Love and Respect

Chap 12 - At Lunch

Ahmed Khan's POV

"That's your job to fix it now, okay? You have changed the plan from the wine party to a conference without my consent. Do you know how much money I will lose because of this decision of yours? Now what I am asking you to do is to give Mr. Oberoi company and go have lunch with him, so we can have the chance to build long-term cooperation with them. You owe it to me. Do you understand?" with a calmer tone I said.

As Miss Mehra didn't utter a word, I continued with a calmer tone, "You know that our company is going through a rough patch. Please just go and have lunch with Mr Oberoi. This meal is covered by the company."

My strategy worked and she agreed for lunch.

(I gave her the job when she had no major qualifications and nowhere to go. She couldn't forget my kindness. Even though several companies had tried to poach her over the years, she never thought of leaving this company.)

"Miss Mehra, are you ready to go?" Rudra asked again. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Just go with him, please."

"Sure, Let's go," she said with a tone of uncertainty

Rudra's POV

When I saw Mr. Khan stood up to rebuke Mittali, "Do you know..." I cut him off by saying, "Not bad." Because I never wanted him to do this to Mittali for the hard work she had put in it.

I thought of a plan of having lunch with her so I just had to put it up in front of Mr. Khan and I knew he would executive it for me.

"But I have several details to discuss with Miss Mehra. It's time for lunch. Mr. Khan, would you mind lending me your top planner for a while?"

Mr. Khan forced a smile, "I'll ask someone to arrange it for you." he said

"Please don't bother." I interrupted Mr. Khan's words. Because I wanted only two of us, as I was falling for her. She had a magnet in herself which was forcing me towards her.

I instructed my staff members to leave for the office. My special assistant, Mohit Verma, could not help but notice the beautiful Mittali next to me. He knew that there was something wrong with me, as I skipped the video conference and cancelled two of my meeting.

As soon as I notice him staring her, I threw daggers on him and he started looking down on the floor. He immediately understood why I was so eager to come to the meeting. He was my special assistance for the past 8 years. He completely knew about my choices and preferences.

I took my cute wife to the 'Cream Center' which was famous for many cuisines. The menu is a mix of Indian, Mexican and some Italian dishes but all catered to the Indian palate and all strictly vegetarian.'Nachos' was my all-time favorite.

Now that we were alone, She regained her composure and asked me something which I least expected from her. "Do you come here often with Riya?"

I arched an eyebrow. I couldn't understand why my wife wanted to know

I just nob my head and then she continued Mr. Oberoi, if you have any different opinions about the presentation I had this morning, please tell me. I can revise it when I get back to the office.

She was still treating me like a client. This made me feel uncomfortable. So I deliberately pointed out some tough issues. She marked them down in her notebook one by one.

"Let's eat first," I said and there was complete silence between us. I was at ease while seeing her munching her food quietly.

"I'm going to pick you up for lunch every day at noon," as soon as I completed she chocked hearing this and after gulping some water she said "No, no, no ... You don't have to... "

I am your husband now. You have to listen to me, I said and then she thought for a mini second and nob her head saying "Yes" eventually without saying another word

I was actually in no mood to take a no because I had many doubts regarding her.

After lunch, I drove her back to the office and this time I stopped the car at the gate and then she walked in by before saying "Bye and thanks to the lunch" to me.

Once I reached my office, I wanted to clear few of my doubts, so I called up home and told Shanta tai (the maid of my house) to follow the instructions from me and reply back.

Telephone conversation between me and Shanta tai - the maid:

hello, santa tai

"Mai aap ko madamji ka number deta hu unko phone kar ke bolo ki aap bahar ja rahe ho to khana unko pakana padega." (call your madam and tell that u are going out so she has to cook today)

lekin mai sahab .., jo bola hai karo and muje batao ki madaji ne kya bola is waqt phone karo, aur fir se muje call kar ke unka javab do. (sir I..., I cut her talk and told her to call Mittali and inform me back her answer )

after around 5 minutes my phone rang

Santa tai told me, sir madamji ne ha bola hai, ki woh khana bana legi. (sir madam told yes that she will cook)

thikk hai aap chuti lo aur unke aane ke pehle ghar se bahar chale jo aur kal aana, lekin apna phone chalu rakhna. mai kabhi bhi call karuga. (u take off and go and keep ur phone on I will call u anytime)

thik hai sahab. (Ok sir)

I was surprised to hear this and tapped the table lightly with my fingers, frowning.

I didn't expect myself to be lost in her thoughts after that. I had never behaved like this before.

I had inquired about her before marriage and to my knowledge she didn't know how to cook. So why would she agree to cook dinner?

I was brought out my thoughts by Mohit, "Sir, Sir, ..."

"Mohit, do you think... it's possible that some one changes their personality after marriage?" I thought that there might be something wrong about my wife, but I wasn't sure what it could be.

"I don't think so, " Mohit said with a confused face to me

"Go and dig some information about Mittali and her family. I want to know if there is anything wrong with her. Also get me some photos of her, " I ordered, Mohit

Knowing that Mittali had agreed to make dinner at home, I left the office right on time for the first time. I often had a habit of working overtime.

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शक पर ही मुझे आज भी शक है,
इसलिए उस पर मेरा पूरा हक़ है.

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रिश्ता, प्यार, ख्याल, दीदार और माफ़ी हैं,
इक शक इनकी मौत के लिए काफी है.