your hometown in Ladakh. But I am flattered and honored to see how you guys didn’t cancel the anniversary function even if it is the first memorial function of your grandparents.” Dr. Rajeev said politely.
“This is no less than a family to her, Sir. Plus, If they hadn’t contracted COVID, I am sure they would have come here even for an hour.” Siddanth answered.
“When is the function?” Dr. Rajeev asked.
“Tomorrow,” Siddanth answered and continued their small chat about how his mother turned a small clinic in Versova into a Super specialty hospital all around India. Suddenly out of nowhere someone dashed onto Dr. Rajeev, apologized hastily, and started walking away in frenzy.
“Chingu?!” Siddarth's eyes sparkled in recognition, “ Will you please excuse me for a moment.” Siddanth excused before following the woman in white coat out of the room, who soon entered the ladies' restroom. “Classic,” Siddanth mumbled to himself, as he waited near the reception while he contemplated the number of pop-up questions in his head.
‘What if it’s in not her? Why are you waiting for her, is this even necessary? Let it go. What if she doesn’t recognize you?’
But the questionnaire was disturbed as he heard fellow men’s voices near him.
“Do you think she is crying in there because we asked her about her ex-boyfriend?” The man asked.
“And if she is crying. I can see why her boyfriend left her. She is way too chicken sensitive. I pity those kinds of women. I like strong women.” Another man replied.
“But, don’t you think it's a bit sad, that she applied for a transfer to this hospital because she wanted to be with him. Now he left her and the hospital, while she is stuck with a change that she wanted to enjoy with him, and she is doing it, but not without him.” The men and their voices walked away while a smile spread on Siddanth’s lips, “Sounds like my chingu.”
And, he was hundred percent right, as he saw Priya cautiously walking out of the restroom, wearing a shiny, hand-embroidered red kurthi and blue de-stressed jeans underneath her doctor’s coat. She looked more radiant and beautiful than the previous time, and Siddanth smiled to himself looking at her, before shouting. “Hey, Chingu!”
Though Priya wasn’t sure the call was addressed to her, she turned around to watch a handsome, tall man walking towards her with a smile that seemed to touch his round small nose and his black small mono-lid eyes. She expected him to walk across her, but he stopped before her with a broad smile. “ How have you been Chingu? I did not think we will meet again.”
Priya stared at the strange handsome man and replied, “ Sorry. Have we met before?”
CHAPTER 2
“Sorry. Have we met before?” Priya asked again, as her eyebrows arched higher while a strand of hair danced near her face. Siddanth smirked to himself as he recollected the moments he shared with the drunk Priya on their first meeting in the hotel room. And, the more he thought about the events it became even more difficult for him to concentrate on the present and communicate with a sombre-looking Priya, who isn’t whining or calling out ‘Chingu’ to any particulars that comes across her vision.
Siddanth cleared his throat loudly, suppressing his laughter before replying, “Yes we have.”
“Ah. Really? I don’t recollect diagnosing you. What was your case?” Priya’s face relaxed into a professional calm demeanour.
“Your boyfriend.” Siddanth chuckled.
“Sorry?”
“I am mean, I am not your patient. We know each other in a very strange way,” Siddanth spoke.
“As in?” Priya demanded while narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“ Let’s say we once spend a night in a room-” Siddanth felt his words coming out wrong as Priya’s eyes widened in shock, but for some unknown reason he enjoyed seeing her panicked face and beaming eyes. “ You shared a lot with me, that night.”
“ What rubbish to say to a stranger!” Priya hissed while pursing her lips tight, and sighing loudly, “ I will advise you to consult a psychiatrist, I think you need a good consultation from professionals like doctors or POLICE.”
“ Haha... I don’t need any help, because I am stating the fact. We shared one memorable night together. It is a shame you can’t recollect them because you had many things to share with me. I became your diary for the day, and embraced every-"
“Oh my goodness. SHUT UP! What drivel are you saying? I am not that kind of a woman to have one night stand with any strange man, especially not with any man in a blue suit.” Priya muttered angrily, as she looked to her sides before storming away while flipping her black hair towards the back.
“Hotel Grand Regency, ten days back. Don’t you remember the night!” Siddanth spoke peevishly as he slowly filled the gap between them with tiny steps. “ Didn’t any of your friends say anything to you about that night, Dr Priya?” By now Siddanth was sure Priya had heard of the story but has no clue about the events because she looked troubled.
“You know my name. “ Priya asked in a strained tone.
