Chapter 2 - Attitude Problems

My best friend and I had a long plane ride to New York City. We were both nervous and impatient. The Air India flight was crowded and rowdy, causing us agitation, especially when our ears almost popped out of our heads during the landing.

"Remind me next time to never ride this plane," Piya muttered as she glared at the people around us. Most of them behaved so rudely or uncivilized to the degree where our exasperation hit the boiling point.

"Just ignore them. But we should most definitely ride another plane," I agreed.

She nodded and tucked her bust length dark hair in a mini bun. Compared to her, my belly-button long hair seemed too long. Normally, I kept my hair in a braid or in a ponytail. Leaving hair out bothered me tremendously, considering the dreadful Delhi heat which was overwhelming and resulting in a sweaty body, therefore allowing my long hair to cling to my face, neck, or even arms, sometimes.

I could just imagine how attractive I looked.

"By the way, I did some research on the Khurana company," Piya grinned.

"Really? Anything important?"

"So, the C.E.O is Rahul Khurana, the one and only son of Mr. Randhir Khurana," she began excitedly. "The company has loads of acquisitions other than fashion. The younger Khurana takes care of everything. They say he's a strict business man, but one of the hottest N.R.I men!"

"Piya, we already established that from his picture," I stated, rolling my eyes. "And this is just a business deal. We won't ever see him afterwards, so let's not hope too high."

"Hopes are all I got," she muttered.

After her previous breakup, the twenty-four year old friend of mine had a difficult time moving on. She acted carefree and normal, but I knew sometimes she wished she had that one special guy. I said nothing and put on my headphones to relieve my ears somewhat from the awful flight. Piya was busy clicking through different movies at the last moment. Mostly romantic comedies. It was probably to distract herself.

Although the both of us were Bollywood obsessed freaks, when it came to real life, we knew what reality had set for us.

The plane ride was the most tiring journey ever. Once we reached our city, Piya and I only cared about getting inside the hotel booked for us. We couldn't even be bothered to awe at everything in New York City. Genuinely, seeing other Indians brought relief.

Furthermore, there were abundant skyscrapers and billboards running down the street. It was night time when we arrived at the city, so we happened to watch the light pollution on our first day. Everything was really glamorous and TV-like, but we surrendered our gawking, when the jet lag hit.

Our cab took us directly to the hotel we were going to reside at for two weeks max or less (depending on the deal).

Once at the hotel, Piya and I ate dinner--some noodles with soup--and went straight to sleep.

We had a big day ahead of us.

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"Wow, this company's huge!" Piya said in a mesmerized tone.

I couldn't agree more.

We stared at huge building that was completely made of glass. I had to lift my face all the way up to see the top. There was a huge logo "Khurana Designs" in the middle.

Moreover, the shining blue glass tiles reflected us back when we entered the building. Inside, everything was similar to what we had in our Delhi office with the cabins, receptionist, etc. Majority of the employees held coffee mugs and ate breakfast while chatting with their friends. A mixture of ethnicities amazed me.

We had one Assamese guy in my company and people gawked at him mistakenly thinking he was Chinese.

In fact, he was a part of our group today.

"I am so nervous," I said more to myself than to Piyali and the crew. "Babaji (God), please help us."

"Same," Piyali muttered. "Tell your Babaji to keep an eye on me, too."

I slightly chuckled at my friend and we approached the front desk where a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman sat, attending calls. She had a dark red blazer with the same color skirt on. Neat and professional.

My own black skirt and black blazer didn't seem too off. The button down white shirt I wore was a little tight, but still tolerable. Piya was dressed in a black dress which stopped slightly above her knees. Her high heels clicked until she haltedby my side. But it was normal for her. Short people wore heels. I was too tall for those, sadly. She wore a black blazer on top to look more presentable. Plus, November was a freezing time in New York.

The four guys in our group all wore dress shirts, black ties, and black pants.

We looked more like a professional funeral team.

"How may I help you?" the receptionist asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. At first, her accent made it a bit hard to comprehend what she was saying. But my friend and I managed.

"We have an appointment with Mr. Rahul Khurana at nine," Piya replied with a smile.

"Oh, right," the woman smiled and typed something in on the computer in front of her. "The Delhi team. We have you checked in. Mr. Khurana will be here soon."

"He isn't here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's nine."

Tardiness never impressed me.

"Sorry, ma'am. I have no idea why your appointment is at this time. Usually, Mr. Rahul Khurana arrives here at ten and then everything's taken care of. Someone probably made a mistake. Sorry." She shrugged, giving me an I-can't-do-anything look.

"It's fine. We under--"

"I'm here," an unfamiliar, male voice said behind us, cutting me off.

Piya and I turned to find a cool, confident looking man in front us. His black hair was a little messy, but that seemed intentional. His light brown eyes seemed cold and exhausted. I immediately recognized him as Rahul Khurana. The grim expression mimicked the one in the magazine. Overall, he was attractive, but gave off a no one-bother-approaching-me vibe.

