Chapter 19

Part 19
Mehak's face paled ..she knew that tone ..it meant he was mad ..The tears that were never really dry , starting welling up again ...and then she remembered her hurt ..
Why the hell should she worry that he was mad , she was the one who had right to be mad
It was he ..who broke her faith , her trust .She gave everything to him and what did he give her in return except betrayal?
She was crazy to never stop caring for him .
Her anger gave her the strength that she was needed.
She looked straight into his eyes .." it definitely is a surprise Mr Khanna .."
The coldness in her voice hit straight at his heart. He noticed Brian and Mehak exchanging glances. They were communicating silently and jealousy, absolutely irrational jealousy, rose its green head in all its ugliness is Shaurya's heart.
He clamped down a bitter retort that was hovering on his tongue and instead asked the way to the washroom.
Brian looked at Mehak sheepishly .." I had no idea you were here, but thank you for keeping your calm"
"Yeah ..I realized that you probably did not know that I was here "
"I better go and help Shaurya... He needs some first aid and a change.." Brian started moving inside ..but stopped as Buzz started whining ..he wanted his master ...he needed some TLC and there was no way he would not grab attention of his master ..
Oh Buzz, he looked at his beloved pet ...
"Mehak could I ask this last favour from you ..please ...could you hand Shaurya the burn ointment from the medicine cabinet , he said pointing to it and   oh ..open the first drawer of the dresser in our room , you will see some new Tshirts I had picked up the previous week ..hand him one of those..."
Mehak could not believe this was happening to her ..she would look mean and petty if she said no , and she was too kind of a person to ever refuse help to anybody .
She reluctantly moved away from Buzz as Brian got him on his lap ..and went towards the washroom.
The door was half ajar , she knocked tentatively.. and the door opened
"Mate this looks pretty bad ..do you have b...". A Shirtless Shaurya stopped in his tracks ..he was expecting Brian..
She outstretched her hand to handover the Tshirt and the ointment ,
He looked at it and smiled sarcastically
"Aah Ms Sharma.. you seem to know the Nazareth household pretty well.."
Planning to settle here ? he asked as he took the stuff from her hand
"That is none of your business".. ..Mehak replied curtly and turned to leave ..
He had other ideas . He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hard into him...
"It is actually my business ..in case you did not know ..it is me putting my hard earned money into this farm as part of MY BUSINESS and I have every right to know what is going on this farm.."
Mehak tried to push him back and he winced ...her eyes went to his burn which was a long line of angry red between his chest and rib cage ..
" you should put some ice on it "
Haan?? , Shaurya was again derailed by her answer ...
"Your burn ..you should put some ice on it .."
"Oh really Laddoo ..itni concern..."
Please Shaurya let me go .. I will get some ice .. Mehak managed to free herself from his grip and ran to the kitchen to get ice..
She returned with ice and offered it to him ..He made no attempt to grab it ...
She rolled her eyes and started applying the ice herself on his burn
He looked at her , she kept her eyes on the burn...
What are you doing here ?? he asked
It is quiet obvious Mr Khanna .. I am applying ice to your burn..
She said still refusing to meet his eyes..
He grabbed her hand ,,,stilling it ...
With the other hand on her chin ..he forced her to look at him ...
Laddoo what are you doing here ?? on this spice farm ..and why were you in a locked house with a dog on your lap??
His voice was turning husky again ...and she knew it would be a matter of minutes before she will melt like the ice in her hand..
However she was no longer going to fall in the same trap ..she had learned her lesson the hard way and she was going to remember it for the rest of her life..
She freed her hand and continue applying the ice
"My name is Mehak and I work here ..I am the chef here .I handle the kitchen on the farm..." She answered stiffly..
She moved on to applying the ointment now ...
"Hmmm and wonder why this important fact that who was going to be chef in the restaurants that are being proposed was missed in the proposal write up"
The sarcasm had returned in Shaurya's tone ...
" Ms Sharma... do you think it was an accident or deliberate "
He hand stilled again.
I..I ddoo not kknnow..She stammered ..
"Liar" he hissed
How had it come to this ?? She was being accused of being a liar by someone who had trampled on her heart and moved on ..Hell he had not even made one single attempt to find her , to contact her ...it was always Rajiv who approached her family ...
Her anger erupted like a volcano ...
" Wow Shaurya you have the gall to call me liar , you who fed me all those lies , all those false promises .. You know Shruti was right ...all you wanted was a score of me , once you got it , I was just a name on your list , scratched out ..."
He grabbed both her hands .." Mehak, how many times I have told you not to debase our relationship like this "
"Oh really Mr Shaurya Khanna ..maybe you should have tried honesty with me ..you should have spelled out exactly what you wanted of me ..maybe I would have still said yes . and safeguarded my heart ... " anger had made her completely reckless , she was not thinking what she was saying ..." yeah you know friends with benefits exist"