“I know more about you, your soul-"
“Don’t you dare take a step closer to me!” Priya warned, while Siddanth broke into small fits of laughter while listening to Priya’s hysteria, “ You are lying! Nothing happened between us that night. You are cooking things up with your loose brains. Weird man!” She shrieked in furry before turning away the second time.
“If I am lying, how come you still have my wallet in your purse?” Siddanth asked.
“There is nothing of yours in my purse because you are lying.” Priya declared and half jogged away, yet she heard Siddanth’s smirk in his shout before getting inside the hall, “ Go check in your purse, you will find a green leather wallet with my identity card, Siddanth Tsering Nurugu. And, then you can wake up from your intoxication and accept that we have actually met. And, just so you know we are definitely going to meet again.”
.
There are only 10 in million times a man’s predictions become true and Siddanth’s predictions were accurate at least in his case of finding Priya. But, which of course for the latter was a displeasing nightmare.
Because Priya Siddanth was some drunk lunatic who mistook her for someone else, she was confident they will never cross their paths again. But little did she know that she was working in his hospital, technically his mother’s hospital.
However that wasn’t the bad part, whenever she wished to forget the awful night along with her previous nights, he has to transport himself before her through some sort of medium that she wasn’t able to identify. Which apparently left her with undying angst of embarrassment, for one she doesn’t remember anything that happened that night, and two, well it’s pretty the same.
Well, that isn’t a bad case either, because the dire event happened one day when there was a call from the receptionist asking for Dr Priya from the Cardiology department to meet the Vice – President.
“Hey!” Priya smiled at the receptionist “ Vice-president wants to meet me? May I know why?” But before the receptionist could respond, another beautiful woman with fair skin and sweat beadings on her face asked while panting “ You said Vice-President wants to meet me? May I know why?” To which the young receptionist looked confused as she stared from a stunning dark-skinned doctor to a beautiful fair-skinned doctor, “You both are Priya from the Cardiology department?”
“Argh! Well, then our question should be which Priya the Vice-president wanted to see?” Both the Priya’s asked in unison while smiling.
“Arghh?”
“Is it Priya Chandran? That’s me.” Priya spoke while flipping her hair back, and then pointing to the fair-skinned doctor next to her, “Or is it, Priya Shukla?”
“ It is Dr Priya Shukla that I wanted to meet, but I am glad that I got to meet you again, Chingu.” Siddanth addressed the women with an alluring smile, to which Ms Shukla looked flattered while Dr Priya Chandran just rolled her eyes, ‘ Not this guy again’, Priya whispered to herself.
“Aren’t you pleased to meet your Vice-president Ms Chingu?” Siddanth whispered to Priya.
“I will kill you if you call me Chingu, again” Priya mumbled back to him, as he straightened up with a sneer on his face.
“Do you guys know each other?” Dr Shukla asked quizzically.
“Unfortunate events happen in life, and we shouldn’t keep a count on them,” Priya answered impassively.
“Huh?” Priya Shukla stared from Siddanth to Priya quizzically, before Priya started speaking again. “ As now we have understood who the Vice-president wanted to meet, I will excuse you myself. And, just for your reference, next time be clear when announcing the names, Dr Priya Chandran and Dr Priya SHUKLA, Okay! I just don’t want to be in the presence of strange people.” Priya informed the receptionist who visibly looked very uncomfortable between the doctors and the Vice-President of the hospital, yet she meekly responded, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank You.” Priya said and started walking away, when she heard his pity scoff smothered with laughter, “I would not mind meeting you again, Chingu.”
“I will kill you !” Priya mouthed the words before walking into the pharmacy.
Though Priya Shukla and Siddanth soon found out through their five dates that they weren’t compatible and couldn’t find the connection they were looking for their partners, they were never appalled by the thought of staying friends. Hence, as a token of last merriment on their last date with each other Siddanth revealed to Priya Shukla, the thirty-minute mishap that happened before they met at the Golden Regency Hotel. And, expecting less Siddanth soon joined Priya Shukla while she broke into the hysteria of laughter before they wiped their tears of laughter, before heading back to their homes.
But, this merriment became a nightmare, when this piece of information instead of staying enclosed within her mouth and heart started spreading like Corona Virus contracting one department after another, leaving Priya to become a laughing stock among her colleagues for many weeks, and for many weeks that followed.
But, that wasn’t the worst case either. Have you felt the pang of treachery when you get to know that your science teacher is on leave so you will get a free period, but at the last minute of your math class, your math teacher announces that she is going to continue through the science class also? Priya felt the very same pain when she came to know from her roommate and friend, Shefalika that, Siddanth Nurugu was her Boss as well as her boyfriend’s best friend.
