Ishita's POV
"Ishu come on get up. You are going to be late for your classes." Someone calls out to me but I am still sleepy so I lay down lazily.
"Dikri uth jaa. Aur kitna soyegi meri bachchi?" This time it is my Janki Phui
aunt
who starts to shake me gently.
Wake up daughter. How much will you sleep, baby?
"I am up Phui." I sleepily mumble but sit up after a few seconds before a big yawn leave my mouth.
"That's my good girl. Now, get ready for your college. Kuhu will be here in a few minutes." Phui says while kissing my forehead. I nod my head before getting inside the bathroom for my morning routine which is basically showering, brushing my teeth, and getting dressed for the day.
After getting dress in a pink crop top and a pair of black jeans I take my bag before going downstairs where I know everyone is busy eating breakfast. I take blessings from my Dada
grandpa
and Dadi
grandma
by touching their feet before doing the same with Papa and Kaka
uncle
.
"Who will take my blessing haa?" Gautam Bhaiya asks me while wiggling his eyebrows. I pout because he always likes to brag about being older than me by seven years. Papa chuckles seeing the pout on my face before petting the chair beside him for me to sit. I smile brightly before sitting down beside him. Roshni bhabhi, who is my big brother Gautam bhaiya's wife puts chocolate milk in front of me with bread and butter before kissing my cheeks lovingly. I kiss her cheeks in return with a happy smile.
"That's unfair. She is younger than me so she should take my blessing too as she takes from others." Bhaiya whines like a toddler. We all laugh at him not taking anything seriously because it's his every day's tantrum. I quickly finish my breakfast before taking the lunch box that Phui has prepared for me. I hear Kuhu's scooty's horn so I hurry up and get out of the house but not before saying goodbye to everyone.
"Are pagal jaldi kar. Hum college ke pehle hi din late ho jayenge." Kuhu says before starting her scooty when I sit down behind her.
Come on crazy hurry up. We are going to be late on the first day of college
"I am not the one who is driving idiot," I answer her while holding her tightly.
"Uggghh okay you are again correct." She replies with a huff. I giggle in return at my best friend's antics. After taking a lot of turns because of Delhi's heavy traffic, we are able to reach our college on time. Kuhu parks her scooty in the parking slot and soon enough we are walking towards our class.
We are both doing a Masters in English and we are the students of the final year. We have been studying in the same college since we have passed our twelfth a few years back. When we reach our classroom, we see that the class is completely full but the last raw is clear of any student so we go there before sitting down. Some students start to gossip between them about me and that's starting to make me uncomfortable. They always do this because they think I am some freak for not talking to anyone besides some teachers and my best friend Kuhu. They also accuse me of being arrogant because of my good grades.
"Don't you have another thing to do besides looking at her?" Kuhu yells at them. They quickly look away seeing the anger in Kuhu's face. She may look like an innocent person but when it comes to me she can be very scary.
"Are you okay Ishu?" She asks me when everyone turns around. I nod my head not wanting to say anything. I have never felt comfortable around anyone besides my family or Kuhu so I don't like to talk much when I come to college or anywhere.
When the teacher comes all the students stand up to greet her. She starts the class with a new novel that is going to be important in our syllabus for the exam. When the bell rings indicating that the class has completed the teacher tells us to not leave the classroom, as she has some important announcement to make.
"Students I will like to inform you that the upcoming week our college will be hosting a Fresher's program for all the new students of the college. As the final year students and also the senior we want you all to cooperate with us. I have another good news for you all that our Principal has asked for a very famous businessman to be the guest of honor for that day. I hope you all know his name because he is none other than Mr. Rudra Bajaj who was also a former student of our college. That's all for today. Now, you all can go now." The teacher says before getting out of the class. All the students start to talking among them while I and Kuhu get out of there for our next class.
"Why do they need to invite a businessman when we have so many businesswomen in our country who were also a student of our college?" I ask Kuhu not understanding the logic behind inviting Mr. Rudra Bajaj.
