“No.”
“Are you falling for Sameer Sehgal?” Jiya queried.
“No,” Raashi said a tad bit too loudly, stunned by her sister’s bold question.
Jiya raised a brow. She perched lightly on Raashi’s desk. “Oh, really? You’re thrilled when he sends you gifts. He calls you all the time and you’re smiling much more. Looks like you are falling for him.”
“No, I mean, I don’t know. It’s too much, too soon, Jee.”
“Are you afraid? Is that why you are playing hard to get?”
God! Since when did her little sister become so perceptive?
Raashi nodded.
“Well, in my opinion, it’s fun to play ‘hard to get’ for a while. But he’s not going to wait forever. You need to make up your mind about Sameer Sehgal quickly.”
Raashi looked at her sister. “Where is my kid sister and what have you done to her?”
Jiya studied her carefully. “Someone needs to watch out for you and I need to be certain you’re not in over your head especially since I’m planning to leave this week.”
Raashi walked to her sister and held her hands. “You’re leaving? Already? But there is still almost a month left of your break?”
“I know. But some of my friends are planning a beach holiday before our break ends and I want to go with them. Moreover, your assistant is back, so you really won’t need me at work.”
“Oh, Jee! I need you around. The house is not the same without you,” Raashi told her.
Jiya gave her a hug. “I know, but I really want to go with my friends. If you’re okay, I would like to leave mid-week.”
Raashi nodded in agreement, though inside she felt wrecked. Jiya was leaving and God only knew how many months she would have to wait to see her again. But she couldn’t stop her. That would be unfair. Her sister was a good kid and she deserved as much happiness as possible.
17
The rains had set in Mumbai. It was a deluge outside. The wind and rains were beating on the windows of the conference room. Sameer stood at the conference table, staring at drawings in front of him, his thoughts again on Raashi.
In the last week, he had met Raashi on most evenings to discuss their projects. They were never alone and were always surrounded by his team, brainstorming various design ideas. She had asked him to be a part of these discussions. Initially, he had been pretty surprised by her request. But then he saw her actually paying attention to his inputs and making changes as per what he said. He realized that she genuinely respected his opinion, which made him feel great! He looked at his watch. It was five thirty in the evening. She would be here any moment now. He started gathering up the papers from the conference room table, where he had spent the last hour showing his plans to Kabier and Rishi.
Kabier stood up. “I have to say this, Sameer, your plan was brilliant! It worked out well for us and for Raashi obviously. Plus, she gave the land back to you for free.”
“I was ready to buy the land but Raashi didn’t want the money. It was never about the money. It was about letting her have a chance to fulfill her dream too. This was right for her,” Sameer stated.
Rishi jerked his head up from his laptop screen. “Since when do you care so much about Raashi? Why did you go out of the way to ensure it was ‘right’ for her?” he asked, air quoting his words.
When Sameer didn’t reply, Kabier asked concerned, “What’s going on, Sameer? You know you can talk to us.”
“Nothing’s going on.”
“Oh, come on! We saw the way you handled the land situation with Raashi. It was clear that you wanted to ensure she got what she wanted. We also heard that you have called it off with Natasha. And now you’ve been spending most evenings with Raashi helping her with her restaurant,” Kabier said.
Rishi continued, “So, please credit us with a little intelligence and tell us what is actually going on.”
“That’s just it. Nothing is going on right now. We are just working together,” Sameer said flatly.
He refused to tell his brother and cousin anything more because he couldn’t admit his feelings towards her, even to himself. Right now he wanted space to work things out with her.
He saw Kabier and Rishi exchange a look and then Rishi said, “Okay, but we are here when you are ready to talk.”
Sameer stood up and stacked his papers and files together.
