The Independent Girl (Sample)

Chapter 3 - Akash

Sandhya considered her options. It was too late in the night to look for a place to live. She went to the orphanage and asked Mr. George if she could spend the night with the kids at the orphanage. Mr. George gladly agreed.

The next day she looked for places to rent and found a nice little house. It stood in a secluded location, but Sandhya fell in love with it. It had a small living room, a bedroom with an attached bathroom, and a kitchen. There was a lot of open space in front of the house. A mud wall went around the structure, providing a good amount of privacy. She especially liked the neem tree before the house. Someday, I will have my own house, she thought. The house was furnished and even had kitchen utensils. Everything seemed perfect.

She considered whether she should continue to go for lunches with DVs after what her aunt said; she decided that she shouldn't fear anything as long as her conscience was clear. She went through the documentation provided by Akash and added her comments to them.

The next day, she went to the site to discuss the things that were bothering her with Akash. This time, she set up an appointment, and arrived on time. Akash gave her a smile as he walked towards her. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined muscles.

"Hi." He greeted her with a smile.

"Would you like a tour of the site today?"

"Yes."

"Let's get started." He seemed excited to show the building site as they walked from area to area. He explained every detail with such perfection that she was seriously impressed.

"Can we sit here? I need to discuss something with you." She sat down by a wooden table and opened her folder.

"Sure."

She wanted to say how much she liked his work, but refrained after remembering how he always seemed to doubt her project management skills.

"I wanted to discuss a few concerns with the design."

Akash's smile disappeared, and his face became rigid.

"I never said I would change my design. What the hell do you know about construction to point out issues?"

The sudden fierceness in his mannerism startled her. She didn't expect it after how pleasant he was a few seconds earlier.

"Just hear me out."

He stood in place, his arms folded across his chest. Sandhya was aghast as she noticed his chest rising and falling. Why the hell was he so upset?

She kept the folder on the table and said, "I thought you were a sensible man, but I was wrong. You don't even have sense enough to hear out what I have to say before you blurt out words from your...mouth," she said scathingly and got up to leave. She was about to say, "damn mouth," but her mind stopped her at the right time. She was far too decent with words. Anger flashed inside her and she felt in total disarray as she walked back. His design felt almost perfect and she had been so excited for the beautiful space that he had imagined for the kids. It was so very different than the usual large room with beds lined up kind. A few minor things bothered her and she couldn't hold herself back in speaking her mind, though she was well aware that she had no say in the design. Would it kill him to listen? How the heck do you work with such an unpredictable person?

She went back to her office and got herself busy to get Akash out of her mind.

~

Akash's mind was raging. "How dare she? I am tired of people who have no idea about this job trying to poke their heads into my work. I was very clear that I wanted complete freedom before taking this job. And yet, this happens again and again."

He'd had terrible experiences with the previous project manager and hoped that Sandhya would be sensible.

What was it that made him want to be with her? He sensed his attraction to this dusky girl ever since he saw her at the restaurant. She looked gorgeous with perfect features and flawless skin. But then, it must be just that: attraction. He did find himself going to the restaurant at lunch to see her, even though he did not like the company she had. So far, he had resisted his urge to meet her on his own, hoping that this was a phase that would pass. After what had happened today, he wondered if that time had had arrived. He could not concentrate on his work and left early, leaving behind the file that Sandhya had put on the desk.

Later that evening, a worker from the site came to his house.

"I think you left this on the desk," he said as he gave the file to Akash. He left after getting no response from Akash.

"Damn it!" Akash threw the file on the floor. The pages flew out from the force.

Before going to bed, Akash saw the file with the pages scattered on the floor and cursed. He started picking up the papers and stacking them. One of them had Sandhya's comments in green. His eyes glanced through a few words that she had written. He then picked up all the papers and went to his desk, reading the comments on his way. She had only written comments in three places. One of them said, "Love the privacy this design gives but wish there was some open area as well". He recalled how he had checked into five orphanages and interviewed the people before taking on this project. Almost all of them had large rooms with beds lined up and he had hated that design. He wanted the children to feel that they have a personal space to go to, a place that isn't shared with anyone. But it was a challenge considering the large number of children and the little area available. In the end, he had used geometric designs where each child's bedding area would be blocked by the other, yet the space taken would be negligible. He requested for a little more funding for additional space but of course it was turned down. He was bitter for a few days but let it go thinking that he did his best. Sandhya had commented exactly on that spot, as if magically she knew his mind. He read her other comments and had the same reaction. She did not mention what needed to be done, only listed down the points that concerned her.

He had thought that the imperfections in his design were his imagination, a result of his desire to always be perfect; but if two people saw the imperfections in the same spots, then his worries were valid. His mind started working and a vague solution started forming. Quickly, he picked up a paper and started sketching. It was 4 am when he was done. He was tired physically but his mind was in bliss. He had managed to tweak the design to create pockets of open spaces in between the personal spaces, and also a large area at the center of the room. His design was perfect, and he had to thank Sandhya for being the catalyst in getting it there. How had he judged her so wrong? And how did she have such a good insight at her age? His heart filled with admiration for her. I should apologize to her somehow, he thought as he closed his tired eyes and sank into a deep sleep.

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/***Authors Note***/

"The Independent Girl" was published on JUNE 20th 2016!!!

Links to purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/Independent-Girl-Sneha-K-ebook/dp/B01GUSEPMO/ https://www.amazon.in/Independent-Girl-Sneha-K-ebook/dp/B01GUSEPMO/ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/643119

https://itunes.apple.com/fr/book/the-independent-girl/id1121906593?l=en&mt=11 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-independent-girl-sneha-k/1119160004?ean=2940152772036 https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-independent-girl-1

Note that I will only be posting a limited number of chapters here on wattpad for you to sample.

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