Chapter 17: CALLING CRUSHES

"Hello ?" Dmitri"s deep, soothing voice floated in, warming Audrey"s insides.
She could just hear him say that word on repeat her whole life.
"Hello ? Is anyone there ?" Dmitri asked again, although he could hear the faint sound of Audrey"s breathing.
"Uh hello, Doctor !" Audrey went for a cheerful tone after a moment"s hesitation. "I hope I have not caught you at the wrong time," she cautiously asked, her nerves almost failing her.
"No, you haven"t. May I know who is on the line ?" asked an awestruck Dmitri with his heart in his mouth as he could easily recognize that sweet voice anywhere.
"It's me, Audrey Blaydes this side," answered Audrey.
"Audrey who ?" Dmitri asked innocently.
"After spilling coffee on me twice, you're asking Audrey who ? The audacity, doctor !" Audrey deadpanned; the bold and beautiful woman getting back to her usual, confident self.
"Oh ! It's you ! Dear me, that's a surprise !" Dmitri exclaimed, even though he was totally on the verge of passing out and could have easily won an Oscar for his acting skills at that time.
"Ahem ! Yes," Audrey cleared her throat. "I hope it's a pleasant surprise and not a terrible shock," she added.
"Err, what I meant was, how did you manage to get my name and number ?" Dmitri diverted the caller"s attention before she caught his lie.
"Aha ! For that matter, I have my own intelligence sources. I mean from our university administrator," Audrey chuckled triumphantly as if she had won a trophy literally.
"Hmmm ! I'm impressed with your sources of intelligence, Miss Blaydes," Dmitri complimented.
"Doctor !" Audrey exasperatedly breathed out the word as she rolled her eyes. "You can call me, Audrey," she adorably said.
"Audrey, then you can call me Dmitri," an equally amused Dmitri replied. "Although I am intrigued about the nature of your call," he added.
"Well, I just wanted to know, how is everything going for you ?'' Audrey asked and then wanted to smack her head for the stupid reason she just gave.
"It's going perfectly fine for me," Dmitri replied, trying hard not to laugh. "Is that all or can I help you with something else ?" He teased.
Audrey hesitated but then opted for the truth.
"Actually, I've been thinking about you a lot lately and finally worked up the courage to ask if everything is fine with you. I didn't see you in the Book Café today evening," she honestly said, concern dripping in her voice.
"Oh ! You mean to say, with so many books around, you were not checking the books but were checking me out in the Book Café ? Am I right ?" an amused Dmitri asked.
Oops ! Caught red handed, an embarrassed Audrey thought.
However, she retorted back with equal fire.
"No need to get so conceited, Doctor. I was not the one who ran away from the cafe as if hell was chasing me yesterday," she teased.
"Oh, about that," Dmitri sheepishly started. "I apologize, Ms. Blaydes."
"Audrey."
"Hmm ?"
"Call me, Audrey."
"Right. Sorry, Audrey."
"No issue, Dmitri," Audrey replied with a huge smile on her face. Hearing her name from the doctor did something funny to her heart. "Coming back to what I was originally saying, I called you after your absence from the cafe today because I was wondering if you were exhausted. You could take it easy and relax somewhere like the cafe, you know ?" Audrey's suggestion came more as a hotchpotch, nervous question.
"Why would you think that I'm exhausted ? Geez ! I can't believe it ! You have hands on my hospital work schedule also, from your so-called intelligence sources !" exclaimed an exasperated Dmitri. "Why d- ... "
"Hold on ! I do not know about your schedule !! I'm just saying you must be exhausted because you have been running through my mind all day and night," Audrey clarified mischievously while cutting Dmitri short.
After an awkward silence, a delighted Dmitri flushed with anticipation, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that ! Could you please repeat yourself ?"
"What I mean is that would you mind slowing down and getting out of my mind," Audrey slowly and patiently said as if talking to a child.
"Fine, I won't run through your mind anymore but can I follow you ?! Because I remember my teacher saying Follow Your Heart"," Dmitri flirted back.
And boy did Audrey not turn beetroot red after that. That was simply unexpected and blew her mind !
On the other side, a grinning Dmitri was having the time of his life as he rendered his love interest speechless for a while before an ear pleasing laugh floated through the line.
"Your heart is on the right path then," Audrey approved.
"Is that so ?" Dmitri lightly chuckled. "Well then before plunging into conversations of the heart, we should try to get to know each other better" he suggested while pretending to be serious.
