Raghav's POV:

I kept staring at her she looked gorgeous while the sunlight fell on her beautiful silky hair and sat by the pond....

The way she is looking at me like a little robber 😍 I could right away jump from this balcony and pull her into a kiss❤️

When I was fantasizing about my wife I got a call from Anupam...

'Yes Anupam'

I heard him say 'Sir we have a problem in our Mangalorean Hotels...'

And I was shocked.

I quickly called upon a meeting which ran upto next 3 hours.

It was ticking a 2 pm...and I heard Siya come into the room...she was standing behind me...

Waiting for my call to get over...

I went on mute and excused myself from the call, turned around and told her

'Yes Siya ...'

She looked elsewhere and said 'Ummm... Lunch is ready...so mom asked you to come down'

'Looks like this call will go longer Siya, you guys have lunch...I'll have it later' I said quickly and got back onto my video call.

I could still feel her gaze on me for a few more minutes...

Soon I heard the door knob click...

The call went on and on ..

Soon I heard the knob click again...

I put the call on mute again...I told
'Siya the call is Still on...you please have your lunch...I'll have la....'

Before I could complete the sentence I noticed her carry a tray full of food in front of me...

'Switch from video to audio call...go on mute when you are not talking and eat your food' she instructed...

I smiled and took the tray from her.

She silently left the room.

I looked at the tray...it had ginger pudding and burritos but my favorite pink pasta attracted me the most....

I switched off my video and took the first bite of my favorite pasta in pink sauce....

'Ummmmmmmmmmm'

I left a moan unknowingly at it tasted heavenly...

It was one of finest pasta in pink sauce I ever ate. Infact I liked it better than my my favorite Italian hotel pasta.

I dumped another big spoon and moaned louder...

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm

That's when I suddenly felt pin drop silence on the call...

Only to notice the call was not on mute🙈

Damn your craving for pasta Raghav...
How embarrasing CEO moaning on a video conferencing call which had all the head management folks on the call...

I quickly apologized...
'Hmmm sorry folks...my mother sent me my favorite pasta with pink sauce.... sorry 😛'

While I heard everyone laughing on the call
..

Soon I heard Naman on the call say
'Bro...vanni made it...and trust me you must convince her to join our hotel...she's a fabulous cook'

That's exactly when it striked me...

'Great idea indeed!!!'

***
Finally the 4.5 hrs call ended and I walked down the staircase while I saw Naman was already enjoying evening snacks made by mom.

While my eyes looked for Siya...I saw her sit with the laptop in the living room.

I was curious on what does she do on a laptop while she owns a chain of bakeries.

So I silently went and stood behind her.

I noticed a small application opened which mentioned

'Siya's DigiInventory'

I was impressed... So my madam handled the entire business, orders, account's of various branches all under a single application.

Smart & sexy both huh 😍

'So you manage data, accounts, deliveries and also prepping all sitting here is it' I asked her.

While she felt me lean on the sofa she froze.

She turned around and looked at me...

'Ummm... It's just better to keep a close eye as I continue expanding... I don't mind making lesser profit but I want to make sure my brand-name doesn't compromise. So I make sure the deliveries, payment, accounts at the same time quality of my products are intact.'

'Quality???' I asked taking a seat next to her on the sofa she was sitting...my forearms touched her forearms and I freely moved my left hand on the sofa head like almost pulling her in my arms....🙃

And I felt her body stiffen...even in between of a serious conversation she remembers to maintain the distance 🤨 which my body hates.... 🙃 I love sticking to her like a chewing gum 😜

'I always believe food business is always about taste, quality, cleanliness and customer satisfaction. The day the quality declines you start loosing customer and the minute you start loosing one it becomes a chain reaction. So my target is not just to attract new customers but to make sure my old customers are always happy with my end product' she said firmly while she continued typing on the laptop. And made some space between us by pushing herself to the corner most space on the sofa...
Now my left hand slipped from the sofa head to her shoulder and she literally froze and did not move....

While I continued pouring questions on her....while my body urging heat of her body made its own movements 😜

'So.... How does it work??? Ummm I mean how do you ensure that the cake or croissant you serve in Mangalore tastes the same in Bangalore?' I was now actually curious with her management planning.

She got from the sofa and stood up ...again running away from my hold...Too smart huh???😍
Folding the laptop and holding it against her chest hugging it.... she replied...

