Hi My lovely readers!!
I am here with the new chapter. I apologise very much for the delay. Some unforseen circumstances needed my presence and attention and so I could not write for a long time.
Enough of why I was late in updating. Here is the Chapter where you will meet Kai again.
Happy Reading.
Kai's POV
I was discussing the terms for the German project with Rehan Bhai (brother in Hindi) on my mobile when Nik silently stepped into my office. I nodded at him upon which he made himself comfortable on the sofa, situated across the floor to ceiling windows in my office. After I finished the call, I approached him to find that he was frowning while looking at something intensely on the screen of his tablet. " Did you look at the terms sent by Bhai? Do you want me to go ahead with them or do you want to change any thing? Let's not wait till they send their terms", He said after putting his tablet away. "I spoke with him regarding the terms and we agreed upon few changes. He would send us the new terms through mail. You can work on the documents once we receive them," I replied to him. I sat opposite to him on the other sofa facing him with my back towards the window. "When are they reaching here?", I asked him. " They told that they would come to the office directly tomorrow morning and asked us to wait here," was his reply to my question. "Kai? Are you sure about this? Don't you think you are hurrying by going ahead with this decision of yours? I think there is still a lot of time for you to decide about this," Nik voiced his doubts. "It is never early for this Nik. I arrived at this decision after a lot of thought. The wheels of change have started their course long ago and it is only a matter of time before things fall into their rightful place. And I am not forcing anyone to accept my proposal. I will not force anyone to follow my wishes or interests. I am just giving you guys options from which you can choose. I want to inform you guys about it so you all can act accordingly when you feel that time is right to act upon." My reply placated Nik's worry.
The frown etched on his face melted away giving way to a mischievous smile. "Did the course start with her?", I could sense the doubt in his words laced with curiosity. Instead of answering I gave him a look of surprise, "Her? Who is this her?". I feigned confusion as if I was unaware of whom he is talking about. Nik is one of my best friends and knows me very well. " This "her" is that lady from the elevators. That lady who snagged the interest of this friend of mine who never gives any beauty a glance even if she was parading in front of him. That lady whose security is monitored by Idris. Do I have to continue or are these details enough for you to recognize this "her" of yours." He smiled at me like a Cheshire cat after revealing to me that he is aware of Ananya and her presence in my life. I am surprised not because he knew about her, but it took him this long to figure out her significance in my life. As for Idris providing security to Ananya, I like to consider it just as a precaution instead of a necessity.
I got up from the sofa and faced the window overseeing the office campus. Nik came and stood beside me waiting patiently for my answer. "You are losing your touch Nik. I thought you would have figured it out by now." After listening to my answer he shrugged and said," I guessed what was going on but you do know I thrive to confirm my guesses. And I have my sources. So tell me, Are you going to answer about her? What magic did she weave to catch your attention? You cannot blame me for being curious to know about her Kai," he winked at me after saying this. I did not raise to his bait and turned to face the window again. My eyes caught the black structure shining under the Sun. "Isn't that your bike? Why did you park it there?", Nik asked me after looking at my bike from where we were standing. "Yes, it is. I lost the bike key somewhere so I parked it there." My answer surprised him and he looked at me as if I have grown an extra head. "You lost the key and so you parked it there!! I guess love does addle one's mind and it appears even you my dear friend is not an exception in this aspect," I understood the question phrased in his statement but chose to ignore it but keeping mum. "Hmm, well I will wait for the time you introduce her to us and I think it is a given that I should not reveal this interesting development tomorrow in the meeting." He winked at me saying that and left the room.
I looked back at the bike and recollected the incident when she snatched my key in an hurry to get away from me. Her eyes spoke to me what she didn't convey through words. The anger when I purposely stopped the bike in front of her, the surprise which clouded her when she recognised me, the shock when she discovered that I knew her name she coined for me, the confusion when she found the worry etched on my face when she turned to look at me after recovering from her frozen state, the unwillingness to leave my presence when her colleague came and dragged her away. These emotions which she was unaware of reflected in her eyes and they clearly indicated that she is still unaware of her feelings. I sighed thinking about how long I would have to wait for those breathtaking eyes to be filled with love for me. Even if they were brimmed with love, I was sure that it would take a lot of beseeching and persuasion from me to hear those three words from her lips. Well everything was fair in war and love. And it appeared I have to wage and win a lot of battles to make you a part of me and my life, my Ananya. Battles of love which will make me the champion of your heart. I smirked thinking that from tomorrow life is going to be very interesting for both of us.
