Chapter 2
Ananya wraps up the interview with one of the family members of the injured person. It is a hot day and she is feeling the heat. One of the drawbacks of field reporting was that you have to endure the heat. She takes out the hair tie from her pocket and pulls her hair up to tie them in her usual ponytail. As she is tying, a strand gets caught in her locket causing it to dangle in front of her face. She smiles and take hold of the locket and bring it to her lips to kiss it. "Thank you Kabir sir for yet another successful story. You are truly my inspiration" thought Ananya.
"Ananya come on, let's go. I got a call from Kapoor sir. He wants to meet you ASAP" says Ravi, Khabar 24 cameraman.
"OK, par mujhse kya kaam hai itna urgent?" asks Ananya.
"Yaar mujhe kya pata. Khud hi puchh lena. Ab chal jaldi" answers Ravi.
Khabar 29 Office
Ananya and Ravi enters the office and goes to their respective desks. After freshing up, Ananya goes to Mr. Raghav Kapoor's (EIC) cabin. Mr. Kapoor is an old and compassionate man who empathizes with his reporters.
Ananya knocks "Sir, may I come in?"
"Yes dear please come in" answers Raghav.
"Sir, aapne mujhe bulaya?" asks Ananya.
"Haan Ananya, as you know mid-year appraisals chal rahe hai and looking at your track record, I have decided to promote you. Now you will be Sr. Reporter Ananya Kashyap. And not only this, but you will now be handling your very own 9pm bulletin!" says Raghav proudly.
Ananya stands stun on the spot as the news sinks in. Then suddenly she starts jumping and doing her happy dance on the spot causing her bracelets to make tinkling sound as they jiggle. Suddenly she realizes that she is still in her boss's cabin and stops.
With a sheepish expression on face, she says - "Oh my God! Sorry sir.. I mean thank you sir! Thank you so much! I will not disappoint you."
"I know you won't. Keep up the hard work. You will soon get your promotion letter. You may go now and celebrate with your friends" says Raghav smiling at the antics of his junior. He had always liked Ananya as she had a distinct spark which was hard to find. He had been a great mentor to her and had tried to teach her everything that he knew.
As Ananya exits the cabin, her mobile rings. "Ronnie! You won't believe what happened!" she says answering Ronnie's call.
"Achha kya hua jaldi bata mujhe bhi tujhe kuch batana hai" says Ronnie.
"I got promoted! Now you are talking to Sr. Reporter Ananya Kashyap" exclaims Ananya.
"Arrey wah! Congratulations yaar this is such a good news. Aaj to tera special din hai Khabar 29 mei bhi aur KKN mei bhi" says Ronnie.
"KKN mei? Mera special din?" asks Ananya.
"Haan, vo kya hua na ke aaj main Kabir sir ke kuch kaam se conference room mei unse milne gaya tha. Tab vo tujhe Khabar 29 pe dekh rahe the. Yaha tak ki jab main bahar nikla to maine suna ki Kabir sir tujhe KKN mein recruit karna chahte hai" says Ronnie.
"KYA!! Are you serious?? THE Kabir Sharma mujhe TV pe dekh rahe they aaj!! You know he is my idol right?? He is my hero and he wants me! Eee!!! I am so happy Ronnie!" shouts Ananya excitedly on phone earning a few glares from her colleagues.
"Aah meri maa! Mere kaan phat gaye" complains Ronnie.
"Hahahaha! But yaar tune kya news sunai hai.. mera to din hi bana dia tune" says Ananya happily.
"Haan, to zara dhyan dena humare channel se tujhe phone ayega to receive kar lena" says Ronnie.
"Arey haan haan.. par meri to yaha promotion ho rahi hai to you know na that I can't change my job. They are even giving me my own bulletin" says Ananya disappointed that she will have to give up the opportunity of meeting and working with Kabir.
"Ananya, ek baar mil to le. Kya pata tujhe better offer mil jaye?" says Ronnie trying to convince her.
"Haan vo to hai ek baar mil to lena chahiye. Isi bahane mujhe Kabir sir se milne ka mauka bhi mil jayega" says Ananya.
"Ok, chal mujhe kuch kaam aa gaya hai. Main rakhta hu raat ko baat karenge. Bye." says Ronnie finishing the call.
"Ok, bye" says Ananya and cuts the call.
KKN Office
Ananya stands below the office building trying to quench the butterflies in her stomach. The mere thought of meeting THE Kabir Sharma was making her so nervous that she thought she might get sick. She had never been this nervous in her life, not even on her first beat. Ronnie stands at the entrance watching Ananya pacing the front door nervously and approaches her.
"Yahi ghoomte rehna hai ya ander aane ka iraada hai?" Ronnie asks Ananya startling her from her thoughts.
