And The Storm Begins.
"Is this your home didi?" Brinda asks looking expectantly at Pihu. Taking a deep breath, Pihu finally opens her eyes, as if reminiscing some good old memories. Her lips tug upward mirroring her happiness. She slowly turns and looks at Brinda, then patting her head she utters,
"Yes, finally we're home." They start descending towards their destination as the driver leaves with his car.
Pihu couldn't meet Teressa. Apparently when she went to her room she found her deep in slumber and she didn't have the heart to wake her up. The entire journey back home, her mind kept going back to the one person she learnt to admire from afar, Manik, her grey eyed nemesis.
It has been three long years. Ever since he left and never came back, she couldn't stop missing him for once. Deep down she knew this time he will need more time for himself. Hence, when everyone went bat shit crazy about his sudden disappearance, she accepted it. She is like this, way too practical for her own good.
But accepting a situation doesn't always mean that the growing pain inside is also healed. It doesn't. It remains and keeps aching every now and then. Partly because she missed him more than necessary. She missed his smile, she missed his voice, she missed his smell, she missed his room and more than anything she missed the sound of his untainted laughter. Pihu has remained the same if not stronger. To her Manik has always been that one extremely perfect celebrity whom you can observe from afar but can't touch. She admired him for who he was, for how he always had an optimistic solution for every situation. He was her hero. And her feelings remained unchanged knowing it full well that Manik might have totally forgotten about her existence.
It has always been like this but she never minded it, partly because she never expected his attention, never tried to draw it either. As far as she remembers, he was already head over heels for Teressa, from the very beginning. Hence she learnt to be the girl who remained silent, who dealt with her feelings alone. She mastered the skill of keeping her composure nonchalant, she learnt to like him without showing it, she learnt to care for him without drawing attention. She has always been an observant person, who knew what he likes to eat and what he doesn't, which color he likes the most and which one he hates, which would be his choice of clothing and which will not. But she would never utter a word, she had never, because she always thought her feelings could jeopardize the situations.
Situations, that eventually got jeopardized even without her intervention.
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Immediately as Pihu presses the calling bell, her mother opens the door. Both, she and Brinda gets inside and the very moment they enter Brinda's eyes almost bulge out of its sockets drawing Pihu's attention. She turns to her right following Brinda's gaze and her smile immediately drops as she clenches her eyes shut out of frustration.
On the soft green couch proudly sits the man she has grown to despise. She tries really hard to keep herself composed, because she generally is a very patient woman, until today.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on here anymore?" She nearly shouts at her mother. Her mother flinches and before she could utter anything the man in question stands up and goes behind the couch instead of coming towards them, confusing Pihu in turn. He slowly raises his hands up in surrender and begins,
"See, I honestly have some works and important meetings to deal with here. That's the main reason why I am here but yes meeting you and your family was also a part of it." Dashis explains sheepishly.
"Mr. Sharma.." Pihu begins but her words get interrupted the moment he speaks again.
"God, I am begging you, please call me Dashis. It has been years since you know me, Pihu." Dashis says.
"Unbelieveable! Fine, right now I don't even feel like addressing you respectfully either. So tell me, Dashis, is it in your nature to trespass into someone's private life without their permission or am I a special case?!" She asks crossing her hands over her chest. Instead of answering Dashis keeps staring at her intently making her feel uncomfortable.
"You.... you indeed are a special case." He begins as his brown eyes furrow in confusion as if he is thinking about it for the first time as well.
"I never felt this way before. I feel differently about you. From the very day you spoke to me something changed Pihu. I, Dashis Sharma, have done many a things but never before have I ran after someone like this. My pride never allowed me to. But look at me now." He continues successfully making Pihu question her behavior towards him.
"I am standing here, shielding myself behind a tiny couch that has no chance against you, if you incase lose it all and throw something at me." He adds looking at her with utmost sincerity. And that's when her lips tug upwards. She shakes her head and looks at him.
"Although I had no plan but after hearing you say it I suddenly feel like throwing something right at your head. I can't believe this is happening to me." She says smilingly.
"But it's truly happening. I am just asking for a chance, that's all." He adds.
"Do you truly want me to throw something at you?" She asks when he vigorously shakes his head 'no'.
"Fine then, welcome to my hometown. But I think I totally don't want to feel sorry for how I treated you. You deserve it because you're being a prick." She says moving inside with her luggage.
"Trust me, I agree. But still you know I.. I have never been here before. Mind giving me a tour?" He asks hesitantly to which she furrows her eyebrows and looks at him.
"You obviously don't need me as a tour guide. You have been my boss for the past three years Dashis. I know you and also know that you're capable enough to roam around alone. However, if you want to spend more time with me and that's the real matter here, I think try to be less creepy and more honest, I'll think about it then." She says as she moves inside without looking back.
Leaving a stunned Dashis all to himself.
