Feelings

7

Neha; your going to be late!” Neha’s father was as worried if not more so than Neha was about this meeting. “Yes pappa, I am on the way…” She wasn’t really late, in fact she still had an hour before the meeting, but she understood her father’s concern. She finished getting dressed and made her way downstairs, her lunch was packed and the whole family stood looking at her… they all had this smile on their faces, it was reassuring to Neha; she knew her whole family was behind her. 

She got on the scooter that her uncle was gracious enough to lend to her and drove to the meeting place. This meeting was to be held at Arpa Tech. she was so busy thinking about the meeting that she almost went on auto pilot while driving, so much so that she didn’t even see the car with it’s turn signal on. She drove over and as the car turned in front of her she got a massive awakening. The car slammed on the brakes and she kicked the door together with some choice words. Who was in the car you ask… none other that Hercules Knight himself. Luckily, he had been up the whole night and never even realised what had happened because he was sleeping so soundly. Neha made it to Arpa Tech and there she received yet another surprise.

As she arrived Vineet was about to enter the building, Neha looked at him and she almost had to take a second look. “Vineet? What on earth are you doing here of all places?” She asks with a pensive look on the face. “Neha! I am here to meet with the donor, you know the one who is paying all our tuition fees… how did he contact you?” Vineet could feel all of the colour drain from his face and every single love song that he had ever heard come to the front of his thoughts… looking at her was like looking at a sapphire that had been perfectly cut. “No…” she said ripping him back to his reality “I am here to meet with Lakshmikant Mohan, the CEO of Arpa tech. he isn’t the one who paid is he?” She asked with a lump in her throat. “No this was apparently someone from Zurich but Rihan and Shivam will be here shortly then we will find out who is who.” Vineet could not help his mouth running dry at the thought of this amazing woman in front of him. 

They went in and split up… Neha went to the boardroom where her meeting was to take place and Vineet waited in the lobby for Shivam and Rihan, who arrived shortly after Vineet sat down. “Vineet, why are you always so early? You are waiting your life away you know.” Shivam was a whirlwind… he would always wait until the last minute to pitch up yet things always worked out in his favour. “Luckily, I was early, you won’t believe who was here!” Vineet left the question open to them but neither Shivam nor Rihan were in the mood for answers. “Neha! She is meeting a CEO for some reason.” Vineet sounded stressed about her meeting. “Well that is good for her but we have our own meeting to deal with.” Rihan was cool and calm the man was on a mission, they went to the front desk and explained to the lady why they were there; she directed them to the elevator and gave them the floor number. 

They arrived on the floor… it was like stepping into another world. There were tables that looked better than most restaurant tables they have seen. The boardrooms looked like they had no end and all of them were filled with people in suits… these people had work clothes that looked better than most of the nicer store-bought clothes they had seen. While admiring all this they eventually got to their board room number; where they were to wait for Mr. Hercules Knight. While seared Rihan started reading the different signs and symbols of the place… “Arpa Tech. that sounds like a big company. One day we might also become this large one day.” Rihan was a man who had vision he was never afraid to dream about what could be. 

With Neha…

“Good day sir, sorry I am this early I was a bit worried.” Neha still can’t shake the feeling of being utterly nervous each time she sees the CEO. “No need to apologize dear… I do however have a meeting scheduled right after ours so I will be direct and to the point. We want to buy your whole system… and as soon as your semester at college is over, I want to offer you a deal to come work for my company.”. Somehow Neha expected this but hearing the words come from his mouth instantly made her feel light headed… here it was in front of her the opportunity to finish of with poverty and actually start living like ‘the other half’ “Thank you so much sir, I will read the contract and then sign it.” Neha wasn’t really sure what she would be reading but it was a way for her to gather her thoughts and regain her poise. “Would you mind if I left the room, I am terribly sorry but my other meeting is waiting for me.” Mr. Mohan looked even more stressed than Neha, as he asked his question. Neha nodded and Mr. Mohan left the room. 

Neha sat and pretended to read all the while just trying to stop the tears from flowing. Very few people will ever understand how much this piece of paper in front of her actually meant, this wasn’t just a job… this was the future, not just her own but also the whole family. She couldn’t go through this alone. “Neelima, will you please come to the Arpa building? I need you.” Neha wasn’t afraid or discouraged and Neelima could hear that she wanted someone from the family to share in the joy. Without any hesitation Neelima answer with a resounding “Give me five minutes and I will be there.”. 

Neha waited five minutes and went down to the lobby where she was to meet Neelima.

In the boardroom with Vineet, Rihan and Shivam.

 “Oh, Mr. Knight! How are you?” Vineet jumps up to greet. “Good day young man, I am well thanks and yourself?” Mr. Knight greets and walks to the table. “Sorry; these are my partners sir, this is Vineet and that is Shivam.” Rihan sees that the other two are rattled into next week with seeing the big authority figure walk in, so as per usual he takes charge of the situation. “Mr. Knight there is a small problem, we sort of forgot about one of our partners the day of the showcase, she handled most of the IT department.” Rihan continues, “Sir she has been a pivotal part of our team from the start.” Rihan wastes no time in getting to the point. “Well where is this fine part of your team then… I have already met all of these people.” Mr. Knight sees that Rihan has now turned on his business mode and he replies to that. “Uhm she is actually in the building busy with another meeting.” Vineet chips in from the side and comes up for Neha in her absence. “You have five minutes to get this person to me.” Mr. Knight is now in full business mode. 

