Dedicated to penbegungor1. I think you'll like the last scene.. one you'd predicted a few chapters ago ;)

Thank you for the 2.5k+ Reads!! <3 Longer chapter (:

   ♕Jhanvi ♕  

          I take a walk around the place. It has a lavish kitchen, grand living room, a study, and a bedroom with an attached balcony. I take in how well-furnished the place is, and then it strikes me.

There is only one bedroom.

"That bastard." I mutter under my breath, realizing he did this on purpose. Now it makes sense as to why he was in hurry to leave. He didn't want to be around when I would have the chance to see there was only one bedroom.

He's not getting away with this. 

I find his number on the new phone and ring him. As soon as it is answered, I do not wait for a greeting. "You did this on purpose."

I can almost hear the smirk in his tone as he lies, "I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh? Alright, I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor or living room couch." I announce and end the call, not waiting for his response.

He really should have considered the possibilities before doing something like this. He should have known that I would make him sleep on the floor, couch, or even the chair in the study room for all I care.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          I put my file down after eyeing Aarav's actions. He walks to the other side of the bed, loosening his tie. He is about to sit down, when I speak up. "Don't even think about it." He pauses mid-way and turns to look at me. I give him my most serious look.

He looks back in exasperation as realization dawns. "You're really going to make me sleep on the couch!"

I gave him a sweet smile. "Yes." He frowns. I drop the smile and point out, "If you didn't want to, you shouldn't have been a smart ass and got a one-bedroom condo."

"I was hoping you'd show me just how kind your heart is." He sweet-talks, making me roll my eyes.

"Right, now beat it Raizada."

"Oh, come on!" He pouts, which almost makes me melt. Almost.

I squint in response, "Go find your own bed."

"You're no fun," He comments with a pout, making me chuckle silently.

Seeing this side of him is different. It must not be every day that he has to beg someone, and definitely not every day when you get to see Mr. Rich Raizada not have a bed to sleep in.

He asks as if I would make a compromise. "Not even with pillows between us?"

I shake my head sternly, returning to my file. "Nope."

"Not even if I promise to stay on my side?"

"Not even then," I answer in a bored tone. Nothing he would say was going to make me change my mind.

He doesn't say anything, seeing I am vested in my file and not budging from my decision at all. He shouldn't have expected anything else. I already made it clear to him that he can help as a friend, and stay in the same place I do, again, as a friend. In my books, nowhere does a friend of the opposite gender share a bedroom and definitely not a bed.

From the corner of my eyes, I see him pick up a pillow and then walk over to the couch. I know very well that the couch isn't as long as his height. I would really like to see him fidget and fit in that tiny couch. I tell myself to not sympathize. He brought this upon himself when he purposefully chose a place big enough to only have one bedroom. He and I both had the finances to rent out a 2 BHK. I command my eyes to focus on the file at hand. There are many pending things to catch up on before first day at office tomorrow.

I didn't think learning the ropes of business would be this tough.

As I realize all the things I need to do, I seep into work and lose track of time. I spread the multiple files over the bed and with a laptop in front of me, I get to combine the information and drafting up a proposal for a project as Aarav had taught me during the week in Mumbai.

I let out a sigh of relief and stretch when I am done. I check the clock and three hours had passed by since. It's 2:42 a.m. and my eyes widen at that fact. I stayed up very late, considering I have to be up the latest by 7:30 a.m. to get to the office by 9 a.m.

Gathering the files and pulling the laptop screen shut, I am about to lay down in bed when I see Aarav sleeping uncomfortably on the couch. 

For a mini-second, I feel guilty for making him sleep there, but then it is gone as I remind myself of my earlier decision and the fact that this was his own doing. 

Though, not finding myself to be that heartless, I get up to walk to the closet. Pulling out an extra blanket as silently as I can, I drape it over him.

The minutes before I go to sleep, I find myself wondering which side of Aarav is the real him. The first time I met him, he was an arrogant man who might as well have believed the world should bow down at his feet... not that he doesn't occasionally still show that side. But over the past couple of days of knowing him, I have seen softer sides to him as well. Other than me, I have observed once how he was lovingly talking to his sister on the phone after we left the hospital. 

I don't know which one is the real him, but I do know one thing for a fact.

He is a man of different shades and multiple layers.

He is a man surrounded by a mysterious aura but above all, he is a man of his words.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          That annoying sound that every person hates hearing the first thing as they are awakened from their sleep: an alarm clock. Which smartass invented this damn thing? Please tell me, so I can go find their ghost and give them a thousand deaths. Of course, I would do that after I ask them why the hell they would make such an instrument that ruins a human being's peace.

