Two days passed in a blink of an eye. Aastha and the entire team put in efforts that brought a lot of sweet fruit. The event had a huge list of confirmed guests, "Mr. Antonio Paulos plus one" topping it. Aastha wondered who the "plus one" would be, since she had heard that he wasn't married. But that thought was brushed away soon as she had a million other things to complete. The day before the event went by in a haze, and soon it was time for Aastha to leave from work. She rubbed her fingers on her aching temple as she pressed the button of the elevator - the same elevator that brought back humiliating memories to haunt her. She cringed at the flashback, recalling the disgusted glances and the crooked smiles she got from the staff. Nobody blamed Shlok Agnihotri; but no one thought for a second time before pointing fingers at her character. And why would they blame him? He was super rich, who sat aloof in his cabin; who did not need to face his staff on a daily basis. He simply barked orders and got his job done. Her lips quivered as fresh tears filled her eyes at the humiliation he caused her. She would never forgive him nor forget what he had done. That was what her brain told her. But her heart pulled her in another direction. She was attracted to him and the brain seemed to laugh at her heart. Despite that, her heart said that she was falling in love with him. Why do all the good girls have to fall for the bad boys? She questioned herself, but her brain and heart were busy arguing among themselves. "What is wrong with me? I am arguing with myself, and yet I do not know whether my brain is right, or my heart!"
"Aastha" Varadh called out to her as he ran towards her, forcing her to jerk into reality. By the time he reached the place she was standing, the doors of the lift opened. He ushered her into the lift and waited for his breath to calm down. She looked at him with bemusement in her eyes. Once he regained his normal breath, he looked up at Aastha in a worry. "Anything wrong, Sir?" she asked him in question. "Aastha, I had been so busy with my work for the event; I forgot that Shlok is coming back today with our guests from Greece" Aastha's heart starting thudding against her chest at the mention of his name, while her brain just refused to say anything further looking at the silly happy-dance of the beloved heart. "I forgot to book them a car. Would you be a sweet one and arrange for a luxury vehicle? Here are the details of their arrival at the airport" he said, as he handed over a slip of paper in her hand. She stood blank, her mouth open with a perfect O. The doors of the lift opened at the ground floor, and Varadh rushed out, shouting to her, "I've got to rush for a meeting. Please do it soon okay? Thanks a bunch" and just like that, Varadh hopped into the car that was waiting for him, and he sped off.
"What the hell?" Aastha muttered to herself. "Why should I do it? And that for Shlok Agnihotri? Am I an attender here?" she walked outside the building in steps as long as her legs could take. She then remembered Shlok Agnihotri's icy cold eyes and the extent to which he could go when he was as angry as a grizzly bear. And now that she had seen the trailer of his horrible antics previously, she did not want another complicated issue to rise, creating more trouble for her. She shivered at the thought and she called up the cab services to arrange for the car. "But Ma'am, how am I supposed to identify them? And where would they find me?... Sorry Madam, we do not send our drivers or any other staff to welcome any guest. Our job is to drive them to the destination" Aastha gave up in defeat. She had to go along in the car to pick Mr Arrogant Agnihotri along with Mr. Paulos and his plus one. Mentally cursing Varadh Agnihotri for getting her into this mess, she told the cab driver to pick her up from her residence in an hour, and then take her to the airport. Smacking her forehead at her rotten luck, or that was what she chose to believe for good, she hopped into the taxi and went home.
She picked a simple black knee-length dress that hugged her curves at the top but had light flairs at the bottom. She put on minimal make-up and completed her look with shiny studs on her ears. She brushed her hair twice and chose to leave the tresses down her shoulders. She looked into the mirror and was amazed at her reflection. "Not bad, Ms. Aastha Kirloskar" she patted her back with a smile and left from her house as she heard the horn of the cab.
