The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 8

Aparna woke up at 3 am in the morning trying to escape Kavin in her dreams. Her body felt unnaturally hot and she shivered the moment she got out of bed. Opening her laptop, she googled her bank’s website and transferred the money to his account.

Money was not a concern for her. The only thing that mattered to her was Prakriti. No matter what, she did not want Kavin causing any harm to her and to stop that she was willing to do anything.

Getting up from the bed, Aparna sat down near the window and looked outside. The eerie silence outside echoed the brewing storm inside her.

What guarantee did she have that Kavin will not harm Prakriti even after he received the money?

How will she save her if something happens?

Hugging herself to stop the shivering in her body, she resolved to have a word with Harish in the morning. There must be something that she can do to make Kavin stay away from Prakriti.

********************

It had been 3 days since Nishant had come to Jaipur but still the work here wasn’t finished. In the past days, his mornings were occupied with meetings and nights were spent thinking about Aparna.

Aparna!

God, that name was enough to rouse a burning heat in his body. Even though, he was sitting in a meeting right now but his attention was focused on her completely.

Why hasn’t she called?

He had tried calling her so many times but she hadn’t answered any of them. She hadn’t even replied to any of his messages.

He felt bad not because she wasn’t talking to him but because she was avoiding him. But, why? He knew it in his heart that she was hiding something. He had seen it in her eyes. Even though, they were the most beautiful ones but still they had a lot of sadness and pain in them. Their discomforting silence sometimes reverberated to him whenever she became distracted.

Nishant wanted to see how her eyes would look when she smiled, which unfortunately she rarely did. And, when she did smile, it never reached her eyes.  He found her smiles and controlled exterior to be fake. She always had this mask on that made everyone believe that she had everything in control. While Nishant felt that the woman inside Aparna was straining to break free but she had chained it for some reason.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, he tried concentrating at the meeting. He has the whole night to think about her.

******************

3 days later Aparna was sitting in her office when she was informed that Nishant was looking for her. She had been avoiding him since he had come back from Jaipur yesterday but now it seemed that seeing him was inevitable. Sighing, Aparna picked up her laptop and strode towards the lift.

As she entered his office, she saw Vikrant, Dhruv from legal, Naresh Naik and Aman Gupta, head of PR engrossed in a heated discussion.

“Ah! Here comes the lady. Now she should be able to clear all the confusion,” Dhruv said winking at her.

Smiling at him, Aparna felt a little awkward. What was she supposed to clear? She glanced at Nishant who was looking straight in her eyes. For a moment his arresting gaze stopped her in her tracks but then she gathered her senses and put down her laptop on the table.

“We hear that you have told Nishant not to sign the contract for Khurana Maur City,” Vikrant said in an irritated tone.

Once again, Aparna flicked her gaze at Nishant and found him looking at her the same way.

Annoyed, Aparna looked at everyone one by one and tried her best to form a reply.

“Well, I never told him not to sign. I only pointed out the difficulties in the project.”

Naresh Naik stood up and came in front of her. Looking up and down as if sizing her, he said angrily, “You do realise that this is a prestigious project and rejecting it will only jeopardise our reputation in the market.”

“The market has already started to talk about this. Rumours are floating around that we have rejected the project and Khuranas might go to Rajput Constructions,” Aman Gupta said, before Aparna could say anything.

“Nishant, there is no need to listen to somebody new in this organisation. You just sign the contract,” Naresh Naik said looking at her with a scathing look.

Aparna looked at Nishant who just glanced at his father and shook his head. Then, he stood up and walked towards her. Taking the laptop from the table, he connected it to the projector.

“Open your report and explain,” he commanded.

Sitting behind his desk, Nishant saw Aparna made clear each and every detail of why the project should not be taken by them. Every argument of hers made sense, whether it concerned the disturbance to the ecological balance of the area or the government permission for number of floors to be constructed. He looked at everyone nodding their understanding as she progressed with the report. He smiled when his father shook her hand congratulating her for her excellent work.

Aparna closed her laptop and was about to leave Nishant’s office along with everyone else when she heard him call her name. She gritted her teeth as she realised that escaping the lion’s den is not going to be easy for her.

Once everyone was out, Nishant closed the door and turned around.

Aparna saw him coming close to her and instinctively backed away towards the wall, clutching the laptop to her bosom.

Nishant stopped in front of her and looked at her bowed head. Dipping his head towards her ear, he said throatily, “I envy your laptop.”

For a second, Aparna clearly did not understand what he meant, but when she did, a bolt of electric heat coiled inside her. She looked at him and felt her resolve and defenses slowly slipping away as Nishant’s lips neared her neck inch by inch.

Suddenly, she was again on that street with Kavin. A black shadow of fear and pain crossed Aparna’s mind and her body became paralysed with its force.

Nishant felt her tremble as he took the laptop away from her. Placing his hands on the sides, he lowered his head towards her neck. He was about to remove the cloth encircling it when suddenly Aparna slid sideways.

Something in her mind had triggered her body to move and she grabbed that opportunity to escape. Picking up her laptop, she ran towards the door. As she twisted the door knob, she heard Nishant ask,

“Why are you avoiding me?”

Copyright © Paromita Majumder. All Rights Reserved.