Ashutosh held her in the pool and kissed her deeply.

“Aap mujhe naughty kah rahe the… Aap bhi aise gentleman nahin hain jaisi aapki image hain,” she teased him.

“Dr. Nidhi Verma. There is no such thing as a gentleman in bed or in a private pool with the love of his life.”

Nidhi just smiled shyly and did not reply.

“Waise tum janna chahti thi na ki how did I change my mind… about us?”

She nodded.

“Us din lake mein swimming karte waqt when you disappeared… main itna kabhi nahin dara tha Nidhi… Kabhi apni jaan ko lekar nahin, apne pahle patient ko le kar nahin, in fact kabi Rahul ko le kar bhi nahin… Aur phir jab tumhein apni baahon mein liya uske baad I knew… ki resisting it was futile. Apni har ek feeling ko main ek platonic rishte mein handle kar sakta tha. Lekin is attraction ko nahin. Agar is rishte ko accept nahin karta to kabhi na kabhi in the grip of my desires aisa kuchh kar baithta jo usse badi galti saabit hota. So, I decided to ignore the demons in my head… and just listen to my heart… and be happy.”

“Aap khush hain?”

“Itna ki main express nahin kar sakta!”

Nidhi leaned on him, resting her head on his chest and said, “Thank you Dr. Ashutosh. I realize ki aapke liye kitna mushkil tha ye faisla. Thank you for taking it.”

“Pagal,” Ashutosh patted her head affectionately, “Chalo. Ab chal kar breakfast karte hain. Phir wapas jaana hai.”

—

“Ashu. Nidhi. Tum log aa bhi gaye? Main abhi bachchon ko le kar mall ke liye hi nikal raha tha. Mujhe laga tum log der se lautoge.”

“Lunch ke baad aana hi tha. Humne socha ki saath mein hi lunch kar lete hain.”

“Papa. Aap bhi hamare saath chaliye mall,” Rahul jumped on him.

“Woh log thake hue honge Rahul,” Armaan tried to reason with Rahul.

“Nahin,” Nidhi interrupted, “Bilkul nahin. Hum chalte hain.” Nidhi spoke with such urgency that everyone stared at her. She realized that no one was implying anything about what they did and she was unnecessarily on edge. “I mean aisa tiring kiya hi kya hai…” she tried to control the damage, and ended up making another faux pas.

Armaan whistled and grinned at Ashutosh. Ashutosh was embarrassed as well as amused and reacted with a facepalm. Siddhi realized what was going on and tried hard to suppress a grin. Rahul was clueless as he asked, “Kya hua Papa?”

“Kuchh nahin Rahul. Aap taiyaar hain?”

“Main taiyaar karwa deti hoon,” Nidhi said dying to get away from there for a while at least.

“Main taiyaar hoon Nidhi Auntie.”

“Siddhi. Tera top kitna ganda lag raha hai. Chal change kar le.”

“Lekin Di…”

“Andar chal…”

“Ahem!” Armaan exclaimed after Nidhi had dragged Siddhi inside, “Ye to pagal ho gayi hai. Aapke kya haal hain Ashu Miyan?”

“Armaan!” Ashutosh tried to glare at him, but both of them broke into a laughter.

Nidhi and Siddhi came back and Siddhi was still wearing the same top. Armaan decided to tease Nidhi, “Siddhi. Tumne top to change kiya nahin?”

“Di pagal ho gayi hai Dr. Armaan.”

“Achchha. Kya kiya?”

“Kuchh nahin,” Nidhi did not let Siddhi reply, “Doosra koi dhang ka top ye le kar hi nahin aayi hai. To main kya karti?”

“Right!” Siddhi rolled her eyes, but did not say anything further.

Armaan and Ashutosh watched in the play area of the mall as Nidhi took the kids around and played with them. Her laughter and smile knew no end.

“Nidhi bahut khush hai, Ashu.”

Ashutosh sighed, “Haan. Waise to bachchon ke saath hamesha rahti hai. Lekin aaj kuchh zyada hi hai.”

“She is a great girl Ashu. Khush rakhna use. Bahut patiently wait kiya hai usne tera.”

“Woh sab to mujhe pata hai. Lekin mujhe to laga tha ki tu mera dost hai. Tu uske liye mujhe kyon bol raha hai?” Ashutosh joked.

“Kyonki uski smile mujhe tere chehre par bhi reflect hoti dikh rahi hai. Teri khushiyon ki key bhi uske paas hi hai.”

Ashutosh smiled, “Thank you Armaan. Mujhe hamesha sahi advice dene ke liye.”

“Chal. Isi baat par gale milte hain,” Armaan grinned and the friends hugged.

