"I bet you heard things floating around," she said out of the blue. "Like what?" He asked after a brief pause. "Like there's stuff going on between us?" She paused to note the look on his face, whether he had any clue about it, and if he felt awkward about it. "I want you to know that it's all rubbish. We're good friends and that's it. I never had any wrong intentions. I only chose that song because... because it's a great song, and not because I wanted to satisfy some of my wild fantasies like these people are saying. I love your voice. I mean, you've got a great voice. And as a musician, I can't let that go to waste, you know what I mean?" She said the whole thing in a breath or two. Punit blinked. Ankita turned pale, wondering what had got to him. "Punit?" she called softly. She felt foolish and wished that she'd first found out whether he even knew about this fiasco in the first place before blurting out like an idiot. "Huh?" He blinked again as he struggled to gather what she really said. "Uhm, y-y-yeah..." He squeezed it out with massive effort. "I-I get it, I get what you mean," he added. She watched him intently, her cheeks slowly turning red. "Did you know about all this, or...?" "Yeah, I... did," he shrugged, sounding rather uncomfortable. "And?" She probed quietly. "And what? Like you said, tish-tosh. Rubbish. Hah!" He chuckled. *** She's bold, daring, free-spirited, and unbreakable like a wild mare. She's popular, attractive, a guitarist and also his best friend. Punit Soni has madly been in love with Ankita Agarwal since school days but never found the courage to profess. Whenever he finally worked it out, something or the other happened to ruin everything or to remind him that Ankita probably never felt the same. Or does she?
Chapter 1 One
PUNIT'S POV
I'm gay.
Well, not really. That's what the others think. If you ask me why, then, let me tell you, it took me a couple of years to figure that out.
Apparently, people have this notion that guys into fashion designing or the nursing profession are by default gays.
I know, right? Crazy! I don't even know where they got that idea from! And maybe I'll never find out. But hey, you don't see any of them hitting on other boys. At least the majority of them. And even if they do, so what? That's their choice. That doesn't make nursing or fashion designing the official course for gays.
Okay, I know you must be wondering why I brought this up. For one, I'm frustrated that people think I'm gay. I'm not. Now let's get that clear. I'm happily married to a woman for God's sake. And two, I'm a nurse. A male nurse.
There, I see some of you scrunching up your faces already.
Whatever! I'm a nurse. Whether you like it or not. And to be honest, I hated my job too. Like, who wants to go around asking old-timers, "do you want to pee?" "Do you want to take a dump?" "Are you wet?" "Come, let me change your diapers." "Ooh! Now that's a big load!" It's... well, tiring and... weird. I'm kind of used to it now.
I never wanted to be a nurse, to be honest. I've always wanted to be an actor. But then, my mom was like, "acting? Is that even a subject of study? Go do something worthwhile in life, something that will help you stand on your feet instead of making faces a profession."
So, I took up nursing, because apparently, male nurses were in demand. And at that point of time, it was the standard protocol: wrap up your studies and get a fucking job in the US, or Australia or UK, blah-blah-blah!
Oops! I cussed. I don't usually cuss. But blame it on her. Now that I'm with her 24/7/365, I'm sort of soaking up a lot of her. Swearing comes to her so naturally. Irritate her, and the first thing you'd hear is an F.
You must be wondering who I'm talking about. Who else? Anki.
Ankita Agarwal. Anki. We've been, well, 'best friends', since the 5th grade. And then, one day, it happened, for her. For me, well... (chuckles) I guess I've always been in love with her.
Okay, I got to make a move now. The jam is finally clearing up. Traffic here in the US sucks big time. Getting stuck up on the highway for hours is the last thing you'd need. Oh yeah, and I'm driving.
I know, you want to know more about her, right? About us? Then stick close, I'm taking you back to where it all started.
***
Chapter 1 One
24/07/2021
Chapter 2 Two
24/07/2021
Chapter 3 Three
24/07/2021
Chapter 4 Four
24/07/2021
Chapter 5 Five
24/07/2021
Chapter 6 Six
24/07/2021
Chapter 7 Seven
24/07/2021
Chapter 8 Eight
24/07/2021
Chapter 9 Nine
24/07/2021
Chapter 10 Ten
30/07/2021
Chapter 11 Something Going On
02/08/2021
Chapter 12 Clearing Rumors
03/08/2021
Chapter 13 Trouble
04/08/2021
Chapter 14 Broken Mare
05/08/2021
Chapter 15 No Longer The Same
06/08/2021
Chapter 16 New Beginnings
14/09/2021
Chapter 17 New Feelings
05/10/2021