Jee le zindagi

Chapter 11

Monday

Taani wake up at 7am, she remembers her and Swayam's conversation in the car and thinks how he had ignored her for months, he didn't even look at me when I was living in the same house as him, itni baar muje misunderstand kiya, never stood up for me in front of his friends, hell even when she was going through her first break up her brother was busy consoling his best friend and now when I am finally moving on and don't need him anymore toh suddenly he misses me? I know your friends are important for you bhai but me bhi toh aapke liye important thi na? How could you have forgotten me like that? She gets up and gets ready all the while remembering Swayam's hurtful behavior.

'Taani you seriously need to get over the past, you need to move on in your life' saying this to herself she leaves her flat and goes to office.

Reaching office she suddenly remembers her Tauji's words about her and Aditya's marriage, 'Hey Krishnaji, how am I going to face him now? What if his parents have also talked to him about this? Ugh' muttering to herself she goes inside the office, Sneha seeing Taani talking to herself calls her "Oi Miss Shekhawat, kisi subah subah kos rhi ho?" Sneha says teasingly, "Tumhe, kal muje ditch joh kardiya tha apne bf ke liye" Taani teases her right back with a fake sad face, "I am sorry Taani" Sneha replies back seriously thinking maybe she upset Taani, Taani giggles, "me mazak kar rhi thi, also your parents know about Abhay? Kafi serious mamla lag rha he", Sneha blushes, "tu bhi na, wese haan woh they do know-", "Taani woh Mr Mehra ki file kaha he? I need to go over some details with him in a bit" Adi interrupts them walking over to Taani, "umm woh mere desk pe hi he, chaliye me deti hoon, bye Sneha, see you at lunch", "bye, see ya" Taani and he walk away.

'He is acting all normal, maybe he hasn't had the parent talk yet' Taani thinks to herself, they get to their cabin and Taani hands him the file, their hands touch a bit and they both look at each other a bit awkwardly. Taani turns away and goes to her side of the table and starts typing away, "umm I have a few meetings today so I will be out til lunch, I need you to work on Mr Jain's file and prepare the presentation while I am gone" Adi says professionally, he feels a bit upset seeing how uncomfortable Taani gets in his present sometimes and so he is trying to keep himself in check so as to not make her feel uncomfortable. "Okay" Taani says a bit timidly.

'Why are you getting so affected by his stares and touch Taani? You just came out of an intense relationship, well not just, its been a few months.... but still Taani! Also he is your boss, yeh na sab Tauji ki wajah se ho rha he, if he hadn't put this thought in my head toh I wouldn't even be noticing these things, maybe I am thinking too much about it, haan' thinking this she starts working.

Sneha drops by and drags Taani to lunch in the noon, Adi is already seated at a table and they join him, "So Taani, have you even thought of having a career in singing?" Sneha asks, "no, I like singing but its mostly just a hobby and also I don't really like too much stage attention" Taani replies.

"I can understand, Adi is actually like that too, he has an amazinggg voice but use bhi singing me career banane ka irada nai he" Sneha says pointing towards him, " I like the attention though, isiliye toh I perform in events sometimes but yeah I don't think I would ever want to make a career out of it, I prefer the business world more" Adi replies, listening to Adi Taani smiles, all three, Abhay, Aditya and Sneha are such genuine people, they say whatever is on their mind but in such a polite way she thinks.

Taani's thought process is interrupted by a call from her Tauji, she excuses herself and goes a bit away from the table to answer it, "haan tauji?", "sorry for disturbing you while you were at work beta", "Arey tauji esa kuch nai he and wese bhi I was on a break anyway, aap boliye" Taani replies, "woh I just wanted to ask you if you had given it much thought about meeting Aditya officially outside the office? Woh kya he na me kal wapas Jodhpur ja rha hoon and I won't be able to come back for a while".

