Rajeev knocked at the door twice before entering Vivaansh's cabin, only to see him, as usual, sitting in the chair and working something on his laptop.
"Did you find the list of new designers for sending their work to Mark?", Vivaansh asked without shifting his focus even for seconds and Rajeev sighed and nodded before replying, "I checked each and every work submitted by the famous designers in Mumbai as well as Delhi and many other cities but none of them can match the expectations of Mr. Mark. They are even worst than what our designers had presented."
"How is it even possible to not to get even a single perfect designer who can meet Mark's condition, Rajeev?", Vivaansh chided in disbelief and Rajeev stared at the floor while Vivaansh sighed before pointing his index finger towards Rajeev and almost ordered, "I don't care how you deal with this thing but I want this merger to happen anyhow. You ask your people or you yourself go out and find the best designer but I need this problem solved as soon as possible."
Rajeev looked stunned and then petrified, but nevertheless nodded in understanding as he had no courage to deny Vivaansh's order.
After informing Vivaansh about a few more important things, Rajeev was about to leave the cabin when he stopped to remind Vivaansh, "Mr. Malhotra, just a reminder. You have to meet Ms. Maheshwari in Seven Seas hotel today at eight in the evening."
"I know. You can leave now.", Vivaansh said, however, he halt Rajeev in his tracks as he commanded, "Send a car with a driver to pick Ms. Maheshwari and you yourself will escort her to the rooftop restaurant in the hotel. Also ask the hotel staff to keep the place vacant for tonight and cancel all the reservations if any."
"Do you need me to buy a bouquet or some gift for Ms. Maheshwari ?", Rajeev asked and Vivaansh thought for a moment before nodding in no, and so Rajeev immediately excused himself to go out and call Virat to inform that a car with a driver will be there to pick Meera for the dinner tonight.
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Meera stepped out of the car as Rajeev opened the door for her and smiled warmly at her while she looked back at him with frowns.
"I am Rajeev and I am Mr. Malhotra's personal assistant. I will escort you to the rooftop of this hotel where Mr. Malhotra is waiting for you.", Rajeev introduced himself and Meera politely nodded at him before following him into the hotel.
Opening the door to the beautiful roof at the thirty-seventh floor of the hotel, Rajeev let Meera enter first and then followed her, saying, "May be Mr. Malhotra is still not here yet. You please wait here and he will be here in few minutes."
Meera nodded and watched Rajeev go away after closing the door behind him and she took a deep breath before looking around at the beautiful place she was standing on.
The huge place was simple yet beautiful. The flooring as well as the mid-length walls on the edges were all made of glass and the theme of white decor was making it more attractive. A few coffee tables with single sitter sofas circling the table in the color of White were kept at different intervals all over the lower level of the rooftop. Whereas, after climbing two stairs to higher level of rooftop, you can see one beautiful couple table with two brown chairs opposite to each other. A big white colored circular bar in the center with different types of wines was made, surrounded by huge black colored candle holders around it. But what attracted Meera the most were those fairy lights in the color yellow shining on the inner edges of the glass walls. Even though Mumbai was a little cold at night in late October, yet Meera could feel the warmth and comfort in this place.
Climbing up the stairs and walking to the glass edges, Meera leaned to it and smiled, glancing down as the night view of Mumbai from this height was the most beautiful thing about the place. The cold breeze tickling her face was enough to make her forget her agony few minutes.
Meera was too busy admiring the view down there that she did not even feel the door opening and closing behind her as Vivaansh entered while talking without someone on the call.
"I will see you tomorrow for the lunch meeting, Mr. Jackson.", Vivaansh said on the call, before disconnecting the call, and looking around until his eyes rested on her.
Vivaansh looked around to check the decor for a minute before clearing his throat to grab her attention and immediately felt her going stiff for a minute before she slowly turned around, yet did not look up at him.
She was wearing a dusty lavender-colored floor-length netted dress, paired with a long earring in her ears and a small golden heart-shaped pendant resting perfectly in the center of her long slender and beautiful swan-like neck. And even though she was wearing gray-colored pencil heels, Vivaansh knew that she would reach just a little above his shoulders when they would be standing together. But what stirred Vivaansh's heart was her long black hairs going down below her waist, and for the first time Vivaansh discovered how much he loved to look at a girl with long hairs.
Here Vivaansh took his own time to admire the details of her beauty, and there Meera stood rooted where she was standing while clenching and un-clenching on her dress, as she could feel nervousness creeping up to her heart with his unwavering gaze on herself.
And when she saw him slowly walking towards her, Meera started taking slow steps backwards until there was no space anymore, and she collided with the glass wall and was about to fall. But Vivaansh was quick enough to grab her softly through her shoulders as he said, "Careful."
