Love Finds a Way !!!

Chapter 11

Kanak waited for ages before Mr. Arrogant Singhania decided to pick up his phone. What was taking him so long? She didn't have all evening to waste on a call. Technically she did, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. She had to tell him she found her sister and that she will get whatever it was that she had taken from them and return it as soon as possible. She could just go and get it and dump it on his table but even as the idea came to her she instinctually threw it out the window. Why make a mess of an already messy situation. She just wasn't sure how he operated. What if he took an offense and did press charges? His instructions were to keep them informed of what was happening. So she could tell him she knew where Palak was and that she would soon return the thing so she will never again have to bear the likes of him again. Nicely of course. But she could do that only if he picked the phone. Damn the man. She had never cursed anyone before but because of him she had almost been arrested, lost her job, lied to her sister and God knew what else she will have to do in the near future. So he deserved it she decided even though she apologized to God for damning him and hoped he wasn't listening and actually cursed the man.

There was a click and a deep voice spoke on the other end.

"Aarav," he said.

And for a second Kanak forgot what she had to say. She had forgotten how his voice sounded. She had heard it of course loud and clear the other day when he had visited her home no barged into it as if he owned it, but now, so close to her ear it sounded as if melted chocolate was cascading over caramel. It sounded delicious. Her stomach rumbled. She was hungry no wonder he was sounding like melted chocolate. But she did hear his self-assuredness, confidence and of course arrogance in that one word 'Aarav'. She came out of her musings before he thought it was a prank call and kept the phone down.

"Hi," she said sounding out of sorts. What was wrong with her?

"Who is this?" Aarav asked.

Authority made his voice crisp and cool at the same time. Why was she assessing the quality of his voice?

"Kanak...Kanak Sharma," she said hurriedly, "Palak's sister," she reminded him just in case he had forgotten.

"Did you find your sister?" he asked straightaway.

Kanak thought that was rude. Though it was synonymous with his name. But still. There were some manners attached to how you spoke to someone. She knew them. Strange, how come he wasn't taught that much? Coming from the kind of family background he did politeness and manners should have been ingrained in him. But it seemed that wasn't the case. No 'hello' or 'how are you' just straight 'Did you find your sister'? She made a face when she heard him speak again.

"Did you go off to sleep at the other end?" he asked rudely.

"No, I am very much here," she replied sweetly, "and yes, I did find my sister," she said but before she could go on he cut her in between.

"So why are you calling me?" he said, "Get her and come to my office?" he told her.

It sounded more like a command to her. And she kept her temper in check. Just barely. The thing was she rarely got angry. But with him her temper just flared without warning.

"Because she is not here," Kanak said trying to keep her grip on patience, "she is out of city but I know where she is," she told him and hurried on before he interrupted her again, "look...she is very distressed and I think I will go and get whatever she has taken from you, now that I know her whereabouts. Rest assured you will have it in a couple of days," she said hoping he will give her that kind of time.

But she was met with silence. She wasn't sure what that meant. Had he even heard what she had said? Or had he kept the phone down right after commanding her to get Palak and walk into his office and she hadn't realized? She looked at her phone. Nope. The line was very much working.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"What are you doing now?" he asked.

He sounded as if he had been thinking and now he was done doing that. It annoyed her to no end.

"Nothing," she said rudely.

"Good, meet me in half an hour at Franco's," he said and she felt he was about to keep the phone down when she quickly butted in.

"Wait..." she said, "what is that?" she asked confused.

"It is a restaurant," Aarav said patiently, "in Juhu," he told her.

Yeah, just because she worked at a hotel did not mean the names of all restaurants across Mumbai were at the tips of her fingers. She just knew the ones around her house in Kandivali. Besides it would take at least forty minutes to just reach Juhu and then she had to find the restaurant too. What was wrong with him? Didn't he know where she lived?

"Do you know where I live?" she asked.

"Is there a problem?" he asked impatiently now.

"It would take me at least an hour just to reach Juhu," she protested.

"I don't have that kind of time," Aarav said rudely, "the dress code is formal for the place, you have forty minutes to reach, be on time I don't like people who are late," he said and before Kanak could say anything he clicked the phone shut.

For the next two minutes Kanak just stared at her phone which was buzzing with the dial tone now. The man hung up on her. Just like that? Forty minutes. Wow, that was rich. He just increased the time by ten and if she calculated correctly she had already lost precious two minutes of it. She won't go. She decided on a huff and kept her phone down. Who the hell did he think he was? The pompous man. She wasn't his servant who he spoke to like that. He could take a hike for all she cared. She wouldn't go.

Ten minutes later she was hurrying through her wardrobe. Formal he had said. Was it western or Indian? It should be western because the restaurant sounded like a western theme. She hoped she was right as she quickly took out her only silk blouse with tailored black trousers. The only two things she had spent a fortune on. She usually reserved it for special occasions or interviews. Thanks to him she was wearing it tonight to a restaurant. She hoped she wouldn't look out of place. Palak would have loads of things in her wardrobe as Kanak bit her lip. But to take something without asking her would be inappropriate. She couldn't waste any more time as she quickly got into her clothes. Then wearing her sandals she brushed her hair and tied it into a knot at the base of her neck, not bothering with make-up she put a lip gloss and used her kohl pencil to emphasize her eyes then rushed out the door. She looked at her watch as she went down in the lift. She would never make it on time. Why was she even going? Didn't he know it was an impossible task? Maybe he did. She damned him again and hoped this time God was listening to her. This was ridiculous. But she was going because she knew he had the power to ruin her sister or even harass them without much efforts.

She hailed an auto and left for the train station. They were lifelines of Mumbai. Safe and fast. She used her pass and boarded the first train available. It would take at least forty minutes to reach Ville Parle. And she hoped she could catch a taxi and go to the restaurant. Also hoping that the taxi driver knew where it was. And if Aarav Singhania said a word to her she would dump something on his head, to hell with the consequences. Despite telling herself that, she couldn't help but keep glancing at the watch on her wrist as the minutes ticked by. Yesterday and today had been such disasters she wasn't sure if she would be able to take any more stress.

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