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They were just talking when Ayush called Kaira and asked her where she was. She informed him that she was at the beach with Rohan. Ayush told her that he and Tia will come there since he was planning on going for a drive with her. Kaira told Rohan and he got excited, she didn't know why. She decided to inform her parents that she'll come with Ayush so she called her dad and informed him. He asked both of them to be careful and come home safely. She smiled and kept the phone. Rohan asked her about what internship she did in London to which she said, 'I am guessing you'd be kind of shocked but I worked in a small cafe. I used to be in charge of baking.' He was surprised and asked her, 'You know how to bake?' She gave him an absurd look and said, 'Of course I do. Why else would I be in charge of baking in a cafe? I have always loved baking since I was maybe 13 or so. I used to earlier bake basic chocolate cakes but as and how I went for these classes during vacations, I learned how to bake cookies, biscuits, and a variety of cakes. I want to continue baking as my hobby, but let's see when that happens.'
He looked at her shocked and said, 'You're going to bake your specialty for me. I love cakes and sweets. It would be great if you'd bake something for me!' She laughed seeing the child in him and said, 'Definitely. Expect it to come to you anytime in the coming week. Might bake it the day I mess up something in the office, might be able to get away with it you know?' He gave her a sympathetic smile and said, 'Wish that could help you. It won't. Trust me, I completely believe I have some sort of split personality issue. I completely switch this mode off the minute I enter the office.' Kaira interrupted him and said, 'Maybe it is because of how people are intimidated by your work schedule and your dedication to work. You find it hard to be this way at the workplace because of how people respect you, and it is okay until this isn't going the wrong way.' He was intrigued by her analysis and asked her, 'So, Ms. Vedant, what according to you is the "wrong way"?
'I believe, the wrong way is misusing the power you hold being the owner of the company. I have no idea if you have or haven't done this, but firing people for no reason, holding grudges, keeping ego on top, and maybe considering your employees less smart than you are wrong ways. You might not know what you are losing if you are so constantly engrossed in being proud of your position. I'm saying this because I have worked in such a place.' He asked her if she could share what had happened if she didn't mind. She nodded and told her about her experience at the cafe in London. 'So, while I was working in the cafe, we don't know how we got an order from one of the billionaires for a cake. That person didn't have anything particular in his mind for the cake so she left it on us, for the design. Naturally, in a small cafe, the owner would obviously ask the employees for their opinion, or for that matter, even in a big company. The owner decided not to do it, and gave only his input and made a design and wanted us to make it exactly how he explained. The design was good, I won't lie, but I felt like it could have been a little more classier than he explained since it was for someone who is very very well off to do. We all belong to the same background, and coming from that place, I knew there would be certain things the person would keep in mind, so I, naturally suggested him something and he was completely against it. He got so mad at me that he almost fired me. My colleagues were pretty much on my side because apparently he has kind of held an unnecessary upper hand with a lot of things and quite obviously none of us would like such a work environment. Because he got so furious, we had to listen to him. The owner would barely come, maybe once a week, so we decided that we'll modify it a little and make it more classier. We were hoping the owner would not turn up the day we had to make the delivery. We made the cake as per our plan, and it turned out to be so good. We had a colleague who had literally mastered icing on a cake, and he was so excellent in it, that it added more elegance to the cake. We quickly made all the preparations and we had kept it packed. To our good or maybe bad luck, the owner showed up that day. We all were so freaked out. He asked us if the cake was ready to which we said it was. He was happy and wanted to look at the cake. We didn't know how were we supposed to dodge this, so one of our senior-most colleagues intervened and said, 'Sir, we have already packed it, and believe me the client will not be disappointed at all. We wouldn't have packed it if we knew you would come, sir. It would take a lot of time to re-pack since it is a huge cake.' He understood and nodded since she was one of his oldest employees. We thanked her in our head and got back to our other daily work. The client gave her reviews and told us that she and her family loved it and also loved how well it was put together. The owner was feeling proud, but none of us told him anything about the changes we made and left it, since we knew he had the power to fire us. I wouldn't mind telling him what we did, but there were other people whose job was at risk and I knew they needed it more than I did, and I didn't want to put them into such a situation. That was one of the craziest things I did. It was an experience in itself.'
