Chapter 2

“No..no...absolutely no...uh-uh”! he huffed, raising a beautifully manicured hand as the woman standing in front of him looked on with a helpless expression 

“I told you Lavs...i am not going to agree to these terms...We have to re-work on this....just get in touch with Raoul and then call me” he said waving his hand at a well groomed man standing next to him “Raoul...lets go” he pouted as the woman came and stood in front of him, blocking his way

“Pablo, please understand...he won't listen to me on this...we have already discussed this so many times....you can't just leave us stranded” she pleaded as he smirked at her 

“Oh but i can dahling...there are soo many people who want Pablo to design for their label..so if you don't agree to what i want...there is no more discussions needed here....” he said walking around her as she closed her eyes and counted to three

“Fine....we'll do it your way..” she sighed as the flamboyant man stopped in his tracks, he turned around slowly and smiled at the frustrated woman as he pulled his multi-hued jacked closer to himself “Now that's like a good girl Lavs..” he turned his head towards his assistant and spoke in a honeyed tone “Raoul sweetheart....send the new contract to Lavs..we can sign it right away” he said as his assistant got busy on his phone.

“Now...Lavs dahling...lets go over the terms again while the contract papers are being mailed to you..” he cooed as the woman rolled her eyes and gave him a fake smile...If she lost Pablo today...she might as well lose her job...because there was no way her boss would keep her in the organization after letting go of their main designer for their summer collection.

“Sure pablo...lets sit and discuss..” she said as she pointed towards the long conference table and sat opposite him as he made himself comfortable in the plush swivel chair 

“Right...now, as i had told you earlier...we will be increasing our profit stake to 40% instead of the 30% which we are getting right now. I mean...I am the one designing, so I do deserve more right?” he said triumphantly as the conference door banged with a cold voice booming across the empty room “Wrong”

All three people seated at the table looked at the direction of the voice and stood up immediately as a tall suit clad figure came striding inside..to say he cut a powerful figure would be an understatement...the sheer masculinity he oozed left many people dry mouthed and frozen...especially when his cold eyes bored right into them,

“Ah...sir...y...you...c..c..came...” the woman started stammering as Pablo and his assistant stood ramrod straight staring at the man with awe 

“Yes Lavanya...I told you i'll try and join in if i could” the man said as he went and sat at the head of the table...he looked at Pablo and gestured at him to take a seat which he did right away giving the man an unsteady smile.. “H..hello...A..” he started saying as the man held up his hand “Pleasantries later..”

“Listen to me carefully as I will not repeat myself..” the tall man said as he narrowed his eyes “We do not negotiate on something that is un-negotiable...you will not get a 10% rise in your profits while you are working for me ...and under no circumstances will you demand such a ridiculous thing again..” he said as Pablo shifted uneasily in his seat

 “And since you managed to get me in a bad mood this early in the morning...i'm going to reduce your deadline by 1 week...don't ever piss me off again” he said as he stood up giving the seated man a glowering look.

Pablo was left speechless for a few minutes before he found his voice and raised it as well...or he thought he raised it “Now look here...what you are doing is completely unfair...I design those clothes...not you” he said taking a deep breath 

“And I don't care if I have to break this contract because I have many many more offers...but you...you have only me...so I will not stand for this...this blatant...” he started saying as the tall man walked slowly towards him.

“How dare you...did you forget that I made you what you are today? It was my label which gave you this fame you are flaunting in my face...” he said menacingly as Pablo all but sunk back in his chair...his breathing coming erratically under the angry gaze of the man towering above him 

“I will not waste another second here....i want you out right now...there will be no contract signed with you...and since you have soo many offers...go ahead...let me see who takes you on Parminder Dhingra..” he said as Pablo's eyes widened like saucers

“B..B..but...No...w..wait...We..we can work o..on the earlier contract...I..I me..mean...I th..think I had lost my mind for asking y..you to ch..change it...Lavanya here knows...right La..Lavs?" Pablo said as he looked at the confused girl standing shocked on the other side...  "GET OUT!” the tall man roared as Pablo literally blew away from the rage emanating from him...he cursed the day he thought of acting smart and outwitting this man 

“And remember one thing...No one..and I mean No one messes with Arnav Singh Raizada....get it!” he said in a chilling voice as Pablo all but ran out of the conference room.

Lavanya looked on as her boss literally threw their head designer out of the office as he glared at her once before walking out of the room...she knew he was seriously pissed off, and how much ever she was shivering at the prospect of facing him now, she knew she had to go an sort this out.

......................

He looked out of the floor to ceiling glass window of the 21^st floor of his office...his hands were stuffed inside his pockets as he gazed out at the city of Mumbai...he turned towards his desk as he heard the phone on his desk buzz “Yes..” he said crisply as his secretary announced that Ms Kashyap was here to meet him “Send her in...” he said as a few seconds later Lavanya walked in gingerly...she stood in front of his desk wiping her hands nervously on her no-nonsense tweed skirt

“Lavanya...how long have been my PA for?” he asked her as she gulped and answered him a soft voice “t..three years now” she said as he nodded and told her to sit. He went and sat on his chair and leaned towards her, his elbows resting on the grand mahogany desk “And in all these years...have you ever seen me bow down to non-sensensical demands like these?” he asked her with irritation as she shook her head.

