NOTE: I have made this clear earlier and I am saying it again. The story is meant to be from Geet's POV and Maan is supposed to be a mystery. Your complaining won't make me change this, but it will only discourage me from writing further. So kindly, if you are not satisfied with the way it is written, either have some patience and let the story play itself out, or you may willingly give up on WH.Replies begin from page 12.47. Designer's DenBeautiful. The only word I could think of as I stared into his brown eyes unwaveringly. He stared right back, looking as entranced as I had begun to feel, even though my face still held the fierce look I had as I had warned him a couple of seconds ago. It felt longer than just a few measly seconds, though, that we had been staring into each other's eyes, standing so close that I could feel the warmth radiating off his body. It could be perceived as romantic in any other context because neither of us were moving to break the moment.
The task was carried out by a third person. After a low knock on the door, somebody entered right in without Maan's permission. It broke the trance and Maan whipped his head towards who had entered just as he stepped away slightly, angling his body away from me. I sneaked a glance at Maan's face before looking at the middle-aged man who had entered the room and stopped right on the door, hesitating. I reckoned it was because of the position Maan and I were in. I felt awkward but I didn't let it show.
"The new wing is ready, sir." The man humbly spoke. Maan's stance was stiff as he gave a slight nod and then turned his head sideways to glance at me. He was back to being the powerful boss of this office, I realised from the look he gave me.
"Follow me." And he strode out of the room as I was left staring at his back again. The man who had come in to inform waited for a few seconds after Maan left, gazing at me in a strange manner, so I clenched my teeth, stifled the urge to say something rude and silently followed Maan, still feeling almost as riled as before, the momentary distraction of Maan's proximity having already dissipated.
I had to quicken my pace to match Maan's long strides but I was still falling behind. He led the way towards the lift. I had no choice but to follow him and get inside. The other man followed suit. As the doors dinged close, my stomach did a flip. I scrunched my eyes shut for a few seconds to push the claustrophobia away. Feeling a sudden tingle on my face, I quickly opened my eyes and peeked towards my right, where Maan was standing. His focus was on his phone, which he held in his hand, typing away. I averted my gaze, looking towards the door instead, as I gave myself a mental slap.[I ]That was silly, Geet! [/I]I scolded myself. Why would you even think he was looking at you?!
The doors dinged open upon reaching the ground floor and Maan got out without a word. I tailed him gratefully this time, relieved the ride in the lift was over. He led the way towards a door I could see at the far end. It wasn't a long walk but my high-heeled shoes weren't helping at all as I tried to keep up with the men walking ahead of me. Upon reaching the door, which the man opened for Maan, and who in turn walked right into it, my feet paused for a beat. Although I hadn't been thinking about what I could find behind the door, but what I saw was certainly surprising.
Amidst the vast, lush green lawn on the backside of Khurana Constructions, stood a single storey structure, which captured my attention immediately. With half of the front wall given a timeless fawn southern ledgestone finish, the structure was instantly pleasing to the eyes. In the centre of the wall, written in big, metallic letters in a soft, flowing font, was the name of the structure. "K Designs". The letters glowed with the LEDs fixed behind them. The other half of the front of the structure was glass through which I could see the room inside. It seemed to be an office.
As I had stopped to stare at and admire the appealing structure which seemed to be half archaic and half contemporary, the men were a little further ahead now. Maan suddenly halted midway, turning to look at me, causing the other man to stop and turn too. Maan's arched eyebrow was all the push I needed to straighten up and resume walking on the tough-tiled path lined with colourful flowers on either side.
My face showed none of it, but my mind was full of doubtful queries about where I was being led. The entrance door for the building was a glass door with a dark wooden frame, fixed right beside the name on the front wall. The man walked ahead of Maan and held the door open but he paused and signaled me to enter first. With my head obstinately held high, chin jutting out in a stubborn manner, I walked past the men and through the door only to have my steps falter at the interiors.
It was a small and cozy room: a reception. Apart from the artistically carved wooden desk right across the door, there was a stylish couch set up against one wall with a trendy glass-topped table in front of it. The other walls held eye capturing abstract art paintings hanging on them. The first look of the room was immediately comforting with a hint of style.
"Nice!" I couldn't stop the appreciative remark from leaving my lips. My eyes shifted to Maan, who was still standing in the doorway after I had cleared the path while looking over at the room.
With one hand in his pocket, his face betrayed no expression but his eyes were a giveaway. He was satisfied with my appreciation.
"Who designed this?" I asked as my hand ran over the silkiness of the reception desk.
"I did."
I spun around to face him with an eyebrow raised. "If you did this yourself, then why do you even need a team of interior designers?"
I didn't want to confess I liked his work so being sarcastic was a good option.
In response, he just looked at me like I was missing something obvious. "Because I have other things to do, I suppose."
I did feel daft, but I was never going to admit it so I just grunted in response and went back to observing the room. There was a door just to the side of the reception desk and I was curious to see what was behind it. As if right on cue, the man, who had been silently standing behind Maan, came forward and opened the door, stepping aside for Maan and myself.
