🍁chapter sixteen 🍁

Shantanu was sitting on his couch, working on his laptop. When someone rang his doorbell, he glanced at the clock. It was almost 10 PM. Shantanu frowned and thought, "Who could it be at this hour?"

Setting his laptop aside, Shantanu got up and went to the door. He paused near the gate, wondering, "Could it be the landlord? But why so late? I have already paid rent for six months. How could it be ? " Finally, when Shantanu opened the door, his eyes narrowed at the sight of the person standing there.

"Boss? You're here?" Shantanu was confused about why Rudra had come to his place that too late at night..

Rudra was still dressed in his office suit and his face was as always devoid of any expression. Shantanu kept staring at him, but Rudra didn't say anything.

"Is there some issue at the office, Boss?" Shantanu asked again as he was not sure about his chairman's visit to his home.

"Won't you invite me in?" Rudra's hoarse voice broke the silence. Shantanu quickly moved aside with embarrassed. "Sorry, Boss. Please come in." Nervously said.

Rudra walked straight into the living room and stopped, noticing the laptop and files on the table. He realized Shantanu had been working. Shantanu rushed to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and handed it to Rudra, inviting him to sit.

Rudra sat on the sofa and started drinking water. Shantanu awkwardly asked, "Boss, what would you like? Tea, coffee, juice?" No matter how annoyed Shantanu was with Rudra, it didn't feel right to let his guest sit without offering something. After all, Rudra was his boss, and Shantanu couldn't afford to offend him; otherwise, he might lose his job or if he wasn't fired then his work place will become hell.

Rudra didn't seem to be in a good mood.

Rudra glanced at Shantanu, who was wearing a red T-shirt and caramel-colored denim shorts that stopped above his knees, exposing his long, slender, and fair legs. His front hair fell over his forehead, making him look very handsome and attractive.

Rudra quickly averted his gaze and finished the water in one gulp. Placing the glass on the table with a low click, he replied in a low voice, "Can you make coffee? "

Hearing the word "coffee," Shantanu's face soured. He became annoyed and irritated "If I didn't work for his company, I'd never make coffee for the person who once served my tea to someone else," he muttered under his breath, heading to the kitchen. Rudra saw a displeasure look on shan's face but thought to ignore as this was nothing new. He use to the mood swings of this crazy boy.

Rudra sat comfortably on the sofa, scrolling through his phone, while Shantanu was lost in thought while making coffee, wondering why Rudra had come to his house.

When Shantanu handed the coffee to Rudra, he asked, "Sir, is it an emergency? Why did you come to my house at this hour? "

Rudra took the coffee and looked at Shantanu, but instead of answering, he started drinking the coffee. Rudra's dismissive behavior annoyed Shantanu even more "why is he such jerk ? Can't he simply answer my questions " shouted shantanu in his mind.

After a while, Rudra's emotionless voice broke the silence, "I have a meeting nearby in some time."

"Okay, please feel free to rest here until your meeting starts," Shantanu replied, with a weird look.

Shantanu sat back on the sofa and resumed his work. Rudra watched him from the corner of his eye. Shantanu looked very serious while working, more so than Rudra had ever seen him before. Rudra quietly clicked a photo of Shantanu with his phone and smirked, thinking, "Beautiful" He stared at shan for a while.

After putting his phone back into his coat pocket, Rudra asked, "Working on office tasks?"

Shantanu looked up from his laptop and replied in a serious tone, "Yes, Boss."

"What exactly are you working on?" Rudra asked further.

"Drafting a contract for an endorsement," Shantanu said, continuing his work.

Rudra squinted his eyes and spoke, "That's not your job. There's a team in The Elegant department for contract drafting."

Shantanu gave an awkward smile and replied nervously, "Well, it's my project, so I thought I should do it."

Shantanu didn't want to reveal that The Elegant team had refused to help him with the contract. Rudra stared at him for a moment and then asked, "Have you ever drafted a contract before?"

Shantanu lowered his head and bit his lip. Rudra understood that Shantanu had never done it before.

