FF: An Innocent Vixen-Part 5A pg 24 - Page 9

Part 3

Next day at Shaan's home

Shaan had the dream again but this time he reached the girl and turned her around but before he could see her face, he woke up due to the constant ringing of the alarm clock.

He reached out and turned the alarm off. He got up with a confused expressions today. Usually he is happy with the dream but today he was confused because the name sounded so familiar to him and the reflection of the face was familiar as well. He looked at the clock and jumped out of his bed.

Shaan: Oh Shit!

He raced to the bathroom, he was late. He has a meeting with his staff and the new designer cum event planner today and he was late. The meeting starts in half an hour. Shaan quickly got ready and rushed out of the house without eating breakfast today and with no driver either.

Shaan: ek stupid khwab ke chakar main apni puri life kharab kardunga.

Shaan cursed and talked to himself all throughout the journey. He couldn't believe he was dreaming about a girl, whom he is hoping to meet in real life but it is only a dream to him.

Finally he reached his office ran inside and in the process almost knocked a girl over but avoided just in time.

K Company's Conference Room

"Mr. Mehta is that file ready?" Shaan asked Mr. Mehta, the organizer of this particular project, as he flipped through the details of the project.

Mr. Mehta: "Sir, I have placed that file on your desk."

Shaan: "Good! Thanks Mr. Mehta." He closed the file he was looking at and looked up at his staff.

He went over the details with his staff on other projects and the current one. He also informed them on the new Designer/event planner. He asked Sonalika to work with the new member on the team. As he was briefing the staff about the possible future project, he was interrupted by his P.A., who informed him the arrival of the new team member.

He dismissed his staff and asked Sonalika to bring the details about the client and the pictures of them as well, while he headed to his office to meet the new member, who was waiting for Shaan in his office.

Before entering his office, he grabbed his messages and a new file from his P.A. He started reading the file while walking into the office. He looked up slightly to see who was sitting in the chair in front of his desk and he saw the back of a girl's head. She had long hair and it seemed she was dressed in her best outfit. He was immediately impressed because it spoke that the girl wasn't some non-sense, irresponsible person. Seconds later he went back to his file and continued walking to his desk.

He cleared his throat as he walked behind his desk facing the window view, with the file in hand. He greeted her and started with his queries about her. He asked her some basic questions about her and her work. And when Sonalika joined him in the office, he explained the project as well. As he started explaining to her, he grabbed this project file from his desk to explain more on the project. As he did that, he didn't look up once while grabbing it. The person didn't even bother looking up from the pictures, which she was looking at. She wanted to grab the feel of the client and his ideas, as she listened to Shaan talk about project. From time to time she would look up or ask a question, but she didn't see his face during all this.

"Any Questions?" Shaan turned around and place the file on his desk and then he looked up only to be shocked.

Khanak's view.

Khanak was waiting for 10 minutes only and she heard the door close. All of a sudden she was feeling nervous now. She never felt this before but today it was as if her life depended on it. She was great with all her work and she knew her clients always loved it too and she never had to impress her clients. But today she felt that she really needed to impress her client. She was so nervous that she didn't even get up from her seat to greet him properly.

Plus she couldn't do a proper introduction because Shaan jumped into questions with her right away. And as she answered him and talked to him, she felt more relaxed in every answer she gave But one things kept eating her and that was that Shaan talked to her facing the other way the whole time.

As Sonalika walked in and went over the details of the project with Khanak, she got busy with it and didn't bother looking up for a while. As Shaan asked her questions and briefed her from time to time, Khanak answered him equally while she went over the details of the project with Sonalika.

As Shaan got done with his explanation, he turned around and asked her if she had any questions. The same time Khanak looked up to answer and she was shocked. Her voice got caught in her throat for a second. Her eyes grew wide.

"Tum!" "Aap!" Both asked each other respectively the same time.

Shaan: "Tum yahan kya kar rahi ho?"

Khanak: "Main yahan kya kar rahi hoon? Mujhe yahan project ke liye bulaya hai."

Shaan: "Maine tumhe nahi, Khanak ko bolya hai aur tum uski jagah yahan pe kya kar rahi ho?"

Khanak: "Aapne bolaya hai?" Khanak realized that he is the head of this project.

Shaan: "Haan maine!"

Khanak: "Then you should know who she is right?"

Shaan: "Yes I know who she is, and it's not you!"

Khanak is all smiles now, "Are you sure it's not me?"

Shaan: "What stupid question is that? Of course I'm sure it's not you. I met her yesterday at Saraswati K. & Associates and I talked to her too."

Khanak mockingly asked him, "Acha?"

"Haan," Shaan came around his desk and held Khanak from the right arm and lead her to the door, "Now I want you out and send the real Khanak in."

Khanak tried to release Shaan's hold from her arms as he dragged her to the door. Just as he was about to open the door, the door opened itself and Ruby walked in.

Both Shaan and Khanak smiled seeing Ruby and while Ruby was confused seeing them in that position and in that spot. She figured that when she would enter, the place would have a meeting environment but here the scene was something else.

Shaan let go of Khanak and clapped his hands together and turned to Khanak (like Shaan does in his style), "Ah-ha! Here she is! Thank you for joining us, finally!"

