The Clingy Fiancee

Chapter Twenty Two

The sky was already darkening, and Neil and I were sitting next to each other on the bed in the master bedroom watching the sunset that never failed to take my breath away. After having a small afternoon nap that somehow lasted for about four hours, I was not tired at all. But I could see that Neil had been struggling to stay awake after he had done some exploring of his own when I was asleep.

He had also spent his time gossiping with Prakash Uncle in hopes that perhaps he might reveal something, but alas for him, his lips were sealed tightly, too.

It had been heartwarming to see Neil wake me up with a warm cup of tea and my missed out lunch. He had been grinning like a little boy the entire time, feeling somewhat victorious for a reason I didn't understand then.

It was later that I had gotten to know that he had almost burnt the kitchen and I had slept through the fire alarms.

Once again, I caught his eyes drooping, and I hopped out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" He immediately asked, and I smiled at him.

"You need to sleep, right now." I told him, and brought out the blanket, "You haven't rested even once the entire day. Go and snooze; get rid of that jet lag as soon as you can. We have places to go!" Saying all that in a cheerful, sing-song tone, I went out of the room and closed the door behind me.

Once I reached the room I had taken up - the one right next to Neil's - I avoided the bed and sat on the desk, finding a discarded hair-tie from before, and then tied my hair up in a ponytail.

It was time to get back to work. I fired up my laptop, something I hadn't used in days. The first thing I checked were my e-mails and I wasn't surprised to find tons and tons of pending work for me to do. Soon, I was sorting the priorities of the mails and kept the ones for later which were related to Neil and his lawyers, who were trying to contact me about my latest inheritance of Neil's belongings.

Whoa, everything was draining me mentally. I overestimated myself: I should have known that all of this was too much for me to do in a day.

I had just leaned back into my chair and was rubbing my forehead when my eyes fell upon a mail recently sent by Adrian.

It contained the entire profile of the friend he was referring to for handling Neil's case. What surprised me was that the doctor he as referring to had actually been a good friend of mine back in my school days. I quickly checked his profile, and was very impressed, remembering how talented he used to be and how we had talked about going to medical school together; that was until I changed my paths and decided to go after something that was better suited to me.

I couldn't believe I now had the chance to meet him after so many years.

It was at the same moment that the door to the room opened, very slowly, and the creaking noise horrified me in one of the worst ways possible.

From the gap, slowly a head emerged, and I had stopped breathing. It was already dark outside and I had lost the habit of living in big houses alone in the dark - hell! I had never developed such a habit in the first place.

I was about to scream and wake Neil when I realised that it was actually Neil who was peeping into the room.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "What are you doing? I thought you were sleeping."

"I...uh...though you were sleeping like the dead, as usual. I actually came to wake you up." He admitted, though there was nothing sheepish about the tone of his voice.

"Rule number One," I pointed out, "If you are staying with me, don't wake me up unless it is absolutely necessary to do so. I would appreciate that."

"Alright," he said, eager to say what he actually what he wanted to, "I came here for you to come in my bedroom." He said.

"What?"

"I can't sleep in there alone." He said.

"Why?" I asked him.

"Because it feels wrong." He kept his face straight as if he didn't just say the most ridiculous thing ever, "Being in that room feels unsettling. I only feel like there's something I need to do urgently but I don't know what it is."

I stared at him in silence.

"Look, I won't touch you at all if that's what you are worried about. I won't repeat what I did on the flight. We can go upstairs to the bunk bed. I will sleep on the upper bed. It's the first time I'm sleeping alone in such a big room."

He was being a baby on purpose. I had no idea what was going on in his mind, but whatever he was trying to do was going to ruin me in the end.

He then came to stand behind me and peered at my laptop. "What are you doing?"

He face was too close to mine, so I just leaned forward till I had some space. "Dr Adrian just sent me a mail with information about the doctor who's now going to handle your case."

"Oh." Was all he said, with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"And you know what? This guy, had been my classmate and a very good friend back in school!"

"How good?" he was now scowling at me.

"What?"

"How good of a friend was he?"

"He isn't an ex, if that's what you're implying." I made a face at him. "Whatever's wrong with you, either sort it out with yourself or tell me about it. He's a nice man and I think we should give him a shot if Adrian recommends him."

"Whatever." He muttered, "Can't I go see him alone, or with Prakash Uncle? I mean, is it necessary for you to tag along?"

I pursed my lips, "If you don't want me to accompany you at all times, it's fine. I'll just be coming along during your first appointment. I haven't seen him in years." I told him.

"I don't see the need to see him now. He'd be better off on his own." He muttered under his breath. "Joining me, or should I bring my pillow and blanket here?"

I shook my head in exasperation, "I'm coming. Just let me book an appointment online."

Neil let out a long sigh and sat on the bed while I worked. I took my time, and expected him to get up and return to his room, but he just sat there waiting for me.

Just when The appointment was confirmed for the next day and I was going to give in to Neil's demand, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Bhatt? Is that you?" A deep and unfamiliar voice came from the other side, but the tone was just as I remembered.

"Oh, Anish! Is that you?" I nearly screamed into the phone. Damn! That guy still remembered me!

"You forgot me, didn't you? After all, it was you who ditched our plans together!" he laughed, making me laugh, too.

"We both knew by then that I was not cut out for the medical stream.And it's you who forgot to keep in touch, busy guy. If I hadn't remembered you, I would have never made that appointment!"

"Oh whoa! I though you were the one with amnesia!" he joked.

"Oh well, there is someone..." I said, not laughing this time, "And he is the reason why I booked an appointment tomorrow."

"Oh." He dragged out the 'o' and still didn't sound like he was serious, "Don't tell me; Neil Singhania back from the dead? Got in an accident, was injured but not dead, and suffers from amnesia, now. You don't know what to do with your ex-fiance because earlier you looked like you would move heaven and earth to bring him back and prove yourself right, but now with the amnesia, you just don't know how to deal with him and your leftover feelings."

My eyes widened, "You're still as dramatic as ever. How did you know?"

He chuckled, "The gossip on your love story makes my day hell lot of interesting. Above all, I had a few conspiracy theories of my own so...I kind of guessed it. But really, what I just said was the truth? Wow, I really am an exceptional shrink. You know what? We'll meet up tomorrow and you'll tell me every juicy detail."

I chuckled, "Alright, good night."

"Yes, sweetheart, good night to you, too."

After I hung up the phone, I followed a scowling man-child to the master bedroom and carried my pillow and my blankets, ready to walk upstairs and fall asleep again. I carefully watched till Neil settled and fell asleep and it was after that, that I let myself loose.

Little did I know that while I was dead asleep, a certain someone had sneaked out of his own bed and had now joined me in mine, cuddling me from behind.