And, that night Priya didn’t sleep at all.
Well, that wasn’t the worst at all, so the awful thing happened on a Sunday mid-morning, as Priya was helping her childhood friend and roommate, Kavya in preparing lunch while speaking to her mother over the phone.
“Is that what you wanted to talk about?” Priya seemed irritable as she faces timed her mother.
“Why? Can’t I enquire about your personal life, and know how you are doing in your life?” Ankita, Priya’s mother sounded equally irritated as the duo continued their banter, “You are my daughter if you remember that.”
“ It would have been more convincing if you actually believed and behaved what you said. Moreover, we broke up like six months ago and now you are calling me up and asking, ‘Why did you break up?’ The crows in Kerala might be knowing the reason for the past six months. Also for your kind information, my relocation has nothing to do with Aadithya.” Priya replied with an intended scorn.
“But I heard you got transferred to the same hospital in Mumbai-” Ankita said.
“Glad to know you are keeping yourself updated about me with the help of your little birdie,” Priya muttered.
“Priya, don’t scoff at me. I am your Amma. I am worried about you.” Ankita said while leaning forward to the screen.
“Oh please! You never even asked me ‘How I am doing’ even through a text, and you didn't even know I shifted to Mumbai like a month before. Yet, you have the brilliance to call me and declare your love for me. But, I am sorry I reject it, and, please uphold my second apologies in your heart as well, because I am in no mood to entertain you. After all, you are dampening my quality time of sitting idle.” And with no hesitation, Priya disconnected the call and threw her phone on the couch while resting her head on the couch.
“Dude you know, your mother is a single piece in this whole universe,” Kavya said while peeling the carrots and turning off the mute button on the Television and soon the whole room filled with the voice from a K-drama. “ But, still why didn’t you inform her about the relocation.?”
“Initially I didn’t then a month back I texted her like the usual, and she didn’t reply like the usual,” Priya said while yawning. “ By the way have I ever informed her about anything? I didn’t even tell her about our school trip to Wonderla, which is the only thing I regret the most.”
“Ya, I accuse you of not doing it. If you had asked got your permission from your mom or your dad-” Kavya stopped in between her sentence, and broke into an awkward smile when she got under the radar of Priya’s stare, “ Sorry, I meant your step-dad. You could have joined us all for that fun trip. Do you think your Amma called my mother and came to know about all these things?”
“Of course! Is that even a question? Looking at our past events and scaling my and my family's non-existent relationships, and me spending most of my days at your home. Your mother is the only feasible way my mother can get information about me, whenever she remembers my existence in her life.”
“Should I ask Amma to stop informing your mother about you over the phone?” Kavya enquired.
“Oh. Let it be, or else she will end up coming here. And, please in this break-up recovery stage, I could be free from one headache, moreover, they kind of enjoy each other’s company, let the old women bond, at least in the name of gossiping about me.” Priya answered exasperatedly before the two friends broke into a burst of hearty laughter, which was soon followed by a loud smacking noise joined with a cry from Priya. “KAVYA!”
“I am so sorry!” Kavya apologized as she tried soothing her friend’s right thigh where there were hot red imprints of her fingers.
“Oh you and your habit of slapping people while laughing, jandhu!” Priya scolded her friend before walking to her room and tripping over the mat and landing on the floor loudly while hitting and shaking the hell out of the nearby table. And, as if this wasn’t enough to add remorse, the bags on the table all toppled over head while scattering things around the floor.
“Argh!” Priya cried in pain as she sat upright and looked through her mishap while massaging her head. “Where did this all mess come from?” She questioned herself, while she picked up her cream-coloured handbag with an open zip, she peered into it and found a month-old Arman Manlik’s concert ticket, a half-eaten lays packet, and a green leather wallet.
“ I really need to start cleaning my bags. Is this still good?” Priya was about to peer into the Lays packet when Kavya came. “Are you alright? I heard a cry.”
“Yes. I am. I just tripped and this followed.” Priya spoke while dramatically stretching her hand with the Lays packet and the green wallet.
“Do you still have Aadithya’s wallet with you?” Kavya enquired in astonishment.
“No. This isn’t Aadithya’s.” Priya answered.
“Then who's it is? Not yours I guess.”
“No, it isn’t mine either, I wonder whose it is.”