“Ye Ram-Bharat milap yahan kyon ho raha hai?” they separated on hearing Nidhi’s voice.

“Sita ki wajah se!” Armaan quipped.

“Serial mein to Kaikeyi ki wajah se hua tha!”

“To tumne dekh liya tha poora serial?” Ashutosh asked.

Nidhi nodded and smiled at him.

“Chalo. Kissi restaurant mein chalte hain. Mujhe to bahut bhookh lag rah hai. Aap logon ka pet bhale hi games se bhar gaya ho,” Armaan said. They took a lift to the fourth floor which had several restaurants.

“Indian or Chinese?” Armaan looked at two restaurant right next to each other and asked.

“Chinese!” Siddhi replied excitedly.

“Rahul Chinese mein kuchh bhi nahin khaata,” Nidhi said.

“Lekin Indian to hum hamesha khaate hain Di. Chinese please…”

“No Siddhi,” Nidhi said strictly.

“It’s okay Nidhi. Rahul ko hum ghar ja kar khila sakte hain,” Ashutosh tried to reason with Nidhi.

“No Dr. Ashutosh. Hum sab log yahan aaye hain. Hum wahan jayenge, jahan sab log kuchh kha sakein. Siddhi ye baat samajhti hai. Right Siddhi?”

“Yeah. Sure,” Siddhi was obviously not too happy, but she acted mature.

Ashutosh looked uneasily at the sisters, but did not say anything right then. Armaan stayed silent as he didn’t think it right to intervene. They walked into the Indian restaurant.

—

“Nidhi! You were unnecessarily harsh with Siddhi,” Ashutosh told Nidhi when they were alone at home.

“Aisa kuchh nahin hai Dr. Ashutosh. Usne bura nahin maana. Maine usse baat ki hai.”

“Still… Nidhi… Main nahin chahta ki uske man mein kabhi bhi koi complex aaye. Particularly use aisa nahin lagna chahiye ki Rahul ki wajah se…”

“Come on Dr. Ashutosh. She is also very fond of Rahul. Kaafi protective use lekar.”

“Chalo bhai. You are right about everything. Phir bhi I want to make it up to her. Aur main usse baat karna chahta hoon, agar tumhein aitraaz na ho to…”

“Agar aap uske liye kuchh karna chahte hain, ya usse baat karna chahte hain, to kya aapko meri permission ki zaroorat hai?”

Ashutosh was disarmed by her charming ways. “No. I guess,” he smiled.

“Aur Dr. Ashutosh. Ye ho sakta hai ki under certain circumstances, kuchh baatein woh mujhse behtar kar sake. Lekin as far as I am concerned, aap uske guardian hain. Rahul ki tarah hi aap uske liye jo bhi faisla lenge, mujhe blindly manzoor hoga.”

“Okay then. Get ready for the surprise!”

—

“There is an announcement for the evening,” Ashutosh said when everyone was sitting together in lawn in the evening. He waited until everyone was looking at him. “Pahli to ye ki Dr. Nidhi aaj yahan ruk rahi hain, aur poori shaam Rahul ke saath bitayengi.”

“Yay!” Rahul was excited.

“Aur Dr Nidhi ko ye punishment mili hai ki woh Rahul ka homework poora karwayengi. Kyonki mujhe pata lag chuka hai ki Rahul ne homework poora nahin kiya hai.” Nidhi pretended to be sad at the punishment, but winked at Rahul indicating to him that they would have fun.

“And finally! Kyonki Siddhi ne apna homework weekend shuru hone se pahle hi kar liya tha, she gets to eat out with me. We will go to a very nice Chinese restaurant. What say, Siddhi? It’s a date!”

“Di?” Instead of replying to Ashutosh Siddhi looked at Nidhi with curiosity and confusion.

“Mujhse kya poochh rahi hai pagli. You have the invitation. Go!”

Siddhi grinned.

“Aur Dr. Armaan choose kar sakte hain ki woh meri aur Siddhi ki date par kabab mein haddi banenge, ya Rahul ka homework poora hone ke baad uske liye ghoda.”

“Dost dost na raha…” Armaan sang dramatically, “Dr. Ashutosh. Is umra mein mujhe bahar ka khaana thoda kam pachta hai. Already lunch bahar kiya tha. I would prefer to stay in. Rahul. Tumhein main magarmachh ki sawaari karwunga, okay?”

“Cheating. Cheating,” Rahul shouted, “Magarmachh ki sawaari cheating hai. Maine ad dekhka hai woh waala.”

Everyone laughed and Nidhi assured Rahul, “Don’t worry Rahul. Hum dono mil kar ensure karenge ki Dr. Armaan tumhare liye ghoda hi banein.”

—

To be continued