Publishedat 9th of April 2019 05:07:08 PMChapter 68
His words resonated in her head . She could feel that he meant well from the way he looked at her . She took the jacket from him and wore it without saying a word . He wanted to help her to wear it, but it looked like she wasn"t interested . She was struggling to get the right words to speak . She continued looking down and said,
"I wasn"t hiding . I was just . . . "
And her words were interrupted with a knock on the door .
It was David again .
He came in and saw both Raymond and Akira together and he could sense that he had interrupted their conversation again like the day before . He could clearly feel that something was wrong as the whole aura of the room seemed tense . But he didn"t have the courage to dissect and probe further . He looked at Akira and saw that she had her head hung low . So he decided to go ahead and speak his mind out .
"The delivery guy is here and he has got both the colors", David said .
"Ask him to get both of them to my office . I will choose and let him know", Raymond said .
"But there is a slight problem", David said .
"What?", asked Raymond .
David then looked at Akira and she immediately understood that she had overstayed her welcome in the room . So she looked at Raymond and said,
"I will send you the minutes of the meeting after lunch", and left the room .
There were so many things that she wanted to tell him . She wanted to explain to him why she always hid her pain . But first, she had to handle her own heart which was going haywire .
She rushed to the washroom immediately and splashed water all over her face to calm her nerves . But nothing was helping her out . She then drank ice cold water and took deep breaths . Then she went up to the terrace and sat there silently, feeling the wind on her face . Then she slowly said,
"How can I ever explain to you the things which are buried deep inside my heart . I learned not to show my pain since long . Don"t break me, Raymond . Don"t make me weak . My heart can"t take it anymore" .
Then she placed a hand on her chest to calm her heartbeats . It was hard for her to forget him . His closeness, his touch, his care, his gaze, his questions were like slow poison . It was spreading slowly but steadily consuming her more and more day after day .
She sat there silently for quite some time and then left for the cafeteria . She did not want her teammates to wait for her for too long . She was afraid that if she was too late then there would be questions again . And somehow she was fed up of being answerable to everyone .
"What is the problem?" Raymond asked David again after Akira had left the room .
The problem is, you have to leave the office by 5:00 p . m . so that you can attend your niece"s birthday party . But 15 minutes back I got a call from the finance team of Abacus stating that they want to have a video conference meeting at 6:00 p . m . today", David said with a worried look on his face .
"But why all of a sudden they have decided to have the meeting so late", Raymond asked all worried .
He didn"t want to be late for the birthday party because he knew that Katherine would be really p.i.s.sed if that happened . But more than that he was worried that it would break his niece"s heart .
"I have no idea . Just that they wanted a briefing on the fiscal report", David replied .
"I do not understand . Today morning only I have discussed it with Mr . Vikram . So what is the need for this meeting? Can you check with the finance team of Abacus?", Raymond asked .
"Well, I am not sure about it either . I have myself asked the same question to them . But they insisted to have the meeting today so I didn"t resist much", David replied .
"Ok . I got it . We will handle one thing at a time . Let the delivery guy come first . I need to choose the teddy for Kate first . I will try to wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible . Be ready as you might need to cover for me if it gets too late . I can stay for one hour but not more than that," Raymond said and went back to his seat .
Something was not summing up appropriately . But Raymond was unable to map what .
Meanwhile at Abacus Inc .
"So is that clear to you?", asked Vikram to Mr . Whittaker who was his finance team leader .
"Yes, crystal . Do you need any other information?", asked Whittaker .
"No that would be all . But please make sure you go through all the points that I have discussed . I need to have the decision made today itself . So even if it gets late please bear to stretch for this one day . But make sure to finalize the budget plan by today," Vikram said .
"My team will be on it", said Whittaker .
Vikram paused for a while and then said with his expression turning all cold,
"I don"t care whether it"s 10 or 11 p . m . today, but I need the plan ready . I hope that is clear," Vikram said and relaxed back on his seat .
"Sure Mr . Vikram . The report will be on your desk by tomorrow morning . My team and I will make sure of that," Whittaker said and left Vikram"s cabin .
Even though Akira had told him that the birthday party was only for the kids, Vikram didn"t want to take his chances . So he didn"t leave any stone unturned to make sure that Raymond stays late in office . He was the sort of guy who liked eliminating all the odds . He knew he had to do something to make sure things fell back into place . He couldn"t just sit at his seat doing nothing, not after when he had seen the way Raymond looked at Akira .
He knew it was high time to take up the matter to his own hands and raise the stakes high .
