The Logical (Wo)Man

Seeded

Shouryajit’s Point Of View

It was almost 8 o clock and I was still stuck in the case discussion with the senior Mr. Jaswinder Ahluwalia along with my team. It was quite a complicated case of Copyright infringement and there was not enough proof at our hand which could turn the case to our favor.

The Ahluwalia’s owned a chain of branded clothes. The dispute was about a particular design that was copied by one of the Santhanam’s clothing products and were manufactured in bulk and marketed all throughout the world. Santhanams claimed that it was their own idea which the Ahluwalias copied, since they placed the product in the market first.

I also invited Rajeev Mehrotra, the CEO of Thomas Investigators and a close friend of mine. His company was officially appointed as our investigation wing and they have quite a contribution to most of our winnings of such million dollar cases. Rajeev was initially a work acquaintance but with time we developed the “bro bond” which was getting deeper with time.

“Mr. Dutta, I hope you understand that this will catastrophically affect our brand. We have the product launch in a month and if it’s a No Go , then we’ll loose out half the quarterly earnings alongwith our investors.” Mr Ahluwalia was anxious.

“I completely understand your current situation Mr. Ahluwalia. I assure you that we will do our  best to win this case and there will be no chance of such catastrophic consequences. Thank you for providing us the details. You can now relax as your case is in good hands.” I assured him.

After he left, we started going through the case points and took each point up for further discussion. I was engrossed in the meeting when I got a call from Sho. I ignored it as I knew that Mishti and Sho would go together to the Masquerade ball guarded with tight security. I was contented and hence concentrated on the discussion.

Suddenly, it struck me that it might be a distress call. As I took my phone to dial her number, I got a message notification with an image. My jaws dropped wide when I saw the image. Mishti was looking out of the world fascinating, just like Cinderella, glowing divinely, wrapped in shining blue shimmery gown.

I could feel my downtown man rising and I quickly excused myself and hurried towards the restroom. It was a natural instinct as those moments of our physical encounters got re-etched in my mind.

 Then I received another message from my naïve sister saying:

“Here’s the eye candy for you Bhai :P . Hope you have a great meeting ;P ”

I had to apply some cold water down there in order to cool myself down. Then I washed my face and breathed deeply before going back, when I saw Rajeev coming into the restroom.

“Hey bro”

“Hey”

“Go home, you look tired” I could feel the mockery in his voice.

“We have to win this one Raj. You know that right?”

“All work and no fun will only add on to your already boring persona”

“Shut up”

He giggled like a kid. “And besides, I think everyone saw you dropping off your jaw while your eyes were glued to your phone. I presume it’s your wife” A playful smile appeared on his face. I had briefed Rajeev about us when we got married as he and his team is assigned to look after our security. His agents were keeping a constant eye on Sia and hence was a part of my security team.

“Whatever”

“Shourya, come on. She is expecting you at the Masquerade Ball”

“No, she isn’t. At least her actions didn’t say so”

“She is mad at you. Isn’t it normal? Besides women want much more attention when they are annoyed with men” Raj was the one to suggest the flowers for my angry Mishti.

“You sound like a pro brother”

“I am a pro bro” he winked

I rolled my eyes.

“I got your tux delivered here. Our meeting is almost done as my team needs sometime for digging up facts. So, till then, we can go and enjoy the party, right?”

“But Raj..”

“No buts my friend. Go get her, if you don’t want to see her happy with someone else”

“That would never happen. Honestly, I won’t let that happen..ever”

“That’s the Shouryajit Dutta I know. Let’s go”

We went back to the meeting room and after 15 minutes we wrapped it up. Then we went to my suite and freshened up. I changed into the black tux with white shirt and a red striped tie and Raj wore a black and grey Armani suit. Then we hopped on my Royce and drove to the Ivy.

As we reached there, we had to put on these awful masks insisted by the lady posing as the host at the reception hall. I hated such mystery cladded props but had to put on after I got a sneer from my buddy.

