Chapter 7: The Fever

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A/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update! :D :D

Happy Reading! :D :D

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Ishaani stood in front of the mirror, shivering in a mixture of anger and fright as she stared at her reflection, her face still devoid of any colour. His words from earlier in the day kept ringing over and over in her ears in a sickening mantra as it kept bruising her heart, the fact that he was willing to give her a second chance but wasn't going to now killing her even more.

She swung open the cabinet angrily and pulled out the scalpel. She stared at it with loathing as though it was its fault that so much had happened, none of which she still understood. She couldn't believe that he actually believed that she'd do something like that! But then again, something didn't feel right at all. The lightning struck tower was his prediction, but it was nothing alike what she was expecting. She couldn't understand what had even hit her, far less fathom how so much had even happened in so little time.

She shut her eyes to drown away the words that only kept blaring at her in accusation until her eyes snapped open, realizing that the scalpel was still in her grip. He'd told her that her revenge would kill her and that she'd gone out of control. How dare he! She stared at the scalpel angrily, her hands shivering as it craved for the deed to be done.

But she was too angry!

Too angry at the way he'd treated her today! It would be a delight to let just one stroke break her promise after everything he'd told her today. But was it worth it? Wouldn't that make her what he claimed her to be? A coward? There were still several questions to be answered. And suddenly, she realized that this was not the time to chase perfection. It was time to chase the man for whom she craved to be perfect.

And even before she'd consciously decided what was to be done, she threw away the scalpel from her hand as far away as she could.

-x-

Finch remained seated by the coffee table at eleven in the night, working upon the files in front of him when a series of moans disturbed him. He'd decided to stay back in Ranveer's room after realizing that the latter was burning with a high fever, having given him cold water compresses twice already since he'd collapsed the afternoon, but to no avail.

"Ishaani..."

"Vaghela, what's hap-" began Finch as he turned behind to see Ranveer now convulsing upon the bed, tossing and turning as though he was being tortured while he looked to be in pain as his hands flew upon his head in distress. Finch quickly made his way towards Ranveer and sat beside him, realizing instantly that he was still not entirely conscious.

"Where is she?" choked out Ranveer, his breathing heavy as his eyes snapped opened suddenly. He held on to Finch's collar, staring at him in beseech as he began perspiring heavily, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Vaghela, relax-" spoke Finch again as he tried to push him back upon the bed, but Ranveer had begun putting up a fight with him by now, crying and moaning as though some invisible knife was stabbing at him. Finch managed to restrain him with great difficulty as he realized what was happening to Ranveer, the fact alone making a brick of dread fall into his stomach.

"No, where is she? Where is she?!" yelled Ranveer at the top of his voice in desperation, tears now streaming from his eyes while all Finch could do was watch in torment, trying his best to calm him down.

"She's fine! You both are!" lied Finch in return, hoping that it would somehow ease out Ranveer.

"No, she-" began Ranveer weakly, his body suddenly falling still upon the bed as he stared at Finch quietly, taking in sharp, quick rasps of breath.

"-she's fine! Trust me, I just spoke to her!" tried to pacify Finch, and that brought Ranveer's questions to a standstill.

He stared at Finch, a fresh bout of perspiration breaking upon his forehead as he shivered even more. Moments later, Ranveer's head slowly fell to his other side in another wave of unconsciousness as his mouth remained slightly agape, even though his breathing still remained slightly laboured. Finch let out a shaky sigh as he felt his own heart beat irregularly, checking Ranveer's forehead to see that he had an even higher temperature now.

It wasn't surprising to him though, what had happened. Ranveer's insomnia episodes from several years ago often ended up with incidents of fever and hallucination, but it was for the first time in years that Ranveer had suffered from a hallucination as bad as this. But then again, being awake for seventy-two hours at a stretch and having only twelve hours' worth of sleep in over five days was bound to lead to something like this.