'I train my chefs personally. I ensure they are all on same track and I make sure to Make them all meet together once a year as I plan a 2 day vacation for my employees that's when my top chefs meet together and discuss, bond and have fun...at the same time I know they are in sync...while team building happens also if I learn anything new I make sure same recepie is followed everywhere. For the rest of snacks produces happen in large scale at my main bakery which is made sure to be distributed to both Mangalore and Bangalore.' she said confidently.

Such precise smart and well planned business woman. She's definitely impressive not just in her personal life but also professionally.

'Dont you think a small scale business makes a little lesser profit that way? I mean I know you pay your chefs quite high.' I tried poking her further.

'They are educated, well trained pastry chefs Raghav. Not random guys who learnt it on the go. Their pay is what they deserve.' she argued...

'And what if they quit to go to someone else tomorrow' I asked...

'Thats why team building... If my one pastry chef at a bakery leaves I have 4 more to train the new pastry chef whom I will hire and till then I can make sure cake gets delivered from other branch'

This woman was intelligent. She had a solid proof layered planning for every situation.

That's when I felt I need to discuss my hotel problem with her.

'Ummmm... Siya... My both Mangalore Hotel head chefs ... quit together!!! Without even serving a notice period and are even ready to pay the 3 months notice money to us....We are in big time soup and it's the wedding season in Mangalore and a line of events are lined up. It looks like someone desperately planning to pull us down I told her.'

She looked at me...maybe she understood I was in too much tension.

'Can I suggest something?'

'For immediate events get one of your chefs from Chennai...in the mean time hire a chef.'

'Will you join Prabhu Group of Hotels' I asked her in one go...

'Me.... No....I ...I can't ..I have my own business...no ways' she said.

'Siya you are a trained chef...I can only think of you in this short notice. Please....' I requested her...

'Sorry Raghav... I'm into my own business and it's almost impossible for me to jump into your business....'

'I will have to pay unbelievable amount to hire a professional at this short notice Siya...and young chefs from culinary school may not be as good as a professional' I told her...

'Im sorry Raghav... I can't join your business but I can help you if you like.... My chef Pramod Shetty here in one of our bakeries earlier worked as a 5 star hotel chef in Mumbai and then learnt well and became a pastry chef but as you know many hoteliers don't pay chefs well....he was very happy about the pay I offered him, plus I trained him into a pastry chef...so he's very good so for the immediate events he can take over... For the rest...hire young professionals...pay them well... And I and Shetty can train them for a few hours everyday.' she suggested...

I was extremely happy that she solved my big big problem in just 5 mins...

She's a savior.

'I'll quickly let my management know about this' and ran upstairs.

'But Raghav please understand...I can only train them post 8 pm in the night...max for 3 -4 hrs' I was still ok with what she offered me.

***
Next day morning I saw Siya make some halwa in the kitchen...

'I love halwa' I told her standing behind her...

She looked extremely attractive in the saree she was wearing and I kept looking at her backless blouse which showed enough amount of her silky skin and I had an urge to move my fingers on it but she suddenly turned around and I pretended to look elsewhere.

'Ummm by the way the pasta yesterday was delicious' I told her.

She just hummed silently.

'Ummm...so today at 8pm? I asked her curiously...

'Sure... I'll be at your hotel' she said.

While I saw her take a spoon of halwa from the pan and blow against it.

While she was about to taste it

I stood in front of her opening my mouth saying

'Aaaaaaaaaa'
Indicating her to feed it to me.

She saw me in surprise and finally the spoon full of halwa landed in my mouth.

I moaned... 'Ummmmmmmmmmm'

While I saw her chuckle.

'Its just halwa' she teased looking into my eyes...

While I stepped closer to her brought my lips near her mouth and said
'Exactly...if it wasn't just halwa...I wouldn't even let the opposite person moan ...infact breathe' while my lips were just cms apart.

Her eyes almost popped out at my confession and I slowly left a kiss on her cheek😘

Slowly moving my mouth near her earlobe while she was shivering...

'Halwa was never this sweet... see you at 8 tonight darling' ❤️ I told her walking away from there while her mouth stayed wide open and I was trying hard to control my laughter.

***
Siya's POV:

Oh no...how much I run away from him that much my fate is pushing me closer to him.

I mean what's gone into him... He kisses me anytime he feels like...he's like... So....I don't know....its getting too much for my poor heart to handle.

And now on I travel back home with him every night as I promised to train his new hires.

Why Siya...why do you always invite trouble 🤷