Dear Readers,
Several of you might know that i write FFs in the Kayamath section. I have decided to post my FFs here from now on. To my eternal disgust i found out that my FF was being Plagiarized by a couple of writers in the FF section and was being posted here under the same name and sometimes under different names. To stop it from happening i have decided to post my FFs here too. Please feel free to leave your comments. Also, this is a Michi FF.
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Character Sketch:
Milind Mishra (Shabir Ahluwalia): - the suave businessman who has taken the financial industry by storm in the recent years.
Prachi Shah/Mishra (Panchi Bora): - Beautiful and sweet daughter of Inder Shah, a business magnet. She is the apple of her father's eye.
Neev Shergill (Jay Bhanushali): - Childhood friend of Prachi.
Ayesha(Sanjeeda sheikh) : - during unexpected circumstances Prachi and Ayesha become close friends.
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WEDDED BY BLACKMAIL
Part - 1
'See, that one. She interests me. Who is she?'
Milind Mishra held out his glass pointing, before he took a mouthful of the burgundy liquid in his hands. He lounged back sitting with his legs stretched out in a cozy vintage chair. He looked relaxed in the dark suit and formal wear he was wearing tonight. With one hand on the table besides him, his dark brown eyes hooded and slightly narrowed he stared at her.
The man beside him looked across the large gathering in the room. Today was the yearly banking industry gala. A group of elite, rich powerful men all attired in formal clothes sat at the 25 or so tables drinking expensive wine and even stronger liquor as they listened to the guest of honor speak.
'Whom are you talking about' asked the business associate sitting next to Milind trying to crane his neck to look over were his partner's eyes rested.
'The slender one in the yellow sari' replied Milind laconically.
His companion smiled with distaste.
'Not even you, Mr. Mishra can get that one. She is an ice princess'
Milind swallowed another mouthful of the clear and expensive brandy and ignored the comment. He hated the comment but none of it showed on his face. He just raised his sardonic brows.
But then he had no illusions about anyone.
Especially woman. They might play hard to get but they invariable surrendered in the end. Milind's eyes narrowed as he watched her with hooded eyes. She had caught his attention.
He could only see her profile, but he liked what he saw. She had the classic looks like some the old Indian actresses ' long black hair, beautiful skin and a quite a defiant chin. And those lips that begged to be kissed.
'Who is she?'
'Prachi Shah' his companion answered once again.
'Shah'?' he murmured.
'Inder Shah's daughter' supplied his acquaintance once again.
'Oh, yes' Milind nodded
Inder Shah. Respected industrialist, banker who passed away last year and the Shah group of industries who needed to think about the long time survival of their business.
Milind's razor sharp mind went through the collection of memories about various businesses and financial institutions in the city. He had interests across the globe. His finger in every pie of every business deal he was a force to reckon with. Milind's network spread across all continents. Finance was his life in the complex web of business milind was invariably in the center.
Nobody knew who he was. No one knew his background expect for what he wanted to show to the world. People saw what they wanted to see about him.
He was self-made; that was clearly evident. He did not have any backing or people opening doors for him but then Milind opened his own doors.
Right now, he was in Bombay after receiving a personal invitation from the finance minister. He was now the self made billionaire for whom the doors opened with his slightest nod. His reputation as one of the best financiers on the global stage was well noticed by everybody. Milind made money and he made truck loads of it.
He now sat as the chairperson on the advisory board to the finance minister. Everything he touched turned togold. And that made everyone from bankers to businessmen wanting to befriend him.
But, Milind knew how to play the game. He had everything close not letting anyone see what his actual thoughts were. No one could figure out what was going on in the astute brain of his.
His partner, like the rest of the business world wanted to know what he was doing in Bombay. He never came to Bombay. If he at all showed up it was splashed across the financial pages which was rarity as he never visited it.
His table partner looked at the girl again. He like other people mistakenly assumed that Milind was just interested in a night with her. But his thoughts invariably and mistakenly changed not gathering anything out of Milind.
Prachi Shah. Was she the reason for his visit to Bombay?
He decided to see if he could test Mishra out.
'Not at the top of their business these days.' He said. 'After Mr.Inder Shah passed away, his son Alaap has taken over the shah group. He is useless not a brilliant strategist like his father' he paused a moment and added 'They made some reckless decision recently for expansion, so I heard. They are a sinking ship, right now'
He looked at Milind to get a reaction but he looked merely bored not bothering to heed any of the facts that he had received. He looked like he was waiting for his companion to stop speaking.