Yeah, if you already didn't figure it out, I am not a morning person. At all. I sit up in bed with a deep frown on my face. Eye still shut, I stretch and think of the refreshing taste of coffee. It is the one thing that brings me the strength I need to open my eyes and drag myself out of bed. Only, I open my eyes to see Aarav looking at me. His eyes are glazed, and I squint at him, trying to figure out what is up with him. Then I look down at myself and I see it.

Rolling my eyes, I ask. "Like what you see?"

He realizes he's caught, and clears his throat, looking away. I fix my tank-top and push the blanket aside, effectively stepping out of bed. Running my fingers through my hair, I tie it up in a messy loose ponytail. "Coffee?"

"Green tea." He says.

"If you need to shower, get on with it." I inform him and then leave the room. I'd like the bathroom to be free and not occupied when I am done having my first cup of coffee. I need atleast three to wake me up, especially after not getting enough sleep.

An hour later, I am standing in front of my walk-in closet, wrapped in a towel, deciding what to wear for the day. I couldn't decide. It must have been atleast ten minutes since I kept on shifting my decision from one outfit to another. Finally, I decide to match two different outfits together.

The door opens and I turn abruptly with my eyes wide. "I thought I locked the door." I talk out loud, mostly to myself.

He takes one look at me and a sly smirk appears on his face. "Is this going to be a thing between us from now on?"

I see he means how I am in a towel, for the second time in front of him.

I scowl and putting my hands on his shoulder, turn him around forcefully. I have to use more force because at first, he refuses to turn. "Not if you quit picking at locks," I say, knowing very well that my memory was not playing tricks on me. I did lock the door and the only possible reason he walked in is that he used a spare key to open it from outside.

He defends his actions. "Hey, I thought it was jammed, alright? How am I supposed to know you don't take your clothes with you in the bathroom? Because you know, that's what sensible people do."

I tell him as I push him out the door "In no mood for your lecture." and lock it once again.

Another ten minutes later, I am all changed and my hair is combed back. I had applied light powder and eye-liner. 

Walking out to the kitchen, I pour another cup of coffee. Before I can bring the cup to my lips and take a sip, a hand stops me and steals the cup away from me. "Hey!" I scold him. "Give that back."

"One is enough, Shona." He says, pouring the coffee down the drain, leaving me to gape at his actions.

"What did you do that for?!" I exclaim. "Now you make me coffee," I demanded with my hands on my hips.

He places the cup in the sink and shakes his head, least affected by my anger. "Too much caffeine isn't good for you."

"I know what is and isn't good for me, okay? I have three cups of coffee daily, and I am just fine." I snap, and then he gives me a look which reminds me why he said that. "Oh," I mutter and let go of the instant anger and calm down. He is right in his place. Being pregnant, I should control my intake of coffee.

"Yeah," He mutters back instead of rubbing it in my face. He must have seen the look of sadness that crosses over as I realized. I have yet to completely wrap my head around this huge change in my life. "Thanks, by the way."

"Huh?" I ask at the sudden change of topic which confuses me.

He clarifies, "For making my green tea, and for the blanket."

I nod. "Yeah, no prob."

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          We walk into the office to see what chaos looks like. The complete opposite of what I have seen daily in the week I spent at Mumbai. Everyone was just idling around, gossiping and such. No one was actually working. Even the receptionist was talking to someone on the phone while manicuring her nails.

I catch a flash of temper cross over Aarav's face and I grab his hand before he approaches the front desk. He glances at the contact and then at me. I ask, "May I?" He understands I want to try and handle this. He unclenches his jaw and nods. "Your phone?" He is confused but hands it over.

I walk up to the reception desk. "Excuse me," I spoke, and she shows me her hand, asking me to wait.

She kept on talking on the phone, "Yeah, can you believe it? Anyway, I just kissed him back, because what the hell. He was hot. And then he had the nerves to..."

They are so going to hear it from Aarav eventually. I read the overview of this branch last night, and it's not pretty. The phone line is used to talk to friends instead of answering office calls. Employees are playing games and eating, having a party, instead of doing the work they are paid to do. "Excuse me!" I raise my voice at her, only for her to give me an irritated bitch face.

"Hold on Tammy, I need to kick some tacky lady out of here." She spoke to the person at the other end and then speaks to me. "What do you want?" She demands instead of being polite like she should be and ask what she can help me with.

