CHAPTER: 19 Dream
Suddenly, Abhi jolted awake from a deep, profound sleep. He checked his surroundings, a frantic assessment of reality. There, some distance away on the sofa, Tulasi was sleeping peacefully, wearing a white dress, in the exact same pose as before.
"What?! Was all that a dream? What a wet dream!" he thought, wiping the beads of sweat from his body. He looked at Tulasi, his gaze lingering on her sweet lips, her beautiful bosom – he wanted them, desperately. He tried to rein himself in, to control his surging desires. He wondered, "Should I just kiss her? Taste those luscious lips?". But then, a stark realization hit Abhi: she was in his house, and he had promised her safety, sworn to protect her.
"No, this is wrong, utterly wrong," he thought, wrestling with his conscience. "She trusted you, Abhi. You gave your word, you promised her safety!". Yet, looking at her, his desire for her remained undimmed. "How? How do I resist?" he mused desperately. Suddenly, unable to contain his frustration, he bellowed( a deep, loud roar), "Hey!".
Tulasi, who had been sleeping so softly on the sofa, jolted awake with a startled gasp. "What? What is it?" she asked, blinking sweetly,a had a hint of fear looking around in confusion.
Abhi, his face serious, almost stern, shouted at her, "Go to your bedroom and sleep!". "oh !i fell a sleep?" she asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes with innocent charm, and slowly walked towards her room, closing the door and drifting back to sleep.
Abhi, in sheer exasperation, repeatedly hit his head. "Oh my God, sht!" he muttered under his breath. She, in her innocence, had gone and forgot to lock her bedroom door. She had drifted back into that sweet drowsiness, leaving him tormented. Abhi didn't know what to do; he paced the hall restlessly. The burning heat within him, the sweat, just wouldn't subside. To make matters worse, Tulasi, as he had seen her earlier, seemed to appear everywhere in the hall. As if she was on the balcony, then sleeping on the sofa, then eating fruits near the dining table. "Oh my God, sht, she is messing with me?! I'm literally seeing her everywhere!" he thought, on the verge of losing his mind.
"This won't do, this ain't gonna fly," he decided, and quickly went to his bedroom, turned on the shower, and stood under the cool stream. But the heat in his body, the fire of his desire, simply would not decrease. He lost track of how long he stood there. After some time, the intensity of his heat and the tumultuous thoughts in his brain calmed down a bit. He got dressed, but the inability to sleep and the relentless thoughts still plagued him. Adding to his torment was the fact that Tulasi's bedroom door was not locked – his brain kept reminding him of this dangerous detail. He struggled to control himself, thinking, "It's wrong, isn't it? To open her door and go inside? That's a definite no-no".
"This won't do, I can't trust myself," he concluded. He went to his room, frantically searched through his rack, found the super lock meant for Tulasi's bedroom door, and brought it out. He locked her bedroom door from the outside, then went to the balcony and, with a decisive flick, threw the key into Tulasi's room through the window. "Oh boy, oh boy," he sighed in relief, "now Tulasi won't be able to open the door until she finds that key. For now, she's safe. Safe from me," he thought, letting out a much-needed breath.
He felt a strange aversion to going to the hall; Tulasi's image kept filling his mind. He stood on the balcony, lighting a cigarette, deep in thought, "How the heck do I make her fall for me? She's literally playing hard to get, even when she doesn't know it!".
"She easily made me fall for her, like, without even trying! How am I supposed to make her fall for me? She doesn't even talk much, keeps a serious distance. How do I even approach this Nun ?" he pondered, utterly flummoxed.
He didn't know how long he was lost in these thoughts. By the time he snapped back to reality, the sun had already risen. Then, a sound came from Tulasi's door, and her sweet voice called out, "Abhi, Abhi!". Abhi went to her door and, through the closed wood, said, "Tulasi, the key is in your bedroom, it fell under the cupboard. Find it and open the door". Tulasi searched for the key, opened the door, and came out.
She looked at him, her eyes wide, "You locked my room?".
"Uh, yeah," Abhi mumbled, offering no further explanation.
"Why? Why did you locked?" she asked, but after looking at him , she was more concerned about the figure in front of her so she asked again
"What's wrong, Abhi? Why are you like this? Didn't you get any sleep?" she asked, her concern innocent and sweet. He merely shook his head, a horizontal motion.
"Were you playing games all night, Abhi?" she questioned, a hint of accusation in her tone.
