***Sahana's P. O. V***

"Please come in" came his voice, again not bark, and I entered the cabin hesitantly. His gaze was stuck on his laptop screen, his perfect eyebrows screwed up in concentration, his left hand drumming the table surface.

"I'm very pleased with your report from yesterday Sahana. But there's... " his voice trailed off as he looked up and his eyes found mine.

Damn the guy looks intimidating!! Wearing a crisp black shirt with charcoal grey tie {which had been loosened-up slightly}, his charcoal grey blazer hanging on the chair's back support, and the full sleeve of his shirt folded upto his elbow, Arush sir looked a bit... shocked?! And what's that in his eyes?! Sadness?!

And what's that frown on his face? Well if he's not happy to see me why the hell did he even call me?

Feeling like the earth beneath me has shattered, I mustered all my strength to glare at him. It's bad enough that I feel dejected and all sorts of crap seeing how he clearly doesn't like to see me, but then he calls me to his cabin to show how much he hates me?! Asshole!

Glaring at him, I pursed my lips tightly and walked towards him, to finally stand in front of his table.

He still looked confused and still frowned, looking at me. Don't ask me why but I felt extremely low, extremely sad...that he's not happy to see me and tears stung my eyes at this thought.

But taking a deep breath, I brushed all the thoughts away....I need to concentrate on my work...assholes like Arush sir aren't worth my time.

"You called me sir?" I asked, trying hard to control the anger in my voice.

"Huh?" He asked, as though he didn't understand what I meant and shook his head vigorously, finally his cheeks turning pink.

Why's he blushing? Or is it anger that's making him flush?

"Sahana......Ms.Agarwal... the report was excellent and I'm really impressed. Even though the format was not like the one I'd asked, the way you improved on it is really good. So could you continue the same format for our other projects too?" he asked, smiling a little.

I smiled weakly, but still tears stung my eyes because he called me Ms.Agarwal again.... So whatever so called improvement we had yesterday was like it didn't happen at all... we're back to square one. FINE!!! FINE!!

"We're actually having a meeting with these clients today afternoon... And I'd like for you to present in the meeting, seeing how majority of the project work has been your contribution and your own suggestions" he added, looking intently at me.

Though my heart skipped several beats when his gaze clashed with mine, I quickly looked away from his eyes. Why should I force my company on him?

Wait...did he say that I'm to talk in the meeting?

"But sir....me?? And talking in the meeting?! I....I...I can't" I said, and stuttered the last part as his gaze clashed with mine.

"why not? You're the one who contributed the maximum to this project Ms.Agarwal....surely you want your contribution to be noted?!" He asked, looking into my horror-struck eyes which I couldn't shift away from his beautiful eyes.

I winced ever so slightly as he used my surname, but tried acting as indifferent as possible and looked away from his eyes.

"I have stage fear...I can't be the center of attention" I blurted out.

"I too have stage fear and it takes a lot of effort to hold regular meetings even with my team Sahana...but this is about an appreciation for your hard work and I want you to speak in this meeting. I won't take no for an answer" he said in a calm tone and I finally met his eyes again.

I pursed my lips to stop myself from smiling at him and nodded my head.

I don't know for how long we stayed like that in silence, gazing into one another's eyes long and hard, but both of us jumped when his intercom rang.

With my cheeks turning a deeper shade of crimson with every passing second, I looked away, wondering what on Earth was happening with me.

All my thoughts, however, shot out of my brain as soon as I heard him shout.

Ruthlessly, he was shouting at Kinjal through the intercom for calling him to remind him about the meeting that afternoon.

This inconsiderable human aka my boss actually roared at Kinjal for reminding him because he already did remember itseams and didn't need her reminding?!

Asshole! There's absolutely no such thing called humanity in him!!!

Bloody fucker!! Doesn't even know how to be polite!! Kinjal was doing her duty by reminding him of the meeting and he's shouting at her for that?

The knowledge of a lot of swear words didn't help me because I couldn't use any of them at my boss because I'm not a rude asshole like him!

"May I leave...sir?" I asked, adding as much contempt as possible on the word sir.

The anger in his eyes vanished to be replaced by...what's that.... disappointment?!

Oh yeah surely he'd love to torment me after tormenting Kinjal...that's why he's disappointed!!

Arush sir pursed his lips and sighed before nodding his head in approval.

Not saying another word, I left his office whilst rage coursed through me. Bloody fucker how dare he just...just... Oh I wanna slap him so hard on his bearded cheek....I wonder how it'd feel when his beard brushes through my palm?!?

And his awesome hair....wonder how silky it is?! How would it feel when I run my fingers through his hair?! 

Oh and his lips...wait why am I thinking all this?!?!

What the fuck am I thinking about instead of hating him ugh?!

"What happened? And why do you look so murderous?" Riya asked, tapping on my shoulder.

I jumped and looked around - when did I return to my cubical and when did Riya get here?!

"Oh hello madam?! Wait hang on a moment!! You're wearing pink lipstick! And eyeliner!! And wait....fuck you're even wearing perfume....that's new!! Why so fancy today?! Oh my is it for a dude?! This is a new dress....oye hoye soniye kya baat hai?!" Riya asked suggestively, smirking and wriggling her eyebrows.

