Until I Found You

01. Ansh | Holding On

Four Years Later - New Delhi.

“I DO NOT CARE HOW. GET THE ENTIRE THING ON MY TABLE BY THE END OF WORKING DAY, STAT", my voice thundered through the conference room as I turned around and slammed my hands on the table.

My eyes caught the wince from my right side, but I ignored his reaction. This should have been done a week ago. The deal was supposed to close tomorrow and the clients needed everything ready an hour ago. Messing up the timeline was being reckless, and it was widely known by my employees that I hated it when people didn't do their job right or on time.

A buzz of “Yes Sir” followed and everyone vacated the room - well everyone except Ayaan RaiSinghaniya - my business partner , as well as the guy who  claimed I was his best friend.

God knew I had never given him a reason to nurture that delusion in the last four years, rather tried hard to maintain my boundaries, and not let him read too much into this friendship but he didn't care. He had just declared me as his friend when we first met in London, on the first day of our college and had proceeded to promote me to being his best friend - his words not mine. Maybe I would have fought him harder, but when everything went down and I moved back to India four years ago, Ayaan ended up following me here, an year later. I knew he would have lived in London happily for his entire life had it not been for me and I may or may not accept it loud, but I needed someone - him, mostly back then. He is the only reason I survived the way I did.

“You don't need to turn into the hulk every time there is a work delay, you know that right?”, said friend snickered at me, leaning forwards while his elbows rested on the table.

I managed to pin him with a glare and he raised his hand in surrender, holding back a chuckle, “Just saying”.

“You will have less to say if they back out of this deal and we loose a project worth millions", I answered back, “Plus you are the one who have been trying to acquire that company since six months”.

“Which is why I am aware that this is a done deal and we will get the merger done within this week", Ayaan whistled smirking at me, "and you didn't need to scare the crap out of our poor employees. You do it twice a day like clockwork. Tell me for real - does it help with your digestion?”.

I frowned and ignored his ramble, pulling my laptop closer. I could see Ayaan trying to hold back a grin from my periphery.

The guy was a lunatic.

“We will need to run our own background check for their employees after the deal is signed. Have you looked at the list?”, I changed the topic and Ayaan rolled his eyes, but let it go before powering his own laptop on.

“Yeah, I have. But we will definitely need a thorough check. They ran the company with 100 employees, counting the service staff. I will forward the list to our security department and ask them to initiate a complete background check of our own" Ayaan spoke as his fingers pressed out orders.

I hummed and caught the paperweight in my right hand, flexing my fingers around it, “One more thing. Their legal adviser. I want to hire her for our company".

Ayaan stopped typing and dramatically turned my way, an eyebrow raised. I rolled my eyes in return at his knack for chaos.

“She isn't on that list of employees, but that woman has been building a reputation for herself in the recent years. She has managed to keep them afloat despite the controversial media their blogs and magazine comes up with. They didn't loose a single lawsuit, and there haven't even been that many against them despite their content which is a huge thing in itself. I want her to work for us too.
Mihika Agnihotri is a valuable asset, and having her in our team will be a good addition”, I explained. I had worked with the best team of lawyers more than once, but Mihika had impressed me in a way very few could.