Shanaya.
The name was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. The girl who tore my heart out of my chest and shattered it into a thousand pieces.
Shanaya.
I watched silently as the expression on Shanaya's face changed from a big smile to a look of shock and distress. A reflection of fear was seen as she walked up to stand beside Dr. Raymond, her eyes shifting uneasily between Akshara and me.
Dr. Raymond smiled as he wrapped his arm around Shanaya's waist, pulling her in.
"Sweetheart, this is Dr. Birla, Abhimanyu Birla, a cardiologist from Birla Hospital in New York. Remember the one intern I spoke highly of about having mentored? Whom I wanted to join my team in Rochester but Dr. Anand stole him from me instead? This is him."
Shanaya looked at me uneasily as she feigned a smile. "Oh, yes. Of course. Dr. Abhimanyu."
My jaw locked at Shanaya's lies. Lying did come very easily to her. I guess I had been blind to it before. Or I had always been aware but chose to ignore it for these sake of our relationship.
Beside me, I felt Akshara still, anger radiating off her body as she gave Shanaya a masked death glare.
"Dr. Abhimanyu, this is my girlfriend, Shanaya. She's a model." Dr. Raymond introduced us happily, oblivious to the tension in the group.
Her distressed eyes were pleading with me to not utter a single word about our prior relationship in in front of her current flame.
"Nice to meet you." I grit out, trying to maintain a sense of calm, politeness.
Dr. Raymond pointed to Akshara, "And this is Dr. Abhimanyu's girlfriend—"
"Fiancée. Akshara. Goenka. Akshara Goenka. Soon to be Mrs. Akshara Abhimanyu Birla." Akshara interrupted Dr. Raymond confidently correcting him, earning an apologetic glance from him and an angry glare from Shanaya's whose cheeks were turning red.
I turned to glance at Akshara, a lioness in motion staking a claim, protecting her king in the best way possible. Making the threat know he was hers —and that what was hers need not be messed with.
A smile of admiration broke onto my face as I watched Akshara in action, staking her claim. I wanted to fall to my knees for her. My Queen.
Mrs. Akshara Abhimanyu Birla —had quite a nice ring to it, if you asked me.
Ring.
Ring.
Soon. Very, very, soon.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My apologies, I didn't know you were engaged!" Dr. Raymond apologized.
"We haven't told anyone yet." Akshara clarified looking directly at Shanaya.
If looks could have killed, Shanaya would have died a million deaths by now.
"Well then, I'm flattered that we are the first people to know, right sweetheart?" He asked, pulling on Shanaya's waist.
"Yes. Congrats." Shanaya smiled uncomfortably, staring at me whilst I was too busy looking at Akshara.
"So, is Abhimanyu still the busy body he was when he was interning for me? Or has he changed?"
"He loves serving his patients, loves his work and I wouldn't change a single thing about him." Akshara replies, patting my chest as she smiled at me in admiration.
"And what about you? How do you cope with Dr. Raymond being so busy all the time?" I asked Shanaya, shooting my shot exactly where I know would affect her directly.
"You should ask me. It takes all expenses paid vacations and expensive gifts as an apology present." Dr. Raymond complained in good humor, earning a glare from Shanaya.
"Don't look at me. It's the truth. I'm not complaining, I am just saying girlfriends are high maintenance. Right Abhimanyu?" He looked towards me for validation.
"I don't about yours but my Akshara certainly isn't high maintenance." I replied sardonically, whilst simultaneously looking down affectionately at Akshara.
"Ah well, then I must say you are a very lucky man to have gotten such an understanding fiancé." He replied in aww, earning a snicker from Akshara.
Dr. Raymond's eyes wandered around the room and came across another individual he must have known as he eyes lit up in excitement.
"Dr. Joshua Redford! Another colleague of mine." He explained. "If you would excuse me. I must go say hello."
"Of course." Akshara and I nodded our heads in unison, giving him space.
"Thank you. I'll see you around." He turned to look at Shanaya who was still grappling the scene in front of her. "Shanaya? You coming?"
"Ah yes. You go. I'll come." A distracted Shanaya replies to him, shifting her eyes between him and me.
Dr. Raymond nodded his head, giving her a thumbs up before heading off in Dr. Redford's direction.
"Abhimanyu...thank you. Thank you for not telling Charles about us." Shanaya's voice broke into my head as I strengthen my hold on Akshara's waist before turning my gaze to face Shanaya. "How are you doing, by the way?"
"You shouldn't be the one asking me that question out of all the people." I chastised.
"I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for hurting you." She apologized, feigning her innocence but her eyes were void of emotion, not an ounce of remorse on her face.
"Don't be. I could never have given you what he has given you. Endless vacation and free reign over his finances." I responded bitterly. "You know, for a moment I really felt like I was the problem. That because I was unable to give you time —that's the reason you cheated. I forced you to cheat on me."
"Abhimanyu?" Shanaya looked at me with a blank question expressed on her face.
