[ Long Update ]

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"You're hot."

Whatever RK was about to say sublimed from his head in an instant. His mind going completely blank for a second. Before he could process the words any better, he saw a thin, feminine hand move towards his face, immediately snapping him out of his momentary silence. He left her wrist and caught her other hand with force just as it was about to touch his face, eyeing the owner of it with an intense look.

"Such a fine vision, isn't it?" He raised a brow, tilting his head towards her a bit. "Too bad it couldn't see the fate of daring to enter my room."

He shifted his gaze to their palms inches away from his face, then back to her.

"Don't ever, and I repeat, EVER try to touch me." He spoke in a dangerously calm, low voice.

Prachi looked at him, unaffected, for two seconds. Then RK felt something soft on his cheek. He shifted his eyes towards the side of his face, only to find Prachi's other hand - the back of her palm - placed on his cheek now. Her audacity made him grit his teeth in anger, as his grip on her hand tightened on its own.

"What do you-"

"I obeyed you, RK Sir." Prachi's words made him look back at her with fiery eyes.

"I didn't try to touch you." She said nonchalantly. "I did touch you."

"Such a fine brain, you say. Too bad it never really gets used at times." She saw RK about to open his mouth. However, continued with her words.

"Like the time I told you I've no more interest in watching your face than you do (in watching hers). Seems like you couldn't get it. Let me make things a bit more clear." Prachi said in a sweet tone.

"You are warm, RK Sir." Said she, as she watched RK's eyes narrowing at her. The anger was still there in his face as well as his eyes.

Prachi then moved her hand which lay on his cheek till now, to his forehead. The back of her palm pressed onto his fair skin.

"Sick. If you prefer it so much." Uttered she.

RK left her hand he had been holding. Then shoved her other palm away from his forehead. Moving a couple of steps back, he adjusted his hands in the pockets of his black sweatpants. Then still looking at Prachi, gestured towards the door of his room with his brows as he spoke the next word.

"Out."

Before she could say another word, a shrill noise interrupted the two. Prachi pulled her cellphone out of the pocket of her black denim. Seeing the caller ID, she turned the screen of the cellphone to RK as she spoke next.

"Can't, Sir. That's my job. Specially not now that you're sick." She said the last word a bit louder, making RK frown at her with annoyance.

"Yes, Sir." Prachi answered into the cellphone.

"-- Everything is fine here. We were late cuz RK Sir has a fever." Then she listened for a brief moment to whatever Aryan said.

RK turned away from the annoying woman, moving towards his bed table to reach for his phone.

"-- Ye- Stop." She said the last word in a loud tone, almost yelling suddenly. RK paused for a moment, halting his steps reflexively due to her voice, not sure what the crazy woman was saying. Was she ordering him?

He turned to her with a brow raised in question and a look of extreme arrogance.

She simply indicated with her eyes to the floor below him. And RK dropped his gaze to the same, realising the thick shards of glass that had shattered on the ground earlier still lying there, shining against the grey marble floor. He was standing almost on the top of the shattered pieces. And Prachi was almost ready to see his angry looks once again.

However, RK just ignored her warning as well as her actions, as he bent down to lift his cellphone from the table, then started walking away from her as his fingers ran on the screen. Seeing no reaction from him, she assumed her warning was on point, before answering to a confused Aryan on the other side of the call.

---

"RK is sick? And I was wondering how come his morning is so peaceful." Aryan spoke into the black device pressed onto his ear as he held an open file in his hand standing near his cabin.

"It's better he stays at home, then. Take care of him and call me if you need to." Said he and she probably nodded, understanding the meaning of his words.

"Ye-Stop." Aryan suddenly heard a loud voice against his ear. The unexpected yell just near his ear made him flinch.

"What is it?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"-- RK is walking on glass?" He asked, confused. Did the alcohol finally get to his head?

"-- Well, then, take care of the unwell guy. And again, call me if you need to."

