Pure Passion

Part 19

Next day morning Kalpi woke up and dressed like normal. She had butterflies in her stomach as she was going to The Raghav Singhania's office. She was meeting the IT Head of Singhania Consultancy Services to discuss about the project and to finalise when and for how much time should she start shadowing the employees to learn about their systems.Will I get to see RS? No one has ever seen him till date! Wonder why he is playing hide and seek? I mean who is shy of media these days? She took a deep breath and chuckled...Raghav Singhania is the owner of the Singhania Group so he must be visiting so many offices and must be at so many places!!! What are the chances that I get to meet him? Hmmm Prem spoke about some Samar Singh Raizada who had finalised the deal and gave us the contract...It seems he is the one representing RS! Hmmm interesting... Ok Kalpi you can do this! How difficult is this gonna be? Its such a huge organisation just keep calm!!! Kamla, Vitthal were surprised to see Kalpi up so early all ready to go to office. Prem wished her luck and she thanked him saying, I really need that and if I have any doubts I will call you. I am thinking of taking Rohan along wat say?Prem frowned saying, no need you go alone as you are the one they want to meet and then somebody's got to handle the work at office! Oh yes! You are right Mr. P!Ewww it sounds not nice stop calling me that!!! Kalpi laughed and Prem smiled thinking finally everything has been resolved.She rushed out saying I will be late Aai baba dont wait up for me!Kamla asked her with concern, if she had something to eat. Kalpi replied she would eat sandwich fromt the office! she went to the door and returned to face Kamla! Aai I had always wanted to do this since I was a child, Shall I?Kamla choked and asked her what beta? Kalpi hugged her and kissed her and then left saying you are nice Aai and I am glad you were mom's best friend!Vitthal came up and said Wah Rajkumari what about me? She hugged him to and Vitthal blessed her!As she left Kamla had tears in her eyes! What I did not want to happen in all these years happened in these two days!Vitthal patted her back saying I know! All these years you kept her away fearing you will get attached to her and unknowingly take her mom's place and you would miss her if she left the house.Finally when she did marry Prem you were assured that now she wont leave you but little did you know what Fate had in storefor us. Kamla let her tears fall and did not bother to wipe them. I fear for her Vitthal I am worried. I have protected her all these years, you know how hard it is to have someone's daughter to look after and if anything happens we die with guilt plus we get to hear things from people that we never loved her and all.Now my decisions have all gone wrong and I am liking to see her so strong, matured and she has grown into a capable woman but she is still unaware of the big bad world! I hope the guy she loves is a nice one or her heart will suffer another blow!Vitthal hugged Kamla and said you remember when Kalpi was learning to cycle you shouted at me and Prem for leaving her cycle and letting her fall and what I had said.Kamla nodded you said she had to fall or else she'd never know to ride the cycle and I was worried what if she gets hurt!Hmmm And I had said what are we for? We will take a back seat and see her try, fall and learn from her mistakes but if she is hurt then we will take care of her! Kamla understood and hugged Vitthal! Prem was glad to see that his Aai had finally accepted Kalpi as her daughter!Hope she accepts Ash and my relation too! He gets a call and leaves into the room to answer it!Hi Ash!!! Guess what???...Kalpi reaches the office and meets Rohan! They both discuss about the POA for the day and she leaves for the meet!Raghav is pacing in his construction company up and down. Sammy enters the office and he literally pounces on him. Sammy I need the details of all new people coming in the office today to meet any of our managers in all our companies.Sammy looked at Rags as though he had asked him to do a pole dance!!! What????? Rags are you in your senses? You do know we have more than 15 different companies with various branches and departments. And you expect me to find out how many new people and their details?? I'd rather choose to take your Cinderella's shoes and search for her!!!Rags sighed and took a long breath! He was panicking! This was not his nature! What has Juliet done to him!!!???He was all nervous!Sammy asked him if he was okay? Done mind me asking are you on some drugs? Cocaine or something? Because you have been behaving wierd for quite some time now! You dont concentrate on meetings, you keep hallucinating and you also have stopped eating and sleeping! Man what's up with you?Rags smiled Love is a drug isn't it!? Oh no!replied Sammy! No I am not ready for this? Dont tell me you are still in the world of Romeo and Juliet!Goodness heavens Rags please get a hold on yourselves! Now I really want to know this woman who has changed the whole electrical circuit of your brain!!! Hmmm you never know Sammy you might meet her today itself! She is just out of this world!Hmmm if she is really that good then I might as well too try my luck! Rags looked at Sammy as if he would wring his neck with his bare hands and clenched his jaws... If that... was a joke Sammy then it was of a very bad taste to me! Never ever repeat that!Sammy chuckled he did want to instigate Rags just to check if Rags was serious about this woman he spoke of! Well he did seem to! Hope he doesn't end up hurting himself in this process though he liked this very much in love Rags these days.Sammy laughed and said Caught you bro! and left his cabin.Kalpi met