And knowing that only one remedy worked with Ranveer, Finch quickly got up and brought over a bowl of cold water from the washroom. Sitting beside a now peacefully-unconscious Ranveer, Finch sunk his handkerchief into the bowl of water, giving his friend cold water dabs for the third time that night.

-x-

Sparkles of light swirled in the mists of stark darkness as it popped away the bubbles of sleep, drawing him towards the brink of consciousness. He groaned as he tried to hold on to the warmth of the darkness, twisting and turning as he felt a restlessness creep into his limbs until he'd left the world of slumber. And yet he refused to open his eyes not unlike a stubborn child, feeling too tired to do so.

Contemplating the same thing over and over until he knew that there was no other option there but to open his eyes finally, Ranveer embraced the light of the new world at long last, his chocolate orbs taking in his surroundings with curiosity as his mind felt sluggish, not recollecting anything about how he happened to be where he was. He realized that he was asleep on his bed at the hotel, several plush pillows stuffed underneath his head softly while he was covered with the clean linen sheets that felt just as fluffy.

Pushing himself up to let his back lean against the rest of the bed, Ranveer yawned softly as he felt the soft light of the room make the last traces of sleep fade away, the morning sun an ethereal white as it passed through the rich curtains of the same shade. He looked around the place absentmindedly until his eyes fell upon a note beside the table near his bed, and he quickly picked it up, curious.

Call me when you wake up.

Finch

Ranveer frowned, wondering what Finch wanted to talk about. And the moment he began to think, his memory unclogged itself until all the events from the previous day returned to him within a matter of minutes, his last memory being Finch drugging him. Feeling his blood boil at the more than temerous behaviour, Ranveer had barely let his anger reach its peak when he heard someone unlock his door.

Sitting upon the edge of the bed and picking up a vase from nearby as a weapon of defense, the door opened to reveal Finch who tiptoed into the room, lost in thought.

"Vaghela, what are you-" began Finch, abruptly halting when he saw Ranveer sit at the edge of the bed with a vase in his hand, on guard. Before he could take another step forward, the vase came flying over his head in a blur of blue and green, smashing upon the wall behind him with a resounding crash.

"What the-?"

"You swine! How dare you drug me?" roared Ranveer as he jumped off from the bed, looking like he was ready to fight Finch in a one-on-one combat.

He fell back upon the bed a moment later, realizing that he stood up too quick as stars popped now before his eyes. Finch swore at the top of his voice as he ducked right in time, looking petrified for his life. Ranveer didn't even in the least look apologetic as Finch walked inside and plonked upon one of the chairs, looking at Ranveer as though he'd lost it.

"Be happy that I gave you the pills right in time. If I'd have let you pull on a little longer, I think you'd have fallen permanently asleep, leaving us all in the rut that you've just created," replied Finch stonily as Ranveer crossed his arms upon his chest, looking like a stubborn child. He now remained in just the black shirt and cream trousers from work the previous day.

"How many pills did you dilute in the water?" asked Ranveer pointedly after some time when both the friends were done glaring daggers at each other. Ranveer now rubbed his temples to dissipate the persistent drowsiness while Finch pursed his lips, mentally wondering whether he should have added another pill in the water before grudgingly replying anyway.

"Two. It's why you've been knocked out cold for nearly twenty-six hours straight," he added at length, wondering how his friend was going to react to this latest fact.

Ranveer, on the other hand, let his mouth fall open in shock as he suddenly remembered how much more was yet to be done and how much time had fallen away from upon his hands, feeling a sudden wave of paranoia hit him. He sprung up from the bed in anger once again.

"You idiot! I wasn't supposed to sleep this long! Oh my God-"

"Relax! Everything's in control, okay?" assured Finch as he stood up and walked towards Ranveer, forcing him back upon the bed as the latter was entered into a phase of hysteria. Finch knew that his friend had had the complete package this time.

"I think I'm going to be sick," stated Ranveer suddenly as he got up from the bed and made his way towards the washroom, leaving Finch to cope with everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Ten minutes later, Ranveer reappeared again looking weak while Finch could see that he was still shivering.

