SWETHA POV

I woke up with sunlight hitting my face, I sat there on my bed in a daze for a while looking outside from my window then rubbed my eyes. I took my ringing phone and looked at all the missed calls from my best friend, rolling my eyes, I dialed her number and she picked up the phone.

"broo," i said. 

"broooo," she said.

"Kya dhamal machaya hain subah subah? "(what mess did you make early morning?) I asked her "Subha Subha nahi meri maa...it's 11.30 aur mera date shuru hoke 10 mint hogaye hain mujhe bachaooo..." Tanmayi explained about the disaster that she was going through in the form of a date, good thing I never have to go on a stupid arranged date -all thanks to my boyfriend.(morning? , its 11:30 and it's been 10 mins since my arranged date started help me i can't...)

"where are you?" i asked "bathroom main "she almost cried "banda torture hain ...call me after 8 min okay?"( the guy's a torture)

"okay meri maa" and bam her date is a flop. i ran downstairs and ate breakfast as fast as i can as i had to go to my office and my brother started laughing at me. tanmayi called again while i was eating to fix a location i.e a cafe for our-sorry her date rant. my brother looked at me with curious eyes as i was on the call with her. 

"what happened to your best friend didi" he questioned, "tanmayi went on a date today" i informed "what? "he almost spit his breakfast coffee as he looked at me dumbfounded. i don't know why he was giving me this dumb look "Tanmayi's parents are introducing her to arranged dates as she is of right age now "

 "and she said okay?" he asked stupidly "of course" i said "it is time for us to settle down you are younger you won't understand the pressure on us the elders" i rubbed his hair Iam 24 years old this year as is tanmayi ...my brother[ saahan chirag parihar] being 2 years younger to us. 

"let's go together i will drop you" he said "aaj bada pyar aa raha hain" i stuffed last piece of sandwich into my mouth and got ready to go to my office . i am working at my boyfriend abhay singh's- parents company (sigghk corporations) against  his wishes... actually his mom wanted me to join the company so that abhay will be lured in to the company with me but that did not happen as abhay is still working in modeling industry and his acting career is picking up nowadays.

while going to the office my brother and i ranted a lot about relationships,  blind dates, arranged marriages and mostly Tanmayi's blind date.

i got off at my company and went inside the lift only to encounter other employees, i always arrive late and get off late just to avoid employees in this company... 'not again' i thought and just as i expected the girl behind me started talking in hushed tone ,'oh i know how it goes'.

"she is the nepo baby i was talking about she directly jumped to director in two years "

" really? disgusting " the other one said "who did she sleep with? mannerless, shameless "

"maybe with the ceo or with his old father ?"...nope ceo is his brother and father is father to me too...but i did sleep with abhay their middle son i thought smiling foolishly, i mean ...literally ..i did not even sleep with him

 "omg she is smiling" ..'whatever ' i rolled my eyes...i don't need to sleep with someone to become a director, i am talented enough and my qualifications ...anyways i also have my parents company to go back to.

i went to my cabin to find keerthana George another director alongside me working in this company she oversees pr management of the company.  she is my office friend. she gave me some files while i clean up the mess on my table, keerthana picks up one of the papers falling down and shows them to me excitedly " this design is so pretty, i have to attend parihar families fashion show this time then " she said...yes.. i do jewelry design as a hobby as my family is in this business, even though i studied software engineering major with abhay i still have an arts minor.

i laughed as i talked to keerthana and she suddenly said "oh i forgot we have a lunch meeting today with a client at verma's", we arranged all the materials required  for the meeting and hurried to verma's co. my mouth was agape as we came out of the car seeing the company, it was really bibliophilic ...so pretty i thought .

the receptionist received us and we followed her as she introduced us to people we were collaborating with. we met assistant sharat, he is following up on our project  ..his eyes lit up seeing me

"pehle kabhi mile the hum? kaha dehka  maine  aapko?" (have i met you before? where did i see your face?) he exclaimed.

"i don't remember meeting you assis. sharat "  i said ....

"yeh  line ab thoda purana hogaya sharat ji", keerthana interrupted us laughing(this pickup line is old now)

"no, i really feel familiar with her, i am not trying to flirt" he replied flustered, pushing his glasses back.

"maybe in parties/meeting...she is Parihar's eldest daughter" keerthana suggested and i nodded.

