Author's POV
The room was bathed in the soft, golden glow of the setting sun, casting elongated shadows across the floor and the walls. The ambient light filtered through the sheer curtains, creating a warm serene atmosphere.
Books and papers lay scattered across the desk, alongside a laptop emitting a soft, bluish glow. The scent of fresh coffee lingered in the air.
The evening light created a tapestry of shadows and light, lending the room and almost ethereal quality. Despite the hour, the room retained an air of calm and concentration amidst the hustle and bustle of the world outside.
“And it's done!” Shree said putting the pen down.
“Finally. Today's part is done.” Laksh said. “We are half way to complete the project!” Laksh added happily.
“I agree.” Shree replied, while putting her stuff in her bag and that's when something caught her attention.
“Hey Lucky, Can you give it to your brother umm Mr.ASR.” She said passing him a card.
“A card?” Laksh asked, confused.
“Umm, it's actually a sorry card for you know that punch incident.” Shree answered with a awkward smile.
“But it was an accident, you don't need to give any card and you already apologized that day only.” Laksh said.
“I know but that wasn't a proper apology and to tell you the truth whenever I look at Mr. ASR I can't meet his eyes because of the guilt. So please give it to him when he arrives.” Shree said, standing up with her phone in hand and bag hung on the shoulder.
“Why don't you give this to him by yourself?” Laksh asked.
“I also thought the same before but I haven't seen him for the last two days. I guess he arrives late from the office. Therefore, I decided to give it to you so you can pass it to him.” Shree explained.
After their last encounter, Shree decided to apologise to Adhyansh. She even prepared a sorry card by herself. Though she didn't get a chance to do so as she leaves the mansion before he arrives. Thus she came to the conclusion of making Laksh do this task for her.
“But Bhai Sa is at home today.” Laksh said.
“Oh okay. Go give it to him and bye I am leaving hehe.” Shree replied, trying to escape.
“Seonbae, you can do it.” Laksh said, passing the card back to her.
“What? No. You are not getting it, See when I tried to apologise to Mr. ASR, it never happened but just as I asked you to give this card to him, we got to know that he is home. 𝑰𝒔𝒌𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒃 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒋𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚𝒂- 𝒊 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚?” Shree said, making an excuse.
[Do you understand its meaning Daya- I mean Lucky?]
“𝑵𝒂𝒉𝒊.” Laksh replied puzzled.
[No.]
“This means that Kanha ji wants you to do this task. So be brave and prove yourself. Kanha ji is always with you.” Shree answered.
“Or maybe Kanha ji wanted me to tell you that Bhai Sa is home so you can do your task without anyone’s help.” Laksh said sweetly, getting her excuse to escape.
“Fine. But you are coming with me.” Shree defeated said.
“Wait a minute.” She said, She closed her eyes, “Kanha ji save your this friend from that Mr. ASR.” She prayed and opened her eyes. “Now let's go.”
“My brother is not some kind of dinosaur that you need to pray to before going to him.” Laksh chuckled at her this act.
“Of course he is, if you see him with my eyes, how the hell is he so tall?” She said,
“That's offensive and being tall is a handsome man’s quality, you short people don't understand it.” Came Laksh’s savage reply, for which he received a head smack from her.
“I am not SHORT.” Shree said, looking more like glaring at him, who nodded his head scared.
(Never mess with short people. Period.)
In the dimly lit hallway, Laksh and Shree, stood in front of the closed door of Adhyansh's home office. The polished wood of the door gleaned under the fluorescence of light.
“You knock.” Laksh hissed, nudging Shree with his elbow. “I am not doing it.”
“No way, this was your idea.” Shree shot back, eyes wide with panic. “You agreed to come with me, so you knock.”
Laksh crossed his arms, glancing nervously at the door. “But you're the one who needs to talk to him. It makes more sense if you do it.” He said.
“That doesn't mean I have to be the one to knock!” Shree whispered fiercely. “He is your brother. Just do it, Lucky. It’ll be over quicker.”
A moment of tense silence passed as they started at the door, neither willing to make the first move. The ticking of the nearby clock seemed to grow louder, each second dragging on interminably.
Shree shook her head. “Now it’s time to use the strongest weapon of all time…. Let's just settle it with rock-paper-scissors.”
Laksh nodded relieved. “Fine. Best two out of three.”
They each raised a hand, eyes locked in a silent agreement. “Rock, paper, scissors.” they mouthed in unison. Shree threw a paper, and Laksh threw a rock.
“One for me.” Shree whispered with a triumphant grin.
Again, they raised their hands. “Rock, paper, scissors.” This time, Shree threw scissors, and Laksh threw a rock.
“Ha! Tied,” Laksh whispered back, a glint of determination in his eyes.
For the final round, their hands moved with tense precision. “Rock, paper, scissors.” Shree threw rock, and Laksh threw scissors.
“Yes!” Shree said softly, pumping her fist. “You knock.”
Laksh groaned, glancing at the door with dread. “Fine.”
He raised his hand tentatively, casting one last pleading look at Shree. Shree nodded, giving him a thumbs-up and a weak smile. Laksh took a deep breath and knocked on the door, the sound seeming unnaturally loud in the quiet hallway.
They both held their breath, waiting for the response from the other side.
After a few moments of tense silence, they heard a deep heavy voice from inside the office, “Come in.”
