Smriti's POV-

" Just so you know, we are flying to New York for the engagement. It is a very hush-hush affair, but I am not compromising on the wedding." Mia said.

" New York? When are we flying there?" I asked.

" Tomorrow." Mumma said.

" Do you really think that Sanjay sir will let me take a leave on such a short notice?" I asked.

" He will have no option. You see, your presence is mandatory in our engagement." Mr Grey said with authority.

As much as I wanted to roll my eyes, I could not. Why do these young billionaires think that they can control everything? I mean, one cannot simply mess with Sanjay sir. Also, another reason to not roll my eyes was my mother, who would lecture me for hours for my simple action.

" Let me call sir and talk to him. Also, I have to at least inform Mansi and Lakshya about this." I said.

Papa nodded understandingly. He is the only one who does. My hitler mom will never understand my work because of the danger associated with it.

" Excuse me." I said and left the living room to go to the lawn.

" Sir, can I get 5 days leave?" I asked, as soon as he took the call.

" What is the reason?" He asked sternly.

" Engagement." I said.

" That means you will resign soon. Pity, that we will lose such an officer." He said.

" Who said anything about leaving sir? I will take up the New York mission. I will have to shift to NY after the wedding." I said.

" Finally we got a candidate who volunteered for it. The same team will be assigned to you and all of you will go to NY." He said.

" Okay sir. And about the leave?" I asked.

" Ms Sharma, since it is in such a short notice, I cannot help it but ask you to come to the headquarters till Wednesday, that is day after tomorrow because there is an mission discussion explicitly. Some of you will have to leave for Iraq in the coming week. Other details will be intimated to you tomorrow." He said.

" Okay sir." I said.

" I am sorry Ms Sharma, but you signed for this when you joined RAW. There is nothing more important than the country." Sir said.

" I know sir and I understand. Jai Hind." I said.

" Jai Hind." He said and hung up.

I went back inside.

" Aap log kal jao. Mai Wednesday se pehele kahi nhi jaa sakti. ( You guys can leave tomorrow. My presence is required here till Wednesday.)." I said.

No one except my parents and grandma understood anything.

" Kuch zaroori kaam hai beta? ( It there something urgent child?)" Grandma asked.

I nodded. She looked on sadly.

" Smriti, you are coming with us tomorrow. There is no room for arguement." Mumma said.

" Mumma, you know I can't. This is what I have signed up for."
 I said.

" Will anyone tell me what is happening?" Mia demanded.

" Nothing much Mia, we all are leaving for New York tomorrow. Smriti will join us on Thursday." Grandma said.

" Not fair. I wanted to spend time with you." Mia whined like a baby.

" Mia, don't worry. Once I come there, we will spend lot's of time together." I said.

" That will not happen. After you get married and come to New York, my brother will not allow you to spend you time with anyone else than him." She said.

" Well he won't get to boss around me. The only person I take orders from is my boss and my mumma. Since he is neither, I am free to do whatever I want." I said without looking at Mr Grey.

" Son, finally you are getting a girl who is your equivalent. Only she will be able to deal with your controlling nature." Grandma said.

" Yeah, we will see about that Grandma. Let her come to New York first." Mr Grey said and side smirked.

I looked down and blushed.

" Excuse me." I said and went to my room. I have work to do. Nah! I am just taking refuge here.

" Smriti, you get down here this instance. These are not the manners that I have given you." Mumma said, shouting from the living room.

I heard various chuckles.

I need to escape now or else I will be the direct target of teasing to all of them.

I got ready and went downstairs. Mansi and Lakshya are going to be my escape tools.

Smriti's look-

" Mumma, I am going to meet Mansi. She has asked me to accompany her to her wedding shopping with Lakshya." I told her.

" Sure beta(child), go and help her in her wedding shopping. What about yours?" She asked sarcastically.

" Mumma, I am getting engaged. Not married right now." I said.

" Still, you need to shop for your engagement." Mumma said.

" It's okay Mrs Sharma. As it is I was planning to get Smriti a gown from the store I love in New York for the engagement party." Mia said.

" I gave her a thankful look. She smiled at me.

" Where is Mansi?" Papa asked.

" Must be with her dad in the hotel." I said, casually.

" It is your that friend who helped you in the hotel?" Mr Grey asked.

" Yes. She is." I said.

He nodded." 

Okay bye." I said and dashed out.

"There is no way that we all are going for shopping." Lakshya said, as soon as I saw them.

" I know. It is the work of elders. Let us go the the gaming parlour." I said.

" I was just going to say this." Mansi said.

We all grinned.

The moment we enter the gaming parlour, we spotted Manish sir with his son and wife there.

" Let us get out of there." Lakshya said.

" I second that." I said.

" Me too." Mansi said. We were just about to exit when Manish sir called Lakshya's name.

" Mr Malhotra, outside the office we all can be casual. You all don't have to leave just because you saw me. I won't bite. Although, your place of outing is a little questionable, since you all are legal adults and I see no kid with you." He said.

Damn, he saw us all!

" Thank you sir. And we have been coming here since long. We all love playing games." Lakshya managed to say.

He introduced us to his wife and son.

His son, Preet is really cute.

" Ms Sharma, I heard that you are getting engaged this Friday?" Manish sir asked.

I felt my face pale. I have still not informed Mansi and Lakshya about it.

" Yes sir." I said responding to him.

" What the f....fish?" Lakshya wanted to say something else but controlled his tongue when he saw Manish sir's face.

" Better Mr Malhotra, we have a kid around us." Sir said.

" Why is this news to me Smriti?" Mansi literally shouted.

" I was just going to invite all of you." I said.

" When is it?" Manish sir's wife, Sujata asked.

" This Friday ma'am." I said.

" Congratulations." She greeted.

" Thank you." I said.

" Leave thank you, tell us the venue and also the food cruisine." Lakshya said shamelessly.

" It is in New York. And about the food part, I don't know." I said.

" You are such a spoil sport. Now we will have to travel to New York." Mansi whined.

" Sir, can we please get a leave on 3 days?" Lakshya asked.

" Since you all are so close and good employees, I'll let you take leave this time." Manish sir said.

We all then continued playing and then had burgers in the food court.

" Okay, we will be taking leave now. Make sure to come on time tomorrow. There is a very important filling." Manish sir said and left.

Then, I drove to home and directly crashed on the bed. All is all, it was a good day.

Hii guys! This is the next chapter. I hope you like it. I am dissapointed with all of you. Is it so hard to press the little star button to vote  and write just a word about the chapter if you read it and like it? Your views? I have got over 2000 reads but not even 500 comments and this is very dissapointing. Your comments give me motivation to update regularly or else just keep waiting for the chapters because I can only write if I know what you all feel about the book or else, all my writing exercise is a waste of my efforts and time. I hope you understand and do comment at least once on one chapter. Trust me, I appreciate it all. Remember, I love you. Until next time. Byee!