Hiding

oh nakhrewaali

@oh_nakhrewaali

Hiding

It was a normal day at the office, at least for Priya, until Mr. Ahuja called for a team meeting with HIM. God, Priya hated him. She wanted to hold him by the collar and... 

"Ms.Sood, do you have anything to add?" He asked, and she shook her head. He looked at her, a steely gaze, and Priya wondered what exactly was he looking at. His eyes, they scared her sometimes. 

"Ms. Sood, stay back. Rest of you, please note that this is the stupidest idea I have ever heard!" Priya glared at him. How dare he disrespect her team? She felt guilty as her team walked past her. Yes, the idea wasn't Neeraj's brightest moment, and her idea was far superior to his, and yes, he was a d*ck to ignore her idea and pitch his own to the big guy, but he didn't have to be rude to the other team members. 

Sara nodded at her, wishing her luck. Had it not been Sara, Priya would have lost her mind, slogging in the firm. Don't get her wrong. She loved her job, it was her boss, who was a giant...

"So, Ms. Sood, you have an idea for me?" He asked and pointed at the seat opposite his. She nodded and took a seat. She was good at public speaking, but Priya started fumbling as he continued staring at her.

Don't let him get to you! Her sane mind snapped at her, but she couldn't help it. She would act like a ditzy teenager every time he just so even looked in her direction.

"Why didn't you start this one? As I know, you spent the last night working on it," He said and walked towards her. She gulped and looked at him. Be strong! You are stronger than being scared of a blue-eyed jerk. 

"Mr. Ahuja thought his idea was better."

"Mr. Ahuja has no idea what talents he is overlooking," He said and raised his hand. She flinched as he touched her neck and pulled out the chain she hid behind her white shirt and cream blazer. 

The two kala pota beads held together by the thin gold chain dropped on her white shirt, contrasting beautifully against her while collar. 

She looked up at her husband and rolled her eyes. 

"Why are you so dramatic, Ram!" She said and huffed. 

"You shouldn't have yelled at the team," she rebuked Ram, who scratched the back of his head. 

"I was just pissed that Neeraj overlooked your idea. I know that I should learn to separate my emotions," He said and sat on the table, looking at his beautiful wife. 

"But you make it so hard," He smirked and leaned in, but she pushed back her chair, which rolled away. He should remove those wheeled damned pieces of furniture. 

"Nope. No romance in the office place, remember?" She asked, but he ignored her and pulled her closer. 

"Maybe, I should tell HR to throw away that policy. Bri would be happy to do away it, because apparently, she has enough of us pining for each other," He whispered and leaned in, and she closed her eyes. Even after three years of secretly dating her colleague and six months of marriage, he still made her feel like a damned horny teenager. 

"We will get fired," She whispered, and she didn't need to open her eyes to tell that he had opened his, looked at her, rolled his eyes, and pecked her lips, mindful of her lipstick. She opened his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that always made her so weak in the knees and smiled softly as he was still looking back at her. Then, Ram remembered something and his eyes went wide, making her heart drop to her stomach.

"Did you get any response from the Babbars?" He asked. It was not the ideal question to ask after yearning to hold and kiss your wife, but their marriage and relationship were anything but ideal. 

"Yup, I have got an interview for next week."

She said, and he looked at her in surprise. 

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to, but you pissed me off. We were supposed to have breakfast together, but you just left me that sandwich and came to office, no thanks to that stupid PA of yours and the early morning meetings she scheduled for you!"

"Aww.... don't be jealous of Vedika, she is nothing compared to you," He said and chuckled.

"I am not, but you also added to my annoyance by yelling at my team," She said and his expressions changed to seriousness.

"You should have accepted the team leader's post, Pri. You make a better boss than that Neeraj," He said and held her hand. 

"I love my job Ram," She sighed. "Plus, me accepting the promotion would have messed our already messed up situation."

Being in an office where office romance was a big no, yet, falling in love with your colleague, who then got promoted to be her boss, was exhausting. But they both handled it maturely, for three and a half years, until it became stifling. Giving up, Priya took up an offer from a different firm where she could work using her full name "Mrs. Priya Sood Kapoor" and not hide anymore.

"I swear to God I will fire Neeraj if he messes up your eating schedule more than he already has. Please don't skip lunch. You didn't even sleep properly last night," Ram said as he ran his thumb under her eyes, where the slight traces of dark shadow peeked back at him. 

"Yes, boss."

"You know what, take the day off. Your team can handle it."

"Mr. Kapoor," She sighed as she used his last name to rebuke him for the second time in five minutes. "You are letting your emotions get the better of you, again." She looked at him, and he bit his tongue. 

"Sorry, but I can't help it. We had to cancel our honeymoon because of that stupid Goenka project. Then, I had to rush from the pagpheres because Sara thought it was a great idea to visit Meera Maa on the same day. I couldn't even eat the gulab jamun that she made for me," He pouted, and she chuckled. 

"You are so dramatic." 

He smiled. Life was messed up. Their decisions had landed them in a place where the only escape was one of them leaving, and it would become better. They had to be patient. 

"I can't help it. Not when you are wearing this shirt, and I can't actually express the other feelings I am feeling," He whispered flirtatiously.

"Stop it," She said and slapped his hand that was fiddling with her collar. 

"Make me!"

She stood up and looked around. Thankfully, the windows were closed, and the blinds were down. 

She leaned in, her eyes wide with desire. He gasped softly at her boldness and wrapped her arms around the belt of her dress pants. She smiled and pulled his collar, their faces inches apart. 

"I'll finish this project, and you will be so shocked at the amazing work we did that you won't be able to move," She whispered seductively. Damn it! Even when she talked about work in that tone, he felt hot. 

"What happened Mr. Kapoor? Do you need a cold shower?" She said she pushed back, his arms still holding her close enough to see her small smirk. He wanted to kiss the smirk off her lips but instead just shook his head. 

"Only you can talk about work and make it sound sexy," He rolled his eyes. 

"But I will get back to you."

"Can't wait." She said and pecked his cheek and rubbed it to remove the evidence. 

He watched as she walked away. In a few weeks, he won't have these small, stolen moments with her, but he would get to hold her hand, kiss her and look at her like she was his world, in public, and no one would bat an eye. In a few weeks, she would get a job that she deserved, and they could get the small world of happiness that the two of them deserved. Hopefully, it was worth all the hiding and the lies they had been doing for the last three and a half years.