Laksh and Shree exchanged a quick glance. They pushed the door open and entered the office.
Inside the office, the atmosphere was calm and orderly. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with neatly arranged books, their spines bearing titles in a gold lettering.
The office desk was large and mahogany, its surface meticulously organised with stacks of papers and computer monitors. A leather bound chair behind the desk looked inviting yet authoritative, reflecting the professionalism and authority that Adhyansh Singh Rathore exuded.
Near the windows, heavy curtains of deep blue were drawn to the sides, allowing a view of the fading evening light outside.
Adhyansh sat behind his desk, a stack of paper spread out before him. His gaze lifted from his to settle on the two friends standing nervously in front of him.
His heart beat started accelerating as soon as his eyes met Shree's eyes. His heart was beating so fast and loud, he doubted if they could hear it in the heavy silence of the room.
His gaze lingered on Shree a moment longer than usual, he couldn't think of anything else.
Shree cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly dry. “Uh, good evening Mr. ASR.” She said breaking his gaze and the silence of the room.
“Bhai sa, we…um we wanted to talk to you about something.” Laksh said, his voice slightly shaky.
Adhyansh just hummed, motioning them to the two chairs in front of his desk.
Laksh and Shree sat down, exchanging another nervous glance. Shree took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart.
Shree took a deep breath gathering her thoughts, “Well remember the punch. I mean that accidental punch. I wanted to apologise for the incident. I am sorry for whatever I did that day.”
Adhyansh listened, his expression neutral. He nodded his head, his gaze shifting between Laksh and Shree. He raised his eyebrow at Laksh as if asking if he wanted to say something too. Laksh just shook his head negatively.
“You both can leave.” Adhyansh said with a cold expression.
Shree and Laksh stood up and were moving out of the office. Shree noticed the card in her hand, she mentally face palmed.
She turned back catching Adhyansh off guard, who was staring at her back. She moved towards his desk and placed the card on his desk. And without saying anything she left the office.
Outside the office door, Laksh turned to Shree with a relieved smile. “See? That wasn't so bad.”
“Bad? 𝑴𝒖𝒋𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂 𝒌𝒊 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒐𝒊 𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝒂𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒃 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒍 𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒊 𝒉𝒖. No, even the principal doesn't give that cold look.” She exclaimed.
[I felt like I was meeting the principal after doing something.]
“𝑻𝒖𝒎𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒊 𝑴𝒂𝒂 𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒚𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒅𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒉𝒍𝒆 𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆 𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒚𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆?” She asked.
[Did your elder mother eat bitter gourds at the time of his birth?]
“𝑴𝒖𝒋𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒈𝒂, 𝒎𝒂𝒊 𝒕𝒐𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂 𝒃𝒉𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒊. 𝑽𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒚𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒂 𝒂𝒂𝒑𝒏𝒆?” Laksh asked, confused.
[How would I know, I was not born then. By the way, why did you ask this?]
“𝑬𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒚𝒖 𝒑𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒂? 𝑻𝒖𝒎𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒏𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝑺𝒂 𝒌𝒊 𝒌𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒗𝒊 𝒛𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒊 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒊? ‘You can leave’ ,hmph.” Shree answered, imitating Adhyansh.
[Why did you ask this? Have you not heard your brother speak harsh words?]
“𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒉 𝒌𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒖𝒂.” Shree said happily.
[Let's leave all this aside, at least my guilt has reduced.]
“𝑽𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝒔𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒊 𝒌𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝒚𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒋𝒉𝒑𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒐 𝒌𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒋𝒚𝒂𝒂𝒅𝒂 𝒉𝒊 𝒑𝒚𝒂𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒚𝒂?” Shree asked, joking.
[By the way, your brother always speaks so little or he has fallen in love with me a little too much?]
Aditi and Ahaan who were coming towards the duo gasped hearing her words.
“What?” Shree asked Laksh who was staring at her as if he saw a ghost.
“Dude, I was joking, don't give me that look.” Shree said.
“If anyone else has heard your words then they —” Laksh couldn't complete his sentence as it was completed by Aditi.
“Would be rolling on the floor laughing or might have fainted.” Aditi said joining them with Ahaan by her side.
“Come on guys I am not that bad of a person that someone will laugh at the person who fell for me.” Shree said with a pout.
“No, it's not what we meant. What we want to say is Bhai sa and love just don't go together.” Aditi explained after noticing that sad pout.
“Why? According to me every person on the earth will fall in love in their life and as far as I know my Kanha ji must have made a person for whom your brother fell in an unconditional love.” Shree explained with a smile.
“Well then we are also waiting for the girl to come make our Bhai Sa a lovesick puppy for her.” Ahaan whispered among them, making everyone laugh.
“It will look so funny to Mr. Rudy being all lovey dovey.” Shree said laughing.
“I wish Bhai sa get a girl like you Seonbae. Sweet, funny, beautiful and talented.” Laksh said, making Shree cough at the same time her heart started beating fastly just imagining her and Adhyansh together.
Just as she was about to reply, she noticed something.
“Oh Kanha ji I forgot my phone at Mr. ASR’s office.” Shree exclaimed, finding her pocket empty. It was with the card and she had left it with the card on the desk.
“Don't worry I
will go and get it for you.” Ahaan said, making her relieved.
But before he could move from here he saw Adhyansh coming towards them with a phone in his hand which was ringing…
♡✿♡✿♡✿♡✿♡✿♡✿♡✿♡
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