"Miss Ananya Kashyap," said a middle-aged man, with horn-rimmed spectacles, casually glancing through her CV, with a bored expression on his face. "GTV has been seeing a lot of you lately. I think I had informed you a few days earlier that we do not have any vacancies in our channel at the moment. And anyway, we have better qualified applicants. We will let you know when we need your services. Good day!"
A young girl, in ripped jeans and a casual t-shirt, wearing obnoxiously large spectacles, sat on the chair opposite him. With a beseeching look in her eyes, she said, "Sir, just one chance! I promise I won't disappoint you!"
"Miss Ananya Kashyap, I have already told..." he started, frustrated at the persistence of this girl, and started fidgeting with the large, silver name plate on his desk, which read - Viraaj Mehra, Senior Editor, GTV.
"Sir PLEASE! Just one chance..." Ananya batted her eyelashes and tried to make her face as pitiable as possible, while Viraaj rolled his eyes and wondered how he was ever going to get rid of this girl.
Just then, a peon entered his cabin and announced the arrival of a certain Mr. Rishab Vaidya from Mehrotra's office. Viraaj thanked his stars for this welcome interruption, and directed the peon to bring Mr. Vaidya to his cabin immediately. "If you please, Miss Kashyap," he said in a rasping voice.
After fidgeting anxiously with the table for a moment, Ananya gave him a sugary smile, and said, "I'll be waiting in the lounge." She got up from her chair and left the cabin.
Viraaj sighed in relief. "Hello, Monica?," he said, picking up the receiver, "Print out a rejection letter with R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N in bold. You'll see a Miss. Kashyap sitting in the lounge area. After my meeting with Vaidya, deliver the letter to me and send her to my room."
It was over half an hour since, and Ananya sat in the lounge, playing a game on her phone with a bored expression. Just then, she heard the receptionist requesting her over the speaker to step into the editor's cabin.
She entered his cabin, and gave Viraaj another smile. "Have you rethought your decision, sir?" she asked eagerly, and quickly approached his table and took a seat, without even being asked to.
He looked her in the eye, and gave her the rejection letter. Ananya put on the most pitiable expression she could muster, and tried to plead with him to change his mind, fidgeting with the table all the time.
"The letter makes my decision more than clear, I think, Miss Kashyap," he said in a cold voice. "Now if you would deign to leave me alone."
Ananya pretended to be hurt, kept the letter on his table, and left his room, but not before turning back and giving him a sharp look, that left him quite puzzled. As soon as she was out of the GTV office, she did a little victory jig, unable to contain her excitement, that left the watchmen staring, hailed a taxi and headed back home.
~*~
She smiled all through the journey, and was still smiling when she reached home. She could hardly believe that she had accomplished her mission. The tiny chip, whose sight filled her with childlike glee, held explosive evidence against one of the biggest business tycoons of the nation, Mr. Nishad Mehrotra.
The Nishad Mehrotra coal scandal had been all over the television screens 4 days ago. A CBI probe was in progress and the media was relentlessly following the business house. Around the same time, she was looking for a job at GTV. And when she happened to overhear two employees of the company discussing the impending visit from Mr. Vaidya, the right hand man of Mehrotra, she smelt a rat and convinced the receptionist to let her have an appointment with the editor on the same day. Armed with her lithe movements and sharp brain, she successfully carried out her plan of recording their conversation by installing a chip on Mehra's desk.
She clasped the chip tighter, revelling in the glory of her victory, when her mother doubled her joy.
"Beta, Kabir Sharma ka phone aaya tha..." her mother stopped abruptly, seeing the flurry of emotions on her daughter's face.
"WHAT? Kab? Kaise? Kya kaha? Wait, maa, are you sure KABIR SHARMA called up?" Ananya asked, all of a flutter, while her mother raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"Calm down!" she said, amused by her daughter's excitement. "He says he tried contacting you on your mobile but could not get through, and so he left a message for you on the landline. He has asked you to meet him around 5.45 pm tomorrow at a cafe."
