“Damn, I’m so late today!” Neha Sharma swore aloud, tapping her hand on the steering wheel of her BMW X6, waiting for the signal to turn green. The quarterly management meeting was scheduled to start at ten in the morning and she was already forty-five minutes late. Being Technology Chief of Gupta Systems, she was scheduled to make a presentation in fifteen minutes. This meeting was extremely important and though they might forgive her for the late arrival, she most certainly would not be forgiven for missing her presentation slot. “What a mess,” she said, looking at the crawling traffic in front of her. She had returned to Mumbai late last night after attending a successful business meeting in Vienna. The long hours she had put in the previous week to ensure that the meeting was successful had started taking their toll. She had slept right through her alarm, thereby waking up super late and in spite of skipping breakfast and driving as fast as she could, there was nothing she could do about the chaotic Monday morning Mumbai traffic. The signal turned green and Neha pressed her foot hard on the accelerator, zipping as fast as she could until she finally entered the gates of the sprawling ten-acre campus of the Gupta l Corporation. She parked her car in the first available slot she found and rushed out. Neha entered the lobby of The Gupta Systems building and ran to catch the elevator. Pressing the button for the top executive floor, she glanced at her face in the elevator’s mirror. Her hair looked unkempt and was all over her face. Waist length and dark, she usually tied it into a topknot while at work. But today being the scuttle that it was, she had barely run a comb through it. Shit! She couldn’t attend the meeting looking like she did! She exited the elevator and flashed her access card at the entrance door, which swung open as she pushed. The boardroom was directly in front of her. She could see through its glass doors that the meeting was in full swing. She dashed down the left towards the rest rooms, the sound of her heels muffled by the plush carpeted floor beneath her feet. Neha rounded the corner and walked straight into a human wall. Her breath caught in her throat as she fell backwards. Her eyes squeezed shut knowing there was nothing she could do to stop her fall. But before she could hit the ground, strong hands grabbed her waist and steadied her. One second she was about to fall and the next she was firmly held in a tight grip and pressed flush against a very virile male body. Her eyes popped open and she looked up into her savior’s face. A gasp escaped her lips. Neha found herself drowning in eyes the color of molten honey and a face that could be on the cover of any glossy magazine. God! He was…gorgeous. He was fair with features so chiseled; it felt like they were carved out of rock. His dark hair was cropped and spiked as per the latest trend. On second thoughts, he must have been on the cover of a magazine because she was certain that she had seen him somewhere. Before she could consider that thought his luscious and full lips curved into a smile. Shit! He had caught her ogling him. Belatedly she realized his hands were still holding her and she was pushed up against his chest. A strange sensation enveloped her body and mind. Every inch of her that was in contact with him tingled. Shaking herself out of this unknown reaction, Neha stepped back from him. “I’m so sorry!” she told the stranger. She gave him a regretful smile. “I was in a hurry and I just didn’t see where I was going.” “No damage done,” he responded, with a smile. “Well, thanks for stopping my fall. I really do need to rush now.” She gave him another smile and rushed forward. Aaryan Gupta was zapped. He couldn’t believe that his body had reacted so spontaneously to this unknown woman who had run into him. She was about five-four, five-five max, with dark eyes, dark hair, and a creamy complexion on a heart shaped face. She was quite pretty although she wasn’t the type of woman he was normally attracted to. But her body was curved in all the right places. Who was she and more importantly what was she doing on the executive floor of his company? Perhaps she was one of the assistants of the managers currently in the board-room. Well, there was no way he could know who she was! He had only just returned from London a month ago, succumbing to pressure from his grandfather to take his place as the managing director of the Gupta Corporation. His grandfather Janak Gupta had started this company from scratch forty years ago and had built it to be one of the most successful business empires in the world. They had a foothold in several businesses starting from real estate, to hotels, automobiles, telecom and