The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 80

Aparna clicked the send button and closed her eyes. For the last couple of days, her nights had been the most disturbing ones. She always woke up in the middle of the night sweating and panting hard. And, every night it was the same dream. 

She saw him coming towards her, taking her in his arms and making love to her madly, but before he could finish the whole thing, he would vanish leaving her empty and aching for more. 

Now a day every time she touched her own body, she felt him. She shut the laptop and rested her head on the pillow. As she buried her head in it, she again saw him standing and smiling at her. She turned her face the other way to avoid seeing his face but then felt his breath on her neck.  

“Go away!” she instructed, her voice thickening with the onslaught of tears threatening to escape. 

“No!”

She closed her eyes as he heard him. And before she could react, she felt his nose nuzzling softly on the back of her neck. 

Aparna turned and buried her face in his chest, sobbing hard. As she felt him pulling her close, she circled her arms around his neck and let it go. 

“Shhhhh! I am here,” she heard him say.

“No, you are not and I know that.”

She felt his arms loosening and she let go. As his eyes rested on her face, she saw him brushing off her tears.

“I am here,” she heard him say again, and this time he pointed towards her heart. 

Aparna just shook her head and said in a sobbing voice, “You are not, and I have done what it takes to throw you out.”

*********************

Since the time Nishant had reached the office, his day had completely been occupied in meetings. He came out of the conference room breathing hard. The familiar throbbing around the ridge of his nose indicated the starting of a sinus pain. Ignoring it, he strode towards his office and quickly opened the drawer. 

Better take the medicine before it turned into a full-blown headache. 

As he gulped it down, his eyes fell on the clock. 

Dammit! 

His father and brother will be here soon with the inputs from the Chawla’s. Plus, Dhruv would also be here with the final copy of their contract. 

No time to waste!

Nishant was in the middle of discussing the position of the swimming pool in the project when suddenly a loud knock on the door interrupted him. 

“Come in!” he instructed still staring at the design in front. 

It was Vikrant who first saw Madhu at the doorway. Surprised, he got up and went towards her.

“Anything urgent?”

“I needed to speak to Nishant Sir,” Madhu said looking in Nishant’s direction. 

The moment he heard her, his heart skipped a beat. 

What’s wrong?

But the rising fear inside glued him to the spot he was standing. 

Madhu came near him and handed him an envelope. 

Nishant took it from her with shaking fingers and then looked questioningly at her. 

“Please open it.”

As he opened the envelope, a cheque slipped out. He looked at it and then at Madhu, who looked away not knowing what to say. Even though the cheque had Madhu’s signature, still Nishant knew it was from her. And, then his gaze fell on the amount and instantly realisation hit him. 

Two lakh and fifty-seven thousand: the same amount he had paid for Prakriti’s admission here. 

That meant she had not taken a single penny from the clearance cheque instead she had added seven thousand from her pocket to pay him off. 

For a minute everything hazed out as he tried to make his mind steady. But instead, her every word swirled round and round in circles making his head hammer more than usual. Till now, he had anticipated her every move but not this. 

You have seriously stumped me now.

The hope that he had kept alive inside him slowly started to fizz out. He tried to hold onto it but still, it just slipped out of his hand. 

Nishant closed his eyes trying hard to make his body function and finally when it did listen, he mechanically handed the cheque to Dhruv. 

“Make a receipt of the cheque and give it to Madhu,” he said, his voice sounding alien to himself. 

Saying this he went back to the design and stared at it with intensity. 

********************

Aparna picked up her phone to call Madhu when it rang in her hand. 

“I have given the cheque to him,” Madhu said not knowing what else to say. 

“Hmmm!”

“Harish wants to speak to you.”

“Hi!” 

“Hi, Harish!”

“Did you find anything?” Harish asked. 

Aparna sighed and replied, “Nope! Not till now.”

“Aparna, I still believe that you guys should come back to Delhi.”

“No, Harish. We are okay here. I don’t want to be back in that city again.” Aparna replied a little more harshly than usual. 

She could hear the silence on the other side and regretted it instantly. Harish had always been there for her no matter what. Hearing him sigh audibly, she bit her lip. 

“We understand you don’t, but please think about it,” she heard Madhu say and knew that Harish had given the phone back to her. 

“No, please. I don’t want to think or even talk about it please.”

“Okay, but promise me that you will let us know in case you need anything.”

Promising her that she will, Aparna disconnected the call. Thinking about going back to Delhi was absolutely out of question. Irritated, she switched on the television and turned to an entertainment channel. 

********************

Nishant looked from here and there and shifted in his place breathing hard to ease the ill feeling inside. He turned his head and looked towards Dhruv, who was merrily chatting with someone. Not able to take it anymore, he went towards him and dragged him away. 

“Can we get out of here?”

Before Dhruv could say anything, he saw someone standing behind Nishant and smiled.

“As usual, Nishant Naik wants to escape the buzz,” a familiar female voice sounded behind him.

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