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A waitress approached them, and he ordered himself a green tea and a croissant. He raised a brow at Jiya.
“I’ve already had breakfast. I don’t mind another orange juice, though.”
He placed their order and faced her.
She grinned. “What are you doing flying with the general populace? Rithwik said you hate taking commercial flights as they are full of people, none of whom you will ever meet again.”
His lips twisted. Damn his twin! Rithwik was such a chatterbox. He gave out too much information about Rohan.
“My parents have taken our private jet to LA.” He shook his head. “And Rithwik talks too much. Although why he insists on chatting about me is beyond my understanding.”
She chuckled. “Two of his best friends are women; he’s bound to talk a lot. You should see the three of them together. Raashi, Rithwik, and Keya can chat for hours together, oblivious to the world.”
Rohan didn’t reply to that. He’d been a victim of their camaraderie first-hand when they’d been younger. He’d seen it all, experienced it all and didn’t care to repeat it again. No, thank you. He’d finally made peace with his brother after years of being estranged, and he wasn’t spoiling it by allowing Raashi and Keya into his life, ever. He didn’t even like to talkaboutthem, let alone talktothem.
Thus, he changed the subject. “You said something about taking a flight at short notice. Is everything okay at home?”
She twirled a red-tipped strand of her hair. The play of that red, with the striking darkness of the rest of her hair, along with her golden complexion, was a fantastic combination. He liked it…a lot.
“I actually quit my job. And I just wanted to go home.”
“Sorry. I don’t know what it is that you do.”
Her honeyed eyes twinkled as she looked at him. “How would you know when you’ve rushed through the three conversations we’ve had in the past? I believe you must have spoken only ten words to me, and most of them werehi,how are you,nice to meet you,andsee you.”
His jaw dropped. Fuck. She was bold. And fuck, he found that so damn appealing. His instinct to stay away from her had been right. She was a heady combination of beauty and sass. He should have gone in the other direction the second he’d spotted her rather than gaping at her, which had led to him sitting right here in front of her.
“Apologies. I didn’t mean to be rude,” he said.
She shrugged. “Anyway, to answer your question, I have a Master’s degree in finance from New York University. I worked with J P Morganfor two years before I moved to India. I started working with Mehta Finance following that stint, which was a little over two years ago.”
“J P Morgan? I’m impressed,” he said. “Why did you leave them?”
The waitress placed their drinks and his croissant in front of them.
Jiya took a sip of her juice. “The winters in New York really suck, and I was missing home. Besides, I’d been living in New York since I was eighteen. I missed Raashi, Sameer, and the rest of the gang in Mumbai.”
He well knew how big the rest of the gang was. They were the same set of people his brother socialized with. The same set Rohan avoided as much as he could.
Jiya took another sip of her juice. A drop remained on her lower lip, and her tongue darted out to lick it off. He stared at her mouth for a long moment before he looked away.
“I know your ex-boss, Vinay Mehta,” Rohan stated. “He’s known to be quite a good financial advisor in the business circles. What made you want to quit so suddenly?”
She leaned forward. “To be honest, he wants to retire and is handing over the reins of his business to his daughter. To cut a long story short, she and I couldn’t see eye to eye, and hence I quit.”
He arched a brow. “You tanked your career in a catfight with Kanika?”
She scowled. “You know her?”
“Our parents are friends. We’ve known each other since a while now.”
He’d even gone on a date with Kanika. Not that he was telling Jiya that. “Anyway, so you quit your job because you couldn’t get along with Kanika?”
She held a hand out. “Hey, don’t judge. I refuse to work with someone with zero business sense but think they know it all. And who says I tanked my career? I’m sure I’ll find something else. There are many options waiting for me to explore.”
Her confidence in her abilities was rather refreshing. But there was one thing he found extremely curious about her situation.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked.