Abhi looked at Tulasi's face and thought, "playing games ?do you have any idea what I went through last night" and quickly retreated into his bedroom. After a while, he came out, refreshed and changed. Both of them were having breakfast. She asked again, "Why did you lock my room, Abhi?". Abhi, ever the bad boy with a flimsy excuse, replied, "Thieves might break in here, Tulasi! You gotta be careful, always lock your bedroom door, okay?".
"Oh, really? Do they break in any of our neighbouring apartments? Does anyone got hurt?" she asked, still a bit naïve and worried.
"They haven't broken in, but they might, you never know," Abhi said. "Do you have a lock?".
"Oh, yes, I have one. Be careful, Abhi, you too," she said, genuinely concerned.
Abhi just stopped from hitting his head in exasperation and continued eating his breakfast. All that day, Abhi's eyes were practically superglued to her, unable to tear away. Even when he sat in the car, her unique, intoxicating scent filled his senses, completely overwhelming him. His thoughts would constantly drift to her , wondering if he could somehow, under some pretext, manage to touch her. He had an almost uncanny awareness: he knew when she moved, he knew if she looked at him, he knew everything she did, even when she took a deep breath.
Later that day, a woman came to the hospital with her small child. Since it was difficult to do check-ups with a child, Tulasi, with her gentle nature, took the baby and started playing with him. She even gave the little one some chocolates.
While Tulasi was playing so sweetly with the little baby, Abhi, a small smile playing on his lips, examined the baby's mother. He quickly understood the mother's problem and prescribed the necessary medicine. But his attention, almost entirely, was fixed on Tulasi – her joyful expressions as she played with the baby, and the pure happiness that radiated from her as she interacted with the child. Then, a comical moment occurred: the baby, after happily devouring the chocolates, smeared them all over Tulasi's pristine white apron. "Oh, my dear!" Tulasi exclaimed, completely shocked to see her apron covered in chocolate.
"Doctor, I am so, so sorry!" the baby's mother stammered, quickly taking her child.
"Oh, it's absolutely fine, please don't worry, he's just a little one," Tulasi reassured her, removing her apron. Beneath, she was wearing a simple red churidar dress. Abhi, once again, found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her. The neck of her dress was wide, revealing a hint of her bosom. Her front neckline was also wide, a subtle allure. Her red dress against her creamy, beautiful skin...
Abhi thought, "Oh boy, this is starting again, my self-control is about to go down the drain!". Yet, he couldn't divert his eyes from her captivating form. she still came forward to write tests, medication bending over. In doing so, she was also facing Abhi directly, an unspoken tension hanging in the air.
Abhi kept staring at Tulasi, completely mesmerised, without blinking. As she bent to write, a tantalising glimpse of her bosom was visible to him. He simply couldn't take his eyes off it; he remained fixated. Just at that precise moment, Shashirekha arrived, carrying a file sent by her Senior Doctor to Abhi for his suggestions. Shashirekha witnessed Abhi staring at Tulasi like that, his gaze intently fixed on her bosom, and she called out, her voice sharp, "Excuse me, Doctor Abhijit!". Abhi snapped out of his trance then, jolting back to reality. Tulasi, a small smile playing on her lips, looked at her friend as if saying 'hi'
"Doctor, they asked you to check this file," Shashirekha said, looking seriously at Abhi, then offering a small smile to Tulasi. She placed the file down and, turning to Tulasi, said, "Tulasi, I really need to talk to you, right now," and promptly led her away.
Abhi, his face etched with a serious expression, glared at Shashirekha. Shashirekha turned back, meeting his gaze with an equally serious look. Abhi understood completely. Shashirekha had seen him looking at Tulasi like that. She clearly didn't approve and was taking Tulasi away to protect her. Abhi was left alone, watching the (Out Patient's)OP, a sense of frustration mounting within him. Tulasi still hadn't returned, and Abhi's anger bubbled. He rang the bell and impatiently asked the nurse, "Where is Tulasi?!". The nurse, a little scared, replied, "Shashirekha ma'am took her, sir".
Abhi immediately called Tulasi's phone. "Hello, Abhi?"
"Come to my room," he commanded, and without waiting for a reply, hung up. After a short while, Tulasi returned, wearing another apron. Seeing that, Abhi was absolutely furious, but he forced himself to say nothing. Tulasi came and calmly wrote medicines for the remaining patients. Abhi instructed her to finish her work quickly. As soon as her OP duties were done, Shashirekha, like a determined guardian, appeared again and took Tulasi away. Abhi, annoyed, muttered under his breath, "Where are you going, Tulasi? You need to write case sheets!".
