Part 4- We're almost there. Well, almost.

It took me ten minutes to to get to malvika's house. In that span of time, I contemplated what the call was alll about. Did she fall again? Was she being robbed? Was there that wild possibility that she'd confess her feelings, and we'd end up making out? Or Did she watch RGV KI AAG and just couldnt get past the tripe she'd just seen, all alone?.

I brought the car to a halt outside Malvika's apartment, when that lousy watchman showed up like Batman from the shadows, scaring me half to death.
"Saar?", he coughed. It was obvious the nut had been drinking.
"Saar. No parking in front of the gate saar. Apartment rules. The madam, she will throw me out, if she finds out."
I didnt have time. What if Malvika was really in trouble??I had to hurry. And so, I decided to use the situation to my advantage.
"But kind sir, the car is parked twenty feet away from the gate. cant you see that?"
The watchman stared at my face and then at the car, for what seemed to be an age and went,"But of course sir! Forgive me, I am slightly off color, as you can see, huhuhuhuhuhuhuh", he laughed. If Micromaxx had cast this bugger instead of Akshay Kumar in their ad, they would've sold a lot more phones.

I dashed up the stairs and banged Malvika's door. After a minute she opened the door, looking all sullen and worried."What happened?", I said, completely out of breath.
She stared at me, for a whole minute,(I could feel her eyes pierce right through me) and said,"I want Ice Cream."

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For a moment or two, I had absolutely no clue what the hell was going on. She couldny even say "April Fools!", cause it was the middle of June, and it was pouring like hell.
"Ice Cream?? You woke me up at half past two, made me drive all the way here, to tell me that you want ICE CREAM?? Do I look like the guy in the hero honda ad?? No!! This is bloody crazy!!", I stated incredously.

"I know! I'm sorry! But , uh I had this craving, Oh this HUGE HUUGE craving for Ice cream and I wanted it so so badly, I didnt know whom to call, a-an-and I saw your number on the table, and just picked it up and gave you a call... What happened to you??", She stared.

Throughout her explanation, I hadnt said a word. Picture this. You have this super hot girl, standing in front of you, explaining how big a craving she has for chocolate, and suddenly, her tone changes. Drastically. (I know that I havent put up in the whole conversation, because its too long and too bloody inappropriate for children below the age of 14. But let me tell you this. There was lots and lots of moaning and groaning).

I snapped back to reality. "No, its nothing!", and for the second time in 10 hours , I found myself trying to change the topic to avoid embarrasment. "Well. there's no parlour open, at this time of the night, but there's the royal orchid just down the road, and I'm pretty sure its gotta 24 hour coffee shop. We could go there. If you like.", I added.


"Hmm. Okay. Lets head out."

We spent a good hour in the coffee shop, chitchatting away to glory. She was originally from Delhi, but she'd moved to Bangalore for her +2. And she decided to finish her undergrad here as well, and eventually ended up working as an AD in Nirvana films. I told her about my job, my boss and his obsession with the word(She laughed her heart out, but only after I told her what it meant.), about Nihal, and about dad, and how I'd inherited his trait of making an utter fool of one's self in front of girls. She laughed and said," haha. That is in a way, true. Was your dad worse than you?"
I scoffed."Worse? He thinks I'm ten times better than him! And from what've heard, I'm pretty sure I am. You know once, when my dad was still in college, this really funny thing happened which involved him, this girl and an umbrella....".

By the time we got back to her place, it was way way past four. The elevators were luckily functioning, so getting her back up wasnt too big a deal. I tucked her in, said my goodbyes and I was on my way once more.

A month just flew by. Malvika's condition improved. Neha got pregnant. Nihal was over the moon. Satty was still taking Narayan's case, and still barking "Shaata!", at everything that moved. I got to know Malvika a lot better, and we became really close. I'd visit her everyday and'd take her to the physio, every three days to check on her leg. She'd often laugh and say how lucky(wait for it) I was to have her. Which, to be quite honest, is true.

One Saturday morning I finally decided to tell her. Nihal came over and eased me through the situation. My nerves were past breaking point when the phone rang. Nihal answered. His eyes went wide. Without another word , he handed over the phone to me.
"Ello?"
"Hello??", I had an instant head rush, when I recognised Malvika's voice on the other line."Hello? Araan?? Listen, could you please come over for a bit? there's something, I want to talk to you about."

"You want an ice cream?"
She didnt laugh." No. Its something else. Meet me in half an hour or so. Bye." She put the phone down.

"So what'd she want?", Nihal asked curiously.
"She wants to meet me. Didnt say why. I'd better leave now. Sorry mate, but I'll have to leave you hanging just for a little longer. Bye.", and with that I was, gone.

Part 3: To The Hospital... And Beyond!