I heard my mobile ringing and took it from the coffee table to find Idris calling me. " Hello Idris." "Good morning Mr. Pathak. Is it a good time to talk to you? I would appreciate it if you could give me few minutes of your time" hearing his words I sensed the importance of this unusual request of meeting me from him. " I am available in the office Idris. You can come to my chamber. Also do call me Kiyaansh. Mr. Pathak is my grandfather." After listening to his response that he would meet me in 10 minutes I disconnected the call and checked my mail. I found few mails from Mrs. Kapoor. I opened them and in one I found attachments related to a project. I was impressed with the findings when I skimmed through the documents. I went back to the mail and saw that along with me it was sent to few others and one name particularly caught my attention. Ananya. I opened the address book and checked if there was any other Ananya working in SJ international. And to my elation I found that there was only one person with such name and she was my Ananya. I smiled at this lovely coincidence. From the moment I met her it was obvious that every path she took from then led her to me only. I wondered about her reaction when she sees me in the meeting next week . A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts and I asked the person on the other side to enter inside. I closed my email and looked up to find Idris standing in front of my table. I got up from my chair and walked towards the sofa set with him following me. I motioned him to sit once we reached the sofa set. I sat on a sofa and he took the one opposite to me. "What do you want to talk about Idris?", I asked him without any delay. "It is about the task you gave me last night. I shadowed her till she reached her house.", I sat straight after hearing his reply. Instinct told me that the next words from him will change both mine and Ananya's lives. "Go on," I told him deciding not to interrupt him. " Forgive me for stepping over my boundaries but I would like to know her relation to you and your family before saying anything. Even though I am your employee I cannot invade someone's privacy. It goes against my ethics", his crisp reply raised my hackles not because of the words chosen by him but it confirmed that the matter he was planning to tell me was significant. Significant in the aspect of security could be life threatening. I decided to give him the truth and said, "She is the future Mrs. Kiyaansh Pathak." He was not surprised by my reply and released a long sigh. "I thought so and wanted to confirm it before proceeding ahead. I have been working for your family and SJ International for years but I have never been requested personally by you for my service. This was the first time you asked for me and instructed me to Shadow her. I realised the importance of the request and approached you now with what I found. I followed her till her home to ensure that she reached home safely. At any point of time was she aware that I was following her. But I found someone else following her too. I was not sure whom he followed because she went home with her friend on her bike. I followed him after she reached her home and found that he did not follow the other girl. I tried to find out who he was but lost him. The confidence and comfort with which he followed her indicate that this is not the first time. So without your permission I shadowed her today morning and found the follower again. After she reached the office he changed his course. I think he is well aware of her activities because he was not waiting for her anywhere near her home instead he came just few few minutes before she stepped out of her house. I ran his plates and it is registered to a security firm run by her brother. I request you to give me permission to get details about her so I will be able to protect her more efficiently from any threats if you accept my offer of providing her protection." After saying this he looked at me expectantly. " I know about your ethics Idris and that was the reason I asked for your services specifically. I am well aware of your capabilities as protection detail. And you proved my decision right. She is a very important person not only to me but to my family also. I accept and appreciate your offer. I want you to dedicate yourself completely to her protection. Do what you feel is necessary for her protection. Her safety is your priority. She is not be harmed in any way." He nodded at my reply and stood up to take leave from my presence. He walked the threshold to reach the door and turned towards me. "One more thing, she received a gift from her brother today. The scooter on which she rode to the office today is that gift. I will send you the report of her daily activities and the information about her once I get it." I stood up from the sofa and nodded my head as if saying no. "I do not want any information about her past or her present activities. You do what is necessary. If I want any information I will specifically ask for it. Unless it is a matter of her safety I need not be informed about her activities. I want her safety and that is why I am assigning you to her not because I want to know every second of her life. She is entitled to her privacy and it is my duty to ensure that it is not invaded by anyone not even me." He was shocked by my reply but did not say anything. He got my message loud and clear that I would not tolerate any invasion on her privacy. He left me alone to my thoughts. Ananya, What had she gotten herself into? Why was her brother sending someone to follow her? Was it for her protection or for something else? With these thoughts running in my mind I sent a silent message to the universe to allow me to enter in her life to love, cherish and protect her.
I sent Mrs. Kapoor a mail to analyse and arrive at conclusions for the other project the next day. This ensured that Ananya will be in the executive floors and I can initiate the conversation between us. Initially I decided to give her ample time to get accustomed to me and my presence considering her confusion and innocence. Now with the information Idris presented to me I did not have the luxury of time since every minute wasted might take her away from me. And it was something which was not acceptable to me. I decided to wait till tomorrow before taking matters into my hands.
Sooooo,,, What do you guys think? How is the Chapter? How is the Surprise? Did you like it? Well you will find some more surprises in the coming chapters. Do vote and comment guys. Will see you soon with the new chapter.