media and also IT. They also had a presence in several countries. He himself was heading the US and European offices and until recently had operated primarily out of London and New York. The ringing of his cell phone jolted him back to reality. He had left the board meeting only to answer this call! He hurried towards his office, which was in the left wing of this executive floor. His grandfather occupied the right wing on this floor. He shut his office door and answered the call. “Yes.” “Mr. Gupta, I’m calling from the investigative agency you…” “Yes, I know. Do you have the information I asked for?” Aaryan asked, cutting off the guy. “Yes sir, my agency has gathered preliminary information that a woman was involved in the last two failed contracts with ACC.” “Do you have a name?” “We suspect a woman, Neha Sharma; she works as the Technology Chief in Gupta Systems.” “What evidence do you have that proves it was her?” “We have recent photographs of her dining with the owner of one of your competitor organization, Fortuna International.” “That’s not enough evidence to prove that it was this woman, Neha, who had passed on the necessary information,” Aaryan remarked, his tone cold. “True. But since the first contract was won by Fortuna International, the suspicion does pile up. Also a source from the other competitor, Eclipse Systems, has confirmed that there was a woman involved from Gupta Systems who gave them the information on your prices. Since Miss Neha is the only woman with apparent access to such information in your office, we are presuming it’s her.” “And what else?” Aaryan queried. “Additionally, Miss Neha’s personal account shows two payments of fifty lakhs, one before the first transaction failed and the second after the second transaction failed. We haven’t yet been able to verify from which accounts the money was transferred.” Aaryan scraped a hand down his jaw, thinking. This woman was being paid extremely well for passing on sensitive information. But that made sense since the contracts were worth multimillions of dollars for the organization that won them. A moment later, he asked, “What else do you know about this woman?” “She has a degree in software engineering from a reputed institute in Mumbai and has over the years studied and completed a part time course in Business Management while working with Gupta Systems. She has grown very fast and very high in your firm. Being in the position she currently is in, allows her easy access to a lot of confidential information. Furthermore, she is only twenty seven years old, and her photographs show her to be very good looking.” The man hesitated before he spoke next. “There is one more thing, Sir, rumor has it that Miss Neha is involved with a very senior member of your organization.” “Who?” Aaryan frowned, staring outside the wide glass wall on one side of his office. “Mr. Janak Gupta.” “What?” Aaryan roared. “I hope you know what you are insinuating.” “Yes Sir, in fact, if you check with your HR, you will learn that Miss Neha was hired five years back without any prior work experience on the insistence of Mr. Janak. That too without even a formal interview round.” The man continued, “Miss Neha's immediate family is a younger brother studying in England, whose education is being paid for by Mr. Janak. Additionally, she drives a latest model BMW car and has a plush apartment in Bandra. Both of these bought and paid for by Mr. Janak.” Aaryan's jaw dropped. What the hell was going on? Bandra was considered the most up market residential address in Mumbai. His own family home was a sea facing mansion in Bandstand, Bandra. Aaryan had grown up in that house and though he had lived abroad for so many years, this house was and always would be home for him. His grandfather had built this house and had moved out, leaving it to his eldest son’s family, on the death of his beloved wife, some fifteen years back. His reason being, that every wall and corner of that home reminded him of his wife. Now he stayed in an apartment close by. Aaryan smiled thinking of his grandfather. To overcome the loss of his wife, Janak Gupta had put all his energy into his work, making his organization one of the most successful businesses in the world. Overnight, he had changed his lifestyle from family man to someone who worked hard and partied even harder. He realized that life was too short and he wanted to enjoy every minute of it. Hence, his affairs became legendary. Though he was old, Janak Gupta had in no way lost his charm or charisma. He was tall, had high cheekbones and a fair complexion now weathered by age. Even though his once dark hair was sprinkled with an abundance of grey, Janak Gupta was a dashing man indeed. Hence, money was not