Novel Chapter 1

                Chapter 1

‘You’re such a fool! You know that’, she as she sat at the edge of the bed. ‘I know’, he said with not much enthusiasm while his eyes were fixed on her. ‘I just don’t want to talk to you, you always do this to me’, her face flushed with some mixed expression which she couldn’t say whether it was anger or something else. As she was saying this he had come closer to her from behind and was gently stroking her hair. And as she moved to say something further, he silenced her with his lips and her words just drifted away from her mind. The soft sensations that he was doing to her with his fingers were more than enough to melt herself in his arms. And as he was gently moving his hand over her back, kissing every nerve of her spine, she could do nothing but limp with need in response. She slowly turned her neck so that she could face him and kissed him at his collarbone, even biting it with fierce response because somewhere at the back of her mind she was angry with him but couldn’t remember why. She put her fingers in his dark curly hair and looked into those fierce green eyes and the moment her eyes fixed on them, she screamed at the top of her voice but somehow the sound just died away in her throat leaving behind just a groan.

                Sara woke up with a start, her body was trembling all over with tiny droplets of perspiration on her forehead. Her mind and heart suddenly felt numb. After a few minutes, when her body started responding normally, she thought, ’Oh my god, what the hell have I been dreaming!’. She was trying hard to recollect the dream but could not get a clear picture, just those massive piercing green eyes made her tremble again.

                This was the third time since the last few weeks that she had such weird dreams. She couldn’t understand what it was all about. Her head was damp with sweat but beside her at the adjoining bed, her friend Kamya was sleeping peacefully curled up in her blanket. Sara felt a little envious towards her because she was unable to get such a good night’s sleep like Kamya but then she got irritated with herself to have such a stupid thought about her own best friend. Sara could no longer get back to sleep so she got up and splashed cold water on her face and kept a cup of coffee for boiling. She felt a little better now, she glanced at the watch, it was  4’oclock in the morning, a few hours left for sunrise, so she decided to read something. She switched on the lamp near her bed, grabbed a novel and started reading. But she could not concentrate more than a minute, her thoughts started disturbing her. She started asking questions to herself, why only I get such stupid dreams, which have no connection with my real life? Who is that person with those piercing green eyes? She couldn’t remember a thing, just a blur picture and those eyes! Its been so long that she had any peaceful sleep. She had been working hard entire day but her body was unable to rest peacefully at night. The day before yesterday, she had taken a sleeping pill which had only helped her for one night. What about the other sleepless nights? Besides she had a fear of getting addicted to sleeping pills.

                Just then, Kamya got up and yelled, ‘What have you kept on gas, the room is smelling all over, hey, are you listening dumbo?’. Sara was startled for a while but in few seconds she reacted and went running into the kitchen to turn of the gas. The coffee was totally burned and the vessel had turned black, so she just kept it in the sink for washing. ‘What is wrong with you? Is this the time to make coffee? You spoiled my sleep!’, Kamya came in the kitchen and yelled again. But one look at Sara’s face, cooled her down, she reached her and then noticed that something was wrong. ‘Again that stupid dream?’, Kamya asked, Sara nodded and stared crying. Kamya hugged and patted her, she said, ‘It’s ok dear. There is nothing to worry, it’s just a dream. You are sick of working hard the entire day. What you need is a break! I am sure, you will be alright, if you just rest and relax,ok?’. Sara just needed this comfort, she felt better. ‘Thanks dear’ Sara said.