"Yes, Sir." He heard her say, before Aryan hung up, unaware of the pair of eyes secretly watching him from somewhere behind him. Before he sauntered back into his cabin, eyes dug in the file before him.

---

RK waved two fingers behind him as he threw his cellphone on the bed and walked to his closet, indicating Prachi to empty his room. She ended the call, placing her cellphone back in her pocket.

"I think you should-" She began, only to be cut off by him immediately.

"And I think I don't care what you think." He said, stopping his feet, not bothering to turn to her. "Go prepare to leave. We're already late. Use your hands. Not your thick head and filthy tongue here."

"Exactly." She said, stopping him again as he was about to move. "I was saying the same." Continued Prachi, as RK maintained a reaction less face.

"I think you should go to the office. Your employees must also have a chance to see the not so strong RK, shouldn't they? See him in his sick state. Don't snatch it from them. Let's go." She stated sweetly.

---

"Did you hear?" A man probably in his mid-twenties adjusted his spectacles, turning to peep at his colleague sitting on the other side of the computer screen placed before him. "RK Sir is extremely sick!"

"I did!" The other man said with a shocked expressed. "That man didn't look as if he could ever get troubled by anything human. Who knew he could be so sick too?!"

"He is. He is." A third man sitting next to the one with the spectacles joined the conversation. "An employee from the second floor has heard Aryan Sir talking, from his own ears."

"This is great!" The person with spectacles said again. "At least we won't get to see him for a good amount of time now! It's freedom for us."

"I also heard he fell into glass. Man, I bet he would be on the hospital bed right now."

"Sure he is." Said a guy with a big belly who was passing by the men. "Even a tough man can get injuries when he falls through the windshield of his car." The man said with a sympathetic look.

"How would he even do that?"

"He's RK, fool! He can do anything."

"He can also come here directly from the hospital bed. And you wouldn't even know how seriously sick he is." A man in his thirties stated as a matter of fact from a different part of the room.

"Exactly." Said the person beside him, supporting him. "So let's just concentrate on our works. Even if he is sick, our works will still need to be done. We aren't gonna get any leaves for sure. What's the point?"

"You don't get it." The man sitting across them disagreed. "Everything that man does becomes a latest news. As it is, people already know so less about him. He'll be in the news again for being sick now. And even more so for running from the hospital. Lucky man!"

"No! He broke the mirror with his hands. Didn't you hear?" A guy murmured from a different corner of the office. "And the broken mirror fell on him."

"I thought I heard he broke a glass in his hands." Said the man next to him.

"No, idiots." A third man shook his head next to them. "He broke the glass window of his room. And probably got sick because of that too."

"I wish he recovers soon. He's a good person." Said the first man.

"And increases our salary due to happiness when he recovers too." The third person added.

"By how much?" The voice made the three men freeze in their spots.

It was then that they realised the entire office room had become silent already.

Swallowing hard, they turned to the source of the voice standing behind them, only to find RK there himself, fit and strong as ever, looking at them through his black goggles. It felt as if the world had conspired against them to make the ground beneath their feet slip all of a sudden. And that was exactly how they felt seeing their Boss in front of them right now. He looked straight at them, probably waiting for an answer. And they couldn't find their voice, in order to give one. Are they fired now?

"Raise the numbers more." RK said, turning away from the men suddenly.

Only then they noticed the black, thick cellphone he held against his ear. Never before had a cellphone made them feel as if their souls had returned to their bodies.

"Don't dare forget." RK spoke in a stern voice. "I pay you to work. Not to gossip."

Every pair of eye that had been turned to him just a second before, suddenly found its owner getting back to being engaged in either the computer screen or the numerous files kept before them.

RK saw the scene through his peripheral vision, then pretended to end the non existent call.

The large room was extremely silent. RK glanced around it once, then began to move towards his cabin.

As he was about to enter his giant working room, RK coughed once.

And behind him, every pair of eye again turned to him.