the only thing that attracted women to him. He was extremely active on the Mumbai social scene and attended every event with a different woman on his arm. His women came and went and the only thing they had in common was that they were extremely beautiful and quite young. The older lot of Aaryan family were embarrassed by his grandfather’s rather public display of his affairs. But Aaryan loved the old man and he knew that all the partying and women were just a social front for a very lonely man. However, two things did not fall into place here. In the past his grandfather had never ever spent so much money on a woman and the second was that he couldn’t believe his grandfather was involved with one of his employees. That was most unlike him, as his grandfather never dated anyone from his staff, ever. “Sir, are you there?” The voice on the phone interrupted his thoughts. “Yes!” “I’ll send the evidence that I have to your office by tomorrow.” “Fine.” “Is there anything more that you need from us?” “Not for the time being,” Aaryan responded, ending the call. He stood still for a moment, thinking through everything. Over the last several years Janak Gupta had taken a personal interest in only his software and media businesses. Though he was chairman of the entire corporation, he had handed over the reins to his grandsons, Aaryan, Sameer and Rishi. Aaryan personally looked after the telecom business, apart from the European and American operations of the company. Now on his grandfather’s behest he would be taking over the software business too. This was why he had been specifically asked to attend today’s quarterly meeting. As far as he knew his grandfather hadn’t yet announced his decision with regards to the media business. He was still at the helm of things there. The media business was extremely large, second only to the telecom business and everyone assumed that Aaryan would take it up eventually, but his grandfather had yet to involve him in it. His cousin Sameer looked after the real estate and hotels part of the business and Sameer’s younger brother Rishi was involved in the automobile business. Each of them had been trained since childhood to excel at what they did and thus stepping into their respective business roles had come naturally to each of them. The three cousins were extremely close and looked up to each other for support and guidance whenever they needed it. Aaryan smiled fondly remembering his cousins. The two of them were extremely excited about Aaryan taking over from their grandfather. Aaryan had learnt of the two failed contracts, with ACC, last year during a board meeting of the Gupta Corporation. They were both important contracts and losing them was a big blow to the software company’s financial estimations, especially since these were renewal contracts with the same company. But his grandfather in his usual style had brushed them off saying, “you win some and you lose some, that they had bigger fish to fry and that’s what the software organization would work towards.” However, last month Rishi had gotten a tip that there was some fraud involved in these two cases. On further investigation Rishi had found that the contracts were lost because the competitors were offering a better price. This had immediately raised an alarm in his mind because Aaryan knew that the rates they offered for providing software services were incomparable to others. Therefore he had hired an investigative agency to look further into this. He was glad that he had. His suspicions were confirmed now. Someone was selling sensitive information for a very high price and jeopardizing his company. Aaryan had to tread carefully and find out what was going on. Several questions came to his mind. Firstly, who the hell was Neha Sharma? What influence did she have in his grandfather’s life? Why had he not heard of her or seen her in any of the newspapers and magazines that regularly flaunted the old man’s affairs? Ever since returning to India last month, he had been meeting the key people in all his companies, as advised by his grandfather. But he hadn’t met Neha yet. Was his grandfather deliberately keeping her away from him? Today’s meeting was intended to present the quarterly report of the software arm of the Corporation namely Gupta Systems. The entire management team of this company was here. Being the Technology Chief, Neha Sharma had to be there to present her report. But he was introduced to all present in the meeting and she was most definitely not one of them. Where was she and why was she not there for the meeting today? He had to learn more and soon before she caused any more damage. He walked out of his office, shut the door and returned to the boardroom. Neha entered the