( 🚨 Really Long chapter ahead 🚨 )

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What was going on here? Why were there so many trucks lined up in front of the gym?

I saw some men in blue uniforms taking out huge cardboard boxes and gym equipments from the trucks and transporting them upstairs. I furrowed my eyebrows and thought of asking them what they were doing.

"Hey, Kid! Hurry up. I got lots of work for you." I looked up when Rajeev shouted from the balcony and went back.

I climbed the stairs while avoiding getting hit by the working men on my way. My eyes widened when I reached the first floor and got in my workplace. Everything was scattered all over the place and Rajeev was yelling orders at the two men who almost dropped a treadmill.

I approached him and tapped his shoulder from behind. He turned around and gave me a huge smile. He handed me the clipboard he was holding and told me to go back downstairs and cross-check the items being unloaded. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing but he rushed me out and got back at yelling at the workers.

I squeezed my way through the men and got down on the ground floor. I took an update from one of the workers and started my work. Man, there was so much material Rajeev had ordered. Did he win a lottery or something? I was sure the expense was in lakhs.

Halfway through my supervising, I noticed that the workers had gotten tired and their pace had also slowed down. I asked them for how long they had been working and was informed that it had been three hours of non-stop work. Some of them didn't even had lunch and were rushing to complete the task so that they could go and eat.

"Stop the work!" I announced.

"What happened, madam?" one of the men asked in worry.

"Hey! Why did you all stop? We still got lot of things to get upstairs," Rajeev's cousin complained.

"We are taking a break," I replied and told everyone to go to the gym.

They exchanged glances with each other and I told them to not worry. I followed them and Rajeev questioned few of them why they were here instead of working. They pointed towards me and I told them to make themselves comfortable.

"What are you doing, kid?" Rajeev asked.

"Chilling," I grinned as I sat down on one of the chairs.

"What?"

"Yup. All of them are working for so long without a break. They need a rest. Not everyone is strong like you. Also, I think that if we want to work efficiently, we should have our stomachs full." I patted my tummy and told him I was hungry.

Rajeev shook his head with a small smile and told the rest of the workers to halt the work. He then told his cousin to make a list of what everyone wanted to eat. His cousin did as ordered and everyone thanked him. I stopped him when he was leaving to buy the food and started telling him what I wanted to eat.

"Why aren't you writing it down?" I asked when I saw him just standing still.

"Who the hell are you to order me around?" he huffed.

"Excuse me?" I frowned.

"Don't act like you own this place." He stared at me coldly.

"Dhruv, get going already!" Rajeev yelled.

Dhruv nodded in response and pushed past me. What got into him? Hm? Maybe he was just exhausted with all the work. Rajeev must have grilled him too much.

After twenty minutes, Dhruv was back with all the food and thankfully, he didn't forget my share. I didn't know the reason why he was giving me the cold shoulder. I didn't remember doing any wrong to him.

After he had started helping Rajeev in the gym, I had only seen him few times and I didn't even know his name. He was lean, unlike his cousin and few inches taller than me. His hair was styled in a long quiff haircut, giving him a laid-off vibe.

I observed him as he distributed the food to the workers and the way he was treating them with respect, was really heartwarming. But whenever his eyes landed on me, he twisted his lips in distate.

Whatever. I should focus on the delicious samosa in my hand.

"Wow. I came at the right time," Ved announced as he entered the gym.

Great. Why was he here again?

"Ved bhaiyya!" Dhruv expressed his surprise and hugged him.

Ved ruffled his hair and Dhruv asked him to join the party. Ved told him to continue and glanced around him. He smirked when he spotted me and I cursed my luck. He strode in my direction and stopped in front of me.

I quickly moved my plate away but he managed to grab a sandwich and sat beside me. He grabbed my hand and dipped the sandwich in the tomato sauce from the plate. I gave him a stinky eye but he continued eating from my share and smiled like a kid.

Rajeev's cousin came and handed Ved a huge plate filled with various delicacies. It had kachoris, idlis, jalebi and a lot of samosas. Even though I had emptied my plate, my mouth was watering. So, I decided to grab some jalebi from Ved's plate.

( Kachoris👆)

( Jalebi👆)

( Idlis👆)

( Samosas👆)

Ved noticed when I tried to steal from him and swatted my hand away. I pouted when he refused to let me take some food. I got up to get some for myself but he pulled me back and moved the plate in front of me. I looked at him in shock.

Was Ved actually sharing his food?

