Chapter 1

YASHNA'S POV :

It was currently 9:50 am, I just completed having my breakfast at my desk while going through the key points that I am supposed to address in today's meeting. I need to make this work. This deal has to be closed by our company.

And for the information, the company which I am working for and HIS company have always been in neck and tie situation, but it was always his company which stays in the top. ALWAYS.

He has always been obsessed getting the top of everything since our school days .

Yes people, we unfortunately studied together during our school days. From primary school to highschool, for freaking 12 years I had to cope up with his cocky attitude. And to be very honest, it was hell.

I have no idea with what sort of weird blessing I got when i was born but i also had to deal with constant comparisons between me and him on top of everything too, and as someone who HATES being compared, it was not easy at all for me.

And the worst thing on top of everything, our families were friends. my dad, Jayaprakash and his dad, Mahadev were inseparable since their childhood and eventually both our families were friends. Though i was a year younger than him, I was made to start my schooling early because our family used their so called "logical reasoning" that it might be better and useful for both of us if we were in school at the same time so that we could help one another. But the reality was that we were literally famous for being the definition of "tom & jerry" in our school.

I used to think that I was good in studies until 11th grade. I remember the fight which happened in our home between me and my dad when selecting the stream which I wanted to study during my highschool. I wanted to get into commerce stream and focus on my dream of becoming a successful woman in the law field and build my own empire rather than living in the shadows of legacy which was built by my dad. But he was damn adament about me taking science stream and i got tired of arguing as he didnt even budge a bit from his decision.

And this wasnt the only reason, I was pretty bad..uhm that would explain in the wrong way , maybe I struggled getting good marks in chemistry and physics. But one more reason was that, I had no interest in those subjects. And he was just, ahh I hate to admit it but he was just naturally bessed at those two subjects and I had to cope up with his grades because I had my own reputation in that school to maintain . But I still would give him a hard time by getting almost the same marks as his , and man that was actually tough , sry to admit it but it was true .

But , end of 12th grade , my dad made me write all sort of engineering entrance exams to get me into any of those top colleges , but I made my mind that i was going to pursue law no matter what . And the scenarios repeated once again in our home , repeated argues and fights , silent treatments between me and my father , and my mother and younger sister constantly trying to calm both of us down .

But in the end , I'm thankful to myself that I didn't give up this time unlike what I did during my 11th grade strem selection and I got to fulfill my dream of studying law in the expense of ruining what used to be a good terms of relation between my dad and me . And after completing my degree in B.A LL.B , I was placed in AG BUILDERS PVT LTD, which I'm currently working in, in the legal team as a fresh graduate. My second step close to achieving my dream , the first being pursuing law after all those drama in my family.

As I was engrosed in my thoughts , Sarah , my collegue, one such gem of a person I got in my office pulled me out of my thoughts "huh..?"

She shook her head in disbelief and smiled "In your dreamland again madam..? did i interupt your intelluctual thinking and thoughts??" She called out in her mocking tone but not in an offendive way...bcs i was a person who lived in my mind for a fair part of the day than in the real life . "I was just...you know...thinking about the meeting afterwards...nothing much" I replied to her with a sheepish smile. "yeah yeah i know that you're thinking about that...but are you that much in your mind that you didnt even realised that your papers have fled from the table and it is all over the floor now..?"

As she completed , i just looked around...and yeah , my papers were all over the floor , a great way to start the day especially a monday morning right? "just help me out broo" "broo? did you forget that im your senior kiddo..??" She was my senior but she was also the one who didnt treat me as an immature junior when i came here at first and i instantly got close to her and more than a senior , she is more of like a big sis who is willing to help me out in all sort of situations whether big or small and guide me . "ayyeee...seniorey...akkaaa...please help out your junior, senioreyy" there is no way that i will be able to collect and arrange those papers again , she was just kidding , though she was just a year older than me , she loved being called akka , since im her first ever junior at work and we both started to collect all the papers and some other people who were working also helped me...wow humanity still does exist in this world dude...

(akka-elder sister*)

Some laughed at my clumsiness as they helped me , during the first few months I used to be so embarassed when my clumsiness came on spotlight but not anymore , atleast not as bad as before because some here look after me as if I'm their lil sister , and some guided and helped me like their niece and some kinda older than me people even looked after me like their daughter . Damn, I must say I'm a bit pampered in my office than I am in my very own house. I never knew how it was being looked after because as an elder sibling i was the one who was and still looking after and guidinig my sister, but sure it does feels nice to switch roles in another environment where I get to experience what it is like being the younger one .

My other friend , Aryan , my best friend and senior from college, a literal sunshine. I dont know how someone can be this cheerful in the morning itself . He saw me and Sarah picking out the papers and he patted on my left shoulder . I turned to my left , no one and he emerged from my right side with the brightest smile ever known to mankind "good morning" . *fake cough* "ahem, why are smiling like you're in some sort of colgate advertisement mister?" Do i look like I'm crushing on this dude , even I'm not sure of it yet but I just love his presence since college . "wait let me help too" with that he rolled his arm sleeves to help us out, "STOP STARING YASHNA" I kept chanting to myslef as his toned forearms came to view in the name of helping us or me . But apart from this tiny infactuation I have on him , there's this big respect and admiration I have for him . I have always saw him as a role model in my college days , he has helped me immensely in many ways during college , now in office , and personally as a good friend too .

