Baani's POV:
"What?" I yelled, "What did you just say?"
"Do you want me to repeat myself?" He replied
I am so done with this man.
"Why would you give such an offer knowing, that one project can change the entire career of the person getting it?" I asked
"Exactly," He said "Let's order something. What do you wanna have?"
I ignored his question
"Oh, so Mr. Kapoor is afraid that if we put our feet in this, he might lose the project," I said with a smirk.
"No darling, I am afraid that I might bruise your ego by winning it." He exclaimed, a tint of evil smile visible on his face.
Now if this continues I might lose my temper again. How does this man get on my nerves every single time when I am good at handling my temper?
"If this is all you wanted to say then I am taking my leave." I stood up from my chair and grabbed my handbag.
I turned to walk out of the place.
"Wait at least have their pasta, I have heard they make the best pasta in the city."He said instantly which made me stop in my tracks.
I turned to him and looked at him with a done face. Is he psycho or what?
He just asked me to back off from one of the biggest projects of our career and now he wants to have pasta with me.
"I am sure you have a lot of important work to deal with, right dear? Moreover, I hate pasta" I hate you. That's what I wanted to say and about pasta. I love it but I prefer to eat the food I love with the people I love.
Before I could turn back his phone rang, which he picked up after 3 rings while looking deeply into my eyes. His face turned from neutral to shocked and then twisted into anger. He didn't break eye contact all this while but now he was looking with only one emotion which was anger. I smirked knowing the reason behind it and moved towards his chair. Leaning towards his left ear,
"Congratulations on losing the project you worked your fingers to the bone for, Mr. Kapoor," I whispered slowly.
I straightened up and walked away leaving a fuming Mr. Kapoor behind.
Once I was out of the restaurant I looked for Dhruv and after a while, found him coming towards me with a charming smile on his face, the reason for which I was aware.
It's not like Dhruv is a person who doesn't smile much, he does in fact a lot but I knew the reason for this one.
First: I didn't make it to trending with that wolf again.
Second: The same reason because of which the wolf is burning in anger inside.
"Did you get to know that Oberois are ready to sign the deal with us?" He said cheerfully.
I nodded with a genuine smile.
"You were aware of it even before coming here, right?"He asked
"Yes, I was aware of it. Swara has been working hard continuously for the past 3 days to get it. I was damn sure we would reach for the stars." I said with a sense of pride for my business partner who is firstly my best friend.
"You two are literal geniuses, you both never fail to amaze us." He said, amused.
"If you are done then shall we proceed to our office?" I asked him.
"Yes, the car is waiting for you already," He replied with a smile.
After what should have been a 15-minute journey turned into a 30-minute delay due to traffic, we finally reached our office.
Coming out of the car I went straight towards the VIP elevator which was specially for top-level management, greeting everyone who greeted me on my way. Reaching on the floor of my cabin, I went inside.
I opened the door of my cabin and saw a figure already present there looking out of the glass wall of my cabin.
"Swara" I called her.
A girl, the same age as mine turned around. She was wearing black formals with glowing skin devoid of any makeup and shoulder-length hair. When I say she is beautiful then trust me she is. She is one of the most beautiful, smart, kind and powerful ladies I know. Swara Singhania, my best friend, we have been friends for as long as I know. We went to school together, did our graduation and post-graduation together and then finally we both started our own business from the ground. I am grateful to have her in my life.
"You are back. How was your meeting with him? Did he say something stupid? Did he bother you? What am I even asking of course he would have bothered you. Did he bother you a lot?" And now her investigation starts.
"Calm down, I am gonna answer all your questions later on" I hugged her and continued "You did a great job. His face was worth watching."
"We did a great job. It was our team effort." She said,
We both worked on this project together till the last 3 days but then I got to know about Malhotra's project and I diverted my attention towards that one more and for the past 3 days Swara was the only one working on it.
"Whatever you say, madam," I said, feeling at peace.
She is not just a friend to me, she is my family.
"By the way, why did he want to meet you?" She asked
"Yes about that, he wanted us to back off from The Malhotra's." and I told her everything.
"He is an asshole." She said, making a disgusted face to which I just shrugged.
"Now what are we gonna do?" She asked.
"I am gonna meet Mr. Malhotra tomorrow but before that, we are gonna celebrate our success today," I said excitedly.
It's not like I am not worried about the project, I am but celebrating the one we got today is also important.
After a while, she left for her cabin. We both decided to complete our work by 6 so that we could get back home early.