It had been fifteen minutes since the flight landed, but there was no sign of Mr. Shlok or Mr. Paulos or the Plus One. She felt awkward standing with the placard in her hand, on which SHLOK AGNIHOTRI was written in bold black. She saw many of them leave the airport, but the ones whom she was waiting for, were taking ages to arrive. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, she saw Shlok Agnihotri at a distance of few feet from her. His crisp black three-piece suit teamed with his black eye-shades and the Bluetooth piece at his ear made him look as irresistible as molten chocolate. He saw Aastha at a distance holding the placard and almost had his heart in his mouth as he observed her look as he neared her. Since he had masked his eyes with his glasses, she could not tell where he looked. But Shlok was busy surveying her from head to toe. She looked delicious enough to be eaten and probably no one on the entire planet could look more beautiful than how she looked at this very moment. His primitive streak of ego had a huge boost as he noticed her looking at him with appreciative eyes, but was careful enough to mask his expression like he always did. He noticed her ring finger that was still empty. Hmm... this was something he had to look into, but that was to be done later. He walked up to where she stood and snapped his finger in front of her, bringing her out of her trance. Inwardly, he rejoiced that he had an effect on her. "That would be me" he said pointing out to the placard in her hand, and suddenly she felt stupid. But she was helpless since all her senses stopped working the minute he appeared in front of her eyes. She tucked her hair behind her ears nervously and ran her tongue on her dry lips. That simple gesture drove Shlok to a crazy extent and his mind began to think of all sorts of things that he could do with that pink tongue and the luscious lips. He turned to look away, causing Aastha to think what made him change his mood so suddenly.
"The car is waiting at the exit point" she said as she looked and pointed towards a particular vehicle. Just then, when she turned towards him, a man of around Shlok's age and a very young attractive woman stood right next to him. "This is Ms. Aastha Kirloskar. She's the daughter of a very important client of ours as well as an intern at the Agnihotri's" he said pointing towards her. "And Aastha" he said looking at her, "This is Mr. Antonio Paulos - one of the richest businessmen in Greece along with being one of the best persons I've known, and this is his sister, Ms Heleena Paulos" Heleena passed her a snide smile and Aastha took to dislike her at the very first instance. Mr. Antonio Paulos, who stood behind Shlok, now stepped forward, took her hand in his and kissed it ever-so-lightly. "Oh My Goodness! Ise Poli Omorfi" Aastha looked in confusion at the man. He laughed and cupped her hand in both his hands saying with a smile, "I meant you are very beautiful. It's such a pleasure meeting you" to which Aastha blushed a shade of pink. He held her hand and walked her towards the taxi, and she obliged with a lovely smile. He was friendly to her, and given the current situation, he was the only one whom Aastha deemed to be normal and best to talk. But unknown to her, there were a pair of eyes that did not like what it saw. Shlok balled his hands in a tight fist when he saw Mr. Paulos hold and kiss her hand. To add fuel to the fire, she blushed when he called her beautiful. Shlok knew that he had no right to be angry. After all, she did not belong to him. But the fact that she was showering someone else with her smiles and attention, that too in his presence, irritated him to an unknown limit. Heleena noticed the change in Shlok's expression and grabbed the chance to lean on him. She snaked her arms around Shlok's hand, but Shlok was too distracted and angry to notice her. He shook her hand off his, and walked behind Aastha who seemed to be too busy smiling and laughing at whatever the Greek man spoke. Heleena's rage knew no bounds at Shlok's unintended insult and decided to get back at him when she got the chance. She knew that the girl who had come to pick them up had to mean something to Shlok; else he wouldn't have reacted the way he did on seeing her brother greet the girl. She now knew the perfect way to get back at Shlok and waited for the right time, with a sly grin pasted across her face, slowly following the three of them towards the car that had come to pick them up.
