New FF- Unexpected Love-Part 25 Pg 86- 11/12/2015 - Page 8

It was over a week since both of them were working together. Vihaan and Kalpi were in a state of armed truce. She went to Vihaan's home every day morning and made his coffee and spent some time going over his appointments and other offers he received with him. Vihaan grudgingly had started waking up a little earlier in the morning. There was still a modicum of discomfort between them. Vihaan thought of her as a goody too shoes and Kalpi thought of Vihaan as an arrogant prick.

But Vihaan was totally amazed with the excellent quality of work she did. He had not expected her to be so good at her job, since she did not have any experience. He had thought that within a week she would run away and he would get someone else to do her job. But he was surprised to see her efficiency and tireless attitude and she had made his life pretty smooth sailing with her organizational skills.

Kalpi had too many appointments during the day, so she did not spend lot of time at the shooting location. But every time she walked into the location she would be amazed at the amount of work everyone did.

She had assumed Vihaan to be a lazy person, but she noticed how hard he worked on his performance. She also found him to be a very generous actor as he made allowances for his co-actors mistakes.

She spent a lot of time with his support staff too, and she was very surprised to see how loved he was. Everyone who worked with his sang his praises saying that he was one of the best employers always polite and kind. One of the makeup persons went on to tell her that he had worked with many stars and most of them were rude and obnoxious and Vihaan was like a breath of fresh air among them. Hearing all this really made Kalpi anxious as she worried about what it was in her that made him annoyed with her all the time.

Kalpi walked into his vanity van feeling pretty pleased with herself. She had negotiated an almost 100% increase in Vihaan's remuneration for a brand he was already endorsing. She had worked really hard on getting the facts and figures to prove that Vihaan's association with the brand had resulted in the increased brand visibility and increased sales. At the end of the meeting she had received exactly what she had aimed for and she felt proud of herself.

Vihaan was just accepting a call when Kalpi entered the van.

"Hey Buddy, how are you?" Vihaan asked.

"Not as good as you, you seem to be making a lot of money", Nikhil said.

"What are you saying, Nick?" Vihaan asked.

"Don't act as if you don't know what I am speaking about. You sent the beautiful blood-hound to negotiate your contract terms with me and she really did her job well", Nikhil said.

Vihaan was totally confused and said "I really don't understand".

"Your beautiful secretary came for a meeting today and made a huge presentation about how our product's brand value and sales have increased due to your magnificent presence as our brand ambassador", Nikhil said sarcastically.

"You mean Kalpana came there", Vihaan asked.

"How many beautiful secretaries do you employ? But she is magnificent and I was so convinced that I was ready to give her anything she wants. If she ever leaves your employ I would be glad to employ her."

"Beautiful and Kalpana", Vihaan thought and looked at Kalpana who was sitting across the room on the couch.

She was dressed in pale cream suit with a red top and she had left her long hair loose. Most of the times he saw her, she had not worn much makeup, but today she seemed a little dressed up, maybe for a meeting.

He suddenly realized that her dusky skin was flawless and her features were perfect, especially her eyes, which were really were more beautiful than anything he had seen before.

"Hey, Vihaan, are you still there", Nikhil asked and Vihaan was jolted out of his reverie.

"Ya, I am still there, don't worry, we can continue with the earlier contract itself. You are my friend and I am not going to be arguing about money with you," Vihaan said.

"No problem, yaar, the representative of the company was there during the meeting. Your secretary already convinced him and he is ready to pay the said rate very happily. I told you, your Kalpana is a gem. By the end of the meeting, I was not sure whether I should hire her or ask her out on a date. She is one beauty with a lot of brains."

"Don't do either, she is a damn stiff necked female", unknowingly Vihaan's voice rose.

Kalpi heard those last words and was sure that these words were uttered for her. She thought to herself, "What the hell did I do now?" she thought.

"Hey don't get jealous, not going to encroach on your territory, if you are interested", Nikhil said.

"I am not jealous and she is just my secretary. I was just saying this for your own good. And how many girls are you dating right now, I think 5 was the number when we last met", Vihaan said lowering his voice again.

Nikhil laughed and said, "Lets catch up yaar, it has been sometime since we met. Let's meet up for a drink".

Vihaan who was getting increasingly uncomfortable with this conversation said, "Will call you soon and meet up, bye for now".

"Why did the thought of Nikhil asking her on a date irritate him?" Vihaan thought.

"It is just that I know they would not be a good match together" he decided in his mind and consoled himself.

Vihaan angrily walked towards Kalpana and said, "Who do you think you are? Why do you have to embarrass me in front of my friends?"

Kalpana who had no idea regarding what he talking about stood up and stared at him totally surprised, "What are you talking about? I don't understand anything".

"I am talking about negotiating an increased remuneration for me for a contract with my friend's company. Who gave you the permission to do so?" Vihaan asked.

"You gave me the permission. You approved the acceptance of this offer and since you wanted me to handle your business while you did your acting, I went and negotiated a better package for you. How do I know he was your friend, you never told me. I thought that it was my job and I am proud of doing it well", Kalpi answered angrily.

Vihaan's temper flared as he realized the truth of her words and he did not want to accept defeat.

"So this is how you work, dazzle guys with your beauty and get what you want from them", he shouted.

Kalpi who had never considered herself to be a beauty was totally baffled. She knew she was passable looking, maybe even pretty but never a great beauty. She always considered her brains to be a biggest asset and being in Delhi her dusky skin never gained her any brownie points.

But when his words really registered in her brains, he anger knew no bounds. She had worked hard on her presentation to the client and she knew that they had been impressed by her work and that was the only reason they gave her the money she had asked for.

"How dare you, how dare you say that I used my looks to get my work done? I have never ever done that and I will never do it. I worked really hard on my pitch and got the increase based on my presentation. Don't you dare insult me by implying that I got you a raise because I am woman" she said almost incoherent with anger and walked off.

As she was leaving, Vihaan held her hand and pulled her back to face him. Her eyes were blazing with anger and they looked huge in her delicate face.

He suddenly felt guilty, as he knew he was totally at fault and he had no right to say something so crass and stupid to her.
He held her gently by her shoulders and softly said, "I am really sorry, I did not mean it. My friend told me that the only reason they agreed to an increased remuneration was because they were convinced by your presentation. But I was so angry and I said things without thinking. I am really sorry, please forgive me."

She looked into his eyes and saw sincerity in them and her anger dissipated, but confusion remained.

"It is okay, but why were you so angry?" she asked with a confused expression on her face.

Vihaan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. Sorry" and left from there.

Vihaan kept thinking why he was so angry. Why did he not like the thought of Nikhil asking her out? Why did she engender feelings in him which had no explanation?

All these thoughts did not clear his confusion one bit and he was still bewildered.