Okay ladies( Shruts this one is for you) I've begun my first FF for the forum. Most of you (including me) are mighty bugged with the show and this is my way of a collective hug. Hope you guys like it.
Somali
Chapter 1
Siya stood in the doorway, a daunting five feet nine inches of teenage truculence." Why do I have to go to Rano Maasi's?"
" Because that's what you do on Saturdays if I have to work." Bani shimmied her slender hips into a burgundy skirt while frantically trying to do up her blouse with her other hand, one anxious eye on her daughter, the other on the clock by her bedside. " And if you're at Rano's I don't have to worry about you."
" Yeah, so like its not for my benefit its for yours." Dark brown eyes rested accusingly on her much smaller parent.
" Look can we have this out tonight?" Bani begged, feverishly digging through the foot of her wardrobe for two matching shoes.
" I'm 13 and I'm not stupid. I wouldn't drink or do drugs—"
" I should hope not," Bani muttered with a compulsive shudder.
" And I'm not like you were. I'm really sensible and mature for my age.."
" Why do I sometimes get the impression that I'm no giant in your opinion?"
"Mum, you're bound to be a worrier! You got taken in and rolled out by a major creep at 17 and you've been paying for it ever since because you got stuck with me," Siya reminded her ruefully." But I'm not going to make the same mistake. Unless Mr Impossibly- Rich-and –Handsome comes knocking on the door, while you're out, you're safe. I just want to go down to the market with Debi and buy a new top. All the best things will be gone if I have to wait until this afternoon…"
" I have never felt stuck wth you!" Bani protested.
" Mum, we haven't got time to get into that sort of stuff. The market?" Siya pleaded.
Bani hurried through the gilded glass doors of Elite Estates exactly 45 minutes later, breathless and looking harassed but trying not to look it. Her boss Raja Mukherji, had phoned first thing in the morning to inform her that the virus doing the rounds of the agency had knocked the boy wonder on the sales team—Salil the Slimeball, as Bani thought of him in private. Her presence was required to deal with Salil's latest new client on what should have been a much cherished day off.
Bani had worked 10 years for Elite Estates and had no illusions about management chauvinism. She was the token woman on the sales staff. She had fought her way up the office ranks with the greatest difficulty, disadvantaged by her sex, her lack of height and her youthful appearance. It had taken hard sales figures to convince Raja to take her seriously but he still ensured that she dealt only with the properties at the lowest end of the market.
" Raja has phoned down for you twice," Joyce at Reception told her in a warning hiss. "And boy you got a treat in store…"
Bani felt a cold chill down her back. Raja had never given her a treat in his life. She always got the difficult clients. " It's not that old lady back again, is it? Mrs Bansal?"
Joyce laughed. " Didn't you notice the limousine out front?"
Bani had been in too much of a hurry to notice anything. Now she looked and saw the impressive long silver vehicle parked outside.
" The most dreamy guy I've ever seen got out of it," Joyce sighed in a languishing undertone. " Sadly an utterly dreamy looking dame got out with him."
A couple…Hopefully the type who still liked each other and respected each other's opinions. Bani had had some nightmare experiences with twosomes who hadn't been able to agree on anything when it had come to the home of their dreams. Last minute pull-outs on sales had been the result.
She knocked on the door of Raja's sumptuous office and walked straight in.
It was the woman she saw first. She was studying her watch with a little moue of annoyance, a fabulous mane of streaked hair partially concealing her features. A tall dark male was standing with his back turned to the door. He swung fluidly around as Bani entered but she couldn't see his face in the sunlight flooding through the windows.
Raja gave her an exasperated look. " I expected you sooner than this" he complained ungraciously.
" Sorry" Bani said to the room at large. " I hope you haven't been waiting too long."
" Miss Dixit… this is Mr Walia and Miss Khandelwal" Raja introduced them in the oily voice he employed solely around wealthy clients.
Bani froze. Walia. That name thudded into her brain like a sharp blow. Stunned she stared at the large male presence now blocking out the sunlight. All she could focus on was a pale blue tie set against a slice of snowy white shirt bounded by the lapels of an exquisitely tailored charcoal grey jacket. Numbly she tipped her head back and looked at him. Disbelief enclosed her in complete stasis. It was Jai Walia.! The shock of recognition was so intense that she couldn't move a muscle. She simply stood there all colour draining away from her pale face, her polite smile fading away into nothingness. The hand she had begun to extend dropped weakly back to her side.
Helplessly she collided with deep set dark eyes fixed on her with an incredulous intensity that was as great as her own. And then black lashes swept low swiftly screening his gaze from her. She saw the tautness of his facial muscles beneath his skin, grasped the fierce control he was exerting and with a huge effort, dragged her shattered gaze from him struggling to regain her composure.
" Mr Walia.." she muttered in a wobbly undertone and began to raise her hand again with all the flair of a malfunctioning automaton.
Jai ignored the gesture and spun on his heel to address Raja. " Is this the only employee you have available?" he enquired sharply.
There was a sharp little silence.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