"Do you need me to call you a doctor?" asked Finch worriedly, letting his anger abate the moment he took in Ranveer's condition that didn't look too good to him.

"No... No, I'll be fine..." replied Ranveer unconvincingly as he half-fell upon the bed, looking extremely fatigued.

"Just wait right here, I'll be back in some time," was all Finch said as he left Ranveer alone for some time, knowing that it was during times like these that rest was what he required the most.

Mentally grateful that Finch gave him his required privacy, Ranveer quickly took out a pair of tracks and sweatshirt from the cupboard and made his way to the washroom, knowing that the only thing that would take him out of the pills' stupor and the insomnia episode would be a cold-water shower.

Feeling considerably better after half an hour in a bunch of fresh clothes, Ranveer left the shower and plonked upon the bed, deep in thought about Ishaani and what had happened the previous day when his eyes fell upon Finch's note once again. Feeling terrible about his behaviour from earlier, Ranveer quickly picked up his phone and clicked upon Finch's caller id.

"I'm alright now. Come in," he spoke and five minutes later, Finch entered the room using the extra key card that he'd ordered from the receptionist, looking worn out. Ranveer gave him an apologetic look once Finch walked up to where he sat now.

"You gave me a right good scare there, mate. Still feverish?" asked Finch as he touched Ranveer's forehead, the fever now considerably lesser than the previous night.

"A little. It'll be alright though," added Ranveer hastily when he saw Finch's face turn puce.

"You had a hallucination as well. Went kinda berserk," stated Finch pointedly and Ranveer gulped, feeling worried. His hallucinations during his insomnia episodes were never pretty from what he'd heard even though he never had any recollections about the same.

"Did I do something stupid?" asked Ranveer fearfully, his eyes downcast. Finch had half a mind to torture him more for his lack of responsibility and for the fiasco with the vase until practicality descended upon him along with the guilty realization that Ranveer still wasn't well.

"Apart from toss upon the bed and scream as though you were strapped and being electrocuted, yelling out for Ishaani at the top of your voice? No," replied Finch and Ranveer looked heavily flabbergasted.

"Thank God," mumbled Ranveer in spite of himself while Finch rolled his eyes at him.

Ranveer let his head fall back upon the pillow before he was suddenly reminded of the storm he'd created in the office the previous day, the thought alone jerking him alert. There were a lot of questions he was yet to have his answers to.

"Hey, what happened about Rishi then?" he asked Finch in palpable anxiety. The latter sighed, suddenly looking sympathetic.

"Got unofficially fired. She isn't going to make it public till the 29th though. Puneet is safe," he added and Ranveer shook his head, as though clearly expecting this to happen. This was classic Ishaani.

"Rishi gets to attend office till the stipulated date though," added Finch suddenly, sounding bemused while Ranveer couldn't help but let his lips twitch in spite of himself. Ishaani may have not know what had hit her just yet but he could clearly see that Miss Parekh was playing her cards cautiously in the meanwhile.

"Did you fix up the appointment I asked you to?" inquired Ranveer further, suddenly looking serious as the impending doom of the situation fell upon his head once again. He still couldn't fathom how the snake had gotten away with this one detail in spite of such meticulous planning.

"Done," replied Finch, but it didn't make Ranveer breathe any easier. On the contrary, the lines of worry remained deeply etched upon his already-troubled features.

"And the phone call-"

"Hasn't come yet. It's only the 15th today only so it's a little early to expect one," replied Finch reasonably, wondering why Ranveer was so sure about that one particular phone call that was yet to come. But RV's instincts had never been wrong till this date, and he knew that it wouldn't be so even this time.

"And what about Ishaani?" asked Ranveer after some time, suddenly feeling his heart squirm not unlike the time he stood outside the premise of his college, waiting for his results during the finals determining him to be a graduate.

