Chapter 99: chapter 99

Next day Nidhi came to Riya's hostel to help in packing her belongings and to move her to the new flat.As Riya had very little clothes and belongings, packing was done quickly and very soon they reached Ak towers. Riya's eyes widened when the car entered the community. " Nidhi, are you sure this is the place I'm gonna live in??, I am scared Yaar..Please let's go from here I will find some better hostel"" Shut your mouth and get down..it's decided that you are gonna stay here"With panic written all over her face Riya got down from the car , picked her bags and walked towards the elevator.When they were waiting for the elevator ,she saw a woman waiting along with them.. Inorder to get friendly with the other  flat  owners Riya smiled and asked " hello ,which floor you live in"She sized up Riya and said, "603,608,804,806""Riya was surprised,does this lady own all these flats??",she said to herself." Kantha, why didn't you come to work yesterday, I told you there is a party at house", A lady in late forties who just walked towards the elevator asked. " sorry mam, I was not feeling well and had severe headache"" You always bunk the work when I say there is a party at the house", the lady shouted.After hearing their conversation, Riya realised the lady she just spoke to was a household help.. She looked at Nidhi and observed  that she  was covering her mouth to control the laugh..Riya's flat was on the ninth floor and as soon as Nidhi reached the floor and entered the flat,  she rolled on the bed holding her stomach and started laughing.."Riya felt embarrassed at the beginning for assuming the household help as the owner."Stop it Nidhi, you are embarrassing me  more" ,she said it but  even she started laughing seeing Nidhi and  remembering what happened just before..After a while when they both stabilised, Riya looked at Nidhi and said, "Look at the clothes of the maid Nidhi, she wore better clothes than me.. this kind of community is not suitable for a person like me.. I can't even bear the  monthly maintenance expenses of this flat.. Looking at the flat around she realised how beautiful the flat is decorated  and how well maintained it is..  Putting aside the maintenance , accidentally if I broke the vase,I can't even afford to buy it.." No Nidhi ,I can't live in such an expensive house even it is for free"" You are not a kid to break the vases around , even if they break don't  mind about it ,your Kabir bro  will replace them..  and you need not to think about what others say about your clothes in the apartment.. just be yourself.. and moreover I have bought  new clothes and shoes  for you, you can wear them when you go out"" But ,how can I depend on you every time Nidhi.. this is not correct"Don't worry I am noting down the money I have spent on you so when your job gets permanent I will take it from you with interest.. so stop worrying and unpack your belongings.. I will make a coffee for you,"Nidhi said and walked towards the kitchen.But  Riya's heart was not at ease. She was worried about living in such a huge flat and such a huge community.." On the other side  Ashish walked into his office and asked his assistant to call Riya"" Sir, Riya took two hour permission saying she is shifting her hostel'Ashish looked at his time , there is  half an more for her permission time. he sneered and said," ok ask her to meet me as soon as she comes"Riya had little to arrange in her new house.. She quickly finished it and Nidhi dropped her at her  office and drove towards hers.." Riya, Ashish sir wanted you in his cabin", Ashish's assistant said as soon as she entered.." ok", She said and walked towards his  office and knocked on thel  door.." Come in"Riya took a deep breath and walked in and saw Ashish working seriously on his laptop.." sir, you called me"" Yes, I have a meeting to attend with a client ,you accompany me and later we also have to go to the resort construction site. We will start in 15 minutes.. "" But sir, why me??"" You are an intern here under me, so just follow me and learn the work.. ", he said without even looking at her and typed something seriously on his laptop..Riya shrugged and said ," ok, as you say sir"Ashish looked at the  slim figure leaving his office..He felt something different about this girl..Riya followed Ashish for the client meeting and then to the construction site.The incharge of the site rushed  towards them  to welcome him..Ashish walked along with the incharge and was inspecting everything in detail whereas Riya and his assistant were quietly following him..He stopped at a place and found bunch of cigarette butts. he squatted down and picked up the one  glared at the incharge and said," Heavy construction work in progress, fireworks strictly forbidden sign posted here is   for fun??'"The incharge was speechless and stammered not knowing how to answer his question.He walked a few more steps , picked up a hard hat from the ground and put it on one of the worker's head and said,"you must wear a hard hat when you enter the construction site,you don't even know this, who gave you the job??Ashish was listing every flaw without a pause. He glared at the incharge and