Chapter 13: LOVE ENCOUNTER

The following week, Audrey went for her routine check up at the same hospital where Dmitri worked.
While coming out of one of the check-up rooms, Audrey accidentally stepped on the back of someone's shoes and nearly sent the person flying down the flight of stairs behind her.
As fate would have had it, that person was none other than Dmitri !
Dmitri and Audrey seemed to have met rather quickly after their first encounter.
But what happened next wasn't by chance, not in the slightest !
Dmitri tripped over the foot, which sent him crashing down.
His eyes closed on their own accord as he braced for impact but after a heartbeat of silence, he was surprised to realize that there was none !
When he opened his eyes, he was mortified to know the reason as to why he had not face- planted on the floor !!
The utterly embarrassing reason why Dmitri wasn't hugging the floor was because that darn girl from the cafeteria had caught him !
She had one arm around his waist and an amused grin dancing on her lips as she recognized the good old doc.
The summer warmth blanketed the gun shy doctor"s face as their eyes locked and a soft gasp escaped his lips, causing soft tingles to run down his back- and to some other nether regions. Shshhhh.
When his eyes flickered down at the beauty"s bone melting lips, his heart beat a rapid tattoo against his chest as he watched her delicate mouth curl in a small smile at one corner of her plump, pink lips.
"I guess we meet again," Audrey grinned, amusement flickering in her eyes, forcing the young, unwilling doctor to look up from his object of interest.
Out of a staggering population of 7.9 billion people on this earth, it had to be this damsel only ?! Dmitri asked the damn universe which was enjoying playing with his heart.
If it had been any other girl, Dmitri would have still been embarrassed, but his heart wouldn't have been fluttering like crazy, like a bird learning to fly just like now !
Cheeks flaming and eyes darting anywhere but on Audrey"s beautiful face, Dmitri stuttered out somehow, "C- Can you pl- please put me down ?"
He could feel the weight of the heavy stares of all the passers-by who were murmuring among themselves.
However, his cheeky captor"s grin only broadened in response and to Dmitri"s wild horror, he was afraid that she wouldn't release him from her hold.
But, of course, she didn't do that.
She helped him up and as he straightened himself out, he thanked his culprit-cum-saviour.
It was embarrassing for Dmitri, not because of what happened, but because of how it had happened !!
While on one hand, Dmitri was burrowing himself up in his misery, on the other, Audrey was trying to suppress a smile next to him.
It was strange but true that due to an unexplainable reason, Audrey could feel a roller coaster of weird, ironic sensations washing over her when it came to the handsome doctor.
One moment she was angry at him and the very next moment she was smiling like a fool.
And no, this wasn't love, at least in her mind.
"How endearing !" Audrey chuckled as Dmitri refused to look at her and tried to retrieve his articles from the floor.
"That's easy for you to say," Dmitri grumbled under his breath before Audrey joined him in organizing all his stuff in his hands from the floor. "You weren't the one who made an utter fool of himself."
When the last of his pens had been pocketed to safety, Dmitri was startled when he felt Audrey's soft, cold hand intertwine with his and squeeze it.
He looked up at her smiling at him and at that moment, all the world's worth of embarrassment could never make him regret what had happened on that day because it led him to meet her.
"You didn't make a fool of yourself for something I did, Doctor," the nameless girl who had captured his heart already, replied to his previous grumblings. "In any case, you got a few nurses and patients fan-girling in the corner at you right now," she smirked. "You might have stopped a few hearts today. I guess you should have a look at them," she winked before she boarded the black car that had rolled just in front of the hospital and zoomed away to god knows where but with her, she took away a part of Dmitri.
* * * * *
"The pediatric and gynae teams are planning to go to the bowling alley in the evening. Would you like to join us, Mister Busy Bee ?" Hazel asked her childhood friend.
"Sorry little pea," Dmitri teased the shorter doctor who couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "But Doctor Dmitri here needs his caffeine dose with loads of caffeine shots to top it after such a hectic day. He needs to last the entire week of chaos. Some other time, for sure," he assured the disgruntled woman.
"Not fair ! Why not today ?" Hazel whined. "Plus you'll give yourself a heart attack at this rate with the amount of coffee you drink ! Are you sure coffee isn't running through your veins instead of blood ?" she batted her lashes innocently with a small pout framing on her face, making Dmitri chuckle.
"Puppy eyes don"t work on me, Doctor, as you know. They are no longer my Kryptonite and today .... " Dmitri trailed off as he tapped the tip of her nose and continued, "I'm planning to spend my evening reading a book in my all time favourite book café. It has been a long time since I've been there," he duly informed while Hazel crossed her arms.
"You lughead. You need to chill sometimes. Stop visiting the same old boring places all the time," she huffed.
"Well, nothing goes best together like coffee and books," Dmitri shrugged. "it's hard to beat the luxury of a leisurely cup of coffee with the Decadence D"Or cupcake, the local version .... oh so utterly divine – least of all when your surroundings are as decadent as the snacks you're enjoying," he grinned before clocking off from the hospital and going to his favourite, cozy place to nurse a cup of coffee in one hand and a thrilling novel in another.
"Get a damn life, you classic nerd !!" he heard Hazel shout after him, making him shake his head and laugh at his extroverted friend.