It had been almost a month since Prerna had started working. On the eve of her first salary, she had taken her family out for some shopping and a fancy dinner in one of Kolkata's popular restaurants. Her parents looked proud as she paid the bill and her siblings were more than happy to order extra dessert to take home with them. Prerna herself had not felt this happy in a long time and she felt she had to thank her Boss for this great opportunity.

The next day, she went to her office with a fresh batch of cupcakes from her favorite bakery, and her colleagues congratulated her on completing one month with them.

"It's impressive, honestly! Very few people are able to complete a month here." Aditi said as she munched on a red velvet cupcake.

"Yeah, the Boss is pretty strict with his policies, I mean, you remember how he fired that Mathur." Rohit recalled and everyone nodded.

Prerna agreed with her colleagues. In this last month, she herself had seen 3 employees get fired within a week or ten days, because of Mr. Bajaj's strict professionalism. One was found smoking under the prohibited stair area, one was heard bitching about her senior and one was seen bullying a peon for not getting a glass of ice-cold water. Prerna wondered, why was it so hard for people to be professional, or just, a kind person? 

Silently, she agreed with Mr. Bajaj's policies.

"What's the celebration for?" The man in question appeared in front of them and Prerna's face lit up automatically. As her colleagues stood around her, she took the cupcake box, which still had 3 cupcakes left, and walked towards her Boss.

"I know it sounds silly but I am celebrating finishing a month here. Finishing a month of my first job." She rambled and opened the dessert box. "Cupcake?"

Everyone stood silent with their bated breaths as Prerna looked at Rishabh's piercing grey eyes, which were staring at the cupcakes. 

"What are the flavors?" He asked the most unexpected question twelve seconds later and Prerna blinked thrice.

"Uhh." She looked down at the three sweets and gulped. 

Why was this so hard to answer?

"Hazelnut chocolate. Strawberry coconut. Mint chocolate chip." She said and he nodded, before proceeding to take the hazelnut chocolate cupcake.

"I am allergic to strawberries and mint chocolate chip tastes like toothpaste." He explained (as if he needed to explain why he didn't choose the other cupcakes!) and took a small bite of the cupcake. Prerna's mouth went dry as his (beautifully pink) tongue licked a little bit of chocolate from his (beautifully pink) lower lip. "Congratulations Ms. Sharma. And  no, it's not silly. We should always celebrate victories. No victory is small." 

Prerna could swear later that if she was not a human, she could have turned into a puddle at that exact moment, as he nodded and gave her the most beautiful of smiles. Given, it was just a tiny upward turn of his lips, but she would count it as a smile. And she could also swear that it was meant just for her, because it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and he walked away leaving her wanting more.

Damn, she wanted him so much.

~~

Rishabh finished the cupcake Ms. Sharma had offered to him in the privacy of his cabin, with the blinds closed. No one knew this, but he was not a fan of sweets, or sugar in general. He was a gym freak and only had sugar very, very rarely. But how could he have refused Ms. Sharma's victory dessert, when she was herself offering it, with her sweet, innocent smile that seemed to bring the devil inside him alive. He had taken his sweet time to choose one of the three, and had almost chuckled when he saw her brown eyes widen in confusion as she mumbled away the cupcake flavors to him. 

This was not good. His infatuation (as he had started calling it lately, for lack of a better term) was getting the better of him. How was he so affected by this young lady? In his long life, he had had his share of stunning women but no one had affected him such. The way Ms. Sharma's smile made his throat dry up, the way her expressive eyes made him gulp, the way her gaze made him blink twice in a row. No, this was not good. 

Obviously, he was physically attracted to the young woman. Only God knew how many times had Rishabh dreamt of Prerna with his eyes open. With all his unholy thoughts towards her, it was a miracle that she had zero idea of how he felt. How she made him feel. How he desired her, every night. How he wanted to press her against a wall and worship her body. How he wanted to feel her stunning lips around his finge-

Okay, this was getting out of hand. What was he thinking for God's sake! He had a perfectly great business to focus on, he had a particular family to destroy until it turned to dust and here he was, thinking about a girl like a young boy with raging hormones. 

Stop it Rishabh!

~~

Prerna knew she had to do something about this. Her crush towards Mr. Bajaj was growing every single hour and it was getting pretty problematic. Even after reaching home hours later, she could only imagine his beautiful tongue as it had uttered congratulations to her and then proceeded to lick that stupid chocolate from his equally beautiful lips. How could a man be so...so beautiful? She could not find another word to describe him so perfectly and once again, like many other nights, she slept after moaning his name again and again in the confines of her bed and her fingers slick with pleasure.

By the time morning arrived, she decided, she had to do something about this. She could not suppress herself anymore. So four hours later, she found herself standing in front of Mr. Bajaj's cabin with her heart beating loudly inside her chest.

"Come in." She heard him and walked inside. There he was again, the man of her literal dreams sipping a coffee, dressed sharply in a grey shirt (which somehow matched his eyes perfectly) and a darker grey coat sat idly on his chair. 

"Yes Ms. Sharma?" Rishabh looked up as Prerna walked inside his cabin. In the time she took the four steps, from his door towards his table, he had his fill of her. Once again, she had managed to look like a goddess in a simple silky white top and and dark blue jeans, which fitted her perfectly. Her body was devoid of jewelry except a thin gold necklace around her neck, which glimmered softly as she moved.

"Good morning Sir." She said and he looked at the clock, which read 12:15 PM. "I mean, good afternoon Sir."

"My time is a little bit precious Ms. Sharma." He said as she remained silent and she nodded.

"Uhh, Aditi told me that you'll be travelling to Mumbai for the deal with the Desais?" She asked and he nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "Could I accompany you?"

"Why?" He asked straight-forwardly and saw her sigh.

"Please don't take it otherwise. I love my job but sometimes it becomes a little boring, sitting on a desk and typing numbers into the keyboard." She bit her lip and Rishabh had to look away.

"You've been here for just a month and you did travel with us recently-

"Of course, I am so sorry to cut you, but I would really like to learn a little bit more by being present at the meetings and the deals." Prerna quickly said. And this was true, she really want to learn the ropes of business and help her father more and more. "Sometimes, I feel utterly useless when I am not able to help Aditi or the others, because of my lack of experience. I know I am still learning, but maybe this could help me learn things a little faster? I promise, I would stay silent during the whole meeting!"

"Ms. Sharma." Rishabh said and leisurely took another sip of his coffee. "Normally, I would have refused you. You are still very new and there's no reason for you to be present at that meeting. But I will think about it, only because you are showing genuine interest and came up to me to ask sincerely. I like a dedicated person."

"So I can go?" Prerna beamed and Rishabh stared again.

"I said I will think about it." He said and she nodded, quickly getting up.

"That's more than enough. Thank you for considering." She said and left the cabin with a hint of a spring in her step.

By the time she reached home that evening, she had gotten an email from the HR. A business class ticket to Mumbai.

She gulped as she stared at the ticket. In less than two days, she would be alone with Mr. Bajaj in Mumbai.

(To be contd.)

Spoiler Alert: The next chapter may or may not include some serious spicy stuff between our couple. I will be adding a warning if it turns 16+ or 18+. 

;0