At a Business firm in Bangalore.
"Good morning, Priya!" Chakor chirped as she pushed open the glass doors of her office. She glanced at the wall clock to her side and raised her eyebrows slightly. 9.45. She was early for work for the first time in a long time, and she felt like crying. Out of happiness, of course.
"Whoa! You're early today! There's gonna be thunder storms for sure," Priya teased her. "Very funny." Chakor replied, sarcasm lacing her voice. "Yuvi's school reopened after Diwali break, so I was up early today. It feels nice, coming to office well in time, FOR ONCE." She added.
They shared a laugh, following which they proceeded to their respective desks. Chakor placed her hand bag to the side as she switched on her desktop. Monday mornings were hard. If only Sundays had 25 hours, she would be well rested and ready to work the next day. She sighed and started her work. An hour and a half had passed, and she stretched back in her chair, relaxing her fingers and closing her eyes for a while to get rid of the tiredness.
That was when she suddenly felt someone staring at her, no, glaring, boring holes on the back of her head. Shaking off the ominous feeling, she opened her eyes and pulled her chair closer to her desk.
She looked up at her screen, and saw Surbhi, the receptionist, standing beside her table. "There's someone here to see you, Chakor," she said briefly, sipping her coffee. "Who...?" Chakor was perplexed. She usually didn't have any visitors. In fact, she didn't have any at all.
Nervously, she turned her head slightly to the side, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the last person she wanted to see.
"Vivaan." She breathed out. That explained the ominous feeling earlier.
She turned sharply in her seat and faced Surbhi. "Tell him I'm busy and can't see him." She said. "Hopefully he never comes back," she muttered under her breath.
Surbhi raised her eyebrow in amusement, but chose not to comment. She went to put away her cup before dealing with the stranger.
The stranger seemed to have sensed her negative response, for he stood up from his chair in the Visitors cabin and made his way toward her. Chakor, who was nervously typing away on her computer, saw him advancing toward her from the corner of her eye. She fidgeted nervously in her seat, before she finally got up and half jogged, half ran to the Women's Room. He obviously couldn't follow her there.
He stood there glaring after her at her desk. Glancing to the side, he found a photo of Chakor, and a small boy in a school uniform, standing in front of a school and smiling happily at the camera. There might have been a hint of love in his eyes, but that lasted for less than a moment, and his face contorted into a scowl. He shook his head and made his way back toward the Visitor Cabin, muttering under his breath.
"Don't think you can escape. I'll get you one day," he whispered darkly.
Chakor splashed water over her face, wiping it afterward with a few tissues. She inhaled deep long breaths to try and calm herself down. She looked at herself in the mirror to see if she was presentable enough to step back into her office. It had been 10 minutes since she came in here, so HE must have left by now. She exhaled once and slapped both of her cheeks. Wearing that ever present pretend smile of hers, she walked out of the washroom, only to collide with Priya.
"Sorry sorry sorry! Oh, it's you, Chakor! LISTEN!" Priya continued, almost jumping up and down in excitement.
"Yes, but first help me up." Chakor said matter of factly. "Hmph. Yeah, NOW tell me,"
"Our new boss is arriving tomorrow! OhMyGod! Yes!"
Their previous boss had been posted to the place of his choice, and now their office awaited their new boss.
"O...kay? But why are you so excited?" She asked confused. Normally, no one gets so excited about welcoming a tyrant, sorry, Boss.
"Have you seen his picture?!" Priya literally screamed on her face. "He is so HOT! AAAND, he's a Bachelor." She winked. Chakor rolled her eyes. "Whatever. A boss is a boss. I'm sure you'll come down from your high when he starts showing his true colours of being a tyrant." Saying this, she turned to leave.
"Yeah yeah. Oye wait! At least see his photo!" Priya called after her as she furiously turned the pages of a business magazine. "And you know what, even his name sounds royal... where's that photo?" She muttered irritated.
"Not interested. We're gonna meet him tomorrow anyway. Let me have a good day today then," saying that, Chakor slowly started walking away.
"Found it! Here it is! SURAJ NARAYAN RAJVANSHI," Priya held up the magazine in glee. Chakor turned sharply, only to come face to face with HIS picture, printed all over the page, and above that the caption, 'Top 10 Upcoming Businessmen of India.'
"He topped the list as well! Isn't that great?! Huh? Chakor?"
Chakor was far too lost in her thoughts to hear her anymore. She was happy for him, for having achieved such a great feat at such a young age. He hadn't changed at all, he looked more handsome in fact, with his taut jawline and broad chest and that half smirk of his.
And then realisation hit her.
HE would be coming tomorrow. The love of her life. What would he say when he saw her? Would he remember her? What would she say if he asked her why she left?
Did he even care?
But what if he did ask her, then what would she reply? Could she confide in him about what had happened all these years? Could she tell him about her and... Yuvraj?
Chakor couldn't take this anymore. She wanted the ground to swallow her up. First Vivaan and now... HIM. She felt like running away. She didn't want to face Suraj and have her heart broken again.
"Chakor, are you okay?" Priya asked, concerned. "You've gone pale,"
This brought Chakor out of her trance. "Y...yeah," she whispered meekly. "I'm fine. I'd better finish my work for the day, it won't be a good first impression if I left my work unfinished," she tried to reassure her, giving her a weak smile.
Not waiting for her response, Chakor made her way back to her desk with short, heavy footsteps. No matter what happened, she couldn't turn back. She had to face things head on. Even if one of them was SURAJ RAJVANSHI.
Fan Fictions
Anupamaa