restroom, feeling flushed. Thank God she had managed to stay calm despite her heart beating like a drum inside her ribcage. She scolded herself. This was not the time to think like this. She removed her hairbrush out of her handbag and brushed her hair, tying it with a rubber band. That was the best she could do in the time she had. She hurried to the boardroom, refusing to pay any heed to the encounter from earlier. However, he did seem familiar. Who was he? Had she met him before? Why could she not place him? Sighing, Neha entered the boardroom and walked into the middle of an ongoing presentation. Everyone went silent as she entered. She raised her hands up. “Sorry for being late. I hope I didn’t miss much.” Her boss Munir, glared at her. He extended his arm and tapped a finger on the watch on his wrist. She gave him a wry smile and mouthed a “Sorry” to him. Her eyes darted around the oval shaped table to find a place to sit. Almost immediately she heard, “Welcome Neha, we thought you won’t make it today.” She pivoted towards the source of the voice and smiled. Janak Gupta was sitting at the head of the table, watching her. He flashed her a warm smile and pointed to the vacant chair next to him. The presenter continued his report as soon as Neha was seated. A minute later the door opened again and the stranger Neha had run into earlier sauntered inside. He paused when he saw her. Recognition hit Neha and she gawked at him. This was Aaryan Gupta, Janak’s eldest grandson and heir to the Gupta Corporation. More importantly, he was the brother of one of her best friends, Sheena Gupta. How could she not have recognized him? She knew he had returned to India to take over from Janak and the announcement was going to come any time soon. She was also aware that he would be taking over Gupta Systems. Somehow, over the last month since he had returned, she hadn’t seen him even once in passing and right up till now she had completely forgotten that he was going to attend this meeting. If only she had remembered this detail, she probably would have recognized him outside. She had met Aaryan Gupta once before, but that was so long back. Ten years ago!!! Three things struck Aaryan the moment he entered the room - the least important being that the girl who had run into him earlier was sitting in the chair that he had vacated. The second was that he knew who she was. And from the stunned expression on her face, she too had recognized him. He ought to kick himself for not having made the connection earlier. He was normally good at names and people. This girl now occupying his chair was none other than Neha Sharma. She was one of his sister’s closest friends and now if the information from the investigative agency was to be believed, then she was supposedly involved with his grandfather and a suspect for a business fraud. He took the vacant chair opposite her and thought about the last time he had seen her. Ten years ago she had been a gawky teenager, wearing a baggy tee over leggings and thin as a reed. He remembered her sprawled on a beanbag in his sister’s room, laughing at something his sister and another girl were arguing about. He had walked in on them and they all had turned silent. Sheena’s two best friends Neha and Raashi were introduced to him. He couldn’t remember the other girl, but he remembered Neha very well. She was slightly taller than the other two girls in the room and had an attitude that said that she couldn’t care less about anyone or anything. She had stared at him for a full two seconds before focusing on the TV that was playing in the background. He had tried to talk to her, but had got only curt replies back. He had exchanged a few words with Sheena and then had waved to the girls and had gone off. He never had a chance to meet her again. Of course the fact was that he had hardly ever come to India in the past few years and when he did they were just short business trips. Most of the time, his family had visited him in London or New York, depending on where he was in residence at that time. And in the intervening years, he had heard passing remarks from Sheena about her two best friends. The Neha he had met back then was nowhere close to the woman sitting opposite him now. No wonder he hadn’t recognized her earlier. He sneaked a peek at Neha sitting across from him and ran his eyes over her. She was good looking, no doubt. It was going to be interesting reconnecting with Neha Sharma and bringing her to retribution if she was in anyway involved in jeopardizing his company. With Aaryan's ardent gaze fixed on her, Neha couldn’t concentrate on the presentation and the ensuing discussion. Had he recognized her too? A tide of memories washed over her and she just let them flow