Darling, you have always been mine

Part 5

" By this method, our advertising expenditure would decrease by ......" Looking in his eyes with strong determination, Ina continued her presentation with her head held high, fighting the scorching gaze of Viraj. While Keeping two fingers on his chin and lips, Viraj paid undivided attention to Ina. His eyes roamed around her face taking in her features. 

Their eyes didn't leave each other's company till the time Ina explained her updated presentation which she had made by keeping up late at night, she cross-checked the whole presentation and made a few changes here and there. Ina knew that she didn't have to present this thing immediately to him but she couldn't help herself from getting done with it. 

It was as if after hearing Deepthi, She was determined to finish every work related to him in order to stay away from him. Looking at him she felt disgusted with the thought of him playing with the hearts of innocent women who were maybe really in love with her. 

Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she knew that she was plainly judging a person based on another's words which was unfair but this thing kept stuck in her head from the time Deepthi narrated the whole thing to her. 

On the other hand, Viraj felt confusion building inside him with the vibes which he was getting from Ina. Like before, today Viraj didn't saw any nervousness or fear, in fact, all he could see was hatred and Irritation. And this was not certainly what he wanted to see. 

Her innocent eyes were cold and stony that were shooting daggers at him making him wonder the cause of it. It seemed like she was murdering him with her eyes which just made him stare at her with more concentration. 

This kind of intimidated Ina because Viraj was unaware of the fact that in an attempt to stare at her with more concentration, a scowl had slipped on his face making me look more frightening.

Ina finished her presentation by breaking the silent cold war that was happening between their eyes. Her eyes went to the table and waited for the final verdict from the devil.  Whereas amusement flashed in his eyes as he silently observed her actions. He didn't know whether he wanted to punish her for coldness or smile at her for the innocence that her eyes held.

Seeing how she was glaring at him throughout the whole presentation, her eyes bowing down to the table just made him wonder about the girl who was standing in front of him. Had it been anyone else, he would have just kicked him out for even looking in his eyes. But he couldn't help but agree that he was proud of the way Ina presented herself. 

" What's your name, Ms?"

His bold voice filled the conference room which made her look at him. " Ina Ghosh" She replied in her neutral voice which more or like was soothing to his ears.

" Miss Ghosh. I had just seen the presentation yesterday and told you to redo it but any reasons that made you do it on such short notice"

His voice was clear and gaze was unwavering and for the first time, Ina missed her boss's presence in the conference room. Mr Sharma had to go to Jaipur for some urgent work which left only her in the same cabin which she didn't seem to notice in the disgust and hate with which she had entered the conference room. She felt a knot forming in her stomach because she knew that she couldn't blurt out the real reason and frankly she was pretty bad at lying.

" I don't like to keep things pending Sir. And moreover, you wanted the presentation as soon as possible so with Mr Sharma's permission. I worked on it"

Ina mentally praised herself for coming up with a reason which was neither the whole truth nor the whole lie. 

Seeing her undying confidence, Viraj wanted to smile looking at her and appreciate her for the splendid presentation she had made but he decided to behave otherwise taking her behaviour into account. And another reason was also that he wanted to know the thought of her indifference. 

"You don't need to remind me of my words, Ms Ghosh. I very well remember what I said. And I asked the question because I didn't want any compromise in my work that I have assigned you" Viraj answered with a very stern expression making Ina gulp. He knew that he was being very rude and strict with her but he just couldn't help but tolerate her cold behaviour. 

Listening to his rude remark, Ina felt her ears turning red in shame as she lowered her eyes while trying to gulp the anger and hurt that was bubbling inside her. What wrong did I say? , she questioned herself. Ina knew that this was how his nature was but she didn't like the way he reprimanded her saying nothing wrong. 

Viraj somehow didn't like holding her head down though he wanted to get back at her for behaving like that. But he failed to understand the reason of him feeling bad for a girl who was showing him her anger. He felt his heart falling into the pit of his stomach and thought of a way to compromise the things that he had said.

" I am assigning the project to you, Ms Ghosh. I hope you will do justice to it" He announced his final decision and saw her looking at him in surprise. With her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth forming an 'o', she looked the exact definition of adorable though it didn't fail to show the glint of achievement in her eyes which made her eyes sparkle.

Ina blinked and stared at the man in front of her in surprise and tried to decipher what this guy was made up of. A major part of her was happy that he had decided to give her the responsibility but somewhere down the line, she couldn't understand the reason behind his sudden coldness. 

