"So, it's final, guys, tomorrow, first we'll go for a movie, then lunch and then would just roam around in Hauz Khas, okay?" asked Neha.

"Yes, totally," responded Anaisha, messaging her brother, as it was now time to go home.

"Shall we leave now," asked Yuvraj, getting up from his chair. Others mirroring his action.

"Yeah, sure," Anaisha said, still looking at her cellphone for her brother's response.

Thinking her brother Aarav will join her in the parking lot, she went along with her friends. Bidding her bye, her friends except Nikhil, left for their respective homes. A minute after her friends left, her cellphone buzzed with her brother's message. It said he'd join her in a few minutes.

Sighing, she kept her phone back in her handbag and waiting near the entrance of the hospital. Nikhil, who was standing beside her, hesitantly said, "Er ... Annie, do you mind if I leave? I have some work with Dr. Rai."

"Yeah sure, Nikhil. And I told you na, it's totally okay with me. Go, I'll see you tomorrow," said Anaisha, slightly tired.

"Okay, thanks. See you," said Nikhil before sprinting to Dr. Rai's office.

As he left, Annie leaned against a pillar, waiting for Aarav to come. As her and Aarav's duties usually ended at same time, she'd used to go home with her brother. Most of the time, Aarav would be free by the time her shift ended, but in case of emergencies, it was a different story. She wondered if he was he stuck in some emergency. Given the sort of profession they were in, emergency weren't uncommon.

Anaisha was looking around to pass her time when her eyes caught the sight of Dr. Kabir, who walking out from the hospital. Much to her dismay, he too looked at her. Although she had been so busy to even think about that day but whenever she thought, she felt ashamed of her behaviour. Though Kabir was as much at fault as her but still she was rude to him! The way she had talked with him that day was against her values. Kabir was her senior and she shouldn't have talked disrespectfully to him, given any condition and should've kept her temper.

Her brother, Aarav was right, Kabir wasn't exactly bad, she noticed it herself, right? He was polite with Rhea when she stammered giving her introduction, and even with Anaisha as well when he saw her coffee burn. Though, that's a totally different story when he anyway punished her for their silly fight and her stubbornness for not apologising to him.

But since she now knew he was a close family friend and her brother's best friend, she decided to apologise to him but due to his hectic schedule and her busy shifts, didn't have the chance to do so. And plus she didn't know how would he react to her apology and what will she tell him so she avoided him.

And right now, she didn't want to face Kabir as she wasn't sure what she'll say to him, so she simply thought to avoid him again, just like she had done in her brother's office earlier this evening. Not wanting to face him now, Anaisha desperately wanted to go home but as Aarav still hadn't come, she had no choice then just to wait for her brother. With her best attempts to ignore him again, she took out her phone and earphones and pretended to listening music.

On the other hand, Kabir, as well saw her standing near the unified entrance and exit of the hospital with her earphones. He guessed it at once that she was pretending to listen to music because she probably forgot to do something.

It wasn't just Anaisha who was embarrassed over her behaviour, Kabir himself was quite ashamed of his behaviour with her, much to his own dismay. Just like her, he too had tried to apologise to her for his behaviour with her on that day but to no avail. He had been very busy with back to back surgeries and attending patients that he didn't have the time to do so.

Having realized it that day only, the way he treated her was not justified at all! Just to satisfy his ego and calm his disturbed mind, he had troubled her so much, that too it was her very first day. He had taken out his frustration on her which was not fair, under any circumstances. He had no rights to do so even if he was her senior. And it all turned even guiltier with the flashes of Anaisha's condition in Morgue when the electricity went out, due to her fear of darkness and how worse it could've been.

But in midst of feeling guilty and embarrassment for his actions, Kabir felt this weird sense of pain and dejection with Anaisha's ignorance toward him and his presence. The way she had acted in Aarav's office, completely oblivious of his presence, it bothered him quite badly, and he didn't know why. He had this wild hunch that maybe it was because they were acquainted as kids, and her coldness with him seemed to be bothering him.

Yet then again, he had ruined her first day of internship in his arrogance and probably, anyone in Anaisha's place would've reacted this way only or maybe worse. Nevertheless accepting his grandmother, and friend Shaina's advice (who seemed totally upset with Kabir's stupidity and callousness), he decided to set things straight with Anaisha and himself with a simple apology. Perhaps he was quite desperate to do so as the only attempt to improve the impression he had on her, which was pretty much a urgent urge he had decided to pay attention to.

