Love at the time of dentistry

Chapter-7

"What's been troubling you?" Sid asked coming from behind her and wounded his arms at her waist. She instinctively leaned back on him, taking comfort in his strength and warmth. Manya didn't know how to answer his question. It had been 2 weeks since the Valentine's Day party but she had still not been able to take that kiss out her mind. As a result she had stayed distracted these past few days, like working on auto pilot. Her friends had noticed the change in her but had refrained from asking anything, thinking it had something to do with Siddharth, how she wished it was that simple. How had her life come to this point, everything was so simple just 2 months back now everything looked so complicated. Her life was all figured out but now she didn't know what the future held for her. Just because of that one kiss. What did that kiss signify, did Ronit really had feelings for her or he was playing with her? And what did it mean for her, did she have feelings for him. That can't be true, she had never liked him, even hated him on some occasions, so why did she react like that when he kissed her, why did she kissed him back. She should have slapped him then and there, but she didn't. "You didn't answer me", Sid asked again, softly nuzzling her neck. They were at her house for the weekend, her parents and sister gone out for a party. She had called Sid, they had had dinner and now they were sitting in her room. What should she tell him, did she tell him what had happened at that party, after all they loved each other and they shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other? But she couldn't tell him, what will she say, how will she make him understand what had happened when she didn't understand it herself. She decided not to say anything about this. "It's nothing, just some stuff", she tried to sound nonchalant about it. Sid turned her towards him and held her face lovingly in her hands, "you remember na that I know you since before I became your boyfriend, I know when something's troubling, your face betrays you, now tell me what happened, you've not been yourself these past few days". He loves me so much, manya thought. How can I do this to him? I cheated him by kissing another guy, she realised in horror. What's happening to her! She couldn't stay with Sid like this; he deserved much more than a girl with so much confused emotions. "How much do you love me", she couldn't help but ask. He looked at her with a slightly confused smile, "What kind of a question is this, you know how much I love you". "I just wanted to hear you say it, just like that". "I've loved you all my life, since before I can remember; I know it's been just 2 months since we've been together but it feels like forever, in a nice way though; I know it sounds a little cliché but you complete me, I can't imagine my life without you; you are the best thing which could have ever happened to me and I am not letting go of you ever, even if you want to; I was stupid to wait for so long to confess my love to you, I feel like I have wasted so much time but now that you are in my life, as my love, I'm not letting go of you, ever; you are my soul mate", he said softly and kissed her forehead. Tears glistened in her eyes, she was so lucky to have found the love of her life in her best friend. She didn't want to lose all this; she had to resolve her feelings for Ronit once and for all, for Sid's sake. If she had to stay with him, she cannot stay in such a state of mind. She had to do something about it.

