• Eternal Night •

2

"Okay, stop now!" Shivaay grumbled when he saw the red faces of Rudra, Saumya and Om.

They just burst out laughing like they had ten times before this. Om laughed so much that his eyes started to water.

Shivaay looked at Annika and even she grinned. "It's funny. You have to agree."

"No!" Shivaay argued. He looked at Gauri and complained. "You have brought disfunction to my office. How could you write that? What were you thinking?"

"That's what na," Gauri made a sheepish face. "I was not thinking. I was in a hurry to complete the task that you gave to me and just sent the emails out without checking. And before I realized what I have typed, half the office was in your cabin trying to bring you back from the dead!"

"Which is why you never do things in a hurry! I never told you to be quick. Did I? I just told you to do something. The onus was on you to do it perfectly. You should have taken care!" Shivaay chided her.

"Oh come on Bhaiya!" Saumya butted in. "Chill. She will learn."

"Yeah, you are too strict!" said Rudra.

"Tum toh much bandh hi rakho..." Shivaay shot a look at Rudra. "If you and Om were not this uninterested in Business, I wouldn't be this stressed. But you guys take chilling to some extreme level."

Rudra and Om frowned. "Wow that was mean."

Annika took a sip from her wine glass. "See. This is exactly why I can never work with Shivaay. He is too mean."

"Excuse me?" Shivaay turned towards her. "What did you say?"

She huffed. "You heard me."

"My god! I am worried now..." Saumya held her head. "Maybe I should think of doing this internship elsewhere."

"I will give you Vikram's number. He is way better than Shivaay and definitely kinder..." Om winked.

"Who is being mean now?" Shivaay asked.

Om laughed but sent Vikram's number to Saumya anyway. Annika sighed. "Shivaay, seriously though. Stop channelling your inner Tej Singh Oberoi and let Om and Rudra be. They aren't interested in business. They have the complete right to do what they wish to do."

"Yes!" Rudra cheered.

Shivaay didn't say anything but looked away. Om nudged him. "What?"

"Nothing..." Shivaay mumbled.

"Just say it..." insisted Om.

That did he for Shivaay. He had been holding himself back since a long time and now that Om was asking him to speak up, he couldn't stop.

"All this follow your passion is bullshit. Imagine if you guys were poor and struggling to find a meal. You would do any job that you would get. You guys don't realize how important money is because you have never really worked hard. It's very easy to say that I want to be an artist while wearing Gucci clothes and riding around in a Mercedes you know. Or for that matter, claim to not understand finance and maths and go waste your time with friends."

Everyone went quiet on listening to his rant. Annika placed a hand on his. "Why are you so high strung today?"

"Because these two don't understand how serious this is!" Shivaay argued. "Gauri is at least trying to be of some help. You have your own business. I am sure Saumya will do something. But what about these two? I am worried!"

"To be honest Shivaay," Om said seriously and slowly got up. "Even being an artist is a form of business. I am not going to khaki clothes, sit on a footpath and paint for free. I do charge in lakhs. And I get the bucks too. I advertise. I market. So don't worry. I can afford Gucci clothes and most probably a second hand Mercedes even without your money. I won't die without the hard-earned Oberoi riches. Thank you very much."