I reached the hospital at a quarter to six. I walked upto the receptionist, who I have to admit was, kinda cute(Seriously. I have you seen hospital receptionists lately??!). I told her I was looking for Malvika."Last name?", she enquired.
"Uhh.. I have no clue", I answered, looking quite flummoxed.
"No full name, no access. This is a hospital. Patients' personal information is confidential", she stated as a matter-of-factly.
Then like a guardian angel, a nurse came to my rescue." Oh I remember you! you're that guy, who brought in that girl with a broken foot this morning!", she looked at the receptionist, and went "this is the the guy who broke that girl's foot in room 805".
"Ohohooo!", the receptionist exclaimed. "Well, as you might've heard, she's in room 805. 'll let her know, you're on your way up". I thanked her and began to walk towards the elevators, when she said"Hey! Listen, if things dont work out too well between you and broken foot girl, well gimme a call sometime. Here's my number", she said handing out a little slip with her number scribbled untidily onto it. She winked at me, and I continued walking, wondering if my day could get any crazier.
The Doctor was examining her foot when I walked in. "Aaah",said the doctor whose baritone was almost identical to that of Sir Ian Mckellen."And what do we have here Malvika? Boyfriend, I s'pose?", he said, his voice tinkling with laughter.
"Haha, no no doctor. He's a friend.. a very close one infact", she said wiinking at me.
Crap. I'd forgotten how stunningly beautiful she looked. Her dark black hair, fell gracefully onto her shoulders, in the form of rounded curls in the front, and sleek at the back. Her eyes, pierced right through me, for some odd reason made me go weak in the knees. Her lips curved into this gorgeous smile, and deep inside, I knew, that this girl was everything I wanted.
"Helloooo??"
I snapped back to reality. The doctor and Malvika, were looking at me, curiously. It was then I realised that I had this incredibly sad grin on my face. "prprrprprppbb!", I said trying to change the subject."Oh Kay, I think I'll make my move now. You going to be here for another day?",I asked her, trying not to go pink with embarrasment.
Before she could say anything, the doctor said," Oh no. She can go home today. Please do take care of yourself now, will you darling?,", he looked at malvika. Old man hitting on a 20 something girl. Disgusting bastard.
"Oh yeah, sure doc, Ill be o-o-", she paused.
"what happened?", the perverted doc and I asked in unison.
"I just realised that I dont have a ride home, especially in this condition. My room mate's out of town, and I live a good half an hour from here. I dont know what to do!", she said putting her head in her hands.
The doctor turned to me,"Young man, do YOU have a vehicle?"
"I d-d-d-o-o-do" sir", I stammered.
"Excellent! Malvika, this young man here would gladly offer to drop you home!", he exclaimed.
"Wait. What??", I said in utter bewilderment.
"Oh that would be sooo helpful and sweeeett!!", she screamed happily.
Now this is the point where good sense and gut feelings come into place. Normally, gut feelings work for you, but in my case its always been, the other way 'round. Just like everything else in my life. On one hand,The good sense, was telling me to get the eff outta there.But, as usual, The lousy gut feeling, as always, took over.
"Sure. Why not? Lemme get that for you."
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Getting Malvika to the car turned out to be quite a task. She wouldnt stay still for a single moment, and she kept rambling on and on and on and on. When we eventually did get her to the car, she shut up. If only for a bit.
The drive back to Malvika's house was an education in fashion. Malvika kept fussing over her cast, and how doctors had no sense of fashion whatsoever, and that the cast wasnt going to go with any of her wardrobe.
We reached Malvika's house by 8. And curse our stinking luck, the lift was under maintainance.. "Which floor do you live on?", I asked, preparing myself for the worst. "The 4th", she said almost instantaneously. 4Th floor. Not too bad. Not too good either. And in one swift motion, I swung her onto my arms and started walking. She looked surprised at first, but then she understood it was the only way. And this most certainly did not help my situation.

After much panting, and climbing, we made it to her apartment. I gently, made her touch the ground with the good foot and slowly helped her down with the other. We kept our eyes, locked onto each other, without saying a word.

Her apartment was a 2 BHK with a balcony overlooking a small lake. It was decorated, with cutouts of fluffy teddy bears, Scooby and Shaggy, and some Dilbert as well. Wow. Girl's got a very varied taste.

I helped her onto her bed, and made sure she had everything she needed. I gave her my no, and asked her to give me a call, If she needed anything. I decided to make my move, and so I left.
I reached my house at a quarter to 10. I put on some Mozart, changed into my night clothes, and got into bed. Within minutes I was asleep.

At half past two, my cell phone rang, scaring me half to death. I picked up, feeling groggy, and grumbled, " 'Ello?"
"Hello?? Araan??", I jumped as I recognised Malvika's voice, "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. Can you get over here now? Please hurry! Its urgent!", and she put the phone down, without even giving me a chance to open my mouth.
I stared at the phone and then looked at the clock. It was round 2 45. I could get to her place in like 10. And she probably wouldnt call, unless it was something urgent.
I washed up, picked up my jacket, and walked outta the door, got into my car and made my way to Malvika's house.
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