"He is an extremely successful businessman Ishu and besides like others he didn't get anything in a silver platter. He has worked hard to gain everything he has now. Also, I have heard that his speech has encouraged people to do better in their lives." She answers back.
"But still I don't like that person. I have read a lot about him being rude and arrogant to everyone. So how can a person like him give an encouraging speech to others?" I ask stubbornly.
"Not everything we read is bound to be true Ishu. Let's not talk about a person whom we both don't know personally. Okay?" She says while pinching my cheeks.
"Okay," I reply with a small smile.
Rudra's POV
"Mom please stop. I don't want to meet anyone. You know how I am already busy with the new deal but yet you are not trying to understand." I reply angrily at the phone before hanging up the call not letting my mother reply anything to irritate me more.
She knows damn well how I feel about relationships and all but still, that doesn't stop her from looking for a perfect wife for me. I have told her countless times that there is no point in searching for any girl because I will not marry at any cost. But being the persistent woman she doesn't listen to me. Even Dad and Lakshya also getting irritated with her showing them photos after photos to choose a perfect bride for me.
Suddenly, someone knocks on the door of my cabin. I tell them to come inside. The door opens revealing my younger brother Lakshya who is also the COO
chief operating officer
of my company.
He walks towards me while holding a file in his hand. When he gets near me he hands over the file to me with a look of anger which is unusual for him. He is a very gentle person who can't even hurt a fly. I open the file before reading the informations that is written in the papers. Upon reading them I can easily tell why Lakshya is looking so angry.
"Do you have any idea who can do this?" I ask him while trying to control my anger because someone has been sharing important information about my company to my rivals.
"No Bhai. Whoever is behind the blunder is very careful in doing everything. He or she has planned everything very cleverly because the person knows what can happen to him or her if we found out about it." He replies before sitting down across from me.
"We need to find the person as soon as possible before our rivals can get any more information about our company or deals." He says after a minute of silence. I nod my head before dialing my best friend's number who is also my lawyer. After a few rings, he picks up the call and I start to describe everything.
"Hmmm, give me a day Rudra. I need to look at somethings to find that person. I will call you tomorrow to let you know what I have found." Aarav, my best friend/lawyer replies on the phone.
"Okay, I will wait for your call." I reply before cutting the call.
"What did Aarav Bhai say about the blunder?" Lakshya asks me after I am done talking with Aarav.
"He said that he needs one day to find everything and he will call me tomorrow to let me know what he has found," I reply while rubbing my forehead trying to ease the headache that is slowly starting to form.
"You didn't sleep again, right?" Lakshya says before giving me a painkiller. I take the pill before swallowing it with water. Only God knows why does he always has painkillers with him.
"I keep them with me because you always need them for you. Now tell me why did again skip your sleep yesterday?" He asks me while raising an eyebrow. I roll my eyes because he always behave like the older one out of us when he is younger than me by four years.
"It's nothing, just a little work needed to be done so I skipped sleeping to complete the work." I reply the same answer I give him whenever he asks me about me skipping my sleep. He sighs in disappointment hearing my answer because he never believe me.
"Seriously, now I have started to agree with Mom. You need to be married as soon as possible because by the way you are skipping your sleep you will soon turn into a zombie." He says before running out of my cabin because he knows well I will beat him if he stays here for one more seconds.
I stand up from my chair before going near the big window I have in my cabin from where you can see almost complete Mumbai. I look through the window and try to forget why I can't sleep at night. But that's not the real problem here, I need to find the person who is leaking important information about my company for which I have worked so hard till now. However, I have another thing to do. I need to go to Delhi in the next week on a fresher's program at my old college from where I have completed my Masters in business. When Mom got to know about it she insisted on going with me to meet my aunt who is my father's sister but I immediately declined her wish because I know why she wants to go there. She has been nagging me to go there to meet a girl who is recommended by my aunt. I don't want to deal with this marriage and shit right now so I am going alone to Delhi. Hopefully, everything will go well in there.