Pranbir Short Stories

Unexpected realisation

This chapter is dedicated to Versatileveida.
I did some changes to your request, not major ones.
I hope you will like it.

The moment he finished what he said, he instantly regretted it. He noticed how her eyes had turned glossy for a second but she was good at hiding her emotions.
Prachi: "Sorry... I will remember to knock next time..."
She turned away and left his cabin, but every ounce of him yearned to stop her.

Rhea, happily: "Good job... She should know her place as your secretary. She shouldn't barged in like this..."
But neither could Ranbir unsee the tears that formed in her eyes nor could he ignore the guilt he was feeling.

He took a step to follow his Chikchiki but Rhea stopped him.
Rhea: "Dad said we need to go to the bank... let's go together..."

In the car:
Ranbir was lost in his thoughts, the incident that occurred in his office hasn't left his mind.
He liked to argue with Prachi but today, seeing her teary eyes, something switched in him.
He felt bad reprimanding her, on Rhea's insistence...

Rhea, noticing him lost: "Ranbir... Why are you driving so slow? Drive faster..."
He didn't realise that before, but since he had started to drop Prachi home, he stayed on the proper speed limit.
Chikchiki used to scold him for that... but now, he did it every time...

Ranbir, to himself: "What is going on? Why am I thinking so much of her?"
Rhea'a voice brought him back from his thoughts.
"Drive faster..."
"No... plus I have a headache, so better I drive slow..." He lied to her.
She didn't insist as well and stayed quiet.

At the bank:
Rhea and Ranbir went separate ways. Ranbir went to the manager's cabin and stayed there for a long time discussing about their work.

In the meantime, Rhea was on her phone and walking somewhere but as she wasn't looking, she bumped into someone.
She looked up to scold the person and saw Prachi.
Her annoyance turned into fury: "Can't you see where you are going?"

Prachi, retaliating: "You were the one looking at your phone... not me..."
Rhea, furiously: "You..."
Prachi: "Not interested in your talks. I have other works..."
She left from there while Rhea fumed at her audacity.

On Ranbir's side, the manager left to look for some papers. And once Ranbir was alone, his attention shifted to Prachi.
He wasn't able to get the image of her teary eyes from his mind. Just thinking that he hurt her, made him feel so guilty and uneasy.

Ranbir, to himself: "This guilt will eat me up. I shouldn't have scolded her."
He took out his phone from his pocket and went through his last calls.
His fingers lingered on her name on his screen. He finally pressed it and the call started.

After several rings, she didn't pick up. He felt bad but decided to try again. However, he still got the same results.
Ranbir: "It's better to apologize in person..."

Just as he kept his phone back, a loud gunshot was heard inside the building, followed by screams.
This scarily startled Ranbir and he went to the door, blocking it...

Ranbir, tensed: "Gunshot..."

And just on cue, another gunshot was heard. The building fell in a complete eerie silence.

Ranbir could hear the faint voices of someone. He opened the door a little so that he could hear.

"Everyone quiet... we just want money, not a bloodshed. But if I hear a voice, I won't hesitate to kill one by one."
A voice laced with confident, authoritative and maliciousness fell to everyone's ears.

Ranbir, carefully closed the door and started pacing around. He tugged at his hair worriedly.
Ranbir: "How do I get out now? And... shit... Rhea..."

He looked at the sky: "Why did she have to come with me?"
He took out his phone and was about to call the police but instead a video call was coming.
He worriedly answered it.