                ‘Listen gal, I have a plan. Tomorrow is friday and saturday is some bank holiday then its sunday. We have three whole days. You take a leave for tomorrow and I will do the same. Tell your boss, you need a leave because your not feeling well, you need rest. We will go for an outing somewhere away from this routine and boring city.’ When Kamya talks she is so enthusiastic that no one can interrupt her. She was going on and on, ‘We will enjoy, have a great time, just you and me. You will get rid of everything, your work, your boss, your stupid dreams. You got that? We will have lots of gtalks, eat different foods and just go crazy! What do you say?’ And this was when Sara actually got a chance to say something. She was lucky to have it. She said,’ Dear, I don’t think this will work, you know my boss, he is a jackass, he won’t give me a leave, it is month’s end and you know he will have all sorts of excuses of not allowing me a leave.’ But Kamya was stubborn, she said,’ Oh please, don’t start your sulking again. I give a damn to your boss, go kick his ass! If you want I will call him and tell him that your not feeling well tomorrow. If he doesn’t listen, fuck him, just chuck it, we are going any which ways. We can deal with it when we are back. Later, not now. We are going and thats final’. The tone of Kamya’s voice was ringing with authority and Sara could not ignore it, so she relented by just a nod because deep within her she also wanted to go out and chill. Kamya said, ‘ Ok. Now we will sit together and plan everything. It’s just 5 o’clock, we still have one hour to discuss and then we can get back to our daily routine. First do one thing, write a letter to your boss asking for tomorrow’s leave and today at work behave as if your actually unwell. Just do as I say, ok?’. Again Sara just nodded, she didn’t have the guts to lower her spirits now when its all fixed. So for the next one hour they were busy planning about where they will go, which place to stay, how much money they require and so on.

                Finally when everything was decide, Kamya got curled up on her bed. She was too happy to notice that Sara was a little worried. Even if she did realise, she didn’t care knowing the usual sulking of Sara , she knew that Sara will be back to her normal self once they are out for their trip. Then they got up and started getting ready for their respective work. Kamya was busy choosing which dress to wear thinking that she is going to pretend being sick at office, so she is supposed to wear something dull and sober, so she selected a white shirt and grey formal skirt to go with it. Then she went to select a dress for Sara too. Sara was just staring at her friend’s enthusiasm and thinking that why she cannot be as carefree as her friend. But that question remained unanswered as Kamya selected a light blue dress for her.

                Sara reached office early today since she had woken up early. But she was feeling very low due to her lack of sleep and the dream kept nudging her thoughts. She dropped her purse on her desk and sat on the chair without noticing anyone around. Someone gently tapped her from behind and Sara came back to reality. It was Ria, her colleague, she asked , ‘Hey whats up? Not looking well? Anything wrong?’ Sara replied, ‘Oh nothing, just feeling a little low.’ Then she remembered according to their plan she had to fake illness in order get leave. So she added, ‘Actually I have a mild headache’. Ria sounded worried,’Oh! If your not feeling well then go the boss ask for half day or leave for tomorrow’. ‘Ya, your right. I think I will do that, but is the boss in yet?’ Sara asked. ‘I guess, yes. I saw his car entering the building just when I came. May be he is in, go and check out. Ok, now I should be back to my work, see you later at break, take care, bye’,Ria replied and turned away without waiting for an answer.

Sara sat there inking whether she should go and ask or not but then Kamya’s words were ringing in her head that she should go. As it is she is feeling low, even Ria thought so looking at her that she was unwell, that means may be boss can be convinced too. As she was thinking all this, the buzzer at her desk started ringing which indicated that she is called in her boss’s cabin immediately. So she grabbed her writing pad and pen and dashed towards his cabin. She almost bumped at his door but she caught hold of her posture and asked curtly, ‘May I come in?’ Her boss slightly lifted her head from a file and nodded her to enter without even holding a glance at her. Swiftly she carried herself upto the desk and stood mutely. Her boss had a very distinct personality. He was around 30+ but looked below 28 with his handsome features, freshly shaven face, dark bushy eyebrows and slightly curly but neatly combed hair, tightly pursed broad lips, gentle brown eyes, tall, broadchested wearing a black formal tuxedo made him look a hugely professional individual. His name was also quite suitable for his image, Mr. Adityaraj Rathod. Sara was his personal secretary since last five months but she was not able to know much about him on his background. None of the people at the office too knew anything. Their relationship was strictly professional and not a word of courtesy or any friendly gesture. At first Sara used to feel odd about his behaviour but now she was quite used to it. All these months even she had maintained a very professional and formal attitude towards him. Other people at the office used to ask her about anything she knew related to her boss and she always used to reply with a big ‘no’ because frankly she didn’t have anything to gossip about so the staff always remained disappointed. Personally she didn’t feel anything towards her boss, neither hatred nor affection. She felt weird for him living a life which is so monotonous filled with office work, computers and files. Whatever invitations her boss used to get for different parties or occasions, he used to tell her to refuse them on his part. That means he doesn’t socialize too. ‘What a boring boss Sara was having!’, Kamya had commented once . On a deeper note, Sara thought, God did not gave him heart at all!