the IT head Mr. Ali Maqsood, who was a very senior person and very warm towards her. Ms Jadhav we certainly loved this idea and so we wanted to see if you could incorporate this into our systems all over the Singhania Group! This would certainly speed up the processing time and increase productivity of our employees. Sure Mr Maqsood! Oh please! My dear call me Ali! Gives me that I am still young feeling and no need to be formal with me now that you are on board!Kalpi chuckled and said Sure Mr Ali! AAh! I see that Mr. is still there but its okay today is your first day and you will obviously feel concious! But not to worry!So now according to you, your requirement is a sample group of employees, a team with whom you will want to experiment this program and see if it really works well.Yes Mr Ali. And if the dry run is successful then we can actually start off with the implementation. However we have to do this in phases!Yes yes after all it has to support so many programs and that too all over the group! Do you think you can manage all this withing 6 months of time!Sure Mr Ali I am completely confident about my team! I agree we do not have the experience but my team mates are very very capable and innovative! Yes yes! I agree Ms Jadhav! Hmmm so let me talk to Mr Raizada as he would be the best to tell me which group of employees could assist you with this project and which department does not have a very heavy workload!He picks up his phone and informs someone to connect him to Mr Raizada and then puts the phone on speaker and sips his coffee.Ahem, I am sorry my dear I did not ask you for anything. What shall I call for coffee or tea? Nothing Mr Ali!Oh you young generation must like your soft drink then? I will call for it! Its ok Mr Ali I am fine!Thank you very much!Suddenly she heard Sammy's voice on the phone. So Ali saahab hamaare liye kya khabar! Whats the news Ali sahab?Please dont tell me you have some system problems. Half of the time our employees enjoy because of the system failures. I think they have bribed you to do this intentionally. Tell me truthfully how much % of their salary comes to you. Kalpi giggled unknowingly! and then bit her tongue.Mr Ali who resembled a santa claus but much younger version laughed hard and his belly shook as he did so! Arrey no Sammy Sir! You are tarnishing my reputation now!Sammy laughed too! So what is the purpose of this call then?Mr Ali explained the details to Sammy and he asked if Kalpi was still there? Yes yes she is very much here and the phone is on speaker. You can fire your doubts at her, I am sure she will handle you right!!! He He He!Kalpi blushed and greeted Sammy politely! Sammy smiled involuntarily! Her voice did sound great maybe she does look beautiful too! Hmmm yep Ms Jadhav please give me a days time and we will get back to you. I need to confirm this with Mr Singhania too! Sure Sir! Its Sammy! huh? I am sorry what Sir?It Sammy, we have an open door policy in this office! Only Mr Singhania is the Sir rest are all colleagues! Welcome to Singhania Group Ms Jadhav! It Kalpana Sir! Huh? Sorry!Kalpi laughed. Well the name...is Kalpana! And thank you really appreciate your organisation's warm approach. I believe I will be able to contribute something significant to this Company and change your lives Sir!Hmmm Change? For good or bad?Time and my team's work will speak for that Sir...errr I mean Sammy! Good day!She was about to walk off and she turned around picking her stuff and held the handle of the door to open it when she froze and stood rooted to the spot. She had goosebumps all over! Are her ears ringing???? Did she hear what she heard? Was it the same familiar sound?Sammy was saying bye to Mr Ali when before the line got disconnected Kalpi heard a voice...Sammy come on man we are late for lunch! tuuu the phone got disconnected.Kalpi's heart raced and she gulped. Did she just hear Romeo? She sweared she could recognise his voice even she were in coma!! What is he doing with Sammy? And in Singhania's office?Does he work part time there? He never mentioned before...Was it really him or was she just imagining him? She felt someone tapping her shoulder and jerked to reality.Mr Ali had been calling her and she was lost in her thoughts.Are you ok my dear? Is there something else you need to ask? Or did you forget something.No nothing, thank you! very much! I will see you later. When you will call... Saying so she left the office in full confusion. She sat in her car and drove back to her office. She just couldn't believe her ears! No it cant be Romeo! I am just imagining things just being paranoid! It could be someone else...voices change over the phone!She could not breathe properly! She stopped the car opened her windows took a deep breath and picked up her phone and left a message for Romeo!Our coffee date is pending...meet me at CCD Powai at 7.30pm.Rags was having lunch with Sammy when his phone beeped. Sammy raised his eyebrows. Maya or Romi?hmmm?asked Rags. Thats ur personal phone right, I am here sitting in front of you then the only other people who have this number are Maya and Romi,right?Wrong! I have more people in my life Sammy. Its no more boring...my life that is!Sammy smirked and wondered aloud wonder if it is your Juliet!!!Shut up Sammy! He brought the glass of water to sip while reading the text when he almost choked on the water and started coughing! Gawd this woman is something! She is sooo damn blunt! And he smiled biting his lip. She cant stay away from me either! Hey but she was to meet Sammy or was she talking of someone else! But who? hmmm? Will ask in the evening. He replied to her text saying Romi's cheesy lines...Your Genie at your service 24 hrs ma'am! Kalpi was waiting impatiently for his reply