Learning To Love and Live [Update:Pg 100] - Page 37

PART- 8

Gunjan's POV-

Why this happened every time with me only?? Why was god doing this to me? I was completely in a dilemma now. On one hand, I had my first presentation ever, and that too, it had to be perfect in all ways, so that samrat sir gets no chance to complain about me. And, on the other hand, the presentation was to be given in front of mayank jiju, who doesn't even knows about my job in D&D Company.

I kept on practicing my presentation the whole night. But whenever I stood in front of the mirror, some where I could see the guilt in my eyes. The guilt of lying to di and jiju. What would happen if they come to know about my job? Will they stop talking to me? Or will they throw me out of the house?

God, I kept on thinking this, and hardly concentrated on the practice of presentation.

I woke up early next morning, and got ready, thinking that what will happen with me once when jiju got to know about my job! I could bear his anger, if he simply scolded me. But what would bother me the most is that he would be hurt when he comes to know that I lied to him, and went to work instead of attending MBA classes.

Now this was something unexpected. When I reached in hall, I saw mayank jiju serving on breakfast table for the two.

"good morning saali sahiba!" he smiled to me.

"good morning jiju. But whats wrong with you??"

"kya?"

"I mean aaj aap nashta laga rahe hain. Aur wo bhi sirf do logon ke liye?" I exclaimed.

"haan. Kyunki tumhari behen abhi tak so rahi hai. Maine bataya tha na ki uski tabiyat theek nahi hai?" he continued. "kal raat maine use medicines di thi, shayad uske wajah se hi so rahi ho!"

"ummm….lekin jiju, aapko nahi lagta ki ye kuchh achha ho sakta hai?" I smiled.

"achha?"

"matlab….achanak se di ki tabiyat kharab hona, ye good news bhi to ho sakta hai!" I smiled teasingly.

"gunjan, agar aisa kuchh hoga na, to mujhse pehle poori duniya ko maloom ho jayega!"

"kaise?"

"khushi ke maare is good news ko nupur saare newspapers mein publish karva degi!" he laughed.

We settled and had our breakfast. For some time, I forgot everything about the presentation and jiju's presence in the meeting.

"so, tumhari MBA classes kaise chal rahe hain? He asked, taking a bite of sandwich.

"ha….haan….theek hi hain….i mean, achhe hain" I lied. Oh god, how difficult it was for me to lie to anyone, and especially to jiju, who blindly trusted on me!

"great! So tumhare exams kabse hain?"

"kya? Exams??"

"haan. Itne dino se classes chal rahi hain, kabhi koi test bhi nahi hota hai. I guess exams to hone chahiye na?" he said.

"umm….haan….bas….professors is baare mein soch hi rahe hain!" I looked at him.

POV ends.

Shergill's house-

Samrat was busy reading a file, while karan enjoyed his breakfast. He looked at samrat.

"sam, nashta khao. Dekho, kitna tasty hai!" karan took away the file from his hand.

"bro, tum to aise bol rahe ho, jaise ye nashta mom ne banaya hai!" samrat replied sarcastically, looking at ritu.

"kyun, agar ye nashta main banati to kya tum achhe se kha lete?" ritu looked back at samrat in a slight anger.

"aap ek baar bana kar to dekhti! Lekin aapko apne kitty parties se fursat mile to na!"

"samrat!" ritu spoke in a louder tone.

"sach kehta hun to bura kyun lag jaata hai aapko?"

"ek baat hamesha yaad rakhna samrat, tum chahe kitne bade kyun na ho jao, lekin mujhse hamesha chhote rahoge."

"isliye mujhse bade hone ka haq aap is tarah dikhaati…."

"shut-up samrat!" SK spoke angrily, cutting samrat's sentence in between. "apni maan se aise baat karte hain?"

"ho gaya mera breakfast!" samrat got up angrily, throwing his plate away and went in his room.

There was a silence now. SK looked at karan.

"samrat tumhara chhota bhai hai karan, fir bhi tum use nahi samjha sakte?" he said.

"agar wo galat hota, to main use zarur samjhata dad!" he replied and went after samrat.

In room, samrat was sitting on bed, with his both hands on his head. Karan came and sat beside him, keeping his hand on samrat's shoulders.

