MIRAGE:THIS IS A SHORT PART. HOPE YOU IT DOESN'T BORE YOU TO DEATH 😉 .
True to their word, Bani had missed lunch that day. She had been so engrossed with making calls and sending e-mails that only when Ranveer and Kaveri waltzed into her office with a lunch box did she realize that she had totally forgotten about lunch.
"Oh my goodness, what time is it?" she asked,flicking her wrist to see the time.
"Told you you weren't going to make it to lunch," Ranveer said.
"Guys, I am so sorry about all this," she said, "This is harder than I thought."
"It's always harder than we think here," Kaveri said dryly, "What have you got so far?"
"Well I have managed to round up a good team based on the names I got from Natchiket," she said, going over the list again, "I think I have enough here to call a meeting and give a briefing of some sort."
"Wow, you're stronger than I thought," Ranveer said, admiration coloring his voice.
"Told you she'd bring some fun into the office."
"Thanks," she said, round a mouth full of chicken biryani, "Really appreciate the vote of confidence. By the way, shouldn't you two be working?"
"Honey please, we're not you ok?" Kaveri said, "We don't have a deadline like you."
"Mmhhmm," she nodded as her mouth was full of food.
"What is the meaning of the stunt you just pulled Jai?"
Jai looked up to see Natchiket standing in the doorway of his office, a disapproving look on his face.
"What are you talking about?" he said, feigning ignorance as to what Natchiket was referring to.
"You know very well what I'm talking about," Natchiket snapped, "That project is a huge one to be giving a girl who just resumed work today and you know it."
Jai looked at him and said easily, "She thinks she has what it takes. Let her prove it."
"I don't know how you think sometimes Jai," Nathciket said, his frustration at his brother getting the better of him, "What do you now have against her?"
Jai raised his brow at that, "Must I have something against everyone I put to a test?"
"No action of yours is wasted Jai, I think we both know that."
"Let it be Natchiket, she will handle the preliminaries of the project and then we'll go from there," he said, leaning back in his chair and fixing Natchiket with a haughty stare, "If that is all, I would like to get back to work."
"You know, I will wait patiently for the day you fall flat on your face because of your mind games."
"You would like that wouldn't you?" Jai said snidely, "To finally be able to measure up to me even if it's when I am down."
"In a million life times I would never want to be like you Jai," Natchiket said, a sad smile tinging his lips, "You have lost a lot and you don't even know it yet. You call it achieving, we call it losing."
So saying, Natchiket turned and walked out of the office, leaving a seething Jai behind. Every time they had a confrontation like this he was always the one left fuming. It annoyed him most times that Natchiket knew him so well. Even when he was trying to be mysterious, Natchiket would guess him right and that more than infuriated him. Several times, his intimate knowledge of him had been the reason some of the things he had planned fell short of their impact.He'd known that this little stunt he pulled would bring Natchiket to him as it always did when he did something outrageous, but this was the first time it was not a shouting competition between them. Seeing them today, it was hard to believe that once upon a time people referred to them as Siamese twins.
Jai got up and went to the window and looked out over the city spread before him. They were never apart, these two. They had gotten into all kinds of scrapes together, even up to getting arrested by the police for drunken driving and fleeing from arrest. They had had the time of their lives growing up. A faint smile had come to his lips with the memories of those days. And then he quickly squelched those thoughts. All that had changed with the times. They barely saw eye to eye on anything anymore and could barely stand eachother. Natchiket had moved out of the house and no one had understood why…not even the family members. He shrugged as if to shake off the uneasy feeling that came over him at the thought of the reason why Natchiket had moved out of Walia Mansion. Determined not to think about it, he returned to his seat and threw himself into work.
Later that evening when Bani walked into the house, her parents were seated in the living room waiting for her.
"Bani beti, tum aa gaye?" Nishikant said, getting up to hug his daughter.
"How was your first day?" Kiran asked her.
She just held on to Nishikant and didn't say a word, which after a while began to worry them.
"Bani," Nishikant said, raising her head to get a better look at her, "Kya hua? Sab theek to hai na?"
She nodded slowly and hugged him again.
