Sree-
"Of course they had to put me in this new project.", I thought.
I already had so much work. But I was sort of excited. This meant I could see him again. "Concentrate Sree", I thought,
"He probably has a girlfriend, he was so smart and he won't even care about me", I sighed.
"But, why do I care about that. Why am I thinking about this. ", I shook my head and continued with my work.
"Move ", shouted a girl and she pushed my chair to get to her place. She stared at me.
That was Malini, she hates me, I'm not sure why but I think she is jealous of me. She wanted this new project, but Hari gave it to me. I wanted to reply to her but thought talking to her would be a waste of time.
My colleague, Priya came to my desk.
"Hey the new project client is so hot, all the girls are talking about him. Some are jealous you get to work with him", she said.
" Ohh, I think he is sort of cute", I said.
"Just cute?, I saw him when he came to office yesterday, and I was like wow", she said.
I laughed. Of course all the girls would have thought the same. He must have a huge fan base. Priya was a good friend, the only person in this office who speaks well to me. But sometimes she is too talkative.
"Cool pri got work to do, will catch up at lunch", I said.
"Hmm.. Come on Sree a few mins..What was his name -Vikram kumar. Let's search" , she pouted and looked at me with gleaming eyes.
I looked up at her for a moment.
" Go ahead", I said.
She smiled and quickly opened her fb account and searched.
"Wow sree look at this", she showed me.
I looked into her phone. His pics were very good, and he looked good and smart in every single one of them. There was one with his mother I guess.. And some with a group of friends. Then I took her phone and typed his name on google, remembering he was on some magazine. google images sported up some of his photos from the magazine clip. I opened the magazine link and read it.
"Young Entrepreneur successful in a short term", it read.
They had mentioned about his company idea and vision, I got to know his father was an entrepreneur too but Vikram didn't want to join his company. He was against it as he wanted to start his own company. It was quite impressive. "
"Great isn't it", Exclaimed Priya.
"Sree.. How about while working on the project you become good friends with him and then you can introduce me", she said.
" Friends? I don't even know if I'll get a chance to speak to him", I laughed. She shook her head.
" Oohh of course you can, got some work now, See you later then", she said and left to her place. "
"Friends, was that really possible.." I took a screen shot of his photo and sent to my 2 best friends, Raya and Akshara.
My project started the next week.
It was tiring though, so tiring that I almost forgot about the client. Once a week, I got to hear Vikram's voice over call. His words commanded authority and he was very intelligent. He knew everything about our work and even advised us.
I was in the call, though I didn't have to speak with him. That was my managers job. I remembered what Priya asked me. "Friends? ", I don't even get to talk.
I unconsciously looked forward to the weekly call, just to hear his voice. I realized that, only when the call was cancelled one week and I felt disappointed. I was surprised.
Every call when he said good morning, I would reply " Good morning", with the call on mute.
Two months had passed and I was at a weekly meet. Vikram was cross questioning my manager. He was quite strict when it comes to work and my manager had received warnings when the work wasn't proper. Still he held that air of command, by which people respected him.
At the end of the call, Vikram spoke regarding an issue.
"Can I have someone visit my office, tomorrow to sort it out. It's urgent" he said.
" Well.. I'll send sunil and sree to your office tomorrow, I wouldn't be there unfortunately as I am on leave tomorrow, so Sree will be there on my behalf", Hari said.
I couldn't believe my ears. Hari was sending me to Vikram's office! The excitement was there along with panic. I had to do the work properly. There shouldn't be any mistakes. Hari prepped me for the meeting.
The next day morning, I woke up early, I took out my dresses to decide what to wear. It took some time. I settled with a blue top. After that I applied a little bit of lipstick and eyeliner. I was excited and nervous about today. I looked at the mirror.
" Good morning sir", I practiced.
What was I doing. I smiled. I quickly ate breakfast and hurried to catch the taxi.
I reached Vikram's office and called Sunil. He didn't pick up.
"Now what do I do", I thought and headed to the reception.