Shaan extended his hands to Ruby and lead her to his table and started to explain what Khanak was doing in her place. Ruby was confused and she gave Khanak what-the-hell's-going-on expression and asked her to explain her through her eyes.

Khanak was all smiles because she knew Shaan would be eating his words soon but she played along with it and told Ruby to close her mouth shut till the time was right. So Shaan went on and explained the project to Ruby and what followed afterwards with Khanak.

Shaan: "So this lady here claims that she is Khanak, while I tried to tell her that she is not. I'm telling you, you need to arrest her for committing this fraud and trying to steal your identity."

Ruby looked at him like he was crazy and she was about to reveal that she is not Khanak but her friend Ruby but Khanak beat her to it, "Of course I am Khanak."

Ruby agreed by shaking her head in a yes but Shaan didn't pay attention and addressed to Khanak instead, "Phir se wohi baat? Abb isli Khanak bhi room mein hai toh phir tumhe kya problem hai?"

Khanak: "Mujhe? Mujhe toh koi problem nahi hai lekin haan appko problem ho sakti hai"

Shaan: "Mujhe kya problem honi hai? Main bilkul theke hoon maine koi ghalat kaam kiya nahi jiski wajah se mujhe koi problem ho."

Khanak: "Hogi, problem toh apko zaroor hogi jab aap meri aur Ruby ki ID dekheinge."

Shaan being Shaan, asked for it thinking he was right, "Haan dikhao." But boy oh boy he got the shock of his life.

Khanak: "Kyu bolti band hogayi kya?" She took her ID back from him and Ruby did the same.

Shaan stepped back and looked at her. He ran his hand through his hair in all the confusion. He tried to say something but nothing came out. He wanted to say sorry but nothing was coming out and he was trying to make heads and tails and then he finally remembered what Ruby told him yesterday and the realization finally dawned on him. He was about to apologize about his blunder but again Khanak was quick one to speak.

Khanak: "Woh toh hona tha na! Jab iss badi company aap jaise log kaam kareinge, koi na koi misunderstanding toh hoti rahe gi. I don't know what uncle saw in you to give you this high and prestigious job. Khair kuch toh baat hogi warna woh kaam thodi na dete…lagta hai mujhe hi adjust karna padega."

Shaan was shocked. He couldn't believe he was about to say sorry to this girl, "Hello! Excuse me! Main iss company ka sabse acha aur sabse best member hoon. I know my job very well but it seems you have forgotten yours."

Khanak took one step forward, "Khaak acha member ho? You didn't know even know who I was. It seemed to you I was someone else. Please you can't even tell the difference between real people."

Shaan was irritated now, "Take that back! I am the best in this company and the best for this project! You don't know how to do your job otherwise we wouldn't have this confusion."

Khanak was shocked at his audacity and male-ego, "Instead of admitting your fault, you are blaming me?!" She yelled on top of her voice and took a step closer to Shaan. She jabbed her finger at him, "You are the one who didn't know who I was and was assuming my assistant to be Khanak! If you can't tell who is working for you, then how you do tell what is best for the project."

Shaan looked down on her and at her finger pointing at him, "Yea you are right I don't know what is best for my project hence I picked you."

Khanak: "What?! Please you need to learn how to manage things. I am going to Uncle and telling him to kick you out of this company."

Shaan grabbed her from the elbow and stopped her from going. In the process he brought her closer to his chest. They were so close that their breathing could be heard to each other. Khanak's warm breath on Shaan's neck was causing something in his stomach. Khanak's mind was being invaded slowly by Shaan's aftershave and perfume. The smell was so strong that Khanak felt her right arm going up to touch his cheeks. Shaan was losing his sense too.

"I'm not going anywhere," Shaan's voice was now soft but deadly, "In fact I am going to kick you out."

This caused Khanak to break free of his hold and just as she was about to give back to him verbally, Ruby and Sonalika, who were watching the tension between the two told both of them to stop. Ruby and Sonalika felt like third party because the atmosphere of the room changed from Tennis match to a private romantic duel.

Sonalika: "Sir, we need a Set designer/ event planner and our clients are arriving tonight and we don't have enough time to find a new person who can do both."

Ruby: "Khanak tu pagal ho gayi hai kya? You know how important this is for you. Beside don't let a silly fight come between your passions of art."

Sonalika and Ruby convinced them respectively and encouraged them to shake hands like telling some 2 years old to shake after a fight. Both did it but forcefully and when they held each other's hand, they held it for few seconds longer and then instantly let go of it.

Sonalika and Ruby were relieved and encouraged them both to continue with the plan. Reluctantly both started to work on the project.

While Khanak laid out each design she had in mind, Shaan kept rejecting them. She was starting to get frustrated but Ruby calmed her nerves. As Shaan kept rejecting the designs, there came a point she lost it and wanted to strangle him. Finally Shaan was able to agree on one thing and she was happy. They ended the meeting there to meet up tomorrow but only Shaan and Khanak this time to go over the rest of the project because Shaan needed to have the design approved from his clients. He asked Khanak to prepare more if they didn't like the one he liked. Khanak was mad but she let it go because of Ruby. Both Shaan and Khanak assured Ruby and Sonalika that they would be at their best behavior tomorrow and they promised them too. For the rest of the meeting, they pretended to get along but in reality they wanted to murder the other.

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rooj