Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Arpit's POV

Instead of going to my cabin, I went straight to the 12th floor and entered Niharika's cabin only to realize that I didn't knock and I knew she would react. I was panicking because of the bikers today.

I saw her holding a coffee mug and standing near the window sill. She was wearing a beige colored business suit and pencil heels. Her hair was falling on her shoulder. She was in a deep thoughtful mood. She looked very enticing. I was tempted by her beauty. All my fears vanished. I wanted to stand beside her forever. I mentally planned not to resign. I wanted her, her peace, her smile back.

"Dr. Khandelwal, why are you not used to knocking on doors? You must respect your boss's privacy." I heard her. My thoughts were interrupted.

"Madam, I am threatened by someone for working with you. Your business rival is probably conspiring." I said and played the conversation to prove my point. I told her about the bikers. I showed her the paper.

She listened to it patiently. She seemed a bit angry and a bit concerned.

"How could he get so low?" she said in a low voice. She seemed sympathetic.

"What are you plans?", she said in a monotone quickly hiding her emotions.

"I don't know. I will not betray my profession. If I will work, then I will get the best possible results, else I will resign, as you say. If in case the results are not upto the mark, I will return the salary paid to me. We can have a contract for this. I want you to assure the safety of my family if I work in 'The Exquisite'." I said in a pure business tone imitating her style.

"I will make sure your family members are safe. If you want, you can back off. I will assure your family is safe even if you leave. Give me the details of your family members." Niharika said, passing a paper to me .

"I don't want to back off, Niharika. I am sorry for whatever happened earlier. I was ....." I tried to speak.

Cutting me off in between, she said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore. You are my employee and your safety is my priority."

The pain in her voice was heart-wrenching. I felt guilty at her bitter voice.

"Let me talk, once. Please." I begged.

"Why now?" she said.

"I am sorry, Niharika. I was selfish. I was wrong...."

She didn't let me complete. She said frowning, "Why now, Arpit?"

I knew I had to tell her the truth no matter how she reacted.

"Niharika, please don't cut me off in between. Let me complete this time. I was getting distracted. I was getting closer to you. I was falling for you. I have been attracted to any other girl as I was attracted to you. My dad was ill those days. Mummy was the only bread-winner of the family. I had a sister. Being the eldest son, I had my duties. I couldn't afford getting distracted. I wasn't ready. I wasn't able to control my urges. I wanted to maintain distance and I ended up on an ugly note. I took out my frustration and anger on you. I am sorry." I said it all once in a go. A tear skipped from my eye. I quickly grabbed a tissue and cleaned it. I couldn't afford crying in front of her.

She asked, "Why were you distracted?"

"I love you". I confessed.

"What? ", she almost shouted.

"I mean, I loved you. I was getting attracted in a way, I should not have been at that age." I said in a way sounding chivalrous.

"So what, now?",she asked.

I wondered if she wasn't angry.

"I want to mend my ways. I want to stand beside you forever and stay close to you. I want to fight against all odds and bring back your smile. I want to make you feel special. I want to spend my life with you. I have got a chance " I presented my thoughts to Niharika. I didn't know how she would react but I felt relieved speaking my mind.

"I selected you for a job. Does it mean that you have a chance?" she said with a smirk on her face.

I was amazed at her smirking. I smiled and winked.

"Well! I think so." I answered in a flirty tone.

"On what behalf? We aren't teenagers to get attracted again", she said in a monotone hiding her emotions avoiding looking in my eyes.

"So, you were as attracted to me as I was to you" I said confidently this time.

"No", she said in a pure business tone, "Now get out or you are fired". She was still avoiding me. She turned her back towards me.

"No, I want to talk." I answered being adamant at knowing her views. Her 'we aren't teenagers' phrase had brought up many questions in my mind. I wanted to know if she still feels the same.

"Get out", she repeated. This time she said firmly.

"I will leave if you say you weren't attracted to me while facing me." I said without caring even if she called the guards and threw me out of her office.

"Why does it matter now?", she said turning towards me. I could see a tear near her cheek because it couldn't be sweat, especially in her air-conditioned room.

"I am sorry, I made you cry." I said changing the topic and confronting her about her vulnerability. I knew this is the only way to make her speak.

"Who the f*ck is crying?", she said grabbing a tissue from her table. Wiping her face, she sat on her office chair.

I was at the loss of words. I said, "I am sorry for whatever I said. I knew I was wrong. I wanted to mend things on the last day of the college, I wanted to apologize. I could have done so, if you would have not punched me. Why can't we talk? " I said, sounding frustrated. I was actually annoyed at her.

"Get lost or I will punch you again." She said standing up from her chair.

"You can't," I said, mitigating the heat in the discourse. I didn't want to ruin things again.

She came towards me. She said, "What do you want?"

I moved a step closer to her, closing the distance between us, though not touching her. I could smell the aroma of her vanilla flavored deodorant. I said, "The answer, whether you were attracted to me or not."

"Yeah, I was attracted to you. Now get out", she said. She didn't budge from her position because I knew she was comfortable in my presence.

"Can we be the same?" I asked moving more closer to her. We were so close that my shoes touched the tip of her heels. I could hear her racing heart beat.

"No, we aren't teenagers. We have different lifestyles. We are two different people. Now, get out asap." She said without looking in my eyes. She looked enticing. She turned away and went back to her office chair. She sat back and got engrossed in her work pretending to avoid me.

"So, can we be like before?" I asked again.

"No and now leave", she said pretending to be working.

I stood there enjoying her beauty. After a while, I was tired of her ignoring me. I asked her again, "Why, Niharika?"

"Because we are different people with different walks of life. We cannot be together. We are indeed strangers. I am not interested. Get lost." She said avoiding me. She was looking in her Apple MacBook Pro as she said this to me. I was annoyed at her now.

"Can you please give me a chance to mend everything?" I asked her practically. I was tired of begging her. I was already worried about other things.

"Okay only if you could win me back." She said as if she is finalizing some business deal.

I couldn't believe my ears. It was a partial yes. I wondered why it took me too long. I wanted to confirm.

I smirked and said, "Come again."

"Win me back, but now get lost" she smirked.

"Thank you" was all I could say. I was amazed at her alluring charisma.

"Go and prepare the proposal, Arpit. Let's get to work. I will make sure that all your family members are safe. And you, please take care. My security personnel will meet you soon." She had a meek smile on her face hiding her satisfaction of clarifying the things after a long time.

I was lost in the beauty of her smile.

"Go", she said and I left.

It seemed to be the best day of my life.