Nikki gasps at the truth of the sentence. *Tell him you want to be with him forever.....you want to be Dr. Nikita Modi.....you want to be Tia's mother.....forever......that is what you had promised her......tell him that you want to share his family......be there for him in all his happiness and sadness...have him holding your hand forever* her heart screams but in her mind the small doubt creeps up * Oh I regret falling for you innocent act Nikita, you are not as innocent as you act. I have no use for you* His words to her, when she had wanted to say sorry...... flash in her mind.
She turns to leave, not sure what to reply to his accusation. She had implied by all her actions that she couldn't wait for this to be over but had never once wanted it to be over.....not even once.....how could she?...She loved him.....the last few days had made sure that if she ever left him.....all she would ever be capable of would be to survive....she could only LIVE with him now....he and Tia meant everything to her. Her world had shrunk to these two. The love she had for them was in every breath she took.
"Oh so you are running again.....are you?" Abhimanyu's sarcastic voice breaks through the haze of her thoughts. She stops abruptly and turns to look at him. "Running?" not understanding what he meant.
"Yeah.....to your room.....slamming the door on the face of all my questions.....wife" he bites the last word distastefully. When she understands what he implied she stiffens with anger. Her nostrils flare and she feels the anger rise and tries to clamp it down. She starts walking again towards her room. She needed time to sort out the muddle her heart and brain were in.
"I was right......Nikki loves to run at the first sight of a problem" Abhi doesn't give up and finally Nikki snaps. All the feelings she had been fighting since the pool incident, her insecurities, her fear, her love; all roll into the feeling of anger and she turns and walks furiously towards him.
She grabs her keys which are sitting on the table on the way and hurls it at Abhi, then hurls the newspaper lying on the table at him and Abhi is shocked at her anger. She grabs the cushion from the couch and uses it to hit him.
"Don't.... you .....ever.... say ....I ....was.... running..... away.... from.... you" and hits him on his arm, which he is successful at fending by moving out of her way..... fast.
"Stop it Nikki" he admonishes her and she tries to hit him again on his other arm and this time he is not as successful.
"I did not.... run away.... from you....you ....you...Sadu" she follows him and hurls the remote at him.
"Nikki.....remote" he gasps, unable to understand what happened to the calm and scared girl who was going to shut herself in her room.
"I married you.....do you know......how much strength.....and stupidity....that takes" she continues her tirade at him and backs him to the couch hitting the cushion on his chest and he is pushed to sit down by her closeness .
"Nikki....are you crazy?" he can't believe this side of his wife.
"I have to be......no one..... in their right mind..... would marry you" she tries to hit the cushion over his head and he catches her wrists and twisting them so that the cushion falls from her hand. Nikki is in no mood to forgive and wrestles to free herself of his grasp but to no avail.
"Leave me.....I am not done" she orders him, expecting to be obeyed.
"No way.....calm down first" he refuses to let go of her hands, sure that if he did as she asked she would launch at him like a cat and claw his eyes off.
"Leave me" she insists still struggling to get out of his grasp and using her feet to stomp on his.
"Ouch.....Nikki that hurt" he doesn't see that one coming.
"Good" her voice satisfied.
"You are behaving like a child Nikki" and that stops her dead. She stops struggling and stands still in his grasp. He looks at her warily and slowly lets go off her hands and looks at her intently.
"Nikki?" he dares to call her name. She refuses to look at him, still mad at his rude words. He gets up and tries to touch her cheek but she swats his hand away from her face.
"All I said was that I want to be a part of your family" she replies in a tear filled voice her face turned away from him. He feels her pain and knows without looking that the beautiful eyes he loved were misted with tears. *She wants to come closer and you pushed her away.....you deserve an award....for making your wife cry.....if it's not Armaan then it's something else.....but Abhimanyu you are excellent in breaking her heart....you are supposed to be making her stay......not pushing her away.....where do you come up with such heart breaking words?* his mind scolds him.
"Nikki.....I......you" he looks down searching for words but she walks away from him. He follows her and sees her enter Tia's room and sit down and play with her. He stops at the door. "Nikki" he says to make her listen but she gives him the cold shoulder. He enters the room and sits next to her. She shifts herself and lifts Tia on her lap, blocking him from getting any more close to her. Exasperation enters his eyes.