Kavya snorted while speaking again, “What if it is Siddanth’s? You remember he has been pestering you for the wallet for such a long time. It will be ironical to see you have them after asking him to piss off.”
“Come on, it can’t be his. My life can’t be cruel like the mathematics teacher to me, at least no-“ Priya’s words fell short as in the inside of the wallet, Siddanth’s Identity Card smiled at her peevishly, “ This man is not going to let me live a peaceful life.”
“Is it his?! Oh my god!! Haha..” Kavya started taking a step, when Priya bellowed, “ Don’t you dare come near me and hit me, find your boyfriend or that door who did all this mishap.” Priya barked in anger and emotions she could not explain before she slapped the wallet on her head. Because she knows after yelling at him and cursing him for being a nonchalant pervert she can’t expect him to ask for the wallet again. So, it was her who needs to message him first.
Priya loathed the very thought of it.
CHAPTER 3
The next day as the sun beamed through her clinic room , Priya could hardly repress the anger and irritation building up as Siddanth refused to call or text her back even though he has seen her messages. “Oh Shefu! I wish to kill you. You could have easily given the wallet to him, he is your boss, (slowly realizing ) and mine too. But, I don’t work for him!” Priya spoke aloud to her room.
“Sorry?”
Suddenly startled by the response Priya stared towards the door and saw Nikhita, Priya’s ten-year-old patient walking in along with her mother.
“How are you Nikhita? Hai Ma’am!” Priya blushed slightly in embarrassment as Nikhita settled herself on the stool near Priya, like a routine. “Are you still feeling fatigue while walking?” Priya enquired with a smile that touched her eyes with concern, and the girl nodded in affirmation. “Let’s see.” Priya said placing the stethoscope on the little girl’s heart, and continued with her diagnosis and check-up.
The entire day went by with busy schedule making Priya bit exhausted. Though there wasn’t any usual rush yet lack of sleep and the internal stress potentially due to chance of meeting ‘Siddanth’ all made her weary. It was not until evening when she finally got time to have her lunch. She just had one morsel of food inside her stomach, when her whole face turned into a disgusting scowl as she read a single text from Siddanth, “ I will meet you before the hospital back entrance , at 4: 30 pm. SHARP. Sharp! What does he think of himself? Napoleon Bonaparte, I will meet you before the hospital- what the- How dare he order me? Look at the tone, ” Priya was furious “No hi. No sorry. No apologies for not replying to my twenty messages, Oh my gawd! What did he mean 4:30 SHARP, as if I will be late- of its almost 4:20.” Priya muttered to herself, before exiting the canteen without having her lunch. She ran through the corridors in frantic to retrieve the wallet and reach their meeting spot before Siddanth reaches.
Priya was a bit out of breath as she stood before the fountain and scanned the entrance for Siddanth, and found none. She sighed slightly and wiped the sweat forming over her upper-lip while let the drizzle from the fountain cool her. She still had two minutes till Siddanth’s scornful meeting time got over, and she looked haughty as she peeped into the fountain and wondered.
“This might easily drown a child of ten. I wonder why they haven’t raised any railings around it? Isn’t it perilous to have open fountain like this.” Priya was busy in her worries for the future kids when a shrill sound of racing car caught her attention. The sleek silver Audi stopped fifteen feet away under a tree, and Priya saw Siddanth walk out of his car.
“Can’t say Hi, but can definitely walk out of the car in this scorching summer evening, wearing all black ensembles like a Manish Malhotra ramp walk model.” Priya sneered. She stared at his thick black hair bouncing slightly in the momentum and under the evening breeze, while he removed the black shades and placed it inside his suit, and stared back at her- directly with his small Asian eyes. But Priya’s thick lashed-doe-eyes of Priya were already studying him- his small, round nose on the oval face with sharp jaw line accentuated his swimmers body while he walked with powerful strides of confidence. As he came closer, she guessed him to be six –feet, almost four inches taller than herself. As their eyes locked again, she sighed loudly promisingly placing before her opponent the intensity of her dislike towards him, but he seemed unaffected as he stopped before her and cocked his head sideways, lips curled started yelling, “Thief. Thief. Thief!”
Priya’s first instinct was to call out ‘where’ but she stopped herself from screaming when she realized he was actually sarcastically calling her out with a peevish smiled curled-up on his lips.
“HAHAHAA! Very funny,” Priya smirked with an unenthusiastic laugh.
“Oh dear, that is the most fake-ridiculous-dry laugh of the century,” Siddanth answered.
