Obsessive Flames of Love

14th September

04:00 PM. Tanvi came back to her cabin and threw the file in mopey. Looked at her reflection on the glass, “huh.” She sighed in dispirit when Jitender’s words rang in her ears, “I didn’t expect this from you, Tanvi. How can you behave this careless?”

“Damn it.” She punched the hard glass and pressed her rosy lips into a thin line, and furiously folded her full sleeves near to her elbow, tucked her loose hair into a high ponytail.

“Fine.” She thought while her deep black eyes burned in fumes. Strode to her chair, removed her sneakers, and crossed her legs onto it. “I need a few more additional details to make the changes as per Mr. Chauhan’s requirement.”

Held a pen in her fingers and fiddled with it while ticking it on her head, “As per the information, Mr. Chauhan wasn’t present here.” Deep in thought, “let me try through an email?”

Biting her lips, she closed her eyes and pondered, “there’s no better idea than this with me now. It’s not like I can meet Mr. Chauhan whenever I want.” Took a deep breath, her eyes rolled off onto her watch, “I shouldn’t delay it further.”

With that, she sent an email to Mr. Chauhan, hoping it would speed up the work and will give a satisfactory result to them.

…

Inside a huge chamber, where the room was dark with only the projector brightness. Rudra sat in the presidential chair listening to the presentations intently. His obsidian amber eyes focussed on the large screen not to miss even the slightest of the detail.

Soon. “Thank you.” The last presenter of the profits meeting ended his presentation and sat down on his seat when the lights turned on.

Glanced at his watch, Rudra remained still while his hands rested on the table, but his eyes were rolling across them in a savvy look. People in the hall remained silent while anticipating him to address the conclusion of the meeting.

Staring at his stiff posture, their anxiety kept on increasing while their foreheads knitted with the elusive aura around him. A puzzled expression plastered on their faces. His icy cold gaze sent chills onto their spines while their palms began sweating, yet none of them dared to say a word.

“This is it?” Finally, Rudra spoke in a distant authoritative tone with a scowl, and they become alarmed. “We thought this is the most reliable way for us to produce the best results.” They said meekly not to offend the domineering man in front of them.

“Who is the one to decide?” His strident voice snapped them into a frightening daze. “It seems he’s unhappy with the presentation. We are doomed.” Their eyes lowered and were swallowing to hide their fear.

“What did I say, and what did you present?” The depth in his stern tone kept on increasing, and they sat like statues holding their breaths, while tightly gripping onto the handle of their chairs.

Rudra stood from the chair, undone the white suit button, and their hearts sank. The intimidating aura from him was driving them to collapse. “We’re sorry, Mr. Chauhan. Give us a little bit of time, we’ll modify it in such a way that it’ll meet your expectations.”

“I won’t give a second chance.” He tucked his hands into his trouser when a piercing glare pricked them and left while racking his hair. They heaved heavily and rooted there, not knowing how to proceed, and glanced at each other with dumb expressions in shock.

…

Rudra strode out of the office while his phone beeped. “Your flight to the UK is in two hours, Boss.” Maahir sent a text message with the ticket details.

Hopped into his black Rolls Royce, he began checking his emails related to the upcoming meetings. Scrolling down, an email caught his attention. Curiosity kicked in when his lips twitched upwards on seeing the picture of Tanvi.

“Wait. How did she get my private email?” Realization struck him, and he dialed Maahir.

“Boss.” Maahir lifted instantly with a frown.

“How did Tanvi got my email?”

“Um… I gave it.”

His eyes turned a few shades lighter when a soft glow settled in them, “What? When?” Rudra asked in a flat tone.

“Er… Today morning.”

“What’s the purpose?”

“Ms. Tanvi sent an email related to the project to president’s email.”

“So?”

“I know you won’t be having enough time to check on that email. So, just to make it quicker, I informed Ms. Tanvi to communicate through your email.”

“Hmm…”

“Since you already wanted to interact with her, I thought it would be a good way…”

“Huh?” Raised his brows while racking his silky hair.

“Don’t get offended, Boss. I only wanted to help you.” Maahir hurried to explain not to experience his wrath.

“Mm-hmm.”

Opened the email and conversed with her. An instant reply from her produced a wave of joyous feeling inside of him while his amber eyes lit up.

Looking at her snap, brushed his fingers on her delicate features, “Wait for a little, Tanvi. We’re going to meet unofficially soon.” He mumbled when a dainty smile lingered across his lips while staring at her snap.

…

25th September

05:00 PM. Grabbed his mobile while coming out of the airport in Australia, Rudra switched it on. A series of beeps clicked, which annoyed him, and reached the hotel for the next meeting.

02:00 AM. Rudra came to his room and sighed by checking himself in the mirror. “I need to focus on myself too.” Touched the bags below his eyes and fell on the bed to reduce the tiredness after a hectic day.

…Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

01:00 PM, 28th September

Her entire team gathered in the brick red colored conference hall, seated on the chairs across the glossy round table with perfect air conditioning, and well organized files, “when will Mr. Chauhan is going to connect?” They questioned Tanvi while fiddling with their fingers.

“Let’s wait for another few minutes.”

“I don’t want any snag in the discussion. Make sure everything is perfect.” Tanvi said and occupied the main chair.

“Okay, Tanvi.” She nodded while her eyes rolled onto her watch. “Why he’s taking this much of time?” Her thoughts drifted when she met Rudra.

“He might be busy since he’s dealing with a lot of things.” The brim of her lips gave an alluring smile remembering him and focused on the screen.

“Guys, he’s joining. Be alert!” Tanvi said and adjusted herself to be in her best demeanor.

His eyes met hers and sparkled a little, which she noticed, and her cheeks turned crimson red. Bit her lips to suppress her excitement, she began the conference.

Sat on the black chair, leaned himself back onto it, his gaze fixated on her. He’s grasping her every movement while listening to the details.

“Uh. His presence was diverting me!” Tanvi set her hair while trying to push herself to keep her emotions in check.

“He’s damn hot in that blue suit,” her heart began playing tricks on her while her mind freaked out, “shut the fuck up and focus, Tanvi.” She cursed herself, “I shouldn’t make a fool out of myself.”

“His unwavering gaze on me is making me nervous. My body is heating up, damn it.” Tanvi rubbed her palms while concentrating on the screen with a squint, but her gaze settled on the dazzling man.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do if this staring competition between us continued.”

“Huh! Am I delusional? Why will he stare at me? My stupid heart is deceiving me.” She consoled her pounding heart to relieve the heavy tension building up between Rudra and herself.

“For god sake, Tanvi, he’s looking at the screen, not at yourself.” She heaved while reassuring herself.

Rudra felt amused by seeing her struggle, “trying hard not to be in the anomaly. Good, good.” A sarcastic smirk laid on his lips while his eyes were boring through her.

With each passing second, his heartbeat was increasing to the point that there’s no need to place a hand on it to hear the crazy racing of his heart.

“My heart is doing somersaults in your presence, Tanvi. What the hell are you doing to me?” He’s repressing his urge to speak to her at that very moment.

“Ah! You’re too good in that black blazer.” Rudra crossed his legs and rested his hands on his lap to calm down a little, but all his efforts were in vain. “In all these years, only you made my heart race, darling.” He admitted to himself.

“I’m getting addicted to you. Your very presence was deluding me. What am I going to do with you?” He sighed with tenderness while gazing at her, and the meeting ended.

“Thank god, it ended. Or else, I don’t know how to control myself.” He mused and chuckled wholeheartedly.

“I’m sure you noticed me, Tanvi. I saw the blush in you.” His eyes gleamed with her thoughts and left for other meetings.

…