hold of a couple of Aadith’s disgruntled ex-girlfriends and had started painting him out to be a heartless cad. Just when Aadith had needed a squeaky clean, devoted, loverboy image his publicist had screwed things up well and good.
Raj broke out of his reverie and continued, ‘Just before you became the poster boy for notoriety, star cricketer Gaurav Tiwary had that spot. Now, thanks to some pretty savvy PR work by Miss Shah, his image has been completely revamped. He is now their golden boy.’
‘Nina Shah, hey …?’ Some faint memory stirred Aadith as he said succinctly, ‘Send me all that you have about her.’
No, it couldn’t be … he thought as he rang off. The Nina he had known several years ago had been a hair-raising teen who had been rebellious on the surface although slightly shy and retiring beneath. A publicist’s livelihood revolved around being circumspect, bold and outgoing. It was centred upon doing a good paint job over the unsavoury bits in the lives of celebrity clients. Life couldn’t be so ironic, mused Aadith wryly.
But it certainly was. As soon as Aadith looked over the information Raj sent in, he knew it was the same Nina. They had briefly been neighbours in Pune several years ago and had parted on a sour note. Not that they had been the best of friends before either; he’d been more friendly with her brother. She had been a cheeky, irritating kid following Aadith and her brother around, always ratting them out to her parents. It had been only towards the end of his stay at Pune when he’d started looking at her differently. He dearly hoped she’d changed for the better or working with her promised to be an absolute nightmare.
Nina grabbed her voluminous handbag and headed into the swanky glass and chrome building that housed the offices of Guy & Falcon public relation services. The place was already humming with life as she hurriedly made her way to her spacious office.
Mrs Dutta, her secretary, followed her inside to discuss the day’s schedule. She was a middle-aged, cherubic woman who tended to mother Nina a bit.
‘Sonia wants to meet you again for lunch to discuss her endorsement deal with that soft drink company,’ stated Mrs Dutta gloomily.
Nina grimaced thinking about the discussion that lay ahead. The ex beauty queen kept coming up with ridiculous new demands every week that she wanted fulfilled in order to sign with the brand. The company had been pretty accommodating so far but were fast losing patience with the diva. Nina knew she would have to convince Sonia to ink the deal pretty soon or risk losing the plum opportunity to some other celebrity.
‘God, I hope this time she doesn’t come up with something her manicurist advised her to include in the contract,’ moaned Nina as she picked up her mobile to call Sonia.
She impatiently blew her hair out of her eyes as she tried to charm the diva at the other end of the phone. Dealing with celebrities who threw tantrums for the smallest things was akin to dealing with irascible children, she thought absently.
Her usually unflappable secretary returned quickly in a frenzy to inform her about a visitor. She was talking nineteen to the dozen and before Nina could make sense out of her excited chatter the door opened to let Aadith Varma in.
Nina’s breath caught on a strangled gasp. Of all the possible scenarios she had envisioned about running into him, she had never imagined him walking into her own office.
Aadith Varma.
The hero of all her teenage fantasies.
And the reason for all her shattered dreams.
‘Nina and I are old friends so I let myself in to surprise her,’ said Aadith apologetically as he flashed a dimpled smile at her secretary. Mrs Dutta would have melted into a puddle of adoration had he smiled an inch wider, thought Nina sourly.
He was still the most handsome man she had ever come across and she had met more than her fair share of handsome men, working as she did in the glamour industry. Tall and sleekly muscled, with a finely chiselled face, he was the heartthrob of hordes of young women across the country. Only the hardness in his eyes saved him from being chocolate box handsome.
Her heart thundered in an unsteady rhythm as she braced herself to meet his steely grey eyes nonchalantly.
To say that he was stunned would be an understatement, thought Aadith. The last time he had set eyes on her, she had been a tall, skinny teen with braces on her teeth and an unruly mop of boyishly short curls. Damn! Had she changed! Her purple and green kurta clung to all the right places and flattered her lush body. He felt a flicker of lust tightening his body as he met big mocha-brown eyes across the table. They were shooting daggers at him.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she asked bluntly, ignoring Mrs Dutta’s gasp of horror. She had never known Nina to be rude to anyone despite extreme provocation sometimes. Undaunted by Nina’s decidedly unwelcome remark, Aadith turned to wink at her secretary and said, ‘Don’t mind her, Mrs Dutta. She’s never been one to appreciate surprises.’
Nina snorted.
‘And I’m sure she would love a cup of coffee as much as I would,’ he continued, throwing a winsome smile at the secretary as an added encouragement.
‘I doubt anyone likes an unpleasant surprise,’ muttered Nina under her breath as Mrs Dutta hurried out to do his bidding.
‘To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected surprise, Mr Varma? Isn’t it a bit too late in the day to play catch up?’ remarked Nina with a baleful glare at him.
He let his gaze drift over her leisurely as he replied, ‘Catching up isn’t what I’m here for, although I’m not averse to it, now that you mention it.’ He grinned at her cheekily.
Nina’s stomach flipped. Oh, God! He looked even better when he smiled. Whatever he was here for, she had to get him out of here fast. ‘I certainly don’t want that!’ sputtered Nina in horror. ‘You are the last man on earth I want to get reacquainted with!’
Aadith didn’t seem perturbed in the least. He shrugged coolly and explained, ‘Well, I thought working together would be a lot simpler if we got along but it’s certainly not necessary.’
Nina stared at him warily. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It’s not exactly a secret that I’m in a bit of a media mess. Unfortunately, my last PR guy didn’t handle it as well as he should have, so I’m here to offer you that job.’
‘Why would you think I’d even be interested?’ shot back Nina rudely.
Aadith narrowed his eyes at her and said, ‘Why not? Ask anyone, they’ll tell you that I’m a very generous boss.’
Nina was incensed at his suggestion that money would even tempt her to consider his offer. She looked at him pityingly and replied tartly, ‘You seem to be under the belief that money will get you whatever you want but you are sadly mistaken in this case. I’m perfectly happy with my current crop of clients and have no intention whatsoever of working with a moron like you.’
Aadith laughed out loud. ‘Your insults are totally redundant. I’ve been called worse names than that and, let me assure you, I always get what I want. If money doesn’t make you tick I will find out what does. Whether you want to or not you are going to work for me, Nina,’ he finished confidently.
Nina felt a frisson of apprehension
