His closed eyes kept flashing in her mind. The picture of him lying on that hospital bed was something that was making her feel so low. She didn't know what she wanted. But she knew that she would at least feel fine if he would get well soon.

"But there's more to it, Sakshi. He is broken. He can't trust people easily now. Do you know what he said?"

Sakshi leaned closer on the table and stared at her. Aakriti whispered, "He said that he hasn't been loved like that before. Why would someone do this for me? Someone cannot just write and put such efforts for him. He was overwhelmed, Sakshi. He doesn't really know that behind his back, you love him so deeply."

Sakshi widened her eyes and moved back. Aakriti bit her tongue at realising that she just made the girl embarrassed.

"Aakriti, I hadn't came here to do favour on him for which in return, he would acknowledge my love. I wouldn't have been anonymous then." She looked around and covered her nose with the mask. "I just want to be there for him to let him know that there is nothing good in giving up his life."

Aakriti gulped and stared at her with pity. "Sakshi, I can see the want in your eyes. This is your chance. I am telling you, he was so curious to know who it was. I saw him counting the girls' name on his fingers."

Sakshi chuckled humorlessly, then gave her a sad smile. "Exactly. He doesn't have to know about me. At least, this mere curiousity would keep him alive."

Aakriti sighed. "Of course, it will. It's like a therapy, Sakshi. He was broken days ago. He didn't want to see anyone and was begging his doctors to inject him poison."

Sakshi's heart sank as her lips parted in shock. "What?" Her voice turned low.

Aakriti nodded with utter seriousness. "There is a rape case going on, Sakshi. No one is believing him. As a stranger, I won't believe him too. But if you look in his eyes, you will think about changing your mind. He has sorrows in his eyes. He seems alone. He was begging to die."

Her nostrils flared as Sakshi shook her head in disbelief. She glanced at the section and back at Aakriti. "That is cruel. My heart says that he can't do something like this. Do you know, he had girls lined up for him? Boys like him care about their own standards. Aakriti, he didn't care if any girl was giving him attention or not. He was already full of it. Why would he force her physically? I . . ."

Aakriti looked around and nodded in understanding. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Well, anything can be true. Days ago, when he was just admitted. His own brother was blaming him. Now, he curses the victim woman as if she is a witch. If you know him well, Sakshi. Contact him. An innocent person like him, doesn't need to suffer such loneliness at this moment."

Sakshi swallowed and breathed slowly. "I cannot. He. . ." She shook her head. "We hadn't ended in good terms, Aakriti. I cannot go back to him. My brother will kill me."

Aakriti decided to not force her anymore since it would affect her family. She nodded sadly.

Sakshi bit her lip as she felt her heart squeezing at the thought of losing the chance that might bring her back to her first love. But this would be a favour then, which people do not really do to their loved ones. It was a little kindness, she wanted to show him as a human, as a well wisher. Because she still felt that he was innocent.

"Can you at least let me tell him that it was you? It would somehow put him at rest. He was being crazy all day yesterday. He kept asking for his laptop and then used it as if for checking old photos or something. You don't know, how your few words of wisdom mean so much to him in his depressed state."

Sakshi smiled in defeat. "I wish I could do it. But it will ruin things. I. . ." She wanted to scream at her face that she loved him so much but all this norms of society and her own principles were stopping her. Moreover, she didn't want to embarrass herself for being loving to someone who wasn't a bit kind to her in the past.

"I wish it could be easy."

Aakriti couldn't help but shook her head at feeling pity for Shrey. Too bad, he was losing someone so lovable from so close.

Sakshi turned slowly, waving at her mildly. "I must go now. Thanks for telling me." She pursed her lips and while covering her face, she walked slowly straight to the elevator when she heard.

"Shrey Malhotra. He is discharging today. Can you show me the file I had deposited here, last night? I need to contact the therapist that the doctor has recommended."

She widened her eyes and slowly turned around. She looked at him sideways, still covering her mouth.

It was Rishabh Malhotra.

She gulped.

"Yes, sir." Aakriti smiled kindly and looked through the drawers. Taking out a blue file, she handed it over to him. "If you want, I can call him for you."

Rishabh smiled tiredly. "Thank you. But I'll do it. I have much more to talk to him. My little cousin won't just agree in a blink for a therapist. . ." He trailed off while opening the file and walking away but not before, muttering a 'thank you' to her.

"I will return it in some moment." He mouthed while getting back to the phone and walking away.

Sakshi felt her heart drowning in anxiety. She was so close to Shrey yet so far from him. This could really be her chance to show him that he had lost someone so precious.

She bit her lip.

But what if the news would reach her brother. He would kill her for sure. She shook her head. Maybe, this whole plan was idiotic.

"But I wanted to bring positivity," she whispered to herself.

It is not just about positivity, Sakshi. It is about love. You admire him even now. Let him know that you don't trust the case and feel bad for him unlike others. What if life is giving you another chance. At least give it a try.

"I admire him," she chewed her lip while lowering her eyes at taking in her conscience.

A secret admirer

She looked up in excitement and nodded. She knew how it felt to have one. How precious you would feel to be someone's point of attention all the time? You would fly high, dream, imagine and keep guessing who could it be. But at least, it would be enjoyable.

