Chapter 34: chapter 34

Are my ears up and working or are they in delusion?I had so many queries grooving in my brainy cords. However, I couldn't ask any as if the cat caught my tongue.I stood startled at the same position staring at him with bulged-out eyes in vague. And he? He was in his composure as always with the iconic smile. This isn't going to work. I need to clear out everything."What did you just say?", I pulled out words."What?", he asked back.I am sure he is getting my point. Obviously! The one who can read my expressions is not understanding my words?Unbelievable!What's wrong with you Aashi? *sub-concious mock*Stop thinking that way. "You know what I am asking", I stepped out of his embrace in rage."Nope! I don't know", he shrugged. Ugh! Why does he have to play around? "Really?", I frowned.He kept quiet for a while. I raised my brow!"Oh! You mean that? Our last conversation?", he asked partially placing himself on his huge bureau.Finally!"Yes", I replied coldly."I said, I am only yours, my love", he winked.Gosh! He is too much. "Before that?", I roared."I don't remember", he suppressed his smile.It was getting onto my nerves now. "How do you know about M..Mohak?", I broke the ice fuming as I didn't want to entertain further.I don't believe I just rolled-out that jerk's name. "Um..you will come to know that soon, daddy's little girl. As of now, my lips are sealed", he answered serenely.What does he mean?"Listen, Neil Sir..", I lost my composure but he cut my phrase again."Sir? No, sweetheart", he paced towards me."What else? You are our CEO", I blurted out stepping backwards."CEO for others. For you, only Neil", he blinked his eyes in assurance. "Don't divert the topic", I was stern. Before he could say anything, a knock on the door halted our respective strides.Oh No! I don't want to give heads-up to any unnecessary gossip. Today everything is happening which I never coveted for. "Get in", he replied as if everything is normal.How can he act so casual?Isn't he bothered about the consequences?"Ease off. I won't let anything bad happen to you or your prominence of integrity", Neil whispered leaning towards me.How on earth does he manage to read my untold articulation whenever?"Good morning, Sir", Abby stepped in."Morning Abby. Be seated, I will be there in a minute", Neil replied."Aashika? You are here too? Great", he expressed, addled."Yes, I called her", Neil stood by my side and replied looking at me."Of course, Sir", he took his seat. How will I confront Mohak's issue with Neil in Abby's presence?Holy Lord! What if he does anything else?It's better to move out right now. "I will take a leave now", I tried to escape."Wait Aashika. I want you to be here and be a part of our discussion", Abby caged my attempt. "Sir, if you don't mind, can she be here?", Abby asked Neil."Why not?", Neil took his seat.I followed them unwillingly and placed myself on the chair next to Abby."Tell me, Abby", Neil initiated."Sir, today we will be assigned a new project from the client's side. Here", Abby handed over him a file."I know. So, whom do you think would be justifying this project's presentation of all?", Neil flipped the file pages. Neil shifted to his professionalism effortlessly. He is NOTEWORTHY. Shit! What even I am thinking? "Aashika!", Abby said in the split-second."Me?", I was bewildered."Yes. After nailing it in your last presentation, I am sure you deserve this chance", Abby smiled.It wasn't possible for me to take a new responsibility with a havoc mindset. "No, I won't be able to", I let it go."Come on, Aashika. You are capable of doing this", Abby tried to convince me without knowing the reason behind my denial."Please understand", I was to complete, however Neil cut my phrase again."Are you sure, Abby? Even though I want you to think about it again", Neil questioned Abby's decision.How on earth can he say this?Is he thinking that I won't be able to crack it?I will prove him wrong. "I will do it and will try my best Abby. Thank you for your belief in me, unlike others", I glared at Neil. Neil winked at me. What?