"Eat or I will finish all of it," he said plainly.

I smiled inwardly and ate a piece from every dish. So yummy! I should ask Dhruv from where he bought all the items. They were finger licking good.

After everyone was done eating, Rajeev informed that Dhruv would be taking over my work and I had to get started with the paperwork. He brought me all the registers and forms that needed to be sorted out along with the bills that had to be calculated.

I sat on the reception while he went in his cabin to discuss something with the person who was in-charge of the trucks. I took a register and began sorting out the forms; dividing them as per new and old enrollments.

Rajeev's gym was really popular and now that he was conducting self defence classes also, it had attracted a lot of attention.

Ved roamed around for a bit and checked the new equipments. Then he went in the cabin and called Rajeev out. They both discussed about the prices for sometime and Rajeev went back in his cabin. Ved surveillanced the work here as Dhruv managed it downstairs.

As for me, I was tired from rewriting all the details and checking it with the data in the computer. There were a lot of minor mistakes in the calculations, which if neglected would result in a big loss for the gym. I made a new folder and started counting all the bills from the scratch.

I felt a presence beside me and then something cold touched my left cheek. I moved my head and saw Ved holding a coke can in his hand. He told me Rajeev had asked him to give it to me.

I nodded and after taking few sips from the can, I put it to my right side, away from the documents. Ved removed some papers from the desk and sat on it while sipping his drink.

"What are you doing?" He nudged me with his left knee.

"Work," I replied nonchalantly.

He nudged me again but I ignored him. He pulled my hair and I scolded him to not disturb me. He stopped when I told him that I was doing some really important work and if I messed it up, Rajeev wouldn't be happy about losing his money.

Surprisingly, Ved didn't irritate me and sat still like an obedient child. But, I should have know better.

"Sandhya."

"What?"

"Why is your hand so small?"

I diverted my gaze away from the papers I was working on and saw him holding my left hand. He placed his palm against mine and grinned.

"Your fingers are small too," he commented.

Was he serious right now?

"Of course my hand will be smaller than yours, dumbo. I am a girl," I deadpanned as I put some bills in the folder.

I tried to snatch my hand away but he held it in a strong grip and continued playing with my fingers. I narrowed my eyes at him but he gave me an innocent look. I shook my head at him. If I started arguing with him, I would never be able to finish my work in time.

After few minutes, I sensed him rubbing my wrist with his fingers but I didn't complain, because whatever pain I was feeling in that area was fading away. Parth had told me to not put stress on my wrist and I was following his advice. I would be able to remove the bandage after two days.

"Can I get my hand back?" I asked.

"Hand me the money first," he replied.

"What money?"

"For the massage."

"I didn't ask for it. You did it yourself."

"Whatever." He left my hand and I began typing on the computer.

Ved took out his phone from his pocket and started playing games. I was almost done with the calculations and only needed to update them online.

I rang up some gym members and rescheduled their timings since gym would be closed for two more days because of the renovation. Then, I started writing down some rough details in a notepad but made a mistake.

"Eraser.....where is my eraser?" I searched for it but couldn't find it.

"Ved, give me my eraser," I told him.

"Don't have it," he replied without looking at me.

"You must be sitting on it. Move your butt."

He got up but there was no eraser. Where did it go? Ved sat back on his spot and continued playing on his phone. I searched for it again and when I couldn't find it, asked Rajeev for an extra. He threw me one from his cabin and I thanked him.

"Excuse me?" I heard a male voice.

"Yes? How may I help you?" I asked and saw a guy in a grey t-shirt and denims, glancing around.

He seemed familiar.

"I want to talk to the owner," he replied.

"He is busy right now but you can wait there." I motioned towards the chairs. "I will inform him about you. May I know your name?"

"Jagdeep Singh."

"Thank you, Jagdeep. Please take a seat and sorry for the mess."

I rang up Rajeev and informed him about the new guy. He told me to let him in after ten minutes and I passed the message to Jadgeep. Meanwhile, I asked him if he wanted something to drink. He settled for a coffee and I got up to make some for him.

I gave him his coffee and got back on my seat. I knew I had seen him somewhere but couldn't pinpoint where. I stared at him, trying to retrieve the memory.

Think, Sandhya. Think.

I tried to remember hard and then the bulb lit up. He was the guy who had saved me that day from crashing into a car. I had spotted him outside the gym and..... he was with Mahek.

"Do you know him?" Ved asked.

"Nope," I lied as I saw Jagdeep getting up and entering the cabin.

