Part 9
When Heer woke the next morning, she didn't have the slightest clue how the night passed. She was awake for the most part of it; tossing and turning in restlessness. She hadn't slept one wink. She had checked in on Aarav repeatedly, checked in on her sisters, watched TV; pretty much did all there was to do. As she looked out her window, she saw that the sun was just rising over the horizon. Heer dreaded her meeting with Prem today. She thought that their meeting at the Radisson was the last she would hear of him, but apparently that was not so.
A thought occurred to Heer; she quickly jumped out of bed and dialed a number from her cell phone. "Hello, good morning Preet… Yes I'm fine and I know it's early but I need to talk to you… What? No, no everyone is fine… I just need to talk to you, it's important… Yes, that's fine. So I'll see you in an hour at the shop… Good… Ok then, bye."
As she ended the call she knew she did the right thing by calling Preet. Before anything else happened with Prem and this assignment, Heer had to tell Preet who Prem Jhuneja really was. Preet had been a rock, a constant in her life; she had to tell him the truth...she owed him that much.
After a quick shower, Heer was confused on what to wear; she didn't want to wear anything too revealing or 'sexy' - she had to keep Prem at bay. After minutes of contemplation she finally settled on a pair of beige slacks and a black sleeveless top, which had a gold belt that clinched at the waist. She quickly changed and stepped into her black heels. Heer added simple gold-hoop earrings and a gold bracelet. She was soon in her car, headed to meet Preet.
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Heer walked into the store and knew that Preet was already there. The smell of coffee was running through the air, mixed in with the smell of carrot raisin muffins. Without even looking Heer knew that Preet had stopped by Mimi's Caf before coming to the shop to pick up breakfast.
"Hello?" she called to let Preet know that she was there. She soon saw him round a corner, a smile on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Morning beautiful," he said, and kissed her on the cheek. He handed her the cup of coffee and said, "I thought we could have breakfast before you went off to work today. Come."
Preet took Heer by the hand a led her to the back area of the shop. She saw that he had set up one of the antique tables with the coffee and muffins, and the whipped butter that Heer loved. It was a nice, simple setting made romantic by the solitary red rose that sat on a vase in the middle of the table. Seeing the muffins caused Heer's stomach to remind her she hadn't eaten breakfast. She sat down and took a sip of the coffee that Preet had handed her; two creams and two sugars, just the way she liked it.
"Mmmm...thank you." She said.
"Anything for you babe. So are you excited about today? I'm sure you will find tons of stuff for the store." Preet saw the look on Heer's face and it concerned him. "You know what, forget it. Forget the assignment. You wanted to talk about something. What happened? Is everything alright?" he asked, his voice dripping with concern.
"Actually, it is related to the assignment. It has to do with the man who is giving us his stuff."
"Oh...ok. What about him? How do you know him, by the way? And how does he know your family? I was surprised when he mentioned over the phone that he knew the Maan's. In all the years I have known you guys, I haven't heard of any connection to Prem Jhuneja. Is he a family friend?"
"Was," Heer said in a soft voice.
"What?"
"Was, he was a family friend...acquaintance," she corrected.
"How does your family know Prem Jhuneja?" Preet asked.
"He is...well...I don't know how to tell you…" Heer was on the verge of tears, she didn't know what was going to happen.
"Hey," Preet put a hand on top on Heer's thigh and gave it a squeeze. "You can tell me anything...anything...you know that."
"He's...he's..." Heer was still chocking on her tears that were stinging her eyes. She stopped and took a deep breath and continued, "He is Aarav's father."
Preet's eyes went wide in shock. He stood up and stood quite for a while. Heer stood up along with him and stood by his side silently, letting him take in the information.
"Let me get this straight..." he finally said, "...Aarav's father is Prem Jhuneja, THE Prem Jhuneja? The man who is the number one architect in the world at the moment, the man who built the multi-billion dollar island get away in Dubai? Aarav's good-for-nothing, non-existent father is………Prem Jhuneja?"
"Yes." Was all Heer could say.
"So that night when you went to see Aarav's dad, it was Prem Jhuneja?"
"I'm so sorry. I know I should have told you about it then, but...I thought we were done. I didn't have any reason to think he would come after me again."
"That's why he wants you, and only you to appraise the stuff." Heer remained silent, but Preet kept on, "You said that you didn't talk about Aarav, but you talked about 'other' things. What other things did you talk about, what did he say?"
"He said he wanted to resume the relationship we once had." Preet balled his hands into fists, knowing full well what Prem Jhuneja had in mind for himself and Heer. "I told him about us, I told him I am engaged to you."
"What are you going to do? About the assignment I mean."
"What do you want me to do?"
"This deal would really establish our business and give us tons of revenue," he said.
Heer looked a bit crest fallen; she felt that he was putting the business over her at the moment. He stepped closer and took her hands in his own.
"But you have to know that I would never make you do something that you didn't want to do. It all depends on you. If you cannot do it, then that is fine. No worries. All that matters to me is that you are ok."
After a pause Heer said, "I'll do it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I have to show him that I have moved on, and that I am happy. He has to know that he cannot get everything he wants."
"If you're sure, then I'm here for you...all the way. Just remember, if at any point you feel like you want out, all you have to do is tell me."