*thought clicked*Did Neil just play reverse psychology on me?"Superb. We got our representative", Neil threw a victory smile.He did. Aashi, you are so dumb. *Imaginary face palm*"Awesome. I will be sending you an email and I want you to fetch those data and form a report", he instructed."Sure", I replied."Reach me out in case any qualm", Abby suggested and exited. Neil got up from his place and sat dragging another chair next to me.I got up to leave completely irked, nonetheless, he made me sit again pulling my wrist."I know you deserved this chance", he spoke. "You know, I am disturbed already because of you. I might not be able to focus on work with a wobbling outlook, again because of you", I pointed my forefinger at him."Hush! How can I let you lose this window of opportunity, which can take your career to another level and that too just because of some crap from the past?", he cross-questioned, authentically."No way, daddy's little girl", he added holding my hands in his. I took a deep breath in exertion. "I don't need to drag it much. Tell me, how do you learn about him?", I couldn't take it anymore. "Hold your horses. Trust me, you will get to know. Not now", he declared.Argh! I know he will not burst the bubble now and pumping around regarding this is not worth it. I just stood up and paced towards the exit without looking at him.Nevertheless, what he said surprised me even more. "Don't forget tomorrow's date, which is very special to you", he chuckled."Whatever", I uttered and paced towards my cubicle.Hold on. Special day?I checked my phone for the calendar date and what I realised made my heart stop for a jiffy. Tomorrow is very important for me. How come I forgot about it?And..How did Neil know that?My head triggered a mild migraine due to the chaos in my mind. Meanwhile, my phone rang.It read the same unknown number. I swiped the green icon. Me- Who the hell is this? Unknown- Hello Miss. Rao! Hope you are doing well. Did you like the bouquet which you received at your doorstep on Saturday?Me- Bouquet? It was you? Unknown- Yes! I saw you in Parkland on the weekend, but didn't like the way you were with that masked man. Me- How dare you stalk me? Who are you?Unknown- Patience, sweetie. You know me. Me- Who? What do you want?Unknown- You! Only you.*maniacal laugh*Me- Shut the hell up. One more call and you will be behind the bars. Beep.. Beep..I disconnected the call and blocked the number with my shuddering hands.Who is it now?Why is he dogging me?The person whom I saw on bike that day, was it him?*huff*I drank water and closed my eyes for a minute. I thought of speaking up with somebody about this. I dialled the obvious number from my speed dial, my idiot. Ring.. Ring..Beep.. Beep..I dialed once more. Ring.. Ring..Beep.. Beep..Why isn't he picking? *anxious*He might be busy with his stuff. I tried Ayu's. It voiced switched-off. Calm down, Aashi! There might be some way around. Somehow, I managed to work and called it the end of the day. I reached my room and spoke to my mumma and dad. I didn't say anything to them as I don't want them to stress unnecessarily. *knock knock*I was flipping pages of a novel, I heard a knock on my door accompanied by a familiar voice. "Hey", the voice came.My eyes twinkled on hearing the voice. The voice seemed to be my Idiot. I ran towards the door and opened it with a huge grin. To my disappointment, it was our artist Ronnie standing there with dark chocolate in his hand."Sorry for using Yash's voice. You appeared to be a bit tense, so thought of giving you this and a bonus smile", he passed the chocolate to me and giggled. This was the result of me making them hear the voice chats of mine and my idiots sometimes."No issues, at least I smiled due to this voice", I acknowledged. "That means you are tensed. What's it?", he asked."Nothing Ronnie, just the stress of the new project", I lied. "Sure?", he raised his brows.I nodded a YES!"Okay then! Good night", he left. After a couple of hours. *knock knock*Another knock woke me up. "Open the door, duffer", a voice reached my eardrums.Yash's voice again?Ronnie!!!!  *annoyed*"Shove off, Ronnie. Let me sleep", I yelled. The knocks didn't stop and were irritating me to the core. I stood up to terminate it further.I opened the door, fuming and I saw a man carrying a huge bunch of balloons which was covering his face. As the balloons came down, my jaw dropped. ****************************What do you think is the special day? See you in the next chapter.Till then stay tuned and miss me😉#KerpReading #KeepLoving❤️❤️