Ananya still could not believe her ears. The man she had been idolizing for 8 years - the Kabir Sharma - had asked her to meet him! She was finally going to personally see her hero. It was all too good to be true. The meeting was not altogether unexpected, for she had been trying to contact him for the last few days, ever since she had formulated the plan for her sting operation, promising him some information about the Mehrotra case. But that he had responded was in itself a victory for her. She was going to meet Kabir Sharma.
The Kabir Sharma.
~*~
"Ananya Kashyap!" he muttered and thought about the woman who was literally chasing him with phone calls and emails, and claiming to have some information about the Mehrotra coal scam. He had finally responded to them, since he was repeatedly reaching dead ends in his investigation of this 500 crore scandal. He was famous for unearthing the truth behind everything, but this time he just wasn't able to solve this. When he was almost giving up, he remembered her and decided to give the case one last try.
"Kabir sir, did you call for me?" came a voice from the door. Kabir looked up to find a timid, shy man standing before him. In his usual striped shirt and well combed hair, Ronnie was the perfect boy next door.
"Yes, Ronnie, come in," Kabir said, shaken out of his reverie. "You told me that you have an acquaintance with this Ananya Kashyap."
"Yes sir, she's my best friend from college. She is trustworthy, spunky, smart and can dig out amazing news. No, I am not saying this because she is my best friend. She really is a very good reporter. Remember the Nadiadwala case?" Ronnie said, while Kabir noted the spark in Ronnie's eyes when he spoke about Ananya, slightly amused.
"Hmm, wahi na whose house was raided and several hundred crores worth of benaami assets were found?" Kabir asked.
"Yes, sir. Ananya's instinct told her that there was something wrong with that man. So, she investigated him and gave the tip to the police, leading to the raid," Ronnie said, with a shy smile.
"Ah," said Kabir, impressed. "Tumhari Ananya seems pretty interesting! But, why doesn't she send her information through you?"
Ronnie's face turned a deep scarlet, and he coughed "No sir, she's not my Ananya," he said. "And, she is very protective about her work. She won't trust her own family with it! That's why she likes to do everything herself."
Kabir nodded and thanked Ronnie for his information.
After Ronnie left him, Kabir returned to his thoughts. Ronnie was one of his most trusted juniors. Though, Kabir had not a very high opinion of his intellect, he knew that Ronnie was dependable in both his actions and words. He was always guarded in his speech, gave honest opinions. So, if Ronnie had such a high opinion of her capabilities, she probably did have something worthwhile!
~*~
Kabir ran his hand through his hair, to make sure it was all in place, as he entered the Starbucks cafe where they were supposed to meet. He walked over to the counter, and was glancing through the menu when his eyes fell on a young girl to his right.
She was talking to the attendant in involved tones. "Listen, can you add some more chocolate? Oh no wait, instead of chocolate add... perhaps" he heard her say. "Nah, actually na I love..." she droned on, but Kabir paid no further interest. Kabir rolled his eyes in disgust, and thought disdainfully about people like that girl, who refused to grow up and behaved like children even in their twenties. "Chocolate? Seriously?" he thought.
Kabir picked up his drink from the counter and settled down at a table. Casually sipping his drink, he glanced at his watch impatiently. Just as he was wondering how much longer he would have to wait, his eyes chanced upon a pair of sleek legs walking towards him. As he slowly raised his glance and evaluated her well-endowed figure, his eyebrows rose in appreciation.
No wonder Ronnie's eyes light up when he talks about Ananya Kashyap, he thought. A tight wrap dress accentuated the graceful movements of her sensuous figure, and Kabir could not keep his eyes off her gait. Her smoky eyes shone with intelligence. He deftly straightened his jacket and cleared his throat. Her stilettos clicked sharply against the wooden floor as she approached him with quick steps.
Something told Kabir Sharma that this meeting would be full of unexpected happenings.
~*~
Author's Note: We are looking forward to your response. What happens next? Well, pour in your comments and let us see who guesses it right! And please do tell us how you liked our work. :) Your comments and likes will encourage us to write further! 😊 Please buddy IArmageddonI and .KupKakes to receive PMs for further updates. :)
This content is the sole property of the authors. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited.
comment:
p_commentcount