"Come here," Rudra gestured for him to sit closer. Rudra was sitting on the main sofa, while Shantanu was on the side sofa. Shantanu moved closer with his laptop. Rudra took the laptop and started reviewing the contract Shantanu had drafted till now.

Rudra pointed out some mistakes in the format and suggested adding a few details.

Shantanu was again drowned in his work. He got serious about fixing the errors and couldn't notice Rudra was staring at him continuously.

Absentmindedly, Rudra lifted his hand and brushed Shantanu's hair aside with his index finger.

As soon as Shan felt a soft touch of Rudra's finger on his forehead, his typing fingers froze momentarily.

"Bo...Boss," Shantanu stuttered, startled. Rudra also snapped out of it and quickly withdrew his hand. An awkward atmosphere enveloped the room, and both started stealing glances at each other. Whenever their eyes met by accident, they'd quickly look away.

To avoid this awkwardness, Rudra asked "Can I rest here for a while?"

Shantanu made a weird face Ns thought, 'What else have you been doing all this time?'

But with a forced smile, he replied, "Sure, Boss. Make yourself at home-" Before Shantanu could finish his sentence, Rudra had already walked into the bedroom.

"Arrogant....Rude... devil... jerk," Shantanu muttered angrily, glaring at Rudra who was lying inside the room. Shan cried in his mind "Feels like this is his house, not mine."

Meanwhile, Rudra comfortably lay on the bed, bringing the blanket to his nose (sniff ) and softly whispering, "Just like him," before closing his eyes.

At the same time, Rajeev and Vijay arrived at Rudra's house. Finding him missing, they called him.

"Hello," Rajeev said as Rudra answered the call.

"Hmm."

"Rudra, where are you?"

"Why do you need to know?" Rudra asked, turning on his side on the bed.

"Uncle and I are at your house. Where are you? " Rajeev asked irritably.

"I'm out. Come some other time," Rudra ended the call without waiting for their response. Rajeev and Vijay exchanged helpless looks, and moved to their car.

Shantanu worked hard to complete his contract while Rudra slept in the bedroom.

Oberoi Mansion

Sushma was talking to someone on the phone. "I thought I could take control of Rudra's company as well, but he's not fool. He refused to make me the CEO."

"Mom, you know Rudra isn't like Dad or Rajeev, who'd fall for your tricks," the person on the other end replied, with a boring look.

Annoyed, Sushma retorted, "You're my son. Why are you praising Rudra? I know he's a tough nut to crack, and he doesn't have any weaknesses."

"He does-his late mother."said sushama's son with a long sigh.

Sushma scoffed with an irritating face "Dead people can't help for long, Archit. When are you coming back?"

Archit is Sushma and Sanjay's son. He was a year younger than Rudra, which irked Rudra the most and fueled his hatred for Sanjay and Sushma. Archit also had a younger sister named Arpita, who was currently studying in London, while Archit was in Germany.

The Oberoi family also included Sanjay and Vijay's sister, Shakuntala, who was currently in jail. Their father still lived in the ancestral mansion in the village. Except for Sanjay, no one liked Sushma in the family, but no one dared to speak up because of Sanjay. However, Shakuntala and Rudra openly expressed their disdain for Sushama. They are not who can pretend according to people's wish.

Shan's home.

Shantanu finished drafting the contract. He set his laptop aside, stretched his body, and glanced at the bedroom. "Doesn't he have a meeting to attend?" Shantanu wondered.

He walked into the bedroom and found Rudra fast asleep. Shantanu didn't have the heart to disturb his sleep. Shaking his head helplessly, he thought,

Where am I supposed to sleep now?

Standing there for a while, he finally took a blanket from the wardrobe and went back to the living room.

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Morning (Shantanu's Room)

On a single bed, two people lay peacefully in each other's arms. For once, there were no lines of stress on Rudra's face. Shantanu's head rested on Rudra's chest, one hand draped around his waist, while Rudra had both arms wrapped around Shantanu.

It was 6 AM, much later than Rudra's usual wake-up time, but today he was lost in the comfort of sleep.

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