At 5:45 I was done with my work, so I dropped a text to Swara and started cleaning the mess I made. After almost 10 minutes, the door to my cabin opened and Swara came inside with her laptop bag.
"I am done for the day, shall we go back home?" She asked.
"Ya sure just wait a while I am just cleaning the mess, it will hardly take 5 minutes to clean it; till then you just wait on the couch over there," I gestured towards the couch in my cabin.
She went towards the couch and sat there. Once I was done I looked at her, she was engrossed in her phone.
(Let me tell you one thing, she would have definitely been viewing something related to business only.)
"Let's go" I said and that's when she looked up.
"Ok." We both went towards the elevator and then to my car.
I was driving the car while she was busy looking out the window. I even asked Dhruv to leave early today.
"We will be going to Blackjoy tonight to celebrate our success. I even called Riya but she isn't sure if she will come or not," she said, breaking the silence.
" She said, My patients are my top priority and I will have to look at them first"
"My patients are my top priority and I will have to look at them first." We both said in unison and laughed.
"That's how she is," I said
Our other best friend and my cousin Riya Gupta, despite being the daughter of one of the richest jewellers of India still is the most humble and down-to-earth person one can know. She is a doctor by profession and an artist by passion. We rarely hang out once a month since she started working as a junior cardio surgeon.
The rest of the ride was a silent affair with music playing in the background.
We reached our apartment at 6:30. I and Swara live together, I go to my family every weekend but they live a bit far from our office so we both bought this penthouse together and have been living together ever since.
I parked my car in our parking and we both made our way towards the lift. Reaching on our floor Swara typed the passcode to our penthouse and we both went inside.
Throwing my laptop bag on the sofa in our living room I laid on it. Meanwhile, Swara brought water for her and me.
"I am going to get ready now, and today I want you to wear the dress you bought for yourself last month. That dress will make you look more sexy than you already are." She said winking towards me.
"Sure ma'am, whatever you say," I replied and she went to her room.
Once I felt less tired I also went to my room. I straightly went to the bathroom to freshen up.
I came out shortly after having a quick shower wrapping my body with a towel. I walked into my closet and looked for the dress Swara asked me to wear.
After making my closet look like a complete disaster I was finally able to find the dress which was packed securely inside a golden box.
I opened the box, took the red dress in my hands and analysed it. This dress is pretty for sure but I never wore it, I was just somewhat insecure about wearing it. It's not like I don't love myself or love my body but there are some parts of me that make me insecure. I am a girl with great curves, actually, that's what Swara says and at some point, I too believe this but as they say, 'One's mind is his biggest enemy and my mind refuses to accept it.'
But for how long will I not wear it? It's not like it's my first time wearing a sexy dress. I first decided to do a little touch-up.
I'm not much of a fan of makeup, but I do enjoy wearing it on rare occasions and I love lipsticks.I applied moisturiser, a little bit of foundation, mascara and then finally my most favourite red lipstick.
When I was satisfied with my makeup I unwrapped myself from the towel and put on the dress.
I looked for some minimal accessories to go with it and finally settled with silver dangler earrings and a ring on my left middle finger.
I went towards the mirror in the closet and was flattered after seeing my reflection. I was looking exquisite, Swara wasn't wrong when she said this dress would make me look sexy. The red dress with spaghetti straps was hugging my curves in such a way as if it was stitched just for me. To go with my look I decided to keep my hair open which reached till my middle back.
Once I was finally done I decided to pair silver heels with my outfit and I was ready. Before I could come out of my closet I heard a knock on my closet door. I opened the door and there stood Swara in a black bodycon dress that looked stunning on her.
"Oh, my freaking goodness. I told you this dress will look amazing on you. You look enchanting." And now she is in my hype girl mode.
"You too look ravishing. Trust me every man will be at your feet tonight." I exclaimed
"Whatever let's go, the driver will drop and pick us up." She said
"Wait, let me grab my purse quickly." saying this I took out a purse from my closet and put my phone inside it after which I joined Swara.
I locked our penthouse and we both went to the elevator. Once we reached the ground floor we moved towards the entrance and sat in the car.
The drive was a fun one with me and Swara making jokes and talking about anything and everything.
Soon our car stopped at our destination and we were in front of Blackjoy. I got out of the car and adjusted my dress, Swara was standing beside me.
I called Riya to check if she was coming.
"Riya said she might be late so we should go inside first," I told Swara and we both went inside.
After coming inside we straightly went to the table we booked for ourselves.
