Chapter 15
Akansha so wanted to glare at him for forwarding his hand. She hated even looking at him, let alone touching him.
For a microsecond, her eyes shifted to his secretary. The woman already had a panicked expression, as if silently calculating that it had been about five seconds since Shaurya had extended his hand.
Akansha mentally rolled her eyes at the importance he carried without even trying.
She didn’t want to shake his hand, but she had to. He was the Chief Minister, and no ordinary person could afford to do what she wanted to in that moment.
“Thank you, sir…” she said as she shook his hand.
The moment his palm touched hers, a shiver ran through her.
That familiar warmth seeped in instantly—and she almost hated herself for it.
She couldn’t even blame her body or her heart. He had been the first man she had ever truly gotten close to, the first one she had been in a relationship with. He had shown her what it felt like to fall in love.
And that was the problem.
If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have even spared a glance. No one else had ever mattered enough to affect her like this. Her life had never allowed space for personal emotions—only responsibilities, expectations, and survival.
Shaurya Singh Shekhawatt was the only exception she had ever known.
Across from her, the moment their hands met, warmth hit Shaurya in a way he hadn’t felt in years.
It was as if something he had buried deep inside him had suddenly come alive again.
All he wanted in that moment was to pull her into him and never let go.
But he didn’t.
He simply held on a second longer than necessary.
Akansha noticed.
And she hated it.
Every passing second made it harder to endure his touch. Not because her mind was uncertain—her mind was firm, controlled, refusing to bend, and she was thankful for the only sensible part in her body—but because her body reacted in ways she had no control over.
That contradiction frustrated her more than anything else.
Shweta observed it from a distance.
Something about this handshake didn’t sit right.
Shaurya didn’t do this.
Not ever.
His handshakes were usually brief, formal, almost detached—often replaced with a simple nod or a folded-hands greeting, especially with women.
This… was different.
And that alone was enough to unsettle her.
"Sir... You need to address the committee..." Shweta interrupted him.
Shaurya cursed himself internally for giving in to his emotions. He gave Akansha’s hand one final firm shake before letting it go.
He walked ahead to address the committee.
Shweta glanced at Akansha briefly, checking if she was fine.
For a moment, there was hesitation in Shweta's eyes—almost suspicion toward Shaurya's misbehavior toward Akansha—but Akansha didn’t welcome that interpretation. Not for any other reason, but because she knew Shaurya wasn’t that kind of man.
He never looked at women with inappropriate intent.
In fact, he never really looked at any woman except for her.
Akansha gave a small, controlled smile to assure Shweta she was fine. Shweta returned it and followed Shaurya into the hall.
Akansha took a steadying breath. She wanted nothing more than to wash her hand repeatedly until the sensation disappeared completely. But there was no time for that.
She entered the hall and took the farthest corner. Unfortunately, the room—though large—felt intimate due to the limited number of people, and attention naturally drifted. Including his.
Shaurya began addressing the committee, greeting senior members and welcoming new ones. He then outlined expectations, responsibilities, and deliverables.
"Lastly, no committee member should be involved in corruption or deceit.
Rules must be strictly followed, and any violation will have serious consequences.
As I said, the project is divided into four phases, and the committee head will brief you further.
I expect full commitment and timely execution," Shaurya concluded.
He nodded at the host to proceed.
"Now the floor is open for questions," the host announced.
A senior researcher raised his hand and was handed the microphone.
"Sir... during onboarding, we were informed you would be our boss. Will you be directly leading us, or do we report to Mrs. Arora?"
Shaurya smiled lightly.
"What do you mean? You don’t want me as your boss?" he joked. "Trust me, I’m a better boss than Mrs. Arora. The lady's strict—very strict. Ask anyone from the previous committee."
The room laughed. Old members nodded in agreement.
"See? They agree," Shaurya added, glancing at Mrs. Arora.
"I’m sure you noted their names, Mrs. Arora."
"Yes sir, I did," she replied. "We’ll see you all tomorrow."
Laughter rippled through the room again.
The atmosphere around him always became lighter, easier—people naturally gravitated toward his presence. Except her.
Akansha couldn’t stand it. She wanted him to leave quickly. The thought came instinctively, almost like relief was attached to distance.
