~ MUQAABIL ~

~ Aakanksha ~

AVINAASH'S POV

"I expect to receive a concise report on the Cancer and Cardiovascular Research building, which we are scheduled to construct in Bengaluru, by the end of this week." I stated with a 'no nonsense' sort of tone.

The routine briefing meeting was done.

It was 9:45 am and I had 30 minutes till the next meeting. I decided to reply to a few emails and have a sip of coffee.

Anuj had called me stating he would be on sick leave today. To fill in his absence, an intern training under Anuj would be working as my pa for the day.

I heard a knock on the door. Responding to it, I called the person in.

A young lady entered and with great confidence, she greeted me a Good Morning.

Greeting her back, I assumed she was my pa for the day.

"Who is my next meeting with?" I'm sure Anuj has notified her about my schedule.

"Sir, your next meeting is scheduled for 10:15 with Ms. Kaainaat Shridhar." She stated.

"Ohka-- WAIT! WHO is my next meeting with!?" I exclaimed.

"W-with Ms. Kaainaat Shridhar, S-sir!" She stammered.

"Have I made a mistake, s-sir?" She asked.

"A mistake is made, but you are not the one guilty" I stated with my jaw clenched.

What does she want from me? Why the fuck does she want to meet me?

How did she manage to get her name on my schedule?

The girl standing in front of me looked as if she was about to be murdered. She looked horrified.

"You may leave" I informed her.

She just nodded and hurriedly walked out of my cabin.

I sat there waiting for 'The Kaainaat Shridhar' to arrive.

At 10:15 sharp, someone knocked on my cabin's door. 

"Come in" the annoyance in my voice was quite evident.

And here she was—Kaainaat Shridhar right in front of my eyes.

She took a seat across the table, without my permission.

When I asked her why she was here, she told me about her being forced to marry Kabir and that we could tackle him together, without beating around the bush.

How did she know that Kabir was a problem for me too!?

It was nowhere on the media. All the articles that stated such things were already deleted by our IT department right?

I decided to pull her strings and get her to believe that I did not give a damn shit about Kabir and her fucked up life. I was totally uninterested in being involved. 

Well, that backfired badly. She replicated my smirk and told me that I did not have an option to deny.

How was she so confident? How was she planning to convenience me into partnering her?

"Mr. Agnihotri, me sitting in front of you, politely requesting you to cooperate with me, doesn't mean that I do not have faster ways to get my job done. I can simply hack into your company's database, evacuate important assets and manipulate you using them to do whatever I want you to do." She stated.

She also informed me about the aftereffects of her cyber attack. It was more like a threat than mere information.

Who the fuck she thinks she is? She really thinks she could hack into THE SARVARTHA's database?

But as much as I hate to admit the fact that her voice had turned deadly and shushed enough to intimidate a fully bulked man like me, was legit.

But she did not need to know that.

I was about to praise my company's strong defense against cybercrime and inform her that not even in a hundred years would she be able to crack through it but she got a call. 

The person on the opposite line was literally shouting. I could hear him from my seat even though the phone was not on speaker.

I wasn't paying much attention to it until I heard 'national security' being mentioned.

After disconnecting the call, she informed me that she did not have time. I could sense the urgency in her voice.

Scribbling her contact details, she told me to affirm my decision and dashed out of the cabin leaving me to be gobbled by my thoughts.

Who is Kaainaat Shridhar?

Is she capable enough of hacking into our database?

Is she really the criminal I know?

Or is she the savior that was called for during national security crisis?

Is she the broken girl I saw at Shridhar Villa?

Or is she the strong, confident woman I just met?

Who is she? 

Quickly grabbing my note book, I started inking my feelings. 

Kya hai uski pehechaan?

Dil-o-jaan, kwahishe daastaan?

Apni adaaose anjaan.

Akanshit savalo ke dimagi makaan,

Apno se fakat ajnabee hai uske imman.

Khayalose uske naakaam hai vigyaan,

Kya hai uski pehechaan?

Kya hai uski pehechaan?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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