"Akshi, room ka kya haal kia hai?" Ziya asked as she entered their shared room which was filled with clothes lying everywhere. "Yaar mereko bahar jana hai and dhang ke kapde nai, sab ekdum hi beach wear hai, I need some good maxi gown or something yaar" Akshara whined.

"Madam, tu kaam se jaa rahi hai, date par nai maxi gown seriously? Won't you need something formal?" Ziya asked.

Akshara sat on bed and thought, "Date toh nai hai but meeting bhi toh nai! Kya pehnu?"

"Formals vacation pe nai laugi na mein! Jeans and top pehen lu koi? Kyuki shorts toh weird lagega na and skirts bhi." Akshara asked and Ziya nodded in reply but then opened her bag and gave a white midi saying, "Na jyada formal, na jyada informal! Ye pehen le but backless hai bro." Akshara nodded and picked the white midi and went to change.

After some make up and styling her hair in a low bun and then checked her phone, it was already 6:45 and she had received a message from Abhimanyu too on instagram.

"I'll be waiting for you in the garden of your hotel and here's the phone number" the message read.

Akshara smiled at the message and saved the number as Doctor Sahab👨‍⚕️. She bid her farewell to Ziya and went towards the garden where she found Abhimanyu playing with a dog. "Aww, he looks so cute!! Wait what am I speaking? Ha I am talking about the dog" she had a conversation with herself and at the end couldn't stop herself from clicking their picture.

The sound of click distracted the dog and he ran away and Abhimanyu turned his attention towards the sound, only to be mesmerized by the woman in front of him. "Hayee! Tumhara naam Akshara nai Apsara hona chahiye tha, swarg se utari apsara. You look so gorgeous," he said out loud on instinct without realising.

Akshara rolled her eyes and asked, "Chalu tumhari flirting! Kitni aur ladkiyon ko Apsara and princess bulaya hai?" Abhimanyu went towards her, took her hands in his and started walking then said, "Believe me tum pehli ho! Agar mere ghar walon ne sunna hota na toh sadma lag jata unhe. Mein bada shareef hu but tumhe dekhta hu and zubaan phisalne lagti hai, ab tum ho hi toh sabse alag na!"

Akshara blushed listening to him. This all was new for her too, she never had tried her hand in dating or flirting before and the way Abhimanyu looked at her made her feel special. "Akshi, stop your tracks, tu iss bande se sirf dusri baar mili hai." she scolded herself in mind and then turned to look towards Abhimanyu and noticed they were walking in some direction hand in hand. She thought to pull her hand away but Abhimanyu strengthened his grip so she sighed and asked, "Kaha jaa rahe hai hum?"

"Ek beach restaurant hai waha, meri bike se! Remember this doctor doesn't have prince charming ka white horse but white bike." Abhimanyu replied pointing towards the bike. Akshara giggled remembering their conversation at the garden near dhaba.

The two settled on the bike when Abhimanyu said, "Kas ke pakadna!" The bike ride was full on random conversation which had no such importance but was helping the two know more about each other, like the bond Akshara shares with her cousins, Abhimanyu's love for his mother.

"Wow, tumhari mom music therapist hai! Mein bhi music therapist hu, ye trip ke baad I'll join Birla's ngo in Udaipur as an assistant therapist." Akshara said with excitement knowing he had knowledge about music therapy. She hated when people ridiculed her for having music therapy as a profession even though it was not her main occupation.

"OMG! That's my maa ka ngo! You are going to work under maa matlab humara milna laga rahega. Waise abhi tak guess toh kar liya hoga I am also from Udaipur." Abhimanyu said happily.

Abhimanyu glanced at the first woman besides his maa who sat on his bike. She had closed her eyes and enjoying the breeze. "Bilkul maa jaisi hai. Sweet, simple and angelic." He thought and smiled to himself.

For Abhimanyu Birla his mother was the epitome of perfection and he never found a pull towards any woman as his base of comparison was always his mother. His heart accepting Akshara is like his mother, already meant she has made some place for herself in his heart. One can't call it an attraction or crush, it was something more than it, a spark, a sense of fire in his heart.

"Lo aagaye hum!" he said once they reached a restaurant. He parked his bike and again held out his hand and this time she took it without much thought. "Abhimanyu Birla" he told the manager and the manager led them to the backyard where there were wooden tables and the surrounding was decorated with fairylights. They could get a good view of the beach from there.

"This is so beautiful! Kitna aesthetic hai." Akshara whispered mesmerized with the décor of the restaurant. The two of them settled on the same side to enjoy the view of the sea and beach.

Abhimanyu smiled looking at her childish excitement and thought, "Bachi hai puri ki puri! Par cute wali." He took the menu from waiter's hand and asked Akshara, "So princess kya khana chahegi aap?"

"Kuch bhi chalega but vegetarian and spicy!" she said and he nodded and ordered some authentic Goan food. "So Mr Docman, tell me more abou yourself." She asked.

Abhimanyu thought for a while and said, "Well cardiologist by profession, simple boy in an abnormal family, agar kaam pe nai hota toh I am just napping somewhere. School and college mein kafi studious tha so bohut friends nai the, sirf ek best tha Rudra naam ka abhi woh London mein hai so abhi my life revolves around only family and my patients. I know kaafi boring hu"

"Naa, I find your lifestyle pretty calm and interesting nai toh mera toh na sone ka thikana na khaane ka! I would give everything to have sirf ghar se kaam, kaam se ghar wala lifestyle." Akshara said which confused him so he inquired, "Tum aisa kya karti ho? Kai raat ko daka dalne toh nai jaati na?"

"Ab sab aaj hi bata dungi toh next meet pe kya baat karege Mr Docman!" she gave a flirty smile and a wink which left him speechless.

