''How are you bhai?'' Rudra huffed at the sugar coated voice of his first cousin Jhanvi. He was aware she was here because she needed a favour .

''What do you want?''

''Some cash''

''How  much is some?''

''about 20k.'' Jhanvi  demanded without caring that she sounded selfish. But more than her, it was Rudra to be blamed. He had secluded himself all around him, other than Vishal he had no one to call his own.  This is how he had been bought up, his parents left him in the care of governess , not being able to solve their own issues. When they separated, they again fought over money and not him. Young Rudra understood that money held the power, he dedicated his life to be financially strong, to grow bigger than his dad. Now, when he finally achieved it, he enjoyed the power money gave him over others but it also left him alone among his own

Rudra pulled open his drawer , he picked up a bundle and handed it to Jhanvi, ''You didn't come here to ask about my well being. It was all about this right?'' he taunted pointing towards the currency notes

Jhanvi locked her eyes with his, ''yes, and why are you blaming me. You pushed all away substituting emotions with money. I wasn't like this, you wanted this so stop blaming others.'' Jhanvi picked up the bundle walking out of his room. Rudra pushed back his chair , walking to his balcony he leaned across the railing, his eyes searching for something which could give him some comfort.

he heard the giggling of kids and his eyes moved in the direction of sound. In the adjoining bungalow, 2 kids ran after each other giggling. He watched them as if it was the most soothing thing to watch, the younger one slipped and the mother was quick to reach out to him. Rudra took a deep breath, he never had that experience. If he ever fell, he got up on his own. If he got hurt, his caretaker was given the money to see the doctor. He didn't know how it felt to be cared for. 

His father Raghav Shekhawat moved back into his ancestral house which he shared with his brother and his family after his divorce, lost in his own issues he forgot that he had a son who needed his attention and love. By the time Raghav realised, Rudra had gone too far to return. The young boy made excellence a habit. Whenever someone tried getting close to him, Rudra took it to be their need for money. His coldness started pushing everyone away, one of them was Jhanvi. She tried being a sister but he kept her at arm length. She didn't push taking the clue but he suddenly turned her life upside down when he learned of her affair. She was suddenly being grounded, the guy she loved disappeared from her life as if he never existed and she blamed Rudra for that. She changed, he had a habit of throwing money and she decided to take as much as she could. 

Rudra never wanted Jhanvi hurt , he did care for her even when he refused to accept that. He reasoned that it was just for his own honour. His family was now known by his name and he wasn't ready to let anyone harm that name, the name he build with lot of hard work.

***

I got bored over that emotional thinking of our hero. Frankly, emotions are not my thing. Specifically, the ones with lot of thinking. I deal with emotions of fire, the ones with burn in the heart and flow through eyes. 

Rudra needs to build that emotion for Shreya, and  am exactly going to do the same thing now.  From my lens, I could the the file of Star Medicals and here is the devil smile stretched on my lips. All I need a little wind to flutter those pages. I suddenly feel like blowing the candles over my cake, but since no one would make me one, I am going to blow the imaginary ones and it would result in little storm in Rudra's lavish room. Precisely, that one  folder is going to fly and plant itself right on his face. Finally all those lame movies are making some sense.

***

Rudra groaned when a sudden wind scattered all he papers on his table. He quickly started gathering them when a sheet landed on his face, he huffed wondering how the paper flew that high when he had already locked all the windows. He pulled the paper off his face and frowned, the single sheet held the initial details of Shreya Rawat. Rudra left everything aside, her smiling face was enough to blow his mind, moving to his table he went through the details of the woman he hated. Switching on his system, he logged in the system of Star Medicals to get more details. Moving to employee records, he quickly clicked onto Shreya's profile. 

She was a plain graduate with very good scores, she had started as a junior trainee at the early age of 21 with a low package of 10K per month but she quickly rose in ranks and financially. Now, at 29, she held a senior manager sales position with a 20 member team working under her. Rudra dug more into her professional achievements . He was surprised to see not once  but every appraisal cycle she  was the best performer. He smiled, how would it feel for the best one to work under someone less competent in her comparison. ''You will now know how does it fee to get insulted among the crowd. You insulted me among unknown, I will do it in presence of your team.'' The decision was being made. Rudra had made the move,  it was  now Shreya's turn.

***

Vishal nodded as his chief chef updated him on the progress of interns. The chef had good words about all, but he beamed on the mention of Sheetal. He had all good words to say about her.

''So she is ready to be a part of busy kitchen?'' Vishal asked

''Yes, with little supervision she can do the wonders.'' The chef answered. Vishal smiled, ''fine, then I will transfer her under you. SHe will assist you in Zykaa. '' Vishal was glad that Sheetal would now stay right here, close to him in his hotel. Zykaa was one of the best multi cuisine restaurant in the town, being a part of a five star hotel it was a big responsibility to maintain its name among the competition. Vishal made sure that he hired and kept the best to make sure he was always on the top. 

Sheetal couldn't stop her tears when her mentor informed her about she being permanent employee hereon. She did a little dance and decided to treat the one who made it possible, her Shreya. Vishal watched her from the distance with a smile on his face. Her smile made him smile too, her happiness made his heart dance. 

Vishal wanted to give Sheetal all the world , the only problem was she wasn't aware of it. 

