"Why Birla Hospital? I am a capable doctor, Bhayya. You don't need to pull strings like this for me." Maya couldn't help but feel offended when her elder brother offered her a job at a Hospital that had been recently remodelled to reopen under Birla's health organization. This is the first established Birla hospital in the premises of Rajkot, so it is no surprise that people are eager to grab an opportunity to work at the hospital. Maya was planning to apply for a position too but did not want to take this opportunity under her brother's name.
"I did not pull any strings, Maya. I just asked Dr. Abhimanyu what he thinks about your medical skills during his observation at the camp, and he was the one who put forward his intentions to let you work on probation for a month to oversee you. He believes you are a capable doctor and that, with some guidance, you can quickly surpass others. I won't lie that I did want to ask him for a favour, but he was the first to bring up the offer."
"Why did you have to do this, Bhayya? I was going to apply for it, anyway."
"Just think that I couldn't hold in. Maya, whatever I do, I do it with good intentions towards you. So, don't refuse this opportunity just because of your stubbornness. Dr. Abhimanyu trusted in your skills or else he would not put forward this offer without thinking it through. Especially not to a person who just graduated and doesn't have enough field experience."
"Fine, let me think about it. I was going to apply to other Hospitals too. So let me think about whether Birla is worth it."
"Okay, but do it without any prejudices."
"Sure"
***
It has been 17 hours since Amish made the offer for Maya to join the Birla Hospital, and Maya is still unable to make a decision. It was as if going to this hospital meant that she became dependent on her brother, which she did not like at all. She already discussed the same with Akshay who was vague with his opinion.
"All you need to do is become the best doctor, and to achieve that goal, if there is a shortcut, then you can take it, Maya. The only thing you need to ask yourself is: are you capable of this offer, and does the offer satisfy you?" is all Akshay said, which didn't help Maya in making a decision.
"Earth to Maya. Where are you at?" Aditya waves his hand in front of Maya to get her attention and pull her out of her thoughts.
"Hmmm. Nothing. What are you doing? All I see you do is stay at home, munching on snacks and watching TV all day. How are you doing with your painting classes?" Aditya's smile fades at the mention of his paintings. Aditya was not attending the classes as he had told everyone. He failed to contact Mr. Arora. Mr. Arora did not respond to any of his emails and he couldn't find a proper time to visit him in person or make an appointment since he came to India, but he did not want to worry his sister so he lied that he was taking his classes from Mr. Arora.
"What? What happened? Is everything okay?" Maya asks with her voice filled with concern.
"Everything's fine. Don't worry. It's just that I couldn't find proper inspiration to work." Maya could not help Aditya in any way as she didn't know a thing about inspiration and art. Maya is good at dancing and can sing, but they are merely her hobbies and she's not specially equipped to be an artist.
"What do you usually do to get inspired?"
"I don't know, watch something, go places, maybe."
"Hmm." That sounded like a great idea for Maya to relieve herself of some stress. Ranav enters the hall and takes a seat on the far end of the sofa that Maya is sitting on.
"What are you guys doing?" Ranav asks.
"How about we go somewhere? Like a getaway?"
"Whoa, so suddenly?" Ranav frowns with a smile on his face. He would never expect Maya, the very serious and intimidating woman to suggest a getaway but maybe he pegged her wrong.
"Yep, after the fire, everyone seems off and tense in the house. I think we should get some break from this drama." Maya could also use some time to think about the offer given to her and she needed some time to think about what she heard from Atul Kaku. She needed to find out what was actually happening in Ketki Bua's life.
"Sure, But where to?" Aditya asks. He wouldn't mind some time away from the truth that he didn't even manage to get in contact with Mr. Arora.
"Right. Where should we go?" Ranav wonders. Maya has no idea what would be an ideal place for a holiday.
"Gira falls?" Amish suggests as he sits between Maya and Ranav on the sofa. "It takes about 6-7 hours to reach but they are supposed to be exceptional for photos."
"But 6 hours?" Maya cannot stand sitting in a vehicle for that long.
"We can stop in Surat for a night." After all the drama, even Amish is too exhausted to work. This is also an opportunity to spend some time with Maya. Amish spends a lot of his time with Aditya as he seems to be always at home but Maya is either working or closed in her room for most of the time and Amish would love to know about his sister.
"But the question is, who would get the permission from grandma?" Aditya asks and the group goes silent.
"I don't think I could help with that," Ranav says, shaking his head. He really has no business interacting with Maya's intimidating grandmother. He would rather watch paint dry.
"I would probably mess it up. And Maya definitely wouldn't go." Aditya says, looking over at Maya. After the fire, he pretty much dropped the idea of trying to make Maya interact with Dadi. He wouldn't want two ticking time bombs in the same space. "Which leaves only Amish Bhayya."
"I knew it was going to me. Don't worry, I will convince her." The four of them agreed to let Amish be the one to get the permission. Everyone had their secrets and motives to go on the trip. Maya was after the secret Atul was hiding. Aditya is trying to distract everyone from the fact that he is not attending any classes as he had claimed. Amish wants to get a better understanding of Maya. Ranav wanted to find the answers to his visions, all of which were pointing towards Maya. Akshay wants to finally confess his feelings to Maya. Meenakshi wants to find an opportunity to get Maya married to a man of her choice. Kuhu wants to find every chance to get on Maya's good side. No one knew what would actually be the outcome of this trip, but they were prepared for the consequences or so they thought.