“To the man who keeps calling me chingu and keeps on making gibberish jokes, this laugh should be a standing ovation.”
“You do know that I don’t need your fake sympathy or laugh. Because, your embarrassment is my standing ovation,” Siddanth replied.
That’s it, Priya’s alter-ego was hurt now, and it was ready to pounce through her soul as she stammered , “ My embarrassment! Excuse me-"
“Twenty-seven missed calls. 30+ text messages and your inability to meet my eyes, and that my Chingu is my victory. Also, how desperate were you to meet me, Chinguuu?!” Siddanth teased Priya , and the final touch was his wink.
“WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT, I AM NOT YOUR CHINGU!” Priya stomped her foot defensively.
“Then who is your Chingu? Oh! I remember. You have no chingu.” Siddanth impersonated Priya’s drunken expression exceptionally as he brought his face down on his right elbow.
“I did not do that.” Priya protested.
“Oh, you did exactly this.” Siddanth answered while completely enjoying Priya in complete distress.
“ Pff. See I am a busy person, and I do not have time to entertain these kinds of childish behaviors. So, if you will please take this wallet and be on your way, it will be more easier for me to erase you from my memory.” Priya spoke with urgency and nose flared in anger.
“Oh without an apology accepting this wallet will seem to be a taint to my soul?” Siddanth spoke while placing his right palm on his heart.
‘Did he dare to ask for an apology after calling us a thief in front of these many people? Did he actually dare to ask for an apology even after gaining pleasure from mocking me at all instance? NO! No way. Sorry..my foot! You don’t have to apologize Priya.’ Priya’s alter ego was on flame.
“Why should I apologize to you? In fact considering all the mental torture and the time you excruciated from my hip-happening life, you should be apologizing to me.” Priya spoke with an edge.
“I thought you were reckless only when you were drunk but you seem to be more brazen even in your somber state.” Siddanth answered coldly.
“Reckless? Brazen? Argh.. Siddanth Nurugu, you are kidding.” Priya, was appalled by his response.
“Who was the person who stormed into my room, and without any prior introduction began chattering and exhausted me with their boring yet painful narration of heartbreak? Who was the person who had my wallet with them for weeks, but wasn’t mature enough to check on the matter even after me pressing and requesting to do so? Who was the person who raged on me through a voice call and called me a low-key pervert, and threatened to put me behind the bars?” Siddanth hollered as he partially hovered over Priya, who stood with her hip leaning on the fountain.
Priya’s eyes squirmed while she waited for her alter-ego to respond with a strong come-back, but nothing- no voice at all. She was cheated by herself, like, the time when your best-friend scores 85 % and you score 50 % when you both declared to each other that neither studied a bit while entering the exam hall- Priya felt that kind of betrayal.
“A-Ah! People should not trust the memories of people when they are just walking bodies of two bottles of hard alcohol.” Priya spoke after two seconds, which appeared like an eternity.
“You had two bottles?” Siddanth enquired with amusement and disbelief. “Priya, you do know that drinking is never a solution for heartbreak or for any problems. They are just a medium of ignorance that procrastinate your pain and consciousness.”
“I know-"
“As a doctor I expected much from you. You should have self-control. It might have been a painful phase in your life, but you can never overcome it through intoxication. Giving yourself the space to remorse and acceptance of the life that, every good thing leaves our life to make room for greater things can help-”
“You know what is more painful than having heartbreak or drinking tasteless-sour alcohol which left me with bad hangover and pounding headache? Right now- listening to you giving me lectures clearly on a summer evening is the excruciating pain, when all I wanted to do was to get rid of this wallet and get back to my work.” Priya fumed out, while they glared at each other with pure hatred of having met each other in their life.
Priya stretched the wallet again to Siddanth and neither batted away from glaring at each other. With heaving chest and blazing body with fury, Siddanth slowly raised his hand and but through the corner of her eyes she saw that. A bull was raging towards them in fury, Priya squealed in horror, and in panic Siddanth turned around toppling Priya to the ground while the bull raged past them to the opposite side while a few people chased after it.‘Where the hell did that come from? Uff!’ Priya thought to herself when she heard a yelp from Siddanth, “MY WALLET!”
Priya scurried, as the wallet wasn’t in her hands, and saw Siddanth staring into the fountain. “Oh!” Priya stared into the fountain, and through the frothing water and bubbles, the green leather wallet was sinking deeper-and-deeper into the fountain. Priya gulped while she felt the fumes emitting from Siddanth’s body.
“You moron, you threw the wallet into the pool. Are you crazy?” Siddanth bellowed.
