Chapter 5

Present..

Varun snapped out of his memories of the past at the shrill sound of his phone. He frowned when he saw Shane's name flash on the caller ID, "Yeah, Shane?"

"We have to meet with Niyati at her office tomorrow to discuss what she needs from us and work on the contracts." Shane quickly gave him the details of what Niyati will be requiring of them and confirmed the time of the meeting before hanging up.

Niyati confirmed the appointment time with Shane then hung up the phone and gazed out at the night. If she had known Varun was Shane's partner she would never have approached his firm.

She sighed, whether she liked it or not she will have to work with him for the sake of her company.

Shane disconnected the call and grinned, "What are you so happy about?" Asked a sarcastic voice from behind him.

He turned towards Alisha who was staring at him with a scowl, "You wouldn't understand."

"As if I want to understand you." She was still smarting from his warning earlier.

He followed her to her office, "Are you jealous?"

"Me? Jealous of you?" She scoffed at him, "Like hell," she muttered under her breath and turned away quickly before he could read the truth in her face.

She would never admit to herself let alone him but if she were to be honest she had felt the green monster awaken within her recently. She knew exactly when she started feeling the restlessness. It was two weeks ago when she had heard him conversing on the phone. She had ignored the unease until she met Niyati this morning and realized he had been talking to her two weeks ago.

Alisha and Shane had met two years ago at a charity ball for the police force. She had been a detective with Baltimore police and he had been in the process of opening his first security firm with Varun.

She didn't know him personally but his reputation had preceded him and initially that had made her weary of him. He had asked her out on a date several times and each time she had declined, but she had instantly taken the job he offered her with his firm.

Over the past two years she had gotten to know him better and found that there was more to Shane Jackson than what he showed to the world. Her feelings towards him changed significantly and up until few months ago he had still asked her out occasionally but no more.

Had she taken him for granted? Why does it matter now? He finally gave up on her but why does that hurt? Like it or not Alisha is going to have to face the consequences of her decision to not get involved with Shane personally.

***

Next morning Varun pulled up at Niyati's office, at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel in downtown, fifteen minutes before the appointment time. After speaking to Shane he had familiarized himself with all the hotels owned by G&S corporations. There are five in all in Baltimore and other few scattered around the United States.

Shane had brought him up to date on happenings at the Hotels and what Niyati is going to need from them. They definitely had their work cut out for them as far as the job goes, but that is not the only reason Varun showed up for the meeting earlier than the scheduled time. He had some personal issues with her that needs to be dealt with and he is hoping to speak to her before they get down to business.

From her office, on the top floor of the hotel, Niyati watched Varun disappear into the lobby. She had been at the window admiring the view of the harbor when she saw him step out of his car and look around.

He looked just as, if not more, handsome as he had that first time she met him. That first Christmas break, with Nidhi's family, had left a deep impact on Niyati. She had tried her best to stay out of Varun's way once she and Nidhi moved in together but it not been possible all the time.

For the first few months Niyati had stayed away whenever he visited Nidhi, giving him the space he needed, to spend time with his sister, without her presence. It had taken him time to accept her as Nidhi's friend.

And she should have continued to stay away from him. She shouldn't have accepted the marriage proposal. She knew better than to think that someone like him could love her. He obviously saw the same flaw in her that her parents had seen in her. How can she expect other people to love her when the ones who gave birth to her couldn't love her and continued to ignore her presence?

Stop feeling sorry for yourself Niyati! So what if your parent's don't love you? Your grandparents loved you. Nidhi also loved you like a sister but you cut off all ties with her too.

Shaking her head to silence the thoughts in her head she turned towards her desk. Yes, her grandparent's loved her in their own way but with their deaths she is now beginning to think that her grandparent's had their own agenda in taking her in when she was a teenager. All her grandmothers had wanted to do was punish their children for defying them and continue to punish them even after their death.

She felt guilty for thinking like that but she can't help but feel as though people that she had loved the most were also punishing her as well as her parents. She wanted to run like she had five years ago to avoid dealing with all that is happening in her life but she refused to quit this time. She needed to end all ties and start her life fresh and she can't do that until she has dealt with everything.

As for Nidhi, she will always regret cutting all ties with her but at the time she felt as though she had no choice. Niyati will forever be grateful to Nidhi for being there for her in her sorrows and happiness. She had truly missed her best friend when first her Nani (maternal grandmother) and most recently her Dadi (paternal grandmother) passed away. She is truly on her own now.

She shook of the grief over the loss of her last grandparent, composed herself then took a seat at her desk. As expected her phone buzzed just as she opened a file. She picked up the phone and asked her assistant to show Varun to her office.

She took several deep breaths to calm her fluttering heart. She had tried her best to remove him from her heart but failed miserably. She just hoped she is better at dealing with her emotions this time than she had been five years ago.

Her cell phone rang just as her assistant escorted Varun into the office. She thought about ignoring it but picked it up when she saw Shane's name flash across the screen.

"Hey handsome, where are you?" From the corner of her eye she saw Varun frown at her greeting for Shane.

The man in question leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Hey beautiful, I am running a little late but I expect my partner to be there before time."

"He is already here." Niyati's reply made Shane grin.

"Good, you two get started, Alisha and I will be there as soon as we can." He quickly bid her goodbye and hung up the phone before she could question him further.

