Wired Hearts (4) Ch:34, Thread:5 (June 26) - Page 39

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mayyo thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago

Originally posted by: 6977500

awesome loved it
πŸ‘


Thank you! πŸ˜Š
mayyo thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago

Originally posted by: paponecon

missed th last chapter...now read it...geet is rght..maan is alws one step ahead of his age of boys...may more than one...does he drink regularly...y he was so hurried...y nw vyan is more thna maan ...


Vyan is more than Maan? You might just want to consider the seven years long separation between Maan and Geet after a bitter breakup, as well as the couple of months old camaraderie between Vyan and Geet which comes from spending more than half the day together. Would it not make anyone sometimes preferred over people who have sort of seized to hold that importance for you?
mayyo thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
**Replies begin from page 45.

This chapter is for my dear Apa! πŸ€—

30. J... J... Jess?


"Do you have the file? And the catalogue? Is the CD in the folder?" I asked Vyan once again as we stepped into the elevator and he pressed the button for the eighth floor. We were at the office of ARK for the meeting we had been looking forward to since some time. We were to present the sample designs to the board of directors and then sign the contract with the company which would make Innodea the official designing firm for ARK's offices.

"Yes, Geet. How many times are you going to ask the same questions?" He chuckled as the elevator started moving.

I tried to breath deeply and concentrated on Vyan rather than thinking about being enclosed in an elevator. I did not want my claustrophobia to take over just yet. Thankfully, Vyan initiated a discussion about a design for the few seconds that we were in there, which aided in distracting me.

Mr. Smith met us at the reception desk when we stepped out of the elevator. As he led us to a conference room through a long corridor, I observed the impressive architecture as well as the uptight atmosphere surrounding the employee cubicles we crossed. Every single employee my eyes fell upon was paying attention to his own work like he was being supervised in microfiche.

The conference room we were led into was quite long with an oblong table right in the centre. The far wall was completely glass and it gave a panoramic view of the vast land behind the building. Mr. Smith pulled the blinds over the wall, shielding the scenic view from us. We were told to be seated while the board members arrived. As we waited, Vyan and I went through the designs once again. We wanted the presentation to go well.

The sound of footsteps entering the room made us both stand and turn, and then freeze. I was surprised and hence I did not move at all while I could feel Vyan's eyes drift between me and the person standing in front of us. Mr. Smith stepped forward and introduced us, even though it was absolutely unnecessary.

"Mr. Raheja, Ms. Handa, meet our MD, Mr. Maan Singh Khurana." He gestured towards Maan who stood in all his confidence with one hand pushed into the pocket of his dress pants. "And sir, this is -"

"Geet. Vyan." He interrupted Mr. Smith and spoke in an emotionless voice. His eyes were fixed on my face and I could not read what was in them when he smirked and brought his hand forward. "Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Raheja." Vyan firmly shook hands with him, having gotten out of the little state of confusion.

"Hello, Ms. Handa." He looked at me with the smirk becoming more pronounced. I slowly put my hand in his outstretched one. He held my hand a little longer before I could pull it back without raising suspicions.

"Hello, Mr. Khurana." I decided to be professional with him, just like I would have been had it been anyone else in his place.

"I assume I have taken you both by surprise here, haven't I?" He chuckled softly, making me give a small smile.

"Indeed. We were not informed of you being the MD of ARK."

Maan pushed both his hands in his pockets, his back straight and his chin jutted out a little, he was clearly fitting the picture of the MD of a successfully thriving firm. "I believe that is how ARK works, Mr. Raheja. We do not let just anyone meet or be informed of the details of the MD, until of course, it is absolutely necessary."

My eyebrows shot up a wee bit higher at the evident high-handedness in his tone and manner. "Certainly, Mr. Khurana." I butted in. "And this makes me believe we are quite honoured to be allowed to meet such an important personality."

Maan met my eyes with a level stare. I knew he had understood what I had said was not how it sounded. The slight lift of a corner of his lips was his only response, after which he stood straighter, immediately causing a shift in a stance of the couple of people standing behind him.

"Shall we begin?" He asked with an oomph and then smoothly walked over to take his place at the head of the table. The rest of the members followed and settled in their seats.

I inhaled deeply and looked at Vyan, who gestured me to sit while he began with the presentation. As he took his place in front of the whiteboard, directly opposite from where Maan was seated at the head of the table, I smiled at him encouragingly. He spoke about Innodea Interiors in an unwavering voice which sounded convincing enough for the board members to nod their heads as a sign of being impressed.

