"Whenever you feeling down inside
I'll promise to take you up to the highs
Ah yeah, I'm here for you
And when you feel you've had enough
and you've wasted all your love
I'll be here for you"

Here for you, Kygo ft. Ella Henderson

Neil's POV

Shantanu's words haunted me.

I gave my blood sample without a fuss, sat through as the doctor, a kind, graying soul, told me all about the procedure that I really didn't care about, and took my leave without having uttered one word.

I was in a sort of a bubble till the time I reached home. I trudged up the stairs, having shaken off Tanu from my trail. After mouthing me off, he had gone off to his apartment that was, thankfully, on the other end of the city.

I opened the door and slunk in, only to notice a hair clip on my shoestand. A clip I knew I had seen in Dhati's hair.

That's when the guilt hit.

**

I could swear I heard my phone ring. But then again, my phone is one irritating piece of shit. I wish I could throw it right out of my life. I was practically a media recluse anyway. No twitter, no pinterest, no blog, no website, none of that. I had one LinkedIn profile and a no-nonsense and rarely used fb account.

Whatsapp was all I used. I have no idea how snapchat and the rest of them worked either.

For a guy heavily into simulation softwares, and as someone who made his million off a software, I'm surprisingly not into all that.

That brought forth a long giggle from me. My vision had started blurring ages back. I squinted out of the window...the moon was high up. It was almost probably beyond midnight.

Again, I was sure I could hear my phone ring, and this time I actually wanted to check. Thing is, I couldn't feel it in my pocket.

The jack daniels in my hand wasn't helping. In fact, I was bloody sure that my right hand was numb because of it. Stupid alcohol, I caught myself cursing. And where the hell is thag bloody phone? Does it have to ring in the one night I take to wallow in whatever crap I have landed myself in?

My blurry vision finally guided me to blinking piece of technology that lay about a couple of feet away from me on the shaggy carpet. I inched towards it, careful not to spill a drop on it - Dhati had loved that carpet.

Ah, speak of the devil, it WAS her! I had saved a photo of hers as my caller-id, and for the first time in a long time, seeing her face didn't bring up any of the overbearing guilt.

"Heeeeyyyy, Dehaaaaati" I slurred, surprised that my speech was so sloppy.

"Neil? You okay?" I stared at my phone, tried to squint, but I was bloody sure it was her face, but the voice...the voice wasn't hers. Oh well, maybe it was, and I was drunk and couldn't decipher it properly.

"I'm fwinee." I sighed, "I went for...for...for the test."

"I don't think you're fine" damn, her voice DID sound different, "Are you drunk?"

"Maybe" I giggled a bit. Or snickered. Chuckled, whatever. It just felt soooo good to talk to her without that shitty guilt!

"I'm coming over" she snapped.

"Coming over?" and that was the cue to another giggling spurt, "Flying in from New York isn't...isn't...coming over. You've...shit...you've got a life there, how can you...just...keep coming over?"

"I don't know what you're talking about...but I was thinking about us in the last few days..."

"I was with you in the last few days" I snickered, "Of...of course you were thinking about us..."

"With me?" there was an odd pause. "I'm coming over."

"Come, come" I sighed, "I wish I could solve all our...our problems...we would be so happy together."

And I did. She was a wonderful woman, with a large capacity to love. Loyal and affectionate, and she was finally starting to trust me. We would be so good together if only we managed to work everything out, iron out all kinks.

"I miss this, Neil."

Miss this?

"It's been less than a day, Dehati" I rolled my eyes at her dramatic dialogue, "I wonder how much you really miss me."

Again with that odd pause.

"Don't drink anymore" she instructed as she cut the call.

A small smile played on my face as I stared at her caller photo. Something was not quite right in it, but I couldn't figure out what. There was the same black hair, the same small nose, the same brow, the same hazel eyes...

Hazel eyes?

Dhati had coffee-coloured starburst eyes.

A cold fear gripped my heart as I stared at the Jack Daniels bottle.

Who had I been talking to?

In confusion, I tried to stand up, but my legs failed. I checked the bottle, and was surprised to note that it was almost empty. Had I been drinking for hours? I had no idea what was happening to me, who I was talking to, what time it was...nothing.

I tried again, and stumbled onto the couch instead.

Oh well, if Dhati was actually coming, it would be hours before she came, and by then hopefully I would have sobered down. That was the last thought in my mind before my eyes closed and I slipped into oblivion.

**

Arundhati's POV

I looked at the clock, weary to my very soul. Two-thirty in the night, my clock told me. I did a quick burst of mental math - it would be eleven-thirty in LA right now. Neil would be awake, right? I mean, if I knew him right, he would be working right about now. I knew it was a bit late, but I absolutely had to talk to him about what had happened today.

