ANAND'S POV

it was a boring day, i was working from home, this day because we had a family function in the evening. my phone notification bell chimes in and i pick it up thinking it is work-related.

one new message from assistant. sharat:

i open it, yawning and i see his message....it was an image and when it loaded, i was shocked.....i rubbed my eyes and carefully scrolled through the chat, checked the time, date and pinched myself once just to confirm that this is reality. she is real and she is in our company!(1:22 PM*)

turns out, i was not day dreaming!...with shaky hands , i scroll down and messaged my assistant for his where abouts...shit... i made a grammar mistake? anand calm down...ufff...i told my self....but in actuality, i didn't....i asked for their location.

i ran up to my room...then down to my living room ....i was dying of excitement...

 i am going to see her again...

i run back to my room again, put on my best clothes, best perfume and went to the company,  i look at all the employees greeting me ...normally i would greet them back but today is not time for greeting, i rushed in the hall way and took a VIP elevator.....finding the meeting room i barged in and in there i see her, 

swetha Parihar!

breath in, breath out...every thing is good...i am the boss...i have to act like one... i told myself-but the moment i saw her face so close...i wanted to go and hug her, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"please sit down", i managed to get some words out of my gasping mouth-i was still looking at her, taking in every little detail. then she gave me a knowing look, and raised her hand for a shake hand, i shook her hand in a daze...

 she remembers me, she knows my name...bhagwan...(oh, god), i don't remember what was even discussed in this meeting, i was focusing on her the whole time. i saw her clutching her stomach; looking at time, so i asked every one out for lunch... ordered all her favorite dishes, she is still the same...stuffing her face like a squirrel, i laughed unknowingly and she gave me a glare!...so cute.

i wanted this meeting to go on forever so, i delayed it for 2 hours- even though we have a function at home ... i can tell from her expressions that she wanted to get out of this meeting ... i realized my selfishness  and that i don't have any right to hold her back. 

i met her again coincidentally second time in juhu, near chaitra's apartment....i did not go over immediately to meet her knowing my boundaries. she was standing there for more than an hour, in this chilly night? waiting for some one?, i thought

"sir?" my driver asked, when i told him to halt on the side.

"let's wait here for a bit" i answered with a poker face.

 so, i accompanied her from afar, but went to her -seeing her unmoving  after another hour. she said she was waiting here for her boyfriend , i was happy when she called my name but now i only feel stupid, i dropped her home that day afraid she will wait all night.

Our third chance encounter outside was also a stroke of luck.....we met regularly for the collaboration project but never even talked much. we met at parihar's boutique . i did go to this place in hopes of meeting her, but i never would have imagined actually meeting her. she looked sad.

"yaa, we are selecting her engagement outfits" her friend said and my heart shattered.....she is getting engaged? to her boyfriend from that day?.

I chuckled at myself for assuming she would notice me now.....she is taken and she is someone else's. i told myself this thousand times but still wish that i could see her once or talk to her once, but now i have no excuse....i cant go on like this...As I made a silent vow to end this fruitless yearning, I exited the boutique under the guise of work obligations. .

i am meeting her today again...we are traveling together for a business trip, this collaboration is important for both the singh's and verma's families....i should ignore her and keep to myself this trip but i  don't think  i can ever be rude to her or ignore her....i got my suitcase ready sighing inside with these thoughts, raghu kaka helped me move it to my car and i started for the airport .

SWETHA'S POV

" did you pack your nausea medicine?" asked my mom.

"yaa, mumma... i packed everything...don't worry" i sighed for 20th time looking at my phone, i messaged Abhay informing him about my work trip but he did not reply. i don't know what i should do...if i show up at his house or at his shooting spot, he might push me away even more.

"it's not that, now adays you are so absent minded beta, i am worried", my mom asked pulling me out of my thoughts.

"you just forgot you charger... take it..."pushing the charger in to my bag my father said "is this because of the engagement?" .

"girls are like that, you get a little nervous...during this time..", my mom added nodding her head.

"it's not that mumma "

"you know ...you  can share anything with us, right?" my father assured me

"yes, papa....it's not about that...I'm fine". they will not understand, because even i am having hard time understanding him-what are you even doing Abhay?

i took my leave from my house, and was on the way to airport, tannu- my bestie called me.

