Chapter 101: chapter 101

Ashish took out the grocery bags from the lift and walked towards Riya's flat. She didn't close the door in a hurry,  so he entered the flat and closed the door. He called " Riya" multiple times but still there was no response.He walked towards the bedroom  and saw Riya sitting on the bed with her head between her knees.. She was crying..Ashish's heart ached seeing  her..initially  he hesitated to sit on the bed, but looking at her crying he couldn't control himself and sat on the bed.. stroked her hair slowly and said gently," It's ok Riya, you are safe now"She was still sobbing continuously.. He walked towards the kitchen to bring water for her and said," Drink some water, don't be afraid.."Riya took a glass from his hand and said," thank you sir"..She looked very pitiful at this time. When she calmed  down he ordered some food online   for them..There was a knock on the door.. It might be food delivery.. you sit I will take care..He said and walked towards the door and took the delivery..and  arranged food on the dining table.." Riya, come let's eat", He put his arms around her shoulder and made her walk towards the dining table and served her the food.Both of them ate the food in silence.. When they finished Riya was about to clean the dining table but Ashish didn't allow her to do so and made her sit in the living room and cleaned it..For the moment, they both forgot that they are boss and employee.At that moment Riya felt safe and secured  with him..Little later, he came to her and said," come , you go to sleep ,you will feel better".. He took her to her bedroom, made her lie down and covered her with a quilt..When he was about to leave Riya said," sir, can you please stay here for night.. I am really scared to be alone."" Ashish thought for a while and said," Ok. But I cannot sleep in the office clothes , how about   I go to my flat,change my clothes and come back.." Riya nodded her head as " No " , vigorously"Ok ok, then let's do one thing, you come along with me, wait for me there for a few minutes and let's come back together.."Riya nodded as ok and she got up from the bed and both of them entered Ashish's house. " you wait here and keep browsing on your phone , I will quickly take a shower and come back..Riya nodded and sat on the couch and Ashish walked towards the bathroom to take shower..After shower, when he came out there was sudden thunder outside and there was a power cut. Oh sh*t man, Riya  don't be scared, he screamed and  rushed to the living room.. Afraid of the dark and the thunderstorms Riya hugged him tightly.. He hugged her back, stroked her head and said," Shhhh, I am here.. don't worry..He consoled her like a child..Within two minutes power was restored and Riya slowly released him and realised that he was half naked  with  just a towel wrapped around his waist..She felt shy and said, "sorry sir" and turned around..Ashish now realised that he directly came out of the bathroom thinking Riya will be scared and got  too busy in consoling her and he completely forgot he is half naked..He scratched his head and walked inside his room and wore his house clothes..He came out and said, " let's go"..After what happened just now, Riya was feeling shy ,so she calmly followed him to her flat and walked towards her bedroom..There was a couch in her bedroom and Ashish adjusted himself on it and said," If you feel scared again ,just wake me up.."" Riya smiled and said," thank you sir"..After ensuring she had fallen asleep ,Ashish closed his eyes..He didn't know why he felt like protecting her under his wings..Next morning, Riya woke up earlier than Ashish and saw him sleeping peacefully on the couch..Her boss is sleeping on the couch for her.. She felt warmth in her heart.. She blushed when she remembered how she hugged him yesterday night.. She could glance at him only for a few seconds but she observed that his body is  extremely good with eight pack abs  and he can be used as a template by sculptors.." Riya ,what are you thinking?? he is your boss, have some shame".. her inner voice said..she slapped her head and walked towards the kitchen to make coffee for both of them..she felt extremely grateful to the way he took care of her yesterday..The sunlight from the window disturbed Ashish's sleep.. He woke up and saw an empty bed.. He was worried initially but felt relaxed and a smile appeared on her lips when he saw Riya working in the kitchen humming a song..She felt a stare on her and looked at the direction of  Ashish.. He was leaning on the kitchen  door frame and was observing her quietly.." Good morning sir""Morning", are you ok now??"Yes sir , I am fine. Thank you for yesterday's help.. I don't know what would have happened to me without you  yesterday.. ", she said, giving him a coffee mug..He smiled, took the mug from her, sat on the dining table opposite to her and asked ," When did this claustrophobia start??"..Riya sneered and said,'' when I was 8 years old ,we went to our grandparents' village and I was playing hide and seek with the  local village children.. and I hid in the storage room during the play and I was locked inside by someone.. Suddenly it started raining and all the kids whom I was playing with rushed to their respective houses and nobody knew I was locked inside the store room.  My parents started searching for me but they  didn't look for me in the store room.Slowly it started to darken and there was no light in the room and I was really  scared   and spent  the whole night in the same room with fear.. I cried and cried ,but nobody was there to help me..Next day, my dad got a doubt and checked the room I was in and found me unconscious with high fever.. since then I am  scared of dark and closed places.. As I grew I thought I could fight with my  weakness but I realised, I couldn't till yesterday night.."Ashish looked at her with deep eyes and said," I am sorry.  you might have gone through much""I am  fine sir.. Don't worry.  I think I have to fight with my fear.  I can't rely on someone every time I get scared.. "Ashish smiled and said," Good"..I will go take a shower and get ready for office""yes sir, meanwhile I will prepare breakfast for you"Ashish nodded and left.. Riya sneered and got involved in cooking..After getting ready, Ashish once again returned to her flat and both of them ate breakfast in silence.."Come let's go", we are getting late ."Yes Sir, Riya took her bag and walked out locking the door.."Reaching the lift, Riya felt anxious remembering what happened to her yesterday.. She closed her eyes and clutched her clothes tightly..Ashish took her hand and walked inside the elevator.." Riya ,open your eyes and look at me.. just now you said, you want to fight with your fear, the best way to fight is to face it,open your eyes "" She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his eyes. just keep looking at me, till we reach down"Riya nodded and did the same and soon the lift reached the ground floor and the doors opened..Ashish didn't leave her hand the whole time. Both of them got down and sat in his car..He took a deep breath and said," Riya , whenever you feel you are getting afraid of confined places or dark.. you try to divert yourself by looking at some object like your watch or your mobile or your ring.. and wait for the time to pass.. you will be alright..hmmm"Riya nodded and said, " thanks "Soon they reached the office and Riya got involved in her work.. but Ashish was not at ease after what happened with Riya yesterday.. Every time he cannot be with  her , he should ensure that she is safe.. and he felt like there was some conspiracy in yesterday's incident, otherwise why would the lift be turned off.He called his assistant and said, " I want complete CCTV footage of yesterday evening to night of my apartment building"His assistant nodded and Within an hour he was  in front of him with the footage.. When he observed he understood that, the girl she met yesterday had a hand in it ..This girl, I want all the details about her in an hour." His assistant nodded and very quickly he was with findings in his hand."sir, the girl is named Shriya , she works in Mehta group  in the Technical department.. Her educational qualifications are good and salary is also high.  She spends all her salary buying luxury bags and clothes..The flat she lives in is the rented one and she lives there with  her two  friends.. " Ashish smirked and said," Call Mehta group and ask them to terminate her  immediately as my word and call the apartment association, send this video and ask them to make her vacant the flat by the end of the day.  and before that she should know why she is being fired.. so that she doesn't offend anyone in the future.. Make sure she doesn't get any job in any prestigious company"..His assistant nodded and left.." Riya , from now on  no one will trouble you at the apartment" he said to himself..