🍁 chapter ninteen 🍁

Prem had joined the office three days ago, and during these three days, he had done everything possible to keep Shantanu tangled up with himself. Shantanu couldn’t oppose Prem since he is the CEO of the main brand of the company.

During this time, Shaan and Rudra hadn’t had the chance to meet because every task led Shaan to Prem, and Prem would interact with Rudra instead.

On the fifth floor, more people had started talking to Shantanu because Prem gave him a lot of attention. Though Shantanu was generally chatty but Prem’s overly friendly nature made him uncomfortable, and he always tried to avoid him.

In the meanwhile, Rudra had become very irritable and would get angry at people over small things.

Shantanu knocked on Prem’s door, and Prem asked him to come in. Shantanu opened the door hesitantly, and Prem smiled upon seeing him.

“Shaan, how many times do I have to tell you, You don’t need to knock. You can just walk in,” Prem said with a soft smile.

Forcing a smile, Shantanu replied, “It’s okay, sir,” and handed over a file. “Sir, I’ve made the changes to the contract as per the requirement. Please take a look.”

Prem started reading the contract and, after a while, said, “Alright, I don’t see any issues here.” He pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and signed the contract.

Seeing him signing the contract, Shantanu sighed in relief. “Finally, it’s done.”

After signing, Prem placed the file on the table and said, “Shaan, should we have a team dinner today?”

Shantanu was not able to understand, why Prem was asking him, if he had to ask someone then he should ask the whole team for team dinner."Sir what can I say in this, I think you should ask the entire team." Shantanu replies patiently.

“Alright, I’ll ask the team,” Prem said with a smile, prompting another forced smile from Shantanu.

On the other hand, Rudra was glaring at his laptop with bloodshot eyes, muttering, “Why isn’t he coming out yet? What could they be talking about? What work keeps coming up repeatedly? ”

After some time, he saw Shantanu and Prem leaving the cabin together. At this moment, Rudra’s face looked terrifying than hell.

Clapping his hands, Prem said, “Attention, please ! ” Everyone turned their focus to Prem, and Shantanu quietly returned to his desk.

“I’m thinking of having a team dinner tonight. Are you all in?” Prem asked cheerfully.

Everyone began discussing among themselves. Meanwhile, Rudra’s focus was solely on Shaan, who was working at his computer. After some time, the team agreed to the dinner. Rudra glared at Prem angrily and muttered through clenched teeth, “Did I hire him to work or to waste everyone’s time?”

Whenever Shaan found a moment, he always rushed to the third floor, away from Prem. Today also, during the break, before Prem could step out, Shaan escaped to the third floor.

“So, what’s going on on the fifth floor?” Pari asked, offering Shaan a cup of coffee.

Sighing deeply, Shaan replied, “What should I say? Prem Sir has made my life difficult. I feel like I'm not a fashion designer but a laborer. He kept on getting me engaged with one or other work.. I can't even breathe.”

Pari laughed at his friend's condition and even teased, “Shaan baby, don’t you think Prem Sir likes you a bit too much? This is love..., his love ! Hahaha.”

“Oh, laugh it up. My days will come too.”

“Sure, we’ll see when that happens. But it’s a good thing for you—at least you don’t have to go to Rudra Sir anymore. Prem Sir is better than Rudra Sir,” Pari joked.

Hearing this, Shaan paused for a moment, sipped his coffee, and remembered his interactions with Rudra. Seeing him lost in thought, Pari raised her voice, “Hey, you’ve gone to another world again!”

Shaan looked at Pari and thought to himself, “If I tell her that I find boss better as compared to Prem sir, she’ll just make fun of me.”

Just then, Vivek placed a hand on Shantanu’s shoulder and asked, “Shaan, how’s your project going?”

Smiling, Shantanu replied, “The project is going well, but as always, I miss you all a lot.”

Vivek smiled, patting Shaan’s back. “Come visit us whenever you feel like it. It’s not like we’re living in another country.”

In a gloomy tone, Shaan said, “But I don’t get time. And ever since Prem Sir arrived, he makes me work like a donkey.” His sulking expression made Vivek laugh.

“can't you see Prem Sir’s love; instead, you are think it as torture,” Pari teased again, pulling Shaan’s leg.

Vivek chuckled and said, “Pari, don’t trouble Shaan.”

“I shouldn’t have come here in the first place,” Shaan said angrily, stomping away.

Meanwhile, Prem entered Rudra’s office with the signed contract. As soon as he stepped in, he was met with Rudra’s furious glare.

“Oh, my angry devil, give these lovely eyes some rest and stop glaring at me,” Prem said, laughing.

