Mr. Singh's face was nowhere near calm after hearing what Mrs. Jefferson said earlier.
He threw his phone to the wall and hit his fist on the desk. "That stupid son! He and his mother should just drop dead and let me be free of that burden!"
Still raving mad, he swept the things on the office desk to the floor. At that moment, the office door burst open and a lady walked in.
"Sir, the meeting is about to start," the assistant said, not daring to meet his eyes.
To the public, Mr. Singh was the top businessman in India and should be a happy man because that was what he made the public believe, however, except for his close friends and workers, no one knows he has a horrible temper due to his wife taking over the head of the family position and the way she treats him.
His wife is a tigress because of her family's backing. She bullies others and doesn't care for her husband's face in public.
The forty years old man with distinct features calmly looked at his assistant and wondered why he had never seen her looking this beautiful before or maybe he never really paid attention.
He closed the distance between them and held her jaw up, making her stare at him in the eyes.
"Anushka, will you like to marry me and give me a child?" He asked.
Anushka almost choked on her saliva. She gently brushed his finger away from her jaw and called, but her voice betrayed her. "M–mr Singh. Ahem! Have you been drinking again?" She asked after clearing her throat to stop sounding awkward.
"No." He answered and walked back to his seat. "I'm desperate right now Anushka, that stupid boy just offended the school and he'll be sent out after the first semester..." He sighed. "... He is a lost case now, you see why I need another child?" He stared at her, taking in all of her emotions.
Anushka walked to the desk and placed the documents she brought in on the desk and said with a tired tone: "Mrs. Singh will not be happy, after all, she is your wife and Samrat is your son. Your wife will kill me if she…"
"Shh..." He placed a finger on her lips, then held her hands in his and said: "Don't speak anymore. I will handle everything, just tell me if you'll accept me."
"He looked at her for a while. Seeing she didn't say anything, he leaned in a little. When she didn't shy away like she used to, he dived iin and kissed her. He only wanted a taste, but they eneded up turning each other's lips red and swollen.
Anushka didn't know how she managed to walk out of the office with her legs turned to jelly. She couldn't believe her dream was about to come true. Her children were finally going to get her father back!
She had loved him for thirty years. She used to be his junior in school and one of his greatest fan girls or better still, his crush. She had stalked him from elementary school to the university with the hopes of confessing to him one day.
On the day of his graduation, she wanted to confess to him but saw the school belle who was also the school bully standing beside him on stage.
His gaze paused on her a little before shifting away like usual. She had made sure they bump into each other s few times, but she was very sure he had never taken notice of her, same was he still doesn't know she was the same girl working for him at the moment.
When Arti, the school Belle announced on that day that they will be getting married in a month, Anushka couldn't hold back the hot tears that ran down her cheeks as ran out of the gathering that day.
Five years after she graduated with sadness, the next time she saw him, he wasn't looking good as he was trying to start his own company. With her qualifications, she could have found work in the most prestigious company but she didn't. She only wanted to be close to him even though he was already married to the bully, Arti.
Immediately after she submitted her resume she didn't wait long before she was accepted and told to start working as the CEO's Assistant.
That wasn't what she applied for, nevertheless, she happily accepted the job and helped him with ideas to make the company number one in India which turned out successful.
....
After taking a seat at her desk, her muddled head cleared up and she took out her phone to send him a message. Maybe he made the irrational decision because his emotions were all over the place.
She sent him a text saying: 'Mr. Singh, are you alright now?'
"Yes I'm fine now," came the reply in an instant. It felt like he was expecting it.
"Uhm, about what you said earlier… you know I…I already have a son and a daughter out of wedlock. Wouldn't it be inconvenient for you?"
She hovered her finger over the send button. She was thinking if she should send it or not when she heard the heavy sound of stiletto heels clicking on the slippery floor hurriedly.
The person was almost taking both steps at a time. While she was wondering who could that be, Mrs. Singh's silhouette came to view.
Her fingers trembled and unknowingly touched the send button.
The sound of a notification drew her attention away from the woman with a Frowning face.
"Why is she always angry anytime I see her?" Anushka asked the rhetorical question to herself in a low voice and shrugged her shoulder before turning her gaze to her screen.
She gasped when she saw she has sent the message by mistake. Her Cheeks turned a shade of pink when she saw the reply.
'It's even better, it won't look like it unfair. Besides I also have a son whom I might lose in four months, so I don't have a problem with your kids.'
She was about to reply when the woman she didn't notice when she came to stand in front of her, sent her cheek a resounding slap.
Anushka jolted in shock at the assault. She hasn't even done anything and she's already receiving a slap.
"Didn't you see me walk in to come and greet me?!" Arti's voice boomed In the quiet office, making the sound of her voice hit the wall and bounce back in echo.
'So that was it?' Anushka hot up without complains and greeted with her hands clasped together and head tilted downwards in a respectable greeting gesture, she said: "Good day Mrs. Singh, Welcome to A&S cooperation."
Mrs. Singh raised her chin arrogantly and walked toward her husband's office with an air of authority and arrogance.
After her silhouette disappeared, Anushka straighten her back and touched her cheek which was giving a stinging pain.
"She has done it again?" came a low voice from the office entrance. Anushka raised her gaze to see her friend Urmi, staring at her– her cheek to be precise.
Anushka sighed and sat behind her desk in dejection, "that woman is doing my head in and I can't tolerate it for much longer." She put her phone away as her friend walked closer. She wasn't ready to start explaining things right here with that cow in the CEO's office.
"You still have to endure love. You are doing it for your children, hope you remember that." She patted Anushka on the shoulder before asking: "Have you heard from them yet? How is the school? Have they settled in?" She was dying of curiosity.
She had only seen the picture of Hassride University when the children were filling out the forms and all. There was not much information on the internet. If not because her godchildren received a scholarship out of the blue from the school, even if she and Anushka save their salaries for the whole of their lives they won't be able to send one of the children to the school let alone the two of them.
"Yeah, we talked earlier. They said the school is totally different from regular schools and they are extremely Strict. They also said they are the only poor kids there and the rest are children with super high statuses. Once they can graduate, we will all be having a good life," she smiled.
"Woah! That is so exciting! I can't wait for four years when they graduate and be known as Hassride graduates. I'm so envious. I just want to steal one of them. We will be living in a..."
She was rudely pulled out of her fantasies by the yell coming from the CEO's office.
"Sweetie, see you after closing. I don't want to be dragged into their mess. I will remember to buy groceries to cook your favorite after receiving the incoming slaps from that cat."
"Cow. Cats are cute." They both laughed as Urmi scurried out of the office.
....
"What do you mean by that?! Do you want to have my son killed? Do something you good for nothing idiot, I can't believe I still have to tell you what to do, Your brain is just so empty If not for my and my family's help your company would have crumbled by now!" She stopped to take a deep breath.
She was out of breath from fast-talking without stopping.
"Make the damn calls! take a private jet or helicopter there! Just do something to get my son back, you hopeless man!!" Mrs. Singh yelled and hit the desk with her purse feeling frustrated.
Who wouldn't be? The person she was talking to was sitting there on his rolling chair with index fingers joined under his lower lips staring at her like she was rehearsing a supposed comedy play that wasn't funny.