Before taking the lead again and stepping into the open door, Maan instructed the man to get back to his work. He nodded and left silently, going back the way we had come in through. I presumed there was nothing for the man to do here so he'd been sent back, and I was proved right as soon as I entered the next room.
I looked around the large room, painted in shades of tan and sepia. There was a total of ten work tables set up in two rows. They couldn't be called cubicles because of the long, stylish shapes they were built in, with polished worktops. Above each table, hanging low from the ceiling was a moderately-sized white globe: a lamp. Although the tables were eye-catching enough, it wasn't what really seized my attention. My eyes were immediately drawn towards the back wall of the room and I slowly made my way towards it. In striking contrast to the soberness of the rest of the room, the wall was made up with small bricks of almost every colour one could name. From white to black, and every shade in between, it was a stark setting in comparison with the otherwise dull room. It felt to me like the wall was a catalogue of colours, like one could pick from this wall which colour they wanted.
As I was staring at the wall, Maan cleared his throat, causing me to turn and find him standing quite close behind me.
"So," he said and his matter-of-factly tone of voice echoed in the building. "This, as you can see, is the main workspace." Up until this point, I had no doubt about why he had brought me here and what purpose this building served.
"It's nice." I noticed that my anger at him was rapidly mellowing down. It was being replaced by something akin to shame. All that I had thought about him since the morning and this was what he had been planning?
Unknown to my inner battle of holding up the sternness, he turned and started walking towards one of the doors. Naturally, I had to follow him. As I walked, I noticed an uncanny similarity of this room to the rest of the main offices in the main building. There was a glass door and the wall was glass too, and it was covered with blinds just like Maan's or Ranbir's offices usually were. I had only enough time to see a shining silver nameplate on the door before he opened it and stepped inside. I followed him in but my steps faltered as soon as I took a look inside. For a moment, it felt to me like I had entered Maan's office. The same glass wall covered with blinds, strangely similar desk and chairs along with a low cabinet along the back wall of the desk with a flat screen television fixed above it. Even the paint was so similar that I had to stop and think for a few seconds. But then I began to see the differences. This office was like Maan's office but this was a miniature form of it. The room was smaller, the desk was smaller and even the paint was slightly different. His office was blue and white, blue being the main colour. This office was white and blue, white being the dominant colour.
"Well?" He asked when I didn't say anything for a few moments.
"It looks like a miniature of your office." I commented dryly. He laughed and I whirled towards him at the sound of it. It wasn't the first time I had heard him laugh but the throaty sound of it enchanted me this time. When he noticed me looking at him, I acted like I was miffed.
With a chin stubbornly raised, I walked to the second glass wall in the room. It was a part of the front wall of the building and standing in front of it, I could see the lawn as well as the backside of the main building of Khurana Constructions. It was a nice view.
"Since it is your office," I turned to see him standing beside me, "you're free to make any changes you'd like." My eyes did a quick once-over of the room.
"Sure I will." I responded haughtily. "What else is there in the building?"
"Come." He said before leading the way of the door we came in through towards the end of the main room. I saw a smaller room jutting out. It was smaller than the main room but larger than my office. What intrigued me was that it was completely empty. No pieces of furniture, no fancy lamps, no false ceilings like the rest of the building. Even the paint of the room wasn't done.
"Why is it empty?" I looked towards Maan.
"This room is your first project." My eyebrows raised at his words. "This will be a model room for any clients who wish to see the type of work that K Designs will do." He had slipped right back into the role of the boss. "This is your first task. Do whatever you want with this room. Make it whichever room you'd like. But let me be clear." He pulled one hand out of his pocket and raised his finger. "This room will decide what work you get, so show your skills and build the best you can come up with."
"I believe, Mr. Khurana," I spoke in my most professional tone, charged up with his speech. "That you don't settle for anything less than the best."
"Certainly not, Ms. Handa." He agreed solemnly.
I smiled arrogantly. "That is probably why you chose me for your work."
His eyebrows raised a little, impressed by me as his lips curved into a smile. Only a second later, his smile deepened, making me wonder what it was that he was thinking. I didn't have to wait long.
"As for the questions you asked me, Ms. Handa." His reminder of the face off I had just had with him not even an hour ago brought me back to the memory of my ire. "We, at Khurana Constructions, give every post the respect it deserves." His eyes pointedly stared into mine as I stared right back at him. "The post of a head designer did not command to be introduced by a receptionist or any other person except the president or the vice-president, and as you must know, Ranbir isn't the one in charge of this, I am. So it had to be me to bring you here."
His words shut me up. Guilt and shame rearing their heads again. Of all the things I had thought of since morning, I hadn't thought something like this could be the reason. I squished down the guilt. The reason he had given was insufficient.
"If that is the case, Mr. Khurana," I spoke with an air. "Does the post of a head designer deserve to be seated in an area designated, not for the heads but for the assistants? You could have told Pinky to have me sit at the waiting area, or some other place. Why in a cubicle?"
He grinned unexpectedly. "Who doesn't like just a little bit of fun?"
Edited by mayyo - 6 years ago
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