"She's boldly waltzed into the office today in a sleeveless white dress, or like a demon in the clothes of an angel', as Puneet put it to me this morning. He says that her hands have light scratch marks, as though done by a cat," added Finch quickly, expecting this question to come eventually.

This time, Ranveer's features did relax considerably as though someone had lifted away a huge burden from upon his shoulder. Finch couldn't help but notice that Ranveer looked happy enough to faint in relief that his gamble did pay off.

"Yeah her wounds weren't deep. Five days would have been enough to cure most of them," he added, smiling a little easier this time as he shut his eyes, feeling lethargic even though he knew that there was no time for any of it. The real hustle would begin now and there was no time to bother about his health.

"That was really stupid, what you did yesterday," remarked Finch suddenly, looking angry. Ranveer knew that his friend was dead against the plan right from the start even though he knew that there was no better option after all the facts were put before him.

"With her or myself?" asked Ranveer shrewdly, looking at Finch with a confidence that shook the latter's gaze momentarily.

And it was during moments like these that Gregory Finch was reminded of the fact that his first presumption about Ranveer Vaghela had been absolutely spot on - he was truly an extraordinary man.

"Both. Do you even have any idea how badly this could have backfired?" asked Finch, wondering whether Ranveer had even taken this into consideration after knowing the emotional turmoil that Ishaani was going through.

But then again, no living soul knew Ishaani Parekh's strengths and weakness better than the man before him did, even though what he managed to pull off the previous day was nothing short of the biggest gamble. He knew that even his friend secretly agreed that it was a miracle that his risk had paid off.

"But it didn't," corrected Ranveer pointedly, as though hurt at being accused of tormenting Ishaani in such a brutal way. Finch only waved his hand airily at his friend before remembering the conversation he had with Puneet the previous evening.

"She hates your guts now, just for your information. She's asked Puneet to re-wire the 477 crores back to your firm's account immediately," recounted Finch, and Ranveer felt what little colour he'd regained back drain away from upon his face once again. He was worried about this precise aspect of her recklessness.

"What did Puneet say?" asked Ranveer frightfully, but Finch looked considerably relaxed.

"He said it would take three days for the transfer to happen," replied Finch, while Ranveer now looked impressed. He knew that both Rishi and Puneet were trustworthy for what he'd asked them to do. Ishaani may have had terrible judgment of people, but Miss Parekh was as sound as she could be.

"What's the status on Pettigrew?" asked Ranveer, his eyes suddenly darkening in spite of himself as the entire fiasco swam into his mind again.

"ETA - 17th, 7AM."

"Damn that son of a bitch! That one flaw and-" began Ranveer, but Finch cut his flow of profanities by putting a hand upon his shoulder in reassurance.

"We'll handle the contingencies. You just take it easy now, okay? You've done everything that you could," he added, and Ranveer crossed his arms upon his chest, looking sour. Before Finch could say anything further, Ranveer looked up at him and sighed tiredly.

"I'm hungry... I think I could eat you just for appetizers."

Finch roared at the top of his voice rather immoderately before slapping Ranveer upon his back and nodding his head in agreement, remembering about the flying vase.

"I'll have the room service bring you up some good food."

-x-

A couple of hours later saw Ranveer and Finch sitting by the coffee table once again, enjoying their cups of coffee as the evening sunlight only seemed to glow more benevolently into the room. The fever had reduced after the sumptuous brunch that Ranveer had helped himself to even though he could not hide the feeling that he felt too tired and a little weak. Finch asked Ranveer to show himself a doctor but as was expected, the latter refused point-blank.

And that had ultimately led to an argument between the two friends once again.

"I'm sorry about the vase," muttered Ranveer after some time to break the cold silence of the room. The two of them were now pouring upon several documents from two diamond consignments due from the RV Group of Companies back in Sydney.

"Well, let's just add that to hotel property destruction. You can apologize to the shattered remains and make them whole again," shot back Finch spitefully but mentally slapped himself when he realized what he'd just spoken.