“Excuse me you bloody moron! Did you expect me to stand still and spike the raging bull by yelling, ‘Come fight me, now!’ I am not Bhalladeva!” Priya hollered back now completely losing her temper, while two onlookers watched them with curiosity.
“Who?” Siddanth roared.
“Bhalladeva, villain from the movie, Baahubali.” Priya shouted the reply.
In irritation Siddanth stomped his foot before shouting, “ You threw my wallet into the water!”
“Not intentionally will you please calm down-”
“Yes, nothing you do is intentional. You didn’t intentionally walk into my hotel room or kept my wallet, and now throwing away my wallet-”
“OH MY GOD! Will you stop whining like a baby! You and I are both matured enough to understand that all of this happened unintentionally but coincidentally.” Priya replied while taking a provocative step forward, “ And moreover it is just a wallet. Nothing would have happened to it. You can fetch it out of the fountain. ( Siddanth shook his head in admonishment, which spiked Priya) It is just a wallet Siddanth, you can ge-”
“IT IS NOT JUST A WALLET!” Siddanth roared, and for a second it felt like the D-Day of world’s has occurred, and it was the silence before the apocalypse. “It is not just a wallet!” Siddanth repeated now with much lower tone but with same intense rage.
With clenching jaws and anger bursting through every ounce of their existence, they looked like one enigma of fury baking in golden rays of dusk while a beautiful rainbow from the fountain hovered over them.
Slowly breaking the silence Priya muttered through her gritting teeth, “ What do you want me to do?” She paused then her decibel increased with each word, “Do you want me to get it for you, from the fountain?”
“Yes.” Siddanth replied with equal furry as he pranced.
“You really want me to get it from the pool?” Priya was practically yelling.
“Yes!” Siddanth yelled back, but before he could take back the response with his ‘NO’ still stuck in his throat, he saw Priya jump into the pool in anger, and he stood there perplexed.
Priya’s calculations were wrong and the pool was much deeper than she anticipated. It took her more than few seconds to trace the green wallet among the murky shallow chlorinated blue water, before she re-surfaced with dead leaves stuck to her head. However, before she could complain the concern over being drowned in the murky dirty water, there was huge a concern prancing before her in living form- Siddanth.
It took a second for Priya to understand whether he was jumping in happiness of getting her drowned or was he actually panicking, until she heard her name come out as a choke through his red face smeared with stress.
“Siddanth! What are you doing? Priya asked.
“Calling out for help,” Siddanth replied back absentmindedly, before he turned back again to see Priya getting out of the fountain. He ran towards her with cry of relief still stuck in shock while he held her hand and helped her out, “Are you alright? What were you thinking? Priya, oh my goodness, what madness was that? Never ever do that- It was a dangerous act!” Siddanth yelled at Priya.
But, as Priya opened her mouth to speak, she was caught in a surprise as his eyes were just gleaming with unshed tears of turmoil.
Chapter 4
“Are you alright? What were you thinking? Oh my goodness, Priya, what madness was that? Who jumps into the fountain like that, it is dangerous!” Siddanth yelled at Priya.
“Siddanth, I am okay. I am really fine!” Priya said in a soothing voice while she looked into the panic and sorrowful eyes, it appeared to Priya that Siddanth even though was calling out her name, but the panic was the reason for something else, or of someone else. “ Siddanth, breathe.. breath.” Priya’s doctor instinct acted as she guided Siddanth through the calming process, and it took them almost three minutes to get Siddanth to calm down from his panic attack and shivering.
“Y-You are okay?” Siddanth stuttered as he held Priya’s fingers entangled in his, while he searched for reassurance from Priya’s big doe-eyes. With a big smile that touched her soulful eyes, Priya nodded yes. “Never- ever do that again. Do you hear me?!” He warned Priya, who agreed like a disciplined child.
“Oh my God!” Siddanth spoke to himself while rubbing his palms over his face. As if grasping the two from their world of realities an ambulance blared past them. Priya for a second stared past the vehicle before staring at herself, water was still dripping from her hair creating darker splotches on her sky blue spaghetti-sleeved hand-embroidered Kurti, which now snuggled tightly on her body, accentuating her curves more prominently.
“Wrong day to wear light colour,” Priya muttered under her breath, while new Goosebumps rose on her damn skin due to the evening chill. As if understanding her discomfort, Siddanth removed his black coat and wrapped it around her, before walking away and taking an abrupt existence.
