Chapter 5

Ruhaan's POV

My alarm woke me from my deep slumber. After opening the curtains, I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Changing into a black T-shirt and shorts, I made my way to the gym

I engaged in a set of pull-ups, bench presses, deadlifts, and barbell squats. My family members seemed too lethargic to rise early for a workout.

An hour later, I returned to my room to prepare for the office. Swapping my attire for a black shirt, blazer, and slacks, I left the first two buttons of my shirt undone. Ties, though reserved for parties, held no appeal during my workdays.

I swiftly brushed my hair, slipped on my oxfords, and sprayed on some cologne before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Everyone was already gathered and like always Aarav Aalia Aaryan and Nidhi were fighting over food. I sighed and sat on my seat and wished everyone a good morning and served myself a simple meal of oats and juice.

Since Aarhan had a meeting at some other firm, I made the solo drive to the office, I sat in the driver's seat and sped off to office, covering the distance in just 20 minutes with my determined pace

I parked my car in my private lot and went towards my elevator, I have no interest in seeing bunch of baboons early in the morning

Emerging from the elevator, I found Ronit waiting outside my cabin with my schedule. Stepping into my office, he ef presented the day's agenda, a testament to his dedication over the past three years

"Good morning sir, you have meeting with all the heads of the department in 30 minutes later you have to sign some document then you're free till lunch and at 4:00pm the team of architects will come to discuss about the hotel and you will be free for the day" Ronit said while reading out my schedule

Ronit has been my P.A for 3 years now and he knows how I want certain things to be done and that is why he still has his job

I am waiting for my 4:00 o'clock meeting, My thoughts unwittingly fixated on her. It had been three days since our last encounter, yet her image remained vivid in my mind.I can't wait to see her again, it's been three days since I saw her and I can't stop thinking about her, I remembered her poised presence outside the conference room, her magnetic beauty captivating my attention.

I know I was an idiot on our first meeting but I couldn't help it, speaking to someone who is not my family. I am used to ordering people around to do their work but talking to someone who fascinated me, that's alien to me

I wanted to talk more to her rather than just two words, the way her voice flowed through, how she tried to keep her irritation in check, how she took the lead, how she kept the eye contact everything was fascinating, like a kid saw a carnival for the first time

Today was my one chance to make a good impression on her. I am not a fool I know I have a slight crush on her, she just attracted me a lot and I want to know her more than just the 'architect who is designing our hotel'

The only time I was in a relationship was when I was in college it wasn't too deep we found each other attractive and that's it, later we found out we were not compatible so we mutually broke up that was all, I wasn't in love with her

With a strong focus, I got really busy signing important papers, pushing away the distracting thoughts for a while. When Ronit reminded me about the upcoming meeting.

I wore my blazer and walked to the conference room with , as soon as I entered everyone stopped talking, I like the fear, I went and sat on the head chair without acknowledging anyone

I put on my blazer and confidently walked to the meeting room, feeling like I was in charge. Ronit followed behind me with his iPad. I sat on the head chair and signed to start the meeting. The calm atmosphere of the meeting didn't last long, though

Everyone started showing their progress report one by one, while I was just looking at the screen blankly

"Where is the report of Raichands?" I asked the sales department head.

I can already see he is sweating. Good

"S-irr th-e pro-ble-mm is actu-all-y" He couldn't complete his sentence

"Will you stop stuttering like a fool and answer?" I said calmly

Tension filled the air as everyone braced for what was about to unfold, knowing this confrontation was on the horizon and the sales manager should have seen it coming.

"The project was completed last month and you're still not responsible enough to make the reports on time. Who gave you the position when you can't do a simple task? You were well aware that this meeting was going to take place three days prior yet you were busy doing nothing and this is not the first time where you have not completed your work. If you can't do your job then you should leave " I said calmly while looking into his eyes

As soon as I finished his eyes became wide and started stuttering

"Don't waste my time pack and leave" I yelled at him, my patience was running thin

I struggled to keep calm as frustration took over, leading me to firmly dismiss him. I only take such strong action when someone is really bad at their job, especially when I know they behave badly outside of work too.

Thankfully rest of the meeting went well without anyone getting on my nerves

I went back to my cabin and removed my blazer and kept it on the back of my chair and started going through some documents

As the day went on, I got hungrier. I decided to eat out, so I called home to inform mom I wouldn't be having the usual packed lunch. I called Aarhan to meet me in the parking lot for a quick trip to a nearby restaurant because I don't think he ate anything after the meeting, he came after few minutes and sat inside the passenger seat and I drove to a nearby restaurant

We chatted on the way, as we reached I parked my car and got down, thankfully the restaurant wasn't crowded so we got a nice seat, we sat down and enjoyed a short break from the day's stresses

I ordered some pasta while Aarhan got himself some garlic bread

"So how was the meeting?" I asked while taking a bite of my pasta

"It went good they agreed to our terms we can have a final meeting soon to discuss some last minute details" He replied

"That's good, so how have you been?" I asked since we don't get much time to talk about our personal lives

"I'm good a little stressed, a good trip will be good after the project" He said while chewing on his bread

I hummed agreeing with him, these past few months have been really hectic I too need a vacation alone with everything happening at the same time

We talked some more and left for office, it was three o'clock when we reached office that means I have an hour till my next meeting

I was really looking forward to the next meeting, feeling even more excited about seeing her again