and then smiled at his text! Idiot! she said smilingly but then remembered why she wanted to meet him and frowned nervously!She went back to office and explained everything in detail to her team about the new project and even told Rohan that it would be better if they both sit and chart out and divide responsibilities so that each one knows their work and there is no chaos! And Prem is always available to help!She kept working without realising the time pass by and when she noticed the clock it was already 6.45pm!Oh no I am never gonna make it by 7.30pm to Powai! I am sure to get stuck in traffic! She literally made a run to the car park n drove like crazy to reach on time. There was a lot of traffic plus the rains. But she somehow managed to reach from Andheri to Powai in an hour though the actual distance would not have been more than 20-25 mins.It was 7.45pm when she entered CCD and looked for the corner seat by the window. She saw only one man sitting there and wondered if Romeo had already come. She looked around when a staff approached her to ask if she was Juliet! Kalpi looked at her a bit amused. Uh Yes! Why?...She pointed to the corner seat and said with a smile, He is waiting for you. As she was about to go the lady asked her, is his name really Romeo? Kalpi smiled and replied yes!Then while going towards him she was lost in his thoughts and had forgotten in all the traffic and tension why she had called him there. She just wanted to see his face, his smile that made her relax.It was as if he could feel her coming. The hair at the back of his neck stood giving him goosebumps and he knew she was there. He smiled and turned to look at her from top to bottom. He took his fill and stood up held her hand and made her sit next to him on the sofa. I love this seat next to the window. Can enjoy the rains! hmmm replied Juliet. Her skin scorching at his touch! She forgot herself whenever she met him! She never remained Kalpi she used to turn into Juliet! Did you miss me he asked and she smiled saying ...I did! Coffee? I ordered a cappucino thought you wouldnt like a very strong coffee! Hope its fine. Yes thanks. And what are you having? Me! I am having chocolate fudge with my regular espresso!By the way I have never had coffee at CCD. Starbucks is good too! Kalpi looked at him suddenly with a hint of doubt! Where were you born? In America? Starbucks just came to India. CCD has been here for like ages now! So are you telling me you never had coffee before Starbucks!Rags had been caught unawares. He had to answer this as he knew Juliet's mind was working overtime these days and she got paranoid even at the smallest things. Phew! Well I never had the money to come to such a place before. But now I have then I go to Starbucks. Thats it!Kalpi was not very convinced with the answer but decided to let it go! So where do you work? Andheri or Bandra?Bandra said Rags! Damn this woman should be in FBI or rather CBI! She is trained to catch unawares! Rags be alert!I mean I had to go to Bandra for a work today. So what have you decided about discontinuing your night profession and just carry on with your day profession?Rags you are done for today! You came to romance with Juliet she is hellbent in taking your case today! What happened? I am sure something happened? But what?How do I get to know?C'mon Rags! Use Romi's best excuses. Rags was having his coffee when he looked at Kalpi and purposely dropped his coffee on his pants. Ow!!! That burns! Ow Ow!Kalpi got distracted and started helping him by dabbing the area with tissues and asking him to go to the wash room!Hurry up! she said. Is it burning a lot!? No I think I should be fine. Rags went to the washroom and looked at himself in the mirror! Its simple just go to her and tell her you are Raghav Singhania!And the rest was a lie!No it wasnt I mean our moments weren't a lie but then she just had gone through a heartbreak and now this too!She will be shattered! I cant do this now! But she has sensed something! If only I knew what it is then I can handle the whole thing!He finally came out and looked at her! She was looking restless but then she did not speak anything. He thought to change the topic and asked her about her meeting. Soon she remembered what had happened in the office and she started. Do you know Sammy Sir? Raghav who was sipping his cofee coughed at this question...Its still hot! the coffee he replied. Sammy Sir who? I mean I know a Sammy who plays the strings at the hardrock cafe in town! He plays well! I am talking about Samar Singh Raizada from the singhania group of Industries! Whoa! And why are you asking me that? Did you see me there with any woman? Kalpi relaxed and smiled no actually I heard you with a man! I mean Sammy Sir. I heard your voice in the background calling for lunch! And since then I have been thinking if you work part time in his office or something! After all you must be working in the daytime too!Rags sighed and closed his eyes not knowing what to answer. Kalpi was experiencing mixed emotions. If he said yes then she could see him or maybe meet him at his workplace. Can she get to sample with his team? But god knows which dept he was working with! However he had called Sammy by name well Sammy himself said that they were all colleagues so maybe ...But if he did not work there then how come she heard his voice?Is he hiding something from me?Sooo...What do you think Rags will say? How will he reply to her questions and will she be convinced. Will they both ever come face to face at his office? Where will she be placed to conduct her sampling!??? Will Sammy be impressed by her too? To know more please keep reading...your favourite SS - Pure Passion maybe in the next chapter! Till then enjoy this read!