through her mind. Neha considered the day she had met Sheena and Raashi as the best day of her life. The day she and her little brother Akash were admitted to an exclusive boarding school after their mother had passed away and their father had handed custody of both the children to their mother’s father, Dhiraj Mishra. Dhiraj Mishra and Janak Gupta had been friends for a very long time. It was on Janak’s insistence that he had admitted his two grandchildren to the prestigious boarding school set in the beautiful valley of Dehradun in North India. Neha, only thirteen then, had formed a life-long friendship with two girls, whom she trusted with her life and who loved her back with the same fierceness that she felt for them. Though the girls came from different backgrounds, they were inseparable during their years at Dehradun and Neha's brother Akash who was three years younger to them had found a close circle

Neha had been seventeen when she was first introduced to Sheena’s dashing elder brother. Back then, he was studying in England and their paths had never crossed. The first time Nehamet him, she and Raashi were spending the evening at Sheena’s and Nehahad been laughing away to glory when he had walked in on them. He had literally taken her breath away with his sharp good looks and striking personality. At the age of twenty, Aaryan Gupta was every girl’s fantasy guy. In the first ten seconds of meeting him, she realized that the pictures didn’t do him any justice. Instead of staring open mouthed at him she had adopted a cool approach and spoken to him with a confidence that she hadn’t felt at all. In the end, she had completely ignored him, leaving him to chat with his sister. Raashi, who couldn’t stop looking at him either, was surprised that such a handsome older guy hadn’t got a second glance from Keya. But as soon as he had left they all had burst into a fit of girly giggles, commenting on Raashi’s openmouthed admiration for Sheena’s brother. Nehahad completely forgotten the incident until now. In the recent years, Aaryan had been based either in London or in New York and was often shuttling between the two cities. Sheena had kept her friends updated about her brother’s flamboyant lifestyle and the women he constantly dated over the years, but somehow Nehahad never ever bumped into him, until today. She was brought back to the present by a tap on her shoulder. Janak raised a brow. “You OK?” he whispered. “Yes, just jet lagged, I guess,” she replied. “Well, you are on now.” Nehawalked to the front of the table, towards the screen where the projector was showing the first page of her presentation. All eyes around the table moved to her. But the only ones she was aware of were the honey gold molten eyes that seemed to be looking deep into her soul, judging her. She schooled her stance into business mode and started her report. Oh! She was good. In fact she was very good. Aaryan grudgingly observed. She spoke with a confidence borne from experience and intelligence. His focus drifted from her face to the rest of her body. She was dressed in black trousers and a rose pink silk shirt, with a purple scarf around her neck. The entire outfit screamed elegance and expense. Her face had the barest of make-up. Her hair that was running loose earlier was now secured away from her face. He thought it looked better left open. It gave her a softer look. He forced himself to focus on her presentation and when she wound up he took a keen interest in the discussion that followed. As head of technology, all the heads of different technology lines like JAVA, Microsoft, etc. reported to her. It was her responsibility to ensure that all the employees were properly utilized. This meant that she had to ensure that her people had work 85% of the time and she was achieving at least 80% in most lines. Career management, training, conducting appraisals were all a part of her work and she coordinated these jobs along with the different heads working under her. However, she was the person directly involved in all bids and submitting proposals for new contracts. Overall, she was doing a capable job. She had a keen understanding of her people, their needs and wishes and she also had an efficient team in place that supported her quite well. Aaryan was impressed! He asked her a couple of questions of his own, which she answered in a smooth and confident manner. When no further questions were forthcoming, she thanked everyone and resumed her seat next to his grandfather. The rest of the day continued in the same mode. More presentations followed along with discussions. They stopped for lunch in between but it was a quick affair, as several more presentations had to be made. During the short lunch break