“Is he embarrassed or worried?” Priya contemplated as she watched his Audi leaving the premises of the hospital, when it dawned on her, that the wallet, was still with her. “Aye, What is the meaning of me getting drowned now? Argh!” Priya cried when the leaves on her hair fell as she jerked in irritation.
Though the two did not meet each other or attempt to contact each other after that evening for a few days, Priya, however, found herself with a nagging prick wanting to know the reason behind the shallow pain in Siddanth eyes. Hence like that one evening when Priya did not even realize herself, her mouth spilt the words to Shefallika who was repeating the lines from Whiny-the-Pooh, “ Shefu, you have known Siddanth for a while now, right?!”
As if someone has stolen her strawberry muffin, Shefalika eyed Priya with a suspicion,” Yes,” she said slowly, “ Two years to be precise. Why?”
“Nothing in particular, hmm, how is he as a person?”
Now completely alert in her senses, Shefalika sat upright, “ Dude, do not even think about it? He is my boss and what will happen to me if you both break up?”
“Che- thu- First of all you should not worry about us breaking up, but you and your boyfriend. And, secondly, I am not planning to date him.” Priya clarified her dramatic friend’s doubt, who now reclined back to lie on the sofa with her legs on Priya’s lap. “You remember the things that happened two days back right- it’s his eyes- did something dramatically terrible happen to him or his family recently?”
“ Nothing I could recollect.”
“Hmm” Priya wasn’t convinced with the answer, therefore she headed back to her room, and collected the tiny photograph that she was drying along with the green leather- wallet on her dressing table. She held the photograph to Shefalika and asked, “It is not that clear due to the water, but I guess it's Siddanth and a couple in the photograph.”
Shefalika held the picture close to the light, and then let out a slow gasp, “I forgot, this might be his grandparents. They died last year in a boat capsizing. It was a terrible event, a few other people also lost their lives. Siddanth was also caught in the accident but due to his agile swimmer's instinct he helped in the rescue, at the end, he couldn’t save his grandparents though. I remember Ankit saying how heartbroken Siddanth was after that accident, it took him months to reconcile with that trauma.”
“Hmm. Do you think he got over that trauma?” Priya enquired.
“Well, I am not sure. Death is not something you can overcome easily, right? They are like scars, they might fade but they always make our heart bleed with the memory.” Shefalike answered, and Priya nodded, while the faded memories of her father’s laughter filled her ears painfully. And, that night, Priya found herself searching for the unfortunate boat capsizing accident that took place in Leh, Ladakh last year. The more she read the various articles, she kind of understood the reason behind Siddanth’s panic attack. “ His wound is still raw, the inability to save his grandparents, the trauma from drowning and going to comma, all together makes sense why he freaked out seeing me jump into the water.” Priya contemplated, as she closed her laptop and called for the day, apparently for the whole situation, in her mind- but it was not true, if it was, she wouldn’t have taken that step.
“That’s it? Why did you, end your report abruptly Somali? Somali? Who names their Somali? Oh, Sonali! Okay.” Priya muttered to herself as she finished reading the news article, and also finding many subsequent articles regarding the incident, finally getting overwhelmed with the numerous heartbreaking pictures, Priya closed her laptop and called for the day, apparently for the whole situation- but it wasn’t true, if it was, she wouldn’t have taken that step.
Anyways it was a Thursday evening and Priya was back home from her day shift and was lounging while watching her favourite K-Drama, whereas Kavya who was also back from her shift was in her room with her boyfriend. Owing to a fusing-out bulb on the ceiling Priya was forced to replace it with a new bulb, and hence she was standing on the ladder with the bulb in one hand while fully involved in the action sequence happening between the female and male lead, ‘Oh.. how can they even look good when they are hitting each other? Aesh! Come on, no man catches the woman when she falls, it is just in these dramas ( blushing slightly, the commentary continued). Oh, Adithya had a shirt similar to that, the same one which he wore with the two buttons open whenever we used to go out for a date- Aesh! Don’t think about him! Concentrate on the cute Korean guys!” Priya got scolded when she felt someone prying on her, as she turned around, she was startled to see Siddanth staring at her with a confused look.
“Oh my god, Siddanth! You scared the hell out of me!” Priya shrieked as she lost her balance slightly.
“CAREFUL!” Siddanth shrieked but halted in his spot when he saw Priya holding on to the ladder strongly.
