Chapter 4

Poornima understood the implications of what Dhruv said. It meant whatever she was working on has to be discussed with Dhruv before finalising it. That is, she would have to frequently interact with him. And she was now worried because her self control seemed to dwindle in his presence. Until now she tried her best to avoid direct eye contact with him, for her heart seemed to get lost in his gaze. But she knew that if she had to meet him alone, she had no other option than to look into his eyes. "Oh those eyes!" her heart sighed.

Dhruv felt sorry for being harsh towards Poornima. He knew it was not Poornima's fault. He had guessed already that Lisa wanted to meet him alone and took the minutes from Poornima as an excuse. The reports that were pending approval were also not Poornima's fault. He had reviewed them personally because he wanted to check how capable Poornima was. He was surprised to see her report meticulously written, which not only gave the expenses split but also had a statistical representation which was usually done by the IT team. Nevertheless he lost his cool at her for Lisa's fault.

Poornima was in a sour mood. During her entire service at various companies, she was regarded the best. The criticism she faced today was a huge blow to her self esteem. It was not even her fault. She had never been the lazy type. On the contrary her colleagues often passed her their share of work and went for smoke breaks and coffee breaks. "This is not fair! Being handsome and coveted by so many women must have messed up few screws of his brain." She mused. "How can he be so mean? What is it with reviewing each and every report of mine! Is he a school teacher checking on his student's homework? Someone please remind him that he is my manager not my baby sitter." Her brain harped incessantly.

As per the schedule, Poornima went to Arjun's office from finance department to discuss the pending report. Arjun was the department head for finance team. His office had no additional decorations. It had a projector, a laptop and a telephone. The walls were plain white. No hanging paintings and no decorative pieces. It had a touch of simplicity. He sat in his chair across the table, where as Poornima sat opposite him. Arjun was a jovial man and was known to be a friendly person. Arjun greeted her with a smile which reflected in his eyes. During the entire discussion Arjun had a smile planted on his face as he nodded to whatever explanation Poornima had given. This made Poornima relax. Before she met him, she was rather nervous that any mistake from her end might get the expense report rejected.

After Poornima was done talking, she asked Arjun, "If you don't have any questions, could you please approve this report? We have to reimburse these bills to the employees before end of this quarter."

Arjun replied with a smile "I want to know about the statistical data you had provided. Could you please go over that for me?"

Poornima - "Sure. Let me project the graphs on to the screen"

"Not required. Let me come over and check it on your laptop." Saying thus, Arjun walked over to Poornima's chair and with his one hand on Poornima's chair and the other on the table beside Poornima's laptop, he casually bent to check the graphs. Though it seemed casual, Poornima realised that his head was really close to hers and she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She was about to get up and offer her chair to him to avoid the proximity when the door to his room opened.

Both of them turned their heads together to see Dhruv enter. Dhruv glanced from Arjun to Poornima, his veins bulged on his arms. He clenched his fists to control the sudden surge of fury. With much effort, he spoke without giving away his feelings, "Hey Arjun! Good that Poornima is here. I believe she is here to discuss the pending expense report. Buddy! That's our high priority task. Did we miss something? Lets get this done today." He patted on Arjun's shoulder.

Arjun and Dhruv were good friends and hearing Dhruv's concern, Arjun turned to face him with his back turned to Poornima. He smiled mischievously and winked at Arjun, "Hmm.. I am still checking with Poornima. We are almost.."

"Poornima you can leave now. I will take it from here." Dhruv snapped before Arjun could finish.

As soon as Poornima left and closed the door behind her, Dhruv glared at Arjun and asked, "Are you fooling around now?" he did not take his eyes off Arjun, as if his eyes could bore holes into him. Arjun lowered his head sheepishly and chuckled, "Sorry! I should have told this to you before. Looks like I have fallen for her. I intentionally delayed approval of the report so that I could have a chat with her. But you interrupted us." He pouted at the last sentence. He looked like a child who was denied a candy.

"Since you are my friend in whom I have confided this secret, will you help me win her heart?" he added.

Dhruv was running out of patience. His face turned red. His head ached and nerves throbbed, a little push would make him shift to wolf any moment. Though Arjun was his closest aid at office, he did not know of Dhruv being a werewolf. Dhruv, who had always treated Arjun as his younger brother and never felt offended due to his careless means, now found him intolerable.

Dhruv could not think straight. He needed a break now. "Lets not mix work and personal interests. Please approve the report first. I have a meeting in few minutes. Will catch up with you later." He lied and almost sprinted out of Arjun's room. He wanted to get away from Arjun before his anger burst to flames. "This bastard has the cheek to hit on my woman." He cursed.

Few minutes ago, he was feeling guilty for shouting at Poornima and thought of helping her out with the finance team's approval. But at Arjun's office, he was shocked to see Poornima and Arjun discussing in close proximity. For any outsider, their position was quite ambiguous. He did not know whom he was angry with. Though he knew he wouldn't mark his mate, he was not yet prepared to hand her over to another man. This side of him was new to him and he needed sometime to understand and sort out his feelings.

In the evening Dhruv was heading out to start towards home just to be stopped by Lisa at the lobby. It looked like she was waiting for Dhruv. "Can you please drop me home? My car isn't starting." She said innocently. Though it was closing time, Lisa still had her makeup intact because of the touch ups done few minutes ago. She wanted to look perfect when meeting Dhruv.

"My house is at the other end of the city. To drop you home, I will have to head in the opposite direction. So, sorry. Looks like I can't help you." Dhruv explained and left without waiting for any reply. Lisa remained rooted watching Dhruv leave in admiration. His curt rejection did not affect her feelings for him.

"I can drop you. No worries." Poornima placed her hand on her shoulder and said with a genuine smile.

Though it was a kind gesture by Poornima, it did not go well with Lisa who had already stamped Poornima as her rival and someone plotting to snatch Dhruv from her. Hence, she stomped and left without sparing her a glance.