Vihaan was greatly disturbed by this feeling of being totally out of control. Just then, Kalpana pulled out her hands from Rahul and he felt relief. "What was wrong with him, why was he feeling things which he had never felt before. All for this chit of a girl he did not even know well. ", he thought. He ignored her for the rest of the meeting and avoided looking at her directly. It was not easy, but somehow he managed it. At one point , he was almost on the verge of shouting out in anger at Rahul, but he somehow he controlled that too.
In spite of everything, he was satisfied with the results achieved during the meeting. They had accomplished more work in that day, than he had expected. At the end of the meeting, while assigning tasks to all the team members, he suddenly had to face Kalpana. She was looking at him so eagerly, with so much expectation, like a kid in a candy store, her eyes wide as saucers, for him to assign her, her task. For a moment he wished that look of longing was for him, not for the work he was going to assign her. He assigned her work and she mouthed a "Thank you, sir", very softly. "Don't call me Sir, I start looking around to see if my father is around. Call me Vihaan". "Thank you, Vihaan,", she said. His name had never sounded so sexy coming out of anyone else's mouth. "Vihaan, you are a total goner", he thought to himself. He was acting like an infatuated teenager, which did not suit him at all. He thought to himself, "Dad, you really put me in big trouble, by selecting this doe-eyed, dusky beauty in my team". He could not even eliminate her from his team, because it would definitely raise a thousand questions. Everyone had seen how much she had contributed to the team. Her brains were out on full display for everyone to see, but it was this combination of brains and beauty which was driving him crazy.
Work on the launch was going on in full swing. The team met on a daily basis and worked late on most of the days.
Vihaan noticed that Kalpana worked harder than anyone else in the team. He also noticed that she rarely looked really happy. Her smile did not really seem to come from the heart. Her eyes lit up only when something good happened at work. He wanted to know why she was sad, but did not have the guts to ask her. He was getting too involved with her and the funny part was that she was not even aware of it. She treated him just as she would treat one of her colleagues. He had always had women young as well as old fawn over him. He had always had a way with women. The truth was he was not even comfortable talking with Kalpi, let alone flirting with her.
Vihaan was sitting in the cabin. He heard a knock on his cabin door. He mouthed "Come in". She walked in. "She walks in beauty, like the night, Of cloudless climes and starry skies", was the thought that came into his mind. He was quoting Lord Byron. He must have totally lost it. But it was true, she did look exceptionally lovely today. She was wearing a long flowing skirt in bright red with a simple white embroidered sleeveless top. The neckline was not really very deep, but there was just a mild hint of cleavage. She looked really innocent and sexy at the same time. This was the first time he had seen her in anything other than traditional Indian dresses and she looked sublime. Her dusky complexion was highlighted in the dress. He long flowing hair was falling completely on one shoulder and she had worn long dangling hoops in her ears.
She started talking to him, but he was totally distracted and it was pretty noticeable. He was sure he had not heard half of what she said. Kalpana finally excused herself and said she would leave the documents with him for him look at.
Kalpana moved out of the cabin. She suddenly felt very unsure about her ideas. She had been so excited about the proposal she had come up with. She suddenly felt so stupid, because Vihaan seemed to have no interest in her ideas. She respected Vihaan and his leadership a lot. She had found out that he was in the same mould as his father. If Vihaan did not find her ideas impressive, she decided that her ideas must not have been very good. Kalpana did not realize that Vihaan was impressed about everything about her and she had nothing to prove to him. She did not realize that it was her beauty, which she did not even realize that she had, that had distracted Vihaan so much.
Vihaan felt like an complete imbecile, when Kalpana left the cabin. He had behaved like a prized idiot and he was sure that Kalpana would have thought that he had lost his marbles. Her beauty still dazzled his eyes, even though she was not in front of him. He picked up the documents she had left behind and read through them. He could not believe the depth of her ideas. He went through them once again and could not contain his elation. This was the exact kind on plan that he expected when he had started working with the team. He had to talk to her immediately. He ran out of the cabin to find her. It was a sense of anti-climax he felt, when he saw that she was not at her desk. He looked at this watch and realized that it was lunch time and she would be in the cafeteria and he took off to the cafeteria.
Kalpana was dejected about the rejection of her ideas. She went to the only place where went whenever she felt sad. She went to the creche/nursery that was available to all employees, if they wished to bring their children to work. The Nursery was one of most loyalty inspiring ideas of Mr.Malhotra. Parents could bring their children to work and there was big team of nannies and teachers who took care of the kids. Kalpana loved going there and the kids loved her back. Everyday during lunch, she would come there and spend time with them. As soon as the kids saw her, they surrounded her as always, and yelled "Kalpi didi, play with us, tell us a story". Kalpi suddenly felt all the pressures and disappointments disappearing into thin air. She was laughing and playing with the kids with complete lack of inhibition and pure joy.
Vihaan was moving towards the cafeteria and he heard a tingling laugh coming from the nursery. The laughter called out to him and he opened the room and was admitted to a sight which would warm the darkest hearts. Kalpana was jumping on one leg and trying to catch the toddlers around her and she was laughing aloud and acting as if she could not catch the kids. Suddenly she fell on the floor and all the kids came to her saying "Kalpi Di" and she gathered all of them into her arms and hugged them tight and kissed them. Vihaan was stunned to see this carefree side of Kalpana, someone who had no inhibitions. The children were pulling her hair and had their hands all over her dress and face and she did not care. She had no vanity and it increased her beauty multi-fold. The joy in her face was a sight to behold and he had to capture that image. He lifted his phone and clicked her picture. "Kalpi, that name did suit this angel," he thought.
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