Finding Love - An AnuPre FF (Chapter 10 - Page 17) - Page 9

Prerna sat on the edge of the plush revolving chair, behind her desk typing so fast, her fingers appeared to be a haze, absolutely oblivious to her surroundings. It was two days to the release of the merger to the public and they were wrapping things up, ensuring and double checking everything was in order.

"Prerna?" Anurag called out softly when she dragged her eyes away from the screen, adjusting the glasses perched precariously on her nose.

"Could you please pass me the Appraisal File?" He asked.

She smiled politely and said, "Yeah, sure."

He flashed her an equal polite smile and uttered a thanks.

That's how things have been between Prerna and Anurag for the past few days. In the aftermath of their recent unexpected physical encounter after the party, both of them agreed to an unsaid pact to be acutely polite and nice to each other.

They would both come in the morning, offer the other a courteous smile and start working, discussing their issues being very respectable to the other.

They avoided physical contact to the maximum extent possible. Prerna got extremely flustered each time there was an accidental contact. So flustered, the reaction showed. And this would inturn make Anurag awkward. She would then reprimand herself for the next half an hour at the back of her brain for reacting like an extra sensitive hormonal teenager.

Prerna acknowledged one thing. She was absolutely sure about it. Things have changed between them. Probably for good. She found a potential and totally drool worthy crush in Anurag. There was no point denying. They connected on many fronts beautifully. And disagreed on a lot more. But they did have an amazing camaraderie and she enjoyed the time that she spent with him. She also acknowledged that Anurag definitely has a soft corner for her and things were spiralling out of control. Not that she wants to control this at all.

Okay. Let's say it loud. For once and all. Prerna Sharma had developed an ardent crush for Anurag Basu. Way. To. Go. Since this epic acknowledgement Prerna has been an awkward mess around him.

"Um, I am thinking about getting myself a coffee and stretch a bit. My legs are begging for it. You want some coffee too?" Anurag asked.

"Sure," Prerna said, smiling thankfully.

"Prerna? What's with the scarf you are wearing around your head today?" Anurag asked curiously.

Oh. Shit.

Why did he have to go there? He always somehow knew the exact thing that would irk her. Fate.

The day before Prerna decided to treat herself to a hair cut and went to this most renowned beauty salon with all these expert stylist and stuff. You get it. It being her first time, she innocently pointed to a hair cut that she liked from the display and trusted she would get the same hair cut.

Things obviously didn't end up the way she expected them to.

She looked at her horror stricken face in the mirror. Instant hot tears pricked her eyes. She looked crestfallen at her beautiful hair now on the floor in a soft mass.

When the stylist, who had a towering height of 5' 9", hair cascading down into soft silky curls, bleached teeth and shaped eyebrows and in short looked like a model, asked her if she liked it, she of course smiled and said yes.

And then she came back home and cried buckets and decided the only way she could go out with facing public humiliation was by wearing a scarf.

Prerna was a confident woman and was never insecure about herself.

But a bad hair cut is a bad hair cut.. No arguments.

And now Anurag Basu, the constant peace-annihilator of her life *had* to ask questions about it.

"Why do you care?" Was her instant, reflexive answer to his question.

Anurag looked at her surprised. This was a totally unanticipated break from the lets-be-too-good-to-each-other drama. She dropped the whole facade?

Which undoubtedly meant something was up. Anurag's hibernating trouble-Prerna side woke up with a roaring grunt.

Prerna realised her folly and gave him an awkward laugh.

"I mean its nothing that you have to care about. It's the new fashion. A girl thing. And you are a boy. So. You wouldn't care about it. Right?"

"You seriously think I would buy that, Sharma," Anurag grinned, maliciously.

"Do I look like I care?" Prerna asked irritated, dropping all pretense.

"But you do care about the fact that you are totally not able to carry that thing around and are desperately itchy to take it off?"

Absolutely yes.

"Absolutely no." Prerna answered viciously, "Didn't you say your legs were begging you to walk your ass of this cabin. Why don't you pray listen to them?"

"I will Sjarma, but now my ears are pleading me to listen to your sob story. So?" He shrugged.

"Who said it is a sob story?" Prerna said, defensively.

"Seriously, Sharma?"

"Okay fine," she said, letting her scarf slide off her shoulders.

"What happened to your hair?" Anurag asked, utterly bewildered.

"Fu*ked up hair cut," Prerna murmered in a small voice. "Does it look bad?" Prerna asked apprehensively.

Pause.

"Not at all," Anurag replied, way too airily.

"You paused!" Prerna whined. "I look like Salman Khan from Tere Naam." she whispered horror - struck.

Anurag chuckled at her comment.

"I spent 5000 rupees on it!" She said, as her tears made a reappearance.

"Hey, hey, calm down, okay? It doesn't look too bad." He said, softly.

"But bad still-"

"-which is okay. Vaibhav will still love you even when you are ugly. He is a good man." He smiled assuringly.

Prerna gave a huge shove to him in the shoulder, and also the finger.

