Chupanke Ki Saaza
-PART
13-
Temptations
A
pair of muddy brown eyes watched her intently as if reaching deep into her
soul. She greedily absorbed that look, wanting them to never leave her. They
were her only anchors to this earth, for every other cell in her body was
afloat.
An
involuntary smile spread across her face, as she looked down from the eyes and
found a pair of soft lips. A pleasant
kind of jitter through her body, making her imagination go wild. The eyes
blinked, knowing the desire that passed through her. And inching forward, the face
which seemed familiar and yet strange, began to close the distance between
them.
Her
heart thudded loudly as she anticipated what was surely going to happen any
second. Her eyes closed as she lets her thoughts take their own course. The
seconds ticked by, heighting the tingles in her body even more.
The
pair of lips were an inch away, when Bani woke up with a gasp. She could
recognize that face from a mile away, in fact it belonged to the man asleep
beside her this very second. But the question was, what was he doing in her dreams?
* * *
"…
and his eyes," Annie let out a sigh. "You can't
stop looking at them."
It
was another day at the Walia Industries and the newly appointed secretary of
Jai Walia was busy chatting away to one of her best friends. The topic was really
not hard to guess.
"The
other day," Annie said, excitedly. "He took off his blazer and gosh, were his
biceps nice! I swear Neha, if you saw those arms, you would have fainted."
Neha
seemed to have said something only a girl would, for Annie began to giggle. She
was so lost in her own little bubble, that she didn't even see Bani walk up to
her desk and wait for the conversation to end.
"You
have no idea Neha," Annie continued,
completely oblivious to her impending doom, for Bani did not like waiting. "The number of times my heart stopped looking
into his eyes. And when he starts talking… all you ever feel like doing is
getting those lips to kiss you."
Bani's
eyes widened, as her dream from last night flashed infront of her eyes. The
clear image of Jai's face – and his lips – were not something you forget
easily.
"I
wonder if he is a good kisser," Annie said. "I mean guys that look good aren't
really romantic. And all the media reports make him look like one of those
angry-young-man types…"
Annie
sighed as Neha replied to her observation. "The funny thing is, you would think
after working with Jai everyday, you start to get annoyed… but, you only end up
wanting him more."
Bani
nodded in understanding, completely missing the part that Annie was in fact
talking about her husband.
Annie
continued. "I wish he would kiss me… that's all I need to know if he is the one."
This
seemed to bring Bani back to earth. "He is not
the one," she said quietly, as Annie looked up in utter shock. The phone
slipped from her hands as she hastily stood up.
"M-Ms.
Di-Dixit," she stammered. "When did you come?"
"Just
long enough to see you obsess over your boss," Bani said coolly.
Annie's
cheeks coloured, making Bani a little more sympathetic. How can anyone resist him? "Its okay… kind of
hard to ignore Jai once you notice him." Which
I have started to… AGAIN! Bani added to herself.
Annie
looked up in surprise. She never thought the strict Bani Dixit had a girly side
to her. Ever since she joined, she never saw Jai and Bani interact without a
fight. She was shocked to see how anyone
got away from talking to Jai Walia like that, for not only was Bani rude, but
downright mean. But no one sacked her… hell, no one even said a word. She sometimes
had a feeling that the others, mainly Ranveer and Uday Walia, enjoyed every bit
of it.
"Anyway,"
Bani continued. "Give these files to Jai when he comes back from the meeting.
They are very important."
Annie
nodded, glad she wasn't yelled at for her behaviour. Just as she was about of
sit down, Bani said, "By the way, don't ever
use the company time for your gossip again. If you have free time, then use it
for something useful."
And
with that Bani left, leaving a very irritated Annie. Obessing over Jai Walia is not useful? she thought to herself. Obviously Bani Dixit needs to get her head
checked.
* * *
"Yes
Mr. Sharma, we have no problem with your conditions."
It
was mid-afternoon and Bani found herself in Jai's cabin, where there was yet
another meeting. She normally would have found interest in such discussions, but today, her thoughts were elsewhere. Last
night, for the second time in a row, she dreamt about Jai. She hated the idea
wanting him once again… she shut those thoughts out a long time ago.
"We
discussed this with your delegates last time," Jai continued, not even noticing
the lost look on Bani's face. "If you want, Annie can email you the notes she
took. They are very informative."
What
Bani didn't understand was, why the dreams began appearing now. Its been over
two weeks since she returned to the Walias and things start happening now? The
worst thing was she couldn't even talk to Rano or Lakshmi… I mean, how can anyone explain why she wanted to kiss a
man whom she hated?
"As
I pointed out last time," Jai droned on. "We have actually haven't been receiving
any updates from your side. So, I really want to stress how important
communication is here."
Rano's
voice drifted into Bani's thoughts. Its
very simple Bani. You love him… and your subconscious mind is trying to tell
you to stop pretending that you hate him!
Bani sighed. That is exactly the advice Rano would give her. But she
knew her subconscious well… her detest for Jai Walia triumphed everything and
anything else she had for him.
"Of
course Mr. Sharma! We are happy to pre-pone the inauguration – Walias are
always prepared!"