Nehacontinuously found herself in a discussion with someone. Aaryan too was surrounded by people at all times and yet his eyes kept drifting to her, observing her every move. But now, late in the evening, she was exhausted. The meeting was wrapping up and Janak was giving his closing comments. Finally, he formally introduced Aaryan to the team as the new head of  Gupta Systems. Amidst much applause, Aaryan came forward and said a few short words. Nehastudied him as he spoke. Aaryan was extremely confident of his role and station. He looked each person around the table in the eye and in his smooth and graceful manner put everyone at ease and assured them that the handover from grandfather to grandson would not in any way be harmful to any of them, but in fact would be mutually beneficial to everyone. He signed off with thanks to each and every one of them and hoped they could make time to meet him personally over the next weeks to help him get accustomed to the business. Aaryan was brilliant! Neha joined the applause that followed his short speech. No wonder Janak was handing over the reins of his organization, the one that he had built and nurtured, to him.

Usually, Nehalooked forward to meeting her colleagues in a more informal setting. This evening though, she was just not in the mood. Meeting Aaryan had disturbed her more than it should have. Nothing significant had happened between them. She had bumped into him; he had saved her from falling. Full stop! Nothing more had transpired. That her body had felt the most divine feeling being pressed against his was not something she wanted to dwell on. No, that kind of thinking would not get her anywhere. Besides, since he would be heading GuptaSystems she would have to work with him, soon. So she had to get a grip on herself and learn to relax around him. She was not a teenager any more. Aaryan looked at the beauty and splendor around him. This was one of the Guptagroup’s oldest and most magnificent hotels and he was extremely proud of it. It was at par and even better than some of the best hotels in the world. The dinner was set al fresco on the lawns of Hotels, located just off the seashore. The lawns were beautiful at this time of the year and opened out to the sea. The gentle sea breeze blew softly through the palms that were dotted around the lawns. When lit up completely the lawns looked like they were straight out of a child’s fairytale book. This was the highlight of the hotel and also one of its main assets, making the hotel an extremely popular setting for various functions. Since this was a small gathering, a small part of the lawns was set aside for the dinner party. The party was already in full swing by the time he had arrived. Several of his colleagues had gathered in small groups and were interacting with one another while sipping their drinks and eating the various appetizers being served. Aaryan walked towards the party and paused inside a quiet alcove under a majestic palm tree, observing his grandfather and Nehahaving a private conversation some distance ahead. Suddenly, as if sensing his presence she turned and looked straight into his eyes and stopped whatever she was saying. Sensing her distraction, his grandfather turned around and spotted him. He waved him over to join them. “Aaryan, my boy, come here, have you met Keya?” Janak asked him. Aaryan glanced at Nehaand replied, “If I’m not mistaken, it was once, ten years ago, wasn’t it Keya?” “Yes, it was!” Neharesponded. “Aaryan you need to hear this. Nehawas just telling me of her business trip to Vienna,” Janak said. “Was the trip successful?” Aaryan queried. “Yes!” his grandfather interjected. “GuptaSystems has put in a bid to replace the existing, and mind you very old, hospital software system of one of the biggest chain of hospitals in Austria with our very own product Medisys. Nehahad gone for the final discussions and it seems that we may very well win the contract.” Medisys was the flagship healthcare product of GuptaSystems. It was a complete hospital management and billing system. Winning a huge contract in Europe would definitely be another win for GuptaSystems. “How big is this chain?” Aaryan asked Keya. “It’s got four big hospitals in Vienna and ten smaller hospital units, catering to towns around Vienna. So, pretty big I would say,” Nehareplied in a calm tone. “How come this wasn’t a part of your report then Keya?” Aaryan raised a brow. “Well, to be honest,” Nehabegan, “we haven’t yet signed anything with them, but I’m positive that they will come to us. They liked our product a lot. And we are better priced than most of our competitors.” She went on to add, “We’ll know our fate in two weeks, but I’m sure that we’ll win this one.” “Good,” his grandfather