Chapter 18

Shruti's POV

" He is no one bhai... I have no relationship with him. I don't even know him well. " I said as I was really scared of the consequences.

I started pleading with him but Nihal was very furious. He caught my hand and pulled me towards home when Siddarth got up and came back.

" How dare you?? How can you hit a girl like that? " He looked furious and was about to punch him back.

No !! Please !!!

Nihal turned to him and his back was towards me. I shook my head and folded my hands in front of Siddharth.

I didn't want him to fight or say anything. I knew that it was going to cost me all the hard work I had put in to date.

" She is my sister, who is she to you?? Why are you so bothered?? "

" Oh sorry, bhaiya !! You are just overreacting. She is no one to me. I don't even know her name. I just wanted to ask her about a friend of hers. "

" What?? A friend of hers?? But why are you asking her? "

" I wanted her to ask about her friend's phone number or address. My parents and Bua ( paternal aunt) wants to go and meet her parents Please bhaiya, tell her to help me. My Bua Ji came to the hospital a few days back. She saw the girl and is really after me to find her as she wants her to be her daughter-in-law. "

" Listen, I don't care... I will not tolerate you anywhere near my sister. Go and find that girl on your own. " Nihal said glaring at him.

" Ok, sure but please if you could help me. Please ask your sister. My Bua will keep pestering me. You know how women are. Please bhai!! I will never bother your sister again. " He continued doing that drama.

" Do you know that girl?? " Nihal asked me.

" I don't know her... We were given the same project so we were working on it together. It is over, I don't know her." I said and burst into tears

" Did you hear that? She does not know much about her. Now stay away from my sister. If I ever see you around her, I will beat you to a pulp. " Nihal said.

" Ok !! Sorry for all this. " Siddharth said looking at me and left.

" I am sorry, Shruti !! I should not have hit you. Please forgive me. " Nihal said touching his ears and I nodded. He went to drop me at college and told me that I must tell him if he bothers me again. I nodded and he left.

About after an hour, Siddharth came to me and asked me If I was fine but I was angry with him so I just nodded and told him to stay away.

" Are you sure you are fine?? "

" I am till now... Please have mercy on me, just stay away. I can't afford to leave my studies in the middle of it. I have put in so many efforts. Please. "

Siddharth went away but kept away from me. He never came to talk to me again though his eyes still seemed to follow me everywhere. But I always ignored him. It has been 2 years since that happened.

Present time

He is the Head Dermatologist in the Hospital as the former senior doctor who was the head of the department, retired 2 months back.

I completed my MBBS and I had to do the internship.

I was a bit apprehensive as I didn't want to work under him or any of his friends especially Dr Parth. But that was unavoidable. All the doctors were his friends.

If only, I knew that I would meet him at the Holi party, Vidhi's brother was throwing, I would have never come to it.

I was annoyed with Vidhi, why did she give my new number to him?

I called her and she picked up the phone.

" Hey, Shruti !! How are you?? " She said in a low sad voice.

" Hi, are you not well?? What happened to you?? " I asked.

" No, I am fine, back to Jodhpur. "

" But you are sounding very sad... "

" I am fine, Shruti. How are you?? "

" Not fine, Vidhi !! Why did you give my number to him?? "

" Because he wanted to talk to you. Shruti, listen please, calm down!!! "

" Calm down?? Do you even know, what he did?? "

" Yes, he told me everything. From the beginning to the Holi party. I guess it was all a misunderstanding, Vidhi. Talk to him for once. He cares a lot for you. He is in Delhi and so are you. Please meet him and clear everything. "

" You trust him?? "

" Yes, I do. I know him since childhood, I know he was not lying. He cares a lot about you. He literally pleaded me to give your number. "

" What kind of a relationship do you have with him?? You both seemed very comfortable with each other. "

" He is just like a very good friend, more like a brother to me. " She said and I felt very relieved all of a sudden.

" Oh !! And Sandhya Bhabhi's brother, Shubh ?? " I asked as I knew something was definitely there.

" Nothing!!! He is like a pain in the neck. I hate him. "

" But, what we saw ... He was behaving as if he liked you a lot. "

" It was ... I don't know... Hell!! I don't know. He was under the influence of Bhaang. He did not intend to say or do any such thing. It is a painful topic. Leave it Shruti. !! "

" Why?? You like him, don't you?? He seemed to be a good man. Then what is the problem??"

" Yes, I like him... I like him a lot, he is a good man. Maybe I am not good enough for him." She said.

" Don't be stupid... "

" Yeah !! He is too good for me. We are exactly opposite to each other. But I am really attracted to him. The problem is that he does not think that ways for me. "

" But it looked that he was going to kill Sid... I mean Dr Jindal when he was playing Holi with you. "

" I don't know what was going in his complex mind. He is really beyond me. But Sid is different, a happy go lucky type of guy. His whole family is like that. You should meet his dad. Such a great man. And his brother Gautam bhai is my bhai's best friend. He is an awesome man. Siddharth is not at all a rich brat. His family gave him very good values. He is just over-friendly with everyone. He didn't bet on anything. I know he could never do that. Please talk to him. "

" I don't know... "

" Well if you don't know, then trust me. I know him as well as you. He is a nice man. "

" I will think about it. "

" Ok, but keep everything in mind, whatever I said. I would love to see you together. "

" There is nothing like that, we were just friends... "

" Oh !! Please, don't be stupid. You saw how was Shubh looking at me, but didn't you see how desperate Sid was, to talk to you?? "

" He was not... He was enjoying his Holi more than anyone else. He was not bothered about me. "

" What nonsense?? Even I was enjoying playing holi... But I was interested in Shubh. I wanted him to play Holi with me. I wanted him to notice me. I wanted him to feel jealous, that I was playing Holi with Sid. Maybe Sid also did that. Maybe he wanted to make you feel jealous too. I am sure, he was doing just that. Give him one chance. "

" I don't know... But anyway, you just take care. I am sure Shubh will realise very soon that he loves you too. He looked possessive about you. Why would he glare at Dr Jindal if he didn't feel anything for you? "

" I don't know... But I wish that he does... Bye. Talk to Sid, please. "

" Bye! " I said and disconnected the call.

Whatever Vidhi just said seems to be right. She knows him since childhood.

But People change when they grow up. I wanted to believe what Vidhi said but I can't ignore what I saw too.