Vikram's office ASH limited was quite stylish and nice. It seemed big too. The floors were tiled and shiny. I went to the receptionist and informed her that I had a meeting with Vikram and my colleague would be joining me soon.
"She asked for my name and checked her file.
"Yes ma'am you can go wait, in the meeting room A, go left then straight right ,then second left",. She told.
She gave me a temporary card to access the doors. I thanked her.
I followed her directions, but couldn't find the room. I found the canteen. I wanted to see what stalls it had, but decided against it. Then I saw a recreation room.
"Impressive for a start up", I thought. "Great now I'm lost", I couldn't find the meeting room. I tried calling Sunil, but there was no signal. I looked around for someone to ask directions. There was a person talking over phone. I waited but it didn't seem as if he would finish. So I moved ahead. I spotted a room with the door open. There was someone inside. I entered to ask for directions.
" Hey excuse me", I said and entered the room. My feet hit the door by mistake on the way in. The man turned hearing the noise , it was Vikram, before I could process he shouted,
" hey HOLD THE Do...", he said
and as I comprehended what he was saying, it was late. I guess, by mistake when I hit the door, I had moved a chair which held the door open. Now it had closed.
"Ohh shitt" He said.. trying to open the door. I froze and looked at him.
"I had placed that chair there to prevent it from closing, now it's locked. My access card is in my place", he said.
" Uh..I have an access card", I said and moved towards him and placed it on the card reader. However it didn't open. I realized it's because I hadn't used it when entering. "Its not working" , I said.
The room was small, like a storeroom. Vikram was collecting some files there and some papers were on the ground. Guess he might have dropped them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize ", I said feeling embarrassed that this was my first impression before him.
" I'll help you with these papers", I said and bent down to pick them, trying to avoid his eye. I didn't notice that Vikram also joined me to pick them up. When picking up a paper, both of us reached for the same one and his hand touched mine. I could see his watch. He immediately moved it away. Even if it were for a moment, I felt a spark. His perfume filled the air, It was sort of good. After I helped him collect the papers, I handed it to him. He took it and looked at me. Without saying anything, he took his phone to call someone to open the door. But there was no signal. I remembered that I had tried calling Sunil and had the same problem. Vikram started banging and calling out for people outside, but no one was there.
I stood next to him. I tried pushing the door for it to open, even when I knew it wouldn't work. He had got tired of shouting for people.
There was an awkward silence. He then looked at me.
"do you have water, I'm a little claustrophobic" he said.
I was shocked and became nervous realizing the situation. My hands became more cold.
"Omg sree what did you do, he is claustrophobic and now
I locked both of us in this small room, even if it was unknowingly."
I nodded and handed him my water bottle. He drank and went to the corner and closed his eyes. I got a little tensed. I went next to him and was almost going to put my hand on his shoulder to comfort and help him, but realized he was my client. His perfume filled my nose and my heart started beating faster. I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't. So I took my phone and tried calling Sunil, but in vain. I went to the door and banged it. Vikram was silent and it scared me.
"What if something happens to him because of me." I shivered.
I couldn't bring myself to ask him how he was. After 5 minutes someone heard my voice and came to open the door. The 5 minutes somehow seemed too long. Vikram had his eyes closed most of the time to reduce his claustrophobic feel.
When the door was open Vikram walked towards it in hurry, and in doing so, lost a little balance, he held my arm for support for a second. The sudden touch was a surprise to me and I got goosebumps" I looked behind him, walking away. I froze in my place for a second
" Sree, you should stop thinking like this, he is your client and you know nothing can happen", I told myself.
I understood that but I guess my heart couldn't.
The lady who opened the door had looked at us suspiciously. Of course I had been locked in a room with their boss. I went behind Vikram and apologized to him again.
" It's ok meeting room in 5", he said and walked away leaving me there before I could ask him where the meeting room was.
So I asked the lady and she showed me towards it. Sunil was there. "Where were you for so long", he said. " Long story", I said. I sighed.
He must surely hate me now for locking him up. How was I going to face him.
How was Sree and Vikram's first moment together?
Will this new project bring them together?
Continue reading to find out
Once again thank you all for reading,..