"Fine ! Let us get to know each other better," Audrey concurred. "So Dr. Dmitri, what is your specialization in ?" she asked, genuinely trying to know the man residing in her heart.
"I'd specialize in you any day, Audrey," a naughty smile flickered across Dmitri's face as he answered.
"Oh you !" huffed Audrey while she got swept off her feet after hearing the reply. "Argh ! You are impossible," she grumbled but Dmitri could hear the laugh in her voice. "You ask me something."
"Alright. Apart from making me fall for you, what do you do, Audrey ?!" Dmitri quipped.
Audrey held back a giggle and laid back on her bed with a bounce as she talked to Dmitri. She was feeling more relaxed now, contrary to her fraught nerves initially.
"I'm in the final semester of Arts honors and will graduate this year end," she answered.
"Oh wow ! That's great. All the Best !" Dmitri wished.
"Thanks ! So are you single, doctor ?" Audrey asked.
"No, I'm married but I'm flirting with you," Dmitri, the sarcasm king said with a roll of his eyes, making Audrey chuckle. "Of course, I'm single !" he exclaimed hurriedly before Audrey took him seriously and cut off the call.
"I was wondering, why on earth would you stay single when you could have me ?" Audrey innocently said.
Dmitri could picture her batting her eyelashes at that time.
"Haha ! Audrey, everybody knows how to love, but very few people know how to stay in love with one person forever. So think before you take a leap and make me yours. I am there for the long haul. Maybe you should give it a second thought," Dmitri gallantly gave her a chance.
"You're worth more than second thoughts and maybes, Dmitri. I am in for the long haul too," Audrey whispered just before she was startled by the knock on her room"s door.
KNOCK ! KNOCK !
"You have been glued to your phone ever since you came back home, Audrey ! You must have nearly blacked out the screen. Just see your screen time stats ! Enough for now," Mrs Blaydes chided after barging inside Audrey's room with her arms crossed.
"I was getting ready to go to bed in a while, Mom. You have a good night's sleep," Audrey sweetly said before hugging Lucy as the latter went out while Audrey locked her room.
"I need to let you go, Audrey," Dmitri broke the silence after Audrey"s mother had gone back. "It's quite late at night. Enjoy your beauty sleep — not that you need it," he added in his warm baritone voice which induced a fresh bout of blushing on Audrey"s face. She was doing that a lot around him.
"You too have a goodnight and sleep tight, Dmitri. It was nice talking to you too,"Audrey replied, fighting the urge to stay on the line and forcing herself to hang up the phone somehow.
* * * * *
At the university ...
"Someone is blooming glowing ! Almost bursting with happiness," Rachel teased when an almost-hopping Audrey came to her.
"Of course ! I called him !!"
"After how many hang ups ?" Rachel teased.
"None."
Rachel shot up an eyebrow and Audrey scoffed.
"Fine. Atleast a dozen times," she grudgingly admitted before her eyes lit up. "But I finally took a leap of faith and tada !" she sang out and opened her arms to which Rachel did not miss the chance to get into the taller girl"s embrace, making the younger Blades girl chuckle at the unexpected hug.
"My gosh ! No wonder you are bouncing with joy. You guys did not hold back at all in spicing up the conversation ! And here I was thinking that all first time conversations are awkward but you just turned it into something so special," Rachel expressed her amazement and amusement after Audrey spilled out all the contents of her call with Dmitri till the last full stop.
"Credit goes to Mr. Smooth Talker. I had no idea how time passed by until mom came to remind me to go to bed. I felt a bit sad when Dmitri hung up but we have exchanged a few texts since morning. However, he hasn"t replied to my last text yet," Audrey pouted as she unlocked her phone for the umpteenth time to check for any notifications. "He must be busy with his patients I guess," she added and looked up to see Rachel"s grin get wider and wider.
"Ahem ahem !" Rachel cleared her throat mockingly. "Calls ? And now texts ?! Woah Ms. Blaydes ! What a speed !! I can hear wedding bells already," Rachel teased as she chuckled.
"Stop teasing me, Rachel ! Already I'm tired of checking my phone throughout the day, to see if Dmitri has messaged me. I keep analyzing the words he uses in his texts and rewind all our conversations again and again in my mind," Audrey mumbled which only fueled to Rachel"s laughter. "Zikes ! I hope I've not gone bonkers and this is all normal," a fearful Audrey added.