"Nnnai, chal na.. main to ander hi aa rahi thi.. vo mera kuchh gir gaya tha vo dhoondh rahi thi" lies Ananya trying to hide her nervousness from her best friend. She knew if he got to know that she was this nervous for meeting Kabir then he will make fun of her and will never let her forget this.
Ronnie doesn't say anything. He just looks at her and grins mischievously having seen through her lie and takes her inside the office.
Khalid's cabin
Ananya sits infront of Khalid where he is taking her brief introductory interview. He can clearly see that Ananya is a very capable and talented reporter and will be a great asset for them. He envisions KKN going to no.1 position with Ananya and Kabir working together.
"That's great Ananya. Think about it. We will be glad to have you in KKN. Please excuse me for a few minutes. I will just talk to Kabir" says Khalid and leaves for Kabir's office.
"Sure sir" says Ananya giving a courtesy smile.
Khalid goes to Kabir's office but does not find him there. "Richa, tumne Kabir ko dekha kya" he asks.
"Sir, I saw him going to PCR ten minutes back" answers Richa.
Khalid goes to check PCR. In the meantime, Ananya is getting impatient sitting in Khalid's cabin waiting for him to come back. She believes that she will be taking this job in KKN even if that means giving up her promotion at Khabar 29. Working with Kabir had always been a dream for her. She had been worshipping him for 8 years since her father dies. She had always thought of Kabir as an angel who had tried to save her father's name when everyone else was against him. This opportunity was too big and important to give up. She wanted to take up the Jr. Reporter position with a salary hike in KKN.
Having made up her mind, she glances at her watch and see that it has been 15 minutes since Khalid left to find Kabir. She decides to go out and look for him and give him her answer. She stands and exits the cabin door just as Kabir comes looking for Khalid.
"Khalid, us sponsor ka... oommpphhh!!" Kabir stops mid speech as he collides with Ananya.
Immediately Kabir's arms goes around Ananya's waist to keep her from falling. Both of them stands stun in that position trying to understand what just happened. A weird sensation goes up Kabir's spine as he touches her waist. He is not able to understand his reaction towards Ananya which irritates him because he always likes to be in control no matter the circumstances. For Ananya, it is an out of body experience. She is not able to believe that she is in the arms of her idol cum crush. She looks at Kabir closely and tries to memorize his facial features. She starts with his gelled up messy yet neat hair, his slightly crooked nose, sharp jaw line and lastly his brown eyes that appear to be irritated at the moment. As Ananya and Kabir looks into each other's eyes, reality starts sinking in and both realizes the position they are standing in past half a minute.
Kabir makes Ananya stand properly before retracting his arms to his side just as Khalid reaches them.
" Kkkabir ssir, oh God... hugge ffan... mmmy hee..." stammers Ananya breathlessly.
Feeling irritated and out of control with the affect that an ordinary girl like Ananya was having over him, Kabir angrily says - Khalid! Ye kaise reporters bulaye hai tumne interview ke liye jinhe na nolna aat hai na dekh kar chalna".
Ananya is stunned into silence. She had not done anything and Kabir was insulting her. She was not even at fault. It was Kabir who had been coming her way with his head down. Thinking this, her face flushes with anger and embarrassment.
"Kabir. What are you saying? Tum shayad pehchane nahi, she is Ananya Kashyap. Jr. Reporter in Khabar 29" says Khalid trying to cover up what Kabir said.
"Mujhe nahi pata tha Khabar 29 wale aise reporters ko hire karte hai" says Kabir tauntingly.
Having heard enough, Ananya takes a step towards Kabir and says - "I speak perfectly fine sir. Khabar 29 wale kaise reporters recruit karte hai ye to channel ki rating se pata hi chalta after all we are no.1 channel. Aur yaha main naukri maangne nahi aayi thi mujhe bulaya gaya tha.. Agar mujhe pata hota yaha reporters ko aise treat kiya jata hai to main kabhi nahi aati".
Feeling irked with her response, Kabir replies "Is this the way to talk to the Editor of the channel? Even if you are from a different channel, you are just a Jr. Reporter".
Ananya had never thought in her wildest dreams that her first encounter with Kabir will turn ugly like this. She knew she had decided to give up her promotion to be able to work with Kabir just a few moments back but now it was a matter of her self-respect and Ananya Kashayp never compromised on that.
With this thought, Ananya replies - "First of all, I was not the one who disrespected you sir. I have great respect for you and your work. It was not my fault that we collided. It was you who had your head down and was not watching. Secondly, I am not a Jr. Reporter, I have been given the position of a Sr. Reporter and my own bulletin by Khabar 29. It is way more than what KKN can offer me. So, Khalid sir, I am declining your job offer. And last thing before I go, main raat 9 baje ki news padhungi which clashes with your bulletin. Dekhte hai kiski ratings zyada aati hai... aapki ya meri. All the best...sir". After saying this she quickly exits KKN before her bravado fades off and she realizes what she just did.
comment:
p_commentcount