With determination, he walked over to where Anaisha was standing and with a very friendly tone along with hints of amusement, said, "As far as I know, you need to insert that earphones' plug in your phone port before you listen to music through them. Anyway, Good evening, Chh ... Anaisha." He was about to call her Chhoti, a name he was used to calling her by when they were kids, but seeing their current equation, he settled on her first name as it was both formal and polite.

Anaisha got startled when she heard his voice all of a sudden, she hadn't noticed him walking over to her. She looked at her earphones and realized her folly. Idiot! In her hurried attempts to avoid any interaction with him, she had completely forgotten to plug her earphones to her phone.

Though, it was of no use now to scold herself as anyway Kabir was all up for a conversation with her and had already wished her, along with pointing out her mistake. And was he about to call her Chhoti? No!
"Good evening, Dr. Kabir! By the way, if you were about to call me Chhoti, then please don't because you can't call me Chhoti, only my brothers and family members call me that. And you are just my senior in hospital."

Oh! Thankfully he chose to call her by her first name. Saved a lots of embarrassment here. Still keeping a smile on his face, he calmly replied to her, "Well, thanks for the clarification then. I'll keep that in mind, though I must add that I used to call you Chhoti when you were a toddler, that pretty much explains why I never came to know your real name."

"Oh, okay," mumbled Anaisha, trying her best to not look curious with this little piece of information that Kabir shared with her. Till now she only knew he was a family friend and her brother's friend, but had no clue whether she had ever had a equation with Kabir, or that even if they were directly acquainted or not, she was curious to know. But decided against her wish to not indulge more into the conversation and kept quite.

Looking for her brother, who was nowhere to be seen, she tried her best to not glance back at Kabir, who was still standing beside her. She wished her brother better hurry up, because she didn't want to talk to Kabir, atleast not now. Otherwise, she might just go against her decision and indulge him in a conversation about their childhood equation, with her heart always ready to make a new friend and her mind too curious to know things she didn't remember anymore

"So, Anaisha, how's it going in hospital now?" asked Kabir, trying his best to keep the conversation going, which seemed extremely difficult for him, given his nature of a non-conversationalist.

"Much better since you're not my reporting doctor anymore," involuntarily snapped Anaisha. She immediately regretted saying that and tried to cover up but Kabir had already speaking by then.

"I didn't mean ... "

"Well, that's pretty much true. I was horrible to you on your first day, wasn't I? So yeah, I'm glad your internship's going smooth now," said Kabir, rather coolly, concealing his dejection over her reply. His insides were all yelling at him to spit those two words of apology and get over it, but he didn't know how. As a matter of fact, he had been trying to apologise to her, but never got an appropriate opportunity to do so. But anyway, it's better late than never.

"No, Dr. Kabir, I didn't mean to say ... ," Anaisha again tried to clarify her remark as she could guess quite easily that Kabir wasn't too pleased with her choice of words. But before she could even speak out, she was once more interrupted, this time by her own dearest brother, Aarav.

"You guys are talking about something serious or did I just assume that?" asked Aarav, calmly, as he saw his sister and best friend standing together, probably talking.

Being the closest friend of Kabir, Aarav had sensed some friction between them and he thought to lighten it. He knew well that all was not fine between these two since Anaisha's first day fiasco, without Kabir openly admitting it to him, like he did to Shaina, certainly because Kabir felt uncomfortable talking about that fiasco with Aarav as his sister was involved in it.

Finally, Bhai came! Triumphed Anaisha as she sighed a breath of relief. Flashing a smile at her brother, she hurriedly said, "Nothing, Bhai. We were just talking about work. " She paused for a second to glance at Kabir for support, who shook his head affirmatively and added, "Anyway Bhai, we should leave now. Mom must be waiting for us."

"Er ... Chhoti, there's actually an emergency case which I have to handle and I don't know how much time it will take," said Aarav, looking at his sister, who grimaced, "But don't get worked up, I'm going to call Dad or Adi and tell them to pick you up. Don't whine please."

Oh no! Already she was so tired and hungry. She didn't have any more energy to wait for her Dad or brother to come, who already must've reached home. So frowning, she said, "But Bhai, it will take him time to reach here. Adi Bhai'll come here, then I'll go with him, that's just gonna take too much time. And I'm so tired."

"Sorry for interrupting but, Dr. Aarav, if you don't mind then I can drop her home. I mean I live just some blocks away from your house, so I'll drop her on my way to home," promptly suggested Nikhil. He had just come out of the hospital building and overheard the conversation between Aarav and Anaisha. Being the helpful guy, with a soft corner for Anaisha, he immediately offered his help, with nothing but good intentions.

