Love at the time of dentistry

Chapter-10

Manya couldn't believe what she was seeing or rather who she was seeing. It was like her nightmare had come true. What in the world was Ronit doing at her parents' party? She knew she was gaping at him but she couldn't help it. She was that shocked. For 7 years she had wished never to see those eyes again, but they were here now, looking at her with the same unreadable expression, enjoying her discomfort. "What happened Manya look like you saw a ghost", Ronit broke the silence between them. She was brought back to reality on his words. She gathered her senses around her and scolded herself for acting like an 18 yr old. For heaven's sake! She was a responsible, mature woman now, surely she could handle Ronit for an evening. "Nothing so dramatic I am afraid but I sure didn't want to see you again after........., she trailed off after that again getting uncomfortable, thinking of the last time they were together. "After I kissed you and that made your boyfriend break up with you", Ronit finished her sentence for her. He was still smiling but his eyes had hardened. She hadn't told a soul what had happened 7 years ago which had lead to Siddharth leaving her. It still hurt to think of how Siddharth hadn't trusted her and left her so abruptly. Nobody knew what made them break up, not even her friends but the questions were always there. Now hearing Ronit say those words so bluntly made her wince, as if he had thrown her a physical blow. She had rejected his feelings and no man likes that, especially not one as arrogant as Ronit. She had assumed he would have gotten over it and moved on but apparently not. But who was she to judge anyone, it was quite apparent now that she still had some moving on to do herself, otherwise she wouldn't be having these feelings again for Ronit. How can a man affect her in the same way after 7 years? She hated Ronit but still why she couldn't help admiring his handsome face. And he was handsome, even more so now with little lines crinkling near his eyes when he smiled, somehow they added more character to his face. Was it her imagination or his shoulders appeared broader now? She must be going out of her mind. It was all this shock of meeting him out of the blue and that too at her parents' house. Could the universe be any crueler?

They were standing there, just looking at each other wondering what to say after 7 years of silence. What did you say to the person who was responsible for you losing the love of your life? Wild random thoughts were bombarding her brain when one of them struck her, something Dhanraj uncle had said earlier this evening, "Wait a minute..Dhanraj uncle said his son was the new department head at my hospital that means you..that means you are going to be my new boss!!" Manya finished increduously,dismay written all over face.. Ronit as her boss!! This was disastrous, this shouldn't be happening, at least not to her. Oh what has she done to deserve this. He was looking at her with that same sneering smile that was his trademark. So he knew about this. Oh! What she wouldn't do to wipe that smile off his face. "Yes, Ms.Roy, you heard it right, looks like you are not going to get rid of me that easily", he finished with a wide grin.Ronit was clearly enjoying seeing Manya getting all worked up. God! He had missed her. He hadn't realized how much till now, seeing her standing in front of him, with two angry spots on her cheek. She looked so adorable when she was angry. He hadn't known that Manya was the daughter of his father's oldest friend. He had only come to know of this welcoming fact just before coming to the party. It sure had added charm to his evening. Manya looked more beautiful now than she did 7 years ago. She had look of maturity about her which added to her allure. Her hair were longer than he remembered, flowing on her shoulder like silk. He longed to run his fingers in them, feel their softness. She looked quite stunning in a sari. He so much wanted to run his fingers on her soft cheeks, feel the fullness of her lips. But he knew if he tried anything like that now it would be the last thing he ever did. Manya looked capable of murder right now. He tried to suppress the smile on his face and answered her back, "Surely you must have known who your boss is going to be before you applied" "I...I didn't apply on my own, my friend did it for me and I was too excited to get such a prestigious job at such an early age that I didn't bother to find out who my boss was" Manya finished in a single breath, hating being made to look like a fool in front of him. How is she going to work with him every day?!! It was going to take all her will power to work alongside Ronit every day. "Ah your friend, that would be Dr. Anaya Bose I suppose, nice surgeon. She told me you were applying in her interview." "Interview, what interview?" Manya asked confused. She wasn't called for any interview. She had just received an appointment letter few weeks after she had applied. She had assumed that since it was a new hospital they were hiring any surgeon who was applying. " The interview every surgeon gave to me before being hired", Ronit replied to her as if explaining a simple fact to a child. "Why wasn't I called for an interview, why was I hired without one?" Manya asked in an angry tone, dreading the answer. "Because of me, I hired you without any interview". Ronit said looking at her with the same unreadable expression she hated. She was so angry to hear she had been given this job because of him. What does she do now? She couldn't possibly work for him after knowing this, why hadn't Anaya told her anything about all this before? She was going to have some serious talks with her friend soon for putting her through this. But first she needed to clear some things with Ronit now. She couldn't do it here, anyone could hear them and then there will be a whole lot of explaining to do. "We need to talk now!" Manya took him by his hand and dragged him to the balcony. Thankfully it was deserted and no one could hear them talking from here. She closed the French doors to the balcony door behind her and faced him. He was smiling at her, that same smile which stopped her heart. This was not going to be as easy as she thought. Before she could say anything, Ronit cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She was too shocked to react. Her hands were still on the door handles, she was trapped. How she had missed his kisses, he was kissing her so passionately like a thirsty man getting his first sip of water. She didn't know how long he kissed her; she was too shocked to kiss him back. When his lips left hers for some air, she pushed against him, putting some distance between them. They were both breathing heavily; her heart was galloping so fast she was afraid she might have a heart attack. Her senses began to creep back slowly to her and she found her voice before saying, "what the hell do you think you are doing, how dare you kiss me like this", she hoped her voice was suitably angry; she couldn't bear to come out all squeaky right now. "I thought this was what you had in mind, after all it was you who wanted to be alone to talk" Ronit replied not at all sounded like he had just kissed the living daylights out of her. How he did this, she thought, appear so supremely confident every time, so sure of himself, so arrogant. Thankfully that thought did make her angry enough to reply, "Yes! To talk not make out with you and this is precisely what I wanted to talk about. You might be thinking that now that you have given me this job as a favor you would have any kind of liberties with me, but you are thinking wrong mister. I am not going to leave this job just because you are going to be my boss but I would not allow you to put even one finger of yours on me, is that clear?" she finished in one breath, before she lost her confidence or her nerve. Ronit appeared totally unaffected by her little speech; instead he was smiling as if he was enjoying it. "I said is it clear?" she repeated hating him smiling like that at her, making her feel childish. "Loud and clear, but you should know I love it when you get so angry, you look absolutely beautiful", he said this coming closer to her, his face just inches from her. God! This man was exasperating! Working with Dr. Ronit Raheja was going to be one hell of a ride; she thought and left the balcony, stamping her foot like she always did when she was uncontrollably angry. God! She looked pretty when she was angry, Ronit thought, a smile coming on his face thinking of her speech, working with Dr. Manya Roy was going to be one hell of a ride.