Vahni chose to wear that navy dress in the end. 

She wanted to hold on to that optimism, even a morsel of hope that things would go well today. Besides, she looked bomb in that dress anyway. If things were going to head south, she might as well look bomb while tackling the events of the day. 

The dress was a bodycon one, but just enough to be appropriate formal wear. The asymmetrical neckline and the tasteful slit made Vahni feel confident and sexy in her own skin as she got dressed. 

Aakash emerged from the bathroom they shared and looked at her appreciatively. 

"Ms Hot Shot for the big promotion," he said as he started to get dressed too. 

Vahni still hadn't told him about the phone call last night. She wanted to give him a clearer picture once things were under control. He had also probably forgotten about it. 

 She grabbed her bag from the dresser and pecked him goodbye before heading out the door. Her sensible silver sedan waited in the parking lot. She debated on whether or not she wanted coffee before getting to the office. 

She quickly checked the time and the clock read 8:12 AM. 

"Plenty of time," she mumbled to herself and zipped away to her regular coffee shop. 

***

She grabbed her cup of Americano off the counter just as Manish, the leery barista finished checking her out. 

"Are you done, Manish?" she rolled her eyes. 

Manish laughed and shook his head. 

"Will I ever be done, ma'am?" he said. 

Vahni groaned playfully at his umpteenth attempt at flirting with her. She had started coming here a year ago because it was equidistant from her workplace and home. A few months after that, Manish had joined. He had always been the one to check her out, flirt, upgrade her drinks for free and she had always shot him down and made it clear that she was in a committed relationship. 

After a point of time, it had become a funny routine of sorts for them both. Manish knew he had no chance with her, she knew he meant nothing by all his flirting. It was harmless and never crossed a line to go into the creepy and uncharted territory. Plus, she got to roast him in fun little ways all the time and he did not seem to mind it. 

"You are the worst," was all she said.

"Wow, you seem to be in a sour mood today."

"My career is falling apart, Manish."

This was another part of their dynamic, the random bits of oversharing. 

"Thought you were getting a promotion or something," he said while he rinsed something in the sink nearby. 

"I thought so too, buddy. Like you thought that beard is doing you a favour. Go shave it. I am going to go and deal with this now. Ugh."

She turned around without waiting for his answer and exited the building. 

***

Jenny was waiting for her outside the lifts. So as soon as Vahni got off the lift, she was bombarded with information.

"Apparently, the scandal involves a girl! Dilip sir has been the victim of a honeytrap! Can you believe it? Him? He fell for the oldest trick in the book. He has left the country in disgrace and the entire board is in shambles."

Jenny tried to keep her voice low as they walked inside their office but the excitement got the best of her. Vahni was sure her colleagues had heard every bit of the information that was being relayed to her. 

"Mr Dev Raghuvanshi is in the building," Jenny said and that made Vahni stop in her tracks. She checked the time. 

"Already? It's not even 9 AM." 

"He has been here since 7 AM and if rumours are to go by, he is not a very pleasant fellow."

"Has he met anyone yet?" she asked out of curiosity. 

"All the board members are having a panic meeting in anticipation of his call but no, he hasn't met any of the staff members."

Vahni and Jenny had reached their cabin doors. Vahni opened the glass door with a sigh. Any optimism that may have remained was now slowly dissipating. She dumped her empty coffee cup in the trash near her desk and set her bag on the table. 

A small yellow sticky note fluttered to the ground and she picked it up. It had today's date written on it, followed by three exclamation points and a smiley face. Her thoughts went back to when she wrote it a week and a half ago, before going on leave for Meera's wedding. 

She was so excited about the upcoming celebrations. The day she would come back from such a happy event would be the day of her biggest professional achievement yet. 

With a bigger sigh, she opened her laptop and waited for the barrage of emails to load up from her week off. 

An hour turned into two and then into four but there was no word from any of the board members or the new CEO. She was nervously pacing the length of her cabin (which was not a lot of room). She glanced through the door of Jenny's cabin and found that she was missing too. 

Before she could decide between getting herself some coffee from the office pantry or finding Jenny, Brijesh ji, the administrative assistant of the office, knocked on her door. 

"Vahni you're being called to Dev sir's office." 