"So you do understand my point," crooned Ranveer with a relish in his voice that only made Finch want to strangle himself in his mind. He looked up at Ranveer rather stonily, wishing to drug him again but controlling the urge to not do so.

"Don't be a twat. And wow, throwing a vase at me, Vaghela? Could you get any more mental than that?" asked Finch, hoping to change the topic and bring it right back to they'd started their argument from. Ranveer gave him a disinterested look.

"Atleast I threw a vase. You threw a chair at me all those years back when I refused to attend your wedding!" shot back Ranveer, remembering darkly how he'd just avoided the chair by ducking in time.

"You wouldn't just listen to sense!" complained Finch, still not feeling remotely apologetic about the incident since it was exactly what prompted Ranveer out from his two-month depression back in 2009.

"And stop being such a baby about it. I threw the vase way above your head anyway," added Ranveer grudgingly, leaving Finch to gape at him in an outrage that left him mute for two whole minutes.

"Yeah right, because we should all have vases flying over our heads every now and then!"

"Well, this will teach you a lesson about not doing shit like that with me again," countered Ranveer unsympathetically. Even though Finch didn't bother saying anything further, Ranveer could sense the barrage of abuses going on in the latter's mind.

"You admitted that you were ready to give her a second chance, that means," spoke Finch after some time, remembering the things he had to discuss with Ranveer from the previous day but hadn't been able to do so because of very obvious reasons.

"I had to say that," replied Ranveer, looking uncomfortable suddenly as he wondered why his instinct had even made him say that in the first place. Finch smirked shamelessly, knowing that it wasn't long before Ranveer gave in eventually after seeing the lengths he was going to right now.

"Well, atleast there's fifteen days more till you have to make a call upon it," said Finch coolly. Ranveer let out an irritated huff, understanding what his friend hadn't spoken in words.

"Can we focus upon the major problem here first?"

"And that's your insomnia," piped in Finch before Ranveer had the chance to turn the topic towards the professional front. "Do you have any sense or have you sold them all to the highest bidder?!" exclaimed Finch rather spitefully, Ranveer suddenly taken aback with the anger in his voice.

He guessed that his condition must have been rather bad the previous day if Finch looked this mad at him. Or maybe it was just the fever that remained unwilling to lessen that had left his friend worried.

"I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again," sighed Ranveer in response, feeling genuinely apologetic. But the look from upon Finch's face still didn't lessen in intensity.

"It better not, even though I don't trust you at all," stated Finch before smacking Ranveer across his face, leaving the latter stupefied as he felt outraged. It had been completely out of the blue and uncalled for!

"Ouch, that hurt!" protested Ranveer, feeling the area of his face where Finch's knuckles had made contact hurt terribly. He was secretly thankful that all of his teeth were intact on the left side of his face, along with his nose.

"You deserve it," replied Finch as he shrugged his shoulders casually, feeling considerably lighter after relieving all of his unspoken feelings. But he couldn't help but observe that Ranveer still had a lingering fever that would definitely need attention if it didn't come down by the next day.

"We can talk about that later. But first- Wait, it's David. I need to take this," he added suddenly as his phone buzzed.

Finch nodded his head as Ranveer took the call and got up from the chair rather unsteadily, walking towards the mini study room of his presidential suite. Finch shook his head, wondering what was to exactly happen on the 17th where everything would be out in the open when his thoughts were interrupted by a call on the intercom.

"There's a Ms. Carvalho here to meet Mr. RV."

"Send her up," was all that Finch said, wondering how Ranveer knew that this would happen as well, apart from the other phone call he was direly in wait for. Five minutes later, the expected door knock broke the calm of the room even though Finch opened the door after the elapsement of some time.

"Ms. Shanella! What brings you here?" asked Finch in feigned surprise, noticing that he was the last person that she was expecting to meet right now. The woman in question looked a little harried in his opinion, although it didn't quite match the still sharpness of her grey eyes that looked premeditated.

