CHAPTER 3

The next day Aditya woke up early, did a workout for an hour, freshened up, and directly went to the head office in Hyderabad....

He went to his cabin and started working on the things related to the expansion in the two newly formed States....

He asked the heads of the related departments there and managers to come to the meeting hall at sharp 9:00 AM, everyone gathered there a few minutes prior to the said time as they all knew Aditya Deewan who never forgives, he doesn't spare a person who enters the conference Hall after him.... There were cases in the past where he fired many people without even listening to their reasons just because they came when he was already there...

Aditya entered the 50 seated conference Hall and Stood at the head chair... He came to the point directly without beating around the bush, he explained his strategy and what should be their main focus for the next few months... After finishing all the details about their work... he set some deadlines for them...

Aditya(sternly) - you are supposed to meet the deadlines, or u can find another job, there is no place for excuses in Deewan Empire.... U all will be rewarded hugely after the completion of ur assigned jobs..... Any queries regarding this??

All responded in no....

Aditya - good, One more thing, it's ur duty to instruct the employees and make them work properly, we are not paying them to chill over here, here on I shouldn't see anyone wasting time.... I hope I'm clear... Now get back to work....

Saying this he exited the conference Hall and moved to his office on the top floor.... He sat in his chair and was opening his Macbook to work, and his gaze fell on the wound on his hand which is neatly dressed, he remembered Priya's face which is filled with concern, her innocent eyes are affecting him a lot and he didn't like this...

Priya and pooja boarded the bus after having their breakfast.... Priya is still worried about Aditya's hand....

Priya - pooja, he must be fine right?? It's not so deep cut right, but still, he lost much blood, it must be paining ??

Pooja(irritated) - this is the 10th time u r saying this.... Stop worrying about everyone so much.... He would be fine...

Priya - shut up pooja, it should be us who must be worried about him as we r the reason for his pain.... If u forgot let me remind u....

Pooja - ok now stop this, We don't even know his name.... Stop worrying about that unknown man... And let me sleep for some time....

Saying this pooja slept, and Priya too slept after informing her father that she boarded the bus and crossed Hyderabad outskirts.....

After a few hours Priya and pooja reached their hometown, and Priya's brother came to pick them in his car as with their luggage they cannot go on a bike....

Priya as soon as saw her brother went towards him and slapped his arm, it's a way of her saying 'hi'

Her brother mentally noted to give it back to her after going back home as he cannot beat her in public, he is a very reserved person and doesn't talk to people outside his circle and especially the opposite gender.... Both the brother and sister are very uncomfortable with the opposite gender.....

Even though pooja and Priya are friends for almost 8 years now, he never talked to Pooja and Pooja is actually afraid of him... So she too never tried to talk to him.....

Priya occupied the passenger seat and pooja took the back seat....

After dropping pooja at her house, the brother and sister left for their home...

As soon as Pooja got down with her luggage, Vivek hit Priya's arm hard and both the brother and sister started their fight on their way to their home....

Priya reached home, washed her legs, and entered the house, Vivek took her luggage and kept it in the master bedroom which is their parent's, As Priya still sleeps with her parents, as they are used to sleep with their parents from their childhood onwards, but Vivek started sleeping alone after his graduation, but Priya never slept alone, she loves to cuddle her father and mother and sleep...

Swapna gave water to Priya and exchanged pleasantries, Priya after drinking the water, went and hugged her father tightly....

Priya(kissing Anand's cheek) - I love u Nanna(dad/papa).....

Anand - I love u too Papai..... (Beti or girl child)

Tejaswi too went and joined the father-daughter duo whereas Swapna went back to prepare the food....

Priya - where is Advik, vadina(sister-in-law/bhabhi)

Tejaswi - Lakshmi aunty(their neighbor) took him to play with her grandchildren..... He must be coming by now, meanwhile, u go and freshen up, u can't do that after he comes, he won't let u go away from him even for a second.....

Priya - yeah.... All his love stays only for a few hours vadina, after that he gets into his usual self that is hitting and fighting with me....

Vivek - oyy... Don't u dare blame my son, u r the one who picks fight first...

Priya - no I won't..... actually it's ur habit which u passed it to ur son, (to Anand)Nanna(papa/dad) he was beating me on our way too(saying this she showed her arm which got red due to Vivek's tight hold)

Anand(glaring him) - Vivek, don't trouble her..... u won't beat her again like this....

Vivek - Nanna, u don't know her, she was the one who beat me first at the bus stand....

Anand - her soft hands won't hurt u Vivek but see how urs had hurt her, don't do this again....

Tejaswi - y do u beat her so harshly, Vivek, ur hand is very hard.....

