'I love you. Missing you already' Ajay's mobile beeped with a message from Nidhi.
He smiled and messaged her back. 'Love you too. Can't wait to see you. Will pick you up. Wait for me.'
'Haven't I always waited for you?' she replied back. The smile lingered on his face, his thoughts wandering to previous night.
"Dr Ajay? Dr Ajay? I need your signature on these papers" He saw Dr Rangnath standing in front of him.
"Oh yes Dr Rangnath. I am sorry."
Dr Rangnath couldn't help noticing the bliss and happiness on Ajay's face. He seemed relaxed and content. It was nice to see him happy. He was one of the best doctors in the town and had dedicated wholeheartedly to his profession. The management, staff and patients respected him. His record was clean. Except for the case of a patient whose family created havoc in the hospital, blaming him for the patient's deteriorating condition. He was going through a major personal crisis then and for the first time, it overshadowed his professional life. His job and reputation was at stake. Fortunately Dr Mallika had taken charge of the situation and saved not only patient's life but also his career.
"Dr Rangnath, I will be on 10 days leave from tomorrow. Please make necessary arrangements."
"Yes, right away Dr Ajay. Enjoy your trip to Paris."
Ajay couldn't wait to see Nidhi. He had probably never felt so anxious before and it had been only few hours since they had seen each other.
He found Nidhi waiting for him at the gate of Jeevan Sandhya. She waved at him.
Just then he received a call from Armaan and he gestured her to sit in the car.
"Yaar Ashu, your flight to Paris has been rescheduled from morning to late night. They seem to have some technical problem. I have taken care of your travel arrangements and hotel bookings accordingly. I have sent you an email with the details. Take care and enjoy. Call me if there is any problem."
"Thanks Armaan." Ajay never could thank Armaan enough. He was always there to share and solve his problems.
As soon as he informed Nidhi about the change in the travel plans, she jumped with excitement. "Oh that is great. We can go shopping."
"Shopping? What on earth for? Haven't you shopped enough for the wedding?"
"Why not? I shopped for the wedding, not for the honeymoon. How would I have known before that we were going to Paris? I need to do special shopping now."
Ajay nodded his head in disbelief; she was really crazy. "I don't like shopping. I am not joining you. I will drop you at the central market. Call me when you are done."
"Okay then. I will call Anji. She will drop me back home."
"Here, take my credit card and shop as much as you want!!!"
"Oh really, thank you. See you later. Bye." And she walked away merrily with his credit card in her purse.
Ajay did not know how to react. She was mad. Unpredictable. Sweet. And he loved her God save me!!! He thought and drove to home.
Nidhi later returned home with her hands full of shopping bags. She could barely hold them together.
"Are you happy now?" He asked taking away few bags from her.
"Hmmm yes but I could have shopped more. I remembered that that we have only 20 kg baggage allowance each."
"Oh thank God, you did!!!" He didn't even dare to ask what and for how much she had shopped. The labels on the shopping bags indicated she had shopped to her heart's content.
She sat down on sofa, exhausted from her shopping. She closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt being picked up in arms by Ajay and led to bedroom.
"Go to sleep. We hardly slept yesterday. We have a long journey ahead tomorrow." He put her on bed and turned to leave.
Nidhi stopped him by holding his hand "What about you? You also need rest."
"I slept while you were shopping." He kissed lightly on her lips and left.
She woke up late in the evening to find Ajay packing his bags. She wrapped her arms around him from the back. Oh she felt so good and warm. He turned around and hugged her tightly.
"Why are you doing the packing? I would have done it for both of us." She asked.
"Oh that is ok. I was not doing anything important. And I guess you have enough packing to do yourself." He teased her.
"I am feeling starved." She yawned, still feeling sleepy.
"What will you eat? Should I order pizza or something?"
"No, I will cook. We are not going to get home made food from tomorrow onwards."
"Are you sure? You are tired and you have packing to do. We have to leave tomorrow noon."
"Yes. I will manage. What would you like to eat?"
"If you are giving me a choice, then I would like to eat you up, Mrs Ajay!!! I have been starving for you all day now. "He grinned wickedly.
She blushed and ran towards the kitchen. She laid the table and went for a bath.
"The food smells good. I can't wait to taste it." Ajay rubbed his hands in anticipation while Nidhi served him. She had taken a note of his favourite food from Hiraman kaka and learnt to prepare all the dishes.
"Mmm. Delicious. I think I am going get used to your food."
Ajay watched her from the living room as Nidhi busied herself in cleaning the kitchen. Her presence had made a difference to his house and his life. The house looked more like a home now. He could not resist himself, walked towards the kitchen and slipped his arms around her waist.
"I love you." He whispered in her ears. He picked her again in his arms and moved towards bedroom.
"I have packing to do." Nidhi said in a weak tone.
"Do it later. You have all night and tomorrow morning. I will help you."
And they made love again.