Lakshmi
also would have a similar opinion about Bani. Chill na Bani, she would say. Jai
tumhara pati hai… obviously you can hate and love him at the same time, because
the hate is love too! Look at me, when I
am mad at Tarun, I want to murder him, but at the same time I can't live
without him! That's true love sweety…
"Annie,"
Jai said. "Can you get me those files… I think we should go over the finances
with Mr. Sharma today as well."
Bani
shook her head. Her two best friends were useless.
"Bani?"
Jai's voice called, but she was still stuck in her world. "…BANI?!"
She
jerked out of her thoughts to see Jai, Mr. Sharma and Annie giving her a
curious look. She blinked trying to erase her thoughts away. "Y-yes?"
Jai
gave a pointed look. Day dreaming during a meeting was something he detested.
"Mr. Sharma wants to discussing what the marketing strategies are," he said,
shrugging off his blazer. "So, do you want to input something?"
"Um…
y-yeah, sure…"
…gosh, were his
biceps nice!
Annie's words from yesterday travelled to Bani, who couldn't help but notice
the thick muscule on Jai's hand, only visible because of the short-sleeved
dress shirt he was wearing.
"So
Ms. Dixit," Mr. Sharma said, pulling out a file. "According to new changes, the
marketing of the hotel will have to change. We are now offering... erm, Ms.
Dixit?!"
"Huh?"
Bani said, turning to Mr. Sharma. A part of her went down the memory lane,
remembering what it felt like to be hugged by those strong arms.
Jai
was very irritated. Bani was ruining the company's image infront of the client!
"Mr. Sharma," he said, diverting the attention from the dazed form of Bani.
However,
unfortunately, when he began talking, Bani's thoughts took a new direction as
the rest of Annie's word hung inaudibly in the air. And when he starts talking… all you ever feel like doing is getting
those lips to kiss you.
Unwantedly,
memories of their first kiss began to fill Bani's mind. It was during a
Christmas party, when they were caught under mistletoe and were forced to kiss.
That was the first taste she got of Jai's love…
"Ms.
Dixit," came a cold voice. "I think its time for you to leave."
Bani
looked up to see an angry Jai. Obviously, she missed another question. She was
going to be in so much trouble after this. She cleared her throat and
said, "I am sorry gentlemen, but I don't
feel too well. Excuse me."
She
got up to leave, walking back to her office in dread. Being along with her
memories was never a good thing.
* * *
"Jai,
look at this, there is something wrong with the blueprint," Bani said, walking
once again into Jai's office. The fiasco with Mr. Sharma was long over, with
Bani busying herself in work. Right now another problem arose for the Walias.
"Yeah,"
Jai said, not taking his eyes off the laptop screen. "I am looking at it right
now."
Bani
walked over and stood behind Jai. "See," she said, bending down and pointing to
the screen. "There shouldn't be windows here."
Jai
nodded. "I am going to kill whoever made this. This was supposed to be sent to
the builder two days ago!"
"Well,
thank god it didn't. Imagine if the construction already began!"
Jai
let out a sigh, leaning back into his chair. It was then that Bani realized how
close she was him. If she moved an inch, her cheek would rub against his.
Despite the temptation, Bani slowly straightened up.
"There
is something in your hair," she said, quietly. She then proceeded to remove a
small piece of paper, when Jai pushed her away.
"Leave
it," he said, turning back to the screen.
Bani
was disappointed. She had a strong urge to run her hands through his hair.
Regardless, she scolded herself for even thinking about this issue once again.
In her solitary, Bani promised herself to concentrate only her work. It worked,
until she was once again in Jai's presence.
"So,
what are we going to do?" Bani asked.
"Re-do
the whole thing," Jai said simply. "Call the builder and tell him we will send
it by tomorrow."
Bani
nodded. "Don't stay up too late."
Jai
snorted in response. "Is that possible?" he asked, rhetorically, causing Bani
to smile.
Just
then Annie walked in. "Jai, is there anything else you want me to do?"
Bani
closed her eyes, trying to resist the urge to yell at Annie. There was soo much work and this girl
couldn't find anything?
"No
Annie," came Jai's voice. "Go home."
Bani
opened her eyes in irritation. Why is Jai
pampering her so much? She thought. Forget
it. I don't want to even get involved in this.
She
was almost to the door, when she heard Annie's voice again.
"Jai,"
she said. "There is paper in your hair."
"Can
you take it out please?"
Bani
whipped around. And sure enough, she saw Annie pick out the piece of paper she spotted two minutes ago.
"Thanks!" said Jai.
"You
sure you don't want me to stay?" Annie asked.
And
without waiting for his reply, Bani ran out of the room. A tear escaped her
eyes even before she reached her cabin.
* * *
She
was dreaming again. She lost track of the number of times she saw his face, but
it was guaranteed that it definetly surpassed ten. The muddy brown eyes caressed
her lovingly, as grin made its way up his face. And without hesitation this
time, she pulled him close. He understood her intentions well and without
haste, sealed her lips with his.
👏 👏 👏
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