Chapter 7

Meanwhile...

An unaware of the wrath reserved for him in a certain Mr. Raizadas heart, Akash was sitting in the plush leather chair of Conference Hall 1, nervously twiddling his thumbs, berating himself for the fool he had made of himself yet again in front of the pretty receptionist...

(Note 1 - Pretty receptionist must have a name and it was imperative that he found out what it was!)

What was it about her that made him just lose all senses and become rather nonsensical?! He had never known himself to be stammering or tripping all over his feet before he had made the mistake of stepping into this office and locking eyes with the pretty receptionist!

(Note 2 - Was it a mistake really? It could turn out to be a beautiful decision...if only he could stop being a blubbering fool in front of her!)

Akash sighed, his hands coming up on their own to catch his falling head as he groaned into their freezing cool, recalling the pretty receptionists red nose, her fiery demeanor and her utter disdain for whoever had sent those darned flowers! which was, going by his luck around her, of course him!

(Note 2 - Pretty receptionist was quite a mouthful secret name...PR would have to do!)

He had of course not meant to harm her! Far from it were his intentions! He had wanted to brighten up her day and so, quite poetically if you thought about it, he had decided on the fully blooming yellow goodies, the symbol for happiness, the flowers which quite literally followed the glittering sunshine - the sunflowers!

Only to find them thrown in a muddy slush outside the office with a disgruntled looking PR biting the head off of the peon who he had bribed to take the flowers inside while the poor, that opinion would soon change as he would find out, cowered down faced with her wrath before he happened to turn his head and spot the man behind all his miseries at the door, that is of course Akash Malik himself, and the now scoundrel of a man ratted him out faster than it probably took Usain Bolt to finish a race!

But he was no Usain Bolt...to think about it he was no closer to bolting than Sreesanth was closer to being declared the Indian Teams best asset and so when the fiery beauty turned towards him, he had not yet made himself scarce like all would have advised him to. Instead he stood, rooted near the entrance, his mouth agape and his eyes wide, growing wider still as PR made her way, thundered actually, towards him and although he stood a good head over her, he found himself feeling quite tiny as he faced her furious self.

You sent the flowers? came out the words finally, after moments of glaring up at him. Deliberate pauses punctuating the question and Akash suddenly wanted to do what he had not wished to do since he was a child and had pulled at the pigtails of the beloved sister of the school bully - he wanted to scream, run and hide.

But at the same time, a feeling of bravery arose from the depths, quite a deep depth actually, of his heart. One that roared at him to stay put and to face it like an adult who had feelings for the firebrand in front of him!

And so he did.

Faced her that is.

Akash rolled his eyes at all the versions of people within his mind who did not think him capable of the second option, feeling a bit pleased with himself at surprising them before remembering what had followed and then the smile dimmed.

He had given his answer as a resounding Yes! only to have her look at him closely for a second before she clucked (yes, clucked!) her tongue at him and marched back to the reception, her heels clicking sharply, distinctly against the shining marble, not stopping or pausing even once before she had resumed her place on the seat and in an official tone that made him doubt if the last 5 minutes had happened at all, directed him to wait at Conference Hall 1 for his meeting with Mr. Raizada and Miss. Gupta.

Akash sighed, running his hand over his tired face as he once again tried, and failed, to understand her behaviour.

He had thought admitting to sending the flowers would thaw her towards him and be more charitable towards the coffee date he had planned to propose to her next but instea-

His thoughts were cut short as the door swung open and hit the wall with a clang, swinging uselessly on its hinges, making him jump and look back only to see Mr. Raizada standing there with nothing less than a murderous fury igniting his eyes, short angry breaths escaping him as his chest heaved with anger.

Akash felt his confusion heighten and he opened his mouth to say something but closed it as soon as he did, knowing nothing of what he would want to say in a situation he just didnt understand!

He did, however, stand up uncertainly, the hair on the back of his neck tingling with a slight fear as the decidedly deluded man continued to shoot him a murderous glare making Akash thank his lucky stars that it was only a saying - if looks could kill!

But before he could any longer ponder on sayings and proverbs, the room registered the presence of the possibly only sane person in the entire office - Khushi Gupta and Akash heaved a sigh of relief, only to stop midway (and then gasp for breath) as Arnavs glare hardened even more at his expelling of air but at least he no longer stood like a Gladiator ready to make mince meat of the lion (which he was not exactly feeling like) and had instead taken a seat next to Khushi, Akashs eyes not missing how he meekly followed her not letting her get any waft of his anger.

Hey Akash! Why are you standing? Please take a seat! What will you like - coffee or something cold perhaps...you look quite flushed! All okay?

He just had to shift his eyes over to Arnav to know that this offering of refreshments and of kind words had done nothing to improve his mood, instead his scowl, if possible, had gone deeper and he looked much like a small child who had been told Hogwarts did not exist and just then his neighbor had received their admission letter.

(Note 3 - Akash was an avid Harry Potter fan. Always had been and if anyone had a problem with that...well, rictusempra to you!)

Uhhh...No thanks, Khushi...could we start with the meeting please? I have somewhere I need to be...

(Note 4 - Akash had no wish to be literally stared at to death so soon and specially before he got to know the real name of PR.

Note 5 - Since when the hell did he start making notes?! Damn this stupid place! It was playing with his head as much as it was playing with his heart!)

*****

Stupid asshole! What does he think of himself! Going after Khushi like that! As if she would give that asswipe another look! Butshe seems to be giving him quite a few looks! Damn it! No-damn you, Khushi! Why the f**k are you so f**king stubborn?!

Arnav muttered to himself rather furiously as he kept a close look at Jackass and Khushi parting ways! Oh for all that was holy sake will they just get done already! How could just a simple Bye! Never show you face here again! take so much time?! And why the hell was the Jackass not bloody leaving?! Was he stuck to the f**king ground! Arnav made a mental note to have the flooring checked for any residue cement or any type of glue which could be the reason for Akash Malik being bloody stuck to this office before baring out his teeth in a snarl as his offender made the mistake of looking at him and to his utter pleasure that seemed to have done the trick as Akash all but jumped and quickly made his way out of the office, stumbling only once at the reception, nearly banging headlong into Subbu who gave him, Arnav was further pleased to note, a rather dirty look and turned away.

He knew he could always trust Subbus judgment! She was not nave like Khushi...who could fall for the charms of utter fools like the Malik boy!

Khushi.

He felt a deep sigh escaping him at the name, a small smile breaking out on his face as the woman so addressed turned around, the concern palpable in her eyes which asked him with utmost sincerity if all was okay and all he could do was nod...not really knowing how to tell her that it wasnt, it hadnt been since she had turned away from him all those years back and shunned him out of her life, her happiness and worst of all her tears.

The ones, Arnav knew for certainty from how his heart ached every time he saw her, he had caused.

Stupid him.

Idiot him.

Heartbroken him.

Next chapter - Page 34

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I apologize to anyone who may have taken offence at the Sreesanth jab...but you mess with my game, my team, I mess with you. :p

Also, no apologies for the blatant Harry Potter fangirling! Its Harry Potter for Merlin's sake! ;) :D

And lastly the most sincerest of the apologies for the late updating! I had seriously thought I would be able to post this earlier but well...here's hoping that you liked this chapter despite of the delay!

And we have almost reached 50 'Likes'! YAY! :D

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