Akya FF-Never late to love,Chap 36-Page-42 Update - Page 27

Note: Had been quite sick so could not proof read so please excuse my mistakes. Thanks for all your patience these days and your lovely wishes which keeps me going.

Chap-33 World is round
Ananya had grown quite close to Dr. Siddiqui in some time and they used to spend lot of time together, beyond work.Her weekends were never boring as she spent them with her boss in his house where both of them would work in his garden or cook up something special. Being a bachelor Dr.Siddiqui had learnt a lot of cooking to fend for himself. Ananya was surprised to know how that he had become a vegetarian as Suhasini would not be comfortable going to non-vegetarian restaurants coming from a conservative South Indian family. She had tried accommodating for Dr.Siddiqui but she would end up throwing up with the smell so Dr.Siddiqui decided to give up eating non-veg when he was with her and post their separation he just could not bring himself to eat non-veg.Ananya was good at her culinary skills and she would cook up delicacies for both of them and they would enjoy. After a long time after Ananya's parents left for their heavenly abode she was feeling that warmth of having somebody as her own as compared to Dr.Gupta who would also love her but something used to be amiss there.After meeting Dr.Siddiqui Ananya had realized that although she had warmed up to Dr.Gupta he had probably not done so leaving her cold at the end but then she had warmed up to Akash also who had also cheated her at the end. As those deep black orbs flashed in front of her eyes, she could feel the nagging pain starting again in some corner of her heart. Ananya realized that however she had immersed herself in work, how nice she had been spending her days with Dr. Siddiqui but the memories of her first love will not fade away soon.
The new year celebrations had ebbed but the chill had kept people away from the streets but the empty streets had always attracted Ananya as she slushed through the snow to her workplace in her snow boots enjoying the bright winter sunshine after a long spell of snow and cloudy weather. As she headed towards the workplace she could not help but wonder as to why she felt very restless since morning and a certain black orbs and dimples clouded her thoughts since the morning. Brushing them aside she entered the center, wished a cheerful greeting to the front desk and headed to her cabin. After a couple of hours the restlessness did not seem to leave her and she decided she needed a strong cup of coffee to bring her thoughts back on track. Few minutes later Ananya stood at the 1st floor of the institute looking down at the floor below with few people walking past with the festival holidays still not ending for most of them. As she let her eyes roam around, it stuck to a small family with a girl in a frock and a lady and a man talking to the receptionist. Curious to figure out who they were she veered a little around the top floor to get a better view and what she saw left her immobile, it was none other than AKASH!!.and along with him sat on a wheelchair none other than Juhi and a young lady with a mangalsutra and vermillion smeared on her parting. Ananya felt the earth shake as she grappled to hold the edge of the table she was standing next to. She was thankful she had kept down the coffee cup on the table earlier to get a better view else it would have been shattered on the floor. She stood there for how long who knows unable to move forgetting that she had to meet Dr. Siddiqui until the old man came down looking for her and tapped on her shoulder bringing her out of her reverie.Dr. Siddiqui had been observing the myriad of emotions fleeting across Ananya's face as she looked back at the man standing at the reception where Ananya could not seem to remove her eyes from even though she wanted to. He smiled to himself and asked Ananya "So, he is the one who has stolen the heart of my dedicated research scholar and doctor".Ananya was embarrassed at that remark but quickly recovered and shockingly asked "Sir, how do you know".
Dr. Sid: My dear lady, I have met lot of people in my life and seen various facets on human life so I know that forlorn look of somebody to whom you have lost your heart to but looks like there was something that seriously went wrong between both of you.
As both of them started walking back Dr. Siddique asked Ananya "So Dr. Akash Saluja is the one who remains hidden in the depths of your heart".
An: How do you know Sir his name?
RS: He came with a reference letter from Dr.Gupta of NIAMS, your previous workplace.
An: Yes, he is the son-in-law of Dr.Gupta so that should give you insights into my story.
RS : (Shockingly) No, he is not. I was in Bangalore for a conference where I had met Dr.Gupta's daughter and his son-in-law. I don't exactly recall his name but definitely not this man for sure.
Ananya was spellbound at the revelation and thousand questions started buzzing in her head..what had caused the split, why was Akash not married to Natasha .One part of her brain was happy that probably Akash was not married while the other part was curious to figure what was the reason. As she was lost in the battle between two sides of the brain she found Dr. Siddiqui was curiously looking at her for answers. Ananya finally closed her eyes and decide to narrate her part of the story to the man who had been her support in her new journey. After she finished her story Dr. Siddiqui was thoughtful for a while and he said,
"Ananya it looks like there is a missing piece of puzzle that we need to find out. I can see your heart is not ready to believe Akash betrayed you but your mind is looking at what played out in front of you and this battle between heart and mind is not letting you move on. Either you need to dump Akash completely or you need to go back to him. You never know Jan Patrick might be the right one for you. "He supplied with a wink with Ananya glaring back at him as he pulled Ananya towards his laptop. Ananya was surprised at the action as Dr. Siddiqui opened up the social media accounts making her sit beside him and started searching for Natasha and also searching for news articles. Natasha's FB account seemed to have been deactivated due to non-usage and they could not find much info on that. After lot of search it looked like the family either was not media savvy or had gagged the media from posting anything. As far as Ananya remembered Dr.Gupta was quite opposite as he did not use any opportunity to promote NIAMS so he was quite media savvy before she left but things might have changed over the years. As they were about to close down their search a small article about crimes in Bangalore by your known people caught her eye and she started reading the article and in a few lines amidst the entire story was about the killing of Natasha Gupta through drug overdose which was later traced to her own husband Rohit Mafatlal!!Ananya started feeling light headed at the newly gathered info and Dr.Siddiqui had to hold her steady. Dr.Siddiqui recollected suddenly while giving Ananya a glass of water, that he had met Dr. Rohit when Dr.Gupta had introduced him as his son-in-law. Ananya now had so many questions, Natasha was dead that too by her own husband who instead of Akash was Rohit how and why??Why was Akash here and who is this lady with him and why is Juhi with him??

