Breaking the Rules

“Hi Sanju,” Sahil said as he took the seat in front of me while I was glaring at him. “Sahil you moron, you are two hours late. Is this is a joke to you? Every time I keep waiting like an i***t for you and you always come late.” I spat slamming the book in my hand on the table. “Ohhh so sorry sweetheart, you know me and you always know I will be late still you always wait for me because you love me so stop acting like you are angry.” He said nonchalantly. “What the hell did you just say?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him and he became alert. “Sorry, Sorry Bro so sorry. I will try to be on time from now onwards. Anyways we are meeting after a whole week and I am dying to talk to you.” Sahil said making a puppy face as he knows his puppy face always works on me. “Fine, but make sure next time you are not late,” I said faking anger. “Yeah yeah yeah, now stop acting. We both know you always come on time and wait for me because that is the time when you can read your silly books and besides you love me too much to get angry with me for such small things. After all, we are friends for 10 years now.” He said and I smiled. He was right, we had been friends since school, went to the same college and even though we work at different places we make sure to meet at least thrice a week. This whole week we couldn’t meet since Sahil went for a conference to expand his business which he started a year and a half ago when we finished our MBA. I got a job as Advertising Executive at Divya Enterprise, which is one of the best companies in advertising, marketing, and strategy building. Divya Group has many businesses including hotels, clothing line and advertising companies. Divya Group was owned by Sahil’s Dad Ram Uncle and Divya was his late wife’s name. Ram Uncle started his first company a clothing line with Divya Auntie from a small two-bedroom flat and then they kept growing with Divya Auntie’s continuous support but unfortunately, Divya Auntie passed away when Sahil was only four years old due to brain tumor. Ram Uncle loved Auntie so much that he never remarried and brought up both his boys Sahil and his elder brother Rahul, who was seven years old when Auntie passed away, alone as a single parent. When I started my MBA I always dreamt of working in Divya Enterprise and luckily as soon as I finished my MBA they had a vacancy and after several rounds of interviews, I got selected. One more reason besides Divya Enterprise is one of the best in the industry was Rahul, Sahil’s elder brother. For four years I had a crush on him and thought that if I joined Divya Enterprise then I might get a chance to work with him too. But to my disappointment in the past year and a half of working at Divya Enterprise, I met him only four times during some meetings or conferences. He was always so handsome and hot as hell that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him, but now after so many months, I have lost hope. I mean why would the owner of the company give such less experienced executive a chance to work directly with him? “Hello? Sanju back to earth baby.” Sahil said and I came out of my dreams of Rahul. “Seriously? Dreaming about my bro again?” he asked and I gave him a sheepish smile. “You know me,” I said and he chuckled shaking his head. “How was your trip? Any success?” I asked and he nodded positively. “Signed two new projects and found one investor too.” He said as he looked at the menu. “Wow, that’s great. I am so happy for you. You know what I am sure you will be more successful then your brother.” I said and he looked at me in surprise. “Really? You the fangirl of Rahul Sachdev is saying I the lowly Sahil Sachdev will be more successful than his mighty brother. Am I dreaming?” he asked animatedly and I slapped his arm. “Shutup you, drama queen, yes I am saying this irrespective of my crush on your brother,” I said and he smiled. We ordered our food and chatted about his business, Ram Uncle, Rahul, and my work for the next hour while eating. After we finished our dinner Sahil followed me in his car to my home while I rode my scooter. He always made sure I reached home safely, either he dropped me or followed me till he was sure that I reached. “How is Sahil?” Mom asked as I entered the house. “He is good, signed two more projects on his trip. He is very excited and I am happy for him.” I said and Mom was happy to hear it. “That’s great, he deserves it.” Mom said and I couldn’t agree more. “Yep and you know what mom if he delivers these projects successfully then he will be the fastest-growing businessman,” I told mom excitedly and she said she will pray for his success. My parents loved Sahil like their own child since he was my best friend and was like a brother to me which I never had. “And how is Rahul?” Mom asked out of the blue and I blushed. Yes, my parents knew about my crush since I was very close to my parents and never hid anything from them. “Mom how would I know? I haven’t seen him in three months, he has been working from different cities in the country and landed here today only. Heard from Janvi our lead.” I said and Mom shook her head. “Hmmm beta, don’t mind but my friend Leela called today and she was asking if you would be interested to meet her nephew, he is settled in Australia, belongs to a very good family and is looking for a bride.” Mom said with hesitation. “Mom I know what you mean but please I don’t want to marry anyone for the next year or so. I want to grow in my career and want to focus on it rather than focusing on growing a relationship. For now, my career is important and even if Rahul comes to marry me I will tell him to wait. So please tell Leela Auntie Sorry from my side.” I said and mom was staring at me in amusement. “Wow, I didn’t know you can ask Rahul to wait too. I thought you would be on the top of the world and marry him right at the moment if he said yes.” Mom said and I frowned. “Mom I like him but I am not obsessed with him okay. So please don’t act as if your daughter is mad about him.” I said rolling my eyes and left for my room after bidding good night to mom and dad. I laid down on my bed and thought about the past four years and how I have always admired Rahul from far and how I used to go to Sahil’s place hoping to catch a glimpse of Rahul. When I joined Divya Enterprise, I was super excited thinking I would be able to see him every day but he was a busy man, handling so many businesses alone since Sahil wanted to work on his own business. Rahul and I met a few times before I joined his company but we always talked for less than ten minutes and then he would get busy. I wondered how his wife will survive with the amount of work he does, would he even spend time with his wife or just stay the workaholic way he is right now. I pity his future wife. With all these weird thoughts I drifted to sleep.