Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 06

Advik didn't revert to the message, but the next morning, his family had returned all the gifts we sent over to them during the functions.

I was too shocked to react. I stood firmly to my ground as I forcibly fought the tears back.

"Nivi? Did Advik tell you anything about this?", Maa turns in my direction; her voice crammed with fear and anger, at once. No. He didn't tell me about anything. He never did and that makes me so, so mad, but whom do I show it to?

"Yes", I whisper a lie and purse my lips together and silence echoes in the room, as they await an explanation. What do I tell him, when I'm searching for answers myself?

"His mom said that until they decide, she wanted us to keep this", I swallow hard. I absolutely hate where all of this is going.

"Do you want me to talk to his mom? This isn't a good sign", Maa sounds out-and-out concerned. "No, Maa. I'm talking to him. We'll figure it out. Keep the gifts in", I utter in one breath and walk back into my room, slamming the doors shut. Only to find Tia on bed. I continue to fight my tears. I don't even have space to let my feelings out in this house.

"What's up with Advik Bhaiya, Di?", Tia rolls over and questions, as I pack my handbag. There's a long day ahead of me at work and I cannot believe it had a start as bad as this.

"Shall I talk to him?", she looks up at me and I smile. "No, I'm talking to him", I tell her. "And?", she looks on. "Everything is under control", I shrug, without meeting her eye. "You look like you have no assurance at all", Tia points out. "See you", I smile and head out to deal with another headache - Darshan Raval.

Me : Hey?

Me : Call me, Advik.

Me : Or I'm coming home to see you.

Me : I've had enough of the silence.

My phone vibrates, almost instantaneously. I look down at it - in a rush - only to find a message from Darshan.

Darshan Sir : You're 10 minutes late. Already. Miss Perfect.

Darshan Sir : I'm giving you 10 minutes, before I call your Devesh Sir.

Darshan Sir : You really don't want to get on his bad side, do you?

I toss the message away and book an Uber. The drive from home to my workplace is around forty minutes - long enough to churn all sorts of thoughts and worries in my mind, heavy enough to weigh me down.

By the time, the Uber halted in front of my office, I felt as though I'd lost my will to do anything. Why can't things simply go smoothly for once? After everything my family and I have been through, don't we deserve happiness?

I keep my thoughts behind me and march towards Darshan's cabin, masking my emotions with a smile.

"Excuse me, Sir. May I come in?", I knock on the door twice, before popping my head through a small gap, only to catch Darshan tugging the strings of a guitar. As though caught off-guard, he fumbles for a moment before hiding the guitar behind the couch.

"You're late", he clears his throat, straightaway, stands up from the couch and walks towards his chair. "That's why you don't pick on others because karma is a bitch", he shrugs, taking a seat. Okay, it's his turn to pick on me and I cannot complain, really.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I had some issues", I tell him, staring at the floor. "Anyways. What's the plan today?", he questions and I simply stare at him, lost, trying to figure things out in my head. I had big plans for today, I don't remember a thing.

"Did you call and make changes in the appointments?", his words strike a chord and that's when I know that I've messed up big time.

"No", I whisper with my eyes wide open. I can literally feel the heat crawl up my skin. "Miss Perfect?", he chuckles and it honestly, doesn't make me feel any better.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry", I breathe, keeping my hand on my forehead. "I was supposed to call them up today in the morning today, but I couldn't do it. I was late. Because Advik...I mean, I had some issues at home", my voice trembles and tears almost cling on the edge of my waterline.

"Are you crying?", his voice deepens. I cannot see what he's doing, or where he is, because my vision has been blurred. "I don't know how I forgot. That's not an excuse, I know. I'm extremely sorry, Sir. I've just been so messed up off late", and the tears tumble down my face.

"Navya, you don't have to cry for this. Calm down. Please", he comforts. "It's not a big deal. At all", he goes on.

"Why don't you sit down? There's a chair right behind you", he tells me and I simply fall back down on the chair. "Water", he holds out a glass and I gulp down everything, while a stream of tears still run down the corner of my eyes.

We coexist in a long moment of silence, where Darshan is sitting on the edge of the table, and I'm on the chair, with my face buried on my palms, slowly realising that I just broke down in front of my Boss, whom I met a day ago!

Darshan breathes out loud, breaking the silence between us and I look up, slowly and embarrassed.

"I'm sorry", I whisper, again, and lick my lower lip. "This isn't something worthy crying for. Just so you'd know, I honestly don't mind it when people make mistakes or forget things and I'm definitely not judging you. I know it was unintentional from your side", he tells me.

"You didn't cry because of me, right?", he prompts. "No", I exhale. "I don't even know what happened", looking back, I honestly do not know how I lost control.

"You said you've been messed up for a while now. I also heard that you had your wedding cancelled, or postponed or something. It must be hard", he tells me. "I cannot even tell you how difficult it has been", I study my fingers.

"I'm sorry for---", I start apologizing, but he cuts me off. "You don't have to apologize for things you cannot control. Thank you for showing up at work for me, even though you're walking through some different kind of hell. I would've chose to back off, especially when I'm not benefitting fr all of this", he acknowledges and I smile at him, faintly.

"But if you do want to apologize, you can say sorry for calling up my dad yesterday", he jokes, casually, and the two of us chuckle. "You're not going to let go of that, are you?", I look at him. "Not until you apologize", he shrugs. "Well, it was your fault. You were late, Sir!", I argue. "Calm down, Madam!", he snaps back and we simply laugh it off.

"You know, if there's anything, you can...you know what? Fuck it. I'm not even the right person to talk to, and you don't even know me. But whenever you feel you're not doing okay, message me and I'll let you stay home", he offers. "That's the least I can for my dad's favourite employee", he adds on, making me smile.

"Go home. We'll reschedule the meeting tomorrow", he tells me. "We can't. The meeting is tomorrow. I had to reschedule it today somehow", I purse my lips together and he looks at me for an entire minute, before tossing his head back. "I'm so sorry", I apologize for the thousandth time. "That's fucking fucked up, because I'm not coming to work tomorrow", he breathes.

"Okay, it's a video conference, right?", he questions and I answer with a quick nod. "I'll send you a location tomorrow and bring the laptop and files there", he orders. "But don't tell dad. I'm serious. Tell him that everything was conducted in the office. That's our deal, okay?", he says. "Don't worry about that", I assure him.

"Go home, Navya. I'll see you tomorrow", he smiles at me. "Thank you, Sir", I smile back, picking up the files and myself together. "You're welcome, Madam", he teases.

Well, Kesh wasn't wrong about the charismatic side of his; it's actually pretty attractive.

[Surprise, surprise! Here's #06 & swipe for the next one. Don't stop yet!]