Chapter 3

I woke up with a throbbing pain in my groin. I focussed on what I was dreaming and I remembered Shaun’s face. We did not do it my dream but yes, we almost did it.

“What’s wrong?” Daksh asked as he came back from his run.

“You fell asleep, again,” I yelled and his face dropped.

“I didn’t know you wanted to,” he started, but I just stared.

“Men were throwing themselves at me, I was looking that hot. Why did it not do anything to you?” I demanded.

“Really, you want to discuss this so early in the morning?” he asked disappointedly.

“Yeah, because you play games in the day and sleep in the night,” I almost yelled.

“Give me a break, I was tired,” he spoke as he bent down to undo his shoelaces. I controlled my urge to kick him in his butts.

“It was Sunday,” I argued.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked.

“I kicked you!” I replied angrily.

“I thought I dreamt it,” he spoke and agitated I locked myself in the bathroom.

Yes, this was my usual life, well minus the fighting. I was angry today because I had a hot sex dream with another man and my husband, well what to say. As I showered, I calmed myself— ‘I am used to it. I am used to it.’ I consoled myself controlling the tears of humiliation as I slipped back into my usual normal boring routine.

*

As we drove to the office, I could not help but dwell upon last night.

“What are you thinking?” Daksh asked trying to initiate the conversation.

“There is a big opening in Nishant’s team. I am thinking of applying there,” the thought just struck me. If I won’t work on Shaun’s account, maybe I won’t think about him.

“Why would you want to move from Malani’s? I thought you loved working there,” he enquired, unaware about my sexual fantasies.

“Well I do, but I also want some change.” I lied.

“Then change into something that is not corrupt. It’s very bad there,” he finished crushing any hope that I had for eluding my sex-demons.

Without my sexy cocktail dress, I was just an ordinary girl.

“How are you feeling now?” Rohit asked as I stepped in his office.

“Better, thanks. How was the rest of the party?” I asked just for the sake of asking.

“Just the same,” I sensed he wanted to say more but did not. I didn’t press him.

“By the way, Mr. Malani has requested your presence today,” the way he spoke it was clear that they were not his words.

“What?”

“He sent someone later last night to pass along the following message, and I quote, ‘Mr. Malani has requested Ms. Kaya Malhotra’s presence in his office tomorrow evening.’”

“What?” I asked again, surprised.

“Man has a class.” Rohit finished with a tone of admiration.

“Why does he want me there?” I demanded terrified. I had no strength to face that Greek-God ever again.

“It looks like he wants to go through some project plans and budget allocations with you,” Rohit smirked.

“Why?” I started to ask ‘why discuss with me’ but instead ended up asking, “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Well, evidently you caught his eye,” he winked. I didn’t like it. Curiously, a wink from Shaun made my heart flutter.

“Rohit, married!” I raised my hand to flash my wedding ring.

“Guess he doesn’t care.”

“You are my boss. You are supposed to take care of your employees. How can you ask me to go to a man who wants God knows what from me!” I exclaimed, in a little too friendly manner. The last thing I wanted was to be with this mysterious Shaun and get all confused and horny again.

“Oh, God doesn’t need to know what he wants. It's basic human requirement,” and he burst into laughter. Only if my husband knew what human basic requirement was, I sighed.

“Okay I am sorry, I am just teasing you,” he apologized. I guess he read my sigh incorrectly.

“Since when do you tease me? Especially on things like these?” I asked a valid question. His behaviour had taken a sudden upside-down turn overnight.

“Sorry,” he sensed that he had stepped out of the line.

“I am not going,” I announced firmly.

“Of course, I have already told him that you are unavailable for the whole two days as you will be in a meeting. Misha will take it up with him and will give a download to you,” he finished and I felt a rush of gratitude towards him.

“Thanks a lot,” I responded.

“Not a problem. Like you said, you are my employee and it makes you my responsibility,” he finished and I smiled.

*

For the next the two days, I kept a low profile and made sure I did not fall under Shaun’s radar. These two days felt exceptionally long to me, especially when he was constantly starring in my dreams. I knew he was leaving on Wednesday morning, so I safely scheduled a meeting with Misha on Wednesday afternoon.

*

During my meeting with Misha, we heard a huge commotion outside.

“What is happening?” I asked. Misha peaked outside but dismissed it. Next moment I could swear I saw Shaun outside.

