Trust and Protection

Gauhar's POV

Dev seemed to contemplate my words as he took his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyes  focussed on his hands on the table. 

When he finally looked up to meet my eyes, I found that his blue orbs had lost their twinkle, they had turned lifeless and cold "Gauhar, I can't do that. I'm sorry, I already told you about the situation of the company, I doubt you can do anything to help us out of this." 

I realised that the person in front of me was not the same one who had been my silent yet steadfast companion when I was alone in the hospital. My request for information had suddenly built a wall between us, and I felt like I had suddenly lost my friend. 

His words stung, I knew he didn't mean what he said as he ran a hand down his face, his face showing no emotion. It was weird how innocent words could set a distance so huge between people that it seemed difficult to surmount.

I contemplated letting it go and just go back to having the easy banter and rapport that we had between us and I nearly succumbed to my selfishness. But I had to be strong, no matter what I lost...not for myself but for my father. To protect and retrieve what had been lost. 

I sat up straight, taking a deep breath I braced myself, mirroring his cold voice and unreadable expression "You have no say here Mr. Mishra, this company is as much mine as my father's since I'm aware I own twenty percent of the shares, I have a say in how this place is run. And you will have to do what I ask, since you are still an employee here."

Before he could interrupt I continued stoically, my eyes boring into his "And let me remind you Mr Mishra, you might have the good intentions of the company at heart but its losses wouldn't hurt you as much as it would hurt me."

No matter how many times I reminded myself of the fact that this was a professional conversation and that it had nothing to do with our friendship and personal feelings, I still couldn't stop myself from hating using those harsh words on him.

I felt my heart sink as I saw his eyes turn imperceptible and his warm features harden "Although you own the shares I am still under the employ of Mr. Siddique, and hence not answerable to anything you ask." 

His eyes softened as he continued "Please Gauhar, don't get involved in this. I know how you feel, but what I'm asking of you is for the best. I would never do anything to hurt you or Mr Siddique in any way, I want you to trust me when I say this, I'll always ensure everything I do protects you and your family." 

It irked me to see that he refused to give me what I required, that he wanted to handle everything on his own.

The way his eyes pleaded with me, increased my irritation. Why was he so reluctant to give me the information I needed, what on earth was he hiding? I couldn't understand what it was that he was protecting me from, what was it that would hurt not only me but even my family if I knew about it?

His determination to keep me in the dark although he claimed to be my friend made me angry and maybe a bit hurt as well. Resentment boiled up within me like hot lava, threatening to overflow and burn everything, including him in its wake.

I stood up angrily, placing my palms on the table as I looked at him square in the eyes "Listen to me Dev, I asked this of you because I trusted that you were my friend. That you would be the one who wouldn't want me to be in the dark." 

I couldn't hide the disappointment I felt as  I continued "But I was wrong, so I am going to get them directly  from Mr. Ryder-Cochrane. I'm sure he wouldn't view me as something to be protected." I looked at him with contempt, injecting as much venom into the word 'protected' as I could.

My tone caused Dev to wince, it filled me with savage pleasure to see the pain on his face and how much what I said hurt him.

 his lips spread in a bitter smile "Yes Gauhar, you are right on that one, he doesn't see you as something to be protected. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to protect you, he has no reason to. But I doubt that's as good as you believe it to be." 

His eyes had turned dark and there was an ominousness in his voice that sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. 

I couldn't allow myself to dwell on what he sais so I chose to ignore his words although I could feel my heartbeat speed up at what he seemed to have insinuated, I realised that I would have to take matters into my own hands without relying on either of the men for help. 

Although I didn't get what I needed to know from this conversation, Dev had given me a lot more information than he knew. 

As I sat back on the chair, Dev passed me a glass of water, his eyes silently urging me to have it. I took the glass and held it between my hands as I looked up at him "Dev could you please give me your phone?"

My sudden demand seemed to have startled him a bit, but it also seemed to shake the brooding expression he had away from his face.  He quickly composed himself, his soft cerulean eyes watching me intently as he nodded at me and handed his phone to me.

I quickly dialled Daniya's number on it. I had to talk to her, because though nobody seemed to be prepared to help, she would never let me down.

**********************************

"Why did you call me at such short notice?" Daniya looked at me in panic as she tried to control her erratic breathing.

She seemed to have run up the stairs in a hurry and although my mood was extremely bad, I couldn't curb the amusement that made me chuckle from within as I pictured her panting up the stairs. 

Though I was confused as to why she didn't take the elevator… eh the way Daniya's mind worked was beyond my comprehension so I wouldn't even bother understanding that dumb behaviour of  hers.

I smiled sheepishly at her as I indicated her to sit down. She narrowed her eyes at me as placed herself on the grey sofa in front of me, crossing her legs in front of her as she looked expectantly at me. It was almost as if she expected me to read her mind and understand what she was expecting me to tell her.

But due to my extensive experience with the way her mind worked due to being in her company for nearly a decade I could make a pretty educated guess. 

I could tell that she was most likely waiting for me to explain to her exactly why I had acted as if I had an entire herd of angry bulls behind me when I had called her, and what it was that had made me brave enough to disrupt her lazy time.

Or at least that's what I hoped, I couldn't ever be sure with her.

I adjusted my signature black hijab and straightened my loose black T-shirt before mimicking her and sitting up straighter, conveniently ignoring what she was so clearly asking me with her eyes, I began "I wasn't aware I needed to make an appointment with you to enjoy your comforting and lovely presence." I raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her to contradict me.

I smirked internally as I knew she wouldn't since I had praised her, and she thrived on being praised. 

She rolled her eyes at my words, though the small smile on her lips suggested that what I had said pleased her. 

She leaned forward to look into my eyes "You don't need any appointment to meet me dumbass, but I would really appreciate it if you would stop destroying my busy schedule with your impromptu calls." 

I nearly choked on dry air at her words, trying but failing to curb my laughter "Busy Schedule? You have no busy schedule woman, you know you can't lie to me."

She looked up disinterestedly at me, her eyes appearing bored "Yes Gauhar darling, my busy  schedule. Taking care of my skin and catching up on my sleep also count as extremely important business. And looking at your state, it's something you need to desperately work on as well."she dusted an invisible speck of dust from her plain yet classy rose gold dress that appeared to be something off of a fashion magazine 

I raised my eyebrows at her, making sure she realised through my expression just how blatantly I could spot her lie. The woman was as free as a horse in the wild, and I knew that I was adequately good looking, although not as breathtaking as her but not bad either.

She appeared to pick up the disbelief on my face as she gave a disgruntled sigh "Yeah yeah, I have no busy schedule, stop looking at me that way will you? And just get on with it. Although I must say you do have to take care of yourself Haru, I'm not exaggerating when I tell you, you look like shiet."

 Her words made me wonder if I actually looked that bad, as I continued to glare at her she waved her hand prompting me to begin explaining to her the reason for my urgent call.

"Well the thing is that I had to discuss these with you." I threw a file on the dark-wood table between us, setting my eyes on her hazel ones I awaited her response.

She looked at the innocent looking set of papers on the table and raise her eyebrow at me "You called me with an unknown number, scaring the crap out of me with your urgent tone and letting me believe that you were in some sort of trouble to-" she lifted the file off the table and read its name, furrowing her eyebrows at me her tone changing from that of an angry woman ready to rip you apart to a confused angel "To read this?"

I nodded at her, expressing through my eyes exactly how important it was to me. She seemed to understand exactly how I felt about it as the frown on her face cleared and she leaned forward, placing her elbow on her knee and her head on her hand "Alright then, shoot away Haru, I'm all yours love."