Rudra continued to glare at prem. Prem sat down on the chair, but Rudra didn’t stop glaring.

“Are you going to glare at me for the whole life? ” Prem asked in frustration.

“Why did I bring you here? To plan picnics? What’s this team dinner about?” Rudra asked coldly. If eyes can hurt them Prem would have been injured harshly.

Prem laughed awkwardly. “Hahaha, so you found out.”

Rudra replied smugly, “This is my company. I know everything that is going on here.”

Making a face, Prem said, “Forget all that. When are you going to introduce me to Joshi?”

Hearing Shantanu’s name, Rudra’s face darkened. “I’m not introducing him to you.”

“Why ?” Prem asked, surprised.

“I don’t feel like it,” Rudra replied bluntly.

“How can you not feel like it? I came here just to meet him,” Prem said, exasperated.

Rudra looked at Prem's worried face for a while and then said calmly, "If that is the case then you can leave from here." Prem was angry with Rudra but he could not do anything. Rudra has always been like this, he never cares for anyone and does what he likes, no matter how much trouble the other person faces.

“I will not go from here and I will find out myself.... If he has just joined the company, which means he must be on the lower floor. ” Prem also retorted with attitude.

“You said the same thing in college,” Rudra mocked, and gave a teasing smirk.

“Yes, but if there hadn’t been 40-50 Joshis in college, I would’ve found him,” Prem defended himself.

Rudra raised an eyebrow like he wanted to say, “There won’t be fewer Joshis in the company either. Let it be..,It’s beyond your limits.”

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The day passed quickly with the excitement of the team dinner. The workers went home, and the fifth-floor team headed to a hotel for dinner.

Everyone was seated around a large table. Prem sat next to Shantanu, with Sahil on the other side of him.

As usual sahil tried to butter Prem up. “Sir, ever since you arrived, there’s been so much energy on our floor.”

But Prem, entirely focused on Shaan, and didn’t respond to Sahil, who gritted his teeth in frustration. “This dog always steals everyone’s attention. Firstly, he used Rudra Sir to get things done, and now he’s clinging to Prem Sir.”

Leaning close to Shaan, Prem whispered, “I need your help with something.” Feeling Prem so close, Shantanu became uncomfortable and couldn't be able to register things.

When Shaan didn’t respond, Prem continued, “I need your help to find someone…”

Hearing Prem's voice again, Shaan pulls himself back and asked in a stuttering tone, "What...who...who?"

Where the whole team of Elegant was, there weren't any other people. The whole block was filled with the chatters of office workers. They were enjoying this free food.

At the entry gate, Rudra clenched his fists tightly as he saw Prem leaning so close to Shaan. His face grew dark, and instead of joining the group, he walked toward the bathroom.

Realizing he had made Shantanu uncomfortable, Prem moved back with an awkward smile and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted your help to find someone.”

Trying to smile, Shaan replied, “It’s okay, sir. Who are you looking for?”

“Hmm, do you have any friends on the lower floors ? ” Prem asked. Shantanu nodded. Hearing this, Prem grew excited. “Great! Can you find out about Mr. Joshi on the lower floor?”

Hearing “Mr. Joshi,” Shantanu thought of himself but doubted, why  would Prem so clueless as to ask Shaan about his own self only. Besides, Prem mentioned the lower floor. “Okay, sir. I’ll try.”

Meanwhile, Rudra stood outside the bathroom, smoking the cigarette. A group of girls exited the ladies’ bathroom, and upon seeing the handsome hunk, they whispered amongst themselves. One of them approached him.

“Hello, handsome,” she said with a seductive smile.

Rudra glanced at her once and then ignored her, continuing to smoke. The girl was Feeling insulted by Rudra's behavior,

Back at the dinner, Prem barely ate, his eyes glued to Shantanu, making Shaan feel extremely awkward. He forced himself to eat a little and got up to avoid Prem.

“Where are you going, Shaan?” Prem asked.

Forcing a smile, Shantanu replied, “Washroom,” and left without waiting for a response from the Prem.

Walking a little further, he breathed a sigh of relief. “What does Prem Sir even want? Already, nobody talks to me and now he’s here to make things worse. Will I ever be able to work peacefully? ” he cried for is bad luck in his workplace.

He didn't realise when he reached the bathroom and when he looked up, his eyes widened in shock.

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What did Shaan see that left him so shocked?

Stay tuned to find out in Chained Heart: RuShan.

Note:

The main characters of this story are Rudra and Shantanu. This is a BL story. If you do not like gay couples, please do not read this as I do not want hate comments.

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