"main jaanta hun ki mujhe mom dad ke saamne aisa behave nahi karna chahiye tha. Lekin bro, main karun bhi to kya? Saari duniya yehi sochti hai, ki samrat shergill bahut hi arrogant, aur over-confident hai. Lekin kabhi koi ye nahi jaan saka, ki samrat ko arrogant banane mein kiska haath hai!" samrat looked at karan and spoke in a low tone.

"I understand samrat. But trust me, ek din sab theek ho jayega." Karan said.

"bachpan se yehi sunta aa raha hun bro, ki ek din sab theek ho jayega, magar pata nahi wo din kab aayega."

"zarur aayega samrat. Its never too late! Bas, apne gusse par thoda control rakhna seekho." Karan smiled slightly.

"anyways, hume chalna chahiye. Wo aaj…..Mayank Sharma ke saath meeting hai na?" samrat changed the topic.

"yeah!" said karan, standing up. "aur aaj gunjan ka pehla presentation hai."

"agar uski wajah se presentation mein koi gadbad hui, to im telling you, main use usi wakt job se nikaal doonga!" samrat said in his usual arrogant tone.

"hahah! Well sam, tujhe itni mehnat karne ki koi zarurat nahi hogi, coz im sure ki gunjan is presentation ko successful banayegi!" karan smiled widely.

"ab use praise karna band karo aur chalo." Samrat said.

In Office-

Both the brothers reached and went in their respective cabins. Samrat sent for gunjan. She came to him.

"tumhare liye ek news hai." samrat said, checking his mails.

"shakal to aise bana rakhi hai jaise bahut buri news ho!" gunjan thought and rolled her eyes.

"kuchh kaha tumne??"

"a…I said ki…kya news hai?" she spoke.

"wo, Mr. Sharma ka phone aaya tha, aur unhone kaha hai ki aaj ki meeting mein wo nahi aa payenge, kyunki unki kuchh personal problems hain. To wo apne kisi employee ko bhej rahe hain." He said.

"kya??" gunjan exclaimed a bit happily.

Samrat looked up at her in confusion. Gunjan saw him and controlled her happiness.

"a….i mean ki….main…."

"kabhi kabhi mujhe tum mental case lagti ho Miss Bhushan!" samrat got up angrily and walked slowly towards gunjan.

"mujhe to tum hi mental case lagte ho Mr. Shergill!" she thought, moving a step back.

"and im warning you, agar presentation achha nahi hua, to mujhe bas 90 seconds lagenge tumhara resignation letter type karne mein!" he said.

"I promise sir, main aapko ye mauka nahi doongi!" gunjan said with full confidence.

"I hope tum sahi ho. Anyways, you may leave now." Samrat said, and then sat on his chair.

Gunjan stood their. "thank you soo much bhagwaan! Ab main bina kisi tension ke presentation de sakungi!" she thought and smiled to herself.

Samrat looked at her again, but with a shock.

"kya?" he asked normally.

"kya kya?" she asked.

"maine tumhe jaane ko kaha tha. To tum yahan khadi hokar smile kyun kar rahi ho? Main tumhe joker lagta hun?" he asked.

"lagne ki kya zarurat hai, aap to hain hi angry young joker! Jo na to khud hasta hai aur na dusron ko hasne deta hai!" gunjan said slowly under her breathe.

"kya kaha tumne?" samrat looked at her suspiciously.

"kuchh….kuchh bhi to nahi sir." Gunjan turned back to go out of the cabin.

"one second!" he said. "tum meri secretary ho, right? To tumhara kaam hai na mere mails check karna?" He looked at her angrily.

"y….yes sir."

"to ye bhi ab mujhe tumhe batana padega ki mere mails check karo?" he got up from his chair.

"ye baat baat pe apni chair kyun chhod deta hai! angry young joker kahin ka!" she thought and looked away.

"Miss Bhushan! I said you to check my mails! Aur jo mails mere kaam ke na hon, unhe KINDLY delete kar dena!" he said, giving more emphasis to the word 'kindly'.

"sure sir." Gunjan said and left the cabin.

"ajeeb pagal ladki hai!" samrat thought and sat on his chair.

It was late afternoon. Meeting had begun. Samrat, karan, shilpa and rest other members were seated, while gunjan gave her best during presentation. She had now gathered the strength and courage, which she had lost for a while when mayank was supposed to attend the meeting.