beamed, “I’m glad to hear that and Aaryan, if we win you have to go and sign the deal yourself. This way you get a 360 degree view of our software business. And Nehais an expert in this field. She can answer any questions that you pose.” Janak glanced up, squinting his eyes. He addressed them both, “I see someone who I need to talk to. Why don’t you two catch up? I’ll see you later.” After Janak left, Nehaturned to Aaryan. “So you’ve finally decided to take the mantle from him?” Aaryan shrugged. “Yes, I suppose it had to happen someday. And I would prefer that he slows down while he still has some energy left in him. He’s been active on all fronts for so long. I think he deserves a long break. Not that he would ever agree to that.” Nehachuckled. “And,” Aaryan glanced at her, “what have you been up to since I last saw you?” “Well, quite a lot actually, but mostly, I’ve been busy with my work in GuptaSystems.” “Quite the career woman, it seems!” he retorted. Nehanarrowed her eyes at his sarcastic tone. “Well, why not?” she splayed a hand out, “I don’t see the harm in that, do you?” “No, I don’t. And what do you do when you’re not working?” “The usual stuff that people do. Unwind at home, meet friends, well, like I said the usual stuff,” Nehareplied. And his questions went on and on. Why the hell was he interrogating her like this? And he wasn’t even allowing her the chance to question him back. She was already physically exhausted and now she was mentally exhausted as well. She didn’t like discussing her personal life with anyone and definitely not with Aaryan Sehgal, whom she’d met for the second time in her life just a few hours ago. Aaryan studied Keya. She had cleverly evaded any personal question he had posed. Each time he tried to dwell into her background or quiz her on a more private topic, she replied with a general comment. What was she hiding? I will uncover your secrets Nehaand if they are as I suspect, then you will answer to me, he silently promised. Together they moved towards the center of the lawn where they joined a group of people discussing the political situation of the country. Politics not being her favorite subject, Neharemained silent and let the conversation flow around her. Aaryan, she realized was quite actively updated on not only the international political scene but the Indian one as well and was quickly engaged in the conversation. Nehaobserved him while he spoke. Dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt and charcoal tie, Aaryan looked superb. He was well built and had a body that indicated he spent a lot of his time in a gym. He smiled and chatted easily with people and showed none of the tension that had been visible when he was talking to her. Nehagrimaced thinking about their earlier conversation. Why had it felt like Aaryan was trying to find a fault with her? But that was strange considering she had only just met him. Still, she felt that he didn’t like her or rather he didn’t approve of her. She shook herself. She was just imagining it for sure. What possible reason could Aaryan have to dislike her? It made no sense. Unable to concentrate on the ongoing discussion, she tried to recollect all that she knew or had heard of Aaryan. As the first-born grandson of Janak Sehgal, Aaryan had been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. His father had passed away when he was still a boy and Janak had played an active part in his upbringing. Nehahad met Aaryan’s mother, Mina Sehgal, a number of times over the years. She couldn’t say she was extremely close to his mother, but they did have a courteous relationship because Sheena and Nehahad been friends for several years. Nehawas well aware that Mina Guptadoted on her children. She was an elegant woman. Although very active on Mumbai’s social circuit, she was involved in a number of charities and took her welfare work very seriously. Janak had six grandchildren. Aaryan was the eldest, followed by Sameer, his brother Rishi and Aaryan’s sister Sheena. Sameer and Rishi’s twin sisters Shauna and Rhea were the youngest of the lot. Janak had ensured that they all got the best possible education. Still, Aaryan was by far his favorite and Janak had left no stone unturned to ensure that when the time came, Aaryan was more than ready to take over Janak’s place in his business empire. Aaryan had joined the European business at a very young age to learn the ropes. And he had learned fast! In a matter of years he had turned around the European operations into a major money-making venture and with his sharp acumen and keen business sense had expanded its base to the U.S. He was known to be a ruthless businessman, very cut throat is his deals and he always got what he wanted. His