Vivek - u just shut up, u will always support her, I doubt whether u r my wife or hers....

Anand - Vivek, don't be rude to tejaswi, apologize now.....

Vivek - sorry Teja.....

Saying this he goes to his room sulking.....

But smirks as he knew that they(priya and tejaswi) can hit sixes only till his mother was not on the pitch, after her entry they will be duck out... Including his father....

Soon Advik came, hugged Priya and kissed her cheeks saying he missed her so much.... She gave all the toys she brought for Advik and as usual, Tejaswi scolded Priya for bringing so many toys.....

Advik is happy and started destroying them one by one in the name of playing.....

Priya freshes and joins her family at the dining table.... Her mother made her favorites and she relished each and every morsel....

Her brother purposefully brought her marriage topic to take revenge on the earlier incident....

Her mother started her usual ranting...

But Priya, Tejaswi and Anand tricked Swapna for the time being.....

Priya thought to talk to her father about the previous day's incident as she literally shares everything with him....

After lunch, both the father and daughter went to the terrace and started talking....

Priya's house is medium-sized with two-bedrooms, a Hall and kitchen on the ground floor, and a room with an attached bathroom on the terrace like a penthouse, the house has modern basic amenities nothing different from a normal middle-class house.....

Priya narrated the previous night's incident to her father hiding in her father's safe arms.... She also told how Aditya got hurt and everything..... Anand consoles her frightened daughter and she calms down and then shares her worry for Aditya's wound....

Priya(worried) - Nanna(daddy) I'm worried, he would be fine right?? What if the knife is rusted and what if it becomes septic?? I have heard somewhere, they removed the hand as it got infected due to a rusted thing, and I don't know whether he had his Tetnas injection or not..... I don't even know his name....

Anand is the only man who listens to Priya's rants patiently and reacts calmly, every other person just stops her in the middle and reprimands her for her over-thinking.....

Anand - papai, don't worry, he would be fine, and u guys should have taken his number so that u can ask him whether he is fine or not.... Anyways just call pooja and ask her if the knife is rusted or not... Don't imagine things.....Later we can think about the other things....

Priya - no nanna, she will scold me, from morning onwards I talked about it many times, she warned me not to talk about it again otherwise she won't spare me....

Anand(smiled) - ok then, I will call her....

Priya(smiles) - okay...

Anand called pooja and talked normally with her at first and very politely and softly brought the topic of Aditya....

Anand and Priya are relieved to know that the knife is not rusted, pooja informed them that she bought it recently after reading safety measures to protect ourselves....

After talking about some random things, Anand ended the call, Pooja loves and respects Anand alot for his soft and loving nature....

In the evening, Anand, Priya and Tejaswi played badminton, and after Vivek's return, they played doubles with Anand - Priya in one team and Vivek -Tejaswi in another team....

At night the whole family sat together and played thumb shell arts after dinner,

Priya changed Advik's diaper and put him to bed as Tejaswi is busy with some chores, Priya always saw Advik as her own more than a nephew....

Advik sleeps with his grandparents and today too, Anand, Swapna Priya, and Advik slept in the master bedroom....

The whole day went busy for Aditya, managing all the work across the country from Hyderabad is challenging but he managed it, at night he talked with Shanaya and Samraat while having his food....

Shanaya and Samraat informed him that they are coming to Hyderabad to have some siblings' time as it's holidays for Shanaya too, Aditya agreed....

They said that they will come on Monday as they wanted to enjoy the weekend in Mumbai with friends, Aditya warned Samraat to stay sober and ordered Shanaya not to have alcohol even a bit, as she is not of legal drinking age and women in their families are not allowed to drink but he knew that he cannot stop Shanaya when she becomes 21 as she always wanted to have alcohol, personally, he didn't have any problem in his sister having alcohol, all he wanted is her to stay safe.... In their house, all men except Ritesh(Aditya's dad) have alcohol, whereas Aditya is a social drinker, his daadu and Samraat drink daily.... But in limit....

After the dinner, he went to his room and lay on the bed but all he could think is of Priya.... His wound is still fresh but the pain subsided.... Priya is affecting him a lot and he is surprised as till then no girl affected him, he dated many girls but never felt anything towards them..... He dumped them before they could proceed any further saying he is not interested..... He just dated them or to be more precise put a facade to escape the word called 'Marriage' as he was not ready then, and after a few years his family stopped nagging him about marriage, and then he stopped dating too....

He even forgot their names till the next day.... But this girl Priya is not at all leaving his mind.... How much he might try to distract himself, his final halt would be Priya always....he warned himself not to think about her anymore, and with that determined thought, he went to sleep, though with difficulty.....

