The meeting was going exceptionally well at the Clearview Hotel. It was held on the 12th floor which, was specifically designed with board rooms and meeting halls. Just as they began their meeting there was a flash of lightning and following that, thunder. The view out the large window had turned dark and ominous.
Heer loved the rain. She could do without the lightning and thunder though (gee, thanks Thor).
Prem called up on Heer to show them her presentation. Deeply sighing, Heer got up and gave her best shot. She had prepared for this moment for weeks on end, and there was no way she was going to mess this up.
There was a round of applause when Heer completed her presentation. Her boss beamed with pride as Heer took in the much earned praise.
Soon after, Mr. Conner gave his decision, "Mr. Juneja, this deal is definitely yours. You already have such dedicated people working in your company, how could I even think about taking this deal elsewhere? No questions. Congratulations Mr. Juneja." Mr. Conner shook hands sealing the deal.
"Thank you Mr. Conner," Prem smiled.
Mr. Conner then turned to Heer, "Now, Miss. Mann, if you ever decide to leave the Juneja company here, my company would love to offer you a position."
Heer was honored, "Thank you Mr. Conner. It's a gracious offer. At the moment, I feel like Mr. Juneja's company and I still, fit each other's needs."
"Very well Miss. Mann. Just know my company would be delighted to add a wonderful person like you," Mr. Conner smiled. He then turned to Prem and joked, "If you leave Miss. Mann, it's your loss Mr. Juneja."
Prem looked directly at Heer, "I have no plan of leaving Miss. Mann."
Heer blushed and excused herself before Prem's heated stare gave her a heat stroke.
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As Heer exited the bathroom and ran into Vanessa, Mr. Conner's secretary.
"Great job in there Heer," Vanessa congratulated.
"Thanks. I worked really hard, and was extremely nervous too. Especially after Mr. Conner moved the meeting to tonight."
Vanessa gave Heer a confused look, "Mr. Conner did not move the meeting... it was Mr. Juneja."
"What?"
"Yeah, Mr. Juneja called me yesterday morning and requested to move the meeting. He said there was something important that had come up. Sounded concerned," Vanessa explained.
"Oh, yeah probably," Heer said. She didn't know why Prem had lied. It didn't seem like there was anything that important. She remembered Veera telling her he was in a good mood all day. So why did he lie?
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Entering the meeting room, Heer saw Prem talking on the phone. She quickly unplugged her laptop and gathered her things, shoving it in the bag. She was kinda ticked off that Prem didn't bother to tell her he was the one that had moved the meeting. At the same time she felt worried; what if something really was wrong? Should she ask him, or should she play dumb? Heer was snapped out of her thoughts when Prem snapped his fingers in front of her.
"Have you heard anything I just said?" Prem asked exasperated.
"Uh, no. Sorry was just lost in thought."
"Thinking about me?" Prem teased.
Heer fought back a goofy smile. Instead she played her poker face, "No. Prem. I hate to burst your bubble, but my world does not revolve around only you."
To Heer's surprise, Prem's smile grew. "But I am involved in your world?"
Heer realized her blunder, "What? No, I never said that."
"You just said my world does not revolve around only you'. That means somewhere I do have a spot in your life...in your world. Right?"
Heer sighed irritated, more at herself than him, "Ugh, oh shush!"
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They walked down the hallway together to the elevators. It was still stormy outside, much like the insides of both Prem and Heer.
Prem pushed the down button, and the elevator doors opened up. They got in and Prem pressed the M' button. Heer placed her laptop bag and purse down on the floor. Suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder and almost instantly the elevator jerked to a stop between floors 10 and 9. The lights went out a few moment after.
"What the hell?!" both Prem and Heer exclaimed.
Soon after, the elevator emergency lights flickered to life. The bottom and top corners emitted a soft orange light, while the buttons shone a light yellow and the HELP button shone a bright red.
Prem pressed the HELP' button multiple times but there was no answer. He looked at Heer whose eyes had grown wide in shock. "Heer? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm okay... I think" Heer quickly brought out her phone. There was no signal. "Do you have a signal on your phone?"
Prem held his phone higher in the air hoping he would find some sort of signal, "no luck."
Heer sighed, "What kind of a hotel is this? The help button thing, doesn't work!"
"Relax, the connections must be down. They'll get it up and running soon," He paused, "for now we're stuck."
"Gee, I didn't realize that. Thanks Sherlock," Heer said sarcastically. She was already pissed that he had lied to her about the meeting, and she was annoyed with the lack of control she had on her own feelings. To top it off, she was stuck in a confined space with the man that got her insides all stirred up.
For some reason Prem found this sided of Heer quite amusing. Even in the office, her sarcastic moods always entertained Prem. He smiled to himself. "You're welcome Dr. Watson," he played along.
Heer leaned on the side of the elevator while, Prem leaned on the opposite side looking at her. His mouth opened up before he could stop himself, "You are beautiful," he whispered.
Heer blushed, she didn't want to. She was still upset with him, so she ignored him.
Prem wasn't expecting Heer's reaction as this. So he continued, "You did an amazing job with the presentation. Beauty with a brain." Heer ignored him again. "Heer, say something." When he still didn't get a reaction her closed the distance between them. He turned her around so she was facing him. "I don't like to be ignored. You know that."
"And I don't like be lied to."
"What are you talking about?"
"You said that Mr. Conner had moved the meeting, when in fact it was you," Heer accused.
"Who told you that?" Prem moved closer to Heer, "yeah, I did move the meeting. What's the big deal Heer?"
"You hid the truth," Heer said softly. "Vanessa, Mr. Conner's secretary told me you even sounded concerned over the phone."