Chap-34 Pieces of the puzzle
Ananya wanted to solve all the puzzles soon as it was difficult for her to pass each day with the nagging feeling that she might have misjudged Akash. In the morning as Ananya walked in to Dr. Patrick's cabin, she heard voices of Akash and she stilled for a moment and instead of entering from a main door, she took the side door to enter the room from another corner. From the moment Ananya had seen Akash in the institute, her thoughts had been so muddled that she had not realized that she had not seen him properly. Hidden in one corner of the room Ananya started drinking in Akash appearance , the man who had been a part of her soul and although she hated to admit but had stolen her heart. He had lost a lot of weight and had dark circles around his eyes. The ones stylish, handsome and exuberant Akash were somewhere lost and in place of him stood somebody whose smile did not reach his eyes, the twinkle in his eyes gone and he looked much older than his age. Her eyes misted up looking at him, how she wanted to rewind history and run into his arms and hide herself in his chest.
She had find everything before she came face to face with him and she had so much work at hand , she had not been able to sleep more than a couple of hours , forget searching or talking to people. On top of that she had learnt from Jan that Juhi had blood cancer in its final stages and a typical type and the chances were rare that she would get cured. On hearing that Ananya had thrown herself completely to use all her knowledge and experience to make use of every chance that she had to save Juhi. One day she had decided that she had to break her resolve of not being in touch with her previous relations as she had to talk to Namitha if she wanted answers to what happened in NIAMS
She started with Namitha hoping she still is in NIAMS.Namitha was surprised to hear Ananya after such a long time. It took quite some time before she was convinced that it was Ananya and some more time to cool down her excitement. Namitha had left NIAMS sometime back but she was there long enough to give Ananya the story that unfolded. Ananya came to know that soon after Ananya had left the place, Akash had also quit NIAMS and on his last day they had lunch together. Akash had mentioned that if she ever meets Ananya to let her know that he had always loved her and there could be no one in his life apart from her. His wallet had carried her photograph and even his screen wallpaper in his mobile had her smiling out of it.Namitha pleaded with her to find out where Akash is and go back to him and that is where she belongs as no one could love him so much as Akash. Ananya sighed thinking that must be long time back as from the looks of it, it did seem like he had moved on his life. She also came to know from her that Rohit had been pursuing Natasha for a very long time and had infact instigated her against Akash and Ananya most probably. When Akash had left Rohit had found the opportune moment to capitalize on it and had sympathized with Natasha and had got married to her. In a few months he had sidelined Dr.Gupta and had started taking important decisions for NIAMS which had caused a lot of embarrassment to Dr.Gupta. By the time Natasha and Rohit were supposed to celebrate their first anniversary one day the city woke up to the news that she was murdered in their apartment when Rohit was away.Dr. Gupta was unable to take the news of his daughter being dead and had suffered a cerebral attack and post that he had been paralyzed on his left side. He is now on his wheelchair and currently is attended by nurses round the clock. Soon after that police had figured out that Natasha was murdered by none other than Rohit as he had forcibly given her overdose. Ananya felt sad for Dr.Gupta, he had really been a doting father to a daughter but how God had mercilessly taken away first his wife and then his daughter and left him in such a sorry state. She was interested to find out what happened to Akash but Namitha had never met him after that and had no information about him. She had seen him recently once in NIAMS as he was walking out with a girl seated in a wheelchair but it was too late as he had already got into the car and left. After hearing Namita, Ananya was left boggled with so many incidents that had happened in her absence.