"Until Akshara explained to me that if you really loved me, really cared for me, you would have not cheated. You would have understood me —the passion I have for my work. You cheated because you wanted to. Not because I forced you to. So that...that was all on you. Not me. And seeing you today, the way you are, it gave me the clarity that I needed. That I wanted. So you go enjoy your all expenses paid vacations and designer presents."
Shanaya began to say something but stopped, just nodding her head. "So you're getting married? Fiancé and all?" She asks, switching tactics to an overtly sweet tone.
"I am." I answered curtly.
"Won't you introduce me to Akshara?"
I didn't want to. I could already feel Akshara's anger simmering beneath her exterior.
"Why don't I introduce myself?" Akshara asked me innocently.
I watched in confusion and horrified amusement as Akshara walked up to an equally confused and shocked Shanaya and pulled her in her embrace, with Akshara wrapping her arms tightly around Shanaya; enough to suffocate her.
"Thank you." Akshara says to Shanaya, sardonically, after pulling away from her. "Thank you, Shanaya. Because if it wasn't for your stupidity of cheating on Abhimanyu, he and I may never have ended up together. So thank you for being a cheater. And a gold-digger. Because without you, he and I may not have found each other." Akshara taunted her, sweetly. I covered my mouth to stop myself from snickering.
"You truly deserve to be a trophy wife. I really and sincerely hope you continue to flourish as a cheater and gold digger in life because one; that's all you are, and two, who knows, because of you, your future boyfriends may end up finding their one true love." Akshara remarked, not a single drop of humour in her voice.
"How dare you talk to me like that?" Shanaya sneered.
"Careful, sweetheart. Your mask is dropping. You don't want Dr. Raymond to know just exactly how high maintenance his girlfriend is, do you?" Akshara bit back, much to my amusement.
"And yes, I better not see you roaming around my Abhimanyu like the pestering fly you are, following him everywhere. I can bite too, you know." Akshara announced, and I swore I heard her growl, leaving me flustered.
She scowl on Akshara's face turned into a fake plastered smile as she embraced a shocked and embarrassed Shanaya.
"It was nice to finally meet the bitch who had the audacity to hurt my Abhimanyu." Akshara pulled back from the hug, "i hope we never meet again." She wished Shanaya sweetly, making me snicker and leaving Shanaya's mouth agape.
Akshara turned around, intertwined her fingers with mine as she pulled me away from a stunted Shanaya, was left frozen in her spot, wondering what had just happened to make her head swirl in a matter of a few minutes.
And I had gotten what I had thought I never wanted. Or needed.
Closure.
~*~
"Fiancé?" I teased, trying to make light of the situation as Akshara pulled me towards a secluded corner of the conference hall, away from prying eyes.
"Yes. Sorry. I said whatever was in my mind that time." Akshara apologized, turning to face me.
I wrapped my hands around her neck, caging her in my arms. "Why're you sorry? Akshara Abhimanyu Birla. I like the sound of that." I say softly, watching her lower her lashes just as her cheeks flushed.
"Me too." She whispered, making me chuckle.
"Are you doing okay though? Seeing Shanaya after such a long time must not have been easy for you."
I nod my head. "It was a shock at first, I admit. Seeing her so abruptly. But like I told you, you can only run away from your past for so long. It has ways to catch up with you."
I say, watching with narrowed eyes as every micro expression changed for a brief second, and letting her bask in the after effect of my words. It was my turn to support her like she supported me. I just needed to push her a little bit.
"I'm glad I met her though. It made me rid myself of the nagging feeling that it was my fault that we —Shanaya and I didn't work out. Like you said to me when we met, the problem was never me. She would have cheated on me regardless because I couldn't provide her with what she really wanted. I admit I made mistakes but she just used my lack of affection, attention to our relationship as an easy way to blame me. If not this, then she would have used another excuse."
Akshara nodded her head. "Yes. Yes, she would have."
"So that's why, this meeting of chance was all that I needed to give me closure. Whatever the closure may have been." I added.
I stared intently at Akshara watching the wheels in her head turning as her eyeballs shifted left to right, whilst staring at my face with furrowed brows.
"What?" I asked.
"You sure, you're okay?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yes! I am. Honestly. Why would I even lie to you? What do I have do convince you that I am ecstatic? Fine?" I questioned.
I really was okay. In fact better than okay. Los Angeles was bringing and was going to bring more closures than I had expected.
One closure, the coincidental, unexpected one had gone better than I ever thought. I just hoped the closure that I was expecting —the important one fared equally good too.
"Dance with me." Akshara says, biting her lip, still not full convinced about my emotional state.
"What?"
"Yes. Dance with me to convince me you're alright." She challenged, knowing full well I hated dancing.
"Fine. Let's go." I replied, daringly.
She looked at my eyes to read the accuracy of my statement. "Fine. But food first because I'm starving!" She whined, making me chuckle.
"Okay, let's go." I say, amidst my laughter as I pulled Akshara with me towards the buffet table so my small ant could have a big meal.
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I hope you all liked this chapter. Leave a comment below letting me know how it was. Thank you for reading!