and he felt a startling urge to trace her beautiful mouth with his fingertips.
All that she felt showed clearly on her face. Anger, irritation and a slight sense of alarm. She is right to be wary of me, thought Aadith. For some strange reason she seemed to be drawing his attention much more than he wanted.
The light of challenge was burning brightly in her sparkling eyes as she retorted, ‘Don’t count on it, Mr Varma.’
Aadith felt alive in a way he hadn’t in a long while. This promised to be way more interesting than he’d anticipated.
‘I think we’ve known each other for far too long for you to call me Mr Varma,’ he objected.
Nina knew their first encounter several years ago had marked her for life and she had no intention of subjecting herself to spending more time with him. She always learnt from her mistakes and working with Aadith would prove to be nothing but a colossal one. She vowed to avoid him at all costs.
‘I don’t intend to see you long enough for it to matter what I call you,’ she declared hotly. The sound of his mocking laughter set her already ragged nerves on edge.
‘Make no mistake, before long you will be working with me,’ he warned once again.
Nina groaned to herself. Before today whenever she had chanced to attend the same industry dos as him she had managed to steer clear of him. Now a cruel twist of fate was tossing them together.
The more she resisted, the more Aadith seemed to be looking upon this as a challenge he intended to win, so Nina quickly changed tack.
‘Look, if we can’t work together harmoniously, it’s bound to reflect on the results in the press and I’m sure that is something you can’t afford right now,’ she said persuasively.
Aadith cast her a lazy look and said, ‘Don’t worry…. I can be as harmonious as you want me to be.’
Nina drew in a breath for patience and released it slowly. He was just toying with her and pulling her strings as he had done in the past. But this time she would not take things lying down, she promised herself. She would give as good as she got.
‘Your long line of ex-girlfriends are out telling the world how you really are, so save your breath,’ she snapped.
Aadith felt his temper rise in a second. ‘You of all people should know how the press spins stories to sell their papers and magazines, yet you persist in believing those ridiculous tales,’ he accused.
‘Not all of them are false,’ she argued.
‘And not all of them are true either,’ he countered.
Nina bit her bottom lip. If she could forget that he ever existed she would. But forgetting his existence was easier said than done when he was splashed across newspapers and magazines with a different pretty young thing on his arm every other day.
‘For some reason I’ve become the media’s favourite bad boy and I want to get rid of that tag now. And you, Miss Goody-two-shoes, are going to help me do it,’ insisted Aadith arrogantly.
A discreet knock at the door later, Mrs Dutta let herself in with the coffee. Nina watched Aadith work his charm smoothly.
‘I’ve a meeting scheduled shortly so I’ve got to leave now. But thank you for the coffee, Mrs Dutta. Once Nina and I start working together I’m sure I’ll be around for many more,’ he said, giving her an easy smile.
‘My daughter is a crazy fan of yours and will be beside herself when I tell her I met you,’ said Mrs Dutta happily.
‘Thank you. If she ever wants to visit the sets just let Nina know. I’ll send some passes along,’ he promised, winking at Nina as he let himself out with a casual wave in their direction.
Nina felt like throwing the pretty etched-glass paperweight at his back as he closed the door behind him. Damn! Now Mrs Dutta definitely wouldn’t let her forget about him. Miss Goody-two-shoes indeed, she fumed. She’d rather walk over hot coals than lift a finger to help him, she thought savagely as she settled down to work.
After a headache-inducing lunch with Sonia, Nina was perusing a contract when the managing director, Mr Samuel, summoned her to his cabin. Just a few days ago he had congratulated her on the success of the Tiwary account and had promised to look into her promotion soon. She had been gunning for the post of VP for a while now and if she became one she would be the youngest ever in the history of the eighty-five-year-old firm. This sudden summons made her mildly curious as to the nature of this second unexpected call.
Her MD was generally not a man prone to displaying his emotions. For him to nod approvingly at someone meant that he or she had done an exceedingly good job. So when Nina found him with his face wreathed in a huge smile she felt the first stirrings of misgiving.
‘Nina, I gather you and Aadith Varma are old friends,’ remarked her boss cheerfully.
Nina was startled. Their past had been stormy to say the least and they could certainly not be labelled as friends, she thought darkly.
A frown marred her face as she clarified, ‘Well, more like neighbours really.’
Her boss continued as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘After the success of the Tiwary account, to land a prestigious client like Mr Varma within the span of a week is a definite coup. Consider your promotion a done deal,’ he said appreciatively.
Something roiled in the pit of Nina’s stomach. She did not like where the conversation seemed to be heading.
‘Mr Varma was very impressed with your work and mentioned that he was looking forward to collaborating with you. I trust you to do a wonderful job with this account as well,’ he finished.
Nina knew she would have to try something quick to get out of this mess.
‘I would love to work with Mr Varma, but I doubt I could fit another client into my current roster. I am totally swamped at the moment.’
Her boss stared at her in surprise. He had never in all the years she’d been working there heard her turn down a client, and a high-profile one at that. He looked at her speculatively and conceded, ‘Of course, I don’t expect you to juggle in your new client along with all your old ones too. Someone else can take over your less important ones so that you can devote all your attention to the new account. At least initially,’ he added.
Nina caught onto it like a lifeline ‘I’m positive my other clients would feel miffed if I abandoned them suddenly, so maybe I could work on this new account during the drafting stage and leave the execution to Dev?’ she enquired on a hopeful note.
Mr Samuel’s face hardened with irritation. ‘In case I haven’t made myself clear, let me. Aadith Varma wants only you to work on his PR campaign, so there’s no question of you working on it until only halfway through,’ he said in a tone that brooked no further argument.
Nina noted the unspoken reprimand in her boss’s eyes and the warning it carried, but chose to continue unheedingly. ‘Wouldn’t it be better if—?’
Her boss broke in before she could even finish the sentence. ‘With your promotion up for approval I’m sure you will put in your very best work on this. That will