Rohan was shocked. As a boss, he wasn't sure how was he supposed to respond. He knew what she did was maybe right, but the method wasn't right. He said, 'I know what you did was maybe right, but how you chose to do it, wasn't. You were being dishonest to the one who gave you that opportunity to work. As a boss, I would be highly disappointed if you ever did this. I expect you to be honest. To be fair, I do consider my colleague's and junior's ideas, but there are days when I don't. I don't expect anything like that on those days, okay?' She smiled and said, 'Obviously, sir. I understand on what grounds I was working there and here. I understand that there is a lot of difference between a cake and a business deal. It's my word that this isn't going to happen.' He smiled and said, 'Great, thank you. Also, only because we were talking about work, you didn't have to suddenly shift to "sir".' She felt a little embarrassed because he was giggling while saying that so she said, 'Okay, don't laugh. You're embarrassing me now. I knew you were being dead serious. I have read all your interviews and I know it took you a lot of effort to build your empire. I wouldn't do anything stupid to ruin it. I know how much your work means to you, and I had to give you that assurance.' He nodded and smiled at her. Before they could continue talking, Ayush and Tia reached. Rohan immediately got up and went to hug Tia. Tia was also equally excited to meet Rohan. Tia and Rohan, obviously knew each other, thanks to Ayush. Kaira didn't expect Tia and him to be such good friends, and now she knew why Rohan was happy when she informed him Ayush and Tia would be joining them.
Kaira went and hugged Tia after Rohan was done. She met Tia after a very long time and she was very excited. Ayush had got ice cream for them but Rohan said he didn't want it. They all sat down on the beach. Ayush was talking about his work to Rohan while Tia was also listening to him patiently, on the other hand, Kaira was so bored that she started drowsing. It was almost 1 am and Kaira was already sleepy. She didn't realize when did she fall asleep, and before she could, her head automatically fell towards her left, and fortunately or unfortunately, Rohan was sitting on her left. He looked to his right as soon as he felt some weight on his shoulder and saw Kaira asleep. He didn't know what was he supposed to do so he turned to Ayush. He asked him to stay that way for a bit till she wakes up from her nap. He did feel slightly weird but he did as Ayush said. Ayush continued talking and Rohan was so distracted. His mind was constantly going back to Kaira who was sleeping on his shoulder. He was lucky that Ayush didn't notice him being distracted since he was busy talking to Tia, mostly. Rohan was just looking at the water and the illusion of the sky touching the water. It was such a pure view to see. The sky was clear that night and hence, he could see millions of stars shining in the sky. Rohan has days where he looks at the stars and gets lost in them. They have a spark in them, that even the moon cannot have.
A few minutes into he being lost, Kaira woke up and as soon as she did, she lifted her head from Rohan's shoulder and she felt so embarrassed. He turned as soon as he felt movement on his shoulder. He notices her face and said, 'Chill, a friend just lent you his shoulder. Had a nice nap, Ms. Queen?' She laughed a bit and said, 'I'm no queen, Mr. I get so constantly tired of Bhai and his business talks. Mom and I have made a strict rule at home for the men to not discuss business at home, and he took the perfect opportunity now.' Ayush gave her a glare hearing that and she gave him a fake smile. They all decided to call it a day so they walked to the car. Ayush was driving back Kaira while Rohan told them he could drop Tia since she doesn't stay that far away from his place. They agreed and Tia hugged Kaira and Ayush and Rohan hugged Ayush. Ayush went to big a goodnight to Tia, in the meantime, Rohan went to Kaira and said a bye. They didn't know if they would hug it out, so to be on the safer spot, Kaira went to side hug him. Rohan hugged her back and wished her a good night. They drove back home, finally.
Kaira was so tired for the day so as soon as Ayush started driving, she fell asleep. Ayush patted her head so she could comfortably sleep since their house was half an hour away. Ayush was wondering how his small little baby sister turned into such a wise woman today. He is so proud of what she is and the life choices she has made. She has never given their parents or him a single moment where they couldn't trust her or doubted his abilities. In a way, he is the happiest she got the experience of living alone, even though he was the one against it. He has always wanted to keep Kaira as close to himself as he could. He was scared that London's air could change his baby sister and make her a completely different person, but he was wrong as when Kaira came back, she was much much more determined and focused in her life, and had gained so much more exposure and experience in his life. He didn't care about all the things she did in her adrenaline rush, in London, because he knew she did nothing huge enough that would put her into any trouble. He has made sure that Kaira has always been treated like a princess, and he cannot stand a single person being disrespectful to her. He does understand that she is a human and she will definitely make errors or blunders, but he would never stand a single person being disrespectful towards her.
