Page 49 of Let's Start with Forever
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 todecide 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.
14
Raashi surveyed herself in the mirror of the elevator that took her up to Sameer’s office. Her dark denims and orange flowing top looked fine. She rubbed her clammy hands on her jeans. Oh! She had to relax. This nervous and uncertain behavior was unlike her. This was purely going to be business. She had to start behaving like the mature businesswoman she was because once she accepted his offer and signed the dotted line she would be spending innumerable hours with him in meetings and discussions. This evening was just the start.
As she neared his office, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. She could hear raised voices and loud, angry words being exchanged. She checked her watch. It was eight in the evening and there was hardly anyone on this floor. She waited outside as the arguments raged inside, most of which could be clearly heard from where she was standing.
Sameer had been waitingfor Raashi. He was wrapping up his last meeting with Rishi when the door burst open and his sisterRhea stomped inside, a fireball of rage and resentment. Both of them shot to their feet as they saw her.
“Did you threaten to cut off Shauna’s allowance if she didn’t tell you what was going on with me?” Rhea queried, her eyes burning in fury.
Sameer didn’t know what she was talking about. Rhea went to Rishi and poked a finger in his chest. “You have no right to threaten her into breaking my trust.”
His sister was petite and tiny. But her dynamic, volcanic personality usually made up for her lack of height. However, right now, she looked pale and tired. She had dark circles around her normally sparkly eyes. Rishi and he had been trying to get her to talk to them since the past many weeks but she had stood strong. She still refused to tell them why she had decided to quit her studies and return home so suddenly. He figured Rishi would have tried different means to get to the bottom of it all because at this point all of them were feeling helpless. Kabier and Sheena had both tried to talk to her too, but she had brushed them off.
