Rekindled Hearts: The Journey Of Transformation[ONC2024]

|#15|

It’s a new day at the office, and Ruhana enters with a smile. After a whole night of contemplating her thoughts, she has decided to be slightly lenient towards her best friend. When he can control himself and not question her ways, then she can be soft towards him and start sharing things that he deserves to know.

Ruhana reaches her cabin and her manager shortly follows her in. The manager informs her that Vineet will be late in reaching the office as he has an unexpected meeting. Ruhana nods; he had sent a message to her in the morning. She smiles at his sincerity. He knows she might not see his message, but she’d ask for him in the office, so he already informed the manager.

Ruhana instructs her manager to get the conference room prepared and she herself starts looking into the quote Vineet prepared to discuss with ByteWave CEO, Manav Malhotra. They’re extending technical help to TechCouture and want them to do business with them. She has just finished reading when the door of her cabin opens and Vineet enters and greets her for the day. She checks the clock; he’s before time.

“Huh, shall I go back? Why are you looking at the clock?” He raises his eyebrows at her, causing her to giggle.

“If you want, you can go. I was checking the time just like that. I thought you would be late by an hour or more.” Ruhana gazes at him; he could notice a smirk in her eyes; she’s in a good mood right now.

“Ah, I got free early, so I came. The meeting was with a client; there’s some error. I have directed it to the concerned team.” Vineet smiles as he takes his seat opposite her.

“Okay, I am glad you came. We have a meeting with Manav in twenty minutes. I want you to go through these pointers from our end.” She passes him a file that has a list of pointers.

Vineet reads them roughly, and the pointers seem right at the moment. These match with the pointers he read in the mail from the said company, and he’s fine with it. He gazes at Ruhana, who’s looking into her laptop, typing something seriously. He closes the file and pushes it towards her.

“It seems fine to me, Ruhana. It’s your deal; you can handle it in your way.” He gestures to her that the content is fine, and he won’t interfere in the meeting.

“Why? Aren’t you joining me in the meeting?” She asks, gazing at him.

“Nope, I said I will not interfere. It’s for your company, Ruu; you will have to handle it.” He states his decision.

“Vineet, aren’t you getting a little serious? I mean, I have noticed for quite some time, you’re not showing interest in the deals that TechCouture is getting.” She asks; she’s been meaning to ask this question for a long time, and finally, the question has come to her lips.

“Ruhana, I am highly interested in what you’re doing; I have my close look on it. But, as I said and you also agreed that you have changed. I believe that everyone has their own ways of doing business or leading their personal lives. When you didn’t listen to me for Zenith Ventures, I decided that I would let you do the things as you think; it is fine. But, yeah, my eyes are still on you.” He replies, and she stares at him for a short while.

“Vineet, you know the reason, don’t you?” She asks, boring her eyes into his.

“I know, Ruu. But that is not the right way. Our ways of doing business are different, Ruhana. You have also stopped sharing everything with me. Back in our childhood, you’d show me every little thing you did, or anything that your parents brought for you.”

“Currently, you’re hiding the truth, Ruhana. I am sorry; it may sound bitter, but yeah, seeing you handle things all alone, hurts me. I know there’s more to the story that you have told me. I understand your anger for Mr. Shekhar, but what is the reason that you have started keeping secrets from me? We were, and we are still best friends, Ruhana, at least from my end. I still tell you every little detail of my projects, but you never bring yours up.” He says, pouring out all his feelings.

“Vineet, I will tell you…” she falls silent, leaving her sentence incomplete.

“You will tell me one day, and I will wait until then. But, yeah, I will still say the same thing, do not do anything that puts you in trouble. You have become impulsive, Ruhana; you take decisions in haste, and I fear that it might get you in trouble. You must also check with Manav before dealing.” Vineet says softly.

Meanwhile, his phone rings, and he excuses himself, leaving Ruhana thoughtful. She watches him talking on the call, and she’s staring at him.

This man has read her right. She has turned not only rude, arrogant, and hot-headed, but also impulsive. She has started opting for unnatural ways to attain success. She can go to any extent if she’s getting success in her hands. It’s been a long time since they’ve met and have been working together. They’ve been apart for twenty years, but he has read her in one year and has understood her state of mind.

Of course, there are a lot of things that she has kept hidden from him, but she is in a state where she can’t trust anyone, not even Vineet. Her eyes turn watery; even after all her rough behaviour towards him, he’s the same caring friend from her childhood.

Her trance breaks as the manager enters the room and informs her that the client has arrived and has been directed to the conference room. She picks up her file and walks out of the cabin, where Vineet wishes her the best. He’s still on the phone, yet aware of her departure.

A long day lies ahead.

*****

On the other hand, in the Cozy Bean Cafe, a couple is sitting, sipping their coffees. The lady looks at the guy.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asks.

“Yes, Anusha, there’s no second thought about it. She ruined my reputation, and I will ruin her.” The guy grits his teeth.

“Kunal, you’re on the wrong path. She just did what was right. I am here because I love you, but this is all wrong.” Anusha tries to explain.

“Anusha, stop explaining. What wrong did I do? I was just helping some people.” Kunal justifies his point.

“Yeah, after secretly taking away the exam papers? You leaked them all and blamed it on her. How inhumane, Kunal.” Anusha argues.

“Anusha please, I will do this. If you want, you can leave, just like everyone else did.” Kunal says, his tone laced with determination.

“I will ruin TechCouture, Ruhana Bisht. And this is the easiest way to lure her.” Kunal smirks.

He hits the ‘Send’ button and smiles satisfactorily. He then gazes at Anusha, who seems annoyed.

“It might be wrong, but it was right at the moment, and after that, she literally pulled my name in everything. I promise, this is the last thing I want to do.” He explains; Anusha nods simply.

However, the story that Kunal narrated is only half true. There’s something more grave to the story that’s been told.

To Be Continued.

A/N: Word count : 1,254 words.

Total word count so far : 16,770 words.