FF: Last thing I expected - Mayur. Chapter28 Pg148 - Page 9

OMG...this is truely amazing,....i actually had tears in that last part...and im inlove with neev....and his relation with mayank...your an amazinggg writer...touched my heart...cant wait for next part...please update soon!!

omg thank you all for your amazing comments! i'm soo sorry i couldnt update the chapter yesterday, i had some major problem going on...hopefully the problem will be solved by tmr...but i'll definitely try to submit the next chapter by the end of today.... :)

Chapter 6

Mayank looked at the sketch on his desk and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. It just wasn't working out. The stupid lines just wouldn't fit together the way they were supposed to. It seemed so easy in his head, but the minute he put the graphite to the parchment the measurements didn't add up and he was stuck with a building that was missing a small section of the siding.

It was enough to drive a man crazy. Well, of course, his mind was currently dominated by a certain not so pleasant brunette. How can anyone possibly work once that woman sets forth into your thoughts? There's not even a minute possibility to concentrate after that. Well how else should I expect myself to react? I've seen her after 5 years damnit! 5 ridiculously long, wasteful years! Well, not entirely wasteful…Neev's still there. Although, when his mother was around every second seemed like a thousand and one years…anyway, no point thinking about that. Nupur Bhushan. Why did she come back into his life? Or was it I who strolled into hers? After all, it was ME who wanted to enroll MY son in her school, albeit unknowingly. Which brings me back to Neev. She definitely was surprised when she saw Neev. Shocked perhaps. Was she hurt? But then again, why should she be hurt Mayank? You've caused her enough pain for a lifetime. But she caused you immense pain too, remember? Remember that horrible, fateful night? The night you made the biggest blunder of your pathetic, miserable life?

"If you add two more meters to the foundation to the south end and then extend the roof until it overlaps, you'll be able to have the correct amount of siding," Ravi said, looking over Mayank's shoulder.

Mayank sneered and turned to the annoying trespasser of his work who just happened to work for Mayank and not the other way around.

"If I extended the roof, then there would be no support to hold it up. I would have to place a beam in the middle of the damned building. You have to think of it in actual terms and not just on paper," Mayank said, reminding Ravi Arora exactly why Mayank Sharma was in charge of Neev Architecture Enterprise.

Ravi shrugged and turned back to his own raised platform of designs. "I finished that library structure and I sent the blueprints to be copied."

Mayank nodded and crumpled up the parchment he had worked on for the past two hours. To no avail. "I want you to check and make sure the HR team is keeping up with that new greenhouse for Garden Estate Homes. If we lose that account, they can kiss their paychecks goodbye," Mayank said.

Ravi raised an eyebrow and quickly got up from his desk, leaving to spread the message to the other room of Architects.

That had been Mayank's job title since he had passed his Architectural Aptitude Exam the year before Neev had been born.

It was an elite job that few people wished to pursue for it entailed long hours, talent in sketching, mathematics, physics, and history. Almost everyone who worked for Mayank in both the Mumbai and Delhi offices were some of the most intelligent people to graduate from Universities. Despite what a certain annoying brunette might say, Mayank was one of them. In fact, as mentioned before, he was their leader, their captain, their Big Kahuna.

He glanced over at the clock that hung over the doorway, noting that it was nearly five o' clock. With one last frustrated sigh at the random sketches and crumpled parchments surrounding his desk, he grabbed his coat and left his office. Back to the awkward atmosphere. Does this always have to happen with me?

A quick word was exchanged with Ravi, his second-in-command, to make sure the other employees turned in their agendas and daily portfolios into the executive office inbox. He left the swanky administrative center located in Nariman point, a primary business center in Mumbai. It was a short drive to the school, and before he knew it, Mayank faced the entrance to the school. He took a deep breath before entering.

He walked in to find the other teacher (he couldn't remember her name) sitting in the entrance area behind the front desk. She looked up when he walked in and smiled brightly.

"Hi there, Mr. Sharma!" she sang, putting down a magazine she had been reading. Vikram Raina, the famous rugby player, was on the cover.