“Ende Ponne – OH MY GOD SHEFU! What happened?” Kavya shouted as she half jogged towards the front door. Hearing Kavya’s cry Priya stared at Siddanth who seemed to carry an unconscious Shefalika in his hands. Surprised and worried Priya descended the stairs and walked over to the sofa where Kavya was checking Shefalika’s pulse.
“What happened? “ Priya enquired to Siddanth who appeared a bit flushed with carrying Shefalika upstairs.
“I don’t know. I gave her a lift as she looked weary while leaving the office, and as she was about to enter the apartment, she collapsed on the floor near the gate.” Siddanth answered a bit out of breath himself.
“Water.” Kavya instructed, and Priya dashed away with a nod and handed him a glass of water, and asked him to relax on the chair.
“Her pulse is normal.” Kavya informed.
“We tried giving her water and waking her up, and she did regain her conscience, but since she looked weak I carried her over.”
“ How did you know where she lived?” Priya regretted the moment she asked the question.
“I have been here before along with her boyfriend, only you weren’t her. You moved here recently,” Siddanth nudged the answer forward, to which Priya just nodded because she knew Ankit was Siddanth’s closest friend, and he was in a relationship with Shefalika for two years.
“You could have called us, we could have helped you.” Priya butted with a pout.
“Ah. During that commotion, that thought didn’t occur to me. I informed Ankit though, and he is on his way here.” Siddanth responded truthfully.
Understanding the mental stress Siddanth might have gone through Priya, let down her guard and allowed his actions to be sidelined, when Kavya informed with a much-relaxed tone and moved away from the couch, “ It seems to be Hypoglycemia. Nothing to worry for the moment,” she informed the crowd around her when her boyfriend Tilak joined them from his nap. The men were introduced to each other before the women began dissecting the situation.
“I am going to throw away those strenuous diet charts this time. I have no idea why this girl wants to get into this super-thin unhealthy size. Why can’t she understand that it is better to be curvy and healthy, than super petite and unhealthy-”
“Now calm down will you, and do not pound on her when she wakes. People take time to relax with their body image, with constant support they can build confidence.” Priya tried to reason with her friend.
“Priya, this happened twice this week, if she isn’t taking this seriously it can harm her and become perilous.” Kavya looked very offended and concerned at the same time.
“I know, but Kavya's body image is something we all battle with right, different people have different expectations- wait I haven’t finished talking, that doesn’t mean she can harm herself by starving herself. But, we can help her see her beautiful side which she isn’t able to see herself right. When your friend is taking a blind step, isn’t it the friend's duty to light the torch to the right path, moreover, you do remember she was very anxious and stressed with her work. She was up almost all night.” Priya said, but she did not anticipate the consequence response.
“Yes, that jerk – her boss, what does he take his employees to be his slave. I will ground that man into chutney.” Kavya hissed to the room when Siddanth gulped uncomfortably in the corner.
“Well, he is standing right there, you can act like we won’t report it to the police,” Priya informed Kavya while pointing to Siddanth, who looked at her exasperatedly while she smirked in response.
“Aeyy!” Kavya stared at Siddanth in bewilderment before speaking with a smirking, “ You seem to be a pleasant man. Thank you for bringing my friend here. Heh!” Kavya beamed in embarrassment before dashing to the kitchen leaving Tilak and Priya to shake in suppressed laughter before Tilak and Siddanth started speaking and Priya climbed back to her old position of replacing the bulb. But, all the time she stood on the ladder and replaced the bulb with full attention she was unaware of how with unwavering and concerned eyes Siddanth stole glances at her, making sure to run to her side and catch her if she falls. But, this did not go unnoticed by Kavya or Tilak, because when Priya climbed down the ladder, Tilak excused himself and joined Kavya in the kitchen.
“Do you need help with that?” Siddanth felt himself asking while restraining himself from walking over to her in helping her with the ladder, which now Priya easily lifted and took to the small storage room behind Siddanth, with a small sly nod.
“Argh! Would you like to have dinner with us? We have made rice and peace curry.” Priya asked with an unsettling feeling. Startled by the offer and to be polite Siddanth smiled and replied, “ Oh no thank you. I will take my leave now, plus I am not that hungry either.” The reply would have convinced Priya-if, only if- his stomach did not growl loudly in hunger. Priya clenched her jaws from laughing out loud while Siddanth inspected a world beyond embarrassment through the opposite wall.
“Please. I insist consider it as a token of our gratitude for helping our friend.”
Siddanth stood there awkwardly with a smile when his stomach lurched into another growl, “Okay! Only because you insist on having with me”
“Okay!” Priya smiled, as they walked toward the kitchen.