"And anyways how did this happen? All these papers? Were you in your own world again dumbo??" he asked and "Isn't she always there and barely here, what's there to be amused?" Sarah chimed in. Well these idiots love language is to tease me . "Guys please , can't you ppl live a single day without teasing me?" I asked sighing and... "NO" both of them answered at the same time , chuckled and high five-ed each other and I face palmed myself well theres nothing to be surprised in this

And as I was almost done collecting my papers, a pair of feet stopped before me and I straightened myself properly to look who it was just to know that it was none other than one of my senior executive manager and god knows how much I hate this dude . He is nothing but annoying as hell. "Good morning Yashna , how's your day so far?" Do I look any where close to be having a good day here ? Ofcourse I wasn't . But as he was my senior and was in a very high position , I wasn't supposed to disrespect this dude , I quickly picked out my last sheet and gave him a small nod and a nonchalant good morning to quickly leave the place . But sure he wasnt going to let me go that easily , as i tried to leave "ohh hey...wait there young one I wasnt done talking with you" but my savior Sarah , came to the rescue at the right time "Sir , we gotta leave for the meeting , excuse us".

We were lucky enough today to escape from that bald head and we started to head to the conference hall and I was arranging the papers in their coherent order all the way to the hall and we even managed to have a brief overview before entering the hall . We three finally made to the conference hall just on time , literally a few mins to the meeting , we found our seats and made ourselves comfortable .

This meeting is vey much important to our company , precisely , for me . I was made to lead the team for this specific project . I have been a lead to various projects so far and . and I HAVE to prove myself to everyone , especially to my dad rather than being a mere puppet in his legacy play . So I have to be extra careful and consistent during today's meeting . I know and I have to get this deal done

*time skip*

The meeting was almost about to be started in a few minutes now . the other companies and their representatives have arrived , the staffs kept water bottles and packaged welcome snacks on their respective place , some were talking with each other , some were discussing rewuired for the meeting later , but why is HE not here yet ? STRANGE .

Oh , its only 10:26am now , but still why isnt he here yet ? He loves and is obsessed at being punctual just as much he is obsessed getting the top position . Did he forget about the meeting? No way in hell he would forget about this especially if its gonna involve me . Is he afraid that he might lose? But serioulsy where is he? Oh wait , did he get into some sort of accident ? What if he is injured or is he- no no no Yashna do not let your mind wander through those situations . But what if he...wait, why am i worried about him right now? nahh , theres no way I , Yashna is worried about him . Oh god , why am I thinking this much about him . shouldn't I be happy that he isn't here yet? But what if he is really into an accident ? aarghh!!! Yashna do not...calm down baby , shhh deep breathes .

I was pulled out of my thoughts for the second time since this morning but this time it was Aryan who was sitting beside me looking at me with a worried yet unamused face because he has gotten used to me being like this . An overthinker and a zone out-er . "Calm down , he will be here soon , and I dont think you might want your rival to have a look at your tensed face right??" I smiled and nodded at him realising the truth in his words . I never want anyone , let alone him , not even my own family to have a look at my tensed anxious state .

The time went off annoyingly as slow as possible and more the seconds passed , more anxious i became . calm down , calm down , a few deep breathes and I'll be good to go...I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes trying to calm down my nerves and to regain my composure , I always did this and surprisingly it works every-damn-time .

Goddamit , why isn't the time moving at all?? It is still just 10:28am and that goddamn dude and his team is still not here and god knows what reason it is . I opened my water bottle , took a few sips and I heard the door of the hall opening , the people sitting infront of us straightened up , and even including those olda** CEOs' , stood up . The environment felt instantly different , the air grew up tense and serious, and I knew what exactly was going on . This was it . A team of people took their seats which was alloted infront of our team leaving a seat in the middle for him.

One of the employees opened the door again revealing him . MY NIGHTMARE . So he wasn't scared or dead or whatever I thought before . He was just late , like me.. who knows maybe it could have been a mere trick to show off his power that it was HIM who was arriving . RUDRADEV MAHADEVAN . the upcoming CEO of DEV CONSTRUCTIONS PVT LTD. The dark and dominating aura radiating off him sending chills down on everyone's spines as soon as he stepped in the hall , the room speaking volumes about the unwavering power he had on everyone . Just a look of his might be able to snatch off the project from the chief . God I can never let that happen . Atleast not this time .

He sat on his designated seat as if, and looked at me straight into my eyes with his light brown eyes , more like staring at my soul . Since I have already calmed down , I wasn't nervous at his stare but I wouldn't deny that I did feel a bit shaken at his aura . I saw his handsome face , he was just a beauty on the outside there was nothing inside to be proud of . (well atleast thats how I'm convincing myself from being jealous over him)

*Time skip - 45 mins*

It was now my turn to present our project on behalf of our company . Keeping the nervousness aside , I started the presentation , explained all the kith and kin of the benefits the project holds and tried my best to make the presentation appealing to them so that I could get the deal for our company .

But who am I kidding , there is still one more company , not really , one more man to defeat . With that I finished my presentation , I turned to go back to my seat and I saw him staring at me...is he impressed?? Tch..no way in hell he would accept that fact even if he does get impressed . Maybe he was shocked to see my project , yeah it sounds good and well, because I could see the defeat in all the other companies eyes already from our project .

Suddenly , he got up from his seat and went towards the presenting stage...centre of the hall . Why is HE going there ? He never does that . It was always one of his most trusted employee -Charan , after his scretary , Deepak . SHOCKING . But now , he himself has come to make the presentation . I think something worse is about to happen . Maybe to me . No, I shouldn't think like that .

Let's see what happens...

~to be continued