HIS INNOCENT DESIGNER

THE PARTY

Jay was relieved to meet Navya since he was assured that there was no one in Cia,s life.

"Cia I want to apologise for my earlier behavior and would like to start again. I value your friendship and enjoy spending time with you."

"Jay I know I over reacted. I was also to blame. But I assure you that this is not my normal behavior."

"Fine lets start our friendship again and let bygones be bygones."

The next day was the presentation of the new designs to the client so Jay and Cia went to the client,s Delhi office. After much discussions the result was in their favour. The company not only approved the designs but also offered them an exclusive five year contract whereby A & J Modern collection would not only be promoted in India but also in the nearby countries. Also AJ creations would be their sole partner in India.

By Tuesday the news had spread all over the company and congratulations had started to pour in. Jay planned a get together for Friday for the company where in this new contract would be celebrated.

Cia was overwhelmed with the congratulations she was receiving. Except for Veronica everyone had congratulated her. She started sketching new designs with the intention of getting them approved by jay till the end of the week.

She also decided to take a few hours off on Thursday to buy a new dress for the party as this was her first achievement.

Friday came sooner than expected. Since the party was in a Delhi five star Jay was escorting Cia. He arrived sharp at 7 pm but was stunned to find Cia looking so beautiful. Cia was wearing a halter neck red ball gown . Her shoulders were bare and her dress was practically backless. Jay felt instant lust at seeing her like this. Infact he felt like he would rather kidnap her here and make love to her all night.

Jay was well dressed in a designer black suit. It was as if the suit had been tailored according to his lean body type. Cia felt strongly attracted to him. She knew she had to curb this attraction otherwise it would destroy their friendship.

"Come on Cia I am the host and I will be late for the party. Although with you looking like this people can well understand my reason for being late. Plus I will be excused for bringing the star of the party with me."

"Jay you are too much. Now can we proceed?"

The party was held at Le meridian Delhi, a known five star. Their ballroom had been decorated with blue and white ribbons and the tables had a similar décor with white tablecloths and blue candles in the middle. The samples of the new A & J Modern collection were displayed on mannequins.

The food was one of the finest with a mix of ethnic Indian cuisine and Continental . All liquor brands were available with a huge variety in wines.

Jay had invited his stepmother and stepbrother Vijay to this party. Vijay seemed quite smitten with Cia. "Brother won't you introduce me to your star designer?"

"Cia this is Vijay my brother. And Vijay this is our new designer for the A& J Modern Collection."

Sahil congratulated both Jay and Cia but Veronica had her full attention towards Jay. Tonight she was dressed to kill. She was wearing a long black fitted gown with a thigh high slit which showed her toned legs to perfection. However she was irritated by the fact that today Jay had eyes only for Cia

Jay announced that the new line would be the focus of their company and for raw materials he and Cia would be travelling to Jodhpur on Sunday. Veronica was furious because Jay had never accompanied her on any of her official trips. She felt that Cia was slowly snatching away Jay and she had to do something fast.

After formal announcements Jay opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Cia declined the champagne. Veronica being her usual mean self commented on this that Cia did not have the standard and upbringing to know about the finer things of life.

"Veronica even if I have never tasted champagne I assure you that I will try my level best to create such situations where we can have many similar parties where you can again enjoy champagne"

After this the dancing started. Vijay asked Cia for a dance. During their dance he congratulated Cia."I thought that you were simply a beautiful designer. I never knew you had a way with words as well. By the way are you free tomorrow night? It must be lonely at the cottage and my friends are going to Agra for the weekend ,will you care to join us?"

Before Cia could answer the song had ended and Jay asked her for the next dance. "What was Vijay saying?"

"Nothing much"

"He seemed to be quite enamoured by you. I know you don't like me to interfere in your life but I must warn you that Vijay is quite a womanizer who dates a new women every week."

"It seems to run in the family."

"How can you say this Cia ? Have I ever crossed my limits?"

"Jay , can we discuss something else ?"

"Yes we have a lot to discuss specially the successful launch of this new line which was not possible without you."

As the song ended Veronica asked Jay for a dance." You know Jay you give too much importance to that new designer. We should focus more on our privileged clients since they pay us obscene amounts of money for my designs."

" Veronica you are right but the future lies in bulk bookings. We need this line to sustain our business."Veronica was not happy with Jay's answer.

The party came to an end around 2 AM and by the time Cia slept it was early morning.

Saturday was off so she spent the entire day cleaning her cottage. Jay came over for a cup of tea in the evening and handed her the flight tickets for Jodhpur .Since it was an early morning flight she packed her stuff and took an early night.

Jay had a rather busy Sunday . First he slept late thinking of Cia. She seemed to occupy a lot of his mind lately. He had realized that his feelings for Cia were very strong and were not merely lust. He genuinely cared for her. But since she was a shy innocent virgin he decided to pursue her gently. Moreover for the first time in his life he enjoyed the company of a girl without having sex with her.

This trip with Cia to Jodhpur was meant as a test for their relationship. He planned to explore their feelings for each other.

JQ!