Chap 35-Floodgates
Ananya had been extremely busy with Juhi's treatment and had been working overnights to read up articles, check on status of researches and doing some of her own with only bid to save Juhi. In these interactions she had kept herself away from coming in front of Akash, Juhi or the lady who accompanied them. She was still not prepared to face her past yet as there were still unanswered questions. One day Ananya had been working through the night and she was desperately in need of a cup of steaming coffee to continue to work further as her eyelids seem to be drooping. As she walked to the staff coffee counter she found it to be non-functional and then decided to walk down to the reception so she could get a cup from there. As she pressed the button for her favorite caf latte she heard the familiar sound of the whirring coffee machine and it brought a much needed adrenalin rush to her system. As she added her milk and sugar to the cup, and took the first sip and turned around to face the person who she was most dreaded to face. He was looking curiously at her as if trying to figure out whether she was the same Ananya or not. A myriad of emotions fleeting through his face and for a moment she saw Akash eyes glisten with tears as he looked at everything apart from her and then finally said.
"So, what a pleasant surprise!! You are here of all places I looked for, I never thought you would be here!!!".
Right at the moment Dr. Patrick entered and listened the last part of the convo and said:
"Well Dr.Saluja she is our ace researcher and associate so we are obliged she is part of our institute". As he said this, he moved forward and enveloped Ananya in a hug which seemed to Akash to be lingering more than necessary and to his utter dismay he saw Ananya wrap her hands around him as well. Both of them then turned and moved towards the staff area as he heard Dr.Patrick ask Ananya "How do you know him".Akash turned his face away but unknown to him Ananya had watched him as he turned around and had seen him wiping away his tears and she felt guilty of making Akash feel so upset. She had to admit to herself that she can never stop loving him nor can she move on as his slightest dismay pulls at her heart strings. Ananya was restless for the next couple of days as Akash crying face gnawed at her heart and she tried to figure out how she could know what happened in Akash life during her absence.
As she started putting the pieces together she realized that the mystery of the lady along with Akash is still not clear and only person can clear her doubts, it was none other than Sister Maria. Sister Maria could not control her emotions when she heard Ananya after so long at the other end of the line. Initially she was angry with Ananya for going away from everybody without informing but knowing what had happened she could only sympathize with her. She told Ananya about the most important things that she wanted to know about Akash. After Ananya and Akash had left NIAMS the funding for the orphanage had been stopped .They had been through very trying times as Ananya was not there and they had nobody to ask for help. Akash used to come to the orphanage regularly and spend time and he stepped in to help. Akash was working in a faraway village and his earnings could not manage the finances .He sold his house and put all his father's savings to the orphanage and his mother also moved in to help at the orphanage and stayed with them now. Only when Juhi's situation took a serious turn, Akash decided to approach Dr.Gupta to help him to get her somewhere so she could be treated. The lady who is accompanying him is Mahima Saluja who is his cousin. She has some friend in Stockholm and Akash will make arrangements for Juhi and return back as they don't have money to handle the treatment as well as stay for both. Mahima is going to stay at their friend's place and take care of Juhi.
