Arylie OS: To Love You Once Again

To Love You Once Again

*** not proofread & I just might be a little (!) tipsy right now, so ignore typos, grammos, and we watch Imlie, so please don't point out about logical/timeline mismatch :D ***

Enroute - Pagdandiya

The constant ringing of her phone made her stop the car in the middle of nowhere. Her mother had been calling nonstop for eleven minutes now. If she doesn't answer, she might find a force behind her. Who died and made these mom creatures so pestering?

"Ma, this better be an emergency."

"Have you reached Pagdandiya, Imlie?"

"Ma, you called half a dozen times since I started to ask this, I told you, when I reach there, I'll call."

"I just worry, who knows what it's like, if there's proper place to stay or not, if there's electricity...,"

"Ma, Ma, please. What century do you think this is? Of course there would be electricity," she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Please. I'll be fine."

She could hear her mom sigh on the other side, "I wish you didn't choose to do that, volunteering in a village? For a month? Why bitiya, you could have enjoyed the break. We could have flown to Europe."

"I don't want to listen to the same lecture once again, bye, Ma. And don't you mean I could have flown to Europe. Since when do you and Papa have time for me?"

"Imlie, listen, listen to me, don't you dare cut the phone, Imlie, Imlie, Imlie..."

She disconnected the call, threw her phone to the passenger seat and accelerated once again. "Imlie, Imlie, Imlie," she mimicked her mom under her breath. God how much she hated the name. Apparently when her mother was pregnant with her, she dreamt of Imlie every night, of all things! Imlie snorted loudly, she hadn't seen her mother even touch any tamarind in all her life and she used to dream about it during pregnancy? What a joke! Then her parents decided to stretch the joke and actually name her Imlie! And despite her best efforts, that's what everyone called her.

Well not anymore, here in Pagdandiya, no one would know about that ridiculous name. I'll use my other name.

Riddhima "Imlie" Chauhan, soon to be doctor Chauhan, only child of renowned lawyers Kunal & Damini Chauhan, was a rebel by heart and a brat by nature. Her busy parents overcompensated with the pampering as they could seldom give her time. Money was never an issue, and you do get out of plenty of situations when both your parents were founding partners of a prestigious law firm. The only barrier between her becoming an extremely insensitive spoiled brat was the fact that she was studious.

As long as she can remember, she'd wanted to be a doctor. She'd cut down her party times, shopping, even conquered most of her germaphobia to start the journey to become Dr. Chauhan from simply Ms Chauhan. Now fresh from finishing her second year at medical school, she'd applied for a volunteer program. After a brief interview, she'd been chosen to work with an UN medical team to drive a vaccination program in Pagdandiya Clinic. Nice start of a success story, eh?

Well, she hated it. She regretted everything that led her here, and she was only going because she didn't want to give her parents a chance to gloat. Village in the middle of nowhere, probably no proper Wi-Fi, no luxurious house, no friends, no nothing. This is going to be a nightmare.

At least you are here, Boyfriend, she patted the steering wheel of her Audi fondly. Her Papa had argued about bringing a less flashy and more sturdy car but she hadn't listened. This car was her life, it went wherever she went. Lost in her thought she didn't notice the man walking a good distance ahead of her. Where did he even come from, she wondered idly. He was a tall man with a mop of dark hair, wearing dark wash denim and a red shirt. There was something familiar about his gait.