The four of them reached the car. The two seats that could occupy two each were facing each other. Antonio stepped aside and held out his hand towards Aastha, "After you, my beautiful lady" to whom she smiled and placed her hand in his. Shlok clenched his jaws in irritation, but decided not to speak a word about it. Aastha slid across and sat on the seat that was backing the driver. Antonio then ushered his sister to get into the vehicle, who sat opposite to Aastha. Antonio tapped Shlok who stood next to him and whispered, "I hope it is alright with you if I take a seat next to this pretty woman" giving Aastha a glance. Shlok pressed his firmly and forced a straight smile, after which he sat next to Heleena. On the whole way, Shlok kept looking at Aastha and Antonio, who of course were oblivious to his stare - courtesy his glasses which he had not yet taken off; neither did they know the unsettling feeling within him looking at Aastha smile brightly at anything that Antonio uttered. Aastha passed a glance at Shlok as she sensed him watching her, but what she saw disappointed her. Heleena had her hand rested flat on Shlok's thigh, while Shlok kept nodding to whatever the woman spoke. What she did not know was that Shlok had his eyes rested only on her and kept nodding his head, even though he wasn't listening to Heleena. Heleena took this as a golden opportunity and suddenly announced, "Great then, I'll be your companion for tomorrow's event." Shlok turned towards Heleena, surprised at her statement. He did not recollect asking her to be at his side for the event. A similar look of surprise showed up on Aastha's face. She herself did not know why it affected her. After all, he was a grown man who had tastes in classy women like Heleena. Her disappointment reflected on her face and somewhere in the corner of his conscience, Shlok felt responsible and guilty even though he had nothing to do with Heleena's flirtatious behaviour. Soon, the cab reached the hotel at which Antonio and Heleena were to stay. One of the Agnihotri staff was ready at the entrance to welcome the guests right away. Antonio got off the vehicle first, followed by his sister. Aastha felt her insides clench as Heleena leaned close to Shlok and pecked on his cheek, and in an instant, she looked away from the two. Shlok just nodded his head in politeness. Call him a hypocrite or whatever, but one thing that turned him off was when women took the lead to outrageously flirt and try to get physically close.
The cab then left from the hotel and took a turn towards Aastha's house. None of them said a word throughout the whole drive. She got off when she reached her place and mumbled a goodnight, to which he replied in the same manner and left from there. Aastha entered her house and noticed that her Dad had been busy in his study room. She quietly tiptoed to her room and went to take a shower. Once she was done, she slumped on the bed, hugged a pillow and cried till she was breathless. She was angry at the fact that she was crying for someone to whom she did not even make a difference. She was confused about her feelings and knew that falling for him was as good as falling from a cliff. She knew she would be the one in pain at the end of it. She understood that Shlok was the last person to believe in emotions and love, for his behaviour reflected his ice-cold and ruthless attitude. But her heart was the one that did not listen. Her entire being had betrayed her brain and conspired to make her fall hard for him. She cried at her helplessness. Her phone buzzed with a message from the Team Lead that she had an off from office the next day since she was involved with the event, and that she had to be at the venue at least an hour before time. She kept her phone aside and continued crying. Soon, exhaustion overtook her and she fell fast asleep, her lashes still wet with tears.
Shlok punched his punching bag with his fist, recalling the entire evening. The way Aastha looked almost made him weak in his knees. He felt a certain feeling of pride when he saw her, for she looked divine. The image of those creamy legs and that gorgeous face had permanently burned in his mind. Then, the image of Antonio and Aastha flashed in front of his eyes. How they laughed and giggled. Heck, he even kissed her hand and she willingly obliged! Rage filled his heart and he tried to pour out his frustration on the punching bag. Shlok had been bitten by the green bug called "jealousy", though he was completely unaware of it. He punched the bag hard, and held it between his hands as it came towards him. Someone had made Aastha incredibly happy. Someone had made her smile with a simple gesture and brought her some much needed joy. But that someone was not him, and he did not like that at all. He knew he had to settle this as soon as possible. With that thought in mind, he went for a shower to freshen up, and then hit the bed, this time alone and without any female to warm his side, but with thoughts about a very attractive woman to whom he was helplessly attracted.
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Channel V Dil Dosti Dance
Arjun
16