Sister Maria also told her that Akash was never like he was before, he has been very lonely and lost after she left. He hardly smiles and hardly plays his guitar and when he plays sometimes at dead of night in front of Ananya's photo and those were not songs of joy but of melancholy. Sister Maria had pleaded with her to talk to Akash and give them back their own Akash who they used to know before full of life, classy, handsome, caring and loving. After the talk, Ananya sank to the floor thinking what had made Akash say those heartbreaking words to her that night and if he really meant it then why was he not with Natasha and why he was sad and in the orphanage. One thing she was sure of was Akash had never meant what he said and she had all signs that Akash had loved her all along and whatever happened that night was probably a mystery which only Akash could clear. She would need to speak to Akash to clear her doubts. She could never stop loving him and probably it was the same with him and she could not let this opportunity go that fate has thrown at their doorstep.
She decided to talk to Akash the same day but before that she would have to check on Juhi whose vital parameters had not shown any signs of improvement and this had kept nagging Ananya throughout the night. Juhi had not been strong enough so they could not administer her high dosage of drugs. It was quite early in the morning and visitors rarely came in so early but as Ananya entered Juhi's cabin , she found Mahima sitting beside her. Too late to retreat she decided to just go ahead , complete her tasks and leave but it was not to happen. As she finished checking the dosages, the reports etc., all of a sudden she heard somebody softly say "Bhabhi, her vital parameters are not very good but baach to jayegi na, kuch hoga to nehin na".Ananya was shocked at the address, Mahima had just called her BHABHI!!Looking at the shocked expressions of her face Mahima realized what she had said and bit her tongue and said "I am sorry Dr. Rawat..I am extremely sorry..woh kya hain na Akash bhaiyaa.."Mahima just did not know how to explain the situation to her and decided to drop it for now and said "Sorry Dr. Rawat, it's just a little too complicated to explain so let's leave it".Ananya looked at her worried expressions and finally held her shoulders and made her sit and said "Its ok Mahima. I did not mind but I want to know something from you because it looks like you are aware of the connection between me and Akash, why do you call me Bhabi when we both did not get married and moved on with our lives"
Mahima looked up at Ananya's face and then said "have you both really moved on? Akash still carried you in his wallet and mobile and as of I see now you also seem to still love him"
Ananya teared up hearing this and said "Your brother asked me to move out of his life and dumped me like a tissue"
Mahi: Do you really think he dumped you. Did you seriously believe him?
An: My heart did not believe him but when Dr. Gupta called me to invite me for Natasha and Akash engagement the next day morning I was sure that I was really dumped. Yes, you are right I could never stop loving him.
Mahima walked up to Ananya and took her hands in hers and said "Why don't you ask him then since both of you still love each other, please talk, maybe God has given you a chance to correct what was wrong before now that the people who had caused it are no more around".Ananya looked up at those words and asked Mahima
"Mahima I beg of you please tell me who and what caused this rift. You know it, please tell me".Mahima could not stop sharing what she had heard from Akash mom as she heard the sincere plea from Ananya. On hearing what had happened, Ananya just stood rooted at the spot, the man she had adored like her father had done all this and Akash had loved her so much, he had thought of leaving her just to save her and her life and career.

Coming up-Bloom

I was dying every day for the updates. . as always it was awesome. . get well soon dii..

Mindblowing updates... now waiting for their patchup... get well soon'...

Oh God only God and I know how much I had been waiting for your update Shampa di.You are my lifeline!!

I was literally dying for this update

Di when will u update??😭😭😭

Amazing story dear

Have you also decided to stop giving updates ???????