'i am not sure' sharat mumbled and showed us the meeting room, introducing rest of the staff, in the middle of the meeting sharat showed an enlightened expression and started texting away in his phone....i only looked at him because i heard a flash...maybe my illusion?

we went on to have another 2 hour meeting and at the end ...a guy with black slightly curly hair, green eyes -barged into the room...this guy! why is he looking at me out of all the people? .. i looked at him and gave him a slight smile as i remembered he is son of vermas!! i don't know him personally but we did meet a few times here and there at gatherings and museums.

i got up from my seat to shake hands with him, "hello mr. verma" i said addressing him politely , i turned around and introduced my team and keerthana and we continued the meeting. everything was going peacefully but the pressure because of that verma guy was not okay....keerthana was literally crying internally and i was nervous af.

we did not think high ranked people like him would be present and my stomach was growling as it's already 2, i was trying to hold my hunger... when mr. verma said with his  pleasant baritone voice "that is  good enough we will discuss with our higher management "i showed a shocked expression as i cursed him, this was supposed to be accepted today.. what do you mean discuss with higher ups? aren't you the higherup?...is he saying our presentation is not up to the level? i glared at him with all these thoughts going through my head... but i still rejoiced i can go to our office to lunch now, yaay... then he said "let's finish lunch and continue" i almost wilted this is the reason we don't celebrate early , i looked at my watch disappointedly, i have an appointment with tanmayi...i have to postpone it ...aahhahh....

we went to the restaurant class employee canteen in verma's and sat down to eat, it was spacious ,very organized and had good menu . i ordered all my favorite dishes, and did not care about anyone else...actually i am a shy eater and i cannot eat before so many people but the menu here is mhmmm....so i was tempted, and the chefs delivered.

 ...totally amazing dishes, i was immersed in the  food and did not notice everyone looking at me ....awkward..

i looked up to see mr. verma and he showed a mocking smirk...did he just smile? that anand verma ? hah how dare he?...i am almost choked dying of starving but my heart was on fire...everyone on the table looked at me as if i was a monkey ...whatt about my image!...today is definitely a bad day!....aaahhh, i shouted internally again as i glared at mr.verma and turned my head 'hmph'...this is all beacuse of verma guy...he doesn't even know how pushy he is

everyone ate till they dropped and went to continue discussing our collaboration it was getting late and after another hour we were outside the company ' at last' i thought ..the company and people were nice, vibes were also nice, but it is not ours ,there is also that verma guy ....omg i feel angry just thinking about him ....calm down swethaa... we have to go back... pity...i took my leave as i have an appointment with tanmayi...i went to the star cafe and there she was waiting for me.

"blazer mein aagayi?", (still in blazer?)

 "ha yaaar, ek pagal milgaya aur meeting late kardiya last moment pe" i said and got seated.we chit chatted for a while and i got a call from abhay, he said he will pick me up ...i smile while drinking my coffee latte and texted him my location.(yep , i met a crackhead in the meeting, he extended it last moment)

tanmayi saw me smiling and raised her eyebrows saying "abhay?" i nodded my head saying he will pick me up "ohoo celebrity saheb aarahe hein ? how is he so nonchalant yaa..are you not afraid his fans will catch you?" she exaggerated...(celebrity sir is here to pick you up?)

"maybe we will go public?" i laughed "ab tak to hojana tha public how many years ...did he propose ?...engagement?" she questioned and i retorted "abhi toh uska career shuru hua hain ....we are still young". "what about aunty and uncle...."

"they tell me to think about this daily .... par (but)9 years ka relationship hain i trust him", 

"that is good too..."she trailed off "but you like family so much naa.. i though....nevermind...."

"i know i want to have a family like my parents even if it is not perfect ...a little world, and the peace it gives, the security, respect...but i also have to respect his wishes naa" i answered.

"sahi hain par.. ek baar topic toh utha le ...uska views pata challenge and you will feel secure swetha please put yourself first" ( true but ask for his opinion once)

 "i guess i will ask him once, for my mental peace ". i winked at her jokingly but made a serious note inside .

 we looked outside as we heard a bike sound and there he was... my abhay ....i waved goodbye to my best friend and she rolled her eyes giving pyaar mein fool wala look...i did not care and ran outside to meet him...

"abhay" he was sitting on a bike and waiting for me...he looked at me smiling through his helmet "get on" he said i got on to the bike...we skipped away into the traffic.