"My partner, Ms. Handa will now present to you the sample designs we have prepared, based on the requirements Mr. Smith put forth to us in our former meeting." It was my cue and I got up from my seat, walking over to Vyan. "All the best!" He whispered to me almost inaudibly before he went to sit and I took the CD out of the case and inserted it in the provided laptop.

Just when the lights were switched off for me to begin with the projection, the door to the conference room opened and a woman hastily walked inside. I could not see her face as she apologised for being late and then took a seat beside Maan. Overlooking the latecomer, I began to show the slides of the designs which Vyan and I had worked on, giving a little of the details for each design.

"That's about it." I announced when I reached the last slide. "Please keep in mind that all of these are just sample designs to give you a general picture and so they can modified according to tastes and requirements, should ARK choose any of these." I finished with the presentation and the lights were turned on.

My eyes, of their own accord, fell on Maan, and a slight frown immediately marred my forehead at the way he was leaning casually towards the woman who had joined the meeting at the end. His shoulder was nearly touching hers and she appeared to be saying something to him. I focused on the woman's face. She seemed somewhat familiar to me but I could not place a finger on when and where I had seen her when one of the members questioned something about the designs, distracting me.

As Vyan and I answered the questions which the members asked, my gaze drifted towards Maan and that woman time and again. Her cheeks were faintly pink and she seemed to be suppressing a smile over something Maan had said. He had a lop-sided smile on his face, his eyes towards the woman. I could not help but be annoyed at his unprofessional behaviour. He was flirting with a woman in the middle of the meeting, for crying out loud. Had those gossipmongers at Zara's kitty party not said that he never compromised with his work? I struggled to keep the professional mask on my face, leaving Vyan to answer the questions while I tried to recall where I had seen that woman.

When I saw Maan slowly pull out the pen from her fingers with a small smile still on his face, my eyes widened and I could not stop myself from calling out and interrupting them. "Any questions, Mr. Khurana?" My voice was sharp enough for Vyan to jerk his head towards me in surprise.

"Of course, Ms. Handa. All the members here have asked quite a few questions I had in mind but I still have some more for you." He coolly turned to face me, proving with his words that his attentions were not only focused on the woman. "Jess," he addressed the woman he had just been busy with, "please ask the questions I have just told you to note down."

The name with which he addressed the woman rang a bell. Jess. Maan's neighbour. The one he had attempted to stay away from at all costs. I was shocked beyond words as I compared how he had just been so comfortable with her to how he used to find excuses to escape her seven years ago. It was unbelievable and the actuality of how much he had changed in these years dawned on me completely just now. It was not a good thing, I realised, to get lost in such thoughts, when I felt Vyan nudging me slightly and then responding to a question Jess had asked which I had not even heard.

I pulled myself together and concentrated on the task at hand, supporting Vyan as he answered whatever questions Jess asked.

"Well, Mr. Raheja and Ms. Handa," Maan stood up from his seat after Jess fell quiet. "I am satisfied with the designs. There will, of course, be a need to improvise some things, but we can work it out together." He smiled a little and then looked at his watch. "I would like to invite you for lunch, after which we can sign the contract."

The board members started to file out of the room and I walked with Vyan towards the door, where Maan was standing with Jess and Mr. Smith. The latter was about to say something when Maan raised a hand to stop him. "See to the lunch arrangements." He ordered Smith, who quickly went away to carry it out. Maan turned to me with a smile. "I'm impressed!" I smiled a tight-lipped smile in response. "Did you recognise Jess?" He pointed towards her and I nodded. "Jess, this is Geet. Remember my classmate in college?" He turned to her and she scrutinised me from head to toe.

"Hmm." She said curtly. "I better go check the arrangements, MK." Without a word of greeting to me, she turned around and walked away with quick steps, her heels clicking against the tiled floor.

I saw an amused smile on Maan's face when Jess walked away, probably an after-effect of the cold shoulder she had just given me.

"Mr. Khurana, my partner and I would like to take your leave. We can just sign the contract and be done with it rather than any elaborate lunch plans." I spoke in my utmost professional tone. Vyan and I had had no plans of having lunch with the board members here so I tried to get out of the situation.

