Story of Our Life

Chapter 10

Sorry for the looooooooooong wait! Just got busy :P

I don't how how many of you are still here but I appreciate every single one of you. 

--

"Priyu, zara sunn na!" Her mother almost shouted as Prerna tried to finish her breakfast. She had a very important meeting with Mr Bajaj today and wanted to reach office a little earlier than usual to prepare for the same.

"Haan maa, bolo!" She screamed back, her mouth almost full with paratha and chai.

"Beta, tere Papa aaj tiffin le jaana bhul gaye, tu office jaate waqt deti jaa na." Her mother scrambled out of the kitchen, closing the lid of her father's tiffin box. "Warna bahar ka khaana kha lenge phir-

"Arey maa, mujhe late ho raha hai!" Prerna grumbled as she got up. "Aaj meeting hai, bataya tha na?"

"Arey, 5 minute bhi nahin lagega. Waise bhi tu ek ghanta jaldi jaa rahi hai. Le jaa!" Veena shook her head and handed the tiffin in Prerna's hands as she pouted away.

--

"Prerna!" Anurag's voice stopped Prerna in her tracks and she forced herself to not roll her eyes. "Hi! Kaisi ho?"

"I am good, how are you?" She asked, wanting to avoid the small talk at all costs. She was already 20 minutes late.

"Great, ek file drop karne aaya tha. Grover and Co. ke saath 80 crore ki deal hai, kal meeting hai...jaise hi sign hogi, we're planning to go to Dubai to celebrate. Bahut struggle ke baad ye deal mili hai, celebration toh banta hai na?" Anurag said and Prerna nodded, not really caring. "Anyways, tum yahan? Office se chutti le li already?"

"Nahin, Baba ka tiffin dene aayi thi, office hi jaa rahi hoon. Late ho raha hai, bye-

"Suno toh." He stopped and she turned, raising her eyebrows in question. "Kya Rajesh uncle ne tumse...baat ki?"

Prerna wondered what to say...should she deny the whole thing or just come clean to Anurag herself?

"Kis baare mein?" She asked instead, deciding not to stretch this matter right now. It was not the time.

"Wo...ek account mein...accounting mein issue tha." Anurag struggled to lie. "Forget it, nothing important!"

"Bye." She shrugged and left.

--

Rishabh looked up as Prerna entered the conference room, dressed in a pale yellow blouse and navy blue trousers. Her heels made a ticking noise as she walked towards a chair, her silky hair bounced softly and her brightly painted nails held the file tightly. He looked away, forcing his eyes onto the dull grey file in his hands.

"Here's the file you asked for, Mr. Bajaj." She said and handed him a file, which he took without sparing a glance at her. 

Prerna nodded to herself as she took a seat amongst her colleagues and listened to Mr. Mehta talk about a meeting in the evening. She was hardly listening to the lawyer, instead, her gaze was focused on Mr. Bajaj. 

How he was biting his lower lip softly, which had turned pink due to the blood rush. How his eyelashes were hiding his steely blue eyes as they ran over the words on the file. How his fingers were flicking through the pages, one by one and how he just flicked away a stray lock of grey hair away from his face.

Her focus was just on him when two words caught her ears and she looked up as Mr. Mehta presented something on the screen.

"So that's it. The final conclusion is we will be offering 50 crores to Grover and Co. tonight. The legalities have been taken care of and the papers are ready." He said and looked at Rishabh, who nodded at the file in his hands.

"It all looks good. They'll sign." Rishabh shut the file and nodded.

"What if they don't?" Prerna said before she could stop herself and all of a sudden, all eyes were on her.

"And why do you think they will not?" Rishabh asked, looking at her with a questioning gaze.

"Uh...wo maine suna  hai...that they are planning a 80 crore deal with...someone else." Prerna gulped and licked her lips in nervousness, almost stealing away Rishabh's focus for a second. "I was wondering...why would they sign a deal with less money?"

"Ms. Sharma." Rishabh took her name with utmost sincerity and her toes almost curled. "Ek cheez hoti hai, brand. Now of course, 80 crore is a bigger amount that 50 crore but is there any name bigger in the market than the Bajaj name?"

Prerna shook her head and Rishabh nodded, dismissing the meeting. Everyone got up and started leaving when Rishabh signaled Prerna to wait. 

"Ms Sharma." He said as they stood alone in the conference room. "I know wo 80 crore ki deal kiske saath hai. And I would like to inform you ki agar aap chahein toh Mr Moloy Basu ko inform kar sakti hain."

"Mr Bajaj-

"It won't really make a difference. Aaj ki deal already sign ho chuki hai. I met with Mr Grover today morning and everything is finalised. Aaj shaam ki meeting bas ek formality hai, a process to meet each other's teams. That's it." Rishabh shrugged. "Mr Grover kal ki meeting mein Mr Basu ko sab bata denge."

"Oh...okay." Prerna nodded. She didn't really care about Mr Grover and who he signs a deal with. Anurag's bragging statement rang in her head and she almost smiled. 

Oh, guess the Dubai trip is going to be cancelled!

Rishabh looked as Prerna seemed lost in thought, her pink lip curling into an almost sadistic smile. In that moment, all he wanted was to pin her to the wall and-

"Thank you Mr Bajaj." Her voice dragged him out of the dream. "Please be assured, main kisi ko kuch inform nahin karungi. This is business, business mein toh ye sab hota rehta hai.'"

"I appreciate that." He nodded and buttoned his coat up. "Have a good day."

Saying so, he walked away as she stared at his long legs and perfect back. For a second, all she wanted was to wonder how they would look wrapped around-

Her phone rang.