RagLak – Guzaarish (Episode One)

Hey guys..I have been a part of this site for quite sometime and I absolutely love reading all the posts. However, I have been a silent reader for the longest time. This is my attempt at writing a FF. Sincerely hope you guys like it 🙂
Constructive Criticism is wlecome 🙂

xoxox

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RAGINI

I wonder in which way I should angle my hand so that I am able to punch him and still make it look like an accident. He’s half bent and looking at the report as if he’s purposely trying to find some mistake. Why oh Why!! Why did I ever agree to take up his account?

God, he knows how to get on my nerves.

“What do you think, Ragini?” he said pointing out to the markings he made on the paper.
“Mr Singh, with all due respect to you and your talented team present over here, if you’re set in your ways, then what exactly is the point of hiring my firm?”
“Excuse me?” he says in a confused tone.

“Mr Singh, let me remind you that there is a reason as to why you hired my firm. We are to represent you and clean up your mess and if I am not wrong, all these certificates hanging on my wall also tell that I am qualified enough to handle all this”

“What is your point Ms Gadodia?”

“Glad you asked. My point here is, Mr Singh, that it is you who have to listen to me and not the other way round. If you want to get out of this legal tussle, you have to follow my directions”

An agitated expression crossed his face “Ms Gadodia, I hope you remember that I am paying you for your services and that you are bound to listen to me” he said in a voice masked with arrogance

See, now that is where client go wrong. I gave a small laugh and shook my head.

“Mr Singh, my secretary, Tanya, will send you a termination contract by today evening. Have a nice day” I said as I retrieved my phone from the table and turned towards the door

“What? You cannot do that”

“I can do whatever I want to do Mr Singh and let me tell you what you cannot do. You cannot teach me how I have to work.”

“Is this some kind of a joke? I have paid you. You owe me your services”

I turned to Tanya and instructed her “Tanya, make sure that today along with the termination contract, a refund cheque of the amount we have received from JS Builders & Associates, with the interest, is delivered to their office”

I then turned to him “Mr Singh, you money is neither a need nor a requirement for me. I do not appreciate when someone stands in my office and tries to teach me how I should do my job. If it wasn’t for Dhruv, I would never have taken up your case”

I could see him fuming and took to opportunity to further give him few drops of my wisdom “Next time, Mr Singh, if you want to take my services or anyone’s for that matter, make sure you have a little personality development before you approach anyone”

“You are dead” I typed and sent the message to Dhruv as I walked out of the conference room towards my cabin.

Dhruv Arora and I have been friends since Law College. If it wasn’t for him, there was no way I would have survived those five years. He challenged me in every way possible, helped me grow and stood with me through thick and thin. Eventually he became a part of my family and I became a part of his family.

Dad passed away when I was 6 and since then it was just me and mom. When uncle & aunty and mom met for the first time, it was as if they’re all long lost friends and we somehow morphed into a family of our own. It was so amazing to see them gel together. Weekly dinners and catching up every other day had become a part of our routine. It was difficult to remember a life before the Aroras came in and I had no regrets about it. More than me I was happy for mom, the things she could not share with me; aunty was there to help her through all of it. I was glad she found a confidant in them.

I remember after I finished my graduation and after working for 2 years under a reputed lawyer, when I told everyone that I wanted to start my own firm, uncle was the only one who supported my decision. He trusted that naïve 23 year old girl’s dream and it was because of his support that five years down the line I had my own successful law firm.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door, which broke my from my chain of thoughts, Tanya entered with a cup of coffee, which she placed on my table.

“You need this after that amazing meeting”
“What I need is to kill Dhruv for bringing such a ciaos in my life”
She laughed and set the papers in front of me, “After you’re all relaxed, sign these papers. I have to file them by tomorrow”
As she stood up to walk out “By the way, Mrs Arora called she’s asked you to give her call back”

I showed her thumbs up sign and started dialling Aunty’s number.
“Hel-”
“Ragini, you’re going to be well dressed when you come tonight” she said even before I could finish greeting her

“What? Why? It’s your place; I was planning on coming in pyjamas.”
“You did that last week. Moreover, we have some guests joining us”
“But it’s Friday today. It’s my comfortable clothes day” I whined “I have been wearing this god forsaken formal dress and heels the whole day. Please don’t do this to me”

“Ragini Gadodia, if you turn up in pyjamas today, you have had it from me. Whine as much you want to, but you’re wearing a god forsaken evening dress and heels today”
“Sheena Arora, I am never going to forgive you for this”
“I’ll live with it. Anyway I’m picking up Sumi now. You change and reach home directly and don’t be late”

“I hate you, Mrs Arora. See you tonight”
“Love you baby girl. Bye”

It was impossible to win from Sheena aunty; she always gets what she wants. I looked at the clock, signed the papers Tanya and given me and then I collected my bag and walked out. I saw Tanya near the reception.

“Tanya, I am leaving for today. The papers are on my desk and please divert all my calls to the office phone till Monday. I really want a calm weekend”
“Will do. Have a great weekend”

As I walked out of the building towards my car in the parking, my phone rang. I sat in my car and connected the phone via Bluetooth.

“Dhruv Arora, you have had it from me. Wha-”
“I already got all details from Tanya”
“You’ve kept spies in my office?”
“I need to assess the situation before you get a chance to fire me” he said with a laugh.

“You are banned from my office, Mr Arora. I’m putting a lifetime ban on you”
“Sure Sure” he said sarcastically
“I am serious”

“What time are you reaching home?” he asked
“Yours or mine?”
“Yours. I am nearby so I’ll pick you up. We’ll go together”

“I’ll be reaching in about 20 minutes. You have a spare key; wait there instead of roaming around aimlessly”
“I have some errands to attend; I’ll probably reach the same time as you”
“Alright, see you then.”

