Pranbir Short Story Collection

The Business Trip Part 1

Cursing the atrocious traffic under her breath, Prachi rushed into the office. She was running late and it was like a stigma to the usually punctual girl. In her haste to get to her desk, she careened straight into someone. She would have fallen back due to the force of the collision when two strong hands steadied her. Mumbling an apology, she sidestepped the person without taking a good look at him. However, the person seemed to be disinclined to let her off the hook as he caught hold of her arm and pulled her back.

Exasperated, Prachi looked up with the intention of admonishing him as he was hindering her progress despite her apology for the unintentional mistake.

"What do you want? Oh! It's you!" Prachi's frown of annoyance disappeared as recognition dawned on her regarding the identity of her tormentor.

"Yes. It's me. The poor guy whose almost every single bone you have broken by crashing into him with the speed of a running express." Ranbir grimaced dramatically.

"Really! If you don't get out of my way right away I'm going to break the rest too. Move." Prachi scowled

"Uh huh! Make me!" Ranbir smirked

"Ugh! Ranbir don't pester me now. I'm already running late and in no mood for your stupid antics." Prachi sighed in irritation.

"Haw! Prachi, did you call me stupid?" Ranbir's glowered at her

"No, I called your antics stupid." Prachi rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

To everyone's good fortune, the arrival of the peon brought about the much required ceasefire between the two warring parties. They were informed by the peon that Ranbir's dad Vikram Kohli had asked them to meet him in his cabin. As they walked off towards their destination they resumed their bickering yet again and only stopped on reaching the cabin. As they entered the cool confines of the cabin, Prachi sighed in contentment as it provided the much craved relief from the sweltering heat outside.

"Oh, Prachi, Ranbir! Come in. Come in." Vikram Kohli looked up from the papers strewn all over his desk as they knocked and pushed the door azar.

"Good Morning, Sir." Prachi smiled respectfully.

"Good Morning, dad." Ranbir beamed.

"Good Morning to both of you. Sit. I have an important assignment for both of you." Vikram gestured at the vacant chairs in front of his desk.

"You know what dad, sometimes I have this really strong feeling that I'm your adopted son." Ranbir made a face.

"Why, son?" Bemused, Vikram stared at his son with a slight frown.

"What else can be the reason for burying me under mountains of work?" Ranbir released a long suffering sigh.

"Done with your theatrics, son? I do that because someone has to cure your laziness." Vikram smirked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Daaad!" Ranbir glowered at a giggling Prachi

"What dad? Am I saying anything wrong, Prachi?" Chuckling, Vikram turned towards Prachi.

"Not at all, Sir. He is such a lazybones. Ever ready to skip work." Prachi nodded solemnly but couldn't hold on to the solemn expression for long and burst into fits of giggles.

"Dad! Prachi! Stop pulling my legs." Ranbir scowled

"Strange! If we are pulling your legs than how are you still upright and not sprawling on the floor?" Prachi made an innocent face but her eyes were glinting with mischief.

"Prachi! You...." Ranbir began

"Okay. Since your never ending fights will go on, let's come to the matter in hand. Let me fill you in on the assignment you are about to undertake." Vikram intercepted with a chuckle.