At least, it would distract him from the case and killing himself.

She clutched her bag strap tight and walked back to the reception. Tapping on Aakriti's table who looked at her in confusion, she finally decided.

"A paper and pen."

_______

Sakshi narrowed her eyes when Aarush and Aditi started talking to each other, completely ignoring her as if she wasn't there with them on the table.

"Okay. Really?"

No one replied. Aarush even brought out his phone from his pocket and shared a joke with Aditi as she laughed and talked about the next class.

"Last time! Are you guys telling me about what have I done to earn such ignorance?"

Aditi bit her tongue and controlled the smile as Aarush lowered his head and engaged himself in the phone more.

"Aditi, we both were planning for this movie. Right? It doesn't seem good to me. What about-"

"Aarush. I am watching you!" Sakshi muttered while staring at him intently and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Everyone watches me. It's nothing knew. Right, Aditi? I don't care if someone watches me when that someone doesn't have much time for her best friends. She has so much important things to run for which she feels best to leave her best friends out."

Sakshi's lips parted as she was surprised at his words. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Aarush bit his inner cheeks and shook his head at her. "Liar. Liar. Your pants on fire. For the professor you desire."

She opened her mouth in shock when Aditi too looked at her sternly while humming in agreement. "When did you guys patch up?"

Sakshi couldn't believe her ears. "Oh my God! It isn't something so serious. The Professor invited me to his office-"

"Invited," pointed Aarush.

She glared at him. "Called me in his office and talked about my problem. I told him the suic-" she gulped and breathed out. "About how I was feeling not-so-well these days. He strangely, turned out to be very kind, genuine man." She smiled.

Aditi raised her eyebrows while Aarush scratched his beard on the chin. Sakshi shrugged her shoulders. "He somehow let me go this time and even provided me notes."

Aarush's jaw dropped. "Why the hell did I wrote notes for you then?"

Sakshi smiled sheepishly. "I value that. But I couldn't deny. They were Ansh's notes. We three can study together."

Aarush hummed while still giving her a serious look when Aditi muttered all of a sudden.

"That is sweet. Why do I feel like I should ship it?"

Sakshi was frozen along with her hand that was holding a chips while Aarush kept staring at her, processing what Aditi had just said.

"What? No. No." Sakshi smiled nervously. "Don't attach my name to just any man. If this gets spread in the class, my brother would know."

Aarush leaned back on the chair and smiled naughtily. "I am still not happy with his notes-giving. But then, he looks young and your story began with hate."

He gasped suddenly.

Holding her hand, he whisper-squealed. "We both have crushes on our professors."

Sakshi chuckled when Aditi gave both of them a troubled look. "Seriously, guys. I was just joking. This idiot has to relate everything to that Khanna." She muttered.

Aarush snickered while wiggling his eyebrows at Sakshi. "What do you say, bestie? Same-life, same-kind of love story."

Sakshi shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "I don't have any interest in him. He is smart and handsome. I can be attracted to him some day but I can't love him."

"Some day," caught Aarush with a smile.

She nodded while giving him a stern look when someone suddenly patted on their table.

"Hey, guys! What's up?"

Sakshi breathed out in awkwardness as she watched Mihir sitting on the chair, joining them with his signature smirk on. He winked at Aditi who blushed deeply that had made Aarush narrow his eyes in disbelief.

"Um, nothing. We were just talking about professor," he muttered while still looking keenly at Mihir.

His eyebrows raised as he laughed nervously. "Which one? Khanna?"

Aarush narrowed his eyes. "And why would you think so?"

Aditi chuckled slowly and bit her lip. "Nope. Our OB's professor. He is very strict and reserved in class. Our Sakshi even got victimized to it. But we just found out that he apologized and tried to make it up for her."

Sakshi secretly glared at her for revealing the mere conversation which was personal.

"Really? That doesn't seem strange to me," replied Mihir with a smile.

Aarush clicked his tongue and stared at him keenly. "It's not. That guy scolded her for two consecutive meets and embarrassed her below the belt. It was partly our mistake but he kind of. . . overreacted. It was understandable if now, he is just being guilty and kind to her. But, earlier it seemed as if he was actually triggered by Sakshi. Now, that's strange. Isn't it?"

Mihir hummed while Sakshi looked confusingly at Aarush who was still watching him.

"That's too deep. Though, I myself think that he was maybe trying to put his strict standards but he is good at heart at last. Or no teacher would do such efforts to keep his students happy. Especially females," she confessed while passing her fries to Mihir who even took one while smirking at her.

"Agreed," replied Mihir. "But what if Aarush is right. What if he has a secret attraction to Sakshi or he just thought she was arrogant or intelligent or like any other teacher, he was being frustrated with usual misbehavior of a student? It could be anything but a thing for sure."

"Skip it, guys. I am sitting here only. I am not that average-looking that he would get frustrated from just seeing me and I have told him my reasons for being late. He tried to apologize which was sweet but then, he didn't know about it. So, I too being nice, let it go. Even from my heart. Now, all I can do is be an outstanding student to him," she squirmed while sighing dreamily.

