Love at the time of dentistry

Chapter-4

" HE DIDN'T!!!!!!!", rhea exclaimed.manya had just finished telling the story of the almost kiss. they were sitting in bunty's and she had finally gathered up the courage to tell this story to her friends. the ride back had been nothing but awkward. she hadn't spoken a word to sid the whole ride back and had been ignoring his calls since then. it has been almost 1 week now since the 'incident'. sid had tried to contact her continuously but she didn't have the courage to take his calls. she was trying her best to avoid him at college which was easy as they ran into different crowds.it was very awkward thinking about what had happened and what could have happened. how could she face him now, not that any of it was her mistake, he was the one who made the move, but still. what if all this was a joke for him, did he now know how she felt about him. if yes, that was the ultimate humiliation.

"saying that again and again isn't going to change the fact and yes, he did",manya said.

"what are you going to do now, what happened next, tell us everything", ananya couldn't contain her excitement."this is the best thing which could have happened to you, wow thats great",suzannah gushed."the best thing?! it's the worst thing which could have happened, how will i face him from now"." whats worst abou it, obviously he has feelings for him, otherwise why would he have made a move on you",rhea said."woh sab tok baad ki baad ki baat hai, pehle yeh toh bata usne kya bola aur tumne kya bola", ananya asked."i didn't say anything, i haven't talked to him since then"."he didn't call you",rhea asked."of course he has called me, almost a hundred times, but i haven't taken any of his calls, it's too wierd"."WHAT!!!", suzannah shrieked so loudly that the interns sitting at the adjoining table turned to stare at them."why haven't you taken his calls, have you lost your mind", ananya scolded her."why what happened, look i know he is just calling to apologise for what happened, he doesnt have any feelings for me"."how would you know if you haven't even talked to him", rhea tried to reason with her."you can't avoid this", ananya said logically."i don't know it's really wierd facing him now, we have been friends for so long and now this......."."what do i say to this girl now, manu the hottest intern in our college tried to kiss you and you feel wierd facing him, the guy is a sex on wheels", rhea tried her line of reasoning." didn't you say the same thing about ronit sir", manya reminded her."so, can't there be two models, look you have got to talk to him and clear everything",rhea said."you are saying as if a world disaster is on our doorsteps and it can be only averted if i talk to him"." what do i do with you, aaaahhhhhh....", rhea rolled her eyes, before she could say anything more her cellphone rang. her face registered surprise on seeing the caller's name and excused herself from the table to take the call.

manya was trying very hard to forget everything which had happened but if her friends continued their campaign, it won't be an easy task. she didn't want to ruin her friendship wid sid but noway was she going to ask him the meaning behind what happened. she knew she wouldn't like the answer but a part of her still wanted him to reciprocate her feelings.but that was a distinct thing in her imagination.rhea returned to their table," chalo tum logon ka ho gaya ho toh chalte hai wapas , i am very tried". the sudden change in topic took manya by surprise. she was expecting rhea to continue her campaigning and had mentally prepared herself for it, or so she thought."what uh...achanak se kya ho gaya abhi to tum aur bethna chah rhi thi aur phone kiska tha", manya asked."arre woh toh aisi koi tha aur ab jab sab ne kha liya toh kya bethna chalo wapas hostel chalte hain", rhea said and look of understanding passed between ananya, suzzanah and rhea."haan na chalo wapas chalte hain main bhi bahut tired hun", ananya said while getting up with suzzanah.something was definitely up with these guys and this has something to do with the phone call, maya thought.she let that pass as she knew from past experience that it was futile trying to deciphire rhea and her 'looks'.

