Chapter 3

One week later Niyati arrived at J&K securities to meet with Shane. It had been one of the longest and toughest weeks for her. Starting with reading of her grandparent's will. The discussion regarding her younger sister's marriage arrangements hadn't gone well either. And then there had been the problems with several hotels owned by their corporation.

She decided to tackle the hotel problems first hence her visit to Shane at his firm instead of his home.

The receptionist looked up when the Niyati walked up to her desk, "May I help you?" She asked pleasantly.

"Yes, my name is Niyati Gupta. I am here to see Shane Jackson please."

The receptionist stood up immediately and came around her desk, "Please follow me." Shane must have asked receptionist to bring her in as soon as she showed up.

Niyati looked around the building as the receptionist led her through a room with set of several cubicles and offices. She stopped in front of another set of double doors and knocked then waited for a moment before opening the door.

"Mr. Jackson, there is someone here to see you."

Shane looked past the receptionist and grinned widely when he spotted Niyati near the door. He jumped up from his seat immediately and walked towards her.

"Hey beautiful, you are finally here. Why didn't you call me when you got into town?"

Before she could respond Shane embraced her into his arms to hug her. She just shook her head and smiled at her friend's antics as she hugged him back. "It's been a busy week." She was unaware that two other people sitting in the room were witnessing her reunion with her friend.

Shane stepped back, "Okay, I am just glad you are finally here. Let me introduce you to my partners."

"Niyati, what are you doing here?"

Shane put his hands in his slack pockets and rocked on his heels with a raised eyebrow while Alisha gave Varun a sharp look. Niyati was too stunned to respond.

"Do you know her?" Alisha snapped.

Varun realized he spoke without thinking and felt awkward. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Yeah, she is my sister's best friend." He smacked himself mentally when he saw pain flicker in Niyati's eyes before she looked away.

Shane took her arm and stepped forward, "Niyati, meet Alisha Tandon and you already know Varun it seems."

Niyati gave Alisha a fleeting smile and held out her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Alisha shook her hand and gave her a hard look before releasing her hand quickly. She was surprised by the flash of animosity in Alisha's eyes and wondered at the reason for it.

She shrugged away the feeling and turned to Varun, "It is nice to see you again." He nodded his head then an awkward silence settled in the room.

Shane shook his head in bafflement then turned to Niyati to break the uneasy silence in the room. "Let's talk in my office before we get down to offering you our services.

She followed Shane out of the room and waited until they were in a privacy of his office before giving him an inquiring look.

He felt her gaze on him and turned to Niyati to give her a similar look. "You want to say something?"

"I am wondering what you are up to." She leaned against his desk.

He placed his hand over his heart, "You wound me beautiful. I am not up to anything." Before she got too curious Shane changed the subject. "So how did the big meeting go?"

Niyati sighed at the reminder of her parents and their respective family. She shrugged her shoulders and moved away from the desk. "As expected. They are unhappy that I inherited the bulk of the business and fifty percent of shares of the company."

Shane whistled under his breath, "Your grandmother's didn't do you any favors, did they?"

"No they didn't. I respect their decision to keep the joint corporation but did they have to burden me with rest of it too?" She felt ashamed of the disrespectful thought but she couldn't help it.

She did not want the responsibility of the family. She didn't understand why her grandparent's didn't split the company in half the minute her parents divorced.

Her grandmothers had both passed away within a year of each other leaving their wills as they were which meant that Niyati inherited twenty five percent from each of her grandmothers making her the controlling owner of the company and the care taker of all of her siblings trust funds.

And her family resented her for that more than anything else.

***

"What is he up to now?" Alisha muttered under her breath not realizing that her voice carried over to the man sitting across the long table from her. Varun looked up from the file he had been staring at for the past twenty minutes.

"That is a million dollar question."

Alisha's head snapped up at Varun's reply. She frowned. "Why do you think he brought one of his floozies here to introduce her to us?"

"First of all she is not one of my floozies, as you put it," said a very cold voice from the door. Varun and Alisha both looked at Shane. "She happens to be a very smart and intelligent businesswoman and yes a very special friend of mine. And she happens to need our services at the moment."

Alisha rolled her eyes, "And we all know just how special your women friends are don't we?" Shane's eyes flared in anger.

"Don't claim to know something you know nothing about."

For a moment Alisha and Varun were both taken aback by the cold look in Shane's eyes and the iciness of his voice. As long as they have known him they had never witnessed this side of him on a personal level. His serious personality was usually reserved for the clients they dealt with on a daily basis.

"Why shouldn't I say something Shane? I am also part of this firm and what you do and don't do affects me too." Alisha said as she stood up and glared at Shane. She couldn't back down now. Her temper was her worst enemy when it came to him.

She didn't know where the anger within her was coming from, it's not like she hadn't seen Shane with other women before but for some reason this, particular woman of his, was rubbing her the wrong way and she couldn't hold back her words.

"Whether you like it or not Alisha, Niyati is going to be our client not only because she is my special friend but she happens to need us the most right now so deal with it or get out. Shane turned to walk away then turned back towards. "And another thing, keep your personal opinions about her to yourself and act like the professional that you are."

Varun was shocked by Shane's reaction to Alisha's comment. Never had he seen Shane react the way he had just reacted in all the years he had known him. In the past whenever Alisha taunted him about one of his women he would laugh it off and play along just to get her to react. For the first time he had seen Shane lose his temper regarding a personal matter.

Alisha was too stunned to react. She looked towards Varun, "How well do you know this woman?"

Varun's head swung towards Alisha. "How well did he know Niyati?" His conscious dared him to tell her just how well he knew Niyati. He wondered how she would react if he told her the bitter truth of his past with Niyati. In the end, though, he was too ashamed to reveal anything and went with a safe answer.

"Well enough to know that your opinion of her is totally wrong." He held up his hand when she started to speak. "Don't lump her with Shane's other women friends. She is very smart and intelligent as he said but she is also one of the nicest people I have ever known."

Too bad he hadn't realized her true worth when it had counted or when it had mattered. He wondered what cruel joke fate is playing with him now. Was there something more between Shane and Niyati?

For rest of the day he concentrated on work and put his curiosity aside. It wasn't until he was at home, alone when the memories resurfaced and he remembered the first time he had met Niyati, almost eight years ago.

He took a sip of his cold beer as he thought about the first with a girl who had intrigued and attracted him as well as scared him.

Once Niyati had finished putting things away in her house she poured herself a glass of wine and headed for her favorite spot. She leaned against the railing on the balcony as her mind wandered back to the past and the day she had met Varun for the first time.

***

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