"swethu...when was the last time you said you were at Abhay's house?" she asked, i was perplexed due to the sudden question but still answered her- "the day we met  at the coffee shop, he picked me up right! and also on the next day".

 "the next day? so you did meet him? hahaha i was almost...never mind"

"i did not meet him the next day though, i waited for him that whole evening and he didn't go home"....tannu gasped "what?".

"then who is that girl?"

"Which girl?" i enquired.

"my brother said he saw Abhay with a girl at our hospital, Abhay stayed with her the whole night and also kissed her", her voice lost confidence in the end and mine too.

my whole world spun before my eyes....no, he will never right?...he used to always stay away from girls/women/ even his fans, he would not curry up with anyone, and he is very particular... who is she?

"swetha?...swetha..."a voice called me from my daze, "i don't think Abhay is ...you know... maybe she's just a friend?".

"actually i came to the boutique with you especially to ask abhay about this but he did not even show up....i thought may be my brother was mistaken but.... i don't think so anymore.."

"why?" i asked weakly...

" do you remember that scandal between Abhay and his manager or whatever...that scandal broke out the same day right!"

"i think, i mean i am sure, some one is trying to get Abhay down...you know how the industry works" she said...i nodded, cause i desperately need an excuse for what ever that is he did without me knowing

"yes, that might be truee...tannu can you help me, ask around in your brother's hospital again please?".

"okay" she replied.

i immediately video called Abhay again but Srishti picked it up 

"hi Srishti"

"hii, congratulations" she said, i thanked her and asked her about abhay's whereabouts "oh...sorry! here is abhay", she rotated her screen to show me- abhay shooting an action scene, he was jumping in to the water and jumping out of it...like a hundred times....never mind, looking at him he is not in a position to talk.

"please tell him, i called, i am going to GUJRAT for business", i said.

"okay sure thing babes, bye". the screen went blank and i sighed reaching the airport.

there were four of us, waiting for the 'hot boss' to arrive, i was already in a bad mood and he is making this worse...Mahashay ji arrived at last and we boarded the plane and he was seated beside me throughout the journey.

 Feeling tired of everything, everyone and mentally exhausted, I tried to watch a movie to distract myself from the thoughts in my brain....but i don't know when i actually fell asleep and i fell asleep  on his shoulder?....aahhhh! god why?!, i opened my eyes alarmed.

oh my god what do i even say now? sorry? thank you?... i closed my eyes and moved my head slowly, i have to give an excuse for my behavior, i turn my head carefully, my eyes slowly opening to see him sleeping. thank god! bhagwan ji bachaliya aapne(god saved me)...

a/n-no babe someone else saved you😉

The journey was not long, just an hour of travel. As a result, we arrived at our destination in Gujarat fairly early. As we took a taxi to the pre-booked hotel, I admired the scenery outside the window while the song 'Pretty When You Cry' played on the radio, and I unknowingly started singing along....

I wait for you, babe

You don't come through, babe
You never do, babe
That's just what you do
Because I'm pretty when I cry
I'm pretty when I cry
I'm pretty when I cry
I'm pretty when I cry
Don't say you need me when
You leave and you leave again
I'm stronger than all my men
Except for you
Don't say you need me if
You know that you're leaving
I can't do it, I can't do it
But you do it well
'Cause I'm pretty when I cry

 we went to the hotel to freshen up as we have a client meeting in an hour or so, we were busy for a whole day with customer reviews and testing of the product.

we  had a meeting with an investor today....this is so draining i thought ...right now we are going back to the hotel.

"can i post this online?" asked keerthana showing a picture that we both took in the break time.

 i nodded my head....and sharat - mahashay ji ka assistant asked us to show him the post, we were discussing about the post.

"what is your Instagram id?", mahashay ji asked suddenly pulling us out of our conversation and i looked at him speechless - he is asking for my id?.

"let's add each other "he added, i was bamboozled

 "yes, yes-lets add each other...i will like all  your posts" said sharat trying to flirt with keerthana and she looked at him with a disgusted expression.

we added each other on Instagram- i added mahashay ji, sharat and mahashay ji's secretary, we were stuck in  traffic and  keerthana saw a panipuri stall-  she gave me a look, pointing towards the stall.  of course we got out of the car to eat panipuri, hot boss and his chamche included. this is probably the only peaceful moment from this whole month for me.