"Can you call up your boss for me?"

She rolls her eyes as if she could be least bothered in answering, "He lives in India, lady. You wasted your time coming here."

"You must have his number. Can you please call him?" I ask managing to keep my voice as sweet as possible.

The girl lets out an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah, alright. Wait a sec." She pulls out a binder and after flipping through the laminated sheets, dials a number. Aarav's phone rings a second later.

I answer it. "Hello."

The girl in front of me burrows her brows looking at me, but spoke to the phone nevertheless. "Hello, this is..."

I don't wait for her to finish, "Yes, you're fired..." I turn her name-tag around so I can read it. I then speak looking her dead in the eye as she realizes whose phone I am holding. "Sylvia Brown, but before that, Mr. Raizada here would like you to do one last thing. Get all the department heads, managers and assistant managers in the conference room in two minutes and all employees back to work if they want to keep their jobs."

Her eyes dart towards Aarav when I nod in his direction at his mention. Her eyes widen on seeing him and now she really feels the fear.

The phone is put with a clutter back to its receiver. "Ye-yes ma'am." She stutters a response. I look back at Aarav and he walks in with me. Once in the elevator, he presses the 7th button towards where his cabin must be without sparing a look at those around us. Even I had seen enough of their behavior to give me an impression.

"Nice job," he compliments once its just the two of us in the elevator.

It may as well be the very first compliment I've ever received from him. I hold his phone out trying to hide my smile, "Thank you."

He says accepting it and fixing his phone away in the coat pocket, "You were definitely born for this."

I do recall the first conversation when he'd said a similar thing. I was born to be a lot more than an assistant. Even though it has only been a week, I think I am already starting to believe it.

There is no one holding me back anymore. I don't have to be forced to be polite and put up with behaviors I disapprove of. Even my voice matters for something and I can speak against it if I so chose to.

Just before we get out of the elevator, he informs again. "The floor is all yours."

I understand that he wants me to deal with the employees how I see fit. I inhale deeply through a rising chest and let the nerves settle in. He trusts me to do this and I want to do this right.

I pace the cabin back and forth, trying to figure out what to say. I'm not the best when it came to that, and even though I need to yell at the employees, I am trying to not let it get the worst of me. I need to maintain a calm posture and show them I mean business. It's how I have always observed Aarav. Their behavior is simply unacceptable. They are all adults. They should act as such in a work environment.

Aarav simply sits back and watches. Then checking my wristwatch, I see five minutes have passed by. He stands up and blocks my path so I pause my pacing. "It's cute seeing you mad and pacing back and forth like I do, but breathe. You can do this."

I nod telling myself to believe his words. He trusts me to be capable of this, so he must have seen something, right?

He picks up my cell from the table and hands it to me. "Shall we?"

I nod again and we make our way to the conference room. He walks in after me and it seems most of all the people who need to be here are present, gathered about in one end of the wall, away from the oval table in the center of the room.

One of them spoke taking a step further and trying to butter him up. "Mr. Raizada, what an unexpected visit. We're glad you could..."

"Save it," He replies in a clipped tone and takes a seat. "This is Ms. Raichand, my partner. While I am here, you'll be reporting to her. Not me."

All eyes turn to me. Another employee speaks up to greet me, "Ms. Raichand, welcome. We would like to sincerely apologize."

I lean again against the table and cross my arms and my legs at the ankle. "What we saw today was very disappointing. As Department heads and managers, you are expected to be in charge of those employees working under you. This? This is not what you are paid for."

I push off the table and walk to one of them, putting a name to the face. "George, is it?" I vaguely remember reading from the file that Eva had put together for me with information on all the employees at this branch. George, the accounts department manager.

"Yes," He answers in a meek voice. He doesn't meet my eyes and it's the first time I realize someone could actually be intimidated by my presence.

I order, "I want a yearly review of finances on all departments on my desk within the hour."

"Yes ma'am."

I speak to the others, "I want the same from each department. Individual reports. All the costs and expenses of the past three years. The deals made and the one's lost. Completed projects, ongoing ones, one in draft. Balance sheet of each project."

They all mumble in agreement.

"Now that that is settled..." I say while walking back to sit at the other head of the table, directly across from Aarav. "Is anyone willing to explain why this office has been turned into a ground for irresponsible adults to party as a bunch of immature college students? I must have missed the memo, because I swear I saw the board outside says otherwise but this seems to be a club."

No one utters a word. They all stand there with their heads hanging low in humiliation.