"God, you have been bitten by the love bug," Rachel replied. "And waiting for his response is normal, Audrey. It's your brain scanning for signs if Dmitri is available and responsive to your emotional needs or not. I experienced it first hand when I started dating Leo too," Rachel revealed.
"Really ?" Audrey asked doubtfully.
"Oh yeah, really ! I remember re-reading Leo's text messages and viewing his photos over and over again when we first began dating because I thought about him so often," Rachel replied.
"Looks like I am in your shoes now. It only takes a second to read his text, but that second lasts a lifetime for me. It is all .... weird," Audrey sighed.
"Acting weird and displaying embarrassing behaviour are some of the side effects of falling in love head over heels, Sweetie !" Rachel chuckled. "Enjoy it while you can !"
* * * * *
In the hospital ...
"I swear to the heavens above that if you glance towards your phone one more time then I will shove that thing up your ass," Hazel threatened.
"You don"t have my permission to touch me," Dmitri deadpanned.
"I never needed it," Hazel replied and Dmitri quickly pocketed the object of discussion before it really went somewhere unwanted.
"What is wrong with you ? If anything, you have never touched that thing except to take calls from the hospital staff," Hazel noted.
"From talking whenever possible to texting her first thing in the morning to texting her last thing at night, I don"t know when my feelings from friendship turned into those of love for Audrey," Dmitri confessed.
"Aww! Come on ! Stop fooling me ! From day one, it was love and never friendship," Hazel rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Your Majesty" smirked an amused Dmitri.
"You"re crazy about Audrey, why don"t you ask her out ?" Hazel suggested. No one knew how many shreds did her heart break into when she said that but she was a good friend and only wanted the best for Dmitri.
"Nah ! It's too early. Anything worth having, is worth waiting for," Dmitri replied.
"Hey ! Watch out ! I hope you don't just keep waiting and she walks the aisle with someone else," Hazel warned, although she had never acted upon her own words herself for years.
"For heaven's sake ! Don't say that !! It hurts. Don't be so cruel with the choice of your words, Hazel !" Dmitri retorted.
"Ok ! I apologize ! I just want you to take an initiative before it gets too late. I know that it"s always better to express your love than to regret later," Hazel remorsefully advised.
"Asking Audrey out is super nerve-wracking. No matter how confident I am, putting myself out there is a big risk—because getting turned down stings," Dmitri huffed.
"I understand your emotional state and fear of being rejected. We have grown together," Hazel empathized, thinking that she herself didn't disclose her love for him because of the fear of losing his friendship.
"If you're understanding my state of mind and heart then please help me out, Hazel. You know this is my first time and you're my only friend and family in this whole wide world," Dmitri pleaded.
"Fine ! Fine ! Stop flattering me ! Invite Audrey to grab a cup of coffee with you and talk to her about your feelings. 'As they say, a lot can happen over a cup of coffee'," Hazel proposed.
"Good grief ! Come on ! Coffee ?! Are you off your mind, Hazel ! Already a lot has happened over coffee for us. So never ever ! You puzzle me exceedingly sometimes."
"Alright, alright. No coffee ! Chill, dork." Hazel conceded. "Just tell me how did you end your conversation then ? Did you guys set up a date or meeting or anything ?" She asked.
"Well, we had a nice conversation yesterday, but when the time came to ask her out, I froze because I didn't know what to say," Dmitri answered.
"Dig deep ! Get every romantic bone in you working. Think of making your date beautiful, dude and pluck up your courage to ask her out !" Hazel encouraged.
"How about a dinner date in one of the fancy restaurants ?" Dmitri asked.
"Dinner dates are not just about fancy restaurants or showing off to each other. There"s a lot more to a dinner date than just splurging money," Hazel nixed his idea right away.
"It's really difficult to understand what women want and how to plan a perfect dinner date," Dmitri said with squinted eyes. "You tell me what a dinner date means to you then."
"The perfect dinner date is all about romance and love. It"s about enjoying each other"s company and basking in the warm glow of love on a pleasant night," Hazel expressed her view, almost sharing her fantasies of going out with Dmitri.
"Our relationship is too new and fresh. I don"t know much about her so it's a little challenging to plan a date to impress her," Dmitri shook his head.
"When you're first getting to know someone or in the initial stages of a relationship, a date isn"t just about impressing them. It"s about making them feel loved in the best way possible," Hazel pointed out.
"Alright my Love Guru. Thank you for your pearls of wisdom," Dmitri bowed and just dodged a crumb as he laughed back his way to his office.