"So you're upset because I hid the fact that I was concerned over something? Heer stop being so ridiculous."
"You stop being ridiculous Prem. Just tell me why you did that."
"What are you going to do even if I tell you?"
"Just tell me. The truth doesn't stay hidden for long."
Prem took at deep breath, "You're right. You'll find out sooner or later, so why not now. I moved the meeting because I was worried about you. You didn't pick up my calls, no one in the office heard from you, and you had looked upset the day before. You wouldn't believe the horrid things that were going through my mind. I was heading to your house that day, but when I saw you enter that elevator," he paused. "Heer, you couldn't possibly imagine how relieved I felt. Aisa laga ki mera dil phir se dhadakne laga." (It felt like my heart was beating again.)
Heer was dumbfounded by this confession.
Prem ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "it was easier to be angry at you. I guess that's why I showed you that rather than what I truly felt."
Heer had taken a step towards Prem, she was going to pull him into a hug but she stopped.
Looking down, Prem continued, "you wanted the truth Heer. I'm giving you the truth. I don't what this is between us. But I can't ignore it anymore. I don't want to ignore it anymore."
When he didn't hear Heer reply, he looked up. "Heer, say something, " he requested desperately.
She closed the distance between the two of them. She brought his hand up and placed it over her heart. Cautiously, she place her own hand over Prem's heart and looked into Prem's questioning eyes. "Mujhe kuch bhi kehne ki zaroorath nahin hai Prem."(I don't have to say anything Prem.) She linked her free hand with Prem's other hand, "This thing we have between us...it's special."
Just as Prem opened his mouth to say something, Heer quickly closed the distance. She brought her hands around Prem's neck and pulled him close.
Prem was caught off guard by Heer's bold move. Her lips were softly moving against his, and Prem responded right back to her. It was sheer bliss. How many times had he shamelessly thought about this very moment?
When Heer pulled away slowly opening her eyes. She saw his eyes still closed savouring the feeling with, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. Suddenly Heer felt extremely shy of her actions as Prem opened his eyes and stared right at her. She moved back a step.
"Heer," Prem called out huskily.
She stood rooted to her spot.
Prem took a step forward, and engulfed Heer into a warm embrace. He buried his face into Heer's neck, as she hid her face into his. When they broke apart, their lips found each other again. While the first kiss was innocent and gentle, this kiss was passionate and fiery. Prem automatically pulled Heer's waist as close to him as possible. Her fingers found their way up Prem's neck and into his hair, making him groan softly into Heers mouth. His lips left Heers mouth and travelled along her jaw, down her neck causing Heer to moan. He trailed his kisses lightly over her collarbone making his way slowly back up to her lips. Prem was moving far too slow for Heer's liking. She had enough of the torture and pulled Prem's face back up to her lips.
They were breathing heavily from their steamy make out session, when the elevator lights came back on. They were so busy in their own little world they hadn't even realized their surroundings.
Prem and Heer were cornered in the far right side of the elevator. They were brought out of their world when there was a faint ding.
"Prem the power," Heer gasped pushing away from him quickly.
"So? I don't care right now Heer." Prem replied pulling a giggling Heer to him.
"Besharam! What if someone sees us? Don't you know elevators have security cameras?"
"Koi farak nahin padhta. I'm the happiest man in the world right now." He grinned. "Anyway, it was you that started all this." (It doesn't make a difference to me.)
Heer looked down embarrassed, "shut up. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it." She threw him a teasing glance, "actually I think you enjoyed it a lot more than you should have."
"Can't blame me can you? You are irresistible Miss. Mann," he whispered into her ear.
She giggled again, turning a lovely shade of pink.
The doors dinged again before they opened. To both Prem and Heer's surprise, Veera was standing outside the lift doors with a worried expression. Her expression turned into an embarrassing smile, then a knowing smile. "So," she began. "Seems like we interrupted something, isn't that right James?" she asked the young man beside her.
Prem cleared his throat, "Uh, Vee- Miss. Rampal, nice to see you. What brings you here?"
Veera had her eyes trained on Heer who, was bashfully gazing downward. "I came for dinner here with my friend James," she replied gesturing to the man beside her. "The power went off just as we finished dinner, fortunately the back-up power kicked in just in time. I was just asking the receptionist if the Juneja meeting was over. She told me that the two of you hadn't checked out of the room yet. The elevators were jammed and I couldn't just go home knowing that Heer might still be stuck in one of these containers by herself...but clearly I was wrong. She was with you." She sent a quick wink towards Prem.
Prem looked the other way embarrassed. "Um, Heer, Miss. Rampal why don't I drop you all home? It's quite late as it is."
Heer walked out hastily without a second glance back. Veera stepped in front of Prem just as he started walking.
"What are you doing Miss. Rampal?"
She gave him a hard stare, "please tell me you made some progression with her."
"Uh I think I did," Prem said hiding a smug grin.
"Alright boss, just as long as there is progression that's all I ask. I didn't cut the elevator's back-up power for nothing." Veera confessed.
"You did what?!" Prem asked shocked.
She shrugged her shoulders, "I knew you two would be at a snail's pace. So I decided I needed to provide that little...push."
Prem sighed, "You are unbelievable. Would you tell me if I asked you how you managed to do that?"
Veera shook her head, "all I'm revealing is that my friend James here...was very helpful."
James blushed at Veera's comment.
"Anyway, you should get to Heer. And worry not, James will drop me home boss," Veera ushered him along the hallway.
Prem turned back and sent her a thankful smile, "Thank you Veera."
"Don't mention it boss." She winked.
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