manya was relaxing in her room, reading a book when her cell rang, it was ananya."hey, kya hua call kaise kiya" "manu, hurry, we are near bunty's rhea has fainted, i don't know what has happened to her she was allright one minute and the other she just fell down, there's no one around, i am really scared, i don't know what to do, please come here and help me", annaya's voice was filled with panic.manya tried to calm herself and think straight," don't worry anu i am on my way but what were you doin near bunty's at this hour, you know it is just around 45 minutes before closing time"."we had just gone to the laundry and were taking a walk when she fainted, please hurry manu i am really scared, there's no one here and i can't carry rhea on my own"."don't worry i am on my way you stay calm". manya tried to calm her own breath and went to bunty's trying not to think of worst scenarios. it might be just the heat, but rejected the thought when she remembered it was a cold january evening. she tried to keep all the negative thoughts at bay till she reached bunty's.

bunty's was deserted just as ananya said but she couldn't see rhea or ananya anywhere too.nobody was in sight when she checked everywhere and nobody answered when she called rhea's and ananya's names.

"nobody is here, they are back at the hostel", somebody said behind her back which made manya startle with surprise. she turned to see siddharth standing behind her. "sorry if i scared you, didn't mean to", sid said with an apologetic look on his face." where is rhea and anu, they called me just now, rhea had fainted here", manya could hear a little note of panic in her voice." i know, i asked them to call you and say all that so that you would come here and i could talk to you"."you asked them.. but why...it was you on the phone earlier, hai na ", manya was surprised out of her senses.she couldn't believe sid would go to such lengths just to talk to her, not to mention a little flattered but she didn't want tot read to much into all this. he could have done all this just to apologise to her or worse make fun of her, she waited for him to continue." can't you guess why i did all this, you were not taking any of my calls, you were avoiding me at college, this was the only way left to me"." but where did you get rhea's number, have you been in contact with her for long", manya couldn't help but ask." that is not important, i asked for her number for situations like this, but let's not get into all this, i didn't call you here for that and we don't have much time for what i have to say".manya tried to supress the feeling of happiness which was threatning to engulf her, sid was so desperate to talk to her!!" why are you avoiding me like this, why are you not taking my calls",sid asked in a hurt voice. her heart almost melted in a pool on seeing the hurt expression on his face.she didn't know what to do, she had never imagined she could hurt sid in such a manner."i..i.....i don't know, it was just....ummm", manya said stuttering on every word. what was he doing to her, she never stuttered llike this."i know you dont have to say anything, i know why you are behaving like this, you think i am just playing with you that i don't feel anything for you that whatever happened was just a joke for me".sid finished for her. her jaw literally dropped on hearing this, was she this transparent.sid had put her thoughts in words exactly as she felt but he knew her since she could remember but this was unbelievable."did rhea tell you all this, did you two talk about this too".if it was true, manya would kill her with her bare hands."manu, i have known you since you used to play with your silly dolls,do you think i need rhea to tell me what you are thinking". siddharth came closer and stood very near to her. she couldn't meet his eyes and tried to concentrate on her shoes, suddenly her toes were the most beautiful things in the world."manu, look at me",there was something in sid's tone which manu didn't want to name.slowly she raised her eyes to his face and he locked them there by keeping a finger under her chin."you know how i feel about you, hai na, don't pretend manu, i know you do".manya could drown in his eyes,there was something in his eyes which made her believe that sid was as much in love with her as she was with him.his eyes were filled with love for her. her heart filled with so much happiness, she thought it would burst. she could just nod her head, no sound came from her throat. she was lost in his eyes."say it, say the words",manya's voice came as if coming out from daze. siddharth just laughed softly and kissed her on her lips.she was lost forever now.she never knew such happiness, such pleasure as in this moment.she was left breathless when the kiss finally ended.her eyes were closed and when she opened them,"i love you,happy?", sid said meaning each and every word.she thought she had died and gone to heaven.sid was saying the words she has always dreamt of him saying. she couldn't believe what was happening, she expected any minute to wake up and realise it was dream, but she knew it was not.dreams were not this beautiful."shouldn't you be saying something in return", sid said to her with that smile on his face which she loved so much."yes i do have to say something"."i am waiting". she closed the distance between them, wounded her arms around his neck and kissed him again and when they came up for air, said" my dolls were not silly,ok".