The party was in full swing , with blasting music, star studded dance floor, food and drinks, and the much hyped mysterious theme décor. As we entered, my eyes started scanning the place.

Then I spotted Samuel slowly advancing, ready to pounce on someone, just like a hungry wolf. We approached for greeting him as it was his party and he was still our client. Then I saw Mishti standing behind him, petrified, retreating and shivering.

Without wasting another minute, I rushed towards her, and by then, she was starting to fall on the floor. Within a fraction of a second, I caught hold of her waist and lifted her up. I could see her tears underneath the breathtaking mask she was wearing. In order to calm her down, I said

“Was it the wine again Miss Sengupta?”

Her eyes suddenly turned to my face and I could see the surprise in them, also may be a glint of happiness. Then I held her to my chest and her nose sniffed my scent and felt her sigh of relief. I had observed that she calms down when I hug her tightly making her stick to my chest. I could tell that she feels safe with me and I am glad that I could make her feel that way.

“Oh Mr Dutta! What a surprise!” that as*hole chimed.

“I guess you invited us right?” I sneered

“Indeed. I am glad you guys could make it. Well, I ll have to attend the others. Please make yourself comfortable” that weasel sounded afraid and left in a jiffy while I gave him a nasty smile.

“Are you okay?” Rajeev asked her.

Sia nodded her head slowly.

I put her down gently and unwillingly but still held her by my side.

“I am sorry Mishti. I should have accompanied you two”

“No that’s okay.”

“Ohkay, I need a drink. See you guys later” Raj winked at me as he headed for the bar.

“Shourya..” she sounded gloomy, and I tilted my head sideways to look at her delectable face.

“I am sorry for all of this. I should have said a no to the invitation”

“Hey Mishti, please don’t be so hard on yourself”

“No I..” her voice diminished and I could smell alcohol from her mouth.

“What did you drink?”

“It was just..just” she collapsed suddenly.

I lifted her up quickly and went back to the valet parking. As my car approached, I put her in the backseat and drove at a non-permissible speed to the Hospital.

As we approached the building, I got down and rushed inside catching a nurse standing at the reception.

“It’s an emergency. Please help .. Please!”

“Sir, please calm down”

“Please come with me”

He ordered the staff for a stretcher and rushed outside. Sia was quickly taken inside the Medical Emergency Unit by them and I followed her stretcher as she was taken inside the Emergency ward. However, I was not allowed inside the ward and was asked to wait outside.

Then I went to the reception for all the formalities, signing few documents, choosing a private cabin for her where I will be allowed 24*7. I informed Raj and asked him to drop Shouranya at my residence with security. Also, I instructed my security team to send me four of the best personnel here at the hospital.  

I never panicked in such situations, but now I felt drops of sweat trickling down my temple. I wiped it off with my handkerchief and breathed deeply. Jitters started seeping in as every minute felt like an hour.

“Please come back Mishti. We have a lot of things unsaid and undone” I reflected in my mind. I am an atheist though but I believed in destiny.

After 2 long hours, the in-house doctor came out of the ward. As she approached, I saw Sia (who was still unconscious) taken inside the private cabin I had booked for.

I rushed towards the room but was stopped midway by the doctor. She was young, wearing glasses and a stethoscope in her hand. As I was going to ask her about Sia, she said :

“Hi , Mr Dutta, I am Dr. Selena McCarthy, in-house gynecologist”

“Hi Dr McCarthy. How is she? Is she okay? I..”

“Calm down Mr Dutta. I understand your concern. Believe me she’s absolutely fine”

“Oh” I let out a sigh of relief.

“But why did she collapse?”

 I could see a glint of smile on the doctor’s face.

“I don’t understand. Why are you smiling? What has happened to Mishti? Tell me!”

“Okay Mr. Dutta, lets talk in my cabin shall we?” then she led me towards her cabin.

“Please have a seat”

“Doctor, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing at all Mr Dutta. It’s a good news actually” her smile widened

“What?”

“You both are expecting!”