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He reached home, set his stuff down, entertained Gautam for half an hour. And then, when Gautam left with the promise of returning in the evening, Nilay grabbed his phone and made the call.
It rang and rang.
She did not pick up.
Had she blocked him again?
He switched networks and dialled again.
Same response.
Nilay called Kedar.
“NiP, hi, you said we could not contact you before Monday for work.”
“I can contact you any time I want.”
“Oh, yes, yeah…”
“Bring five new SIM cards to my house.”
“Five?”
“Did I say six?”
“Ok, ok.”
Nilay gritted his teeth and ended the call. What was wrong with her?! He wasn’t cleared for driving. If she did not respond to his call this time, he was catching an Uber, a taxi, a bloody rickshaw to go to her. But where was she?
The lock on his door turned. Rajiv? He glanced up in time to see her open the door and step in. The tightened muscles in his jaw relaxed, and before he could start firing her she was striding to him. Her arms went around him and he squeezed her tight to himself, falling back on the sofa. She did not leave her weight on him, settling beside him instead, tightening her arms around him. Her face pressed into the crook of his neck and he sighed. Her face vibrated. Her body vibrated in his hold.
Nilay tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer if that was even possible — “Hey, Doctor, I’m fine.”
Her arms squeezed his neck, something wet melting into his skin.
“Ritu,” he whispered, cupping her head. He stroked her hair. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine. You made it fine.”
Her face nodded in his skin. She pulled back. Her mouth was open, her eyes gone soft. Tears hadn’t dried but they weren’t swimming in those browns anymore. Nilay took his thumb to the edge and cleaned her wet lashes. Her eyes fell shut. She inhaled, her mouth wobbling.
Nilay ran the back of his hand across her cheek. “I am fine, Doctor. Never been better.”
She smiled, nodding. When she opened her eyes again, she was back.
“How do you feel?”
“Angry.” He remembered her block attack. “How dare you?” He grabbed her face and kissed her. Hard. She twined her arms around his neck again, kissing him back for only a second before pulling back.
“Ritu, come here,” he reached for her but she swatted his arm away — “You need to take it easy.”
“And kissing you is not taking it easy?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think so,” he slid closer, making her slide back.
“Nilay,” she warned, a hand on his chest.