“Hey, has Shaun, I mean Mr. Malani left?” I inquired casually.

“Yes. Why?” she asked engrossed in her laptop. My silence made her head pop up.

“He mentioned to Rohit that he wanted to discuss some project plans so I was wondering,” I made up very unconvincingly.

“No, he couldn’t do it. Apparently, he was way too busy to sit and discuss them with me and Ashok,” she looked very disappointed. Well, who would not want to be under the radar of the owner of a multi-billion business?

“So, he is back in London?” I asked again.

“Yes, madam and I heard he was meeting some big tycoon in Italy tomorrow,” she looked up and smiled.

“What?” I asked.

“He took a super extra interest in you the other day but he doesn’t mix business with pleasure so you are safe,” she spoke taking off her glasses. I smiled with relief and she reciprocated.

“Ok, back to business,” she announced and we started discussing the tasks at hand. However, we could not discuss much as the door opened and the man himself entered.

The moment he entered Misha stood up quickly and dropped everything in the process, including her laptop and her glasses.

“It was clearly my fault, I came in unannounced, isn’t it?” he spoke as he stared at Misha’s dropped stuff. “I will help you pick them up,” he continued as he quickly bent to pick up her things. However, we both just stared at each other.

‘What – is – he – doing – here?’ I mouthed words to Misha.

She shook her head in confusion.

“Your stuff,” he spoke as he placed her things in her hands.

“Oh, I am so sorry, Sir,” she quickly took them back and placed them on the table. She ran her hands all over herself in an attempt to look presentable. However, I could not care less, I looked like a beggar in comparison to the other day – no nice dress, shoes, hair-do, or makeup. Just plain and simple me.

This was so not normal. What was he doing here? What was he doing in India? Did the owners of such big businesses happen to do stuff like this? Was he here because of me? Oh my God, was I feeling elated after seeing him again? So many thoughts were crossing my mind when he spoke in a very serious tone, “So ladies what are we discussing today?” He unbuttoned his coat and sat opposite to me. Was I dreaming? I must be dreaming. He could not be here. I was still staring at him when he gave me a sexy, seductive and devious smile. Oh no, he is here!

“Err, nothing major Sir. Just looking at the growth and trends,” Misha blabbered. Like me, she too was a little blindsided.

“Growths wow yes. I like good growth, strong growth. If we won’t grow then how will we, you know, grow?” his last words didn’t make any sense to me but his face lit up with a huge wide grin. Did he just make an adult joke that I didn’t understand?

“Mr. Malani, this is a very basic meeting. It is not worth your time,” I dared. Misha gasped.

“Anything and everything that happens under Malani brand name is worth my time and same is for anyone and everyone associated with it, Ms…?” Did he really forget my name? His smile said otherwise.

“It’s Mrs. Malhotra Sir,” I replied and he pressed his lips into a thin line. He was annoyed. I liked it.

After a thoughtful look, he continued, “Anyway, I wanted to see how the conversations pan out and how productive my staff members are. However, hacking phones felt unethical and a complete violation of someone’s privacy, so I decided to come down in person. I am starting here, with you Misha and Ms. Malhotra.”

Where his words made Misha swallow her own tongue, his tone and gaze almost made my heart burst out of my chest.

Before anyone of us could respond, another man entered and borrowed Misha for some ‘work emergency’ leaving Shaun and me alone in a small closed hot conference room.

“I think I should leave now.” I started to gather my things.

“Just sit,” he ordered. His two-worded crisp reply froze me.

“I want someone to come in and close the drapes,” he spoke into the speaker that was placed neatly on the table. Why was he closing the drapes? I wondered. He did not even look at me; his complete focus was on projecting his iPhone. He looked so serious, did I do something wrong?

“Which all drapes you want closed, Sir?” the attendant asked.

“All of them. I don’t want any glare on the projector screen,” his authoritative tone was so different and intimidating. Was it getting hot in here? Yes, it was definitely getting hotter, I thought massaging my forehead.

“Very well Sir,” the attendant replied and started closing the drapes everywhere, including the small window on the door. Now no one could sneak a peek in the room. It made me nervous.

“And turn down the temperature of the air conditioning. Madam is feeling a little too hot” he spoke to the attendant as he was about to leave. Was he mocking me?

“Very well sir,” and the attendant left, leaving me, all alone, with this strange, sexy and attractive man, in a closed room.

I swallowed.