I reached home threw my bag on the couch and went to find some junk to eat and settled on the couch. I’ve always been jealous of people who eat and still don’t put on an ounce, as for me I love to eat and then to shed all of that I have to torture myself by jogging every day.

“BOO” someone shouted form behind me
“AAAAAHHH!! Dhruv what the fu—”

He came and sat beside me rolling with laughter, “Oh man, I wish I would’ve captured this moment”
“How long have you been here?” I said hitting him with a cushion

Mt phone started ringing, I looked at the number and disconnected the call, didn’t want to deal with any stress this weekend. This caller was the biggest stress for me.
“I was already here when I called you and why are you wasting your time. Go and get ready. Quick”
He looked at my phone as it started ringing again “Something wrong?”
I put my phone on silent “Nope, nothing to worry about. That reminds me, why has aunty asked me to dress up? Who’s coming?”

I could see that Dhruv wasn’t very convinced but decided not to prod in. And I knew once I told him the issue, he would turn into this over-protective person. I didn’t want that now, of course he is the one I would always go to when I am unable to handle the situation, but for now I wanted to keep him away from this.

He took my bowl of popcorn and started munching “One of dad’s old friends is coming with his family, they shifted to Mumbai recently”

“You continue to hog. I’ll go and get ready”
“Ragini, listen.”
“What?”
“We have to go tonight only, so please it quick” he said with a laugh
“Jerk”

I always looked forward for Friday nights. It was our designated game night; we would meet up for drinks and dinner, play card games & board games. All in all it was a stress buster for everyone and the best part was I could go in my comfy clothes. Usually, it was only the five of us on Fridays; I wonder who was invited today. I hate getting all dolled up after a day’s of work, it was too much maintenance.

As for the Arora house, I could turn up in a garbage bag and uncle aunty would look at me as if I am the single most beautiful girl in the world, on the other hand I could be styled by the world’s most expensive stylist and Dhruv would look at me as if I am some monkey who’s escaped from the zoo. I know for a fact that the moment I step out of my room he’ll look at me and say something idiotic.

I got dressed and took my phone before leaving the room, there were 12 missed calls and 5 messages, I knew who they were from, but I just did not have the strength to attend to them. I ignored them and went out.

“I’m done let’s go”
“Damn, you know who you remind of now?” he asked.
I knew he was going to crack a stupid joke and I decided not to give him that chance.
“No and neither do I want to know. Come on now let’s go”
But he wasn’t going to give up “You look like Marcel, Ross’s monkey in FRIENDS” he said and started laughing
“If you’re done with your ‘Joke of the day’ I think we should move now” I said as I put on my heels “By the way, you’re driving us back tonight. I am too tired to drive in this traffic”
“Yes Mam”

We reached about an hour late and I knew aunty was going to blow off on us. We could hear the noises coming from inside the house; I guess the guests had already arrived.

“Get ready for a face-off with mom” Dhruv warned as we waited for the door to open. Luckily mom opened the door
“You both are late” she whispered to us as she ushered us in
“Blame your daughter” Dhruv said to ma “She takes ages to get ready” He put an arm around her as we walked in “teach her some time management aunty” and mom laughed at that
“Shut up you liar” I retorted

Uncle and aunty were already engaged with the guests, aunty noticed me walking in an excused herself.
“Ragini” she called out as she hugged me “You are late” she whispered in my ear
“It all his fault, he drove through every traffic area possible. But look, I dressed up”
“I noticed. You look beautiful” she said giving me a kiss
“Mom, did you actually call her beautiful? I am fixing your appointment with an eye doctor tomorrow”
“You better watch it, you’re not off the hook” she warned Dhruv and I gave a content smile at that
“Leave all that now. Come on I’ll introduce you” aunty said as she escorted me to the living room

I could feel my phone vibrating in my clutch, I ignored it anyway.

“Annapurna, this is Ragini, Sumi’s daughter” she introduced me
“Namaste aunty” I greeted her and I touched her feet
“No no, please, we don’t allow daughters to touch our feet, beta” she said as she hugged me. “Your daughter is lovely Sumi” she said to my mom
“What about me, madam?” Dhruv said as he hugged Annapurna aunty “and where is your son? He told me he’s coming”
“He’ll be reaching in half an hour, he got stuck in traffic” she said with a smile

In the meantime uncle came over and introduced me to his friend and Annapurna Aunty’s husband, Mr Durgaprasad Maheshwari. They were very warm people, sometimes you feel a sense of ease and comfort in some peoples company and they had that in them, otherwise I get extremely awkward meeting new people.

All through the night my phone kept ringing and I kept ignoring it. Dhruv noticed all of this and took me to the balcony.

“Tell me the truth, is someone bothering you?”
“Dhruv, no trust me, there nothing wrong and if there was, you know you’re the first person I would come to”
“I have never seen you avoid someone’s call so much. I want you to be safe, is someone stalking you? I’ll have my friend trace the number. Just tell me who is it”

Dear God, this is what I was worried about. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to convince him. “Dhruv, it’s nothing, trus-”

Before I could finish, someone came into the balcony and because my back was towards the door I could not see him, but that was one voice I cannot forget and I started praying for my instincts to be wrong.

“Dhruv my man, there you are” he said
I held my breath till Dhruv did not acknowledge him.
“Lakshya, finally, what took you so long?” he said as he went forward to greet him and I still stood with my back to them.
“Sorry I didn’t realise you had company”
“Sorry, let me introduce you” he said and I turned to face them

“Lakshya, this is-”
“Ragini” Lakshya said

And it seemed for a moment that my breath left my body.
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