"Oh please, Geet!" He waved his hand carelessly. "There's no harm in one little lunch. Besides, you can go through the contract while you have your lunch. Wouldn't that be convenient to all of us rather than you guys having to come back again to sign the contract once you've read it?" I nodded stiffly. He had a point. "And by the way, we are done with the meeting so call me Maan. Not Mr. Khurana. What's the point of being so formal, right Vyan?" He looked at Vyan who had been standing quietly so far.

"But," I spoke acidly before Vyan could utter a word, "we are still in the office premises and I believe there is a certain decorum we should maintain at all times. Acting unprofessionally with a staff member or a client does not suit a professional, Mr. Khurana." His eyebrows shot up as I let a little of my irritation at his behaviour with Jess leak through in my tone.

With the call of Mr. Smith, who invited us all over for lunch in the formal dining room, Maan did not get a chance to respond as he led the way.

"Whoa! That was one astonishing answer I did not expect from you!" Vyan whispered to me as we walked down the corridor behind Maan.

"Shut up!" I whispered back to him, and he did exactly that.

When we were seated on the dining table in the executives' dining room, Vyan and I read through the terms and conditions of the contract, though more than half of my attention was on Maan and Jess, who sat together and talked as they ate. Her giggling like a teenager somehow infuriated me. Every few seconds, my eyes drifted towards them and I would see a clearly entertained look in Maan's eyes whenever they met mine, as he then turned to talk to Jess even sweetly every time.

I clenched my teeth and held the fork tighter in my hands to control the vexation I felt as I noticed him touch her hair or put something in her plate. I had not realised Vyan had stopped talking until he spoke in a murmur. "What's wrong with him?" I jerked my head towards him.

"With who?" I saw his eyes flicker to Maan for a mere second before looking back at me.

"With you. What's wrong? Why are you so annoyed?" He had changed his question, I knew it, but this question was also a genuine one. The slight scowl on his face showed his own perplexity at my behaviour.

"Is it that obvious?" I laughed it off, realising just then that I was getting annoyed for no great reason.

"You're making it." He pointed with his eyes towards my hand which still had the fork in an unnecessarily firm grip.

"Oh." I quickly put the fork in the plate. "Never mind that." I changed the topic. "I'm done."

If Vyan noticed my obvious attempt at trying to change the course of the conversation, he was too much of a gentleman to prod further, a fact which I inwardly praised.

"Me too." He wiped his mouth with the napkin.

Signing the contract was a matter of a few minutes, after which we set out of the building with a promise from Maan that he would have his secretary, Jess, schedule a meeting soon so we could begin working.

"It went well, didn't it?" Vyan commented as he drove us back to our office.

"Yes, it did." I replied. A part of my mind went back to Maan's attitude and my own realisation of the enormity of the change in him. I did not want to, but I had to accept that it disturbed me, even if minutely, and it left me with a need to find out when the change had occurred.


Edited by mayyo - 9 years ago
dqno1 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
Did you recognize me?

Maan Khurana, MD of ARK.. πŸ˜†

Edited by dqno1 - 9 years ago
SheenGcian thumbnail
Posted: 9 years ago
Awesome Updt but Mere Sweet se Maan ko kia bana dya Mayyo 😭
Geet was J from jess 😳
aditi_2010 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
A lot of change apparently!!! a person he couldn't even stand was the same with whom he can engage in mindless chatter even in professional environment. It was so un-maan like if we remember the old maan. but the new Maan is different.
So a part of geet is jealous?? Is that why she is irritated? and she is curious about the change in Maan and the beginning of it.Is it because she is worried about being the cause for this change? anyway I feel the changes are superficial dunno why.Deep inside he is still the same person. waiting for moreπŸ˜ƒ
custodian75 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
Update after a long time. Was missing it. 
Geet is getting disturbed by Maan's closeness to Jess. She has realized to what extent Maan has changed. Now that they will have to work together it will be interesting to see their chemistry together. 
aparna3011 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
nice update
thanks for update
geet is j with jess
why maan is comfortable with jess whom he alwayshate to interact

saf24 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
The update was worth the wait. Awesome job as always. Geet and Vyan are initially shocked when they realise that their meeting is with Maan and his team. Here Geet realises just how much he has changed and somehow she starts wondering what brought it on as some of his actions start annoying her. Fab job as always and looking forward to what is in store next.
dqno1 thumbnail
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Posted: 9 years ago
Have to say I loved this update

This push pull is making me grin widely πŸ˜†

Too good


Decent comment later..
πŸ˜ƒ