I ordered a glass of champagne for myself as I wanted to be sober for tomorrow morning to meet Mr Malhotra. No way in hell I would want to lose it.
But Swara wanted to chill so she ordered a bottle of beer for herself.
We both drank our drinks and when our drinks were almost finished I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned on my seat and looked up. After seeing the person I was so freaking happy.
"Riya." I squealed
Riya was wearing a knee-length golden fit-and-flare dress which made her look so beautiful. Riya has a wheatish complexion and long black hair. She has amber eyes and dude one can drown in her eyes. In simple words, she looks like a literal goddess.
Riya and Swara are like my heartbeats, they are my everything. I don't know what I would have done without them. Riya and I are cousins and since Swara and Riya were in the same school as mine, they also ended up being friends and now we are inseparable.
"I am so proud of you bitches." Riya said proudly while hugging me.
I and Swara smiled, showing all of our teeth.
"Thank you and you are late madam." I complained
"Ughh, I can't leave without checking all my patients properly, you know." She replied
Riya loves her job and she loves to treat people.
"Ok fine, now tell us what you wanna have," Swara asks
"Uhmm, maybe a glass of red wine will be fine." Riya thinks for a second and tells her order.
"Ok so a wine for you, another bottle of beer for me and what about you Baani?" She then asks me
"I am completely fine dude, I need to be sober for tomorrow," I replied to her and she told the waiter, her and Riya's order.
I looked towards the dance floor and suddenly I felt like dancing. I don't know how but impromptu I found myself walking towards the dance floor.
I started dancing to the beat and felt relaxed. Suddenly every tension, every stress, every single self-doubt vanished. After a while Riya and Swara joined me too and we all danced to the beat, swaying our hips. It felt great, not to think of anything else and just to feel the music, dancing to the rhythm. We kept dancing until we were tired. My legs were in pain because of the high heels I was wearing. I love wearing heels but hate the pain they give.
To me, heels are the pure definition of "Is it even love if it doesn't give pain?"
I and Swara went back to our table but Riya went to the restroom.
I was feeling sleepy due to tiredness and Swara was already asleep.
After some time Riya came back, she was sweating and seemed like she was worried about something.
"Are you okay, Riya?" I asked softly
"Uhmm...Yaa, I am fine." She replied
"It doesn't seem like you are fine. You know na you can tell me whatever is bothering you?" I asked again
"No I am being honest, I am completely fine, it's just I am worried about a patient of mine, and that's all." She tried to assure me
"Alright, then let's go." I wasn't convinced by her answer but maybe I was thinking too much and you never know with Riya and her patients so I let it slide.
We woke Swara up and moved out of the bar to our car. Riya didn't bring her car, so first we dropped her off and then went to our home.
Swara was so drunk that I had to help her to move to her room and once we were in her room she laid on her bed and slept. I took off her heels, covered her properly with a comforter and left for my room. I quickly changed my dress, removed my makeup, and set an alarm for 6:00 a.m. as tomorrow would be a big day for me so I couldn't be late and slept.
The next morning I woke up to the ring of my alarm and went to the washroom to get ready for the day. Once I was ready I went downstairs to have my breakfast. Our cook has already set the table for me so I had my breakfast peacefully while checking our file which I will present to Mr. Malhotra today.
After having my food and checking the file I went to the kitchen, made a glass of lemonade and went to Swara's room.
I put the glass of lemonade and tablet for her with a note that says.
"Have the medicine and drink the lemonade and then go downstairs to have your breakfast."
Knowing how careless she is with her eating habits.
I moved out of our penthouse and went downstairs to the entrance of the building where the driver was already waiting for me. I settled in the car and again started checking the file, there was no place of mistake today.
I didn't even realise when the car stopped and we were in front of Mr Malhotra's company until the driver told me that we had reached.
I quickly shut the file and moved out. I was standing in front of Mr Malhotra's company, shit I forgot his first name. I dialled Dhruv's number but wasn't able to connect the call. I decided to google it and fuck, there wasn't a network on my phone. Oh god, Baani, you should have remembered his name before coming here. I am bad with names and I don't even remember the first letter of his name and this all is making me anxious.
"No, no, no I can't be anxious now, let's go inside there won't be a need to address him by his first name," I told myself and went inside.
"Baani Roy," I introduced myself to the receptionist once I reached the reception.
"I have an appointment with Mr. Malhotra." I continued
"Welcome Miss Roy, sir has been waiting for you." She told formally with a smile.