They reached home and Ayush didn't wanna wake her up but he knew she had to change into her nightwear so he woke her up. He took her heels in his hand and helped her get out of the car. He walked her up to her room and kept her footwear on the shoe rack. He gave her a forehead kiss wishing her a good night and went to his room. Kaira quickly changed, removed her makeup, and went back to sleep instantly.
On the other side, Rohan dropped Tia home. They spoke a lot on the way. Tia even expressed to him how she is annoyed with Ayush as he is just not ready to accept his feelings. Rohan asked her to keep her calm as he knew his best friend and he knew he'd come around. He told her, 'Tia, you know him. He's stupid when it comes to all this. Maybe he hasn't realized it yet. It's time either we or you make him realize what he feels for you. He wouldn't ever hold back his feelings, it's just that maybe he hasn't realized it himself.' She nodded with slight disappointment so he ran his hand over her head and said, 'Don't be disappointed, Tia. You deserve all the love in this world, my darling. Give it some more time, and it's my promise to you.' She finally gave a real smile to him. She realized something and asked him about Kaira. He told her everything that happened, from the beginning. She was stunned that so much happened. She did not expect Rohan to ask Kaira to be his friend, upfront. Rohan has never been such a person, so she asked him, 'Ro, your PA as a friend, why?' He expected this question coming from Tia so he said, 'It's more of how she has her work etiquette so organized. She hasn't shown any interest in my personal life, she hasn't behaved with me as everyone does, whoever has read my news. That was a quality I saw in a person working with me, for the first time. I have a feeling she is going to be a great friend.'
Tia wanted to dissect it more so she asked, 'So you want her to be interested in your personal life?' Rohan gave her an impossible look and said, 'Are you out of your head, T? Of course not. Why would I want anyone to be interested in my personal life? It's just that she has a great personality and she knows how to carry herself so well. She was so professional when she came for the interview. I was stunned meeting Ayush Vedant's sister. It's like there is someone who is so focused on life, and yet has a fun side. It's rare to see something like this from a woman these days.' She nods and agrees saying, 'That's true about her. She has been so focused on her life for the past 2 years. Sometimes I feel like something happened in London that she hasn't told anyone and that's the reason she has become this way. Kaira was more jolly than she is now. Maybe something happened or maybe she understood the worth of life and just wants to make her life worthy. She usually doesn't hide anything from Ayush, and I hope she isn't doing that.' He smiled at her. He finally dropped Tia home and headed to his house.
He wished to call that mansion home someday. He went to his room tired. He freshened up and went to sleep. Ayush messaged Tia and asked her if she reached home. She replied in affirmation and he wished her a good night and went to sleep.
The next morning, Kaira was sleeping like there is nothing she has to do in her life, seeing a beautiful dream. Suddenly someone barged into her room and shouted at her, 'Kaira will you wake your lazy ass right now?' Kaira groaned and said, 'Jia, for god's sake can you be human once and calm down? Let me sleep for some more time. Bhai and I came back home late last night.' She frowned a little and asked her where she went. Kaira told her she went to a friend's party. Jia knew she had to get a lot of details from Kaira so she woke Kaira up and asked her to freshen up. Kaira unwillingly woke up and went to freshen up. She came out after a shower and got dressed quickly. She wore casual jeans and a top. Jia was waiting for her and was constantly giving her accusing looks to which she got annoyed and said, 'Stop creeping the f**k out of me Jia. I know what's running in your mind. I was planning on meeting you today and telling you everything. I have a lot to speak, but if you're going to continue staring at me like this, I will throw you out of my room and not tell you a single thing.' She gave her an annoyed look and started using her phone till she got ready.