"Besides. You are looking as hideous as you always do." He said, smirking.

"Yeah. And that's why you kissed me that day, right?" Prerna asked.

Silence.

Back to the akwardness. They stared everywhere except at each other, both pink in the face, like they have just been caught red handed doing something they weren't supposed to.

The door opening noisily shook them out of their reverie. And a second later Vaibhav got in.

"Sir's asking you both in his cabin," he informed and left, casting them an unapproaving glance.

"Sharma, ask your boyfriend to knock on the door next time, okay?" Anurag said quite irritated, following her out of the cabin.

________________

Anurag and Prerna were huddled at the laptop screen, waiting with bated breaths, bearing similar expressions of confusion.

It was the launch event of India Cellular, The Basu Group of Industries' latest venture into Telecmunications.

What was surprising though was there wasn't a wildest hint of any such plans being made by the Basus. It was a surprise for everybody in the industry that the Basu Group was diversifying into Telecommunications.

Moloy Basu walked up to the mic with a confident stance and smiled warmly at the gathering. He was a handsome man with an immediately captivating charm. Ananya could see where Avinash got all his looks from. He wasn't as charming as his dad though.

After the lighting of the dia and the customary welcoming statement, Moloy Basu plunged into a lengthy explanation of what the inspiration behind this sudden decision was. The usual stuff.

It was finally the time for launching their first plan.

And the explanation of the plan began.

Only it was the same as the one the Kashyap-Malhotra industries planned to release a day after. Every single bit of it. An exact copy.

Prerna's face turned pallid with every word that she took in. The data plan... The billing system...The Network speed... All the words that have been fuzzing with her brain all these weeks, being spoken by their rival.

Tears gushed out of her eyes as she stared at the screen, her mouth open in horror.

What was all of this!

This was months of their efforts! All gone in vain? That too to their rival? How did this even happen? Their security systems were so robust. The Information Systems impeccable! And the jobs were allotted to the employees in a totally disintegrated fashion. Nobody knew what the other was upto. A data leakage was out of question!

She ran her hands through her hair repeatedly, utterly shook and unsure. A hundred questions flashed her brain and a hundred more thoughts. None coherent.

Shit. Anurag.

Prerna whipped her head to the side, to look at Anurag, still staring at the screen but his eyes were not looking. He was expressionless. He made no movement. Nothing in his face gave the signal that he was feeling anything.

Oh god.

Prerna shook him. No reaction.

"Anurag?" she called tentatively.

No reaction.

"Anurag?" she tried again, shaking him vigorously.

He looked into her eyes, the horror in her eyes reflecting in his. He clapped a hand to his mouth, and looked around desolately, looking utterly lost.

He fisted his palms and tried to calm his breaths as Prerna watched helplessly.

He made a dash for the door and before Prerna could follow him, he disappeared.

Prerna walked through the corridors, unwilling to acknowledge the pandemonium and confusion throughout the office. The whole debacle set the office in a mess. The question was same.

How did this happen?

An hour later, Prerna, Anurag and the departmental heads were called in for the inevitable discussion.

Everybody expressed their utter dismay and confusion at the turn of the events and was ready to swear the mistake wasn't from their end.

"This could only happen because of Information System error."

There it was. The inescapable conclusion.

"Anurag Basu and Sameer Bhardwaj. You are responsible for this. Care to explain?" Kashyap Malhotra asked, trying with all his might to restrain his anger.

Sameer Bhardwaj babbled about stuff being absolutely perfect from his end and on and on.

Anurag didn't speak a word.

"Mr. Basu? Weren't you the one handling this? How could a mistake so big that it would set our company behind by so many accounts happen!" He roared.

"Anurag wasn't the only one handling this." Prerna put in, in a small voice. "We both did the work. The final reports were drafted by Anurag."

"That doesn't solve anything Ms Sharma," Kashyap Malhotra snapped, enraged. "How do we fix this mess?" He questioned.

Nobody had an answer.

The evening was spent in a total doom by the whole office.

It was hours later that Prerna and Anurag were called in again.

"Look, I need to get to the bottom of this. And that will be MY job. I am putting up people to track down the miscreant responsible for this. But you, you guys have a new job to do. Work on a new plan." He said. "Something so better, so new and so impressive, we should go ahead and thank God for giving us this day. Work on it!" He appealed earnestly. "I trust you both. I am bringing in the best developers, marketers, everything I can to help you out with this. Do it. The principle of Kashyap Industries has always been the same. It will remain to be the same. Challenge yourself. Make this better than the last time!"

Prerna nodded her head determined. This was it. They had to do it better. So, so much better.

Anurag nodded too, his eyes gleaming with a foreign feeling. Prerna couldn't quite recognise it. It was something very fierce. The same mad gleam she often noticed when he got too passionate about work.

They left the cabin together and to the parking, not speaking a word.

They looked at each other one last time before leaving to their respective homes, in the hope that things will get alright.

But the morning newspaper of the next day changed things. For the bad. Really bad.