Episode 2

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.

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