"Inform all employees that they have a week to show me positive change. By the time my assistant gets here, if I do not see it, they can start looking for jobs elsewhere. Things are going to change drastically here and if they cannot keep up with that, they need to step up and leave a resignation on my desk – hand it to me personally if they do not want to be called out and humiliated in front of other employees. I will not stop to think twice about how long that particular employee has been working for in this company. Is that clear?"

They all nod.

"Get to work then."

They all scatter out of the room and through the glassed windows, I see them disappear in different directions. I let out a sigh and drop my head on the desk.

I hear a chair roll back and figure Aarav is walking up to me. Next, his hand is on my nape as he squeezes it gently. I groan as he seems to have given just the right amount of pressure over my tensed area. "Insolent man-child's." I mutter under my breath before lifting my head. "Was I too harsh?"

"Atleast you gave them a chance," he answers as if it were him, he wouldn't have.

"Yeah. The place I used to work, it was just like this. Mad chaos because the boss was too friendly and everyone took advantage him. No one got any work done and it used to make me so mad." I don't know why I offer him a reason for why I was strict with them. I just did. I just seemed to tell these people what I wished I could have said to my boss back where I worked in Australia.

His smile seems to be the only approval I need. Then he says, "One last thing." He uses the phone in the conference room to ring up the reception. "In the conference room. Now."

Minutes later, Sylvia walks in after knocking and he motions for her to enter.

She speaks to me at once and I assume she heard from others what Aarav had said about them reporting to me, "Ma'am, I am truly sorry for what happened earlier. I promise it will never happen again. Please, do not fire me. I have..."

"Sad stories will get you nowhere, Ms. Brown." I cut her off. "If you are serious about working here, show me that and keep in mind – step out of line once and you might as well pack your stuff and hand me your resignation yourself. Do not wait for me to fire you."

"Yes. Yes, Ms. Raichand. Understood. Thank you. Thank you very much. Again, I'm..."

I cut her off once again catching on she was going to give a half-hearted apology again, "Back to work." She nods shutting her mouth and rushing out the door. I eye her footwear, "And Ms. Brown." She stops at the door and turns to face me, "Lay off the high heels and dress appropriately." Neither of the two is at appropriate lengths for work. This may be a fashion house, but it doesn't mean she be dressed to go to a club.

When she leaves, I get up but apparently, I stand up too suddenly and a wave of sudden vertigo hits me. It makes me stop and hold the edge of the table while closing my eyes. I feel Aarav walking to me again and holding me by the shoulder. I pay less attention to his gentle touch and wait for the dizziness to pass, finding myself protectively clutching my belly.

I let out a sigh and reopening my eyes, glance down at where my hand is. "Sorry baby," I speak to it, "I keep forgetting... I promise to be a better mother than this, okay?"

Aarav pushes the chair towards me and nudges me to sit. "No more yelling for you."

I find myself chuckling in dry humor, "Aarav, you can't put a restriction on everything you deem bad for my health."

He sits back on the table and I glance up feeling him towering over me as he is seated at a height compared to me. Rubbing a thumb over my hand, he answers. "Watch me." I try to stand up and he questions, still holding my hand. "Do you have something against looking after yourself, lady?"

I smile at his scolding because even though it has been a short while only, I think I am getting used to it. I don't know what compels me to turn my hand over so my palm is over his. "Why should I worry about it when you just said you'd look after it for me?"

His eyes change at my words. They soften and the warmth it fills me with seems to reciprocate in him. I glance down at our hands. For a second, I revel in the feeling. I can't recall the last time I felt such affection from anyone.

Yes, until yesterday, I was fighting him when he tried to look after me and my child's future. But today, after this dizzy spell... I guess you can say that reality is starting to wash over me. My pride is not bigger than my baby's health. 

Besides, I have never been good at looking after my health.

So this, l leave on Aarav to help me with.

His care, I accept.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

  ∞ author note  ∞  

Last scene... who loved it? ^_^

QOTC: What are your thoughts on how Jhanvi handled the office situation? Inspiration to include.. let's face it. We all have work issues at some point in life. 

Would anyone like to share a personal anecdote? I had a boss when I was a front desk employee a couple of years back who made me do silly things to keep me 'busy' & he was quite the moody fella... 

For next month (April), I will be updating this three times a week instead of two - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Who's ready for more doses of this? ^_^

Vote & Comment please and make me smile :) ! Don't be just a silent reader. I love hearing from you guys :D