"Yes, sweetest heart. We'll reach there in just two minutes. You collect your luggage by then, yes?" I instructed Shubhu on call.
"Yes bhai. But don't delay much, I'm eagerly waiting to meet you guys." Shubhu answered as I received her call about her reaching the airport and asking me to pick her up along with Pranav.
Anyways, the week actually started on a good note and Pranav and I have been constantly going about meetings and getting done with projects, sketches and various other things. Sometimes it gets really hectic but then the fact that architecture is our life wins over our fatigue and we love our passion and job.
Besides, we are fortunate that we could turn our passion into our profession. Some people, for various reasons, can't do that. So, we give our best daily so that we respect what we have got.
Pranav had forgotten what happened at the party on Sunday and I simply went along. If he forgot then nothing happened. Simple! Sound of the seatbelt getting unlocked got me out of my thoughts and I realized we reached the airport. Quickly, I too slid out of the car after opening my seat-belt and called Shubhu standing with Pranav.
She picked up the call on the first ring itself. "Bhai when are you reaching? I'm waiting near the gate ya!" She whined. That explains her cranky dramatics.
"Oh Shubhu! We just reached. Give us a minute. We are reaching to you." I answered and she just hurriedly said okay and cut the call. "This girl is behaving super hyper. I hope that we'll survive today's day." I mumbled.
Pranav chuckled and said, "Pray that we can survive this car drive. Knowing her, there will be too much stuff that she would want to share." I nodded and released a deep breath. We quickly reached inside and recognised Shubhu from her back and ran towards her stealthily.
I hugged her before Pranav could do anything and she screamed lightly while I laughed loudly.
That rhymed dude!
This girl is very well aware that we do the same with her every time we have our bff time but she always gets scared. It is adorably hilarious, honestly.
After some greetings, complaints and fun, we reached our apartment. And yeah, we survived the car-drive, fortunately. Shubhu aand I live together because her family trusts the two of us only with her safety. Pranav lives with his parents and at my apartment, one of the guest rooms was vacant so she has occupied it.
"So, how was your trip back home, darling?" Pranav mocked her sarcastically, sipping on his apple juice. I laughed silently watching Shubhu's face scrunch up in annoyance at his nickname for her and she huffed looking away from him and when her gaze landed on me, I straightened up and she smiled brightly before getting up from the couch and walking over to me to the kitchen counter.
"Bhai, I had so much fun with my family. It was a great refreshing time. You know, I loved spending time with all of them. It was sooth-" Shubhu started sharing her experience excitedly when suddenly my phone rang and I fished it out from my pocket to see Rayna's name flashing on the screen.
I moved out of the room to the balcony after gesturing to these two and took the call, "Yes Rayna, what happened?"
Wondering who she is? Let me enlighten you. Rayna Kapoor is my P.A. She sets up everything for me, all the interviews, meetings, places and my schedule, just like every other P.A. but very efficiently.
"Good morning sir. Sorry to disturb you but I am afraid that you need to come to the office today. There is one meeting that can neither be rescheduled nor canceled. It is with the Garg Group of Builders."
Oh shit! This is actually a dream come true. Garg Group of Builders is a firm that everybody wishes to be financed by someday. It was started by Mr. Gulshan Garg, after whose death his wife, Mrs. Aaradhya Garg managed everything. Presently, their only daughter is the CEO and she is a very private person. She's ruling the business world and it would be an honor for us to have our project financed by her company if this deal is locked.
Though I can't keep calm, I still answer, in a voice that is unknown to me, "Okay Rayna. Text me the details. I'll leave home in 10 minutes. Do keep the file of the contract and other presentation stuff ready."
"Okay sir. Sure. And once again sir, sorry for disturbing your private time with Shubhavi Ma'am but this was quite important sir." Rayna answers seriously but her hesitant apology makes me realize that she has no idea how much this opportunity means to me.
It is my dream project to create a multi-mansion in Bhopal that can house various families. I had the plan and structure of the mansions were also almost ready but the issue was investors. The first name that had come to my mind was the Garg Group of Builders. because in a way, this new CEO has unsettled me. I have no idea why but she draws me to her. The deals we come to know of, that she has signed- her way of planning her moves in the market and her philanthropist attitude- all of it only makes me more intrigued.
I sigh and check my phone as it chimes with a notification.
<Forwarded from Garg Group of Builders>
Venue- Business suite A-2003, Blue Marine Resort
Time- 12 noon
Dress code- Business suit
Sir, punctuality and dress code are must. Do not miss them.
