"Can you meet me halfway, right at the borderline

Is where I'm gonna wait, for you

I'll be looking out, night n' day

Took my heart to the limit, and this is where I stay"

 Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway Lyrics

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We're #21 in ChickLit, wooohoooo! Thank you, kind folks of Wattpad:)))

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Arundhati's POV

"What are you thinking of doing?"

I looked up to see Penny peering down at me imperiously, hands on her waist. George was in day-care, and Shantanu had left for his New York office, leaving Penny and I alone in the house for about an hour till we left for work.

"What are you referring to?" I sighed, sitting back.

"You're going to want to do something about this situation, right?" she settled opposite me.

"Do I have to?" I smiled weakly.

She positively glared at me.

"For someone who has been through so much, you, madam, are shockingly dumb!" she swore, "Sometimes, I wonder if you make it worse for yourself by being so dumb!"

I sighed. I didn't even want to respond to this.

"You imagine what the poor man is going through!" Penny tried to calm down, "Why are you being so hard on him?"

"Hard?" I balked, "Pen...I don't know how to react to him! I'm not being hard on him! If I could make things any better, trust me, I would do so in a heartbeat."

"Then do it" she said simply, "Call him up, skype him, go there. Whatever it takes, babe, because it doesn't take a genius to see that you're miserable right now. Don't stay like this, hoping for divine intervention that may never come. You got a doubt, you go solve it, you hear me?"

I smiled weakly.

"Babe" her tone was dead serious, "We are spoon-fed this bullshit from ever since we're kids that we gotta wait for this man on a white horse to come and sweep us off our feet, that the man is supposed to do all the work while we sit pretty and preen. Well, guess what? He ain't coming. And why would he? He's got a life too, and things to do, goals to achieve. Neil's done as much as he could from over there. Maybe you should walk your halfway now."

"That 'he ain't coming' thing...it's from some sitcom, isn't it?" I sighed, reaching for my phone.

"Yep" she nodded, "And it's damn true too."

I stared at my phone, contemplating her words at length. Of course I had questions for Neil, doubts that I feared to give a voice to, lest I scared him away for good, but they were eating me up inside. I wanted to meet Stacie once too, just for my peace of mind. The test would have come by now; I wanted to know the results too. I wanted to tell him about Michael, and why Georgie was here with me. I wanted to know when we would fly back to India and finalize stuff with our parents. I wanted to know when we would get married, and where I could apply for work in LA when I finally did shift there. I wanted to know if there were good schools around so we could enroll George.

And here I was, sitting and staring at my phone, wishing that the man I wanted to spend my life with to fly in and make all this go away.

Penny was right. I, of all people, knew that relationships were about compromises and meeting halfway. What was I doing, sitting here and brooding, while my man was running out of patience on the other side?

I took in a deep breath, and with trembling fingers, I searched for Neil's name.

And then, I came across another name that I had been ignoring for a while.

***

Neil's POV

I checked the clock for the thousandth time. It read ten past one. I still had almost an hour left of lunch break. Of course, I didn't have any appetite, so I sat alone in my cubicle, brooding. Things were...I don't know where they were anymore.

Stacie was due to call any minute now, with the results. I hadn't had the guts to make it to the clinic myself, and she was kind enough to agree to relay it over the phone. I wondered what was going to happen if it actually did turn out to be mine. I didn't know if I could cut myself out completely from the life of the child. I didn't know if I could manage Stacie and Dhati together. frankly, I didn't know anything, and simply thinking about the possibilities was making my head spin.

The sharp vibration of my phone cut into my reverie, and it was with some trepidation that I noticed that the caller was Stacie. I swallowed and took the call.

"Yeah?" I managed.

"You're off the hook, Sachdev" her voice was sharp, "It's not yours."

My head dropped onto my desk in sheer relief. I could feel the tension seep out of my shoulders and neck, leaving them limp. I gulped in huge amounts of air, and tired my best to stop my head from spinning in relief.

"You...sure right?" my voice sounded choked, "You're not playing with me?"

"No!" she actually giggled, "Call that fiancée of yours and set up that wedding, Neil, 'cause Lord knows you deserve one!"

She cut the call then, but nothing could wipe off that massive smile off my face. Finally, finally, I could see the light at the end of this dark, dank tunnel. Relieved beyond belief, I searched for Dhati's name in my phone, when it started vibrating with her name. As if telepathically, she had decided to call at exactly this moment.

"Dhati, you won't believe it!" I gushed as I accepted the call.

"And hello to you too!" her voice sounded mystified.

"The test!" I gushed, not listening, "It's negative!"

"So..." she paused, trying to decipher it, "It's not your child?"

"No" I laughed hysterically, "I mean, it is a child, and maybe I should feel ashamed that I am so glad that I am not it's father , but-"

"Neil" she cut in, relief seeping into her voice too, "Oh my God, that's one issue down!"

"I said the same thing!" I laughed weakly, clutching the phone hard to my ears.

"I have some news too" she said quietly, making my ears perk up.

"What is it?"

"Okay..." she sighed, "You remember that I was into therapy after my divorce...right?"

"Yee...es" I said cautiously, sitting up.

"So I went to my therapist today...Shantanu came over with me...and the doctor prescribed me off medicines, Neil. Off medicines, for life."

"Oh...oh my god, that's fantastic news!"

I couldn't believe it! I had had a miserable two days. How was it that God was being so benevolent and giving me good news today? Was this misery finally over? Had we actually made it through?

"I know..." she breathed into the phone, "Let's...let's get married soon, Neil. I don't want anything else to come in and ruin this...please..."

"Oh, I understand" I chuckled at her words, "I wish I was there right now. I could use a hug."

"So could I" she whispered, "Look at us, nearly thirty, and yet so clueless and scared."

"I don't think age has anything to do with it" I sighed, "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know" she said, "Although, if you'd like, I could start applying for jobs in LA."

"Yes" I sat up bolt straight, "I can look into schools here for George if you'd like."

There was a deep silence on the other side, and I wondered if I had accidently overshot my mouth. Then, "You'd do that?" her voice was shaking, "Oh dear god, I love you so much!"

This time, I was at a loss. We had never really used those three words before. I mean, we gelled well, so I assumed that we would work out well as a team, but love? After Stacie, I didn't think that I would ever have love again in my life.

"I mean, I didn't really mean it-"

"I love you, too, Dhati" I cut in before she stammered ahead, "And yes, I'd love to look into schools for the kid."

"You don't know how relieved I am" she whispered.

"Ditto" I smiled weakly, closing my eyes, "I just wish you were here."

"I still have a dressing on my head" she giggled.

"My jaw is still bruised."

"Let's go to India next week." she said impulsively, forcing me to open my eyes.

"I have a better plan." I said, my brain working at double-speed now, "What do you feel about running away?"

"Are you serious?" her voice dropped.

"Convention has never worked for us" I shrugged, "Does it matter if it's traditional, as long as we're together?"

**

Yaasss, update finally!

Trust me, I am way more relieved than you, my beloved reader, at finally having put up a chapter!

Anyway, do you think Dhati is up for something unconventional? Or is she a classical girl at heart?

Drop in with your thoughts.

Until the next one, I rest, Ellanie:)