I shook my head, a bit stunned at the day myself. It was so hard to believe that we had woken up on the same bed this morning.

"Mom...is there anything to eat?" asked a small voice from behind me.

I turned around to see George standing near the doorjamb, peeking into the kitchen. I beckoned him to come on ahead. He walked in apprehensively, but I enveloped him in a bear hug when he was within my reach.

"Come on, tiger, are you shying away from a hug?" I cuddled him close and laughed into his ear as he writhed to get free.

"Moooooooom" he giggled as I tickled him.

After Michael had realized that he had needed help, he agreed to leave George in my care for a couple of weeks till he managed to stabilize himself. He sat in one corner of my living room, as I made him some coffee and we both waited till one of his security teams from Boston drove in George and his bags.

"What did Charlotte say when you left?" I asked.

"Aunt C wasn't so cool on it" George shrugged, "She was like...I could take care of him just fine, why does he have to go?"

"Fair point" I acknowledged, "Ooh, but I like my Georgie-bear to myself for a few days!"

He laughed at my words, but his expression sobered in record time.

"What's going to happen to Dad?" his voice was small.

I sighed.

"I don't know" I said honestly, "He's going to talk to a psychiatrist, and figure out why he's so angry all the time."

"Is he crazy?"

"No" I smiled weakly, "He's in pain, Georgie, and we should wait for the doctor to make it all go away."

His eyes immediately shifted to my forearms, that were now visible because my sleeves had rucked up. He stared at the now-purpling fingerprint marks on them, and then raised his eyes to mine, fear starkly visible in them.

"He hurt you?" his voice was barely a whisper.

"Just physically" I managed a smile as my throat closed in, "I'll be fine. Now, what would you like to eat?"

I don't think he liked the fact that I was skirting around the issue, but this wasn't something I wanted to discuss with an eight year old boy. Maybe some other time, when he was grown up and understood the issue at hand better.

"A sandwich, please" he spoke, but his voice was subdued.

"Cheer up" I made a face to get him giggling, "Ham and cheese, right?"

"Yes" he actually smiled back, and then shuffled onto a bar stool on the kitchen counter.

I moved on to get the ham out and fix him a quick sandwich.

"Where's...where's Uncle Neil?" he spoke midway.

"Hmm? He's back in Los Angeles, baby" I smiled a bit at his mention.

"Is he...gone?"

"No" I cut his sandwich into four parts so they were manageable to eat, "Why would you say that?"

"He isn't here" George reasoned as he accepted the plate.

"Baby, he works there" I told him as I sat in front of him.

"Do you talk to him?" he eyed me critically.

"Of course" I smarted, "In fact, I was going to call him right now."

He looked at me with a weird expression for one more moment, and then started eating. Suffice it to say, I didn't like his expression at all.

"I'm calling him!" I waved my phone at George.

He nodded, never raising his eyes from the plate.

Scowling, I turned away, and dialed Neil's number. It rang and rang, and finally went to voicemail. I stared at the clock again. It would be just about twelve right now in LA, and he would definitely not be sleeping. In fact, he never slept before at least one am. Mystified, I dialed again. This time, the call was picked up at the sixth ring.

"Neil? Are you alright?" I spoke in a rush.

There was dead silence on the other end.

"Neil? You there?" Panic started creeping into my voice, "What happened about the test? Are you working?"

"Who are you?" came a breathy, female voice.

I took my phone off from my ear and stared at it. By now, George had stopped eating too, and was looking at me with his wizened eyes.

"Uhm...uh..." my voice quavered, "This is Neil Sachdev's phone, right?"

"It is" said the female voice, "But who are you?"

"I'm sorry...I'm Neil's fiancé, Arundhati...who am I speaking to?"

There was a long, awkward silence on the other end.

"This is Stacie, his ex-girlfriend" she spoke, "he's sleeping now...can you call him later? I mean..."

I think the phone slipped from my hand, or maybe I threw it fear and shock and disgust and whatnot, but the phone left my hand and landed on my table with a loud thud. The battery popped out, effectively cutting the call. I don't know how long I sat there, but my blank reverie broke when I felt small hands holding me in a tight hug.

"Why do adults hurt each other so much?" George asked, his voice carrying a wisdom far belying his years.

"Who...who said anything about hurt?" I tried a cheerful tone , but ended up sounding like a quavering mess.

"You're crying, Mommy" he said solemnly, holding me tighter, "Again."

**
Hey reader!

I did promise to write about who I thought could play the role of Neil to perfection, and after a lot of googling, movie-watching and instagram-stalking, I think the only one out there could be the Pakistani tv-and now bollywood actor Fawad Khan(Yes, I do have a soft spot for him!)

Anyway, his pic is up in the banner, do give me your thoughts about him!

Till the next one, I rest,

Ellanie:)