Kaira got ready and asked Jia to pick her stuff and come down. Kaira and Jia had breakfast and headed out. Kaira decided to drive since it was a hot day and didn't wish to travel on the bike. Jia also agreed and hopped into the car. It was a regular routine for them to go out one Sunday a month, and spend almost a day together. Kaira drove to a small garden which was their regular spot. They sat down and Jia looked at her and said, 'You're ready to talk?' Kaira smiled and nodded. She knew no matter what Jia said, she never forced Kaira to tell her anything until she was comfortable talking about it. ' Jia, I know you might have an impulsive reaction to what I might say, but hear me out. So you know I started working in Riya enterprises as the PA of Mr. Rohan Ahuja. On the first day of work, I met a client of our company who turns out to be Rohan's friend. He had told Rohan to inform me that his birthday was on the coming Saturday and wanted me to be a part of his birthday celebration since Aryan, his friend, and I gelled up really well on the first day. Rohan messaged me that night and asked me if we could be friends, I didn't know what I was supposed to say so I just told him we'll talk when we meet. Bhai came back and we spoke about my work and he got so mad at me for accepting the job offer and he asked me to leave the job. We had a massive argument on that so I told him I am going to continue working there, and my boss's past is none of my concern and I walked off. Aryan's birthday was that day itself, so I went back to my room to get ready. Before I was leaving, Bhai was being so mean to me, I was hurt. I left it as it was since Rohan told me he would pick me as I didn't know Aryan's house and apparently it was on the way for Rohan, and he was waiting for me. We spoke on the way to Aryan's house and since the decision was on me, I felt it would be okay to be friends with Rohan outside work because he seemed genuinely interested in being friends with me.' She continued telling her everything that happened at the party and after the party. Jia kept a calm face and decided to tell her everything after she is done talking. Kaira wasn't sure how Jia would react but was hoping she would understand.
She was finally done with telling everything so she looked at Jia. Jia took a deep breath and said, 'Uff, this was a lot. Okay, for the starters Ayush Bhai totally overreacted and did way too much drama than required. Your reaction was totally justified. I am surprised with this entire Rohan story. Obviously, it is your choice on who to be friends with and who not, and if he is Ayush bhai's friend I can totally trust him. I am shocked with everything he did to make sure nothing went far with you and Ayush Bhai. What we all have read about him, and what he really is, might be definitely different. It's not like his entire image in the head is vanished, but surely it is a little different now. But if you are in any sort of trouble, I'll always be there.' Kaira smiled and hugged her saying, 'I am so glad you were calm throughout. Thank you.' She smiled and hugged her tighter. Jia asked, 'So that Aryan guy, you and your boss made a plan for Ayush Bhai to realize his feelings for Tia?' She laughed and nodded. Jia told her that she is also in for this plan. Kaira smiled and said, 'Sounds like a plan. We 4 should meet up and make a plan soon' Jia suggested meeting today to which she gave a thought and decided to call Aryan.
On the other hand, Rohan and Aryan met at Rohan's place. They had a way more intense conversation than Jia and Kaira did. While they were talking, Aryan received Kaira's call. He picked up being super excited and wished her a good morning. Kaira said, 'Good morning to you too, Aryan. Aryan, I was thinking how about we make a plan to meet up and discuss our plan for Bhai and Tia?' He agreed and asked her to come to Rohan's house since he was there. Kaira hesitated a bit and said, 'Aryan, actually, my best friend is also with me and I'm not sure if you two be comfortable with her coming to Rohan's house. Let's meet elsewhere?' Aryan smiled and said, 'Don't overthink Kaira. Come here itself. I would love to meet your best friend. I hope she is hot haan.' Kaira laughed and said, 'That's for you to decide. When should we come?' He told them to come now if it's possible or whenever they are free since it was a Sunday and neither of them had anything to do. Kaira told him that they'll come in an hour or so and hung up the call. She wanted to know what's going on with Jia since they met after a long long time.