"It's okay, Dr. Nikhil, we'll manage. You should go home it's quite late, and thanks for the offering your help," flatly replied the overprotective brother, Aarav. When it came to his sister, he really didn't trust just anyone so easily, be it her friends or anyone else whom Aarav didn't know well.

Nikhil understood there was no way Aarav would say yes, so politely, he bade bye to them by saying, "It's all okay, Sir, as you wish," turning to Anaisha, he added, "See you tomorrow, Anaisha, bye." He left promptly without saying another word to either Aarav or Kabir, whom he hadn't looked at once while talking to Aarav.

After Nikhil left, Anaisha turned to her brother and whined huffily, "Bhai, then let me go alone please, it's just half past eight. I'm completely exhausted. I don't want to wait more!"

Looking at her, Aarav sternly said, "Of course not, Chhoti. I won't allow you to go home alone, it's quite late now!" With the firmness in his tone, Anaisha assumed he would just don't budge, not in mood to let his baby sister go home alone that too at this time of night. So, she stood quietly, while her brother called up Advay.

A silent spectator, Kabir listened to everything silently when he noticed Anaisha's exhausted face. She really wanted to go as she was quite tired and Kabir, understanding her, politely suggested, "If you don't mind, Aarav, then I'll drop Anaisha home."

Hearing his offer, Aarav instantly ended his call, agreeingly replied, "Yes, that would be fine. You can drop her home. That way I won't have to worry for her." Looking at Anaisha, he said, "Chhoti, call me after you reach home, okay?"

Though, Aarav didn't trust anyone so easily but as for Kabir, he was among the only few people Aarav trusted with his life. And here, his sister was his life. So, he accepted Kabir's help.

Knowing well that she didn't have any other option and was drained of all her energy to argue, so giving a nod, she agreed to go home with Kabir. Atleast she'd reach her home soon, and there was no reason to argue as well, as for how long will she keep avoiding Kabir? Sooner or later, she'd have to get the record right with him.

Walking along with Kabir, she settled on the passenger seat after Kabir very chivalrously opened the door for her, which vaguely amused Anaisha. In two quick strides, Kabir reached his side of car and got in the driver's seat. Quickly, he turned on the car's engine and five minutes later, they were out of the hospital premises, on the main road.

But awkward silence lingered, as neither Anaisha nor Kabir knew how to break the ice or even apologise, which both of them wanted to get done with at the soonest. Waiting for the other to speak up, stubbornly enough, both of them kept quiet, not knowing how to ease up now.

"Mind if I turn on the radio?" Annie asked him, giving up her stubborn pledge to not being the first one to speak. Though, she had to, clearly not wanting the silence to turn even more awkward and creepier.

And certainly, Kabir knew well why she wanted to turn on the radio but he was needed to get done with this apology thing as soon as he could. With vague tone, he said, "No! I mean, don't get me wrong but Anaisha, I need to tell you something. So would you please let me? After that you can turn on the radio. Okay? Just hear me out first."

She just shook her head, giving him a 'go-ahead' signal with her hand. In heart, she knew what was coming next, already guessing that from their conversation some minutes prior to this car ride.

"I'm sorry." said Kabir with utmost sincerity and honesty.

If it was possible for her eyes to pop out of their sockets then they would have! Though still her eyes popped out as much as they could. Did he really say sorry or was she dreaming? Okay, she was exaggerating it, but still his apology was simple and sudden, in a sense. Anaisha never expected such simple and straight apology from him, she thought he would elaborate it more, which he probably did next.

"Wh ... What?" asked Anaisha, stammeringly, just to confirm she heard right.

"Er ... yes, I am very sorry. The way I behaved with you that day was wrong. I took out all my frustration on you, and also that incident wasn't as big as I've made it. I should've acted sensible and mature. It was wrong on my part to behave like a jerk that day with you and make your first day a nightmare. Although, I was in a bad mood that day but it don't give me any right to be an insensitive prat to you. I'm really sorry, Anaisha! Please accept my heartfelt apology." And finally Kabir heaved a breath of relief. He did it! But he didn't dare to glance at Anaisha, fearing her reaction.

Certainly his fear was baseless as, Anaisha, who was astonished earlier, now had a big grin on her face as she could easily intercept the genuineness and gravity of Kabir's words. She knew, it was of no use to not apologise now, when he could take the initiative to apologise, then how could she stay behind?

"I literally can't believe that you really are apologising to me. But it's okay, Dr. Kabir. I'm not angry with you. Infact, I myself very much sorry for that day! I too overreacted and was very rude and disrespectful with you. I don't know what happened to me at that time, it wasn't that big a deal, but I made it a scene. Whatever I said that day, please forgive me for that. I'm really sorry for all the trouble that I caused you!"

