“You’re late,” she said.
“Oh! Am I?” Sameer looked at his watch. “Sorry! Five minutes only.”
“Where are you?”
“Come on down, I am waiting in the car for you.”
“For what?”
“For our meeting, remember?” Sameer replied.
“You’re wasting my time, Sameer, please don’t speak in riddles,” Raashi shot out.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked.
“No, but what has that got to do with anything?” Raashi countered, irritably shifting the papers on her desk.
“Come on, Raashi! Don’t lose your cool already. You’ll have ample opportunity to get angry with me at lunch.”
“Sameer, I agreed to have a meeting with you, not to have lunch,” Raashi stated, shifting her cell phone to her other ear.
“Come on! I’m hungry and you’ve not eaten too. Let’s have lunch some place and discuss the land issue. This way we solve two problems in one go.”
Raashi thought for a moment. It was typical of him to maneuver a situation to his convenience. She took a deep calming breath.
“I don’t appreciate being manipulated,” she breathed out.
“Point taken. Are you coming or not?”
She was exasperated with him but she needed to resolve this issue once and for all.
“I’ll be down in five,” she said and cut the call.
It was best to get this over with. She had to get Sameer off her back. If the only way to do that was to have lunch with him then so be it. This was her opportunity to convey to him her exact feelings regarding his offer on the land. She was not going to be a coward about it. She’d face him head on.
Sameer waited for Raashi in his car. He had intentionally cajoled her into lunch. He wanted to meet her on neutral ground. Here in her office, on her own terrain, she would obviously have an upper hand and most likely she wouldn’t be willing to listen to anything he said. He wanted to catch her off guard and this seemed to be the best way to do that.
He watched her descend the stairs and walk towards his car. Her cream shift dress had flowing sleeves and ended at her knees. It fitted her just perfectly. Damn those gorgeous legs! They made his breath catch every single time. She shifted her head to cross the road and her flowing hair swung with the movement. She looked simple yet elegant.
Raashi got into Sameer’s Mercedes and put on her seat belt all the while ignoring him. When she turned to look at him, she caught him staring. She narrowed her eyes but stayed quiet.
“Hello!” he said.
“I’m here. So what’s the next trick you have up your sleeve?” she asked.
Sameer angled his head to a side. She really did not trust him at all.
He grinned. “Nothing, I swear! It is only lunch. No more tricks!”
“Fine! Let’s get it over with then,” Raashi said rudely as Sameer pulled off.
Within moments he got a phone call and he plugged on his hand free. He was quickly engrossed in the call. Raashi was thankful she didn’t have to indulge in any routine talk with him. It would have been ridiculous. After all, she couldn’t possibly discuss weather patterns with him.
From whatever she could hear at her end, she realized he was talking to one of his managers in Europe. He seemed to be in complete command, giving instructions carefully and listening keenly. He was extremely capable and she knew that he had a high sense of responsibility towards his work. She observed him while he spoke, his hands strong on the steering wheel. His light blue shirt worn over black trousers was folded at his forearms and his black and blue striped, silk tie was loosened casually at his throat. On his nose was perched a dark pair of sunglasses. She was so lost in checking him out that she didn’t realize he had finished talking on his phone.
They were at a signal when Sameer turned and caught her watching him. He returned her stare and she could feel his gaze burning right through her. A horn sounded loudly and Raashi came back to reality with a jolt. Embarrassed, she turned to look outside the window.
Sameer too turned to find the signal green. He was blocking the traffic. Smoothly, he moved the car ahead and continued driving in silence.