"Hello, Miss…"

"Sonali. Just Sonali," she interrupted before Mayank had a chance to show that he had forgotten her name.

"Ok then, hello, just Sonali," he replied.

Sonali laughed and gestured for him to take a seat. "The kids will be right out. The toddlers are let out later than the older kids."

Mayank nodded. "You a big rugby fan?"

Sonali looked at the magazine in her hand. "You could say that. Although, I think I'm more of a Rugby player fan than I am a Rugby fan."

"Ah, I see," Mayank smiled. "I know him. Doesn't his son study somewhere around this area?"

Sonali's eyes widened. "You know him? That's probably the closest I'll get to Vicky. And yes, in fact his son studies right in this very school! But unfortunately, due to his bl***y schedule – excuse my French – he never comes here neither on parent-teacher meetings nor paydays." She sighed.

"I see. We're not friends though. He's just an acquaintance," he explained.

"Uh-hum," Nupur's voice came from behind Mayank's. His hands started sweating as soon as he realized the proximity between themselves.

"Mayank Sharma, and friends with someone? Hah! Best joke I've heard in decades now" Nupur scoffed, giving him a repulsive look.

He stood up from his chair with his lip curled. "I thank my stars every night that I didn't have the displeasure to befriend you, Miss Bhushan. I sympathize with all of your 'friends', I really do."

"Surely not as much as I sympathize with the poor banshee wench who was rumored to be your girlfriend. I sympathize with her the most." Nupur spat, a stone-hard look in her eyes.

Mayank scowled at her. How dare she mention her and bring up that horrible nauseous feeling he got every time she was brought into a conversation? That too in front of an outsider? Calm down, Mayank. She raised the topic. Not you. Don't get provoked. Neev might hear this.

"I'd give my sympathies to whatever poor sap had the misfortune to ever date you, except I can't sympathize with someone who doesn't exist." Ah…he'd touched a nerve. Bull's eye!

Sonali looked between the two of them glaring at each other. She snorted. "Does no one sympathize with me for having to listen to this?"

"Daddy!" Neev bolted out of the room where the classes took place, running at full speed towards his father.

Mayank didn't even feel the scowl leave his face and a wide grin replace it. He had never been away from his son for so long. He scooped Neev up into his arms and hugged him tight, adding kisses to his cheeks.

"You came right at the right time!" Neev said, pointing to the watch on his arm.

"I told you I would," Mayank said.

"I made a new best friend, daddy," Neev said excitedly.

"A new best friend? So quickly?" Mayank asked as he wrote Neev's name on the sign-in/sign-out sheet. He avoided gazing at Nupur's direction. The last comment he'd hurled at her was harsh, he had to admit.

"Yes. His name is Harshad but everybody calls him Harsh. Isn't that funny, daddy?" Neev explained.

"That's great, Neev. I knew you'd have fun today," Mayank said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smirking at him in a very, very annoying way.

"What?" he asked semi-nicely so Neev wouldn't catch on to the loathing that emanated between the two.

"Neev, sweetheart, do you remember Harshad's last name?" Nupur asked in an ultra-sweet manner.

Neev shook his head.

"It's Khanna," she said, barely managing to hide her glee at Mayank's quickly hidden shocked look. "Harshad Samrat Khanna is your son's new best friend."

"Yep, that's his name," Neev nodded.

Mayank returned an equally over-the-top articifical smile back to her. "Well of course they're friends. I'm correct in assuming that Gunjan Khanna nee Bhushan is Harshad's mother?"

Nupur frowned, wondering why Mayank wasn't protesting the friendship of his son with the son of a man who despised him to the core. Has he forgotten how Samrat had treated him once he found out about his truth? "Yes, she is."

"That's wonderful then. Did you know, Neev, that I knew Harshad's father in college?" Mayank said, a smirk now playing on his features.

"Really?! Wow!" said Neev. "He'll be so happy to know that!"

Nupur inwardly cursed. What a complete turn of events. Why, why do I always have embarrass myself in front of him? Haven't I learnt enough from my mistakes? Damn myself and damn this rat.