***

I had decided to be cupid for Shreya and Rudra but looks like before them , I need to fix these two. What should I do? Push Sheetal on him, make the winds blow her hair and clothes all over Vishal as they freeze in to a romantic eye-lock.

Second option would be Sheetal being chased by bad guys and Vishal makes an entry to rescue her. But what if Shreya reaches there before him, she will smash Vishal with the other guys. Bad idea

Or I just let them cross their paths, and the eyes talk but before that I need to mess Sheetal's brain. I am going to make her think about Vishal every now and then, she will be forced to love him. 

I rubbed my palms in excitement as the slide show of pictures played on my screen. Wait, Vishal needs a little makeover. Leave Sheetal, with that clean shave look even I would reject him. So I need to plant a grooming bug into his head. Yes...finally all set. The perfect recipe to make them fall in love is ready.

What do you think, can I be considered for the post of cupid? But fully clothed one, I don't believing in flashing.

***

Shreya greeted her colleagues moving to her bay. It had been a week since  Rudra Shekhawat took took over the company. She frowned, it was unusual of him to let  her work without any disruption. She knew he would react for sure and her thought came true when her whole team was invited for a meeting.

Rudra smiled greeting the team and his smile made Shreya frown, well he wanted the same. ''I have been going through the profile of each and every one of you and must say, you guys did a splendid job.  I was just thinking of making few changes as I felt few of you deserved a promotion.''

each face was lit up with a smile. Rudra added, ''There will few additional designation as I don't want to disturb the ones you hold. So, Nikhil you are being promoted to sales head and the team is going to work under you.''

Shreya couldn't believe that a businessman like Rudra could take such a foolish step. Nikhil wasn't a performer but Shreya saved him as she understood how difficult it was to feed a family but this decision of making him her boss didn't go down with her very well. Rudra insulted her, and she wasn't going to lie low. 

Once the team started walking out, Rudra asked Shreya to stay back. ''So, how was it.''

Shreya huffed, ''foolish!''

''Oh my, I can smell anger and embarrassment.'' He teased. She locked her eyes with him, ''I guess you missed the smell of your own stupid ego.''

''I am your boss.''

''You are the MD! You pay me because  I do my job well, so stop bossing around.'' She answered least worried about this threatening glares. Rudra took steps to her an stood an inch away from her, he looked down at her trying to intimidate her but she wasn't the one to step back. She kept her eyes locked with him. ''You need to remember that I am the one whose decisions should be followed, if you don't like it. The door is on the other side.''

She watched him for good one minute, leaning closer she whispered, ''You started the game, I am not quitting it before rubbing the defeat on your face. I was responsible for the targets of the whole team a minute back , and now same lands with Nikhil. You practically reduced my targets to nothing. Now, I will prove why I am the best and you are a dumb . May be then we can continue this discussion.''

''If you think, I am going to make it that easy, you are wrong Ms Rawat. Finally, I have leveled the scores.'' He whispered leaning closer to her face, reminding her about the cafe incident. His eyes scanning her features unconsciously.

She smiled displaying a small dimple on her chin, leaning further closer she replied, ''Challenge accepted Mr. Shekhawat.'' Rudra had never found someone who would look into his eyes and stand up to him but the one opposite to him was all together someone different. She didn't look scared or worried, instead she matched his gaze with equal fervor. He had stepped into her circle to make her uncomfortable , she stood on her ground challenging him further. 

Had he not been mad at her for insulting him, he would have made an effort to know her more. Women like her were rare and intriguing. 

Shreya stepped out of his office burning in rage, she noticed her team wagging their tails around Nikhil, her favours and hard work long forgotten. She knew it was going to be difficult but her mind was made up. She had decided to quit once she proved her point to all. After all that's what she had been doing all her life, proving her self to everyone.

Shreya walked into the parking when her eyes fell on a familiar vehicle. She frowned staring at the SUV, a moment later she smiled

''Are you planning something childish like puncturing my vehicle to extract your revenge.'' Rudra's voice boomed the silence of the basement. Shreya twirled around, ''I have past the age of puncturing tires. Now, I deflate the ego of waste humans. '' She replied with a smile which  made him frown.  Shreya took a step forward, ''You wanted to level the scores, guess I am still ahead of you''

He frowned , she grinned wide, ''remember the one who made you taste the mud? Yes, I was that one . Now, think of something else to level the scores. Who knows, in past I might have thrown another defeat at your face.'' She batted her lashes innocently.

''If I were you, I wouldn't dare to mess with someone like me.''

''That's that the point, I am not you and you can never be me. But if I were you, I would defiantly surrender to someone like me.''

''Don't forget that I am your boss.''

''Inside that building and my work hour are over Rudra Shekhawat, you are no longer my boss till next working day.'' She smirked, walking past him, she hit rubbed her shoulder harshly against his, it was an open challenge. Rudra couldn't understand why a mere employee didn't fear him. Her  fearlessness was making him all the way more mad, he wanted her eyes down in fear and defeat. He wanted her to beg, not aware that he was gradually getting himself absorbed into a web which would change his life.

***

Web! Yes, a web I am going to create. The web of emotions. How do you think someone makes a place in heart or mind? Simple, through thoughts which can be good or bad and Rudra is going to give Shreya a big place in his head, thinking about different ways of putting her down and that's enough for me to get them together.

Now I should plan to clean the spider webs hanging all across my room. After all, I am a cupid now.

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After this update, this story will be shifting to Inkitt. 

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