Kabir resonated the same look as Anaisha's after hearing her apology. He didn't expect her to apologise to him and only said sorry to her because it was the right thing to do and also to get over his guilt. But her unexpected apology, made him feel even better than he felt after apologising to her.

Smilingly, he said, "So, I guess we're even now. Why don't we forget the past and make a fresh start?" As they were waiting for the red signal to turn green, Kabir forwarded his hand to her and warmly said, "Once again let me introduce myself to you. Hi, I'm Dr. Kabir Thapar. You can call me Kabir."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Kabir. I'm Dr. Anaisha Gujral. You can call me Annie or Anaisha if you want," said Anaisha, in her usual chirpy tone, shaking hands with Kabir.

The signal turned green and with it, the same awkward silence took its place back, as neither Anaisha nor Kabir knew what to talk about. But as Kabir didn't want the silence to keep lingering, so vaguely hesitant, he decided to converse with Anaisha, much against to his reserved personality.

"So, how's your burn now, Anaisha?" asked Kabir, looking ahead at the road.

"It's good now, almost healed," replied Anaisha, playing with her left earring.

"Oh, okay. That's good," said Kabir, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going. After much thinking, he settled on a simple topic, which was quite curious to know. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Er ... I just wanted to know, out of curiousity, did Aarav tell you about me and my parents' being your family friends?"

"Yes, er ... yeah Bhai told me about it. But unfortunately, I don't seem to remember anything, since I was quite young that time. Anyway, you and your family lived in Chandigarh, before shifting to Delhi, some 20 years back na? Bhai told me that you guys have been friends since 3rd grade," said Anaisha, thankful to Kabir for giving her a topic to talk, as she didn't like the quietness of the car, pretty much like Kabir.

"Yes, we were in Chandigarh before shifting to Delhi. And it's okay, you were probably 7, when I went to boarding school," said Kabir. Not wanting to indulge Anaisha in any conversation related to his childhood, he quickly changed the topic, "Anyway, how was your experience at Imperial College? It quite well known and reputed, I guess. And how was your MCI screening test? Aarav told me that you had to pass it before starting your CRRI. It's quite hard, though to be honest, and time consuming too."

Unknown to Kabir, Anaisha did notice his desperate attempt to change the topic, but didn't say anything and went along with the conversation and answered Kabir's question.
"It was amazing! Though I had to stay away from my family, but it was awesome and I really love those five years of college. And the screening test, well yeah it was extremely hard and many of the people I've met during the paperwork failed it. But anyway I passed it with good grades and Dad got all the paperwork and documents done for me. So that saved my time. By the way, if you don't mind, then from which college have you done your undergraduate from?"

"AIIMS, Delhi," replied Kabir, immediately, "just like your brother."

"Oh, cool, but I never got to meet you all these years, any specific reason for that?" curiously asked Anaisha.

"No, not any big reason, I was just too busy with my undergraduate and had few other things to manage," said Kabir, hoping in his heart that she won't ask him anymore questions, as the reason for his not visiting Aarav's family was quite personal.

"Okay. Well then I can guess now why Yuvraj's so happy to have completed his undergraduate from AIIMS, Delhi. You did your PG from AIIMS only na?" asked Anaisha, totally indulged in the conversation.

"Yes, I did my PG from AIIMS only. And then went to Sydney, Australia to do my cardiosurgery internship under Dr. Richard Dawson, for some two years. And then came back to India to start my independent practice here in NLHRC, almost two years back. And I might go for M.Ch in coming years. I guess, I've answered all your questions, the ones that you haven't asked yet, but would've asked anyway," said Kabir, smiling a loop sided smile.

Anaisha goofily smiled and with a slight embarrassment said, "Well, yeah I was about to ask you all that. But anyway, thanks. And that's so cool, you did your internship under Dr. Richard Dawson! He's one of the most finest and best cardiac surgeon. Very cool haan, Kabir."

"Well yeah, thanks, Chh ... Anaisha," said Kabir.

A frown came on Anaisha's face seeing Kabir about to call her Chhoti again. Grimacing, she stared at Kabir and said, "You were about again to call me Chhoti, weren't you? Please stick my real name only, it's a request."

"Oh, okay," said Kabir, "I will just stick to Anaisha. But just out curiousity, I'd like to ask you, do you don't like anyone calling you Chhoti?"