personal life had seen a multitude of beautiful women entering and leaving. He had no steady girlfriend that she had heard of in recent times. His last being a top Indian model, one he apparently dumped when she started hinting of marriage. Yes, Sheena had kept them entertained often enough by talking about him. Being extremely good-looking and very rich, he was bound to get a lot of attention from women. But there was no woman who had held his attention long enough to make him think of settling down. The ringing of her cell phone pulled her out of her reverie. She excused herself and moved away from the chatting group before she answered. “Hello,” Nehasaid. “Keya, sweetie, where have you been?” It was Sheena. A smile curved her lips on hearing her best friend’s voice. “Sheena, how are you? I just returned from Vienna last night and today was this big management meeting. Now I’m at this business dinner.” “Hey, my big brother must have been there?” Sheena asked. “Oh yeah! And I was quite shocked to see him!” “Yeah, I can imagine. It’s been years since you met him. Anyway, where are you now?” Nehatold her. “Raashi is with me and we’re coming to pick you up. We’re just a few blocks away and with Raashi driving I’d say ten minutes max,” Sheena declared. “Sheena!!! That’s not possible. Didn’t you hear me? I’m at a business dinner. I was already late for the meeting. I can’t possibly miss the dinner now.” “Hang on, I’m putting you on speaker. Raashi try and talk some sense into her please.” “Hello darling, come out with us tonight. I want to hear all about your time in Vienna,” Raashi drawled. “Hey Raashi! Tonight is impossible. My boss will kill me.” “Keya, your boss reports to Janak and remember, you are one of Janak’s angels! No one can touch you as long as he’s around. So get out there and pull some rank girl!!” Nehagrinned, walking further away from the crowd. Keya, Raashi and Sheena – Janak’s angels. He had given them this nickname so long ago. All three of them were close to Janak. Neither of them had a father and he had played the role of a father figure to each of them for so long. The three of them confided in him and took his advice and suggestions seriously. He was always there for them. Though he called them his angels, in reality, he was theirs. “Keeeeeeeya are you there?” Raashi screeched. “Yes, I’m here. At least tell me what the rush is about.” Nehanoted that she had drifted quite a distance away from the party and from where she was standing she was completely hidden by the palms. “I don’t know,” Raashi began, “Sheena is the one with some news and she says she’ll tell us when we are together. Sheena come on! What’s up?” “Well, I wanted to wait till Nehawas with us, but since Nehais acting all pricey, I’ll tell you my news now. Perhaps that will convince her to come.” Sheena paused, adding to Keya’s building curiosity, before she said, “Rajiv, proposed to me last night, and I accepted.” “Oh my God, that is awesome!” Nehaexclaimed, delighted for Sheena. “Super! This is the best news ever,” Raashi agreed. “Sheena, you’ve made my day! Oh, I can’t wait to meet you two. This is so exciting. When is the Big Day?” “Hang on Keya, there is one slight problem. Aaryan doesn’t know yet and Rajiv still has to meet him to formally take his permission.” “Yes, but what’s the problem, doesn’t Aaryan know that you two are seeing one another?” Nehaasked her. “He does,” Sheena accepted, “but he doesn’t know it’s this serious. He considers Rajiv to be a rich playboy. In fact, Aaryan has been warning me against certain heartbreak if I went in too deep with Rajiv. So I’m a bit worried.” “Have you told Janak?” Nehaasked. “I told him and mom last night. They are thrilled with me being so happy. But you know I can’t do anything till Aaryan approves. Frankly, I think he is going to throw a fit. And both Rajiv and Aaryan are so important to me,” Sheena said in a low voice. “Don’t worry Sheena, Aaryan will come around. Rajiv is a darling and it’s so obvious to everyone that he loves you very much. And the playboy lifestyle he had has been a thing of the past since he fell for you. I’m sure Aaryan will accept him and if he doesn’t I will make it a personal quest to convince Aaryan to accept.” “Convince Aaryan to accept what?” Nehawhirled around, shocked to see Aaryan standing right behind her, his arms crossed on his chest and an accusing look in his eyes. “I have to go girls. Call me when you get here,” Nehasaid, disconnecting the call. Aaryan took a step closer to her. “You haven’t answered my question, Keya. What are you going to convince me of?” “Nothing, what are you doing here anyway?” Neha attempted to change the subject. But he wouldn’t budge. “Don’t brush me off, answer me,” Aaryan demanded.