I can't believe I am doing this, manya thought. She was standing outside the P.G. accommodations. She had agonized herself the whole weekend about how she was going to do this and she had every word planned. But now it seemed like her courage was deserting her, she was getting cold feet. No, she had to do it; she had wasted enough of her peace of mind over this. It had to stop. She approached the security guard sitting there and asked, "Yeh Dr. Raheja ka flat kaunsa hai?" The guard looked at her with a bored expression and asked, "Aap kaun hai aur kyun milna hai?" "Dost hun main unki, personal kaam tha kuch". Apparently this much explanation was enough for him because the guard extended a tattered looking register towards her, "is mein entry kardo madam, phir andar ja sakte ho, flat no. 3B hai unka". She signed her name in it and entered the building. It was nothing like she had expected. The interiors were very nicely done and there were a couple of elevators too at a corner. She took one of the elevators and pressed the button for the third floor. Her heart was beating so loudly, she suspected she may faint any moment. She couldn't afford that. She had to keep her wits about her. The lift announced the arrival on the third floor in a mechanical voice. She stepped out of the elevator and turned left towards Ronit's apartment. She had another moment of uncertainty outside his door; she took a deep breath, tried to calm her heart beat and knocked twice on his door. When nobody answered after the second knock, she admitted defeat and was about to turn around to go back when the door was flung open and Ronit was standing there. He was apparently sleeping and had come to open the door in haste as his hair was all messed up in a sexy way and he had worn a shirt hurriedly because many of the buttons were undone. She could see his flat stomach underneath it, he had fabulous abs; she tried to avert her gaze but she was invariably attracted to it. She tried to look somewhere else and the only place left was his face. He was surprised to see her, that much was obvious. "Manya, what a surprise, what are you doing here", he was the first to regain his composure. "I wanted to talk to you about something, something important, can I come inside, I will be more comfortable talking about it without the risk of an audience". He stepped aside to let her inside. He had a fairly sized apartment and surprisingly it was quite nicely done and kept neat and tidy. She had not expected a single guy's place to be so nicely kept. She stepped into what was the living room and waited for him to come. She had never been this alone with him before. He came behind her just then, "Would you like to sit down, to what do I owe this honour". She sat down wearily on his sofa and looked up at him, "I think you know why I am here for". His jaw tightened as if in tension, as if he was trying to control himself. He didn't say anything, just turned his back on her and put his hands on his hips, "I don't know what you're talking about". "oh, please don't insult my intelligence by saying something like this, you know very well what I am talking about, so let's just drop this pretence, ok", Manya felt a sudden surge of anger at his words. She had to sort this out today only, even if she had to tie up Ronit for it. He turned to face her at her words, a little surprised on hearing her angry tone; he came and sat on the seat facing her. "Ok, let's talk, what do you want to talk about". She took a deep breath, "Why did you kiss me that day", she put out bluntly. It had to come out some way or the other, so if it was this way, so be it. He was momentarily set aback by her question but quickly recovered his composure "It was nothing just a 'in the moment' things, everybody was cheering us and I just went with the flow, it was no big deal". Manya looked at his face, he was trying to sound casual about it but his eyes betrayed him. He had the most expressive eyes and they were telling her now that he was lying. "Do you really want me to believe this; c'mon give me at least some credit". "You don't believe me, great! What do you want me to say then, huh? He said in exasperation and got up from his seat and started pacing the floor. He was clearly agitated by this and wanted it to end as soon as possible. She couldn't agree more; right now this was the last place she wanted to be. "I just want the truth, I may not have much experience in all this but I know that that kiss was not just a casual thing, you've been acting strangely ever since I got together with Siddharth, not that you were ever normal with me before that but still at least you were not like this. It's like you don't approve my being with Sid, please I just want to know what's happening, I just want the truth, nothing else", Manya finished and took another deep breath to calm herself. There she had it all out, now she had to wait for his answer. It looked like he was taking forever to say something. He was looking like at her as if he was making some sort of a decision. Was he finally deciding to tell her what was all this about or was he going to just brush her off as some kind of an annoying fly. She was waiting for him to say anything with bated breath. "So you want to know the truth, fine here is it, I don't want you going out with Siddharth, I don't like seeing you with him, there you have it, is it ok". At some level she was expecting this answer but she was still very surprised to hear him say it. He didn't like seeing her with Sid, what did that even mean. She had come here to find some answers but now she was all the more confused. She got up from her seat to face him; sitting at a lower level than him was keeping her at a disadvantage. "You don't like me with Siddharth, what does that even had to do with all this, is that why you kissed me". "Don't you get it; it has everything to do with this, I am in love with you, I can't bear to see you with some other guy", Ronit all but shouted at her. To say she was stunned was an understatement; it was like the ground had shifted beneath her feet. Ronit was in love with her, how did that happened now. "You love me? But how, why....I mean you have always been so horrid to me, you've never spoken a civil word to me and now you are saying you love me", Manya said in a stunned voice. She didn't know what to say now. "I have loved you from the moment I saw you, I just didn't know it. Every time I saw you I had these feelings rage inside me, I couldn't take it. Being rude to you was the only thing I could think of to fight those feelings. But every time I was rude to you, I hated myself all the more for hurting you. Every time I saw you I wanted to be with you, I wanted to keep you close to me, never let go of you". He had come to stand very close to her now without even her realising it. He was looking at her just the way he was looking at the party. He raised his hands slowly and ran his finger lightly on his cheek. She shuddered at his touch and tried to fight the sensations he was inducing in her. He came closer to her and cupped at her face with both of his hands and raised her face to him. He was pulling her towards him, he was going to kiss her and she was unable to do anything about it. Just as her lips were about to touch hers, she pushed him away; she had come here to resolve matters, not complicate them further. Ronit seemed surprised and a little angry with her move. She felt a little scared at this but decided to go on, "what do you think of yourself, you think you can say whatever you like whenever you like and I would go along with it. You shouldn't be saying such things to me, I am with Siddharth now, I love him and that's not going to change. If you did love me, you had plenty of chance to say that to me, why now. None of this matters now, I love Siddharth very much and nothing is going to take it away", she grated it out angrily. How dare he say such things to her and expect her to leave everything just like that. "Please don't say that", Ronit said in a highly controlled voice through gritted teeth, he was holding himself with much difficulty. "What else do you want me to say, if you think I am going to leave Sid after hearing this, then I am sorry I am not doing it, I love him too much, you know what, this was all a mistake, I shouldn't be here, I am leaving". With that she moved toward the door and had only opened it when Ronit caught hold of her arm and pulled her forcefully towards him. She collided with his chest wall and he held her there with his arms. She was suddenly very frightened of him but before she could do anything about it, his mouth descended on hers and she was rendered speechless. She tried to fight him but he was very strong for her. He held her in an iron grip. She pummelled his chest with her hand but it was useless. His mouth was kissing hers relentlessly and she got lost in it after a while. She let herself go in the sensations rocking her body. This kiss was even more passionate than the one he gave her in the party, fuelled by his anger and the feelings he had just confessed of. She was helpless against the flow of passion through her. She slowly slided her hands from his chest to his face, to hold him between her hands. Before the kiss could get out of hand, she heard some noise behind her, "What the hell is happening here". She jerked away from him and turned, her face turned white and her blood ran cold. Siddharth was standing there, shock, anger and betrayal written in sharp, clear letters across his face.