"Umm does he know about this?" Taani asks looking discreetly at Adi and bites her nails a bit nervously, "he? Do you mean Adi?", "hmm" she replies, "haan he knows, use tumse milne me koi aitraaz nai he per agar tum nai milna chahti toh bhi I will understand, remember there's no pressure" He reminds her. "Woh I guess milne me koi problem nai he but I can't promise you anything else" Taani says in a low uncertain voice.

"Off course beta, you just agreeing to meet him is more thn enough, if you guys don't like each other after the meet toh bhi koi hard feelings nai hogi humari taraf se, me Yash ko call karta hoon, we will have dinner at his place tonight", "aaj?!" Taani speaks a bit too loudly making Sneha and Adi look at her curiosity, she nervously smiles at them and turns away, "me kal afternoon me ja rha hoon wapas so I thought aaj hi mil lete he? Koi problem he?", "Nai tauji me toh bas ese hi, I will see you in the evening" Taani is feeling very jittery now, "okay, I will pick you up at 7pm, bye, take care" they hang up but Taani is still standing there lost in her thoughts.

Seeing her standing like a statue makes Adi a bit concerned, he walks over to her, "Taani?" He calls her but she doesn't really reply so he puts a hand on her shoulder and gently shakes her, which breaks Taani's trance, "huh?", "sorry for touching you, I was calling you but you were kind of lost there" Adi says quickly taking his hand away and apologizing. "Any problem?" Sneha asks walking up towards them, "nai bas tauji ka call tha, let's get back to work?" Without waiting for a reply she leaves. "Ise kya ho gaya?" Sneha wonders but just thn Adi gets a call from Yash. "Tum baat karlo, me chalti hoon" saying so she leaves canteen as well.

"Haan Dad? The meeting with Mr Mehra was a success, we got the project" Adi says as soon as picking up the call, "I knew you would bag that project but I didnt call you for that" Yash says, " I got a call from Rishi abhi, Taani said yes to meet you officially, woh dono dinner pe aa rhe he aaj", "what? Aaj?" Adi says a shocked, "haan toh tum itna shocked kyun ho rhe ho? Tumne hi toh kal kaha tha that you don't have a problem with meeting her officially?", "haan I know but itni jaldi?" Asks Adi, "well Rishi has some work back in jodhpur so he is leaving tomorrow, toh he suggested to meet tonight, koi problem he?", "nai dad muje koi problem nai he" Adi quickly replies, "ghar jaldi aajana", they talk for a min more and thn hang up.

'She said yes? I thought woh mana kar degi. Aur me itna khush kyun ho rha hoon? Shadi ke liye haan thodi boli he usne... Me shadi ke barein me kyun soch rha hoon, ughhh. Adi please don't make a fool out of yourself in front of her tonight. I should probably not behave like an idiot in the office either, haan, joh bhi baat hoti he at home with her I need to keep it out of the office, I don't want to make her uncomfortable and wese bhi its not professional.' Deciding so he goes into his office, for a minute seeing her so engrossed in work makes him stare at her but he quickly composes himself and sits on his chair, Taani looks up hearing him walk into the office but thn quickly looks away and gets back to work.

6PM

Closing his laptop, Adi stands up and stretches a bit with a sigh and thn looks at Taani to find her looking at him with a strange expression, "umm chalein?" He asks, she quickly nods and closes her laptop, they walk out of the office together and get into the lift.

"Me gadi leke aaya" he says and walks away, Taani let's out a small smile, 'he is such a gentleman' she thinks to herself. She gets in the car and they are off, both are thinking about the dinner and are nervous but are trying to ignore each other. They reach her house, "um I will see you at my house?" He says nervously and thn curses himself internally when Taani looks down, "yeah, see you thn" saying so she quickly walks away so that Adi can't see her blush.

'Taani why are you blushing!! You are just doing this to make Tauji happy. haan bas isiliye... but tauji ne toh kaha he ki koi pressure nai he fir why did I agree to this dinner?'