Chapter 13 #2
Plus, he was willing to buy the land back at a very fair price.
But the land hadn’t been hers to begin with.
It had been his, until Janak gave it to her.
She felt guilty taking money from him for a land that he had once owned.
It was not like she didn’t need the money.
Of course, she needed it. She wasn’t super rich.
The extra money meant she could clear all her past loans, possibly give a raise to her staff and perhaps change the entire air conditioning at the T-Cafe?.
Logically, the solution made perfect sense to her.
On her own, she would have taken a loan to build the restaurant.
He was literally offering her a way out of all her problems. What was wrong with her? This decision should be easy.
But then again, she had to accept that a part of her wanted to punish him for how he had hurt her. She had something that he wanted desperately and she was thrilled that she was controlling the stakes and in a position to say no to him.
Oh, God! This was so not like her to think like this.
She ought to consider the option that he had given her and work it out with him.
But that meant that she would be spending endless hours with him and that was something she didn’t want.
She sighed again. This was so confusing and she was completely out of ideas here.
She folded her hands on her lap and turned to Janak, who was watching her patiently.
“What do you think I should do?” Raashi asked him.
“I can’t tell you that. You have to do what your heart tells you to. All I can say is, I want both of you to be happy. You are very important to me, Raashi, but so is he.” Janak cast a warm glance at Sameer, who was standing with his back to them, still talking on his cell phone.
“And Raashi, whatever he may have done earlier, this time he is not wrong. He wants this to work with you and you need to consider this carefully.”
Raashi digested what Janak was saying. He had told her to give this a chance, in not so many words. His phone call over, Sameer came and sat down opposite her.
“Sorry, but this day seems to never end,” Sameer breathed out.
“All OK?” Janak asked pointedly.
Sameer nodded. He rubbed his aching neck. “Yes. I’ve handled the problem. Now, let’s get back to the discussion on hand.”
Raashi watched as he loosened his tie and opened the collar button of his shirt. She watched him wearily folding the sleeves of his shirt, tension etched on his face, his shoulders stiff. He was exhausted and she was being hard on him.
“Sameer, I agree to think about this, about all your suggestions.”
His gaze snapped to hers, his expression, bewildered. He looked from her to his grandfather and then back to her. His eyes widened and he sighed when he understood that Janak had a hand in making her change her mind.
He smiled. “That’s good. In fact, I have some plans drawn up by my architects that we could go through right now. It will give you a better idea of what I have in mind. I’ll just get them.”
He stood up and as he passed her to move towards his desk, she stood and caught hold of his arm.
He stopped and turned to face her. She felt the muscles beneath her hand flexed in response to her touch.
She couldn’t look away from his blatant stare.
Awareness flared between them and in that brief moment the world around them disappeared.
They stood like that, eyes locked, her hand on his arm, for an eternity, until they heard Janak cough beside them.
Quickly, she moved her hand away. “Not today, Sameer. I can see that you’re exhausted. You seem to have a lot to do. We can do this another time.”
Sameer watched her trying to hide what she felt for him. But now was not the time or place for this thing between them.
“Let’s meet tomorrow again, here, in my office and I can show you the plans. Will you come, please?”
She heard the earnestness in his voice. This was Sameer, who was normally so arrogant and confident. He was pleading with her? Something shifted inside her and she said, “Okay.”
Sameer felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from him. He let out a relieved breath. “Tomorrow then.”
Raashi checked her cell phone to look over her scheduled appointments.
“Yes, but late. Does eight in the evening work for you?” Raashi asked.
Sameer nodded. “Thanks. Please trust me on this. I really want what’s best for both of us.”
Raashi tilted her head to the side.
“I am willing to give this a try, but trust? That you will have to earn,” And then she turned and walked away with a parting smile and nod to his grandfather.
Sameer stared at the close door, contemplating her last statement. He would make her trust him again, he promised himself. As he turned around, he saw his grandfather smiling at him.
“What are you smiling about?” Sameer asked, shaking his head.
“Nothing,” Janak replied innocently.
Sameer raised his eyebrows.
“Well, if you really want to know, I like the way she has you all twisted up in knots,” Janak said, sounding proud.
“You do remember that you’re my grandfather?”
Janak regarded him solemnly. “And you would do well to remember that you being my grandson is the only reason I did not cut you up and hang you to dry after what you did to her.”
Sameer’s jaw dropped. He recovered quickly to ask, “She told...”
Janak waved his hand and cut him off. “No, she did not. No one did for that matter.”
Sameer raised his hands in the air. “Well then, how do you know? And, what do you know?”
Janak stood up and headed towards the door. He put his hand on the knob and turned to look back at Sameer.
“I have always kept a watch on my angels, all three of them, right until Sheena and Keya got married. The two of them don’t need me looking out for them anymore.
So that leaves my most special girl, Raashi.
Do you think, I wouldn’t come to know if my own grandson seduced her in my hotel?
Have you not learned that nothing in a hotel can remain a secret for long?
You may run the hotel, but do not forget that I have eyes and ears everywhere, especially if it concerns my girls.
You walked out on her like a coward, leaving her devastated. ”
“Is that why you gave her my land?” Sameer asked his grandfather angrily. “Was that supposed to be my punishment?”
Janak walked back to Sameer.
“No, my dear boy, what I have done is given you a chance to redeem yourself. She is the most special thing to have happened to you and you are too bloody blind to see it. Thus, it’s in your own interest to patch up with her and claim her as your own or watch quietly on the side while Rithwik Bali sweeps her off her feet and marries her. ”
“What?” Sameer thundered.
He felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
“Yes, you heard me right. For reasons I don’t want to get into, Rithwik Bali needs to marry urgently and I know he has proposed to Raashi.
So while Kabier had nothing to fear from Rithwik and Keya’s friendship, you on the other hand need to decide what you want from Raashi, before it’s too late, because Rithwik is making a play for her and he just might win. ”
Saying that, Janak Sehgal marched out, leaving Sameer astounded.
Good, Janak thought. His grandson had become way too arrogant and overconfident. A little competition never hurt anyone and Sameer definitely needed a push in the right direction. Janak hoped that with this conversation things would proceed just the way he wanted.