Did their Boss really run away sick from a hospital?

Then they heard the sound of a feminine voice. And looked up to see the only woman in the room coughing too, behind him.

"No ciggarettes during office hours. Read the rules carefully before working here." Prachi warned the guy standing at the centre of the room after her animated coughing. Before following RK into his cabin. And the employees once again returned to their respective tasks.

Huh. That's the thing about rumours. They don't ever really need a start. But once they've found one, there's no end except to completely dismiss everything contained in them, no matter how true any single word of it is.

---

Knock. Knock.

RK lifted his head from the file he had buried himself into at the light noise.

"Come in." He ordered.

That boy again, Dhruv, came in, smiling nervously, showing all his teeth, with a tray in his hands.

"Goo-good m-morning, Sir." He greeted with a slight bow.

"H-here's the s-soup y-you had or-order. Ordered!"

RK was already sick of his stuttering mess. Every second that he spoke raised RK's temper even more today. Just as he was about to shout, another voice beat him.

"Keep it on the table and leave." Prachi ordered before RK could have a chance to yell.

And Dhruv, already eager to leave the cabin, obeyed her instructions before almost running out the door.

"So now you decide to enjoy meals here without my permission." RK swiveled his chair towards Prachi standing just beside him.

"May I remind you, unprofessionalism has a height too. Out."

"Looks like the temper has literally risen to your head." Prachi bent her head a little to the side.

"You're the ho-" She paused, turning to him completely. "Sick one. Not me." She said, stressing at 'sick' a bit too much, intentionally. "It's for you. Drink it."

"And who do you think you are to order me?" RK said a bit too sternly.

"Your PA, Sir. And PB, too. Remember?" She informed calmly.

"Then in order to remain one, pay attention to the work given to you here. For the last time, don't bother to tire your weak brain too much."

He then threw the file in his hands towards her which she caught immediately.

"Concentrate on the work you're handed over. Like this file. Go through it and sort all the numbers ascendingly and year wise since two thousand twelve. I want it before the office hours end today." RK warned her with a raised brow.

"My real work is to protect you, RK Sir." Prachi retorted, running her gaze over the file once, then turning it back to him. "And that is exactly what I'm doing."

RK, without responding, pressed a button on his table. Within two seconds, an employee came walking hastily through the doors.

"Yes, Sir." Said he, stopping before the table. He lifted his gaze to see RK sitting on his chair that was turned towards the new woman in the office who stood beside his table currently, she facing him too with expressions of seriousness and fierceness on both their faces.

"Throw it." RK ordered the man, gesturing towards the bowl of soup kept on the table.

The man looked at RK once, then at the new woman, then moved forward to lift the bowl and left without another word.

"Don't be so absorbed in protecting me, Miss Arora-" RK narrowed his gaze, staring at her intently. "-that you endanger your own self."

"Work is not a place to play jobs as you please." He continued after a pause, without waiting for a response from her.

"When in here, you are an assistant to me no matter what, aren't you?" He rested his elbows on the arms of the large chair, lacing his fingers at the top.

"Then do just that. Assist me. Don't barge into my personal space. And if you don't get that this time as well, out."

"I'm not interested in roaming in your personal space, RK Sir." Prachi finally replied, probably waiting for him to be done with his threats that had no effect on her whatsoever.

"The world outside it is better enough. May I remind you now, it was you who hired me in the first place. Whether you like it or not, it is my job to take care of you. In every way."

Knock. Knock.

Another thumping of the door interrupted the two.

RK, without looking away from the woman before him, ordered the person on the other side to come in.

Few seconds later, a light noise of metal beside him caused him to turn towards his table. There, just at the previous spot, lay another bowl filled with steaming soup.

"You may leave." Prachi said before RK could look up and as he did, he saw a different employee from before closing the cabin door behind him as he left.

"Well, I had assumed your extreme reactions should be over by now. And had ordered for another bowl in case you threw the first one, which you really did." Prachi turned her head towards him with an emotionless face.