Aarush flared his nostrils knowingly and smirked, "The semester has just began. Since, your patch up has happened already. Let's see if something more blossoms in this forbidden ship of us." He smiled goofily at Sakshi who was looking at him in irritation.

Mihir chuckled all of a sudden. "About Khanna, I can see you have chances, man. She looks desperate these day," he said while Aarush raised his one eyebrow goofily. Mihir looked at Sakshi and shook his head. "About, you?"

His lips quirked naughtily, "Nah! I don't think so. You look nerdy. I tell you, sexy geeks like him secretly like hot and bold girls. Also, why would he care if you just try to be a good student or don't hold any grudges?"

Aarush chuckled as he observed Sakshi clearly looking offended. "First of all, I still have a huge grudge in my heart for your loser of a cousin. About me, I am as bold as anyone and did you just say? Hot! You were the one pushing that Ronnie Shekhawat from coming after me. Now, when the hottest bad guy is attracted to me that he couldn't keep his hands to himself for two clear times. What does that makes me?" Pushing her hair back off her shoulder, she asked him with an arrogant raise of eyebrows.

Aarush giggled and mimicked her, "Hot!"

Mihir laughed while Aarush hooted mildly. "Well, okay. I didn't mean to offend you. You are hot, Sakshi but sweet and cute too. You just won't dare your advances to him. That's what I meant for the girls whom he would wish for. He teaches. He has girls of every batch, every class, staff liked up for him. He might know how girls swoon over him and he ignores it but, he secretly likes it as badly as any other guy. He even looks like there must be marriage proposals coming for him."

Sakshi groaned knowingly. "I hate marriage proposals." She curled her lip at Mihir at remembering the scene at cafe and immediately straightened. "Hey! What of your loser cousin? Does he know, he has a competition in line?"

Aarush was amazed. "You are actually thinking about that professor?" His smile vanished slowly as by her face, it looked like she was. She looked keen on making Mihir's cousin jealous.

"What if my admirer gets jealous of him? Huh, what do you think? Mihir?" She asked him who raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Of course, that is why I am here. I will tell him about the new competition-"

Aditi shook her head while smirking at a direction. "Talk about that someone special. See, the universe has heard it."

All of them turned their head to look at the path that was leading students from cafeteria to the ground. There he was walking, the smart and geeky professor.

Even Sakshi smiled slowly as all the gazes were frozen on him. Everyone was not daring to miss the hottie walking in a carrot shirt, greyish blue pants, what changed today was a genuine smile curving his full lips as he passed a group of girls in his manly walk.

". . . and that is, my mesmerized ladies, the stunner—Kabir Nair," murmured Aarush while noticing both of his best friends ogling at the young professor.

Mihir chuckled when Sakshi cleared her throat and sighed heavily. "You know whatever or how many guys go after you, it's all about your taste and your liking. The person must have you all charmed and even if it works. This attraction is temporary. Just a thirst. Someone special will not just attract you, he will steal your heart, keep it to himself and enjoy watching you writhing and begging for his own." She couldn't help but feel a strong wave vibrating her chest at the thought of seeing a smiling and smirking Shrey.

"So? You like that professor enough. Are you charmed?" asked Aditi while both the boys waited for her answer.

Sakshi shrugged innocently.

"Yes, of course. Who would refuse such a dish?" She murmured playfully. "You need to remind my admirer of the current affairs, Mihir."

Aarush leaned forward on the table and smiled cheekily.

"Forbidden affairs, baby."

_______

Nakul folded the newspaper back and stretched lazily.

"Nothing interesting. It's a torture reading this business newspaper. I never know how Meera does this," he murmured while leaning back on the couch.

Raghav rolled his eyes and checked the watch. "It's time for home. Pihu will have my head if I don't go soon. She is planning on shopping for Diwali."

Nakul nodded tiredly. "It's still a month for that. But I know, so many clients to impress, so many nights to get depress."

Raghav got up and started placing the files according to their categories which he had studied and not. Nakul suddenly looked at him. "With depress, I remember I got to know more about Malhotras. Rakesh is still bed ridden and his nephew is. . . Well-" he stopped when he caught Raghav looking at floor in deep thought. "Bro, what?"

Raghav zigzagged his jaws. "I just realized that it's been three days, I hadn't called Sakshi. She hasn't even done Skype or anything to Riaan which she usually does. . ."

Nakul shrugged. "She might be busy. Projects and all?"

Raghav shook his head. "Semester has just began. What if mom is trying to lure her for some offer again?"

Nakul raised his eyebrows as he watched his best friend's jaws clenching slowly. Even after years of living a well-suited, happy and blossoming life, no beast could match his possessiveness.

"Hey! Aunty won't do that without asking you. Also, Sakshi is so young. She is barely twenty."

"Twenty-two and I had dated Pihu when she was seventeen. Do you know what that means?"

Nakul opened his mouth and shook his head in amazement.

"Bro, shut it. Just call her if she's fine. We also have to know if she knows about Malhotras' case or not."

Raghav hummed slowly while rubbing his forehead.

"Just hope, she does not."

_________

"What do you think?"

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