V2 FF: Breathing Room Ch 6 Pg 25 - Page 19

Ana buried her nose in the pile of paper kept in front of her so that the constant staring of the man across the table would not affect her. His constant wicked gazes made her uneasy.

Damn Vihaan Agarwal and damn her traitorous body, she cursed internally.

She flicked the pages relentlessly with one hand, whilst playing with a pen with the other, trying to find a single mistake in his report so that she could use her famous scathing tone to appear in control. She looked up to see him grinning and to her surprise he asked her, "Why is Ana Wadia always fidgety around me?"

To her utter disgust, her body responded before her witty brain and he was rewarded with a traitorous flush. She cleared her throat, looked into his eyes and uttered dryly, "I'm scared about my safety. After all you could even scare the daylights out of a hardened criminal," she stared intently at him with feisty eyes and continued in a cold tone, "Vihaan Agarwal, son of the esteemed business man Shailesh Agarwal, charged with assault battery, possession of illegal arms and murder of Charu Garg."

For a moment Vihaan saw the careful mask slip and he saw the innocent girl who had somehow managed to worm her way in his heart as Ana s eyes flashed fire. The intense moment was broken by a knock on the door and a familiar face announced that lunch was ready. Ana glanced at her secretary's face and breathed a sigh of relief. This man would be able to peel the layers of Ana quickly if he kept provoking her with his calculated behaviour. She picked up her phone and stomped out of her cabin with Vihaan following lazily behind.

Vihaan's head kept churning with the thoughts that are slowing robbing his rational thinking. This lady not only knew the exact charges, she also recited the entire headline splashed on every newspaper in town in a blink of an eye. Her icy tone had felt like a stab in his heart. Nothing had shaken him, neither his father's angry words, nor his mom's tears nor the thrashing his brother had given him. If he had thought Gunjan's constant assurance that she believed he was innocent was going to be his undoing, he was wrong. It was Ana Wadia's calm and snooty tone which made him want to curl himself in a ball and howl. This woman had him wrapped around her little finger earlier. This time around, he would not fall for the bitch's tactics again. He made his way to the cafeteria where a huge table was laden with delicacies. He decided to stuff himself as much as possible and served himself generous portions. Ana looked at Vihaan helping himself unabashedly, probably he was still hungry. After all, they didn't serve good food in jail she guessed. She made a mental note to sit far away from him but to her utter disgust the only vacant seat was across him. Ana thanked her lucky stars he didn't glance at her even once and to her amusement, he was the first one to get up for a second helping. Lunch was uneventful and the only noise was because her employees were chattering like magpies. Just before everyone were about to dig into their desserts, a familiar piece of music halted conversations. Someone's phone was ringing and Ana's eye kept looking around to see who had the same ring tone as her beloved Nyasa, her heart did a somersault when she saw Vihaan Agarwal remove his phone and drawled a lazy greeting as he excused himself from the table.

The person next to her asked curiously, "what ringtone is that? It is different," she added.

"It's a classic!" Ana exclaimed with the most serene smile since her arrival, "I know it very well," she added and started singing.

When Vihaan Agarwal made his way back to the table, after having a talk with his bookie, he saw the entire table listening with rapt attention to Ana who was singing the words perfectly though her accent was a little off. He stopped; mesmerized and as soon as the chorus came he could not help but joined in, "Hoon ja di sitto, crying for you, hoon ja di shitto, missing for you'Baby I love you; am waiting for you"

Hearing a voice join her, Ana faltered but he continued the soulful singing in an impeccable accent and soon she sang along as well. The employees clapped enthusiastically once the song came to an end.

Vihaan picked his sanitary bowl of kheer and was about to leave but suddenly he turned around and asked her, "BOF or SS501 fan?"

Ana was taken back but managed to mumble, "BOF." However, he picked up on her enthusiasm.

He was about to walk out when she returned the question but he dismissed the question with a casual wave, "I heard it in a concert."

Curiosity got the better of her and she continued, "a Fan Meeting?"

He simply nodded but she was still not satisfied. She pressured, "Seoul??"

"Japan," he said carefully and disappeared through the opaque, glass doors.

The employees were looking at the rapid fire with amazement. The two bosses seemed completely at ease for a moment as opposed to their usual war with constant mind battles and heated arguments regarding trivial matters. This was a welcomed relief they all exchanged secret glances grateful they had found an ice breaker to lighten the working atmosphere.

Vihaan thought back to the split second when she had faltered and he had encouraged her to continue singing and she had obliged hesitatingly, he had felt that they were lost in their own cocooned world; safe from everyone's prying eyes. That moment had shaken him and he strengthened his resolve to stay away from her and her sorcery. He would sell her earring today and pay his bookie, he reminded himself as he patted his left breast pocket where the trinket rested. He was as curious as her to know about how she knew that song or BOF for that matter, but the momentary resurfacing of his old buried feelings had him running like a coward he was.

Ana came back to her hotel suite and had a quick shower. After having scrubbed herself clean, she ordered a bowl of soup as she called Nyasa, who informed her that everyone else had already gone to sleep.

The last words, "Bye mom" had warmed her heart even more than the spoon of the piping hot soup she had ordered. She kept sipping, thinking all the time about Vihaan and the song which at one time was the only thing she listened to. When he had told her that he had been to a fan meeting she had been jealous, he was so lucky to see them live.

She scrunched her nose and repeated, "Japan" like a mantra. Suddenly it struck to her and her hand shivered as the soup fell on her bare leg.

It was not possible. It could not be.

In her hurry to switch on her laptop, she didn't even bother about the hot liquid which scalded her thigh. She had to confirm her suspicion and as soon as she hit the search button, she uttered the four-letters slang which she and Homi never let Nyasa voice. She didn't realize that she had been clutching the sheets all along. The date of the fan meeting flashed before her eyes and the room became hazy as tears sprouted from her eyes first time since Homi's death.

How could Vihaan Agarwal be in Japan when he should have been behind bars at that time?