The next day Priya left to pooja's house on her bike, both the best friends met their old friends and enjoyed the local junk food, and returned home in the evening.....

Priya once again requested her mother to allow her to take her bike to Hyderabad, this time her mother is about to give in to her demands but her brother reminded Swapna that Priya doesn't have a license and it's dangerous to drive in Hyderabad....

And this made Swapna reject Priya once again.... And even Anand is with Swapna as he knew how Priya drove, she is not a rash driver, but she sure drives fast..... And this feared Anand..... Though he didn't voice out his thoughts.....

Priya and pooja boarded the bus Sunday night and reached Hyderabad the next morning, as soon as they reached their flat, Priya got ready for her work whereas pooja slept for some time as she still has some time for her shift....

Priya reached her office and started working but she is sleepy as she didn't sleep properly the whole night, she went and got herself a coffee and that helped her a bit, after some time she called her father, talked to him for a while and resumed her work.....everyone is checking their mobiles and discussing something among them, Priya just smiled and continued her work....

As it's the end of the month, salary has been credited into their accounts, Priya too is excited about salary like everyone else but not too much, she is not so into spending money, it's not that she is a miser, but she didn't have anything to spend on.... she sent money to their parents and they saved it on her name without her knowledge...

Aditya is sleeping peacefully, he thought of working from home for a few hours as his siblings are coming there.... He was continuously working the previous day though it's a Sunday.... Aditya never cared about any day as only work mattered him.... He never had time for himself, or should say, he never took time for himself, business is his passion, profession, and most importantly his possession.... He enjoyed every bit of it, he enjoyed the power it got him....

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Aditya(holding Priya's cheeks) - how r u?? U know how much I missed u??

Priya(smiling at him) - u really missed me??

Aditya(pulling her closer) - u want me to prove it to u....

Priya blushed and looked down.....

Aditya pulled her towards him further and kissed her hardly.... Her lips tasted heavenly, caressed her body with his hands while kissing her, she moaned in his mouth, he smirked and pulled her more into him....

She is struggling to breath and finally, Aditya broke the kiss..... She hugged him tightly, the feeling of her in his arms felt so right to him.... He doesn't want to leave her as if he leaves her, he would lose his life....

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Suddenly Aditya woke up from his deep sleep....

Aditya(shocked and cursed loudly) - what the hell?? What's happening to me?? Damn woman.... What r u doing to me....

He held his hair getting frustrated..... But the dream brought unknown happiness in him, he badly wanted to kiss her, it's been two days that he had seen her but the effect was still fresh, he is getting the same feeling which he got when he first saw her whenever she crossed his mind,

He shoved all her thoughts and went to take a cold shower....

After a few minutes, Samrat called him to inform that they are about to board their jet.... He thought to finish off his work before they come as they won't let him work after that..... He started his work after having his breakfast....

Priya went to her flat after her work, freshened up, and paid all her monthly bills immediately as she didn't like to delay the payments, every month she paid on time in fact before time when it comes to money, she doesn't have to count when she spends on others but she remembers it clearly if she owes it to someone else, she doesn't even get proper sleep until she pays them back....her parents taught her and her brother not to get indebted to anyone.... Always save their self-respect....

According to them, if a person loses his self-respect, then he is no less than a dead man, and both the siblings (Priya and her brother)followed their parents' path....

After paying all the bills for the month, she had her dinner and slept before pooja came, after she came, she asked Priya to accompany her to a mall as she is getting bored sitting at home but Priya refused as she had to sleep, pooja too left her as she knew how much Priya loved her sleep, also pooja had her other friends company so she left without dragging priya....

Samraat and Shanaya reached Hyderabad, they are received by Deewan security staff, both the siblings reached the mansion, as soon as they entered Shanaya screamed excitedly for her brother....

Aditya smilingly went to his siblings finishing his work....

Shanaya hugged Aditya tightly.....

Shanaya - I missed u bhai....

Aditya(kissing her forehead) - I missed u too baby girl.....

Samraat - thank god bhai, now that u r here, I don't have to handle this bundle of craziness....

Shanaya glared at Samrat and Aditya playfully punched him.....

The siblings sat and talked for some time, then Shanaya suggested they should go and roam outside....

Suddenly a flash of hope raised in Aditya that maybe he could meet Priya again....

He immediately agreed and this surprised his siblings but they let it go....

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Nanna - dad or daddy(papa)

Vadina - sister- in-law(bhabhi)

Papai - an endearment used to refer a daughter with love (beti or beta)

Annaya - brother or bro (bhai or bhayya)

Amma - mom or ma