"Acha, chalo mere saath," he said, leading her to the study, and signaling Kiran not to worry.
On getting to the study, he made her seat comfortably on the reading sofa before resuming the questioning.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked gently.
"There's nothing to talk about," she said slowly, "I should not have taken the job…but everyone knows I love a challenge."
He looked at her weak smile, "What happened today Bani?"
She sighed deeply, "Not much Papa. It's just that on my first day I was given the responsibility of rounding up the troops for a Spa project in Hyderabad."
"That's great."
"I shouldn't have that kind of responsibility at this stage Papa," she said, "But after the way we met, I'm not surprised he would dump this on me."
"What are you talking about?" he asked a little confused.
She narrated the whole incidents of the previous day to him, "So why do you think he gave me the Spa project again?"
He ame and sat beside her and hugged her to him, "I have never known my daughter to be a quitter. And I know my daughter will surely do a wonderful job of it."
"I'm tired," she groaned.
"I know my child," he said soothingly, "But you'll get used to it."
"I don't want to."
"Stop whining," Nishikant said, laughing at her theatrics, "Now come on out, your mother is a bit worried."
"She should be, she made me do this."
Hand in hand, they walked out to meet the rest of the family. Rano had just returned from work and was having a glass of juice in the living room.
"Hey you, how was your first day?" she asked.
"Tiring," she said, sitting next to her, taking the glass of juice from her and taking a generous gulp.
"I know, but it gets better."
"Mmhhmm," she said.
"Dinner is served," Kiran emerged from the kitchen, "Bani…"
"I'm fine ma, I'm just tired from all the talking and typing and thinking I've had to do the last eight hours."
"I'm sorry," she said, patting her daughter's back as they made their way to the dining table.
"Yeah, me too. You're going to give me a full body massage."
"Okay dear."
"How come I don't get a body massage?" Rano whined.
"You've been doing this longer than I have,' Bani said over her shoulder.
"Not fair,"she said grumpily.
"Try working for Jai Walia."
"How was work today?" Krishna asked her son.
"Good," he said, throwing his shirt on the bed.
"Any thing unusual happen?"
"No, should something have happened?" he asked, taking out a simple shirt to wear to dinner.
"No, dear. It's just that the way you work…well one would expect you to always have an eventful day. Like your father."
"What happened to father?"
"Well, you know Mr. Sharma…the food company?"
He already knew where this was going, "Yes, mother. What about him?"
"He came to see your father today. They hadn't seen each other in a really long time and he just…"
"What do you really want to say Ma?" he said, cutting her off.
"Well he brought a proposal for you Jai. His daughter Preeti just relocated back to India after a long time and your father thinks she could be a good match for you."
"No surprise there," he said, walking in to his bathroom to wash his face.
"Jai, you are going to have to get married some day you know. At least try to take this seriously."
"I will mother," he said, wiping his face a towel, "In my own time."
"Time flies Jai, you're thirty four now."
"And that's a problem, how?" he asked turning to fix her with a questioning gaze.
"You don't want to be fifty and have a four year old child do you?"
He placed his hands on either side of her shoulders, "Ma, I will make my choice when I'm good and ready. Not a second sooner."
"I worry about you Jai," she said, placing her arm on his hands, "You are too young to be this unhappy."
He patted her cheek, "I'm fine Ma. I promise, I'll think about this seriously."
She nodded in satisfaction, "Come on down now, or dinner will get cold."
"I'm right behind you," he said, a small smile on his lips for her benefit.
As soon as she was out the door, his smile disappeared. It was the same song and dance he had heard the last six years. Marriage, marriage, marriage…what was the big rush? Well he wasn't ready for any of that, not by a long shot. His last attempt had left him with much to be desired as far as marriage was concerned. His jaw tightened at the thought…he would choose a bride in his own time. He headed downstairs to dinner.
GUYS, GOTTA GO NOW. HAVE SOME MAJOR READING TO DO.SORRY IF THIS PART IS BORING. WILL ONCE AGAIN UPDATE NEXT WEEKEND AND I PROMISE TO MOVE THINGS ALONG FASTER. BYE FOR NOW.
😉 😉 😉
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