"I- I need to talk to RV," she heaved out in an uneven response, looking as though she'd run a mile. And suddenly, Finch could see why his friend had to go the extra mile to get his point across. The woman was a brilliant actress.

"He's on a call right now, and-" began Finch but abruptly stopped talking when Ranveer's voice emanated from behind him, sounding serious and tense.

"-David, I need my tickets booked for the earliest flight possible. I will not stay here a minute longer, and- Shanella!" he exclaimed suddenly as his eyes finally landed upon her.

Shanella's expressions softened to those of a timid bunny instantly, as though on cue, the clarity of the grey in her eyes dulling as Ranveer cut the call. Pushing Finch aside as though he wasn't present in the first place, Shanella entered the room and threw herself upon RV in a hug that nearly threw the latter off his balance.

"RV! Oh, thank God you're alright!"

"What do you mean?" asked RV as they separated, looking slightly flustered at being caught off-guard like that. Shanella let her fingers trail through the small of his neck as she tiptoed, leaving a small trail of kisses upon his cheek.

"I've been so worried about you! You stormed out from the office without saying anything and then your phone wasn't available the entire day and even today-"

"I'm alright, darling. I've been busy," he added in a dark voice as his eyes flared up, causing a split opinion between the other two occupants of the room.

While Shanella assumed they were for Miss Parekh and what had happened the previous day, Finch wondered how being in an unconscious slumber the entire day accounted for being busy before he realized that Ranveer was glaring at him from behind to keep his mouth shut for he was on the verge of snorting out loud.

"I'm afraid for my life, RV."

"What? Why?" he asked as he cupped her cheeks softly, letting her drown into the depths of his chocolate gaze that he conveniently let open to her as he softened its intensity. Shanella bit her lip rather distractedly before snapping back to reality while Finch had half a mind to snort but didn't for the sake of the seriousness of the situation.

"Miss Parekh... She'd gone mad! She literally threatened me yesterday after you left! For a moment there, I wondered whether I'd even be walking out from there alive or no! She's hell bent to pinning this on my head!" she whimpered as she clung on to him, letting lose a couple of tears upon her face. RV wiped them away, letting the pad of his thumb caress her cheek in slow circles that made Shanella nestle her face into his palm. She felt his fingers burn against her face.

"As long as I'm there, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?"

"But you're leaving for Sydney-" she began, her eyes staring at him frightfully. RV sighed.

"First flight tomorrow, yes. I cannot stay here a minute longer," he added forcefully, his face turning stony as he let go of her and turned his back, putting his hand upon his head in what Shanella could easily see was chagrin.

"Take me with you, please..." she begged of him suddenly as she turned him around, the beseech in her eyes not helping. RV took away her hands from upon his shoulder, looking deeply troubled now.

"Don't make this difficult for me, sweetie... You know how much you mean to me," he added in a quiet whisper. Shanella burst into another fit of tears as she pulled him in for a hug, bridging all gap in between them.

"Will you come back?" she whispered into his ears as he relinquished his hold upon her rather reluctantly, letting her kiss the crux of his neck instead. RV shivered in spite of himself as he pushed her away from himself, letting the anger reflect in his eyes now as she looked at him in longing.

"Never..."

"And you'll let Miss Parekh get away with this?" asked Shanella, her tone suddenly controlled as both the men realized what she was doing. RV cupped her face, letting her drown in the heat of the fire this time as he smiled coldly.

"I'll have my revenge upon her for this certainly. No one walks away from RV scot free. No one," he emphasized with a throaty whisper, seeing the effect his words were having upon her. His voice cast a slow spell, crashing slowly yet steadily as her gaze shook, the heat of his eyes suddenly much more than she could bear.

"I'm afraid..." she whispered involuntarily, and RV smiled in spite of himself.

"Don't be. She cannot even touch you for something that wasn't your fault," assured RV as Shanella sighed, taking the cue from upon his face that the conversation was drawing to a close. She'd found what she was looking for, and she was satisfied.