                As she was standing near his desk he suddenly looked up giving her a momentarily confused expression but said curlty, ‘Sit down,please’. Sara obeyed instantly. He continued,’ I want to give you a notation to be forwarded to Walter & Co., write it down’. Sara was writing in shorthand as he was dictating to her concentrating somewhere at the ceiling. After completing his dictation, he said,’ Now you may leave and continue with those files I gave you yesterday, I want them today itself. Forward this letter to that company at early notice. I will give you a buzz if I need you.’ And again he got engrossed in his file which indicated that Sara was dismissed for the time being. Sara stood up and was about to leave when she remembered that she had to ask for a leave as per Kamya’s plan. Is this the right time? ,she thought. No time to think, just act. She again turned on impulse to face her boss. Clearing her throat, she said, ‘Sir, I wanted to ask your permission for......’ ‘Yes continue’ , he said without looking up from his file. Sara started again, ‘Sir, I wanted a leave for tomorrow to go for a routine checkup since I am not getting proper sleep for past few weeks. I have an appointment for tomorrow. I think it will take a whole day at the hospital.’

                ‘How can you fix an appointment without even asking me and now after deciding you have the audacity to ask for leave just as a formality. Why did you even bother to ask, you could have just gone on a leave directly. You very well know that it is month end, there is so much work load. I cannot afford to manage my work without you  tomorrow. So you can cancel your appointment and fix it some other day only after my consent. You may leave now’, her boss said with such rapidity that it took sometime for Sara to grasp. She had never come across such a coldhearted person before! ‘I am sorry sir, this would never happen again’, she said that much and left the cabin as soon as possible. Her eyes were suddenly moist. No one had spoken to her like this before. Now she hated him from the bottom of her heart. Fighting back her tears she started typing the letter that he had just dictated.

                After some ten minutes, she knocked his cabin. He asked her to come in. She was totally embarrassed to face him again but she had to because the letter she had typed required his signature. She placed the letter on his desk such that he can read it and sign without uttering a word. He glanced at her, for a moment noticed her moist eyes but ignored it and started checking the letter then after few moments he signed it. As she was leaving for the door, he stopped her and said, ‘Since you have worked very sincerely till now, I am allowing you to go for a leave tomorrow but this is the last time I am relenting. I apologize for what I said earlier. It was a bit too much for you. You may leave now.’ Sara was shocked and pleasantly surprised to hear those words. She took a moment to understand the effect of his monotonous voice. ‘Thank you very much sir’, she replied and left the cabin quickly as she didn’t want him to know how much happy she was to get the leave. After coming out of the cabin, Sara couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Why did her boss change his mind suddenly? And why did he have to apologize to her? After all she was just a mere secretary, knowing his behaviour she thought. She quickly thanked god for changing his mind. She was so excited and wanted to tell someone and so she dialled Kamya’s number. Even she got super excited to hear the news. But she warned Sara from not showing her joy in the office. She should continue to pretend that she is sick otherwise her boss might change his mind again.

                Kamya was right after all this should pretend fatigue but Sara found it very difficult to carry a sullen face. She was not so good at acting like Kamya who can start her drama anytime, anywhere. Kamya was very comfortable showing her acting prowess but Sara always used to tremble and get nervous. Sara managed to pretend till the office hours got over, she quickly got into the bus and reached home. Both friends had rented that flat on partnership. Since last few months Sara and Kamya lived more like a family rather than friends or roommates. Both hailed from small towns in search of employment to Mumbai and as soon as they got jobs, they decided to settle here until something more challenging comes their way.