“So what were you doing agreeing to his terms without my approval?” he asked her as she looked at him with teary eyes “I'm so sorry ASR...but i didn't know what to do...he was not ready to listen...and we have a deadline to get the designs into sampling...I..I mean...we hardly have a month or so left...plus he is our head designer...we could not afford to lose him...I..I thought you will be ok with it...since we did not have any other choice” she blabbered on but stopped as his eyes took on a dangerous glow

“We always have a choice Lavanya...We have 20 mainstream designers working under us..so it really does not matter if he remains with us or not! I do not negotiate where the reasons and arguments are weak...no designing house gives such a large profit stake to its in-house designers...so please do not repeat this next time” he said as lavanya wiped the tears threatening to spill out...she gave a grateful smile to her boss as he pushed a glass of water towards her.

She took a few sips before clearing her throat “Thanks ASR...I'll keep that in mind...but how do we proceed now?” she asked him as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes “Do you know the two junior designers that Pablo has under him?” arnav asked her as she nodded and answered him “Yes, Vikram and Samiksha” she said as he smirked his signature smirk.

“Do you also know that from the past two years...the designs you see as Pablo's are actually designed by the both of them?” he asked her as Lavanya's eyes widened at this piece of news “Oh..don't be so shocked..” he said nonchalantly as he straightened up and looked at her

 “I've known since quite some time now...but i obviously did not interfere as it would have caused friction amongst them...plus Pablo's name did help...” he said matter of factly to which Lavanya simply nodded, too shocked to speak.

“But now..both of them are on board with us directly...” he said with a shrug as she felt another jolt of shock run through her “What? How...I mean..” she said as he got up and walked towards the window again “I knew that Pablo was getting more and more difficult to handle..Fame does that to people..so I had HR speak to both his designers...they were only too happy to take his place..plus the entire summer collection is masterminded by them...so technically we did not need Pablo” he said as he turned towards her

“This is too much to take in...” Lavanya said as she stood up and held on to the desk “I know Lavanya....but i could not risk telling you...you wear your feelings on your face...you would have given it out” he said as her mouth fell open

“So..so you did it on purpose? You shortened his deadline to get that reaction from him ?” she asked him incredulously as he nodded at her “Yes...i knew he would not take it lightly...so...it was the best way to get rid of him...now, we have a new set of head designers ready with all the designs” he said as his phone started ringing.

He gave a quick smile to Lavanya who tried to hide her smile while he spoke on the phone before cutting the call and looking at her “Lavanya...get over it now...if it weren't for you agreeing to his mad demands, i would not have had to throw in that card...a simple refusal would have made him end the contract...but before i could get to the meeting...you agreed to his horse-shit and sat down discussing the terms..” he said as he rolled her eyes at her...he smiled slightly as she burst out laughing.

“Ok enough of all this...now tell me how am I placed today? Sheetal just reminded me of this dinner we have to attend tonight..so is my evening free?” he asked as she pulled out her tab and clicked on it 

“Yes, nothing planned for today evening...but as of now,you have the Dasan group meeting after lunch...followed by a meeting to discuss the new JV with your senior board members, Mr Dalal and Mr Krishnan...some things still need to be finalized for tomorrow's press-con” she said as she ticked off the necessary items off her list.

Armav nodded as he straightened the photo frame on his desk, he looked on fondly at his grandfather and his brother laughing in it “Oh yes...the press-con...have you organized the media meet for tomorrow or later?” he asked her as he flexed his neck.

The damn merger was something that had taken too much time of his...if it wasn't for his grandfather's wishes...he would have given his company a better standing in the contract...but here they were on equal footing with the other company.

“Uh..no sir...I'm still waiting for the confirmation from Gupta Mills rep...their PR person is sending in details for Ms Gupta's personal interviews...we felt it would be better to hold both together...since you will both be questioned on the merger” she said quickly as he nodded his head 

“Uh...sir? I haven't seen you ever interacting with Ms Gupta since the merger has been in the pipeline...I..I mean you will both be heading this new company...don't you want to meet her before the press-con? I can fix a quick meeting...” she said as arnav gave her a hard stare

“Did dadu tell you about this? He told me to meet her tomorrow morning before the merger..she's getting back tonight from LA...” he muttered as Lavanya looked on 

“Fine...check with her staff and fix a breakfast meeting tomorrow...its not like i'm expecting too much from little Ms spoilt brat...probably won't be up before noon anyways” he said as Lavanya looked at him with annoyance.

“Why would you say that sir? Looking at where her company is standing today and how she has grown it internationally in a span of two years...is very much commendable..” Lavanya started saying as arnav's mouth hardened

“Ms Kashyap...You are paid to do your job...not advice me on my personal thoughts....I know what girls like her are like...in case you forgot, i'm dating one...she probably has a really good team doing her work for her...I'm positive she does not even lift a pen from her table...and as for the success of their company, the credit goes to her Grandmother...now that is a woman who is commendable...not her floozy grand-daughter who i probably have to babysit!” he said as lavanya rolled her eyes and went back to her tab.

He had no idea how he was going to work with this girl...he knew her standing with Gupta Mills but he thought he would be working with her father instead of her...plus he had never really met her...what with her settled in US and all...all the meetings had been done with her grand-mother and her father till now.

Maybe he should have had a video-conf with her before this...he prayed to God that she come prepared for the press conference tomorrow...last thing he wanted was to get questioned with someone who probably had no clue about anything...Damn this day...could it get any worse??

New Characters