Redeemed Love

Part 31

The Blind Date

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'what work does Vikram have at this time' Priya scoffed within passing on fake smiles frequently like she was doing from the past half an hour.

"Toh aap mumbai me akeli rehti hai Priya Ji? (So you stay alone in Mumbai Ms. Priya?)" Asked Mr. Tripathi the marketing head looking keenly at her.

Priya thought for a while as in what to answer and how to escape this patience testing lunch as she has already lost her level of patience.

"Ji nahi.. (No)" She lied keeping her voice sane. Lying was like a sin to her, she never lied and never ever she has used her femininity to get things done.

"Ye sab baateing chodiye, kaam ki baaton par aate hai (leave all these, let's talk about work)" She leaned a bit ahead and tried to get to the topic. Mr. Tripathi to straightened up a bit still relishing on Priya's hand made meal which she offered.

"Aap ne keh diya Priya ji ek baar, kaam hojaega (You have said it once, Ms. Priya, the work will be done)" Said the Man confidently flaunting his half white teeth. "Oh! Me to bhul hi gaya tha (Oh! I almost forgot)" he wiped his hand with the tissue and took something from his side.

"Yeh lijiye (take these)" Mr. Tripathi asked forwarding two square boxes in his hands.

Priya sat frozen for a brief second, what's with gifts and her Today! Did she forgot her own birthday but everyone else knows? She wondered.

Seeing a reluctant Priya, Mr. Tripathi clarified, "Yeh humari taraf se sorry, aapke aur Vikram ji ke liye (this is for sorry from our side, for you and Vikram)"

Priya was still in a fix seeing the shinny wrapper, for now, she has seen enough of shinny wrappers that it was getting on her nerves.

"Mana mat kijiye (don't say No)" Mr. Tripathi pleaded and seeing him do so, she took the gifts passing another fake smile.

Keeping them aside, She rolled her eyes again around to see when will Vikram find it appropriate to appear, like he just left them alone which was so awkward. With that thought, her phone pinged making her heed, she peaked at the name on the notification and was curious to see Vikram texting her.

The message read "I will be there in a while, but make sure you make the deal and get him speak the dates when he will get the job done, he won't behave the same in front of me... i know you can do it, P.S- just add a more sweetness and smile more, please"

Priya re-read the message twice to confirm at what Vikram just mentioned, She knew this was coming but just for a brief second thought Vikram won't do such thing. Well, There goes her belief and now she is stuck with a middle aged man who is trying to flirt with her and yet she has to ignore all of that just to get the work done.

Keeping all the thoughts at the back of her mind, she took a deep breathe and put on a big smile on her face.

"Aap kitni saalon se is company me kaam kar rahe hai (how many years have you been working in this company)" Priya asked all of a sudden startling Mr. Tripathi, this was the first time she initiated a talk else than work.

He cleared his throat before answering back, "10 saal ka experience hai ji (10 years experience)" his smile widened.

Priya over exaggerated a surprised expression, "dekh ke lagta nahi (doesn't look like that)" She blurted, "Huh!" He scrunched his brows at her, "I mean, you look so young, aapko dekh ke aisa lagta nahi" she honey dipped her voice and replied.