Should I ask her his name? I thought but decided not to do it as it won't seem good.
We moved to the lift, she pressed the floor and the lift started moving. Once we reached the floor, we came out of the lift and I followed the receptionist.
Suddenly my phone started ringing, it was a call from Dhruv. I cut it and texted him that I was in Malhotra's office.
When I looked up from my phone the receptionist was standing holding the door for me to get inside of his cabin.
I moved in and looked around. Seems like this man loves luxury, his whole cabin only screams one thing which is lavishness.
His cabin is huge with beautiful grey walls and a glass wall.
His desk was black in colour and was neat and clean, his whole cabin was properly organised. I looked for him and found him sitting on the couch facing that mirror wall, his back was visible to me.
"Mam, sir is waiting for you." The voice of the receptionist brought me out of my trance. I nodded and moved towards him. My heels were making sounds and for once I wanted them to shut up. I moved in front of him, he was reading a file, specs resting on his nose but I wasn't able to see his face clearly. I have heard a lot about his handsome looks and mastermind business ideas.
I cleared my throat.
"Good Morning, Mr. Malhotra." I greeted him formally and that's when he looked up and oh god what they tell about his looks is only 10% of how he looks in real life.
He has a fair complexion, a sharp jawline with a perfectly trimmed beard. His hair was properly set up with gel, not even a single strand of hair was out of place. He has a perfectly pointed nose and beautiful lips. His eyes were blue and even the specs weren't able to hide their beauty. He was wearing black pants paired with a black shirt and black blazer. Totally opposite of mine as I was wearing white pants with a white shirt and a white blazer. In simple words, he is pretty handsome and hot.
"Good Morning Miss Baani." He greeted back and removed his specs and dude that mere act seemed so hot at that moment.
No Baani, don't distract yourself, I told myself.
"Take a seat." He said more like ordered
I sat down on the sofa opposite him.
"I assume you are here for the event ." He said once I settled down.
"Yes Mr. Malhotra, I can assure you, we are one of the best event-managing companies in the city. And I have a file of our past events." I told him.
The meeting was going pretty well. I wasn't intimidated by his looks at all, ok fine, I was but only a little. But despite that, I was explaining everything with confidence and it seemed like he was somewhat impressed by our work.
Mr Malhotra is throwing a party for his success for the past year and he wants it to be grand. If we secure the event and it goes well, our company's reputation and our careers will reach great heights.
"This is okay, but I won't take any decision hastily as I want it to be one of the biggest events of the year." He said once I was done.
Only okay? Dude I presented our entire career in front of this guy and this is his response? But that's alright as I was somewhat prepared for it, but he is so rude. I knew convincing him wouldn't be an easy job and I couldn't do anything more right now, as it would make me look desperate and that's the last thing I wanted to do right now.
"Sure Mr. Malhotra, I understand but if you don't mind I'll have to fill out a form on your behalf for record purposes," I told him professionally.
"Sure, go ahead." He replied authoritatively.
I opened the form and was going to fill the first block which was of name and I remembered, I forgot his name and no way I would ask his name, that would look so unprofessional.
I hesitantly looked up and found him already staring at me. I gave a sheepish smile to him and again looked down.
Oh god, what to do now and at that moment, an idea struck me. I moved my laptop towards him.
"Sir it would be a pleasure of mine if you could fill the form for our record purposes. Our company would be delighted to know that YOU filled the form." I emphasised on you. Shit, I can't believe I said that, that's so cheesy.
His eyebrows furrowed and he looked at me with a weird expression. I should have asked his name, at least that would have been less embarrassing than saying what I said.
I was about to take my laptop back but he took it from my hand. He filled out the form within a second and handed me the laptop back.
"It was nice to meet you Ms Baani. My secretary will inform you about my decision soon." He said and stood up.
I also stood up and kept my laptop in my bag securely.
I almost gulped seeing our height difference. This man is so tall. I am so proud of myself for not taking a step back and being intimidated by his height.
'What thing about this guy is not intimidating you?' My subconsciousness asked.
Right, everything about him is intimidating.
"We would be delighted to hear a positive response from you." I replied formally with a smile and moved towards the door of the cabin.
"By the way, Reyansh Malhotra, it is Ms Baani Roy." I heard his voice from behind when I was going to leave his cabin.
My hand paused on the handle of the door.
I turned back and unknowingly a smile crept on my face.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr Reyansh Malhotra," I said with a genuine smile and left.
MAYBE HE ISN'T THAT RUDE.
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