'So'' stretching his legs he looked at him and asked 'Why an ice-princess?'
'She is known to be aloof, never talks to anybody' he stared at her back and said 'she only comes to these do's with Neev Shergill and never leaves his side'
As the speech droned on he stared at Prachi Shah. His eyes drifted to where she was sitting, ram rod straight, he could see no emotion on her face.
Milind sat back and relaxed. He was going to have her and he had every intention of finding out if blood or ice ran in her veins.
~Part ' 2~
Prachi sat with her hands on her lap, staring at an unknown object on the wall with no emotion on her face to conceal the boredom that was filling her heart. The guest speaker kept on talking as though he felt that everyone enjoyed his clich'd speech.
But it had always been this way for her. God only knew why she had given into Neev's badgering to attend this gala tonight. She'd done it out of exasperation and because he was simply her best friend.
Tonight, the whole room was stuffy with bankers talking money non-stop. She should have known that it would be dreadful. Money and Politics and Economy dominated the conversations and she was not interested in any of those things.
There were very few women in the room and she could feel the attention of almost every male on her. She hated the intrusion and loathed their attitude towards women. They may be rich but most of them here were ruthless sharks that would eat anyone for breakfast, lunch and dinner without any qualm. If at all they had space they would have them for a snack in between all their meals she thought wryly. A small smile spread across her lips at that thought.
Prachi had adopted her usual defense against all their interest, refusing to acknowledge their interest in her. Neev's presence did not sufficiently deter some of their blatant ogling. Neev was not particularly giving it much thought as he always thought of her as a friend but nothing else.
With boredom and annoyance she reached out took the mineral water that was placed in front of her and took a sip.
Alaap, instinctively she thought of what her poor brother would have to deal with. All this money talk was not his or her cup of tea.
She stared into the distance trying think about some thing interesting. Her mind drifted of to her voluntary work at the orphanage. She had initially gone there when her father had donated money to build a unit for the small babies that arrived at the ashram almost everyday. She loved working there.
The small babies who were left at the door step squeezed her heart. Their tiny feet and their cute wide yawns drew her to the place almost everyday. That was the kind of fulfilling work that she enjoyed.
Phew it was over and the guest of honor was taking his seat.
'Where you bored?' He sounded as though he was amused.
'Well, do you think this is a dance recital to enjoy?' she asked smiling back at him.
'No, but who is who of the financial world are here ' to capture the headlines for tomorrow's story' he said laughing with her.
She reached out and started picking on the desert that was laid out in front of her. Black forest cake, her favorite since childhood, but today she was in no mood to eat even a piece of the tempting morsel in front of her.
'Do you want to drink something?' Neev asked looking at her.
She shook her head. She was already bored and the food wasn't that great either. She didn't want to eat one more bit of the horrible food they had served.
Changing her mind 'A glass of orange juice would be great' she said placing her delicate hands on Neev's sleeve.
Neev immediately called the passing waiter and asked for a glass of orange juice. Neev and Prachi were both smiling at the waiter when Prachi felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck. Probably, it was from sitting so stiffly for so long she thought.
She turned her head to the right and to the left to get rid of the stiffness that overcame her.
And her whole being froze and she realized that a man was looking at her.
Butterflies flew in her stomach at the direct gaze she encountered. With hooded eyes he was looking at her with lazy amusement or was it assessment.
He was sitting directly across on the side of her table. He was tall with wavy black hair which touched his shoulders. He had an unshaven look about it him as though he did not care about how he looked. Among the well dressed men in the room he stood out with his unruly look. His skin was dark as though he had been out in the sun for long. He had a strong nose and a mouth which was unsmiling. His eyes, they were dark, impossibly dark.
And his eyes were still on her looking her over.
As her eyes met his, she felt the tug of her heart as her eyes liquefied into his. He was staring at her as though he knew her intimately. His eyes suddenly dropped to her lips and fixed it self there.
For timeless moments, she couldn't move, his eyes captured hers and wouldn't let her break away. With an effort of will she broke away from the magnetic pull and turned towards Neev.
'Here's your juice' he said handing it over to her. She jumped at the voice that broke away her thoughts.
Did her voice sound shaky even to her ears? She reached for the glass with shaking hands and lifted it to her lips. As she slowly slipped the juice, she tried to regain her precious composure that had deserted her.
For heaven sake, she reprimanded herself ' he just took you by surprise that's all. Snap out of it, she lectured herself.
She slowly drank her juice as she tried to listen to what Neev was telling her.
Real Estate