Jia told her she's just been having a regular routine. Jia's parents stay in Delhi, while she stays in Mumbai since her work is all here. Her parents moved to Delhi almost 2 years back, but Jia didn't want to and hence stays here by herself. Jia works in an interior designing company. She is planning on starting her own interior designing firm, so Kaira asked her what is the progress so she said, 'I don't know as yet, Kaira. I don't have enough funds for it as yet, and you know I will not take any funds from mom or dad. I am trying to look for people interested in investing in my firm. Let's see how it goes by. I am hoping I can start the firm in a year, let's see.' Kaira smiled and said, 'I am sure you will find someone, sweetie. And, you are going to be really successful.' She made an awe face and said, 'You're the sweetest friend one could have asked for.' She did a hair flip and said, 'Of course, no one better than Kaira.' She shook her and gave her a poker face look. They were talking about random things that were happening in the past few weeks, in their life. They decided to grab something to eat and move to Rohan's house but Jia wasn't that hungry so they directly drove to Rohan's place.
Rohan's house was lavish and had quite a tight security. Rohan had already informed the security that a person named Kaira would be coming. The security let her in after enquiring her name. She parked the car and walked into the house. The door was open and Jia was absolutely stunned seeing how beautiful and elegant the house looked. It was a duplex house with a huge hall and there was a beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle of the hall. For someone who has studied and is passionate about interior designing, she couldn't admire the house any less. As she was looking around and seeing how beautifully every space was used, two people walked towards her and Kaira. A very good-looking chiseled face hugged Kaira first. He whispered in Kaira's ear saying, 'Oh la la, your friend is totally hot.' She broke the hug and gave him a slight punch on his stomach. Kaira introduced Jia to both the boys and Rohan welcomed both of them in his house. Rohan gave a smile to Kaira and walked in leading the way. Aryan was constantly trying to flirt with Kaira and she pretended like she was totally falling for him. Rohan ignored what was happening and decided to start up a conversation with Jia since he remembered Kaira telling him the opinion Jia kept of him. He asked her, 'So, Jia, what are you doing now? Working or studying?' She smiled and said, 'I am working now. I studied interior designing.'
He seemed impressed and said, 'That explains why you were looking around with astonishing eyes. Now that I know you were admiring, do you like how this house has been done?' She looked around and said, 'Absolutely, it is so beautifully done. Every space has been used up so brilliantly and still, it is looking spacious. It'd be such a nice experience to work with whoever did the interiors of this house.' He smiled and said, 'Well, then let me make you meet the one who was in charge of the interiors of this house, Mr. Aryan Singhania.' Jia gave a shocked look to him and turned to see Aryan smiling at her. She shook hands with him and said, 'It is an absolute pleasure meeting you. I must say, this is one of the finest work I have seen in a very long time.' He smiled and bowed down and kissed the back of her hand and said, 'Thank you, madame. It means a lot to me.' Kaira slapped his hand and asked him to stop being so flirty. She told him that she had no idea he was into interior designing. He told her, 'Well, that's a shame for being my friend. My company is not an interior designing one, but that's my passion. I have always loved this field. I have a degree in this as well, but after my dad passed away, I didn't have a choice but to run the company. I do like what I do, but I don't and cannot love it as much as interior designing. Now that the company is back to being stable, I was planning on opening a firm or investing in one. Would like to shift my focus a bit to what I truly love.' Kaira was about to tell him something but Jia gave her a stare with her eyes popping out and her head frantically moving to say a no, so Kaira just told him, 'Oh, that's good. If you're this good with it, don't waste your talent. Good luck with that, by the way.' He thanked her and they all sat down in the hall.
They were talking when Rohan interrupted them and asked them if they'd have lunch Kaira hesitated a bit which Rohan noticed and walked into the kitchen and asked the cook to prepare lunch for four people. He walked out and saw Kaira giving him a questioning look to which he just blinked his eyes, asking her to relax. He sat back and was asking Jia where she studied. Jia was telling him about that and even told how her parents expected her to choose some easy field like a BBA and not work after that but she chose to study interior. They expected me to move to Delhi along with them, but there was no way I could leave this town. I am so attached to this place.' Aryan asked her, 'So you stay by yourself?' She nodded and said, 'It gets a little lonely at times. When I feel that way, I straight away go to Kaira's house. It's always homely at her place. Her parents are one of the coolest parents. And you guys know Ayush Bhai. He's so much fun. So, how did you two meet Ayush Bhai?' Aryan and Rohan looked at each other and didn't know what answer to give for this. They did not expect this coming so soon, and not from Jia especially.
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Hey, guysss!
Next update would also be soon, hopefully! I hope you liked this! Do like and comment!
Love,
Janvi Jain