Discordance

Chapter Seventeen

There was some serious unrest within his heart and he couldn't quite put his finger on what was causing it. All he knew was that the tightness abated slightly every time Akshara was near, but how long could this feeling last?

Now that he had gone ahead and ordered some gifts for her he was suddenly nervous about them. What if she hated it? What if she thought the worst of him because of it? No, today is the day he would give them to her. He had been dilly dallying for over a week since they had been delivered and he had kept them in his clinic space away from her inquisitive eyes but it was high time he faced it head on. He had been rude and mean about her work and this was his one step towards penance. Lucky for him, fate seemed to be smiling upon him.

Abhimanyu entered the room to greet one of his new consults who was referred to him by a small local clinic, the guy needed a salivary gland tumor removal and Abhimanyu was one of the few surgeons in the country with experience and expertise. Abhimanyu's schedule was booked months and sometimes a year in advance even if he had just started as a full time clinician because of the success he faced during his super specialty so it wasn't too out of realms of possibility for some senior doctors to refer him to their patients, especially with the Birla hospital backing.

"Sir, thank you for meeting us" what seemed to be the patient's wife said nervously as Abhimanyu entered and he nodded in acknowledgment towards her, the patient and two of his core staff members, before grabbing the file and thumbing through it. He was always quiet and calm and was actually known for it all over the hospital, the one time he wasn't seemed to almost always be around his wife. HIS WIFE! He hadn't called her that in a long time, wanting to pretend that his head was buried under the sand but now he felt the first flutters of something big in his chest at the acceptance.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he almost missed the "We're just waiting for the social worker  to join us, if you could wait for a bit before giving us the surgical plan?" from the patient's wife.

"Social worker?" he asked once his brain caught up to what she was saying. It couldn't be her, could it?

"yeah this lady was assigned to us by them." Hmm lady? Didn't sound like his Akshara, suddenly he was disappointed and had to keep his emotions in check. "Well where is she? I don't have much time" he was extremely busy but just not right then, he was just annoyed that this opportunity was stolen from him and his hopes were dashed.

"Crap, sorry sorry I'm late" her vanilla scent preceded her and Abhimanyu's heart gave a lurch, especially when he saw her in a pink kurti with a white dupatta with some pink flowers on it. She looked so lovely that he could only gape at her. She had stopped short by the doorway, her mouth open staring at him in shock and Abhimanyu had to bite back a smirk

"She is here." The wife said "Dr. Birla, please meet Akshara Goenka"

Abhimanyu pressed his lips together as he stalked over to her and extended his hand out for her to take, finally when he felt her small hand in his could he feel like he could let out the breath he was holding on to.

"Aaah Miss GOENKA?" he deliberately enunciated the word, making her blush in the very shade her kurti was. Abhimanyu had to be the first man in the history of mankind to be introduced to his wife over and over by strangers but he would take it if it made her blush this prettily every time. Prettily? Since when did he think of her like that he wondered? But in recent times all he could do was stare at her and be dumbfounded at how effortlessly beautiful she was.

"Mrs. Shah, I am so sorry I am late, there was traffic and I couldn't find my stupid notepad or bag and the room was a mess and I had to clean up or my stupid hus-" she immediately bit her tongue and Abhimanyu had the insane urge to throw his head back in laughter.