                When Sara reached home, Kamya had already settled in and started with her packing. That was one thing Kamya enjoyed the most, trying to mess up all stuff in her closet and then as usual Sara had to manage it all over again. As Sara was entering, Kamya pounced on her like a dog, started hugging her so tightly that she couldn’t breathe. ‘Oh my god, we have done it! Sara, finally we are going out of this boring life. Now let the world piss off! We will enjoy this weekend to the fullest, damn with your boss...I am so excited.’ Kamya was almost screaming in her ears. Finally the long hug was released and Sara felt better. Even Sara started laughing at her friend’s impulsiveness. Both girls started dancing without any music. After few minutes , laughing and exhausted they crashed on the couch. Then Kamya took out a notebook in which she had scribbled her ‘to do’ list. She started reading it out to Sara. They were going to Palm Court Beach Resort located on the outskirts of the city. Kamya’s friend has arranged everything from travelling to accommodation. They were supposed to leave home early morning at 5.

                It was difficult to sleep that night for both of them. Kamya was continuously chatting in an excited voice and giving a list of instructions in Sara’s ears and as usual Sara was just pretending to listen. Her thoughts were filled with ambivalence, she didn’t even have proper dinner that night. Next morning, Kamya got up first with her spirits high and got ready. She was wearing a bubbly tank top and shorts which suited her personality. Sara slumbered through her night but she was glad that she didn’t get that disturbing dream again. May be she was too excited to go in deep sleep or may be Kamya was right, she got those dreams because of too much stress. So now she was truly looking forward to this trip. She selected a bottle green top with her favourite denims to wear. Kamya had once told her that she looked too sexy in that outfit. She had called it a deadly combination.

                Obviously both girls were out for the kill. Kamya had got her friend’s car for the trip so that roam all around. Sara was happy about it, sometimes she had to give credit to Kamya’s good friends and contacts who could lend her a car! Sara was driving the car as Kamya doesn’t trust her driving skills plus she was too much excited to drive. All along the journey, Kamya kept on talking animatedly about what they are going to do once they reached. Sara was concentrating to keep her eyes on the road as well as listening to her friend. She was not that good at multi-tasking. They reached their resort in three hours time which was a bit early. They checked in their hotel room and decided to rest for a while after a long drive. Sara walked across the room and opened the window. It was having a beautiful view of the poolside and lots of greenery which Sara liked the most.

                After an hour or so, Sara woke up from her short nap because Kamya was dancing all around the room calling her name. Kamya had ordered breakfast which was laid on the table. One look at it made Sara realise that she was ravenously hungry. She climbed out of the bed and went to sit beside her friend who had already started eating. While munching the meal Kamya said,’After we finish this food, we are going to the poolside for swimming’. Sara looked at her quizzically and said, ‘But I have not got my swimming suit so I cannot swim’ . Kamya replied,’ I knew you would say that bimbo, so I got your swim suit along. Its in my bag, go and grab it fast, we are leaving soon.’ After reaching the pool, Kamya opened her bathrobe to show off her bikini which called a swim suit! But the amount of skin it exposed, Sara was sure anyone would know its a bikini. As soon as Kamya showed it off, atleast twenty pair of eyes automatically drifted towards her and stuck to her like a magnet. But Kamya was so used to create that effect on people around her that she mind the attention but on the contrary she enjoyed it. Sara was now publicly conscious about removing her robe. She knew that she was beautiful but she didn’t like public attention. When Kamya called her name from the water, she gathered herself and quickly removed the robe and jumped in the pool. Sara heaved a sigh of relief once she got under the water. The water was cold and both girls enjoyed swimming under the shade as well as sunlight coming through it. After half an hour, Sara felt thirsty so she got out and wore her robe to get herself a drink. Enjoying the drink Sara relaxed on the reclining chair near the poolside, from where she had the view of most of the dining area of the hotel beyond the transparent glass. Just as she was checking out the dining area, her eyes drifted towards a familiar pair of brown eyes and at the sametime those eyes were staring back at her. It was then she realised that she was directly staring at her boss’s face and he had also recognised her. She was so shocked to look away, her heartbeat accelerated, but she pulled herself out of the shock and yelled at Kamya, ‘Come out, quick!’. It took sometime for Kamya to gather that something was seriously wrong. She came out and wore her robe and was about to ask Sara, before that Sara got hold of her hand and dragged her out of there, directly ran to her room and closed it quickly behind her.