He knew both Niyati and Varun would never forgive him for manipulating them but it had to be done. It was time for them to face each other and put the past behind them.

Niyati placed the phone back on her desk and turned towards Varun. "It seems Shane is running late. He wants us to get started, he will join us as soon as he can."

Varun nodded then looked around at Niyati's office. Besides the hand crafter solid wood desk and the leather chair there was a sofa and table in one corner of the room. The whole back wall was floor to ceiling glass with a beautiful view of the Baltimore harbor.

"Would you like some coffee?"

Varun had come with intention of talking to Niyati about their past but at last moment he lost courage. Too much had happened between them to just forget and forgive in one conversation. This is not the time, nor the place to clear the air regarding their past. He shook his head. "Shall we get started?"

Niyati pulled out stack of files from her desk drawer and placed them in front of her then hesitated for a moment. There was something she needed to ask him before they got started.

"How are your parents and Nidhi?"

Varun was glad for the opening, "My parents are good. Dad is retired so they travel half the year. As for Nidhi, she is also fine. Proud mother of a three month old baby girl."

"Wow, she must be very happy." Niyati felt twig of pain in her heart but ignored it.

"She is, but I am sure she misses you. Why didn't you stay in touch?"

"I felt it was best to cut all ties."

An awkward silence settled into the room at her simple statement and neither knew how to break it. Before they could figure out how to cut the tension in the room, the door to Niyati's office slammed open.

Varun stood up and turned just as beautiful woman in her early fifties with graying hair, dressed in dress pants, Kurti and a scarf around her neck walked in angrily. He recognized her as Niyati's mother and was just about to greet her but she ignored him and walked past him to stand in front of Niyati.

He turned his head to see Niyati's assistant hovering near the door with an apologetic look on her face. After a few seconds she left and closed the door behind her.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" Varun was surprised at the formal way Niyati greeted her mother.

"How dare you hire a wedding planner without asking me or Pooja?"

Niyati had been expecting this but not this soon. She was hoping this confrontation took place in more private setting but now she has no choice but to talk to her mother.

"I chose the wedding planner from the list Pooja provided me mother. And besides that we need to stay within budget so I chose accordingly and I spoke with Pooja but obviously she didn't tell you this."

"It is her marriage and the last decision should have been hers, not yours." Her mother spat out angrily. "Your letting your positions get to your head."

As usual her mother only heard what she wanted to hear, god forbid her mother would take her side against her other darling daughter.

"I don't want to hear about the budget, I expect you to fulfill all of her wishes on her special day, the least your grandmother could have done was leave my kids their own money instead of leaving you in control of everything." With these bitter words her mother exited just as dramatically as she had entered, slamming the office door behind her.

Niyati turned to Varun but before she could speak the door opened again. This time an older gentleman with distinguish looks walked into the office unannounced.

"Niyati what is this I am hearing about you hiring a new security firm and auditors for all the hotels?"

"Good morning Father," Manav Gupta waved aside his daughter's greeting and crossed his arms.

"Well, are you going to answer me? Don't you think you should have consulted me before you hired someone for my hotel?"

Niyati tried to stay calm but it was impossible, "Yes father, I am hiring auditors and new security firm for all of our hotels. The reports I have gotten for the past few months are not good. All of our hotels are losing business not to mention the unexplained damages to three of our properties including this one."

Her father's face turned red in anger. "What are you implying? That we don't know how to run your precious hotels?"

"I am not saying that at all father, and they are also your hotels. I just want to know what is going on and fix the problem. It is for the good of our company."

Her father laughed bitterly, "I own a measly twenty-five percent of this so called company. Frankly speaking I don't give a damn about it. Do what you want with it." He too walked out as dramatically as her mother.

Varun was stunned. He knew Niyati had never been close to her parent's but he did not expect them to treat her the way they just treated her. They almost acted like they hated her. Why?

He watched her flinch when her office door opened again, but this time it was Shane who walked in with Alisha right behind him.

"Hey beautiful I am here. Hope I didn't keep you two waiting for too long." Niyati attempted to smile at him but Shane saw right thru it.

He immediately became serious and went straight to her. Forgetting that two other people were in room with them, he wrapped his arms around her for a hug. "Bad morning?"

Niyati buried her face in Shane's chest and nodded, "The worst."

He moved her back and studied her for a moment. "Told you to take few days off before taking on all the headaches."

She moved away from him, "I know. Are you sure you want to take me on as a client because it only gets worse."

Varun's face was blank as he looked back at her. She had always had a hard time figuring out what he was thinking. Alisha on the other hand looked angry and was shooting daggers at her. Niyati once again wondered why Alisha didn't like her.

"Of course we are still going to take you on as a client." Shane reassured her. He glanced at Varun then at Alisha and smiled. Oh yes, this is going to be fun, he thought.

At the same time he was also worried for Niyati but he didn't show it. The report he had gotten on her stepfather was not good but he will keep it to himself until everything is official.

They spent rest of the morning creating a contract and going over what all Niyati had gotten from various employees of the hotel. Once the contract is signed both Varun and Shane will investigate the matter themselves instead of putting one of their employees on the job.

Alisha agreed to help out although bit reluctantly. She may not like Niyati because of her closeness to Shane but she loved her job.

***

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