People around us seemed surprised to see him. They quickly shuffled to appear busy. "Mr. Khurana, you're here at nine . . . ?" the receptionist said behind us. It seemed more like a question than a statement.

"Do you have a problem, Caroline?" Rahul Khurana asked rudely.

"Not at all, sir. The Delhi representatives had an appoint--"

"I'm aware," he cut her off. She fell silent, immediately. Mr. Rahul Khurana turned to us and said, "Follow me, please."

At least, he used the magic word.

We trailed behind him, a little put off by his attitude already. The tall man took longer strides than us, thus, making it difficult for us girls to keep up.

The four guys kept up with him as if trying to win him over this way.

"Does he have a problem with walking slowly?" I whispered to Piya as I glared at the back of the C.E.O.

"Maybe he wants to get to his office quickly or something," she reasoned.

"Ladies, hurry!" he snapped in front of us.

"We're not Usain Bolt." I couldn't help but say. Actually, I couldn't even be compared to the fastest man alive because of how lazy I was.

"Indians," he muttered. "Can't do anything official on time."

He was the one running late!

What a kamina (rascal)!

I opened my mouth to object when Piya pressed her hand on my forearm and gestured not to make matters worse.

We nearly jogged as he got into an elevator. Piya was too busy observing the C.E.O. She exchanged an impressed look with me at Mr. Khurana's features. He was definitely good-looking, though his personality struck me as brutish. It only took about ten seconds for us to reach our destination. Once we were inside the huge office room, we collected ourselves. He sat on one side of his desk while the rest of us on the opposite.

Piyali and I sat as team leaders while the guys remained standing.

"So, I've been told you two have been sent by the Mehra company to fix some deal with us, correct?" he asked as he opened up the laptop that rested on his desk. He started typing.

"Yes," Piyali said and I nodded.

"All right. I'm going to clear this up right now so you guys can take the next flight back home," he said, meeting our eyes. "Khurana company currently has better deals from various suppliers in China and Taiwan. We're not looking for any offers from an Indian company. So, please return and tell your bosses to find someone else." His eyes focused back on his laptop.

We gave him shocked looks. "But Mr. Khurana, do understand the fact that we haven't even discussed anything, yet," I told him.

His light brown eyes met my dark ones. "True. But do understand the fact that I don't wish to negotiate at this time. The only reason you're here is beca of my father who was once friends with Rakesh Mehra. I don't see a need to expand with other suppliers."

"We're offering you a chance to raise your profits," I told him.

"Doesn't matter," he said and turned back to his laptop.

Rude rascal!

"Mr. Khurana, you have to hear us out," Piya finally spoke. "We even brought a few samples. If we can negotiate something now, your team can check out our factories in India and see what we more we can offer."

"I don't care. Where do I write that? Just so you know, I have a meeting in eight minutes. I recommend you leave soon," he said calmly.

"Excuse me?" I said, offended. He snapped his laptop shut and met my eyes. "What was the point of calling us here all the way from India for such treatment? Will you compensate for the money spent on flight tickets and the time spent creating an entire proposal?" I snapped. My anger was rising--probably from the fact that my job was at stake here.

"Ms. Preet Saini, you're in my office, right now. Here, only my rules are enacted," he said calmly though I could tell his anger was rising. "I told you my father is responsible for all this. He has handed me the company and now I make all the deals. Leave."

"No," I said calmly. Piya gave me a scared look. I could apprehend how desperately she wished to scoot out of here. Although I was on the same boat, I didn't come to the States to get shipped out within twenty-four hours.

"Excuse me?" Rahul Khurana said in disbelief. He was giving me another chance to fix my mistake.

But I wasn't giving in that easily.

"I said no, Mr. Khurana. You have to hear us out."

He pursed his lips, but his eyes . . . the rage in them actually scared me. In less than a minute, he stood up. "Get out."

My best friend nodded nervously and looked at me. "Let's go," she said, nodding towards the door.

My team also silently pleaded me to step out. We didn't know what was wrong with this man.

I got up with Piyali and before we headed out, I made sure to meet his eyes and said, "We will be reaching out to the party responsible for today's humiliation. Thanks for your time."

He said nothing.

Bloody inconsiderate boss.

On our way out, Bhim, my colleague from Assam, said, "What do we do now? I don't want to go back home so soon."

"I'll find Rahul Khurana's father's contact number," said Dheeraj. "We'll figure out a way." I could depend on him to keep focused.

Jai and Faizal said they'd keep in touch with our Delhi team and see what response they'll give us.

That left Piyali and I to rework our proposal and see what were the best prices we could offer.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Khurana had to give us another chance. That meant, it was going to be a first and last opportunity to show our prices and offers.

I really wanted today to be a good day.

On our way back, Piyali whispered, "I can't believe he wasn't taken aback by my looks. I was expecting a filmy scene."

I couldn't help but laugh.

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What did you all think of the chapter? Did you like Rahul Khurana?

Did anyone feel bad for Preet and Piyali?

Please help support my story with votes and/or comments. It's very encouraging! Pretty please.

Thank you.

--K-Kiran