The Return of Passion (Complete)

Chapter 6

She walked through the throngs of people, her eyes focusing at nothing in particular as she watched the numerous people gathered around the conference room, chattering away before the meeting starts, somewhere in the far a telephone was blaring with sound but was left un-attended, the young lady in a black pencil skirt was animatedly trying to tell something to the electrician who was busy fixing the broken fan over her cubicle on the other side of the hall. The fax machine was continuously working on its own with, producing paper after paper with a slight 'ping'.

For a moment or two this chaos and noise gave her peace due to the underlying messages, 'that she isn't alone.' 'Not now at least!'

She just could not understand how she had landed here, in this situation. Where everything she had, is to be taken away.........be it her mother, her father, her love, her daughter and now Nihar! This pain and insecurity is now so familiar to her that she could not feel it anymore and it's getting even more harder to hate others for her condition.......it's getting harder to hate Aditya.........perhaps, it's really herself causing it all. Perhaps it's her and her fate that takes her to a dead end every time she picks up a new road to life. And then there's that almighty too, who takes away everything from her except her life!

But whatever it was, 'if she is to live she would do it on her own terms!'

Striding up to the CEO's cabin, she knocked twice and was told to 'come in' in a very calm voice.

"You are half an hour late!"

Raising an eyebrow at the man in front of her, she could not help but be amused. His eyes were fixed at the laptop screen while he typed away furiously. 'Had he assumed her to be someone else?'

"I don't like lethargic people Miss." His voice still had the same velvety touch and calmness.

"And I don't expect you to like me."

This time he looked up, his blank eyes scanning her face for a moment before he spoke again, "It would be harder to run this company if you keep that kind of attitude." All the regale flew out of the window and instead came the rage flowing in.

One man keeps on to show her down at every opportunity he gets, publicly humiliates her, threatens her and another.......here, is telling her how much lazy and incompetent she is! That's enough s**t she had taken for one day!

"Excuse me; do you want to say I am Incompetent for this company?"

"All I said was that IT WOULD BE HARDER!"

"It means all the same!" She snapped back. She wasn't going to let another male to show her down.

"You know what harder mean?" It was as though her snapping replies and intense glares were all in vain as he continued talking. "It is a comparative adverb, which means 'to require a great deal of effort.' But anyway, it seems you are really frustrated today and is in need of a verbal punching bag. And seriously, I have no intention of being that." And like always giving another surprise to her tumultuous heart, the corners of his mouth curled from the sides and broadened until he was smiling fully.

The anger left slowly and she could not help but reciprocate by smiling back, a full fledged smile.....something she hadn't done in a long-long time. She genuinely smiled.

Putting a hand over her mouth she stopped herself from losing her composure anymore.

"Please take a seat and forgive me, if anything I said hurt you." Although his expression was back to blankness, the hint of smile on her face hadn't been lost.

She took a seat across him. "Mr. Kumar said that you wanted to talk to me?" She cleared her throat.

"Yes, actually the yearly tour of routine inspection is being organized. I just wanted to know if you want to come." His eyes have already darted back to the laptop screen by then as he spoke.

"Tour you say?" Alisha prodded, this time ready to give the man a medicine of his own taste.

"Yes, first to Paris and then to Rio."

"You know I don't like people who look somewhere else while they talk to me!"

He turned around towards her, "Well, that's even then....between us.....you don't like me....I don't like you."

And that bought an ease between them. She smiled subtly, and he smiled back.

Tossing and turning in his bed, his eyes once again caught the sight of his phone on the side table, the phone that he had put into the silent mode many hours before from now. What's with the continues calls and messages from Purva?

Taking the phone in his hand, he sighed. 34 missed called, 17 voice messages and 10 texts from....Purva.

"Hello?"

"Adi.....please listen to me....I-we need to talk. Why are you angry at me? And why aren't you picking up my calls?" The desperate edge in her voice did nothing to ease his temperament.

"I told you, I need some time alone....and alone means alone. And I don't understand why the hell you are continuously calling and messaging me? Another order from your father, is it?" He almost roared into the phone, not able to forget the conversation with that vile, manipulative old dog.

"Why are you speaking like that about him? He just wanted the best for us!"

"Best my foot!..........Look this is the reason I told you to stay away from me....I don't want another discussion like this morning."

"All dad said was that you should not have any communication with your ex-wife anymore! Is that too much to ask from you Adi? Isn't that the main point of getting a divorce?!" the voice came from the phone.

"Look I am getting Nihar back, even if it means to meet her a thousand times over. I am not going to let her get even a penny from me!"

"Adi please ......"

"Please or no please Purva, I am getting it back. Now I need rest and don't bug me any further by trying to contact me! We would meet next month after I come back from Rio, now go to sleep!" He hung up, leaving her wide awake in the middle of the night. Tears flowed down her eyes as the recalled his words. 'I am getting Nihar back, even if it means to meet her a thousand times over.'

I am getting Nihar back, even if it means to meet her a thousand times over.

Why did this line felt so ironic! And so opposite to what he actually want?

Why it felt like, "I am getting Alisha back, even if it means to betray Purva a thousand times over."