Ishita, whose third call went unanswered by Gautam, wanted to slam her phone, down on the floor, but she didn't. she pulled herself together, took a deep breath and calmed down. she immediately dialed for the next number that popped up after searching for 'singhania' in her contacts, and dialed for that. 

"hello." received the call, in a matter of three rings, a young man, sounding not   day above 23, responded. 

"oh, hi aryan, tum office mein hi ho abhi?" confirmed ishita, she knew it was going to be a 'yes', but who doesn't like the ego boost of being right once in a while. 

"haanji, mam, kya hua? sir se baat karni thi?" replied aryan, as ishita, glad that she knew it, continued with the conversation. 

"nahi, nahi..unka phone nahi lag raha hai...toh.." attempted ishita to sound clueless about the situation. 

"haan, mam, woh actually sir ko noida project ki construction site pe pahuanchna pada, apparently koi leader ban gaya hai unka, joh unhe badhkakar protest karwana chahta hai...basically, sir usse fire karne waale hain sabke saamne, naya contractor bhi dhoond liya hai, lag raha hai sir ne manage karliya, even though bahaut bada bawaal mach gaya tha..." explained aryan, as ishita got the information she needed. 

"great...news waalon ko toh koi bhanak nahi lagi na, kyunki investors..." fetched ishita for more information. 

"arre kahan mam, pata chal bhi gayi, kaunsa aisa private news channel hain, jiske board member nahi hain sir! kaun unke hi khilaaf report karta!" exclaimed aryan, as ishita had a wicked smile of assurance on her face. 

"thik hai, acha suno, tum bhi zara office chakkar maarlo mere, kitna time ho gaya....abhi tumhari shaadi pakki hui thi, mithai-vithai khilao, phir tumhe gift bhi dena hai..." ishita buttered him up, as he was already blushing. 

"arre mam, uski kya zaroorat thi..." obliged aryan. 

"kya matltab? bilkul hai...arre ab jab tumhare sir itna busy rehte hain, kitne saare kaam toh tum hi dekh lete ho, bas koi normal PA thodi ho tum.." interjected ishita, as aryan sniggered. 

"chalo, abhi zara thoda kaam hai, par jab time milein, divya ke paas se apna gift le jaana...ok?" hung up ishita on the call, already letting out a sigh of frustration from the exhaustion it came from the exaggerated politeness she was pretending to have. 

The bell rang, as ishita walked over to the beautiful, sliding glass windows. the vicious media mob already after the acp and dcp, she knew it was time now. 

                                                              ***

Nihaal, who was having  a plate full of eggs, literally spreading his legs in front of pasi and paswan, as he watched tv along with eating them in the living room, who just awkwardly sipped their tea. 

"waise self-respect ko raha hi nahi haina aap logon ke paas..." quipped nihaal, glancing over their cups of tea. pasi and paswan, know they couldn't do much but avoid him, as paswan tried to flip the topic. 

"waise yeh itne ande honge?" questioned paswan, as pasi just glared at him. 

"athlete ho, weight maintain karna hota hai...body banani padti hai, toh jitna exercise karte hain usse double khaana padta hai..." informed nihaal, as paswan nodded. 

"hadd hi hai, 16-17 saal ke ladkon ko bhi body banani padh rahi hai..." grumbled paswan, when ishita walked into the living room. 

"ab kya kare constable sahab, kamse kam ladkon ko thodi der toh ruk lete hain, woh uncle waali tond aane se pehle..." mocked nihaal, not moving his glance from the tv, as he even grabbed a box of dry fruits in front of him, to eat from. 

"nihaal, sorry bolo uncle ko!" rebuked ishita, sitting next to him, as nihaal looked at her so innocently, as if he had done nothing, and ishita just glared at him. 

"sorry..." apologised nihaal half-heartedly, rolling his eyes in annoyance. 

ishita passed a cordial smile to pasi and paswan, before looking back at the tv, they both felt a little bit better. 

                                                                   ***

dushyant, looked around nonchalantly, as kavin made his call.

"aur tumhe do minute bhi nahi lage architect ka office apna banane mein..." remarked dushyant, as he turned back after hanging up on the call. 

(a/n: toh jinhone update tak ka wait kiya, pehechana kaun? agar iss pyaar ko kya naam doon dekha hai, toh yeh Arnav Singh Raizaida hain, aur aap bahaut ache se jaante hain ki kyun he would be perfect for gautam singhania..aur agar show nahi dekha, bhai apne saath itna bada anyaye kyun kar rahe ho? jao jaakar dekho...ab now the suspense is over, let's continue with the story...)

he immediately slided kavin's phone from his ear, to his hand, hanging up on the call for him. he wasn't forceful at all, that made him more intimidating. 

"never be late again..." warned singhania, his tone calm and low, as he kept kavin's phone back on the table, and turned his gaze to dushyant. 

"architect ne office banaya hai, isliye woh uska nahi ho jaata...aise toh har clerk joh files banata hai projects ki, project head ho jata...don't use that nonsense with me.." his face so stoic, and voice so clear and unmoved, as dushyant, who was just amused by everything he was observing, scoffed, unimpressed. 

"well, agar tum itna seriously le rahe ho isse, ke ek bhi joke nahi sun sakte...what have you done till now?" questioned dushyant, as the door opened, and a man, beaten and bruised, was thrown inside. 

Gautam, just walked over to him, standing in front of him with his arms crossed. 

"naam kya hai tumhara?" questioned singhania, disinterested, but had to be done.

"rakesh..." he replied, as much as he could find the strength in himself to, gautam turned to kavin and dushyant, who weren't exactly interested in giving the man any sympathies. 

the door opened again, and the mob of women came inside, horrified at seeing rakesh. 

"hilna mat." commanded singhania, as he took a good look at all of them.

"isse humne kaam se nikaal diya hai...aur yeh kabhi bhi, kahin bhi, kisi bhi construction site pe nahi kam karega...kyunki, koi project nahi hai pure delhi mein, jahan main involved nahi hoon, aur main isse bardaasht nahi karunga. main kisiko bhi bardaasht nahi karta, agar woh mujhse kaam karwane ko lagte hain, yeh bhulkar ki woh mere liye kaam karte hain..." declared singhania, and dushyant was witnessing it with a casual glance he would have for, a polo match maybe...

"aur ab tum log apne kaam pe nahi lage, tu tum logon ki jagah log aa rahe hain, joh 12 nahi balki 20 ghante kaam karne ko taiyaar hain...aur zyaada humdardi aa rahi hai iske liye, toh isse beshak bahar tak chod do...par usse aage, yeh khudh hi jayega, aur usse zyaada kisine kuch kiya, toh woh isse lekar jayega, aur bina dihaadi aur bina naukri." conditioned gautam, as he was already on his phone right now. 

"koi bhi, joh mujhe 5 minute mein kaam par waapas nahi milta, woh mere liye kaam chod raha hai..." he concluded, as everyone immediately rushed to pick up rakesh's body and ran. 

"and you both..." stated gautam to kavin and dushyant. 

"yeh partnership maine isliye nahi ki hai, kyunki mujhe saara kaam chahiye tha. grow up." expressed singhania his disdain, before he left. 

"yeh builder hai ki gangster?" questioned kavin, so unable to comprehend what on earth just happened. 

"kya farak padta hai, real estate chahiye toh jhelo isse..." remarked dushyant, as he too walked away, as kavin just covered his forehead. what has he gotten himself into? 

                                                                         ***