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Hence, he wouldn’t get involved with Jiya no matter what. She was not for him, even though the thought of her with someone else, even her childhood friend Akash Karia, made his chest burn fiercely.
6
“Hi, Raashi. I’ve reached safely in Delhi.”
“Hey, big sis…I’m all settled in now. Maybe you could get the babies and come meet me on a weekend.”
“I know you’re reading my messages. Can you get over this already?”
“You’re being unreasonable, you know.”
“For how long are you going to keep this up? I won’t quit my job, not even for you. You need to come to terms with this, Raashi.”
Jiya reread all the messages she’d sent to her elder sister. There had been no response from Raashi. Not one word. Raashi had been so mad after Jiya had announced that she’d cleared all her interview rounds and had accepted Rohan’s job offer. She’d refused to talk to Jiya when she’d gone to say goodbye and had remained silent with her since then. It was a new way of emotional blackmail that was annoying Jiya no end. Jiya rubbed her forehead. God help the world from dominating, overbearing sisters who behaved like a mother would.
Nonetheless, Jiya would break her resistance; she was certain of that. For how long would Raashi not talk to her? For sure, this separation from Jiya was affecting her too. And Jiya would continue to text her daily, multiple times if needed, until her sister finally relented.
Raashi had to learn that Jiya was an adult capable of making her own decisions. Jiya wanted her sister’s support, that’s all. If it was anyone other than Rohan, Raashi would have been ecstatic for her, but because it was him, she was creating a bigger fuss than needed. And it was all completely unnecessary. Rohan was her boss, and his behavior toward her that day had been cool and perfunctory. Perhaps, she’d mistaken the look in his eyes that day at the airport.
Jiya sipped her watermelon juice.
It had been seven whole days since he’d been concerned about her and applied that pain reliever on her back, after which he’d proceeded to being cold and aloof with her. One second, he’d been worried about her and in the next, he’d become icy and rigid. She couldn’t understand why his mood had changed so swiftly and suddenly. Any sane person would conclude that he wasn’t interested in her in a way a man ought to be in a woman. And yet, she continued to moon over him like an idiot.
She’d spent a lot of time thinking about her elusive, enigmatic boss. Her body still trembled when she recalled his touch on her skin. It had been… It had... She couldn’t describe the way she felt when he’d rubbed that ointment on her back.
When she’d finally decided to accept Rohan’s job offer, she’d told herself that she wouldn’t, under no circumstance, act on her fascination for him. But all that had gone down the drain the second he’d put his hands on her skin. Something was happening to her, something that always happened when he was around. It was undeniable now, and she really needed to figure out what to do about it, especially considering she truly believed the interest was only from her side.
She focused on the document in front of her, not really reading anything. She knew from Akash that he and Rohan had been traveling out of Delhi for client meetings in the past week. Thus, she’d barely seen Rohan. She’d only passed him by while on her way to meet with HR or the CFO. Once, they’d both been in the same elevator car, alone. All those times, he’d only nodded at her. However, his charcoal-grey eyes had been searing in their intensity every single time they’d landed on her, making her heart trip and her skin warm.
This man was making her feel things she’d never experienced before, and it thrilled her and scared her at the same time.
From beside her, Akash said something to another colleague, distracting her momentarily. Apparently, he was working directly under Rohan; hence, he, too, had been mostly absent from the office for the whole week. Today was the first day since she’d joined that Akash was also present and seated in the cubicle beside her.
She studied him. With his dark brown eyes, fair complexion, chiseled jawline, and hair that flopped messily on his wide forehead, Akash was quite a catch. All the women on their floor fawned over him, and he was, as usual, ignorant of the attention he received. He was polite and respectful to everyone he came across.
Her mind drifted back to Rohan. They had a finance team meeting scheduled to begin in the next fifteen minutes, which would take up most of their afternoon. She wondered if Rohan would attend. She’d spent the last week understanding her work environment and the systems and workflows they followed, and she’d also been given a few assignments to finish.
She’d also started working on the task Rohan had given her, and so far, she’d finalized a list of all the charities Fortuna supported since his birth father’s times, the ones that were stopped and those that continued till date. But she had tons of data to scan in order to find any conclusive pattern, if at all. She ought to work more on this. At least then, she’d have an excuse to meet Rohan again and see if what she felt in his presence continued to build in steam.
Fingers clicked in front of her face, bringing her out of her reverie. She blinked and looked at Akash. He was observing her carefully.
“What’s going on with you?” Akash asked. “You okay?”
“Sorry, were you saying something?”
His dark gaze narrowed on her, but he didn’t probe. It was his best quality. He never pestered anyone to share their deepest thoughts or feelings; he just waited for them to open up when they were ready. And this, what she felt about Rohan, was not something she was ready to share with him or anyone just yet. It was too soon and was happening too fast for her to even understand it herself, let alone explain it to someone else.
“So, I spoke to Keya…” Akash began, “I believe both Raashi and she are unhappy that you took this job.”
“While they’re completely okay with you working here. Hmm. Imagine that.”
“I’m special. You ought to know that by now,” he said cheekily.
“Whyareyou working here, though?” Jiya asked him. “Weren’t you working for Sehgal Media in London? And where are you even staying?”
She’d been curious about this since she’d seen him here, but she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him properly until today and now.
Akash dropped his gaze for a second before facing her. “I stay at the Sehgal’s farmhouse here. They barely use it, as you know, and since I’m here temporarily, it made sense to live there. And I still work for Sehgal Media. That is my…” He shook his head. “I came to work for Rohan on Janak’s insistence. He wants me to understand finance, investments, wealth management, and business development, so I’m better prepared when I work full-time at Sehgal Media.”
