Tortuous Love

Chapter 3

Getting up early after a hell of a night was a task ! A really hard task . My head was about to burst and I just wanted to laze around the whole day. I spoke to Meera about it and she told me that she did not know the guy at all, she even urged me to report him but I did not want to relive it again and decided against it. Sunday went away in a blur with house cleaning and heaps of laundry that i had been avoiding to wash over weeks. I wasn't feeling great but I had to go into work tomorrow.

Despite this , I reached just on time , determined to find the guy who helped me out .Rushing in I tried to settle in . Even after my hurried efforts I was almost 10 minutes late.

I saw Anne  sitting at her desk typing away . She gave me a tight lipped smile as I sat down at my desk .

"Hey , good morning! ! Wassup?"I asked her powering on my computer. 

"The lion is in the den ! " was all she said. 

"So, the boss is finally here ," I asked fascinated by her attitude .

"Yes he is and has been yelling and barking at everyone . God knows who messed his night up? ,"she wondered .

" Hey listen I wanted to ask you something? I wanna know if you know this guy ...." I was cut off when her phone started ringing.

"Yes . I will get it. " she said talking to whoever was on the phone .

"I will talk to you later . " she said grabbing her handbag and running out of the door .

I just sighed and went through the file kept on my desk . I got up to go to the copy room . As I was photocopying a few documents I felt as if someone was watching me.

"How are you feeling now ? ", a voice asked . Of course I remembered his voice so I tuned around and gave him a warm smile. "I was going to look around for you during lunch," I said.

He stood there casually leaning against the door frame. His shirt sleeves were rolled till his elbows and his tie was loosened.

His eyes were taking in my form lingering a little too long on my legs . 

"I am fine; well good enough for a person who has a hangover the size of an elephant," I said sighing .

" You shouldn't have had so many drinks . You had around 8  !! " he said walking towards me.

I turned and quickly continued photocopying . " What were you like counting how many I drank? " I asked amused a little. "Well that's not important . I wanted to thank you.  I really am grateful and indebted to you." I said turning to face him again
He was standing closer than I expected, so I had to take a step back to make space between us .

"Excuse me Mr. Anand  he's trying. ..." a young skinny man came to the room  .

'Oh crap .....is this Mr Anand. Oh my God, this is such a mess,' I thought to myself . I gulped down my fear and tried to excuse myself.  He caught my wrist and brought me to a halt  .

" Leave Jackson . Not right now ." He said sternly

"But Mr Anand..." the young man tried to reason.

" Not. Right. Now," each word, made another shiver run down my spine.The man had however scurried away by now, leaving me alone, with him.His thumb was brushing against my wrist. Almost caressing it.

" I am sorry . I really am grateful to you . I really didn't know who you were . .... oh my god I am blabbering ." I said breathing heavily.  He just kept looking af me with those intelligent dark eyes. As if he could see right through me, see through my fear.

" Go home . Take the day off . " He told me .

"  No no Mr Anand . I am fine I  will finish my work . I am good , really .I thank you again  . I owe you big time . " I said hastily as I tried to walk away .
He let go of my wrist and I took the que and left .

I quickly sat down, trying to slow down by fast beating heart . Anne wasn't back yet and thought if that night preoccupied my thoughts .How could I have been such a fool. Rohit Anand was the son of Shyam Anand who established this organisation. His chauffeur , his big car I should have put two and two together.

After lunch I was called in to meet Mr Anand. I did not know what it was about and I hoped it wasn't about that night My mind went into overdrive as I walked to his cabin .I sincerely hoped that he wouldn't fire me .

Outside his cabin Jackson sat at his desk . " Just go right in " he said to me .

I just smiled at him and knocked .

" Come in " came in his booming voice .

" Good afternoon " I said smilimg at him .

" Have a seat Ananya " he said motioning for the chairs  .

" Thank you " I said  .

" Please don't fire me ...please . I apologize if I was rude yesterday please don't fire me " I begged him before he could say anything.

He started laughing " Ananya I didn't call you to fire you . God!  You think too much .. "

" I'm sorry .. it's just that I thought after .." I trailed off .

" Well whatever you thought was wrong . I am not going to fire you . " he said .

" Did you have lunch ? " he asked me .

" aahh... No sir  .. I was actually waiting for my colleague ..  so we usually have lunch together" I said .

" Okay then let's go I have a proposal for you  . ... we can discuss it over lunch  ... " he said getting up grabbing his coat .

Before I could reply he grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him .

" Could I grab my handbag..." I tried to say as he pulled me into his personal elevator .

" Jackson has already sent it down . It's in my car . " he said.

" Ooh... okay sir . " I said .

" Stop calling me sir ... makes me feel like a dried up old man .."  he said .

" I was just ...  Mr. Aanand ," I said.

" It's Rohit . Mr .Aanand is my dad .." he said walking ahead of me  . As I walked behind him ,  I saw Jake walking by . He winked at me as he passed and I just giggled . Jake and his antics .

" I see you are pretty accustomed to your colleagues now . " he said in a tight voice .

" Oh ... he's Anne's friend . " I said . It was a complete lie , Anne hated Jake as he tried to sweet talk anyone with a skirt . He had been badgering me to go out with him but Anne being mommy bear always tried to ward him off .

We walked out of the door and his car was waiting outside. 

His chauffeur held our door open as we got inside.

" The usual" was all he said .

" Stay away from Jake. "  he said well more like ordered.I was puzzled at his words.

" He's just a colleague. .. and I wasn't aware about any fraternization policy" I tried to reason with him .

" I know him longer than you ... he has a weakness for pretty girls. . Specially  brunettes"he said .

"I can take care of myself " I tried to reason .

"I very well know how much you can take care of yourself " he muttered , sarcasm dripping from every word.

I decided to ignore his comment and looked out of the window . Anne was right, the lion had a mean streak .