Bin tere kwabon keNeende bohut aayenge

 Par Na aisa dard aayega

 Na aisi yaad aayega

 Na kissi se yun pyaar aayenga 

Credit for above lines Charmash aka Sakura, ever sweet and talented

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Nights after had been nothing less than torture for Sanskaar. After his much scattered senses fell into place , he rushed out in a hope to catch 'her'...but was too late by then.He roamed around corridors, his eyes and focus intent on singular task of tracing his 'brown eyed girl' but all he left with was ' a mask 'and a sweet ache of longing, only it wasn't that sweet ,as the days passed.

Her eyes , her thoughts, their moments, haunted him days and nights. There were times when he would just stare into space, replay and remincse every little thing about her ,with a hope of finding any hint leading to her. He confided to Laksh, who first laughed off asking him to let go, but it was soon evident, Sanskaar was pretty serious .After trying every way they could think of finally Laksh concluded its nothing but a 'wild goose chase'

"You have no clue of her name,All you have is a mask and she has brown eyes?Are you serious Sanskaar? Does that even count as a hint? It's not like we didn't try ..Humne koshish kiya na ! We went through photographs of party, bribed for CCTv footage too, She's nowhere. That means she walked in after dance started . It was all dim lit and every one was masked.

We even checked on list of attendees, lekin bina naam ke ?What do you think we should do ? Go around asking like that ad Kya aapke toothpaste mein namak hai ?

"Excuse me! kya aapke eyes brown hain? Kya aapne mujhe kiss kiya ?Kya aap ye mask pehenge?Jhoote padenge jhoote! Even if we assume it's someone else other than 3rd and final years,College main itni saari ladkiyaan hain ki..." Laksh gave a weary sigh and turned to Sanskaar who simply was staring at mask.

"Can you let it go?" He asked finally.

No! Came Sanskaar's answer straight and clear.He can't and he won't, Not until he gets to her.

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In few weeks they were out of college, graduated. It was after Laksh's continuous budging, he agreed for a short trip to places around Mumbai, hoping it would keep 'her' off his mind. It did ,only for sometime.

She was like opium consuming his every free second, every free thought and he felt drugged... Drugged with a dose and left craving for more. He tried to find logic midst chaos his heart landed , but like someone said, Logic cannot comprehend love or feelings and that's exactly how he felt. His heart and mind were never in sync . Mind would ask him to let go, be practical but heart pushed to pursue and not give up.There must be a reason, he lost his heart to her.

Once back from trip,He joined Maheshwari group immediately and thankfully long working hours came to his aid, keeping his craziness at bay. Months passed, turned to years but the ache didn't dull a bit. True, it started as a steamy encounter but towards end...what they shared was something beautiful and it touched him in many ways and on many levels. There were nights he would wake up with flashes of 'that night', with thumping heartbeat, this crazy yearning for 'her' and sleep would be next to impossible after.But he had learnt to live with it.

His discussion with Laksh in morning rushed him with events of the night, in more clear terms. He had a busy day, thankfully . At night post dinner, lying on his bed,Sanskaar stared intently at mask. Every time he held it, it would be those eyes he looked at ,like she was right before him.

"Well, You would be having nights with sound sleep,while you snatched mine.Laksh, thinks I am a certified paagal now and only you have an answer why I turned into one.I have no clue of all these crazy feelings I hold for you, if they would mean anything to you, but for once I hope we can meet." He carefully placed mask back in its place and lied back on bed. Time to catch some sleep.

"The wait seems never ending ,my brown eyed girl. It's time for you to show up." He murmured pulling over covers for night.

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Few miles away

Sleep felt far fetched ,with his thoughts taking over . She would be meeting him tomorrow after so long, after that night. She felt excited and partly nervous .He wouldn't know and she had no intentions of letting him know. He might have brushed it off and moved on.She didn't pin any wrong hopes It's not like he's waiting for her to show up.

Only if she knew...

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Located at outskirts of city, built of glass and steel,Corporate office of Maheswari Inc. stood tall with its whooping 7 storeys ,an intimidating presence midst other offices located in business park.A large emblem on top of exterior reading 'Maheshwari Group' , made no mistake in grabbing attention of any onlookers or passers in clear terms.

Though from outer side it looked to be built on more traditional lines , A tour inside would leave one surprised with its state of art architecture.The entrance with sliding glass doors ,projected a warm welcome to the visitor, an equally warm reception, offering required assistance and guidance.One would greeted with majestic portrait of Anand prasad Maheshwari standing high and collection of awards and accolades shone behind huge glass shelf spread across wall, a perfect combination of bright and muted shades.The waiting lounge with plush leather sofas offered comfortable seating ,coffee and tea vending machines just few steps away, racks with collection of business magazines and newspapers ,perfectly made it up for waiting time.

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Swara Bose fidgeted with strap of her bag, nervously. She was glad she could make it to the final interns list and She's every bit serious about this 2 month internship. A pre placement would just make life a lot easier for her.She needed the job.

The day started on a good note .They were on time, all the shortlisted interns. As they took a tour around,Swara could swear no one could take eyes off the magnificent sight, the Maheswari INC was, which looked like mini city by itself .

