# The wrong Mr Right.

Part 37

Mrs. Anjali Aggarwal frowned and gestured over her shoulder.
"There's someone for you, Sanyukta . I bumped into him outside."

Randhir took a step forward, his gaze never leaving Sanyukta's face.They shared an intense eye lock for a few seconds and then realising the surroundings, he chipped," Hello am , Randhir Singh Shekhawat . ... I ...ERrrrr...brought these for you".
The Orchids trembled in his hands.
"Early blooms..", he explained.
"And some grapes ", he said forwarding the brown paper bag to Anju.

"Thank you... I'll have to ask a nurse, if they've got a vase here. ", saying this Anju Aggarwal excused herself out of the ward.

As soon as her mother wandered off, Sanyukta stammered ,
"H-How ... How did you come to know about Dad??"

"From Aaryan...", he replied.

"Of course.....Aaryan..How else???"
She resisted the urge to run to him and hug him and say,' I can't believe you're here.....I've missed you so much.....I've been miserable ever since we broke up'.

Diffidently, she stood up. "Would you like my chair ??", she asked even though there were a couple of others going spare.

"Don't be naive, girl", her father snapped. "He hasn't come to see me. Take him to the cafeteria or somewhere , but leave the grapes here."

"Dad???", Sanyukta glanced at her father, who was still looking pale but his eyes were shooting sparks..

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure you'll be okay , Dad??"

He made a noise like a snort.

"Errr.. When mom comes back with the vase....", her father didn't let her complete .

" I'll be fine , Sanyu . I promise I'll also be coherent and make sense", he smiled weakly at his daughter .

Randhir was looking guilty. " I hope you get well soon , Mr Aggarwal ."

"So do I ,Mr Shekhawat ", replied Kishor Aggarwal .

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At the cafeteria :

"I'm sorry", Randhir chipped as the waiter got them two cups of coffee.
"I don't know what to say to patients admitted in the hospital".He continued after a pause. " Actually, I rang up your house first and Ishika told me you were here... I'm sorry about your Dad"

"It's okay. It was a shock for all of us. The doctors are optimistic , as long as Dad changes his diet and takes some form of exercise ."

There was an awkward silence between them for a while.Both of them wanted to say so much to each other, but they couldn't.

"So you've spoken to Aaryan quite recently then???", Sanyukta asked wondering what Aaryan might have said about their previous encounter.

"He called me yesterday . It started as a normal sort of chat and then he turned the subject on to you and told me what happened with your Dad. He said he was worried about you and wanted me to go and make sure if you are fine and bearing up with it.", he lied. He was the one who came here head over heels as soon as he heard about her Dad. He lied because he was scared of her reaction .

'Oh so he's here... because Aaryan had sent him, not because he wanted to', Sanyukta thought.

"Is that all he said??", she couldn't help asking.

"More or less...And also that you wouldn't be upset seeing me here"

Again there was a long silence. They sat there for a few minutes listening to the rattle of cups behind the counter.

"So, Has Rehan come to the hospital?"

"No.. Why should he??There's no need for him here". She neglected to add that she preferred it that way.

"I thought he would give you moral support ....Are you seeing Rehan??", he asked.

"Seeing Rehan??? You mean Dating???", when Randhir nodded , she was rather fast in replying ,
"No... Of course not. You know that wasn't the reason I ended things between you and me"

"I know.. ", he replied. "You wanted to simplify things for Rimi. Did it work??"

"To a degree", she lied. In fact things had become more complicated in other ways.

"You haven't asked me about Vidz yet"

"What about her???", she didn't want to tell him that she knew about Valentines party and Karan Kapoor. May be Randhir didn't know about it himself.

"I tried giving our relationship another chance", he admitted ." But nothing happened. We didn't .. ..you know. That was my choice , not hers and as soon as I realised I was making a huge mistake. I ended it."

"Oh"

There was again a silence for a few minutes. At last Sanyukta added as blithely as she could, " You can report back to Aaryan now. Tell him I'm fine and bearing it up well. And I'll be back to work as soon as I know Dad has got the all clear".

"I'll call him tonight", Randhir replied. "But Sanyukta, I want you to remember one thing -I'm always there for you. We may not be together anymore, but that isn't going to stop me being your friend ."

"That's very ..... kind of you"

His hands spread over hers on the table." I mean it... If you need someone to talk to, you know where I am"

Sanyukta dearly wanted to dive into his arms and cry on his shoulders hugging him for solace. But it wasn't simply the fact that they were in a public place that prevented her, it was the knowledge that once she snuggled up, she wouldn't want it to stop there. He was offering her friendship and nothing more.
"I appreciate it ", she said faintly wondering how many cliches they could get through .

His fingers squeezed hers." Just promise you'll remember what I said"

"I promise", she said.

He seemed to content himself with that, and as his hand slid away across the table, desolation rose in one huge wave to engulf her.

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Pre-cap: Sanyukta unexpectedly visits Randhir's house one night....