Brijesh ji was the oldest and most trusted employee of the office. He had been with Card Suits Inc. since the very beginning. Everyone knew and respected him and in return, he was there for everyone. He did what was needed even if it was out of his job description. 

Vahni took a deep breath and smoothed her hair and dress before standing up and following him. 

"What is happening, Brijesh ji?" she asked him as they walked towards what used to be Dilip sir's office. 

Vahni hadn't even processed his leaving yet. He had been a warm and friendly presence at Card Suits Inc. Always available for a discussion or a catch-up. It was hard to picture him being involved in a honeytrap scandal of all things. 

"A lot is happening behind this door today, Vahni."

That was all Brijesh ji said before they reached the door. 

She knocked on the door twice and heard a deep voice say,

"Come in."

She opened the door and found herself face-to-face with the new CEO. Dimly she registered Jenny and Abhishek already standing in front of his desk. She was the last of the trio to join the party. In the few seconds it took her to walk to where these two were already standing, she studied him as subtly as possible. 

Dev Raghuvanshi had not raised his eyes from his laptop yet. 

Handsome, was the first word that popped into Vahni's mind.

His bronze skin seemed to glow even in the fluorescent lights like a perfect tan after a vacation in the Caribbean. His white shirt was perfectly fitted to his sculpted body and the sleeves rolled up to reveal veiny forearms. His beard was trimmed to perfection and his hair was styled in a similar fashion. 

"This is Vahni Bhasin," Jenny began eagerly, to break the silence.

Dev looked up and locked eyes with Vahni for the first time and her heart slightly skittered in her chest. 

Drop dead gorgeous, was the next phrase. 

"Yes, thank you, Jenny," he said in his deep voice, "Please have a seat all of you." 

The three of them quickly sat down. He shut his laptop and leaned back in his chair. Vahni slapped herself internally for imagining what he would look like without that shirt. 

"I am Dev Raghuvanshi, the new acting CEO of Card Suits Inc. I am sure you must know that I will be replacing Mr Dilip Patel. I am also sure you are not unfamiliar with the incidents surrounding this sudden change of CEO. I will not delve into the, frankly, embarrassing details of the whole ordeal but to summarize, Mr Patel was involved in an affair with an employee of a rival firm and there was a breach of confidential information. He has been let go along with most of the board members."

Hearing the details from his mouth was shocking but the end of the last sentence left Vahni thunderstruck. The board members had been fired!? How many of them? Who had been retained? Why were they paying for Mr Patel's mistake? Who else would he fire? Would they be fired similarly?

Vahni tried hard to school her features into the most neutral expression she could muster. 

"I am sure you have a lot of questions regarding this overhaul and I am here to provide those answers. But now is the time for action. With us being in the middle of a very important merger we need to stabilize the situation or the companies will pull out of the deal."

He paused for a second and took a sip of water from his glass before going on. 

"I know that my decision to let go of so many high-ranking members may seem harsh and impulsive but it is a well-thought-out move on my part. I have a plan. I need loyal, trustworthy people to help execute it.  I understand that you were all up for a promotion today."

Vahni had stopped breathing at this point.

"That will be put on a temporary hold for now. These internal matters can be dealt with once the merger is completed." 

He said it in the same even tone as the rest of his speech. He was speaking with the tonality of someone reading the national news off of the teleprompter. Not like he was dealing punch after punch to everyone else in the room. 

"As three of the highest-ranking employees of this company, I expect you all to help me through this transitional phase. I would appreciate any insights or input you have. I am a very receptive boss and I have an open-door policy. This is going to be a tough few months for us. I hope you are up to the challenge."

Affirmatives were declared by all three and they were soon on their way out of his office. 

Vahni needed to lie down to process all this information. The fact that her new boss was so good-looking would have to take a backseat right now. She had a career to save. 

A/N

Guess who is being regular with updating again?

Just kidding. I have another important thing to do and I am using this story to procrastinate on that. 

Consider voting, commenting and following me here if you like my work, please! 

I will also be getting active on my Instagram profile soon! A lot of stuff coming on there too.

Oh, another thing! I came back to see that Wattpad has removed the feature to message anyone. I miss that! I loved chatting with you all. Please feel free to leave a message on my message board if you have something to say. I am good about replying to those.