Sameer nodded and reached to pick up his cell phone that had started ringing.
“Sorry,” he said, looking at Raashi and his grandfather. “I need to take this call.”
Distracted, he walked towards the window with his phone to his ear.
Raashi spoke to Janak, “You knew of this preposterous idea and yet you allowed it?”
Janak narrowed his eyes at Raashi and led her to the sofa in the corner and sat down with her. “I think Sameer has made some excellent suggestions. Why do you not like them?”
“Because...because he believes he can throw his money at me and I am going to fall backwards to give him what he wants.” She shook her head. “No! Sorry, Janak, but that’s not going to happen,” Raashi seethed.
A deep wrinkle marring his forehead, Janak touched her hand. “Frankly, I’m quite surprised by your reaction, Raashi. There’s something more going on here, isn’t it? It’s not like you to be so rigid. You are one of the most reasonable people I know.”
Raashi bit her lip. Maybe she was being difficult because she didn’t want to come to a compromise with Sameer. If she were being absolutely honest, then she had to accept that what he wasoffering her was good. She would get all that she wanted and at no cost to her.
Plus, he was willing to buy the land back at a very fair price. But the land hadn’t been hers to begin with. It had been his, until Janak gave it to her. She felt guilty taking money from him for a land that he had once owned. It was not like she didn’t need the money. Of course, she needed it. She wasn’t super rich. The extra money meant she could clear all her past loans, possibly give a raise to her staff and perhaps change the entire air conditioning at the T-Cafe´. Logically, the solution made perfect sense to her. On her own, she would have taken a loan to build the restaurant. He was literally offering her a way out of all her problems. What was wrong with her? This decision should be easy.
But then again, she had to accept that a part of her wanted to punish him for how he had hurt her. She had something that he wanted desperately and she was thrilled that she was controlling the stakes and in a position to say no to him.
Oh, God! This was so not like her to think like this. She ought to consider the option that he had given her and work it out with him. But that meant that she would be spending endless hours with him and that was something she didn’t want. She sighed again. This was so confusing and she was completely out of ideas here. She folded her hands on her lap and turned to Janak, who was watching her patiently.
“What do you think I should do?” Raashi asked him.
“I can’t tell you that. You have to do what your heart tells you to. All I can say is, I want both of you to be happy. You are very important to me, Raashi, but so is he.” Janak cast a warm glance at Sameer, who was standing with his back to them, still talking on his cell phone.
“And Raashi, whatever he may have done earlier, this time he is not wrong. He wants this to work with you and you need to consider this carefully.”
Raashi digested what Janak was saying. He had told her to give this a chance, in not so many words. His phone call over, Sameer came and sat down opposite her.
“Sorry, but this day seems to never end,” Sameer breathed out.
“All OK?” Janak asked pointedly.
Sameer nodded. He rubbed his aching neck. “Yes. I’ve handled the problem. Now, let’s get back to the discussion on hand.”
Raashi watched as he loosened his tie and opened the collar button of his shirt. She watched him wearily folding the sleeves of his shirt, tension etched on his face, his shoulders stiff. He was exhausted and she was being hard on him.
“Sameer, I agree to think about this, about all your suggestions.”
His gaze snapped to hers, his expression, bewildered. He looked from her to his grandfather and then back to her. His eyes widened and he sighed when he understood that Janak had a hand in making her change her mind.
He smiled. “That’s good. In fact, I have some plans drawn up by my architects that we could go through right now. It will give you a better idea of what I have in mind. I’ll just get them.”
He stood up and as he passed her to move towards his desk, she stood and caught hold of his arm. He stopped and turned to face her. She felt the muscles beneath her hand flexed in response to her touch. She couldn’t look away from his blatant stare. Awareness flared between them and in that brief moment the world around them disappeared. They stood like that, eyes locked, her hand on his arm, for an eternity, until they heard Janak cough beside them.
Quickly, she moved her hand away. “Not today, Sameer. I can see that you’re exhausted. You seem to have a lot to do. We can do this another time.”
Sameer watched her trying to hide what she felt for him. But now was not the time or place for this thing between them.
“Let’s meet tomorrow again, here, in my office and I can show you the plans. Will you come, please?”
She heard the earnestness in his voice. This was Sameer, who was normally so arrogant and confident. He was pleading with her? Something shifted inside her and she said, “Okay.”
Sameer felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from him. He let out a relieved breath. “Tomorrow then.”
Raashi checked her cell phone to look over her scheduled appointments.
“Yes, but late. Does eight in the evening work for you?” Raashi asked.
