Scarred Love - Chapter 10

“You have what?” Ishani asked, her ears not believing what she just heard.

“I have already said yes for the meeting,” Annie repeated in a low sheepish voice.

“Dammit! Annie. Couldn’t you have just waited?”

Annie looked at her angry face and instantly felt a burst of indignation inside. Why is she so blind?

“We are not going to meet them. Call and tell them that. I can easily buy them off,” Ishani said oblivious to her friend’s angry demeanour.

“No, we can’t, Ishani Raijdas, we can’t.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Where is the money, Ishani? Have you even got that?”

Ishani’s back straightened with anger as she stared at her friend.

“I don’t have to get the money. You know I already have it. I will pay them from Dadi’s trust.”

“And, after that what? How will this NGO run? On air?” Annie asked, trying to drive some sense into her.

She was about to retort but stopped as Annie raised her hand.

“For once please stop being stubborn and listen to me. Please?”

Ishani could deny anyone anything but not Annie. They had been through a lot of difficult times and Annie had always been a pillar of support.

Sighing, she looked at her and just nodded.

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

Next day, both she and Annie reached the SGH Towers aka their head office in Vasant Kunj by 11 am in the morning. With 30 minutes still at hand, Ishani surveyed the lobby they were asked to sit. At first, it took her some time to get adjusted to brightness in the place and when she did, her eyes widened with amazement. Circular in shape, the lobby was huge, well actually more than that; colossal would be the right word.

One part of it had been converted to a fully operational reception and the other housed the sitting areas. She sat down in one of the plush chairs and felt her bottom sink into something more than softness. Annie looked at with surprise as she also felt the same and both stifled a giggle.

Annie leant towards Ishani and whispered, “Seems nice.”

Ishani just nodded.

Annie sighed knowing her friend was jittery. The name Sangawat always did that to her. The ever-calm and chirpy Ishani would instantly morph into a scared and terrified creature with the mere mention of that name. 

“Ms Raijdas, Ms Mohan?” a voice interrupted her thoughts and both stood up.

A man clad in a blue business suit came in front and smiled at both of them.

“Good Morning, I am Mayank Goel. I believe I had a word with Ms Mohan?” he said looking at both of them questioningly.

“That would be me,” Annie replied amiably as she extended her hand to shake his.

“Please come.”

Ishani entered the elevator after Annie and Mayank and saw him press the button for the 11th floor. She glanced at her friend who was busy admiring the man beside her.

Ishani shook her head as the elevator stopped and Mayank stepped out waiting for them to exit.

The first thing that caught Ishani’s eyes was the dark décor. Everything was grey and black.

What the hell!

The dim lights in the foyer and low ceiling only made the place look more dismal. It almost felt like entering an animal’s den.

Mayank gestured them to follow him and they entered a huge conference room.

“Please have a seat. I’ll just be back.”

Ishani nodded and started to observe her surroundings. Although the lights were bright here, the room still felt gloomy because of the grey walls. Sighing, she looked away as the place made her feel claustrophobic.

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

Rudra looked into the screen and pressed the button to zoom on the face he had been waiting for. She was looking here and there in the room but suddenly looked away and then lowered her eyes.

His eyes narrowed as the camera zoomed on her face. The annoyance was evident and the way she was wringing her hands showed that she was nervous. He had been observing her since the time she had entered the building. He kept searching her face for some similarity but found none.

Suddenly she looked up and smiled at something her friend was whispering in her ears. For a second her eyes looked directly at the camera and Rudra’s whole body became rigid with an emotion more potent than anger.

She may have changed but her eyes hadn’t. They were the same; the same honey black depth, that long ago had made everything come alive.

And, the same honey black eyes that had betrayed him.

Rudra’s hands clenched into fists as he tried to control the rising animosity in his blood. But the shadows were too deep. He closed his eyes as he fought his inner demons and slammed them into silence.

“Sir?”

Mayank’s voice shook him from his stance and he opened his eyes. Without looking away from the screen, he nodded and heard the door close as Mayank left.

He pressed the button and the sound from the conference room filtered in.

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

“Mr Goel, this is out of the question,” Ishani said highly piqued.

For an hour she had been listening to their proposal, which was not only crazy but was completely unacceptable.

“Ms Raijdas, please listen…”

“No, you listen,” she said cutting him short.

“I will never let a San………that name be a part of our NGO.”

Mayank sighed and looked at Annie for support but got none.

SGH had allowed them to keep the NGO at the same location but on one condition; Children of Joy would become the part of SGH.

She knew Ishani would never agree and for her too, the proposal sounded a little overboard.

“Ms Raijdas, we have the statements for the last quarter. You are almost stretched to the limits. For months you have been trying to find funding for the NGO but none have materialised. What we are proposing will only benefit you. Your NGO has a lot of potential. It can grow to something major in the near future with the right investment. And, SGH is willing to provide that. Only its name needs to be added to it. That’s all.”

“No, that’s not all. I will not have that NAME taken with my NGO,” Ishani hissed, her eyes flaring with anger.

“Why? What’s wrong in the name?” A strong commanding voice asked from the doorway.

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