"Tia tell your Daddy that we are playing a girl's game.....boys not allowed" she ignores him, refusing to acknowledge him and conveys the message through his daughter. Tia looks at Nikki and then her father. Nikki nudges Tia. "Daddy we are playing a girl's game.....Nikki... he can also play" Tia invites her father and Nikki rolls her eyes whereas Abhi smiles a triumphant smile. Nikki looks at him with cold anger and then smiles at Tia, "Tiu.....Daddy is tired .....he doesn't want to play" she cuddles her closer laying a kiss on her baby cheek and Abhi's eyes fly to his wife's lips.
"No Tia....am not tired.....I would love to play" he retorts and Nikki sighs deeply. Tia looks at Nikki and returns her kiss, "Daddy wants to play Nikki....I want to play with him too" she takes Abhi's side and his triumphant smile gets bigger.
"Ok....Tia....then Daddy will help you dress your dolls and play tea party with you......I will go and get some yummy dinner ready.....ok princess" Nikki tickles her daughter who nods a yes between her giggling and Abhi's eyes pop. "D....Dress dolls? Tea- party?" his voice chokes and Tia jumps on his lap.
Nikki gets up and heads towards the door but comes around to Abhi, bends down, blows in his ear seductively and Abhi's eyes close of their own accord; her action getting the required reaction from him. "Have fun Daddy" she purrs and leaves him to play the girlie games with Tia. He mutters an oath under his breath promising retribution to his wife for making him dress dolls and promising to return her seductive favor.
Rubbing her hands gleefully Nikki heads to the kitchen *Running away.....I will show you Dr. Abhimanyu Modi.....I will make you eat your words....you think you are smart....you just wait and watch......Nikita Malhotra will show you what she can do....wife who is waiting for the marriage to be over.....idiot.....do you have no eyes...can't you see.....now I will make sure you see darling Husband* she challenges him, refusing to bow down to his words .
She decides to make his favorite vegetable and her favorite Daal, which he hated as dinner. Almost done with her cooking, she is setting the table and turns to grab a glass when she bumps into Abhimanyu, who had silently walked into the kitchen and stood right behind her.
"Ouch" she exclaims and is about to slip when he catches her in his arms possessively and brings her closer. "Tia" she shouts knowing that her plan had backfired. He smiles, his eyes gleaming. "Restroom......that is where your savior is" and brings her closer.
"Leave me" she tries to escape but Abhi is not having any of it.
"You should not have done what you did in Tia's room" his voice throaty and seductive rings in her ear and her eyes go wide.
"Daddy" Tia's voice rings loud and clear and Nikki heaves a sigh of relief. Abhimanyu sees the smile come back on her face and leaves her. "I will return your favor" he drawls and leaves to help his daughter.
"We'll see" Nikki throws at his retreating back incensed at herself.
Abhi and Tia walk in and Nikki grabs her daughter and sits her on her lap, reading her stories and feeding her. Abhi looks at Nikki with eyes narrowed, suspicious at what she is playing at. Done with food, Nikki plays with Tia till the little one is ready to fall asleep and then instructs Abhi to put her to sleep.
Abhi comes out of Tia's room to see Nikki eating her dinner and his laid down on the table.
"Didn't want to wait?" he asks irritated.
"For what?" she asks him unconcerned, finishing up her dinner. He rolls his eyes and takes his seat.
He looks at the food and makes a face. "I hate this Daal" he complains and without looking up, Nikki replies, "Sad.....I love it"
He glares at her and decides to eat the vegetable and chokes on the first bite. Nikki hides her smile with an effort. He starts coughing and his eyes start to water. Nikki hands him a glass of water and he gulps it down. When the fire in his mouth subsides, he looks at his wife with narrowed eyes, "You put red chilies" he accuses.
"Yes.....I love them" she shrugs. "I hate them" he gets angry.
"What are you getting mad for'.....eat it with your bland Daal.....it will balance the heat" she throws a sensible answer at him.
"I hate that Daal......you did this on purpose" he blames her.
"Eat or don't eat.....I don't care" she gets up; her dinner finished and sits in front of the TV.
