Raashi sighed. She knew her sister well. She was like a buzzing bee once she got stuck on a topic.
“I’m not sure, Jee, I do at times envy Sheena and Keya. They are so much in love. As for marriage, it’s a long shot. I haven’t found the Right Guy yet. I’m not going to settle down with just anyone. That would be a compromise. I want – God! I don’t know what I want,” Raashi shrugged.
“Oh, Raashi, you are no fun,” Jiya complained. “Anyway, let’s fantasize a bit. Tell me how would your Mr. Right Guy look like.”
“Jee, you’re crazy, not to mention extremely nosy.”
“No, seriously, I want to know.”
Jiya folded her hands on her chest and tapped her fingers on her arms, waiting for her to reply.
“OK! Six feet tall, golden skin, chocolate brown eyes and dark ruffled hair. There, are you happy now?” Raashi replied, scowling at her sister.
“Very,” Jiya said and then smirking she asked, “Sorry, but I have to ask. Does he exist?”
“That’s it, Jiya. No more interrogation. Now can we get back to something more serious?”
Jiya stuck her tongue out at her.
“Tell me, what are you planning to do in the next two months here, other than sleep, eat and party?” Raashi asked her sister.
“Actually, you listed everything on the agenda,” Jiya spread her hands in glee.
“Well, then I have a proposition for you. Why don’t you work with me for the time you are here? My assistant has been requesting for a long deserved break that I have so far avoided giving her, so if you agree to step in, I can let her go for a while.”
“Work with you? As your assistant? No way! I am not crazy. I see what you’re trying to do here. You’ll run me from pillar to post making sure I’m too exhausted to do what’s actually on my list for these two months. Sorry, but no!”
“Come on, Jee! It won’t be that bad, I promise you. So far you have shown no interest whatsoever in our business. It is yours also, you know.”
“I do know that, Raashi. But this business was never my cup of tea. It’s yours. It’s in your blood. You love it. I don’t.”
“All the same, unless you don’t see firsthand how things are run, how do you know whether you like it or not? I insist Jiya. You have to try it out this time and I am not taking NO for an answer,” Raashi stood up, clearly indicating that the conversation was over.
“OK! But please don’t make me regret coming back to spend time home,” Jiya complained.
“I won’t. Promise!” Raashi said, leaning forward to tweak her sister’s nose and planting an affectionate kiss on her cheek.
8
Sameer grimaced after listening to this latest report. He was sitting in the conference room with his team and no one had anything positive to report. He had put up a team of his best people together to tackle the property issue with Raashi. For starters, he had wanted to find out what exactly she had in mind for the land. Then he wanted his team to try and acquire it from her by offering her an obscene amount of money that was far more than the original price of the land. But, so far, a week had passed and his team hadn’t reached anywhere. After the first few tries they couldn’t even get past her assistant and after that the only time they had managed to speak to her was when Sameer had himself provided them with her cell number. However, that had been the wrong thing to do. It had annoyed her even more and she had asked his business manager to ’Buzz Off’ after his third call to her.
Apparently, she didn’t want to sell the land ever and as he had rightly guessed she was never going to sell the land, especially to him. She had conveyed her message to his business manager in pretty clear and strong terms before asking him to ’Buzz Off’.
Sameer smiled. He was left with no other option. He would have to approach her himself. He had to face the lioness in her den and that was the only way forward.
Raashi rubbed her tired eyes.She was having a tough day with the staff at one of her restaurants. She had missed lunch, surviving on coffee since breakfast and now this inventory report. The numbers were swimming in front of her eyes.
The silver lining to the otherwise challenging day was that the phone calls from Sameer’s office had stopped. Last week every second call she’d answered was from his office. Their constant phone calls and pleas to sell the land had frustrated her no end. She’d been in a black mood for days and had been this close to injuring someone or something, thanks to his team’s annoying persistence. But it looked like they had finally backed off, which was a good sign.
The phone on her desk buzzed.
“Yes, Jiya, what is it?” Raashi said, impatiently into the phone. She had specifically asked Jiya not to disturb her for the next hour in order to catch up with her workload. Instead, this was the third time Jiya was calling in ten minutes.
“Uh Raashi...”
“I often wonder if you deliberately ignore my instructions, just to aggravate me up for making you work as my assistant. Do you want to prove to me that it was a bad idea? Because right now I am sure it was indeed a very BAD idea.”
“Raashi...” Jiya whispered into the phone.