Heer looked at him and gently nodded her head. Preet enveloped Heer into a hug, and she had to admit, it made her feel a hundred times better. The stayed like that for a while longer. When they finally broke apart Preet and Heer ate breakfast. He began joking around, and messing around with her. Preet could always make her forget about things she didn't want to think about, and today was no exception. His jokes and love had made her forget about Prem...for the moment.
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It was 9:15 on Heer's watch, as she glanced at it for the hundredth time. Prem had said to be here no later then 9 o' clock, on the dot. Heer wanted to be late just for the hell of it, but she decided against it. This meeting was not about their past or even about them as individuals. This meeting was between one of the founders of a business establishment and a potential client; nothing more...nothing less.
Heer had arrived with a few minutes to spare. She pulled into the grand drive way of a grand house; it was truly magnificent. The care taker had let her in, and led her to the sitting room. While waiting for Prem to join her, Heer had managed to find her way to the backyard and garden. The garden was beautiful and lush, with roses, tulips, orchids, a gazebo and many other trinkets. In the back stool a beautiful, large tree. As Heer made her way to the tree, she was a tree house up in between the leaves and branches.
When Prem and Heer had been together, she had wanted to know about his childhood so badly. She wanted to know about his parents, his home, his friends...everything. It was something that was never talked about, and if by chance it was mentioned, very little was said, if anything at all. Heer stood under the shade of the tree admiring the structure that was once a little boy's play house.
"I used to play up there everyday as a child."
Heer spun around, one hand over her heart trying to control its frantic beating. She didn't get a sense of his presence until Prem had spoken, and when he did it nearly caused her to jump out of her skin in fear.
"Y...you scared me!" she protested.
"Did I? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," Prem said with trying to suppress a grin.
Heer was fighting the urge to give him a snappy response, and boy, was she fighting hard.
"Alright Mr. Jhuneja, lets get down to business. There are some family heirlooms you wanted me to appraise?"
"Wow, 'Mr. Jhuneja'. What is that all about Heer?" he questioned.
"We are here for business purposes and nothing else. I would greatly appreciate it if we stuck to professional terms."
"Well, if that is how you want it...Ms. Maan."
"Yes, thank you."
"Right this way, I don't want to keep you waiting."
Prem led Heer back into the house and towards the back. Soon they stood inside a room that Heer was very unimpressed by. She looked around and then looked Prem right in the eyes.
"What is the meaning of this Mr. Jhuneja?" she asked, her temper beginning to rise.
"I know what you are thinking, but don't jump to conclusions."
"As far as I know, you called our business to tell us you had some 'family heirlooms' that you wanted apprised. Heirlooms, which you said were worth money. The things in this room will barely be enough to buy a sandwich and cup of coffee at a decent caf." Heer said.
Without saying another word, Prem led Heer to the back of the room, to a small door in the corner. Opening the room they both walked in and Heer's eyes went wide in shock. She looked around stunned, and didn't know what to say.
Prem was the first to speak, "Oh how I hated this house, these things." After another pause he said, "So what do you think, is this junk worth anything?"
"This...this...this room is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions."
"Good, so now appraise it, and take it, I don't want it."
"All of it, just like that?"
"Just like that. Take it...all"
"Why are you doing this? Why are you literally giving up these pieces of art to us?"
"I have no use for them, so I want to get rid of them, I don't want them in this house. I want you to work side by side with me and get this junk out of here."
"What do you mean side by side? Appraising these items takes only one person, me. Why do you have to be here?" she asked, confused.
"That is part of the deal, take it or leave it. You taking it means that you agree to working side by side with me for the next month, eight hours a day," he said with an air of arrogance.
"In that case, I think I'll....leave it." Heer turned around to walk out when he called her back.
"I'd re-think the offer if I were you. This deal could bring lots and lots of money to your business."
"Our business is stable and we are doing great. What makes you think we need 'lots and lots of money'?"
"Well, a little birdie told me that Mr. Singh has been house hunting, you know, for when you finally decide to walk down the aisle with him." Prem walked over to where Heer was standing, "Rumor has it that the house he has his eyes set on will leave quite the dent in his wallet. You don't want to use your business as collateral, now do you?"
A chill ran through Heer as she heard Prem's voice. It was cold, calculating and heart piercing.
"What?" Heer asked in surprise.
"Oh, seems like your fianc hasn't told you the new information. Well don't worry, the house he has in mind is really a great buy," he added.
"H…how do you know?"
"Let's just say I did some 'research' after out meeting the other night. It seems that Mr. Singh has chosen a Victorian style house that has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, along with a pool and guest house. It is painted a soft peach color, with white windows and has white picket fencing around the boundary. The backyard is nice and big, fully done up with trees and flowers, a hammock and swing seat on the porch. Oh I forgot to mention, it is a double story house. All that is missing is a family and a dog running around. " Prem had a gleam of pride and just a hint of evil in his eyes.
Heer looked on at Prem, unable to believe that he was capable of such malice. The coldness and hardness in his eyes were frightening. The house he had just described was Heer's dream home. She had told Preet about it years ago when they were still in high school. How could Preet still remember such a trivial thing?
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cant wait to read comments 😃😃
JAZ 
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