If You Could Stay

4. Kartik & Naira

KARTIK

For the past three days, I've been trying to find solutions to this giant mess. I still haven't told my father about the merger falling through. And I also couldn't find a second client good enough to replace the Singhania's.

I rub a frustrated hand through my hair. My brother will be taking over the business after me and I wanted to bring the company to sky heights before he took over. Make it the best it could be before my father retires. I was running out of time.

I take another puff from my inhaler. That's two puffs already in the last hour.

I hear a knock on my office door, right before Inaya steps in.

"Sir you have a visitor."

"Not now Inaya. I'm busy. Tell them to make an appointment with me."

Inaya doesn't move from her place.

"I think you want to meet with her sir. It's Miss Naira Singhania."

My head snaps up at the sound of her name. What was she doing here? The last thing I wanted was to see that infuriating woman. But I also couldn't bring myself to say no for some reason. Curiosity got the best of me.

"Okay, send her in."

The door closes after Inaya leaves, only to open again a short minute later. This time, Naira Singhania stands in my doorway, looking just as powerful, and just as beautiful as the first time I saw her.

I gesture to the empty chair across from me.

"Have a seat."

She places a closed file on top of my desk and takes a seat. Before I can say anything, she speaks.

"I have a proposition."

Ok. Straight to the point. I don't know why I keep quiet, but I want to hear what she has to say.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot-"

"Wrong drink actually", I interrupt, and her gaze glances down to my chest for a split second before she clears her throat.

"Anyways, I'm willing to give this merger another chance."

My heartbeat starts speeding up. She's willing to proceed with the merger? But why?

"But I have two conditions. Here is the first condition: before I agree to the merger, you have to agree to the terms of this contract."

She pushes the file towards me. I look skeptically between her and the mysterious file in front of me. Then I open the file and begin reading.

"You want me to do what?" I ask her, enraged.

Her face remains blank.

"I want you to fake date me for the next 7 weeks."

NAIRA

Kartik's scowl turns more intense. At this rate, the scowl will be a permanent feature of his face.

"Why?" He asks while maintaining eye contact with me. If I were anyone else, I would easily be intimidated by his piercing gaze. But I've been habituated to the patriarchal gaze as a woman in business. I don't lose eye contact for a moment.

"We'll discuss the why and how later. For now, here is the what: what you have to do is pretend to be my fiancé in front of my brother until the launch of Nryta, which is in 7 weeks. You agree to that, and the merger continues as planned. If not, the merger is off."

Kartik leans closer to me, his forearms resting on top of his desk.

"Are you blackmailing me, Miss Singhania?"

A shiver runs down my spine. "I'm simply proposing a business deal. You're a businessman, Mr. Goenka. I assume you know how this works. All the terms and conditions are written in this contract. Read it carefully."

Kartik's jaw ticks.

"And read the fine print too. I don't want any clauses to be overlooked. I'll be back in one hour. I hope you will be able to give me an answer by the time I get back."

Kartik's eyes widen the tiniest fraction of a bit. His gaze follows me as I rise from the chair and walk out of his office. As soon as I take my last step out of his cabin, I place a hand on my chest and release a heavy breath.

Kartik's assistant, Inaya, gives me a sympathetic smile.

"How do you work with that man in there? He's like the devil's incarnate. Does he ever smile?"

Inaya laughs softly. "He does, only on special occasions though."

I shake my head and offer to bring Inaya back a coffee while I head out. She respectfully declines.

Then I make my way to the same cafe where I met my "fake fiancé" three days ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exactly 59 minutes later, I'm standing outside Kartik's office door with my drink in my hand. My watch hits the 60 minute mark and I enter his cabin. He's sitting in the exact same position as when I left. The only giveaway that he actually moved is the loosened tie around his neck and the slightly messy strands of hair that fell on his forehead, as if he was running his hand through it.

His gaze lands on the drink in my hand.

"You're not going to throw that on me again, are you?"

I look down at the pink drink and hold back a smile. His eyes show something like...amusement? But his face remains stoic.

"Not unless you give me a reason to." I take a seat back in the chair opposite him, waiting for his reply. My heart thumps loudly in my chest.

"I have a few conditions to add," he finally speaks up.

I hold my breath. Does this mean he's considering it?

"Of course", I add. "It wouldn't be a fair business deal if I didn't allow you to offer your conditions. If you turn to page 3, you'll notice two blank lines. You may add two conditions of your choice."

The corners of Kartik's lips tilt up. I blink and his lips are back in a frown. I must have hallucinated it because there's no way that Kartik Goenka was smiling. Something eerily similar to respect flashes across his face before he turns his attention back to the contract.

"My first condition." He picks up his pen and begins writing. "This entire contract between the two of us will remain a secret. The only person who is allowed to know is Inaya."

I'm slightly taken aback. I, too, wanted our contract to be a secret. But why would he want his assistant to know about it? Kartik must have noticed the confusion on my face.

"You can trust Inaya. She won't disclose this information to anyone."

And for some reason, I believe him.

"Okay. And your second condition?"

Kartik looks at me with an emotion I can't quite label but it makes goosebumps rise on my arms.

"In these 7 weeks, you can not fall in love with me."