Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 14

The meeting was nothing short of terror.

Mr. Ramesh was scarier offline, than online. We felt as though we met two different personalities. He was simply so hard to convince and talk to. He had way too many questions to which we had no answers to, and he closely looked for details. Since it was the first meeting, we didn't really plan-out everything in-and-out. But Mr. Ramesh forced us to look into a long term plan. About things we would do in the next five years. How are we supposed to know?

Four hours into the meeting and all five of us were slowly giving up. He turned into a headache. More of a nightmare, I swear to God.

From far across the table, Darshan looks at me and wrinkles his nose, shaking his head to the side. Honestly, the deal was sliding away from us and there was nothing we could do to hold it back.

"Good presentation, Darshan Raval. Good work. Impressive", Mr. Ramesh compliments, after literally screwing and roasting the life out of us. "Thank you, Sir", Darshan breathes and I can hear how done with life he is.

"I need time to run through everything and think about a final decision. I would want to meet you again, Darshan. Just you. The team wouldn't be needed. I'll see you...", he takes a pause and takes a look at his calendar. "...in three days?", he taps his pen on the table and Darshan agrees.

We walk out of the meeting hall, exhausted and drained. I have a throbbing headache and an undeniable urge to throw up.

"That was anal as fuck!", Naveen grunts. "I never thought he was so hard to get through", Sean adds on. I ignore everyone around and take a look at Darshan, walking alone right at the back with his head hanging low. He's unusually silent and simply lost in his own thoughts.

I stand to my ground, letting everyone walk past me and walk alongside him. He doesn't even bother to look up at me.

"Three more days and we'll figure it out", I tell him, slowly, and he smiles weakly. "You think so?", he questions, tossing his blazer over his shoulder. "I'm sure, Darshan", I whisper in a voice so low because I don't want anyone to know that I call him by his name; some people have the habit of circulating news around for a living.

"You know what it means when they say 'let's talk about it later', right? It means that it's over", Darshan sighs. "You cannot accept defeat already!", I show my disdain. "Dad should've handled the project. I fucked it up", he complains. "Darshan...Sir, we'll refigure things before the meeting on Monday, don't worry about that", instantly, I change the topic, once we near the car, where the others are crowded with their eyes literally piercing through us.

"The four of you can travel in this car. I need one for myself. I need to go out", Darshan informs, picks up the key from the driver and walks away, without turning back to look at any of us. My eyes follow him until he hops inside the car, hoping that he would stop and look back. But he doesn't. He drives away, without telling anyone where he's off to and it sort of worries me. He's not in the right state of mind to be on his own.

Once we reach the hotel, I call him up thrice only to end up with three unanswered calls. I spam him with a stream of messages, and of course - he is not online. Where did he go, and why didn't he tell me?

After spending three hours in restlessness and anxiety, I walk over to Naveen's room - he's a tad bit close with Darshan, from what I've heard from everyone around at work. I don't know how true it is, but I'm taking my shot at it.

"Hey? All good? You look worried", he furrows his eyebrows. Darshan was right - I suck at hiding how I'm feeling. Big time.

"Naveen, Darshan went out, right? Did you talk to him? He wasn't exactly happy about how the entire thing ended up. Do you know where he went? I'm kind of worried about him. I called him up and he's not picking up. And he's not online to read my messages!", I panic, evidently. "Are you scared that he right get into some accident or get eaten up by a bear?", Naveen questions, jokingly. "Naveen!", I exclaim. "Are you sure you're kind of worried? Because to me, you look so, so, so worried", he points out.