asked," what are you in charge here if you can't monitor the work properly, is this why the company hired you??"the incharge was sweating in fear of losing his job." I am sorry sir, I will take care from now on"" you better be", Ashish said and walked out..Riya was quietly observing him from a distance, she felt a shiver in her spine when he was scolding  incharge. "I must be very careful when he assigns some work to me, otherwise I will be screwed", she said to herself..It was already evening by the time inspection was done.His assistant got an emergency call from his home, so he left a little early.Earlier with assistant around , Riya sat in the co-pilot seat as assistant was driving.but as he left now, she has to sit beside him as he will be driving the car.."Where do you stay?? I will drop you. ""Sir, AK towers ", she replied..He looked at her with deep eyes and she didn't understand why he was staring at her. " Sir, Kabir bro asked me to shift there, she told him everything that Kabir told her yesterday"Ashish didn't respond and was seriously driving without looking at her..Riya felt she lost all her energy for explaining him for nothing." Prepare a marketing strategy for our new resort, I brought you here so that you can have an idea of what you are promoting", he said.." ok sir,"She nodded and understood the reason behind him bringing her here.She was too tired from the morning, so she quickly fell asleep in the car..Ashish looked at her and saw a few strands of hair  falling on her face. He had an urge to tuck them behind her ear, but he didn't dare to do it.  if she wakes up , what will he explain..He took a deep breath and admired   her beautiful innocent face sleeping peacefully..As the resort was far  away from the city, it took almost an hour to reach..Riya woke up when they entered the city.. I am sorry sir,I fell asleep..Ashish didn't respond and stopped the car at the restaurant..He walked out and returned with two take-aways. He gave one to her and said,``You must be too tired to cook dinner. eat it after reaching home"Riya felt warmth in her heart , she said ``thank you " with a smile on her face.She was indeed tired and had no energy to cook food after reaching home. she would have slept empty stomach..Soon the car reached the community, Riya was living in.."Thank you sir", she said  and walked towards the elevator and unlucky she bumped into a girl in early twenties and the girl's handbag fell down scattering all the items in her bag on the floor.." I am sorry.. Riya picked up the items from the floor and the bag and when she was about to give it.. the girl screamed at her.." You beggar, who allowed you inside. how dare you bump into me and touch my belongings.. you spoiled my handbag. you can't  even afford it with your whole year's salary.. ",the girl sized up Riya from top to bottom and looking at her clothes, she analysed they are cheap.." Riya didn't wear the clothes Nidhi brought for her, she was ok with  her clothes"tears welled up in her eyes when she heard the girl, she felt even more humiliated when the girl called security and asked him to drag her away.." Wait, I live here", Riya was about to explain.. but the girl didn't give her the chance to explain." drag her away, otherwise you will lose your job", the girl threatened.." Dare you touch her", security startled when he heard the  voice.." Listening to the familiar voice, Riya turned her face towards him..  it was Ashish.The girl who acted like a princess just now looked at Ashish with surprise in her eyes.She was longing to see him from the day she saw him in this apartment.. He rarely comes here and once when she tried to talk to him he just ignored her like a thin air.." How dare you touch my friend ", he said.."She is with you??", the girl asked with disgust in her face.."No, she is not with me. she lives here.. she is a good friend of mine..Dare you touch her in  the future, I will make sure you and your family  never enter this community again..The girl Stomped her feet and walked away cursing Riya under her breath..The security guy was scared and fled away from there...He patted her back and said," it's ok, no one will touch you in future"..Riya felt grateful to him and said," thank you sir, but I think I don't belong to a place like here. I think I should move"" You give up just because a few dogs are barking at you. I didn't know you are this weak.. Fight Riya , the world is full of these kinds of people.. How far will you run?? Stand here and face them..", he said and opened the elevator door for her and signalled with his hand to enter..Riya entered with her head hung low and Ashish pressed the button 9.." How do you know I live in 9 th floor??"I don't know your floor ,it's my floor number", he said..Riya was surprised to hear him.. what !!!her boss lives on the floor she lives in??And to her surprise their flats are even opposite to each other.. "Wait, are we neighbours?? " she said to herself.. Actually , Ashish bought this flat when he returned from the states as this is nearer to his office. whenever he wants to be alone and when he is usually tired , he comes here.Riya has mixed feelings in her heart to meet her neighbour..