"I would call that signs of a smart brain instead of a weak one. What about you?" Said she to an RK staring at her with dark, enraged eyes.

"Don't tire yourself with that anger too much, RK Sir." Prachi added when RK didn't speak. "How long do you want me to order you for food like this?"

RK gave a bitter laugh at that. He then got up from his chair swiftly and looked down at her with the same sense of superiority shining in his eyes again.

"Pathetic." He said in a low voice. "Your humour. Just like your face. Your insolence. Your existence. And your-" He trailed off, simultaneously sliding his fingers on the table beside him until they touched a hot object, which his fingers hit with force.

As RK trailed off mid sentence, Prachi suddenly heard the sound of something shattering. She turned her gaze towards the direction of the sound, only to find the olive porcelain bowl shattered on the floor beneath, with the hot liquid and boiled vegetables spilt all over the area.

She looked at RK, who gestured towards the fallen liquid with his eyes, with an intention to complete his half spoken sentence.

Prachi opened her mouth but the sudden ringing of her phone stopped her words. She pulled her phone out and seeing the caller ID, answered immediately.

"Yes, Sir."

RK almost immediately knew who it was and shook his head haughtily before returning to his chair.

"Prachi? Is everything fine there?" Aryan questioned from the other side of the cellphone.

"We're in the office, Sir. RK Sir's cabin." She informed.

"What? Didn't I tell you to try to keep him home for the day? What are you both doing there?" Aryan frowned, not realising his last question sounded a bit awkward.

"I did, Sir." Prachi said, answering his second question. "But he didn't listen."

She remembered his 'Do you take me to be an imbecile? You think your stupid words will be able to control my decisions? Wake up. And don't worry. No one will ever get to see the not so strong RK. Cuz that has existence only in your deplorable dreams.' when she had tried to stop him by agreeing with him.

RK was signing some papers by then. Not bothering to pay attention to the conversation even though he knew the subject was he himself.

"Well, I should have expected that. He never takes a leave for such reasons." Aryan spoke in an experienced tone. "Fine, then. Take care of him."

"Yes, Sir." She replied. Then ended the call.

"File, Miss Arora." RK said, as soon as she was off the phone. "Or out." 

Prachi opened the file in her hands and let her eyes scan through it. Apparently, protecting the Knight also involved protecting his little ego at times, as she herself had said to him once. And so, taking care of the Knight also involved taking care of his terrible temper at times.

As for Prachi, she didn't mind answering and enraging him at all. But maybe the bodyguard in her could offer that charity to a sick person she was protecting.

The day went by with Prachi still engaged in the dictionary-thick file on the couch at the side of the room, and RK going through different papers, signing things, staring at his computer screen for forever with his palm resting on the computer mouse and headphones covering his ears.

And through the times Prachi's peripheral vision took notice of RK, her alert self found him holding his head twice, coughing quite a few times, and resting his head at the back of his chair once, with his eyes closed, taking gentle breaths through his slightly parted lips for a while. And even twist one of his ankles once.

Seriously. What was wrong with admitting that you're sick? Imbecile? You do seem to be one.

The thought spontaneously floated in Prachi's mind before she went back to her task. A ringing of the telephone kept on RK's table lifted her gaze from the blue file. She saw RK pressing the receiver to his ear.

"Within a minute." Said he after a brief moment, then kept the handset back to its place.

And within a minute, a knock was heard on the cabin door. RK let the person in. People, actually. Three of the employees she recognised from the last meeting entered the room and greeted him. He indicates his thumb towards the couch where Prachi currently sat. She got up from her place, and the men moved to the assigned area with the registers and sheets in their hands.

RK too walked to the area shortly after them, and settled on the single sofa at the side while the three men took spots on the larger couch. Prachi moved and stood right behind RK. As soon as she did, the three men looked at her with hesitant looks.

