Chapter 4

Surprise

A girl can be seen sitting near a riverbank seeing the peaceful and serene atmosphere. She was engrossed in the environment when she suddenly heard a buzzer which made her jolt up from sitting, and she fell with a thud. She opened her eyes and found herself on the floor. The buzzer she heard was her alarm, which was a signal for her to wake up.

“Oh no, it’s 8 o’clock, I should be fast, or else I would be late for the office.”

She finished her business in the washroom and then came out. After wearing her clothes, she applied eyeliner and lipstick of a light shade of pink and dabbed it with a gloss.

Sneaking toward the main door, she heard her mother calling, “Priya, have your breakfast.”

“Ma, I will have it in the canteen. If I stop to have breakfast, then it will be the last day. Boss has an appointment in the morning.”

“Mr. Singh is very happy with you, he won’t scold you.”

“Ma, he has an important appointment in the morning, and I don’t want to be late.”

Her mother glared at her.

“Ok, mother, don’t get angry just give me an apple and my coffee, I will have it.”

While taking small bites of her apple she moved toward the bus stand. Luckily the bus had just arrived, she quickly hopped in and started finding her bestie who joins her every day and works in the same company but in a different department. The bus was overcrowded and not a single seat was empty.

“Hi, Disha. Is there an empty seat near you?”

“Hi, Priya, what’s up? Come here we can share the seat.”

Both of them sat next to each other.

“So how was your friend’s engagement party yesterday?”

“Had a great time yesterday.” She then told her everything.

“Both the bosses were there, what tough luck, one can’t even enjoy the party. Mr. Viren dropped you? Interesting. How did it go? Mr. Viren is so hot to resist. Did he make a pass on you or something else has happened? Tell me everything.”

Priya facepalmed herself and then tugged on Disha’s elbow.

“Don’t your mouth and brain have a connection? We are in a public place. Think before you speak. Mr. Viren just dropped me out of courtesy. Please keep your assumptions with you and have mercy on me.”

Their bus stop arrived and both of them got down. They have to get down a little before their office. The sun was blazing, scorching heat was just unbearable and walking to the office in that heat was torture. They reached the office with sweaty faces. The cool air of the AC in the reception area was blissful. As the elevator door was about to close, someone shouted so they held the door open, to their astonishment their boss Mr. Viren entered. He was looking drop-dead gorgeous in his blue shirt paired with a red tie and navy-blue suit.

“Good morning, sir,” both of them said unanimously.

He nodded to them and engrossed himself in the mobile. Disha got down on her floor. Only the two of them were left. There was a pregnant silence in the lift.

Ding-dong.

The lift’s bell broke their trance. They walked toward their destination. All of a sudden Viren jolted and turned toward Priya.

“Can you please bring my coffee with dad’s coffee, black with one sugar cube?”

“Noted, sir.”

Priya went to her cubicle and arranged her things after which she went to fetch their coffees.

Priya knocked at Rai Bahadhur’s door.

“Boss, your coffee. Boss, I have kept all the required documents on your table, you can go through them.” With that, she left.

The intercom buzzed in her cubicle.

“Yes, they are here. I will inform him.”

“Boss, the delegates you were expecting have arrived.”

“They are very important people. I want you to go down personally and bring them up.”

“Noted, sir.”

At the reception, the delegates were waiting.

“Hello, sir. I’m Priya, Mr. Vikram’s PA. Welcome to V&V enterprises. Please come with me, my boss is waiting for you.”

“Thanks for your welcome. We are eagerly waiting to meet Mr. Vikram.”

All of them went to Rai Bahadur’s cabin. The meeting went ahead of schedule, so Priya rescheduled other meetings. The meeting went well, and the company was able to grab their order for their textile mills.

It was quite late by the time Priya wrapped up everything. She stretched herself and gathered her things. When she came out, she saw the lights of the boss’s cabin were on. Out of curiosity, she thought of checking it. The loud voices of Viren and his father echoed in the office. She didn’t want to eavesdrop but curiosity in her could not stop her from doing it.

“Dad, let things go as they are going. My life is fine, please don’t interfere. Not everyone gets married.”

“Viren, why don’t you get over your past? Leave your past and move forward. Love makes life beautiful.”

Their argument was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Boss, I’m taking my leave now.”

“Priya, it is getting late. Why didn’t you leave with everyone? Is Disha going with you.”

“There was some work which had to be completed. No, sir, she has already left.”

“How will you go?”

“I will book a cab. It is past my last bus time.”

“No, it is getting late, I will drop you.”

“Thanks, boss, but a big no. I live in a conservative society, and if they see me coming in your expensive cars every day, they would talk about my character. Please don’t worry, I will manage.”

“If you are so adamant, then go ahead, do let me know when you reach home, just a message.”

“Goodnight.”

With that, she walked away. It took a lot of time to reach home. Mumbai’s traffic is just a disaster and that was not enough.

Strong winds started blowing with lightning and thunder. In no time, big drops of water started pouring. From light rain, it turned into a heavy lashing.

Priya was praying to God that she reaches her home safely. If waterlogging starts, then it would be impossible for her to reach home safely.

She lets out a breath in relief upon seeing her house. After paying the cab driver, she entered. Priya was startled as there was an eerie silence in the house which was giving her a creepy feeling.

Someone came from behind, and by the time she could reach, the person covered her eyes. The realization hit her that who the person was which led to a happy sequel by her, and she hugged the person.