Anaisha sighed and shook her head, which pretty much made it clear to Kabir that she didn't like being called Chhoti. Shrugging her shoulders, she replied to him in a vaguely annoyed tone.
"No, not that I hate being called Chhoti but you know it's irritating at times to be called by that nickname of mine. I mean c'mon, look at me from which angle do I look Chhoti, with my height of 5'7? And you know what, once Nihal Bhai called me Chhoti in a party and everyone there looked at me and laughed loudly as if it was the best joke ever. And I tell you, that was so embarrassing!" Throwing her hands in air, she exhaled loudly and added, "But I can't help it as my brothers are used to calling me that and nothing can stop them."

He just smiled and said politely, "Okay, I can understand, though I've never been in such situation." He paused and then said, "So now that we've told each other some really personal information about ourselves, I think that's enough for me to guess that we're friends now, are we?"

"Of course, we are! I do consider you a friend but its fine if you don't," said Anaisha with a small smile. Though on her first day, she really thought of him as some cocky and abrasive doctor, but in this one week, she heard a lot of good things about him from his patients and staff. All of which only told her that he indeed was a very nice person. And after this conversation with him, she surely couldn't give up a chance to add him to her friend-list.

"That's not even a question now, because if I didn't consider you a friend, I wouldn't have talked to you," said Kabir, taking a turn to right to the route which went straight to Anaisha's home, "So, since you didn't answer my question properly earlier, I'd ask again, how's working in NLHRC going so far?"

Anaisha bit her lower lip in embarrassment and looking down, with little guilt, said, "I'm sorry for being rude earlier, I shouldn't have talked like that," she looked up, "and it's really like a dream to work in one of the best hospitals of the nation and get mentored by some of the best doctors. Though it's hectic and tiring but still it's all worth it!"

"Yes, even during my internship it was crazy and Dr. Rai was pretty much a Hitler that time. Your brother had it worse than all of us, his lateness and craziness to credit," chortled Kabir, remembering his crazy best friend's antics.

"By the way, for your kind information, I've got my department duty with you for this coming week. It's good we sorted out our issues. I'm so excited to learn about my profession from the most amazing people in this field!" exclaimed Anaisha, with a big smile on her face and sparkle in her eyes. She did love her work and really wanted to do her best.

Oh! So she had got duty with him, a thought to warn her beforehand came in his mind. From what he had heard from his previous and current interns, it wasn't the easiest thing to work under him. Last year one of the interns got his duties changed forcefully because he couldn't endure Kabir's working style and his rules and regulations.

It was necessary for Anaisha to know that but seeing the current jovial environment of the car, he decided to that on Monday. Let's not ruin this cheerful moment, please!

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as her smiled a really contagious smile and involuntarily his own lips curled into a small smile.

Few minutes later, they reached the Gujral mansion and stepping out of the car, gratefully Anaisha said, "Thank you so much, Kabir, for dropping me home. Why don't you join us for dinner? I'm sure mom dad would love to have your company. So please join us na!" At the end of her sentence, she made a puppy dog face, which she believed no one could ignore.

And true to her belief, Kabir found it hard to refuse her invite, but still, he politely denied by saying, "Er ... no, Anaisha. I honestly would've loved to join you guys for dinner but my GM, I mean my grandmother, must be waiting for me. So I gotta go. Maybe some other day. Bye, and good night!"

"Okay, bye. Good night and take care, Kabir," said Anaisha and bade him bye. And without saying anything more, she walked inside her house. Once she entered her home, Kabir started his car engine and zoomed his car out of the main gate of the Gujral mansion.

Anaisha knew he was waiting for her to go inside, so after entering her house, she peeped out from the peep hole and saw the zooming car and thought what her Mom and Bhai had told her about Kabir was absolutely true! He was genuinely a nice person.

Maybe that day he really was in a bad mood, otherwise why would he have taken the initiative to apologise to her and accepted his mistake and forward his hand for friendship? And she was glad he did or else she would've never been able to do that herself. It will be easy now to work with him. Thinking so, she went inside her house.

Kabir felt like a big burden has been removed from his chest. He really didn't like hurting people with his actions or words. His troubled life had made him very much sensitive toward other people's feelings. Quite glad to know that she wasn't ignoring him because she was pissed but because she herself felt bad for that Cafeteria fiasco.

This girl was much more mature and sensible than he had thought her to be. And that made her appear very much similar to Aarav. Though both of them were crazy and talkative yet both of them had this depth that made them well so mellow. Neither of the two grownups had allowed to make them boring and preferred to not act their age all the time. Not only her nature but also her passion and dedication for her work was very much like Aarav.

While talking with her, he had observed how her eyes were shining with pride when they were talking about Aarav and her work. One day she'll be a very good doctor. He was damn sure about it! Smiling, he went inside his home. Today was definitely a lot better than the rest of the days. Maybe because of her! Maybe!