His words resonated in her head . She could feel that he meant well from the way he looked at her . She took the jacket from him and wore it without saying a word . He wanted to help her to wear it, but it looked like she wasn"t interested . She was struggling to get the right words to speak . She continued looking down and said, .
.
"I wasn"t hiding . I was just . " .
.
And her words were interrupted with a knock on the door
.
It was David again
.
.
.
He came in and saw both Raymond and Akira together and he could sense that he had interrupted their conversation again like the day before . He could clearly feel that something was wrong as the whole aura of the room seemed tense . But he didn"t have the courage to dissect and probe further . He looked at Akira and saw that she had her head hung low . So he decided to go ahead and speak his mind out
.
"The delivery guy is here and he has got both the colors", David said
.
"Ask him to get both of them to my office . I will choose and let him know", Raymond said
.
"But there is a slight problem", David said
.
"What?", asked Raymond
.
David then looked at Akira and she immediately understood that she had overstayed her welcome in the room . So she looked at Raymond and said, .
.
"I will send you the minutes of the meeting after lunch", and left the room
.
There were so many things that she wanted to tell him . She wanted to explain to him why she always hid her pain . But first, she had to handle her own heart which was going haywire
.
She rushed to the washroom immediately and splashed water all over her face to calm her nerves . But nothing was helping her out . She then drank ice cold water and took deep breaths . Then she went up to the terrace and sat there silently, feeling the wind on her face . Then she slowly said, .
.
"How can I ever explain to you the things which are buried deep inside my heart . I learned not to show my pain since long . Don"t break me, Raymond . Don"t make me weak . My heart can"t take it anymore"
.
Then she placed a hand on her chest to calm her heartbeats . It was hard for her to forget him . His closeness, his touch, his care, his gaze, his questions were like slow poison . It was spreading slowly but steadily consuming her more and more day after day
.
.
She sat there silently for quite some time and then left for the cafeteria . She did not want her teammates to wait for her for too long . She was afraid that if she was too late then there would be questions again . And somehow she was fed up of being answerable to everyone
.
--- .
.
"What is the problem?" Raymond asked David again after Akira had left the room
.
The problem is, you have to leave the office by 5:00 p . m . so that you can attend your niece"s birthday party . But 15 minutes back I got a call from the finance team of Abacus stating that they want to have a video conference meeting at 6:00 p . m . today", David said with a worried look on his face
.
.
"But why all of a sudden they have decided to have the meeting so late", Raymond asked all worried
.
He didn"t want to be late for the birthday party because he knew that Katherine would be really p.i.s.sed if that happened . But more than that he was worried that it would break his niece"s heart
.
"I have no idea . Just that they wanted a briefing on the fiscal report", David replied
.
"I do not understand . Today morning only I have discussed it with Mr . Vikram . So what is the need for this meeting? Can you check with the finance team of Abacus?", Raymond asked
.
.
"Well, I am not sure about it either . I have myself asked the same question to them . But they insisted to have the meeting today so I didn"t resist much", David replied
.
.
"Ok . I got it . We will handle one thing at a time . Let the delivery guy come first . I need to choose the teddy for Kate first . I will try to wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible . Be ready as you might need to cover for me if it gets too late . I can stay for one hour but not more than that," Raymond said and went back to his seat
.
.
Something was not summing up appropriately . But Raymond was unable to map what
.
.
--- .
.
Meanwhile at Abacus Inc
.
"So is that clear to you?", asked Vikram to Mr . Whittaker who was his finance team leader
.
"Yes, crystal . Do you need any other information?", asked Whittaker
.
.
"No that would be all . But please make sure you go through all the points that I have discussed . I need to have the decision made today itself . So even if it gets late please bear to stretch for this one day . But make sure to finalize the budget plan by today," Vikram said
.
"My team will be on it", said Whittaker
.
.
Vikram paused for a while and then said with his expression turning all cold, .
.
"I don"t care whether it"s 10 or 11 p . m . today, but I need the plan ready . I hope that is clear," Vikram said and relaxed back on his seat
.
.
"Sure Mr . Vikram . The report will be on your desk by tomorrow morning . My team and I will make sure of that," Whittaker said and left Vikram"s cabin
.
.
Even though Akira had told him that the birthday party was only for the kids, Vikram didn"t want to take his chances . So he didn"t leave any stone unturned to make sure that Raymond stays late in office . He was the sort of guy who liked eliminating all the odds . He knew he had to do something to make sure things fell back into place . He couldn"t just sit at his seat doing nothing, not after when he had seen the way Raymond looked at Akira
.
.
He knew it was high time to take up the matter to his own hands and raise the stakes high