And yet Shaurya noticed her immediately.
He understood what she wanted. He always did.
For a brief moment, he wanted to give it to her—to step away, to remove himself from her space if that brought her peace.
But he couldn’t.
Going away from her was the one thing he had never been able to do.
"Coming back to your question," he continued, voice steady, "there are forty-one members in the committee. Eight will report directly to me. The rest will report to Mrs. Arora and Mr. Khanna."
A faint shift crossed his expression, something akin to a subtle gleam—something brief, something only someone who knew him well would notice. And she did. Akansha instantly guessed she might be one of the eight reporting to him, and her doubt was confirmed in the next few seconds.
"Sir... who are those eight?" the researcher asked again.
"You’ll be informed in the first session," the host interjected quickly.
"That’s fine," Shaurya said calmly, giving a slight nod.
"You already know the 5 out of 8," Shaurya said, gesturing toward the five panelists seated on the stage, which included Mrs. Arora, Mr. Samuel, and Mr. Khanna.
"The other three include senior researcher Dr. Mohammed Rashid Khan—that is you," Shaurya said.
The man smiled widely as the room applauded.
"Mr. Anjan Goel, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary of State, Department of School Education and Literacy..." Shaurya announced.
Anjan stood briefly so the audience could acknowledge him.
"Dr. Akansha Sha..." Shaurya began.
Akansha’s eyes widened instantly. He was so used to addressing his wife in his mind as Dr. Akansha Shaurya Shekhawat that the words almost slipped out. Shaurya corrected himself immediately—so quickly that no one noticed.
"Dixit... a child psychologist," he finished.
Akansha stood, and the room applauded her.
The session continued with a Q&A segment for the next ten minutes. After that, Mrs. Arora took over to explain the project phases and deadlines in detail.
This was followed by introductions and a brief, informal interaction among the team. Shaurya stayed for a while, participating when needed, before preparing to leave.
Mr. Khanna and a few others approached him to shake hands, but Shaurya folded his hands in a Namaste, greeting them collectively instead and walking out quickly.
Shweta frowned at his behavior. He had left without shaking hands with the core committee.
Call him stupid or childish, but after almost five years, he finally felt his wife’s touch again—and he wanted it to linger on him for as long as possible. He wanted to feel it just a little longer.
The warmth in it calmed him. For all these years, he had only imagined her touch, replaying fragments of their past to steady himself. It had helped—partly, briefly—but never enough to quiet what he had lost.
And now, even a simple handshake had felt like something coming back to life.
He just hoped he would succeed in calming her anger… and somehow make her listen to him again.
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After the session commenced, Akansha carefully listened to the details and made a note of everything.
"So, our first target is to complete Phase 1 and the deadline is one month. The review regarding the progress will be held with CM sir after a month. Now get back to work everyone," Mrs. Arora said.
Only then did they fully understand what Shaurya had meant. One month for Phase 1. At least give them time to settle into the team—who even asks to work on Day 1?
Everyone reporting to Mrs. Arora left, leaving the eight reportees of Shaurya in the conference room.
"Mrs. Arora... I feel one month is too soon, and we cannot rush Phase 1 for many reasons. Secondly, out of all the phases, the first phase takes the most time, because everyone is new to the team and needs time to get accustomed to working together. It’s challenging since people from different professional and academic backgrounds are involved.
I think we need to shift this deadline," Akansha voiced her opinion.
"I agree with the challenges you mentioned, and that is exactly why we allocated one month. Otherwise, this is the easiest part out of all," Mrs. Arora argued.
"No... but I agree with Dr. Dixit," Mr. Anjan said.
"So do I. Stage 1 involves major planning, and it is the foundation of the project. It also involves a complete understanding of the primary school curriculum currently in place," Mr. Rashid added.
"Adding to that, we also need to shortlist best practices across the globe and select suitable ones based on our system. All of this groundwork is the foundation of the project. I think this stage deserves more time," Akansha said.
"She has a point, Mrs. Arora," Mr. Khanna said.
"Okay then, the extension of time depends completely on our boss. Get a presentation ready and block some time with him," Mrs. Arora said.
Akansha had assumed Mrs. Arora would handle it herself, but instead the responsibility was dropped directly on her.