Meera gazed up and saw worry in those beautiful pair of brown orbs as he stared down into her black eyes before slowly making her stand properly as he asked, "Are you ok?"
Meera nodded meekly while looking at everywhere but him and Vivaansh immediately took his hands back as he said, "You want to sit and talk?"
Meera nodded at him, this time looking up at him and Vivaansh nodded back once at her before going towards the table, but Meera did not move from her place as her eyes stilled on him.
"Come.", Vivaansh's voice broke her trails of reverie and Meera immediately looked away as she felt warmth spreading on her cheeks. She felt something strange in her heart, yet she did not know what it was.
Walking slowly towards him, she saw Vivaansh taking out a chair for him and she sat there after whispering a 'Thank you' which Vivaansh acknowledged with a curt nod before he too sat on the chair in front of her.
"What you want to have?", Vivaansh asked, pushing the menu towards her side, and Meera glanced at the closed menu in front of her before whispering, "You only order."
"Veg or non-veg?", Vivaansh asked, looking into the menu and Meera immediately said, "I am vegetarian."
Looking up at her and then nodding at her for once, Vivaansh again looked back into the menu before calling someone on the phone and dictating him their order for food, while Meera had her eyes stilled on him as she took every detail of him.
Vivaansh was wearing a dark charcoal three piece suit with black shoes and a few bands in his right hand while an expensive watch in his left hand. His hair was perfectly gelled and styled and he was everything that a girl could ask for in her man.
"So, Meera-- I can call you that, right? Or you prefer being called Ms. Maheshwari ?", Vivaansh started, but then, considering her comfort, Vivaansh asked her preference and Meera immediately said, "Meera."
Vivaansh softly nods at her as he continues, "So Meera, why did you wanted to meet me?"
"Mr. Malhotra--", Meera started, but Vivaansh immediately corrected her, saying, "You can call me Vivaansh."
However, Meera immediately nodded in no looking down at her fidgeting fingers resting in her lap as she said, "Mr. Malhotra, thank you for agreeing for meeting me. I am grateful to you for helping my father with the crisis he is facing in his business right now and will always be grateful to you. But--"
Meera took a pregnant pause and looked at him to see him sitting back into the chair, all relaxed and calm, before she continued, "Before saying yes to this marriage, I have two conditions. Only after you agree to those conditions, I will be able to marry you."
Vivaansh calmly stared at her for more than a minute before sitting straight with his one leg above the other as he asked, "What are your conditions?"
Meera took a deep breath before she replied to him, looking straight in his eyes, "I want to do job even after the marriage. Do you agree?"
"What are your qualifications?", Vivaansh asked instead of replying, and Meera frowned, nevertheless replied immediately, "I have completed my graduation in fashion designing."
They sat in silence, and before Vivaansh could ask for her second condition, three waiters came there with their orders and started serving them. One of the waiters stumbled a bit and the bowl of soup was about to slip out of his hands and was about to fall on Meera's arms.
"Careful!", Vivaansh shrieked and was quick enough to hold the bowl before it could fall down on Meera's hand. However, in all this a little soup fell on his wrist and he hissed, "Ouch, shit!"
Meera stared at him, wide eyes and was shocked until she heard him chiding at the waiter, "Are you blind? What if she would have got hurt? This is how you work?"
"I am sorry, sir. I am sorry, Ma'am.", The waiter immediately started apologizing while shivering and Meera looked at angry Vivaansh as she whispered, "Mr. Malhotra, he did not do that on purpose."
Vivaansh looked at her for a split of seconds before glaring again at the waiter and then let him go after a minute much to everyone's relief.
"You can start with the food. I'll come in a minute. Need to clean this.", Vivaansh said once they were again alone, and Meera nodded at him.
It was a few minutes later Vivaansh came back and Meera immediately asked with worry, "Are you fine?"
"Yeah. Just a small burn. Will be fine in few minutes. You did not started!?", Vivaansh said and asked her, pointing towards her plate, where the food was still untouched.
However, Meera had her worried eyes on his hand, where the skin had turned a darker shade of red due to the hot soup that had spilled on his hand.
"And what about your second condition?", Vivaansh asked again as they started with their dinner, and Meera contemplated with herself for a few minutes before putting forward her second demand, "I want you to sign a contract of merger instead of acquisition with my father's business?"
Meera waited for him to ask or say something, but when he did not say anything, Meera said, "I will marry only if you agree to this conditions."
"Ms. Maheshwari , can you answer me something honestly?", Vivaansh took his own time before finally asking her, and Meera nodded with frowns and Vivaansh asked with a smirk, "Are you trying to escape from this alliance?"
Meera gasped, looking at him with her eyes wide and heart beating rapidly, and saw him chuckling as he leaned forward towards the table and asked another question, "You still love your ex-fiancé?"