" Thank you Sir" She whispered when she saw his lips slightly twitching upwards. His expression turned blank hearing her voice and with a slight nod, he dismissed her with his hand. Because it was getting difficult for him to control his smile in front of his confused cat. His?? his conscious questioned him leaving a mess in his head. 

Feeling more confused than ever, Ina stepped out of his cabin and headed to her seat while holding the pen drive that had lent her more working days with him. 

Seeing her leaving the cabin with a confused expression, Viraj smiled to himself by leaning his head on the back of the chair while playing with the paperweight in his hand. He didn't want to think about his sudden interest in this girl but he just knew that his mind was now home of her thoughts and the sensations which he felt that night while being intimate with her. 

" Hello, Did you do what I asked you to do?" Viraj asked as soon as his call got connected with his PA Anuj. 

" Yes Sir. I have arranged the needful" A quick reply came from the other side. Muttering a 'good', Viraj smirked and disconnected the call.

****

While walking towards her desk, Ina noticed a bunch of colleagues surrounding her desk whereas the others were just giving curious looks to her. All of them made a way for her when they saw her coming towards her desk. 

Ina saw her vision getting clear that was blocked by the people and her eyes got latched to the centre of such attraction. Her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes observed the beautiful bouquet kept on her desk.

She saw different types of flowers peeking at her while spreading a soothing fragrance all around her desk. A soft smile curved upon her lips as she gently caressed all the flowers while inhaling their floral smell. 

Viraj smiled pleasantly on seeing her smile like a Cheshire cat while gently touching the flowers. He had pre-planned the bouquet the moment he got the notification that she was going to give her presentation today. 

Yesterday after her presentation, Viraj had spoken to the security team and asked them to give him access to the CCTV cameras so that he can have a look at his girl without even releasing a sense of suspicion in the air. 

But he didn't realise when his purpose of one look changed to all day staring at her as she juggled her office works. From yesterday, he had been seeing her and observing her after the lunchbreak. He had even noticed how many times Ina slapped her forehead while doing her work. 

He wondered what was making her tensed so much. He doubted whether his strict remarks were the cause of her distress which he didn't want to be true. But all his doubts got cleared when she gave her presentation today which made him snap at her. 

He was irritated by the fact that she had presented the presentation right away on the next day even when he had not asked her to do it that early. And her indifference just made him more furious that it added more fuel to his anger.

His eyes were glued to the screen and saw her coming out of her trance and answering questions that were posed by the colleagues that were surrounding her. He smirked when he saw her getting all nervous and confused while answering them which just made him want to know her thoughts.

" Wow, Ina who has sent you such pretty flowers?" A girl beside Riya asked Ina, who was all flustered once she came out of the trance. Ina just shrugged her shoulders and watched Riya looking around the bouquet for a card or a message but found none. 

Ina felt slightly bashful for receiving such a bouquet in the office and thought about the sender who had sent it. She thought of a few people but her gut instinct just screamed an answer which was,' The man in the elevator'.

She felt fear gripping her heart while thinking what if the man was really the one who was in the elevator that night. Plastering a forced smile on her lips, she smiled at everyone present near her table and grabbed her seat when people started dispersing. 

Her eyes scanned the pretty exotic flowers that were prim and proper from each angle she looked at them. But unlike those flowers, her thoughts were all over the place. She thought about all the possible people who could send her flowers but none of the names registered in her minds.

She scrambled out of her thoughts when she felt somebody tapping her shoulder. Her eyes moved to the source of touch and saw Riya looking at her with a very pensive expression. " What is going on Ina?" Riya asked making Ina look at her with a clueless expression. 

 She pushed her chair slightly towards in her direction to be close to her so that they can have privacy while talking. " I swear Riya if I knew I would have told you but I am, myself, searching for answers to various questions considering the scenarios that have been taking place recently"

Riya could see the wrinkles formed on Ina's forehead and how she was biting her lip which made her know in an instant that Ina was thinking hard about all this. But she also failed to understand that how come Ina was receiving a bouquet of flowers out of the blue even when she had no such contacts outside or inside the office. 

Riya's eyes witnessed how delicately Ina's fingers were caressing the petals of the flowers while she again drowned in her pool of thoughts leaving the conversation at that instant. Can this be a mistake? because there was no card attached to the bouquet stating that it was for Ina, Riya thought to herself and left Ina to dwell in her thoughts. 

Viraj's hand caressed the monitor where his eyes found Ina sitting where she was resting her head on her hands while staring at the bouquet. I am waiting for the moment when you would be here with me sweetheart and that time will come soon, He thought to himself and smiled. A smile that reached his eyes and made his heart race at an unimaginable speed.