The two laughed but internally they were pleased to know this won't be their last meet. They enjoyed the food with random talks and flirty remarks from both the sides, no one would look at them and feel they are meeting just for second time.

"Abhimanyu, chalo na beach pe walk karte karte ice cream khate hai. The weather is so amazing." she said after they finished the food and then added, "We'll split the bill, don't you pay the full" Abhimanyu who was going to pay the bill, nodded as he knew there is no fayda of arguing with her. After clearing the bill, the two went towards the ice cream vendor.

"Mujhe, vanilla ice cream dena, aur tum kounsa loge Mr DocMan?" she asked and Abhimanyu shook his head in denial. "Mujhe meetha nai pasand" Akshara glared at him and said, "Atleast company dene ke liye toh kha lete but chalo koi nai!"

The two were enjoying their time on beach, well Akshi was enjoying the waves and her ice cream while Abhi was enjoying staring at the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

"Waise boyfriend hai?" he asked breaking the silence between them only to receive a no by headshake. "Koi mila nai na! Ek baat bolu, mera bhi ye pehli baar ka hai flirting and going on a dinner with practically a stranger but you are fun!"

"Mein dating aur woh sabke chakkar mein nai padta because I don't really believe in commitments, you see mere ghar par koi bhi successful relationships nai hai, tumhara kya reason hai?" he asked

Akshara finished the last bite of her ice cream and said, "Mera reason ulta hai. I have seen too many perfect love stories in my family so I want one too. Aaj tak koi mila hi nai jo serious relationship ke layak ho! Tumhare chances hai by the way..." she winked at the last part. Abhimanyu blushed but internally he was so happy that aag dono taraf barabar lagi hai.

"So sabse perfect relationship kounsi hai tumhari family mein?" he probed and she thought for a second before answering, "Mere nanu and nani ki! Theirs was an arrange marriage but the amount of love and trust between them was so amazing. I mean meine sirf sunna hai but it is said the two never had a serious trust issue. Ek dusre par humesha faith tha and the best part is nani changed so many purane unwanted riti rivaaz like woh ghunghat lena and ladkiyan kaam nai kar sakti and all. And nanu ne every step pe unko support kia. They even started the trend in our family, ki bacho ka naam maa baap ke naam mein se rakhne wala. My mom, mamu and ek masi sab ne apne bacho ka naam waise hi rakha hai, well siva mera." She replied with a smile

"Jaise ki?" he questioned

"Umm, Akshara Naitik ke Naksh aur Naira. Fir mamu used Naksh and Keerti ke Krish and Neeti and mumma used Naira and Kartik ka Kairav and Mishti masi used Abir and Mishti ka Amish," she said

"Toh tumhara naam apni nani ke naam pe rakha hai! Waise Kaira kyu nai rakha tumhare parents ne?" he inquired and received, "Kyuki mom dad ki first child ka naam tha who. She died at birth and mere nanu ne first time mujhe dekha tab mumma ko bole bilkul tumhari maa jaisi dikhti hai so Akshara. But mujhe itna gussa aata hai na, who log kabhi mujhe Akshara nai bulate kyuki woh naam se nani yaad aati hai sabko, so I am always Akshu. I hate it, mujhe bhi chahiye koi mujhe mere pure naam se bulaye"

"You know hum mein ek chiz common hai, mera naam bhi kisi ke naam ke upar rakha hai. Mere dadu de best friend the Abhinav dadu, mein unke birthday pe paida hua isliye mera naam Abhimanyu rakha tha like abhi abhi. But mujhe koi Abhin ai bulata kyuki sab unhe Abhi dadu dulate the, so mere family mein koi mera nickname use nai karta." he said and she face palmed and said, "Mujhe koi pure naam se nai bulata and tumhe koi nickname se nai. So let's change it, you call me Akshara and I'll call you Abhi."

Abhimanyu gave a huge smile and nodded like a child.

Akshara looked at Abhimanyu with a smile and said, "You know, agar tum Birla na hote toh humara roka ho gaya hota." Looking at his confused face she said, "Aree, kuch din pehle panditji aaye the humare ghar and woh sab bacho ki kundali dekh rahe the, tab bole ki aapki beti ke liye Abhimanyu Birla uchit rahege, but mimi ne Birla sunte hi naa bol dia, so agar Birla na hote toh hum arranged marriage ke liye milte and roka toh hi jata knowing my excited family."

"Wait so even Goenkas have problem with Birla? Mere gharwalon ko bhi Goenkas se problem hai." He said and narrated his converstion with Neil.

Akshara laughed and turned towards the sea, thinking about what destiny had planned for her. On one hand the elders of two families hated each other and on the other hand Kairav bhaiya was dating Anisha Birla, Manan had feelings for Nishtha Birla, Vatsal was best friends with Neil Birla and most importantly she had a very precious unnamed bond with Abhimanyu Birla.

Seeing her lost in thoughts, Abhi couldn't help but admire her beauty. She looked so innocent and so fierce at the same time. He removed his phone from pocket and clicked a picture of hers. Her face wasn't visible much but it was definitely an aesthetic picture.

The two silently walked towards the bike. Their return journey was quiet with occasional humming of song by Akshara. "Thank you for today! I had so much fun, let's meet again" she said once she got down from the bike.

The two smiled definitely not wanting their time together to end. On an impulse Akshara hugged him tight and whispered, "Sunrise on beach tomorrow morning?"

"Done! I'll pick you up at 6! Dress comfy! Bye" he whispered and broke the hug. Giving her a broad smile he left on his bike and she entered her hotel smiling to herself.

"Is it to early to call it love?" both thought but received no answers.

****

Republished this part as some part was missing!

I am not going to delete the book, thank you for all the motivation for me to write.

Do vote, comment and share.

Love,

Writer!