"But what if she tries to implicate me-" she began with a halfhearted appeal but RV beat her to it, telling her what she wanted to hear.

"It won't happen, trust me."

Shanella nodded her head and kissed him one last time upon his cheek before she left, not giving Finch a single look. The moment she faded away from view, Finch slammed the door hard behind him and mouthed a sarcastic 'wow' to Ranveer, who didn't look amused even in the least. Both of them sat back upon the bed, looking at each other at a loss of words until Finch decided to speak first.

"Had Ishaani heard this, she'd have cut you into pieces."

"She's going to cut me into pieces anyway. I need you to take care of her, okay?" asked Ranveer as he turned to look at Finch, suddenly feeling the worry return now that the scene was done. Finch couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend.

"Vaghela, it's just for a day-"

"-I know her, she'll go berserk," cut in Ranveer, her reaction clearly playing in his mind. He could clearly imagine what was going to happen the moment she found out about what he'd done in the first place. Finch stared ahead at the wall, remembering the horror in Puneet's voice when talking about his now-deranged boss.

"Yeah, I think all her employees got a gist of that yesterday."

-x-

Puneet entered Miss Parekh's cabin late in the evening once all the employees had left for the day. She sat at her desk with her head bent upon the papers in front of her even though she could not take in a single detail. Puneet cleared his throat, causing Miss Parekh's head to snap up in his direction. He couldn't help but notice that she looked strained now.

"What's the status report?"

"There were loads of issues at the customs but we cleared it off by the skin of our teeth," replied Puneet as he put two more files in front of her. Now that Rishi was banned from working upon anything related to the consignment, Puneet could feel the pressure increase upon him manifold.

"And what about the cargo container?"

"Had to pay extra for switching it. The accident was rather bad," replied Puneet. There was a news that there had been an accident upon the Beijing port where their cargo had nearly been destroyed. But thankfully for them, they'd managed to find a substitute vessel at the last minute.

"And what about the storage facility in London?"

"There's been problems with that too," replied Puneet in exasperation, wondering why everything was going wrong at once even though he wasn't surprised. The storage facility in London didn't have a reservation for the contents of their consignment in spite of it being made and as a last resort, one of the leading banks were being contacted right at that very moment about a temporary storage facility.

"Is there anything that's going f**king right?" asked aloud Miss Parekh, sounding as pissed as she looked. She just couldn't believe her luck - so much going wrong just at the last minute! She was starting to believe that this was not going to work out even though she was nowhere close to accepting defeat.

"De Beers have a delay, so the meeting has been postponed to the 21st," added Puneet rather apologetically and Miss Parekh rolled her eyes at him.

"Why is that our problem?" she asked adamantly, and Puneet sighed.

"It's De Beers. Can't help it."

"I need to be back here on the 23rd by hook or by crook," she exclaimed suddenly, remembering her final leg of revenge that had to be accomplished. Puneet looked at her quizzically but didn't ask her anything further.

"Hopefully, you will be, ma'am."

"How's the transfer process going on?" asked Miss Parekh after some time, her mind travelling back to Ranveer again like had happened several times during the day, even though all it did was leave her was rattled and angry. Puneet gulped, wishing that Ishaani wouldn't linger upon the topic for too long.

"Haven't made too much of a head start," he replied evasively and to his surprise, she let the topic drop without another question.

"And anything more about the signatures on the consignment documents authorizing the re-route?"

"Nothing more on that as well. There's no proof to help us out. Either Rishi or Shanella could be speaking the truth," replied Puneet, praying dearly that she didn't poke around anymore about it, not till the time was right. She looked on the tethers of wanting to discuss upon it further, but instinct made her deviate away from the topic.

"And what about Chirag?" she asked finally, the venom in her voice evident. It made Puneet flinch in spite of himself.

"Out of radar ever since that day in your cabin," he replied and she nodded her head.

She didn't want to tell him about the threat he'd sent her home so she remained quiet about it, finally asking the question that she'd been yearning to ask the whole day. Her ego was too bruised to pick up the phone and call him up personally, but she knew that Puneet must have been in touch with him for the transfer payment.