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It has been a week since she has been back to her hometown. She couldn't manage enough time to visit the Nagpati mansion, neither could she meet up July, who keeps complaining. She did have some important tasks to take care of at home but most of her time was pre-booked or occupied by either Brinda or Dashis. One of them lives with her and the other probably wakes up and arrives even before the sun rises, because whenever she thinks of going out alone she comes downstairs only to find Dashis sitting or sleeping on that same green couch everyday. Who would believe that this man is the CEO of Confianza Limited?
As time passes she feels that the man is not as bad as she assumed. Nosy? Yes. Irritating? Double yes! But not downright evil. Surprisingly enough she even finds herself enjoying his company sometimes. He tries real hard to crack some extremely witty jokes but every time the jokes turn out to be lamer than before. But his attempts manage to earn a few smiles here and there. However today she has to ask him to roam around on his own.
It is totally her fault though that she forgot to communicate with Teressa but she received a call from her this morning and she sounded upset that Pihu didn't wake her up that day. She has to visit her today.
Finishing some of her works at home she gets ready. While descending the stairs her eyes fall on the same green couch. Just like the last few days, a tall, well built man is sitting on it wearing a blue jeans and a white collared neck jacket. His curly brown hair and his face are partially covered by the newspaper that he holds in his hands. Brinda comes down after receiving Pihu's message who looks at Brinda feeling helpless. Brinda, however, understands the situation but fails to get any ready solution. That's when Pihu looks at the ceiling and releases a deep sigh.
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Leo's loyalty is unquestionable when it comes to Vulcan and this would be the first instance of him continually lying through his teeth for the past few days. He has been ordered to keep an eye on a particular female by Vulcan himself. In his entire career he has never done anything even close to this but nowadays he gets this feeling that he might be doing more awkward things in the future.
As ordered he has been checking upon her whereabouts but it wasn't something that needed to be searched. Pihu Bhattacharya seems to have no secrets at all. She spends most of her time with her close friends and family members, goes for short trips, feeds the street dogs and waters the plants. That's it and that's where the problem arises because the group of her close friends has.... Dashis Sharma in it.
Leo still remembers when he mentioned it to Ritwik his face lost all its color within a millisecond. Hence, here they are. Everyday he returns to the Nagpati Mansion with the informations mentioned above, only skipping a particular part where Mr. Sharma is involved. Not quite a lie, is it?
He has been seeing the uneasiness in his boss lately. The man has become restless, he wants to meet the girl, every cell in his body is pushing him from inside but he is fighting against it. He says he isn't ready to face her. Ritwik agrees with him as well but Leo doesn't see where the problem is. If he has known her from the beginning why can't he simply approach her? Where is the problem in it?
The fact that the Dashis guy is here in Kurseong has made Ritwik restless as well. He even thought about returning back to Bangalore at a point but convincing Vulcan will be next to impossible now that he has seen her here and Ritwik still remembers the hunger in his eyes. He is surprised that he hasn't acted on his instincts yet. But he also knows why. He knows that the small amount of good remaining inside his brother is fighting against it. Because if he lets loose, the animal within him will be in control and that can never end well.
For the last few days Vulcan hasn't come out of his room. His food is sent upstairs, that too by Pratima ji. He hasn't spoken a word to Dev or Teressa. On the other hand, Teressa looks pale. Everytime Ritwik looks at her he finds her on the verge of crying. She keeps staying inside her room as well. Vulcan's behavior has affected her so much that she hasn't brought Nilu for the last few days.
Nilu used to be a student in the Mountain Rainbow. He lost his mother when he was smaller. Teressa took him as her own. She gave him love, she gave him the mother he lost. Every evening he is brought to the Nagpati Mansion by Joseph, Dev's driver and returned back to his father after dinner. The last few days were exceptional though. Nilu's dinner was sent to his home by Pratima ji because Teressa is in no condition to take care of him.
However, today seems different. Teressa looks merrier than the past few days. She happily helps Pratima ji in the kitchen after her shift gets over in the Mountain Rainbow. He doesn't know who she is preparing the food for, but he is happy to she her happy. That's all that matters.
Standing beside the railing Ritwik keeps looking at her, as if in a trance. But that doesn't last for long because the door behind him bursts open and out comes the other grey eyed man. His tall frame, his sculpted built, his untamed wavy hair, his crooked nose and above all his bloodshot eyes make him look scarier than he is. His right palm is placed flat on his heart as he comes out breathing heavily. His grey eyes fall downstairs and following his gaze Ritwik witnesses the arrival of the storm.
As expected in comes Pihu with the other girl, making Ritwik snap his head towards the man standing beside him in confusion. Weirdly enough seeing her at the door Vulcan's breathing starts going back to normal but his intense eyes remain fixed at her, as if she is that one drop of water he has been eternally thirsty for.
But then the door opens again announcing another arrival and in comes Dashis Sharma. As if on instinct Ritwik clenches his eyes shut but the other man standing right beside him remains unmoved, the only difference being his eyes that immediately change from intent to insane, from hungry to borderline psychotic.
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