Vineet runs out of the boardroom and absolutely hammers down the corridor to the elevator… as he is running Neelima approaches from the front and Vineet can’t believe his luck. “Neelima, where are you off to? Is Neha here?” He is shouting without even realising it… “Yes, dear she is come with me and I will show you.” She sees Vineet and immediately her heart sinks. You see she had met him through her sister and instantly felt very strongly about this man with his silent ways and amazing charm. They walk to the boardroom where Neha is sitting and consoling herself. “Neha, we need you now! The donor wants to see our whole team right now.” Vineet is so stressed about it all that he completely forgets to greet, to him this is his chance to become the ‘provider’ that leaves him a foot in the door for the future plans that he has. 

Neha gets up without a question and runs after Vineet to see this donor that she has to meet. They run past all these boardrooms, they run so quickly that the papers around them literally fly up into the air. The people who see them can’t believe their eyes, this professional world had never seen the whirlwind that is Neha and Vineet. Vineet runs into the boardroom to find Rihan and Shivam talking calmly to Hercules… as soon as Hercules looks up he sees… her. The sweat slightly glycinin slightly on her nose, her hair moving in the wind, her eyes and laser focus looking right through Hercules’ hard walls that he built-up over the years. He knew her from a glance, yet he felt that they had been together for many years.  He feels his mouth running dry and the colour draining from his lips… “H… Hi… I’m…. I’m Hercules” He stumbles through his greeting like a teenager meeting miss Universe for the first time. That is when it happens… their eyes lock and it is an instant connection, Neha sees this man; this incredible man who was busy admiring the work done by her friends… she has this immediate respect for him, his hair is neat and his suite is perfectly pressed. He looks like one of the store advertisements one sees in the magazines. 

“This (gasp) This is (gasp)…” Vineet tries his best but he is completely winded… “I am Neha sir, I hear you would like to see me I am part of their team… but I don’t really do much…” the ever humble Neha tries to play her role in the team down. “Oh, please!” Rihan dismisses her false claims “Without her genius we would not be here where we are now, she singlehandedly built the whole computer system for our idea.” He further builds up her role in the team. “My; my she sounds very important… is she part of the persons who I would be paying for?” Mr. Knight still trying to get his thoughts in order tries to play his emotions off but they are obvious to the man on the moon. “Sit please sit… we have a lot to discuss.” The business Hercules makes a quick appearance before his knees go all wobbly again. “Thank you, sir… let’s start.” Neha politely continues. 

Hercules starts explaining the task that he would like the team to do… as he does so Neha keeps catching herself absolutely bluntly staring at Hercules, not hearing a single word he has said… She is finding herself getting more and more attracted to the man giving the presentation, his passion, his obvious dedication, his wisdom and the way he moves and his eyes light up as soon as he speaks. She started feeling her cheeks rush with blood and her stomach almost turning upside down. She can definitely see herself spending a very long time with this man.

“…Right, Neha?” She quickly get ripped back to the present as Shivam shoots a question to her. “Uhm … ye… yes that is correct.” She answers completely unsure to what she just agreed. “So, it is settled we will then meet again with you when we are ready?” Rihan asks Mr. Hercules. “One week is all you have. I need the whole idea and presentation within one week.” Hercules is not playing around with the demands he makes. They all nod in agreement and Hercules dismisses them with a nod. 

He turns to look out the window, as Shivam turns to leave, he gets a brilliant idea. “Sir, we are going to have a small get together tonight would you like to join us?” He again says things without thinking. “Well of course, where and when?” Hercules bats all of the people in the board room and even Shivam who suggested it is left speechless, it takes Rihan a while but he then solves all of the madness. “At the café on the corner… I will send you the address and the time.”. “Thank you! I will indeed see you there.” Hercules feels he doesn’t even know this person speaking with his mouth.

All the team members leave, all except one… Neha her back coat is hanging down her shoulders, with her college t shirt barely visible to Hercules… he turns again looking out the window. “I never got the opportunity to thank you…” she says trying to get Hercules’ attention “you truly have no idea what this means to myself and my family.”. Hercules has to restrain himself from turning around and sweeping Neha into his car to take her for himself. “It is only my pleasure dear. You truly did brilliant work with your team. I am very excited to see what else you can come up with.” 

Neha feels that she must leave but she can not bring herself to take the first step… she just keeps staring at Hercules, she starts imagining them walking on a beach somewhere in the Bahamas, hand in hand and having a wonderful time while they have a picnic… she feels her stomach turn as she imagines him holding her close… their eyes meet and he moves closer to her, he takes the back of her neck and right before they kiss in her day dream, Vineet touches her arm. The poor soul had to witness all of this. He had to see the ‘love of his life’ have a yearning, rather a longing for a man she literally just met. He was broken, gut wrenched… so much so, that he couldn’t even look at Neha. He just turned and walked away… Neelima found him in the elevator and got in with him. Neha just missed the elevator as she was trying to explain herself. 

In the elevator Neelima looked at Vineet… she could see he was absolutely crushed, but where one sees a broken man, she saw her chance. “Vineet are you okay?” she asks with a soft gleaming voice. “I am fine.” He answers her bluntly without even looking at her. She feels it like a knife cutting her a thousand times, her eyes start to burn as the tears form. Vineet finally look at her and sees her emotion, “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to take it out on you. It is just hard, you know. Loving someone who doesn’t even feel it.”. “Don’t I know it…” Neelima says feeling neglected and alone. She touches Vineet’s hand and tells him “It will all be all right, don’t get to worried about the things around you or the people who hurt you. I will be there for you.” 

Vineet turns to see Neelima looking straight into his eyes, he feels his heart melt and the sadness disappear, he finally sees Neelima as a woman and no longer as a mere sister to his beloved. The elevator ding goes off and the doors open, instantaneously ruining the moment. Vineet looks out to all the people and starts walking as if nothing happened, one thing is for sure though… Things will never be the same.