"Begin." Instructed RK, sensing their hesitation. "As I've said to someone else as well today. Concentrate on your own work. I decide who is to stay where."

The men nodded with a 'Without a doubt, Sir.' and began with their meeting, which continued for another couple of hours. As the meeting was about to end, RK sent Prachi over to the other side of the room to arrange some papers he gave her onto one of the shelves.

Then he pointed out quite a few flaws in the merger proposals with other companies and some collaborations that had approached him, being presented by the three higher employees before him. 

And when everything was over, the men excused themselves and left the cabin with satisfaction. If there was one thing the people liked about their Boss, it was his professionalism after his music. Every opportunity to actually work with him taught them a lot, including the fact that they still had to learn a lot.

RK was finally done for the day. This meeting wasn't actually scheduled for today, but he had thought it would be better to finish it off since he had nothing else or much to do the entire day.

And now that the day was over, he felt exhausted. He finally freed his feet from the black leather shoes, wincing a little internally. Then rested his head on the headrest of the large sofa, relaxing his muscles a little before he would head for home.

Prachi heard the noise of the cabin door opening and closing and understood that the employees had left. She glanced behind her and saw RK opening his shoes, a slight flinch of his brow as he did so. Then proceeding to rest his head at the back. Prachi then turned her attention back to the sheets in her hand. Since she was still new to some shelves, it took her a few more minutes to arrange everything as per the data and alphabets. By the time she was done with her task, the working hours had come to an end.

She turned and saw RK sitting on the sofa in the same position. Walking towards him, she almost expected him to say her to go out again for probably interrupting his peace right now by arriving there.

However, RK didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at all and continued to sit there without any word of insult to her.

What a wildly mercurial creature.

Least interested in talking to her Boss, Prachi silently sat on the far end of the large couch at the centre beside RK's before grabbing the file she had earlier been working on from the shelf nearby and moving on with the task assigned to her.

It was not until a few minutes passed with her face dug into the file that her concentration flickered for a moment. Her brows creased ever so lightly as she lifted her head from the papers and looked sideways, her eyes resting on the only other person in the room apart from her, only to realise the Knight was actually sleeping, the sudden realisation owing to the faint snores her alert, trained ears caught almost immediately. His head falling to the side slightly as it lay on the soft covers. And eyes perfectly closed. Breathing softly. Everything about him unusually silent once again, for a second time since she had met him. Silent, peaceful.

Prachi couldn't help arching a brow at him. So now he dozes off. After working his sick fingers to the bone the entire day. Not an imbecile? Yeah, sure.

Not that anything of him concerned her, anyways. And so, not bothering to give the Knight anymore attention, she turned to her file once again.

Knock. Knock.

She heard the first interruption of the sheer silence the room had after about twenty minutes. And looked up to the door as it swung open without waiting for an answer.

The large glass sheet swayed back to its place, revealing Aryan entering the cabin.

As soon as Aryan stepped into the office room, his brows knit together seeing RK's large chair empty. He glanced around the room, and found Prachi sitting on the couch with a file, her head turned towards him. She got up from her seat as she saw him arriving. And RK sitting on one of the couches.

"RK." Aryan called him, something about him seeming busy.

His call was answered by silence for a long minute. When RK didn't seem to respond, he walked up to where the two other people in the big room were.

"RK?" Aryan looked at him, a hand on his waist. Prachi could tell the guy looked tired.

On still receiving no reply from his temperamental friend, Aryan looked at his silent figure in confusion. Why was he as silent as a sleeping person?

"He is asleep, Sir." Prachi answered when she realised RK wasn't really going to.

"Asleep?" Aryan was a bit puzzled. "Is he still not well?" Asked he. It was unlike RK to sleep at work, even though the working hours were technically over just fifteen minutes ago.

"I don't think he is." Prachi answered honestly in a flat tone.

Aryan turned towards RK again. Bending a little towards him, he forwarded his hand with an intention to shake him awake by the shoulders lightly. However, as he was about to touch his shoulder, the only feminine voice in the room spoke again.

