4

The next day in office, Raghav knew what misery was.

Kiran had greeted him with 'Good Morning, Sir', with extra stress on 'Sir'. She had never referred to him so. It always had been 'Big B'. It didn't help that ever since he realised he had fallen for her, he was falling even more! How was that possible?! 

Raghav sat in his cabin, trying to concentrate on the screen unsuccessfully. His attention kept drifting towards Kiran, and he kept thinking about ways to mend things between them. He didn't like this sudden wall that seemed to have erupted between them. 

"Sir, a minute please?" He cringed as he heard Kiran ask him from the door of his cabin.

"Please come in, Kiran. I request you." Raghav pleaded. Dammit, I am the boss, female!! She let out a sigh, as if she were bracing herself for some kind of punishment, and came inside.

"Sir, there is a group waiting there. The guys are going to Dubai and need air tickets and currency. I am sending them to you, so that you can get your required profit margin." She said icily.

Raghav wanted to say many things, but he couldn't make the customers wait. 

"All right, please send them inside. But we need to talk after this deal." He said to her in a no-nonsense tone (a first for him, and this time it came naturally, for he was desperate to resolve things between him and Kiran). She raised an eyebrow at him, then just nodded her head and left his cabin.

The group, consisting of four senior guys came inside. 

"We are childhood friends, can you believe? At seventy years of age, we already have six decades of friendship with us!! There are eight of us totally. We need air-tickets, and currency too. Gonna have the time of our lives, what say guys?" One of the seniors said happily, turning to the others who laughed.

Raghav smiled at them. They seemed to be a lively bunch. He wished he had friends like these.

But, friendship aside. He needed to deal with this professionally. He checked the air-fare and after keeping a significant margin for his company, he quoted the rates.

The seniors shifted uncertainly in their seat. 

"This is slightly more than we had estimated." One of them said uncomfortably. For few seconds, everyone fell quiet. 

And Raghav instantly felt horrible. There was a feeling of a balloon being deflated. The smiles on the seniors' faces were replaced by hesitation. He hated having being the one to drown out their enthusiasm. On a whim, he turned around to look outside his cabin and saw Kiran staring out of his office through the one-way vision frame of the door, lost in her own thoughts. 

"Ummm.. wait. let me see whether we can arrange for some discounts on this." Raghav said cheerfully and reduced his own margin. The difference in the overall airfare was significantly notable. This should do it.. hope they agree with this.

Raghav quoted the final rate. He couldn't describe the feeling of happiness that came over him when he saw the relieved smiles of the seniors. They seemed to have got their zest back.

"Now this is something! Go ahead with this booking."One of them said happily and Raghav booked the tickets with a smile on his face. He would ensure that the travellers got the currency at a reasonable rate.

After all, someone who was slowly growing dearer and dearer to him had remarked that all was not about profit. 

Half-n-hour later, Kiran was standing at the door of his cabin, holding two cups of coffee. Raghav got up from his seat and opened the door for her. "Thanks." She said frostily and he smiled. Gosh, this female drives me crazy and how!

"I saw the rates you charged for the airfare and the currency." She said as she laid the cups on the table and sat on the chair. Today she was wearing a purple dress. Somehow, her spiked hair, tattoes and pierced ears made her look more feminine than the dress. She was a walking contradiction, a melange of traits and personalities. 

"I had kept a high margin for us. But then the seniors hesitated on hearing our rates. I didn't want to upset their plans, so I reduced our margin and gave a good rate to them. After all, not everything is about profit, is it?" He asked cheekily and saw her smile. His spirits lifted instantly.

"You are cool, Big B." She said and Raghav could have shut his eyes in relief, at hearing Kiran refer to him by her usual nick-name. He had longed for this. Badly.

They sipped their coffee in silence.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Raghav asked, leaning back in his chair and surprising himself by daring to ask such a personal question.

Kiran raised an eyebrow and asked slyly - "Why Big B... are you trying to apply for the position?"

"No! Nothing like that! I just... I was wondering.. I simply wanted... You know what, this was too personal a question to ask. I am sorry, Kiran! You don't have to reply okay. Forget about this please." A very flustered Raghav fumbled and that made Kiran laugh out loud.

"Relax, Big B! I was just joking! Nope, I do not have a boyfriend. Thank God!"

"Okay." Raghav hid his relief. "But why 'Thank God'?"

"Boyfriends are trouble. I like my life the way it is now. Free and uncomplicated." She said.

"Why are you still single, Big B?" Kiran dropped the question out of the blue and Raghav smiled at her honesty and daring.

"I don't know. I guess I didn't find the one whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." Until now.

"Okay." She left it at that and looked at her watch.

"Right Big B.. I will go back to my seat." As she got up from her seat, Raghav asked her uncertainly. "So Kiran, we are cool, right? All's well between us?" He wanted one final confirmation that things had resolved between them.

Kiran looked at him and probably saw the hesitation and doubt in his face, for he saw her eyes soften. She smiled, one of those rare, full smiles that had started creating havoc in his heart of late. "Of course, Big B. All is fine."

Raghav smiled back at her. All was well in life now.

(To Be Continued)