I dip my legs in the warm water, enjoying the sun on my head. I smile when a hear a squeal, followed by high pitched laughter.
“What are you doing here, sitting all by yourself?”
“Their mushiness makes me want to gag.”
Nikhil grins, looking at Anshu and Avyukth in the pool. We came to a resort to celebrate Avyukth’s Birthday.
I swing my legs, “Why did you agree to come?”
“You don’t want me here?”
“Not like that”, I shrug, ” I wouldn’t have, if I were in your place.”
“I had no plans to. But”, he presses his lips, “Anshu and Avyukth had some valid points. And they kind of apologized.”
“What points?”
Nikhil smiles at me, “They really care for you, Sandy.”
I smile back, turning around to see my friends.
The urge to squeeze them in a hug is so strong right now.
Bad Sandy, bad. Your friends threatened the guy you most possibly like, and you want to hug them?
Shut up, subconscious.
My friends are amazing.
Okay so, I feel kinda bad for Nikhil too. But he comes after my friends.
I don’t know if that’s a bad thing.
“You look happy, Sandy.”
I give a Nikhil a confused look, “Um. Thanks?”
He laughs, “It’s good to see you like this.”
“I am a happy person”, I grin, jumping into the pool, pulling Nikhil along.
I scream into Avyukth’s ear, wishing him a Happy Birthday as we act like idiots on crack, enjoying the day.
“You are abandoning me?”I dramatically ask.
“Shut up Sandy. Nikhil is waiting outside. He will drop you at the hostel.”
“But-”
“Go”, my best friend hisses.
“Fine”, I whine, “Go surprise your boyfriend”, I shout.
I yelp when Anshu stamps my foot, grumbling to myself as I go to the entrance.
“Let’s go?”
“Yeah”, I walk ahead, Nikhil following me to the parking.
Uncomfortable, indecent thoughts fill my head when a few minutes pass, when I find Nikhil’s gaze travelling to my bare legs, just below my shorts.
He quickly looks away, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling uneasy.
When I find the silence too much, I switch the radio on.
Don’t people kiss in the car all the time? Even sex, maybe?
I frown when I remember the time Dhruv and I kissed in his car.
Are Nikhil and I going to, too?
“You okay, Sandy?”
I hum, nodding.
The fact that remembering Dhruv does nothing, but the prospect of Nikhil kiss me exciting scares the shit out of me.
“You sure?”
“I said I’m fine”, I find myself snapping.
I sigh inaudibly when Nikhil clenches his jaw, his hold on the steering tightening.
“I’m Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“You don’t have the right to take me for granted just because you know I like you Sandy.”
Thank you very much for reminding me.
“Sorry”, I wince.
I knew I am in trouble when I found Nikhil shifting gears attractive.
Shut up Sandy. Look outside. Count the number of trees. Or whatever. But shut your thoughts right away.
Right.
For once, I follow the advice, looking away from Nikhil.
Nikhil lets me be, not trying to make conversation, for which I felt immensely grateful.
“Do you want to have dinner somewhere and then go to your room?”, Nikhil asks me in a clipped tone.
I frown. “No”, I say, “I’ll eat in the hostel.”
Sorry. But right now, I have to get away from you.
“Won’t the mess be closed?”
“Oh”, my shoulders slump, “I’ll order something then. I’m very tired. I just want to sleep”, I yawn for effect.
Nikhil nods, clenching his jaw, driving towards our college.
Is he… mad at me for some reason?
“Um. Nikhil?”
“What?”, his tone is edgy, but he clears he throat, “Yeah?”
“Are you fine?”
I am bewildered when he smiles, looking ahead, “I’m fine, Sandy.”
“Um. Okay.”
I swear I thought he was pissed off.
I shrug, humming to myself, “Why is there so much traffic?”, I whine after sometime.
I think I hear an ‘I don’t mind’, but not sure when Nikhil says, “It’s peak traffic hour. It’s just this signal though. We’ll reach in another twenty minutes.”
I nod, running a hand through my hair.
Damn, my back hurts.
As we approach the hospital campus, I find myself growing restless, fidgeting in my seat, bouncing my leg up and down.
Hungry. I’m just hungry.
“Sandy?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re almost there”, Nikhil says.
“I know”, I frown.
He uncomfortably points to my bouncing legs and restless hands.
I flush. Good god. Did he think I wanted to pee?
“I’m fine”, I say, embarrassed.
“Um. Sorry”, He clears his throat, looking anywhere but me, “I mean, people usually fo that when they want to… Um.”
For God’s sake. Peeing is not uncomfortable. Especially for doctors.
So why does it make me feel so awkward.
I grimace, sitting still.
“Bye”, I mumble, unfastening my seatbelt when we reach the hospital gates.
“Yeah. Bye”, Nikhil says.
“It’s okay. I can go”, I say, when Nikhil parks his car on the side, getting out too.
“It’s alright. It’s quite late.”
“Uh. Okay”, I say, “Thanks.”
I take a deep breath, my stomach growling.
“Aren’t you hungry too?”, I ask.
“I’ll order something when I go home”, Nikhil shrugs.
“I’ve already Swiggied in the car. We can.. share if you want?”, I offer hesitantly.
“Thank you.”
We deviate route, as we take seat in the gazebo just outside the hostel.
I didn’t dare to offer to eat in my room. Public. Public is safe.
“You ordered Chicken noodles and Garlic chicken just for yourself?”
“Are you judging?”, I try to keep a blank face, preventing from grinning.
“No. I’m just surprised.”
“Chill. I usually order like that. I don’t like eating main course without a starter.”
Nikhil smiles, nodding, as we dig into our food.
“Thanks for the dinner”, He gets up, wiping his mouth with a tissue.
I shrug, “You’re welcome.”
To say that I’m utter surprised when Nikhil kisses my forehead is an understatement, “Good night, Sandy.”
“Uh. Yeah. Goodnight”, I flush.
I look at him confusedly when he just stands there, “Why aren’t you leaving?”, I ask.
Nikhil laughs, pocketing his hands,, “I’ll wait here till you go inside.”
I find myself grinning, “Bye”, I wave my hand, walking inside.
As I wrestle between sleep and wakefulness, there’s a smile on my face at the realisation that I’m falling for Nikhil.
But before that, I have to take care of something else.