"And any news from Mr. RV's end?"

"Just that he's leaving for Sydney first thing tomorrow morning," replied Puneet, having gained the information just minutes before coming to meet his boss.

Miss Parekh in turn looked at him, deep in thought. She was hurt and upset and wanted to rage and storm and make him believe that she was speaking the truth, but somehow, it didn't feel worth it. She could see Ranveer's point about how things could never be the same between them again because they lacked exactly the thing that their friendship had once been solely based upon - trust.

"Are- are you okay, ma'am?" asked Puneet when Miss Parekh continued to remain lost in thought. She snapped out of her train of reminisces and regrets, suddenly craving the peace and quiet of her cabin.

"Yes, I am. Please leave me alone, Puneet," she added in a soft voice, and he took the cue. He got up from his seat and made his way towards the door, but not before stopping in his tracks to tell her one last thing.

"I'm sorry about what happened between the two of you."

"Not more so than me," was all she said, looking bereft.

Puneet nodded his head, praying to himself that the 17th of the month dawned upon all of them as soon as it could, sparing them all of the tension and heartbreak. The moment the door shut behind him, Miss Parekh resumed pondering upon the papers in front of her, trying to connect the pieces and see what had ransacked her orderly life in the first place.

-x-

The first appointment commenced as per schedule at exactly nine in the evening as Piyush remained seated before Ranveer and Finch, anticipating what kind of hell was about to come his way after his four-day bunk from work upon Ishaani's orders.

"Why did you call me here today, Ranveer?"

"I think you were due to tell me the truth," he replied, staring at Piyush with a cold look upon his face. The latter looked exhausted and unwilling to go over the same thing all over again.

"I can't, okay?! Ishaani's taken me under oath and-"

"I don't care because I know the whole picture now. But you need to pay for walking out on me," added Ranveer, but Piyush didn't flinch even in the slightest. On the contrary, he looked unamused by the fact that he'd become a ping pong in between two egotistical tyrants.

"I was meant to die anyway. If not you, then her. So tell me, how is it that I'm supposed to pay for what I did?" he asked, the sarcasm in his voice not gone amiss by either Ranveer or Finch.

The latter nudged Piyush, warning him of the seriousness of the situation with his eyes but Ranveer remained pensive. He sighed, giving the whole scenario a good thought in his mind before explaining the entire problem to Piyush as simply as he could, the latter listening to him patiently as the lawyer within him sprung to life. At the end of the narration, Piyush sat back into his chair looking worried as Ranveer concluded about what was expected of him to be done.

"I need you to get me out of this mess without the news of it leaking into the international markets. No legal records and out within a day," added Ranveer.

Piyush sighed, knowing that this was going to take some good thinking.

"That's not possible. Both of your conditions are not feasible."

"They are, if you use that explosive brain of yours. Finch tells me that you were the best in your class, though why he kept tabs of someone three years his junior beats me," remarked Ranveer and Piyush chuckled in spite of himself. Finch simply scowled at the two ex-classmates.

"There might be one way. But it's going to be tricky," warned Piyush as a plan had now begun to formulate in his mind, knowing that it would need a lot of timing and luck if things were to go their way.

"If Greg and Ishaani trust you, I do too. Come on, you owe me this," implored Ranveer of him, hoping that the tricky domino could be contained somehow or else he'd be doomed.

The entire legacy would.

"Alright, let's get rolling then. We just have a day and a half to go," stated Piyush as he pulled a pen and a sheet of paper towards him, bringing out the hardcore lawyer out for the other two men to see. Ranveer let RV slip over as he leaned back into his chair, Finch putting forth all the documents related to the case for the two men to work upon with all the necessary details highlighted.

"Bring it on," said RV, putting forth another document with the others that would be his ace of spades in the final round.

---

Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D

Next chapter:
Chapter 8

LadyMeringue2016-12-28 03:34:52