Page 16 of No Other Love

‘Your bed’s ready for you.’ He pointed up. ‘First floor. First door on the left. I kept your bag there too.’ He hesitated. ‘It’s got a balcony and a lovely view.’

‘Awesome.’ I smiled, delighted. ‘Although I’m so tired I can sleep standing up.’

He smiled too, a little boyish. ‘You know I’ll catch you if you fall.’

***

We looked away at the same time. Because this…this was something I was afraid of too. When we weren’t fighting, we were so much in sync, it was scary. Part of it had to do us both being doctors, a profession that had unique and very specific demands, but it also had to do withus- Vikrant and Anika - and the joy we found in each other.

Remembering that was a blow to my heavy heart.

I picked up the book. ‘I think I’ll read a little before napping.’ The title was a reflection of my life –Heartbreak Vows.

‘Sure. You do that.’ Vikrant suggested. ‘I’ll go to the hospital and get my morning hours done before lunch.’

‘Alright. See you then.’ And it was so foolish of me to be so excited about seeing him again, but there you go.

I was a fool when it came to my ex-husband.

Seven

Vikrant

I couldn’t get Anika’s sleeping face out of my mind as I drove to the hospital on autopilot. Truth be told; I couldn’t get the thing she’d told me when she showed up at the bus stop. And I could finally believe she was here. In front of me. With me.

I couldn’t get her out of my head at all.

Especially when her sexy shorts rode up and revealed all the golden skin of her legs. She always had great legs, my Ani. And she walked up and down stairs instead of using the elevator as her everyday version of cardio. It paid off, in spades and shapely calves.

I wondered how she’d have reacted if I touched her thigh, right at the spot where fabric met skin. Just to check for myself if she was as soft and squeezable as she’d always been.

I knew she was surprised, wary even, because I made no comment about her outfit. It was a little racy for my small town where some of the older women still wore thenavvaari– the traditional nine-yard sari - on an everyday basis. It was one of our points of argument before. How Anika dressed in Aronda. She didn’t prance around in a bikini or anything like that, but she was also not the dress demurely and mindfully types.

I’d foolishly thought to change that about her. When I could have just adjusted my own thinking and maybe figured out a rational way to compromise on the clothing issue. Instead, I’d flung the fact that I still wore full pants at her face. Like Iwas some saint for being modest, when it was just me not establishing boundaries with my parents.

How could I though? I was their golden son. The city doctor. The one Mom had sold her jewelry for, to send off to medical college. I could never repay the debt I owed them. I was the typical Indian son, trapped by my parents’ expectations and unable to live in my reality.

***

I checked in on supplies at the hospital and fired off requests to the local pharmacist on the stock we were running low on. Then I settled in the exam room for my first patient. Somedays, the waiting room was full of patients with the strangest and smallest of complaints.

Other days, it was just me waiting for someone to need medical assistance.

When the town council had appointed me as the town doctor, I was beyond grateful. I was incredibly proud of myself. Especially because one of the council members was multi-millionaire Devansh Thackeray, international hotelier and owner of the fanciest place in town – Kahini’s. He was the one who forced the mayor to hire me, in fact. I thought it was because he trusted my judgment and was impressed with me. Turns out, I was just the cheapest candidate, because of my lack of seniority.

Still, I’d managed to bring about some radical changes at the hospital and instituted weekend health camps and information seminars for the locals and for the residents of nearby towns too. I was determined to make a difference, and I was lucky I could do it in my hometown. A place I was very comfortable in and invested in.

Unlike Anika, who shone everywhere she went.

And there she was, circling in my brain. The thought that never went away. Like a perfume whose scent drifts on and on, making you feel all the things.

I wished I’d held her closer, tighter when I picked her up from the passenger seat. That brief contact of her body with mine was enough to remind me of the curves I had never forgotten, the lush and compact physique she maintained with exercise and no diet.

Her tits and chest pressed against mine, her back so soft under the shirt flapping about her. It was a size too large and slid off her shoulder. I’d wanted to know if it belonged to some man she knew, but it wasn’t my place to ask her that.

I just let her go. Again.

Desire, a constant obstacle, reared its head again now. And I shifted uncomfortably in my stool.