"So you have no problem with them being friends? Especially knowing who sired Harsh?" Nupur asked innocently.

"No problem at all." Mayank replied, looking completely smug, knowing that he'd foiled her plan to make him look prejudiced. "Neev can be friends with whomever he wants."

Nupur pursed her lips. "Wonderful. I'll see you tomorrow, Neev."

"Bye, Miss Nu-pur," he said slowly, to make sure he said it right.

Nupur found herself touched by the little tyke's effort and waved goodbye to the sweet boy, completing ignoring his father. As if my idiotic mind will ever find it plausible to ignore the rat. But at least in front of him I shouldn't let out my true feelings. Behind his back, I can bash him in all sorts of ways. But, secretly, you know Nupur that bashing him will be fruitless. It's you who's going to get hurt in the end. It's always been like that. Deal with it.

She watched as the most infuriating man on earth finally left with his son waving back at her. She slumped down into the vacated chair and rubbed at her face.

"That was weird," Sonali spoke, flipping through her magazine. "It seemed like you two hated each other for a second there."

"Hate is such a tame word to describe how I feel about that man," Nupur grumbled, on the verge of a breakdown. No Nupur, you can't let Sonali know. She'll fret unnecessarily. Just make it seem as though you two were competitive rivals. Just that. Nothing more.

Sonali unfolded a centerfold of Vikram Raina in his training uniform, aka some sweat pants and no shirt. "Lord have mercy on my poor, sex-deprived soul. This man is beautiful."

Nupur sighed and slumped further in her chair. "He made me look like an idiot."

"Who? Vikram?" Sonali asked, unable to take her eyes away from the broad, glistening chest of the picture.

"No, not Vikram, you genius. Mr Mayank Sharma," Nupur said, although she spat the last three words.

"How did the hottie make you look like an idiot?" Sonali asked, flipping the page to another shirtless Vikram Raina photo.

Nupur found herself trembling. Okay, calm down Nupur. There's nothing to get upset about. So what? You've seen him in five years, you were bound to bump into him. He'll criticize you, ok, that's what he's always been doing. Nothing new there. Plus, you've only got to bear about 2 minutes of him everyday. That's not going to be that bad. Just consider two minutes of your life erased everyday for the next 6 years. That's approximately….forget it. You were never good at arithmetic.

"Ok, first off… Sharma is not a hottie. Second of all, I was trying to make a point when he completely ruined what I was trying to do," Nupur explained, having regained composure.

Sonali looked up from the magazine for a brief second. "Sounded to me like you two were just bickering."

"I don't know how long I'm going to last without killing him," Nupur said.

"He seems harmless," Sonali added. "I don't even understand why you two don't like each other. Wait, let me guess. You two went to school together, you must have dated and he broke your heart." She chuckled.

Nupur stopped fuming. She stared at Sonali in complete astonishment. What? What had she just heard? Was this woman psychic? Or were we just too obvious?

________________________________________________________________________

Nice One again!!

AWESOME YAAR

Superb Thanx for pm

Hop their past comes out soon

Want to actually knw wat had happened that they both hate each other so much

thanks a bunch! omg i got so scared coz i thought the mods deleted this thread...couldnt find it! thank god...lol

hey kainath thankyou so much for the pm. oh my your ff just keeps on getting more and more interesting so there is someother twist of samrat but sajan are together na.

Originally posted by: Senny

hey kainath thankyou so much for the pm. oh my your ff just keeps on getting more and more interesting so there is someother twist of samrat but sajan are together na.

poor mayank and nupr, i feel bad ofr both of them though mayank atleast has neev but nupz is all alone. poor nupz.

who is this guy mayank was referring to and said he doesn't exist anmore, he can't be talking about himself right or is he?

you are an amazing writer, i don't know how else to praise you and your work, but your ff is just excellent,. truly fresh and captivating.

keep it up. All the best and i love the fact that you update sooo quickly. God bless, hugs.

hey thanks a ton for the review! awww....thank you so much but they're way better writers than me out there.....i didnt get what you said in red though...exactly which part were you referring to?