Abhi manages to eat his dinner partially, getting madder by the second at his wife's prank. After finishing the dinner, he too heads towards the couch and snatches the remote from her.
"Manner less" she throws at him and pushes him. He ignores her and switches to the news channel. This aggravates Nikki. "I was watching it......if you did not notice" she points out.
"I noticed.....but I want to see the news" he quips.
"I want to see what I was watching" she refuses to let go.
"Well I have the remote......as you got the dinner made" he brings out his sore point of the evening.
"You got to eat..... be thankful for it" she throws at him.
"You got to watch TV......be thankful for that" he gives her back.
"At least I made dinner for you......you can be gracious enough to let me watch what I want" she tries another tactic and Abhimanyu is appalled at her manipulation.
"You made me eat that horrible thing" he turns towards her, the news forgotten, warming up to fight.
Nikki gets up and looks down at him, "For one it is good for you......and second.....if you ate less today......it won't make a difference .......fatty" she jabs her index finger at his chest.
Abhimanyu stands up, eyes gleaming, "Fatty......look at your love handles" he grabs her waist and she pushes him away.
"Fatty" she repeats.
"You need glasses......it's called muscle" he shoves his face near hers.
She laughs at him scornfully, "Fat people calling their fat .......muscle"
"Shorty" he makes fun of her height and she gasps. He smirks and she stomps his foot and runs out of his reach to her room. He follows her there and knocks her door, not wanting to wake up Tia.
"Scaredy Cat" he hisses from the other side.
"Go away Sadu" she throws back and Abhimanyu walks away in anger.
The next morning, Nikki refuses to talk to Abhimanyu and slams the breakfast plate in front of him not even bothering to smile at him. Tia is unaware of her parents' moods. She happily chirps through the breakfast while the two glare at each other.
Nikki refuses to go in his car, deciding to take her own car to work and tells Tia to go with her father as she has errands to run. Abhimanyu's temper gives away to irritation and he is tired of fighting with his wife but Nikki is in no mood to forgive and forget.
He tries to talk to her in Sanjeevani but she is able to avoid him every time. Irritation gives way to restlessness and he decides to finish the matter today, not wanting to fight with her anymore.
He pages her and when she comes into his cabin he smiles at her but she turns cold eyes on him. "You called Dr. Modi?" she asks in her best professional voice.
"Nikki......stop this..... please" his tone is almost pleading.
"What Dr. Modi?" Nikki asks folding her arms in front of her.
"I don't want to fight anymore" he delivers, his eyes soft.
"Look Dr. Modi......I am busy .......do you have anything else to say?" she stands up and gets ready to leave. Abhi sighs at his adamant wife, "No, Dr. Nikita Modi" he is unable to resist.
Nikki's mouth tightens at his jab but she leaves without replying.
Abhimanyu passes his whole day, restless and perturbed at Nikki's behavior, sorry for throwing those hurtful words at her. Reaching home, Nikki continues to ignore him but doesn't feed him hot food.
*Abhimanyu apologize.....that's the only way she is going to forgive you.......I don't even remember why we started this fight.....just say sorry....don't think......go and say sorry* he goes to her in the kitchen, turns her to face him, "Am sorry......please talk" he shoots.
"Dr. Modi you have nothing to be sorry about" she retorts, happy to let him stew, trying to move out of his reach.
"Nikki......listen" he holds her arm and she stops.
"I shouldn't have said what I did......Ok......you are great with Tia and you do everything for our family.......I.....I just got defensive.....but please talk to me" he accepts his mistake and Nikki smiles satisfied.
She turns to face him, "Good you realized.....all I wanted was to make you understand......and I want to be a part of your family......that's why I mentioned your mother" she starts but Abhi stops her, "Nikki......listen I understand" and Nikki cuts him.
"No you don't there was no need to be defensive......she was so sweet to me.....I wanted to share that with you" Abhi holds his hands up.
"Yes she is sweet.....but listen Nikki.....all I want" Nikki shakes her head and interrupts, "No I am not done......Abhi......she was asking me if you both trouble me......I told her that Tia" he pulls her close to him by her waist and puts his mouth on hers to shut her up.
"Shut up" he speaks near her mouth and kisses her thoroughly.
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