                Before Kamya could ask , Sara said, ‘My boss is here, he saw me and I am screwed!’ The only word Kamya managed to utter was, ‘Fuck!’ Both girls began racking their brain, thinking some way out of this situation. After few moments Kamya said,’ Let us just pack up all things and go back and pretend that we were not here at all. You go to your office and appear sick and if your boss asks, tell him that he must be mistaken’. Sara said, ‘ Idiot this can’t be done because my boss clearly knows that its me and remember we ran from the poolside liked scared chickens while he was still watching. What do you think, he is so dumb?’ Kamya nodded with disappointment. Just then they heard a short knock on the door, both of them became suddenly alert and looked at each other. After the second knock, Kamya gathered her courage and opened the door and to her utter disdain, it was Sara’s boss standing at the threshold. Even Sara noticed him from behind her friend. Both of them looked at him in bewilderment. Sara started to say something ,’I am..... But he silenced her with a wave of his hand, he turned to Kamya and said, ‘I want to have a private word with my secretary so could you please leave us alone for sometime’. His tone was more than polite, not trace of anger in his voice which surprised both the girls. Kamya quickly mumbled, ‘Yeah sure’ and left the room. Now Sara felt his eyes on her and nervousness gripped her. He walked across the room closing the door behind him. His manner was swift and he focused his eyes on her and said, ‘I would like to talk to you about this. As you have realised that you have been caught lying to your boss. Do you have any idea how serious this is?’ She started to say something but he silenced her again. He said,’I am not finished with you yet. How dare you lie to me? I had thought that your are a very trustworthy employee but now you betrayed me and I am going to punish you for this. Now you must be thinking how do I happen to be here? By coincidence or to your utter bad luck, my clients decided to have a meeting over here. But only one of them showed up so I have to wait here till tomorrow which is worse for you because your going to be with me all the time from now on whether you like it or not. Since your my secretary its your duty to serve me and look after me. If I find you worth it till that time,I will think of forgiving you or else you would be fired. And i will see to it that you don’t get any other job. You get it? And I am giving you ten minutes to get out of these clothes and wear something decent and meet me down in the lobby. See to it that you won’t be taking too much of time’. Sara was so shocked to hear his cool stern voice that she felt numb and before she could react he was on his way out of the room.

                After the door banged on her face her mind started racing, she thought, ‘Such dominance! He didn’t even let me explain. I am completely fucked up! I have no option other than obeying to that moron. I can’t afford to lose my job right now’. She quickly got undressed and selected a bright casuals since she didn’t carry her formals here. How the hell she was supposed to know things would mess up like this? Just then Kamya entered giving her a questioning look. While getting ready Sara quickly explained her what happened and she had to go now. Kamya put her face down and said,’Its all because of me that ypu have to suffer. I am so sorry about everything really.’ Sara replied, ‘Its not your fault dear, I am only responsible for all this. It is just my bad luck that I am caught. May be because I don’t deserve this happiness thats why god punished me’. Kamya comforted her, ‘ Its alright. Just have faith. Now you better hurry or else he will get a reason to scold you.’ Sara checked herself and walked out of the room.    

Chapter 2

He was standing near the lobby waiting for her. Though he appeared calm, he was boiling with anger from inside. How could that little chit dare to lie to him? What made her so desperate to take such a drastic step? Since last five months she had never taken any extra leave, she had always been sincere and efficient in her work. Now what could be the reason for being so desperate to lie! When he saw her near the pool earlier he could not believe his eyes for a moment. He was shocked to see her in a completely different attire. Now that he had time to clear his mind, he cannot help but noticed her beauty. Ofcourse she was beautiful, he knew that the day she had joined his office. But now it felt different to him and he could not reason with it.

As he was thinking all this pacing the floor, he saw Sara walking towards him near the lobby. Something about her whole appearance startled him. Her gracious, yet dignified walk surprised him but pleasantly. Though her eyes were moving around him nervously, he could sense that she was scared and she should be because of what she had done, he thought. She was wearing a bright yellow dress knee length and a elegant pair of sandals with a yellow bow on it. Alongwith her she was carrying......