TANGLE OF LIES

1. Coffee Spills and Phone Calls

I had an important meeting today for which i was running 15 minutes late, all thanks to Mumbai traffic . I'm not a very disciplined person when it comes to time management but when i have meetings i like to reach the office before time because my nerves start acting up.

I was revising the same presentation for the fifteenth time today in the backseat of my cab, when i heard my phone ringing in my hand bag, i retrieved it to check who it was and seeing that name pop up on my screen added to my misery.

It was my beloved father. But I couldn't understand to what I owed him this pleasure that he called me up and that too at such an early hour.

I hesitated to pick up the call but knew better than to avoid Bijoy Sengupta's call, trust me when I say that you do not wanna be on his bad side.

So I did what I do best, put on a brave face and answered the call before it went to voicemail.

"Hello" he said coldly from the other end

"Good morning baba" I replied to his cold greeting.

[Good morning father]

" I want to meet you for lunch today at the house, cancel your meetings if you have any till 3'o clock" he said without getting into further small talks like always.

He had always been like this with me, always spoke what was needed and not an extra word. He was never there for me when i needed a father figure.

Even though he was always present in my life fulfilling all the needs as a parent should but he was never present emotionally for me , never attended any of my parent teacher meeting or events that i participated in, during my school life.

But for bhai on the other hand he was an ideal parent figure, bhai looks up to him even now. For bhai he's the best father he could've asked for.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sudden brake of the cab and looked outside to realize i had reached my destination and that i was still on the call.

"Understood?" i heard my father asking in an annoyed tone

"Yes baba, I'll be there" i answered in a serious tone after paying the cab driver and getting down from the cab, shutting the car door.

"Okay" he said in a curt tone and ended the call which made me sigh.

I looked up to see the building of my office which i had leased for the next five years after so many complications and negotiations. We had the first and second floor all to ourselves.

The building was in the heart of the city which made the price even higher but i was ready to pay whatever for the perfect location and the easy avail of transportation.

We shared the workspace with two other companies which were on the third and fourth floor. I had made acquaintances with the owners of the companies.

The value of the property was sky high so it didn't take a genius to know that the owner had to pay a fortune for it or he was fortunate enough to inherit it.

I honestly didn't know which of my guesses is correct because I never had the opportunity to meet the original owner. All of the paperwork were handled by his assistant and my broker and he wasn't even present on the signing day. He had already signed the documents and sent it by his assistant.

The only information I had about the owner was that he was the heir of some tech company.

I went up the stairs and was greeted by the security guard who held out the door for me.
I thanked him and walked inside where i found my favorite employee, Rishi/my assistant, already present with two cups of coffees in his hands, he was the first person i ever employed and he had been working with me for five years now since i started the agency. We had grown closer in the years we've been working together and we meet outside working hours often, and he has an amazing life partner and i honestly adore them and wish for a bond like theirs in my life. They are literally the definition of an ideal couple.

"Good morning, Aradhya" he said in a cheerful mood.

"Morning yes, good- i can't say anything about that" i replied

"Why? Is there something wrong with the presentation? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did Miss Joshi cancel-" his rant was cut short by my interruption

"Baba called this morning" I said and that's all it took for him to understand why i was having such a hard time. His eyes softened and he pulled me in a side hug, caressing my head with the hand which wasn't holding the coffee cups.

"It's all going to be fine, trust me" he said with an assuring tone and i just nodded my head looking up at him and giving him a half smile. He returned my smile with an assuring smile.

"Let's go we have an important meeting to attend Aru" He said and i straightened up from his embrace and took one of the coffee cups from his hand and took a sip while nodding my head in a yes.

We were both heading for the lift together and i was revising the pointers of the meeting in my head when i crashed into a wall and my coffee spilled all over it and my white shirt and black trousers, but then i realized that there was no wall nearby and looked up to see that it indeed wasn't a wall but a tall man built as a strong wall that i crashed into and the coffee was already spilled all over his blue tux.

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CHAPTER AESTHETICS

Aradhya's office building

Aradhya walking towards the elevator with her cup of coffee

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Word count-1022
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