At the mention of dude my mind instantly recalled the small eye-contact with Arush sir from just a few moments ago and heat rose to my cheeks. But I quickly looked away, and said "nothing....nothing...there's....a meeting today...and I'm presenting in the meeting...that's all" 

"Oh?! Hmpf! Well...okay then....are you okay?" Riya asked, sounding a little mollified.

"Huh?! What's happened to me?" I asked, whizzing my head back to her direction and wondering if she could possibly know how much and what all I'm thinking about Arush sir!?

"The meeting Sahana....new people....center of attention....you have stage fear right?!" Riya said, looking sympathetically at me.

"Oh yeah...yeah right....fear" I said, my mind still buzzing with Arush sir's words of comfort, the way he reassured me with that eye contact, that warm eye contact.....that smile....

"Sahana...I don't mean to sound self centered or anything....but....um....could you leave office early today and join me for shopping?! You know the kind of clothes I have and....well, I want to give a very nice first impression to Kabir's family... I'm meeting them on Sunday" Riya said shyly, patches of pink adorning her cheeks.

"Meeting his family are we?! Very eager to impress your to-be-in-laws Riya?" I asked, winking at her and smirking.

Riya blushed scarlet but nodded her head nevertheless.

"Arre yaar itni dar dar k kyo puch rahi h? I'll definitely accompany you even though I hate shopping.... Don't worry they'll love you" I said, grinning at her. 

Riya beamed at me and hugged me from my chair.

"Right, so let me complete this work that the asshole has set for me and then I hope he lets me early after the meeting" I said, breaking from the hug.

It just dawned upon me how big of an inconsiderate human my boss is and how much he loves tormenting his subordinates, and how....and how he wouldn't let me go off early. My blood boiled as I recalled how he had shouted at Kinjal through the phone.

Handsome and cute my ass! Arush sir is just an excuse of a human being and he may look good but that doesn't stop him from being a dick!! 

Sending off Riya, I busied myself in work, preparing for the meeting that afternoon, all the while trying hard to not think of Arush sir's blushing face, and constantly reminding myself how rude and inconsiderate he is and how much he deserves my hate.

***Arush's P.O.V***

"Different shades of blue and their names"  I googled as soon as disconnected that worhtless receptionist's call and was alone in my cabin.

Teal blue?! That's the color of Sahana's dress?! Where the hell do I get that colored shirt?! I do have a light blue colored shirt, a navy blue one, and even a parrot green one...but teal blue?! Hmpf that's not in my wardrobe.

I racked my brain to think of any shirt or t-shirt I might have of that color - what else do I wear on Monday?! 

God Sahana looked so..angelic and ...wow in that color....why don't I have that color?! The first thought that struck my head when I saw her today was wow

And the second thought that struck my head was....'damn I don't think I have any shirt in this color' and I couldn't help but frown that I cannot follow her color code on Monday!!

Maybe I can search in some online shopping platforms?! I do always get my suits and shirts hand-stitched from good tailors and branded names....but you can see how desperate I am to get a teal colored something for Monday?!

Reyansh is a good man.... he told me his love for football and cricket and we had a nice long chat about sports and gym and movies....man I have so much in common with my bro-in-law... I mean.... Reyansh....hey don't look at me like that!

Found it!! There's this teal-colored fitted shirt in this shopping app....hmpf it is my size....but I don't wear t-shirts to office...maybe I can wear a blazer over it...there's no meeting on Monday and we don't really have a wear only formals to office rule in this office!

Fine....clicking on the buy option of the shirt, I filled in my card details, paid for it and ordered for deliver by tomorrow option - if I get the shirt tomorrow, I can try it on and see how it looks...if not, well, maybe I can go shopping for a teal colored shirt?!

Placing my iPhone on the table, I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back rest of the chair, reliving my so-many eye-contacts with Sahana. 

A smile automatically made it's way to my lips as I recalled how yesterday she held my eye contact with a rush of emotions flooding her beautiful eyes as Zara si dil mein de jagah tu had played in the background in the cafe last evening.

And why....why did I mean every word of it as the song Hero played on and Sahana held my gaze in the cafe?! Why did I feel like asking her would she take my hand and dance with me, or let me kiss her pain away, or let me be her hero?!

But then again, I remembered her facial expression, the way Sahana had cringed and gotten angry as Reyansh and Raj had teased her with me....her expression when they'd called me her boyfriend. I felt something inexplicable....something weird and borderline depressing when she'd stood up to leave at their little teasings....why did she hate me so much?! Did she hate even the thought of me being her boyfriend so much?!

But all thoughts had literally and figuratively shot out of my head when I saw her this morning - an angel... my angel?!

I smiled again, recalling how she'd asked me yesterday evening to drop all formalities and address her as just Sahana.....Sahana.....Sahana!

But today seeing her frown I couldn't help but wonder if yesterday was all in the past....had she left all those wonderful....incidents....memories.....whatever we shared....did she leave it all in the past?! Didn't it mean anything to her?!

And then, she held my eye-contact....again!! TODAY!! FOR A DAMN LONG TIME!!! NO I'M NOT COMPLAINING!! CAN YOU SEE HOW HAPPY I AM BECAUSE SAHANA HELD MY EYE CONTACT!!!! I'm gleeful of course!!

What was it about her that holds my attention? Why is it that I couldn't bark an order at her and actually very politely requested her to come to my office in the intercom this morning?!

What is it about Sahana Agarwal that made my heart skip a beat when she asked me to call her by her first name...Sahana.....Sahana Agarwal.....Sahana Sharma?!

To be continued...