Shashirekha, looking seriously at Abhi, firmly replied, "She's writing them with us, sir!".
Abhi wondered, "What on earth is her problem?! Is she's basically her bodyguard!".
That entire day, Abhi kept looking at Tulasi, his gaze unwavering. Those intense looks were understood by all the other nurses and her friends as well, except Tulasi;
Shashirekha made sure Tulasi didn't know about it." It will get out of hand if she knows. Lets wait until he goes after her publicly? Till then let hide it from Tulasi for now."
everyone knew what was up. As soon as Tulasi's work was finished, Shashirekha, ever vigilant, whisked Tulasi away from Abhi's vicinity. Shashi, with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye, called out, "Tulasi, let's go to my room today. Stay there! Let's have a girls' night out! Anyway, holidays are starting from tomorrow, it's a long weekend, fam! Come to my room today, let's chill!". Tulasi knew they would probably just watch movies, and she wasn't particularly interested in that. But the idea of spending time with her friends, a sense of belonging, made her somewhat tempted. She glanced at Abhi. Abhi, his face a mask of disapproval and anger, looked back at her seriously.
All the nurses, assistant doctor Shashirekha, and Anitha were watching this whole drama unfold. "Not now, Shashi, maybe some other time," Abhi interjected impatiently, not even waiting for Tulasi to complete her speech to stop her from thinking twice. "Tulasi, let's go!" he commanded and stormed off. Tulasi, almost impulsively, immediately followed Abhi, giving a quick goodbye to her friends.
Shashi turned to Anitha, a knowing look on her face. "See, Anitha? What I said is absolutely true! Didn't you see how he was looking at her? Like he wanted to devour her! I knew this would happen, that's why I said, 'No, to her staying with him,' but you guys didn't listen to me! Now, how can Doctor Abhijit be 'in love' with Tulasi?" she exclaimed. Shashirekha then firmly stated, "Abhijit will definitely not love Tulasi.He just attracted by her beauty. Who wouldn't? I know how many men look at her daily. Even if he thinks he's in love, at the end of the day, only Tulasi will suffer, big time. Abhijit won't lose a thing. He'll just take advantage of her and ghost her. Tulasi will be the one left crying. She's so incredibly sensitive".
Shashi thought deeply about this, her brow furrowed with concern. "the long weekend is upon us,"
Both Abhijit and Tulasi staying in home without any disturbance during the long holidays.Not a good thing.
Anitha reminded her. "Shashi, tomorrow is the last working day before the Dussehra holidays!".
"I'm thinking the same thing, Anitha," Shashi replied, wondering what her next move should be. "Hmm, I've got an idea!" she announced. "What if we all go to my hometown Mysore the Chamundeshwari Devi temple ?".
"What?! That far?!" Anitha exclaimed, surprised.
"Yeah, that's where I am from, right?" Shashi confirmed. "I'll make sure we have excellent arrangements for the darshan (sacred viewing). Let's invite Tulasi too! Yes, this long weekend, she'll be safely away from Abhijit. Tulasi will be safe for these few days. In the meantime, I'll think of something else," Shashi revealed her cunning plan.
Anitha, still skeptical, said, "She didn't even come for girls' night out just now, how is she going to come all that way? We'd have to go by flights, she definitely won't agree!".
Shashi just smiled. "Her weakness is God. She'll even come crawling for God! She'll definitely come."
"But will Abhijit agree? "
"Oh, she'll make him agree!" she said with a mischievous grin. She quickly booked flight tickets for all three of them and called her parents.
"Mom, I'm coming with my three friends!" she told them, and her parents were absolutely thrilled, promising to arrange accommodation.
"Will Tulasi actually believe this now?"Anitha mused to herself.
"Just tell Tulasi you won a lottery ticket worth a crore! She'll totally believe you and then ask for a party in the canteen! She's so incredibly naive, it's super easy to trick her. That's why I absolutely have to save her from Abhijit, no matter what! These three, four days, she'll be with us. In the meantime, I'll set her up with a good guy. This way, she'll be safe from that Abjith," Shashi thought, her protective instincts strong.
Just then, a male doctor who was nearby saw Tulasi leaving like that. Tulasi is really beautiful, and many people often want to go and talk to her. But Abhijit is always hovering next to Tulasi. If he's not there, Tulasi's friends are there. Because of that, many people just admire Tulasi from a distance. Some people don't even dare to talk to Tulasi, fearing Abhijit's intimidating presence.
Vijay was one of those guys, too. She had seen Vijay looking at Tulasi like that many times. Shashi suddenly got a brilliant idea.