"Then why were you staring at him?"

How did he know? Wasn't he busy in his phone?

Ved turned his head towards me and I quirked up an eyebrow in question. He didn't say anything else, so I looked away and waited for Jagdeep to return. I would talk to him myself. I ignored Ved's curious stare and completed my work.

Half an hour later, Rajeev came out of his cabin with a big smile on his face. He shook hands with Jagdeep and thanked him for showing interest in investing in his business. The latter left after exchanging few more words and I rushed after him.

I stopped him before he went too far. He was surprised when I recounted that he had saved me from an accident few months back. I said my thanks and he nodded in response.

I asked him about Mahek and he got confused. I showed him her picture and he narrowed his eyes at it. He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"You don't know her?" I asked in disbelief.

"I remember her but her name was not Mahek," he replied.

"What?"

"Yeah. I think her name was.... Rohini? No. It wasn't that. Oh, got it. Her name was Riya."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Can you tell me how you met her?"

He ran a hand through his hair and told me in a low voice that it was kind of complicated. He looked embarassed. He said he wasn't supposed to share such information with outsiders.

"But why are asking about her? Is there a problem?" he asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Umm.... I am... I am just a girl who is worried about her friend," I lied and acted like I would cry any minute.

Who said you can't learn few tricks from your enemy?

"I respect your concern but I really can't reveal much about it. Hope you understand," he said in a worried tone.

"Oh.... it's okay. I understand. Thank you," I replied.

"I am getting late. Gotta leave. Bye," he said and left.

Riya? Seriously?

So, Mahek was using different names also. Jagdeep said he couldn't reveal much on the topic but what exactly was he talking about? I wanted to ask him for his phone number but it would have been too much for our first meeting.

I went back to the gym and saw that all the work was done. The place was still messed up but it would get back in shape in two days. I picked up the registers and went in Rajeev's cabin to put them back in the shelves. But Rajeev gave me a huge box and told me to transfer all the documents in it.

He would keep it in the safe until the renovation ended. I did as he said and began filling up the box. He left to attend an urgent call and informed he would be back in few minutes.

"So, did you get his number?" I heard Ved's voice behind me.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked as I put a red folder in the box.

"The guy you ran after." His voice was laced with a tinge of mockery.

"Yup. I got it."

"You interested in him?"

"Nope."

"Then, why did you take his number?"

"I didn't."

Ved grabbed my shoulders and turned me towards him.

"Are you playing games, Sandhya?" He stared me down.

What happened to him?

"Relax, Ved. Why are you so serious?" I asked and removed his hands from my shoulders.

"Don't mess around, Sandy Pandy. He is Rajeev bhaiyya's client," he said in a cold tone.

"Why are you bringing Rajeev in?" I retorted.

"Don't hurt him like you hurt Nikhil."

"I did not hurt him!" I shouted and fisted my hands.

Why did he had to bring that topic again? He got his friend back. Wasn't he satisfied already?

"Leave me alone, I got work to do," I said and continued with my work while Ved stood at one spot, shooting daggers at me.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"Of course not! Why are you still standing here? Go." I moved to get files from other shelf.

"You really care about him?"

"Yes. He is my friend even if he doesn't think so." I gripped the folders in my hand tightly when Nikhil's face flashed in front of my eyes.

I shook the sad thoughts away and threw the folders in the box.

"You still worry for him even after he mistreated you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Because if I had done so, I might have ended up crying and I didn't want to cry in front of Ved. I didn't want to show him I was weak.

"Would you have cared if I was your friend too?"

"I don't care about you, Ved." The words slipped out of my mouth without much thought as I picked up the box and faced him.

"You never did anyways," Ved said plaintively and looked at me with hurtful eyes.

I opened my mouth to reply but he took out something from his pocket and threw it at me. It hit me square on the forehead, bounced off and landed on the floor.

It was my missing eraser!

Ved glared at me for few seconds and stormed out of the cabin. Rajeev stopped him on his way but Ved shook his head and strode away.

"What happened to him?" Rajeev asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

I put the box in the safe and took my leave. Dhruv had already left and Rajeev would also leave after he was done packing up rest of the things here. I took the stairs and after walking for few minutes, reached my bus stop.

Stop thinking about it, Sandhya.

I wanted to stop worrying over it but Ved sounded so serious. Why did he look so hurt? Did I say something too harsh? But what was new in that?

I should stop fussing over it unnecessarily. I got better things to focus on.