Wow! A freaking dress code. I am speechless. Checking the time, I rush back inside because it is already 10.30 and I have to go to the office after getting ready. I move towards my room which doesn't go unnoticed by Shubhu so I only say, "I have a meeting at 12. Need to get ready and leave." In reply, only two groans are heard.
¤•¤
I reach the Resort and I move to the reception and enquire about the business suite to be escorted by a female worker. As soon as we reach the door, she unlocks the door and knocks to hear 'Come in' by a male. Nodding to herself, she turns to look at me with a gentle smile, "Have a great day sir. May you achieve what you have come here for. Just stay head-strong because ma'am usually looks for confidence."
I raise my brows in surprise at her personal tip and she chuckles and answers, "Usually, people above 30 years of age come for business here with ma'am but you look young. Elder business people have a hang on their confidence so the deals are sealed but you are here to be tested, so best wishes." She bowed and left while I took in a deep breath and prepared myself to go in.
Entering inside the suite, I looked around and saw a man sitting on a chair in professional attire with a bluetooth earpiece in his hand looking at the papers scattered on the desk in front of him. He looked.. frustrated with something.
A woman of around my age was sitting next to him but with her back to him and me. Voluminous brown hair cascading down her back, a blue business suit tailored fit and black heels-she looked really confident in her posture. I wonder how she manages and puts up with the pressure on her.
She is Mr and Mrs. Garg's daughter for a reason, right?
Yeah, that's true though. I clear my throat to catch their attention but only the man looks at me startled, maybe because he didn't notice me entering. He relaxes visibly and gets up giving me a smile and his hand to shake. "Good morning Mr. Saxena. Welcome."
I reciprocated his gesture and smiled replying, "Good morning sir. Thank you."
"Ah! Don't call me sir. I am more or less the same age as yours. Call me Dheeraj. I am Mr. Dheeraj Pandey, Ms. Garg's P.A." Waving his hand in dismissal, he beckoned me to go forward and greet Ms. Garg.
I don't know if it was the nervousness of meeting her or the apprehension of some other thing but just when I was about to stand beside her, I felt my steps falter. It felt like I couldn't just pull myself together to face her. But it isn't a possibility that I came here to do norhing so taking a deep breath, I went near her and what I saw blew my senses away and my eyes widened in shock, making me stagger a little. I couldn't believe that out of every other place, I would meet her here in this arrangement.
Sitting before me was none other than the woman who made my life a misery by her departure from it.
It was none other than Ms. Kanchi Garg, the woman who became my first real female friend and even became the reason I now despised every female except the ones who are a part of my family, sitting confidently and working on some sheets, probably planning some dimensions because of the numbers strewn over the sheet.
I can't believe that out of every place available on Earth, I would meet her here in this arrangement. I suddenly get struck by all the memories that I had kept locked in my heart's deepest corners because reminiscing them gave me nothing but pain. The most prominent one that comes to my mind is our first meeting; how similar it is to our meeting today.
It's funny how life comes to a full circle, without any intimations.
Flashback:
"Bro, you're very well aware, I have no interest in all this dating shit. What is even the meaning of investing yourself uselessly to someone you don't intend on marrying later?" A boy wearing his backpack walked in the corridors of the famous Sushant University, Delhi.
A boy walking beside him huffed and raised his hands in surrender and replied, "Krish, your ideologies go only into your head. I don't understand a single bit about them so, pardon me."
"Oho, Pranav!" Krishav turned and faced him while walking, "See, I read in our library once, 'wasting time means wasting energy'. And I intend on keeping my energy for myself. Why put it on someone who doesn't even matter in the long run?" He smirked and shook his head knowing Pranav's silence meant he accepted defeat.
"Anyways, I'll go to the library. I have to look for some books and guides for our assignment. Besides, maybe I can borrow some good fiction too." Krishav said, taking a turn along with Pranav from the class they just came and moved to the library while Pranav went to the café to satiate his hunger.
Entering the library, he greeted the librarian, Ms. Asha and went ahead to go and make some notes on the assignment's topics. Getting engrossed in his work, Krishav didn't realise when it became afternoon from morning. After he was done, he looked at his phone to find various calls and texts from Pranav and called him back.
"Oye, don't you want to leave the library today or what? At least reply to my texts, idiot." Pranav scolded Krishav in a hushed voice on the call, owing to the library's 'no noise' rule.