Sales and administration, marketing HR, logistics , security, travel desk R & D, Technical, Legal, finance to name few and others departments were consolidated function wise and inter connected for a unified approach . A huge food court,gym,music room, indoor games, library and the list went on and on .This is everything one could ask for besides work, for relaxation.

As they were led to conference room for an orientation session , her eyes moved around office space buzzing with its employees. Open cubicles with soft dividing walls and name plates fastened to it ,phones ringing or beeping, the tap of fingers against keyboards, printers shuttling out paper, chairs rolling or squeaking, the click of a stapler, music from someone's headset, cabinet doors sliding shut, papers being shuffled, the ding of elevators, all the rush... It felt like a different world altogether.

It took all interns by surprise when Adarsh Maheshwari himself had walked in for orientation, implying the importance of their short stint.The message was clear. It's not like few corporates dishing out projects just for sake of it and no way it could be taken lightly .

After a brief overview and collecting their temporary id cards, they were guided to respective departments. It was told their interests mentioned in application were taken into consideration for allocating projects.Every student would have one guide, to steer them through project and they would meet them shortly.

Now she was seated in a closed cabin , a space more calm and quiet from outside buzz. Attached it was a much bigger cabin waiting for its owner. Nothing much was visible from outside and Swara's first instinct was to look for name plate of her guide, which strangely was missing.

A few feet away, right in front of her was a woman in her late 20's or early 30's, busy shuffling pages of book, making few calls. It didn't take much for Swara to deduce she's PA .Swara adjusted her specs, focusing on the nameplate which read, Rosy D'souza.

She was almost tempted to walk up and fish out few details on her guide. But soon she had her answers.

It was over call.

"Are you done with the name plate? How much time would you take to get it fixed? I don't care please get it right now." Rosy listened to other side and rolled her eyes." I know he's sweet, Ok! but I don't intend give him a chance to be serious.He will be coming in soon. Get it done." She placed the phone with a flicker of irritation and looked at Swara. Suddenly the irritation was taken over by a smile.. Probably hundredth one in last 20 minutes. Swara smiled back.

How tough it would be for them to smile and be nice to everyone, ever pleasant, even when they feel like kicking someone. The demands of job are strange at few times

She is already liking Rosy. She had been sweet and didn't have an air of arrogance.Dressed in a nice top and pencil skirt, she looked pretty. Swara looked at her own. How much she hated her uniform look ,shirt ,blazer and pants. She would have preferred something ,a little more casual, but they are interns and It had to be spelled out in BOLD letters.Swara sighed.

The good part, from Rosy's words it's clear ,her boss is not like those badass corporate guys who believe in making life hell, and are like 'I own office and so I own you, like those billionaire romance books. They were a fascination initially, now not much, in fact a bit cringy.

Her Guide would be a nice one, hopefully.

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Adarsh Maheswari's Cabin - 5th Floor- Maheshwari Inc

"Why me ? Bhaiyya , you already know I am bogged down. Why don't you allocate it to someone else? It's just a guidance, anyone could do it. "Sanskaar looked up at Adarsh in mild protest.

"Exactly , It's just guidance, It's not like you have to babysit and Sunny ,there's a reason I allocated her to you . First , It's because she's from your college . Second, Her project interests are quite close to yours ,like Data mining and those algorithms which you are working on.I am sure, she would be of good help and vice versa. It's a two way road. So..." Adarsh paused looking at his kid brother who looked convinced enough. "Trust me Sunny , It will work in your favour." He finished with smile.

Sanskaar smiled back. " I always do." He never questioned his brothers judgement.He picked up the file with details of his intern. As he was about to leave, Adarsh reminded him about temple trip ,Annapurna planned in evening and she wanted them in attendance.

"Haan! Maa told me during breakfast .Shyam ko, I have a meeting with Mehta's . I will close on it and will be there on time." Sanskaar replied and stepped out of cabin. He shot a glance at file .

Time for meet.

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Swara wondered if she would get to see him at least a glimpse of him.He must be around. Two months of internship , No doubt! She can steal as many glances as she can.It wouldn't be tough, after all he's 'Scion of Maheswari Group.' 

How would he look? The same? That boyish charm, cute dimple , ruffled hair, carefree and ofcourse a chatterbox or would corporate style take him over? Like those big shots, to the point Let's talk business and all.

Either way, she would be happy staying at distance and watching him, like she did in college, crushing over him madly. Her first hard sweet little crush. Swara smiled shaking her head. "You can never stop thinking about him. Do you Swara? "She chided herself. Only if she would get to see him...

And Like the wish would have it, The door swing opened and he walked in.

Swara Bose...

Alert ,at her name being called, Swara snapped out of her musings and stood hurriedly, her eyes shooting up .And She froze .He stood right before her ,charming and handsome as ever.

No, No ! This can't be real, This can't be happening. Must be a dream, like those million ones she had. He had always been a beautiful dream.

Then His smile flashed ,fazing her every misconception, striking back to reality followed by his voice, a smooth baritone.Clear and calm.

"Hi, Sanskaar Maheshwari, Your guide for the project."

She missed breath for next few minutes.This is real. He is real and there's no escape this time.

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Contd...

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Love

Lucky