"This--This is not about that. I-- I just feel that the marriage for business is not correct. Moreover, I am being asked to marry someone whom I don't even know properly. And I cannot marry someone whom I don't love.", Meera replied honestly, and Vivaansh frowned before asking, "You won't marry me even when I agree to your conditions?"
Meera frowned until she realized that Vivaansh very wisely trapped her in her own words, and now she did not have anything to answer him.
Taking the plate of paneer tikka served as starter, Vivaansh served some for her in her plate before serving some for himself as well, and Meera kept looking at all that he was doing before she heard him saying, "Ms. Maheshwari, I hope you know that you are in no place right now to negotiate the terms with me. I have an upper hand right now and I don't think I need to agree with your conditions to marry you and bag this deal. After all, this marriage was agreed between me and your father."
"I know.", Meera whispered, feeling helpless, and Vivaansh sighed looking at her as he said, "Continue with your dinner."
Meera looked at him with frowns before nodding in no as she replied, "I am not hungry anymore."
"I hope you know that your father was the one to propose the idea of this marriage.", Vivaansh said, and Meera nodded at him, and Vivaansh again continued, "This deal is important for my company. And your father had only one condition that I have to marry you if I want to acquire his company."
"I know. But I don't want this marriage.", Meera said, almost in tears, and Vivaansh looked at her blankly before he said, "Even I don't want to marry you forcefully. If your father agrees to hand over his company without the condition of our marriage, we don't have to marry anymore."
"I cannot say no to him for this marriage. I tried but he did not changed his decision over this marriage. But I cannot marry someone whom I don't love.", Meera said, and tears of frustration rolled down her eyes, and Vivaansh immediately passed her tissue papers as he said, "And you want me to deny for this marriage?"
Meera immediately looked at him with hopes and nodded in yes, and Vivaansh sighed before asking, "Why don't you want to marry me? Do you love someone else?"
Meera stared at him with wide eyes before frantically nodding in as she said, "No. I-- I just told you that I don't want to marry someone without love."
"Ms. Maheshwari, I don't know about love but I have to tell you one thing. I might say no to this marriage and then probably your father won't sell the company to me. But then there will be someone else who will want to acquire your family business and he might agree to your father's condition even when you don't want to marry him.", Vivaansh explained, and Meera felt trapped in all those possibilities that Vivaansh had now been implanted in her mind.
"You are born as the daughter of a businessman and marriages for the sake of business is common. You cannot escape the destiny.", Vivaansh said further, and Meera said, "But I don't want to leave my parents knowing that there will nothing left in their hands after this deal. No, I cannot marry you until you agree to my conditions."
Vivaansh frowned and then said, "Ms. Maheshwari, I can marry you without your consent even when I don't agree to your conditions because the contract papers are almost signed."
Meera felt her eyes moistening again at the thought of seeing her family's demise after her marriage. However, what Vivaansh said further gave a small relief to her heart.
"But I would never want to marry a girl without her consent. So, I agree to your conditions. About your first condition, I will check your certificates and other things and if qualified, you can joint Malhotra's own Fashion designing firm so that you can handle your personal and professional life even after the marriage. And about the second condition, I am ready to let your father continue your family business under the brand name of Malhotras'", Vivaansh said while wiping his hands with a napkin and looked at Meera, who was still staring at him blankly.
"So now, what is your decision?", Vivaansh asked, leaning back into a chair and Meera did not say anything but looked away.
She did not expect him to agree to her conditions easily.
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Walking out of the hotel with Vivaansh following her, Meera saw Rajeev standing near a huge car and heard Vivaansh say to her, "Come, I will drop you."
Meera tried to say something, but Vivaansh did not let her even speak as he said, "It is almost midnight and I am not letting you go alone. It is not safe. You came here with me and your safety is my responsibility. Come."
It was not a request, rather an order, and Meera kept looking at his retreating figure as he walked to the car and opened the door of the backseat before turning back to look at her and then nodding at her to get inside the car. Sighing at whatever happened and happening, Meera slowly walked towards him and then sat inside the car while Vivaansh kept a hand above her head to avoid her getting hurt and then took her dupatta that was still outside and kept in her lap before closing the door and then going towards the other side. Rajeev opened the door for Vivaansh and he sat beside Meera while Rajeev closed the door behind him before walking to the passenger seat and sat inside as the driver started the engine and turned the wheels on the way towards Meera's house.
All the way to her home, Meera had her eyes on the road as she silently stared at now the empty roads of Mumbai while trying to accept whatever was happening with her life. Whereas, Vivaansh got himself busy in checking some unseen messages and e-mails, however, time and again he would glance at Meera to ensure her comfort.