"I apologise, Sir." Prachi began, stopping him and gathering his attention again.

"But RK Sir has had a long and busy day, as per my observation. And has tiredly fallen asleep only minutes ago. I think it should be better if you don't wake him up right now." She said in an emotionless voice, then added. "That is, if it's not something urgent, of course. You must know better."

Aryan hesitated for a minute, his hand still raised in the air, before he pulled it away from RK's sleeping form, straightening himself.

"Well, it's not something urgent, I guess." He said, looking at Prachi, then turning to RK for a brief moment, before looking at Prachi again.

"Tell him I've to go for a suddenly scheduled meeting with Mr. Malhotra from Peak Productions regarding a new proposal. The person he had scared the last time in the cafe. And should be back late." Then he looked at RK again.

"He cannot sleep here all night, though." He said, checking his watch.

5:20 pm.

"Please take him home when he wakes up." He said, addressing Prachi again. "If your working hours are over before he wakes, call me and just wait until I come. I'll try to come early."

She nodded firmly.

"And don't worry, I will pay you for the extra waiting hours too." Added Aryan.

Prachi gave a firm nod again.

Aryan gave RK a final look, before exiting the room. Not before ordering another 'Take care of him.' to Prachi.

Prachi gave RK a short silent look after Aryan left, before she sat on her previous place again and continued with her work.

Precisely fifteen minutes later, she heard a light coughing sound.

Tearing her gaze from the file again, she looked towards a sleeping RK once again. To find him coughing softly once. He then went back to sleep for the fraction of a second, before he contorted his face ever so slightly and shivered a little. He then coughed again.

Prachi just kept looking at his form silently. She then got up abruptly, leaving the file on the table before her, and walked towards the opposite direction from RK. Moving across the sizeable room, she halted her steps before the large glass window embedded in the cream walls, before gently sliding the window panes to a close, preventing the cool breeze of the evening of November from entering the room further.

She returned to her place, and almost immediately, RK coughed again.

Standing still for a moment while still looking at him, she walked upto him an stopped right before his chair.

Another minute passed by, before Prachi suddenly took her brown, cashmere jacket off and bent over him, placing it gently over his dark-grey varsity - her long hair tied at the back of her head through a black rubber-band softly falling on his face and neck as she did so.

RK moved a little at the contact and the new warm fragrance that had enveloped his unconscious self all of a sudden.

Prachi was still adjusting the thick jacket over him and was leaned towards him when she felt him move. And then say something in a muffled, husky voice, still not fully awake, that made her turn her face towards his with a blank look - their faces not really far from each other.

"Out. Miss Arora."

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Author's Note + Questions -

That was a long one, after long! Around 5K words. Congrats, you've read a lot in a go ;)

It's cold here, btw. Is it "hot" near you? How was the chapter's 'temperature' with that part? ;)

What was your favourite dialogue from today? :)

Which 'Out' was your favourite? 👀

Really hope you're enjoying the story so far. Many roller coaster rides waiting ahead :)

Any suggestions from your side?

Would love to know your thoughts on the above, if you want the chapters quicker!

Not proofread.

Really hope you liked it. Waiting for your feedbacks. Constructive criticism is welcomed as well.

ALSO,

20 chapters completed! Thanks a ton to all reading it and supporting it till now. It means a lot to me.

I was thinking of adding something short as a bonus after every twenty chapters. Should I? If yes, what do you suggest?

A. Unused scenes from the previous chapters (Scenes I wrote but didn't add)
B. A parallel of any one scene or conversation
C. A hidden scene (one taking place between the ones already written, but never actually shown yet)
D. A scene from the previous chapters, but replacing RK and Prachi's characteristics here with the actual ones from the show (og)
E. Something else, of your choice!

That's all.

Thank you for reading. Lots of love to all of you :)

Going out of the chapter now! Toodles :)

-Your Author