Krishav clicked his tongue on the hard palate of his mouth and replied in an alike tone, "You know me dude. I don't bother when I'm engrossed in studying. Someone might be dying and my phone might be ringing but if I have kept it aside on vibration too, I don't get to know and you know that."
"Just let me come, then we will leave, sí?" Krishav said and without waiting for an answer, cut the call. Gathering his stuff in his back-pack and picking the books he took, he stood up and turned to leave from the bench. He found a girl sitting in front of him with her head deep in the books and her hair falling all over her shoulders, unintentionally hiding her face from everyone.
Krishav chuckled and was amused to see that it did not faze her. In fact, he saw her unbothered about anything happening around her. She truly looked like a nerd unwilling to separate from books.
Was she also just like the plain clichés? The same, plain and boring girls who couldn't catch anybody's attention? Krishav thought.
Clearing his throat, he politely urged, "Um, excuse me Miss?" But the moment she looked up, Krishav knew somebody had rightly said to never judge a book by its cover because deceit never came after intimation.
With a pair of dark brown eyes that could enrapture any sane human, a chubby yet adorable face, bare of any make-up and black hair that were clipped in front to prevent them from disturbing her, she looked just as beautiful as he could've ever imagined any girl would look.
"Yes?" She asked, in a startled voice. Her face showed curiosity of finding out why he talked to her but her tone barely kept her displeasure at being interrupted. And Krishav was blown away at the smoothness of her deep voice. It wasn't like the meek or soft, or even the squeaky voices that usually girls he met had but it was a deep yet beautiful voice.
Krishav was brought out of his trance at her snap of fingers and he looked at her, after rapidly blinking thrice. Clearing his throat, he asked politely, "Actually I need to leave and you're blocking my way. Could you please get up and let me pass?"
The girl raised her eyebrow with an amused smirk and answered, "Uhm, sure but there is way on the other side of the bench too. Why specifically this way?"
Krishav looked behind him in confusion and found that the bench actually was clear and then looked back in guilt, "Uh, sorry. I didn't notice. I'd go from there. Sorry to disturb 'Miss Occupied'." Pursing his lips, Krishav tried to control his laughter at the annoyed look on the girl's face. Giving a salute with his first two fingers, Krishav turned around to leave.
"Hey! What do you mean by Miss Occupied, huh? I have a great name. Kanchi, Kanchi Garg." The girl stood up and folded her arms, asking with annoyance. "Listen Mr. Whoever!" Pointing her fingers together with her thumb folded towards the palm, she continued, "When you don't know who I am, don't dare to make assumptions. And yes, these small talks don't flatter me so just stay away."
Flicking her wrist in dismissal to make it a dramatic end to her words, she turned and sat down to continue her work.
Krishav opened his mouth to answer her back but his phone that had now been put on normal mode, rang loudly in the library and caught everybody's attention towards him, so he hurriedly picked the call and hissed, "Can't you wait, Pranav? I'm leaving the library."
And unknown to everyone around, it was the day that two souls who had longed for something had found the other part of themselves to feel complete. But journeys of love aren't easy. It takes trust, tests and tough times to reach destinations and Krishav and Kanchi had just set out, albeit separately.
Flashback ends.
When someone had said that memories give you joy as you bask in those moments of the past, they were wrong. Entirely and completely wrong because memories only remind you of what's gone and would never be back. There is always a painful reminder that you lost something that was maybe yours or not.
And this is why I always stay in the present. It was tough to forget anything and everything that was connected to Kanchi but I did that anyway. But then, like I already said, life comes full circle and I'm back to being that pitiful chicken whose wounds are being opened slowly and painfully yet it can do nothing to relieve itself of the pain.
"Hello, Mr. Saxena. Nice to meet you." That deep yet mesmerizing voice broke my chain of self-pity and pain as I tried to make head and tail of what was happening around me. As I looked back to the source of the voice, I found Kancha standing in front of me with a small smile on her face as if she didn't know me and was greeting a stranger.
And being infuriated at her indifference, I played along.
"Hello to you too, Ms. Kanchi Garg. Well, I don't know if I could say the same about you ma'am." I replied with my signature sly smirk to remind her that I was nothing short of a force that could reckon her life easily off the axis and she would still be helpless.
Again.
~
Ah! A longer chapter. Shubhu is here and well, there's a visitor from the past too.
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Till next update,
Sayonara!