Everyone was quite impressed by gunjan and her presentation style. Karan and shilpa were extremely happy. Even samrat was happy, but as usual, he did not let his happiness to appear on his face. But of course, he had a slight smile.

Once the meeting was over and the deal was finalized, everyone left the room, except for karan, gunjan and samrat.

K- maine kaha tha na sam, ki gunjan apna best degi? Dekh, hua bhi wahi.

S- hmmm…

G- sir….i hope aap dono mere presentation se satisfied hain.

K- of course gunjan! Tumne dekha nahi, sab kitne impressed the? Im sure, tumhari wajah se humari company ko bahut profit hoga.

G- thanks sir! (thinks) karan sir kitne achhe hain, kitna support karte hain. (looks at samrat) aur ek ye hai, angry young joker, jisne bas hmm kaha! Arrogant kahin ka!

S- karan mujhe gunjan se akele kuchh baat karni hai.

K- (whispers in samrat's ears) aisi kaunsi baat hai jo akele karni hai??

S- bro…please!

K- fine! I'll take a leave now!

Karan goes. Gunjan was a bit scared, fearing that what would samrat speak. He came towards gunjan slowly. She took some steps back, samrat noticed this.

S- tum to aise darr rahi ho, jaise main tumhare saath……

Gunjan looked at him with wide eyes.

S- leave it! Main to sirf ye kehna chahta tha ki….im impressed with you. Presentation was perfect!

For a moment, gunjan could not believe that samrat praised her.

"kahin main sapna toh nahi dekh rahi???" gunjan thought.

S- I mean, tum poori tarah perfect nahi thi, but since ye tumhara first attempt tha, to us hisaab se to it was very good!

"Samrat shergill…..meri tareef kar raha hai??? ye ajooba kaise hua???" she thought again.

S- lekin ab main tumse aur bhi zyada achha presentation expect karunga. So I want you to give your best next time.

"ab agar tumne ek aur word kaha, to main shock ke maare behosh ho jaungi!" gunjan thought.

Samrat was waiting for some answer. But when he got no reply, he turned back, and found gunjan staring at him in a bit astonishment.

"Miss Bhushan???" he called her.

But gunjan made no reply.

"Miss Bhushan??"

Again there was no reply.

"GUNJAN!!!" he said a bit loudly.

"yes sir…..i mean….sorry sir….wo….i…mean, thank you sir!"

"mujhe tumhari tabiyat theek nahi lag rahi hai. I suggest ki tum leave lo aur ghar jaake rest karo." Samrat turned back.

"no im sorry sir….wo….actually…..aapne meri….i mean mere presentation ki tareef ki to…main thodi si…"

"shocked thi, right?" he completed her sentence.

Gunjan slightly shook her head in positive.

"ek baat yaad rakhna Miss Bhushan, jab bhi mujhe koi cheez, koi kaam, ya koi insaan perfect lagta hai, to main uski tareef zarur karta hun. Maine tumse kaha tha, ki jitna bura main dikhta hun, utna hun nahi." He spoke and came towards her.

"I promise sir, next time main isse bhi achha presentation…."

Before gunjan could complete her sentence, lights went off, and there was complete darkness. Gunjan fearfully hugged samrat, without even thinking for a second.

Samrat was quite surprised. He did not hug her back. Both remained like this for some time. Gunjan's hold was becoming tighter, as she was scared. Samrat, unknowingly was about to place his arms around her, when suddenly power came back.

Gunjan slightly opened her eyes, and realized that she was hugging samrat. She quickly backed off and straightened her dupatta.

"I….im sorry….sir actually…mujhe…andhere se darr lagta….hai." gunjan said apologetically in a low tone.

"its….fine. You may leave now." Samrat said, to remove the awkwardness.

Gunjan came out of the room, thinking about the incident which happened just few seconds ago.

"tujhe kya ho gaya tha gunjan? Andhere se darr lagta hai to theek hai, lekin us angry young joker ko hug karne ki kya zarurat thi?? Kya soch rahe honge wo mere baare mein!" thought gunjan, and walked towards her cabin.

As she reached in her cabin, she kept her files on table and sat on chair, thinking about samrat, and the moment when he praised her for her presentation skills.

"waise….wo sach mein itne bure bhi nahi hain!" gunjan smiled, and then got back to her work.

plz friends comment and press like tab....i hope it was upto the mark!!😛