Shaurya's eyes hardened ..
"Oh really , Ms Sharma let us start now"
He pushed her back to wall, trapping her hands above her head and pushed himself on her , capturing her lips ...
She struggled to free herself ...finally she stamped her foot hard on his ...
"What the hell" he hissed angrily
Her hands were free as a result of his reflex reaction and she used them to make a hard contact with his cheek..
Shaurya was stunned by the slap
"You know what Mr Khanna ..I changed my mind ... I am sure you have others like Pooja Grewaal now to fit that bill."
Shaurya was even more confused
Pooja Grewaal ..what had she got to do with this ...
Mehak continued "you know I was crazy to have fallen in love with you ..I always knew that you and I belonged to different worlds ... our upbringing , our thought process everything is different , yet I like an idiot followed my heart whereas my mind kept screaming at me to stay away from you ...You know all these months even though I moved away from you , I kept caring about you trying to find whether you were doing ok ...the moron that I was ..and you?? ..you could not care less ..you had moved on to newer pastures ... even the headlines are screaming that , ...
You know what the headlines should actually be ...Mehak Sharma is a raving idiot ""
She sobbed uncontrollably , he moved towards her intending to wipe his tears , she angrily brushed away his hand and ran out of the room.
Sandra had by now joined Brian in the living room . Brian knew he was in for a very difficult time with his wife. He was never going to hear the last of it ..he had made two errors one unknowingly by getting Shaurya to his house , and then what was he thinking sending Mehak to help Shaurya .
They both looked aghast as Mehak ran towards the door , tears streaming down her face .
Sandra , called out after her "..Mehak wait ...for God sake ..wait for a minute .."
Mehak stopped at the door ..Sandra pulled her into a hug .. and tried consoling her
"Look , sometimes things are not as bad as they seem to be ...maybe we can ..."
She stopped as she saw Shaurya stepping into the living room ... looking at them intently ..
"Maybe we can , " she continued again ," sit together , and work this out with a calm mind "
Mehak realized how her not being able to handle her emotions was affecting the dream of her friends ..It would be a shame that just because of her messed up relationship , her friends who had stood by her in her toughest time would lose their biggest opportunity .
She nodded and willed herself to calm down , wiping her tears as a phone began ringing.
Shaurya realized it was his call and he stepped away to take it.
It was from his lawyer's firm..
Sir I think it is important for you to know that your uncle Mr Sanjay Sharma was seen boarding a flight to Goa about 10 minutes ago . He would land in about 2.5 hours.
Fear rose in his heart . He had to do something now .and get his Laddoo to safety .
He was not sure whether Sanjay was coming after him or he knew where Mehak was ..either ways he could not risk it ...
He had to do something now ...
He called Mr Sahay to Nazareth's cottage .
The impromptu meeting began with Shaurya addressing all of them in the room.
"So now that we have seen the farm " his eyes caught those of Mehak " and its many surprises" "we need to take a decision on whether L'Arome holdings will invest in Nazareth farm.
Though there are many things I like about the farm, I am very concerned that Nazareth farms did not disclose the important fact about the culinary talent they were going to use to support their future restaurant plans . I think this non disclosure makes it very difficult to build a relationship of trust that such a partnership requires"
He saw Mehak's and the Nazareth's faces turn ashen ...
"But I am willing to reconsider , if Ms Sharma agrees spend some time with me , ..."
He heard many collective breaths being drawn ...
"Ofcourse to explain me the culinary themes of both the open air restaurant and the boat house"
Since I need to assess both Ms Sharma's confidence and competence , this meeting will be on a one -o-one basis over the next 24 hours ...
He asked Mr Sahay ..
" how soon can I get a separate car"??
In about 20 minutes... Mr Sahay answered
He looked at Brian , Are there any other exits except the main gate??

Yes across the lake ...it goes through the woods , the road is not that great ...
Ok let us get a SUV..he told Mr Sahay , who was already calling his local office ...
Mehak lost her cool ...
"Why are you doing this "" I can very well explain you the themes right now , right here ..."
Shaurya moved towards the door , ignoring her

Mehak followed him .." have we come to this Shaurya ..you blackmailing me ?"
The choice is entirely yours Ms Sharma ...Pack a light bag and meet me outside in 15 minutes

tibs092017-02-26 10:57:14