Falling For A Bollywood Legend

He was still the most handsome man she had ever come across and she had met more than her fair share of handsome men, working as she did in the glamour industry. Tall and sleekly muscled, with a finely chiselled face, he was the heartthrob of hordes of young women across the country. Only the hardness in his eyes saved him from being chocolate box handsome.

Her heart thundered in an unsteady rhythm as she braced herself to meet his steely grey eyes nonchalantly.

To say that he was stunned would be an understatement, thought Aadith. The last time he had set eyes on her, she had been a tall, skinny teen with braces on her teeth and an unruly mop of boyishly short curls. Damn! Had she changed! Her purple and green kurta clung to all the right places and flattered her lush body. He felt a flicker of lust tightening his body as he met big mocha-brown eyes across the table. They were shooting daggers at him.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she asked bluntly, ignoring Mrs Dutta’s gasp of horror. She had never known Nina to be rude to anyone despite extreme provocation sometimes. Undaunted by Nina’s decidedly unwelcome remark, Aadith turned to wink at her secretary and said, ‘Don’t mind her, Mrs Dutta. She’s never been one to appreciate surprises.’

Nina snorted.

‘And I’m sure she would love a cup of coffee as much as I would,’ he continued, throwing a winsome smile at the secretary as an added encouragement.

‘I doubt anyone likes an unpleasant surprise,’ muttered Nina under her breath as Mrs Dutta hurried out to do his bidding.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected surprise, Mr Varma? Isn’t it a bit too late in the day to play catch up?’ remarked Nina with a baleful glare at him.

He let his gaze drift over her leisurely as he replied, ‘Catching up isn’t what I’m here for, although I’m not averse to it, now that you mention it.’ He grinned at her cheekily.

Nina’s stomach flipped. Oh, God! He looked even better when he smiled. Whatever he was here for, she had to get him out of here fast. ‘I certainly don’t want that!’ sputtered Nina in horror. ‘You are the last man on earth I want to get reacquainted with!’

Aadith didn’t seem perturbed in the least. He shrugged coolly and explained, ‘Well, I thought working together would be a lot simpler if we got along but it’s certainly not necessary.’

Nina stared at him warily. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘It’s not exactly a secret that I’m in a bit of a media mess. Unfortunately, my last PR guy didn’t handle it as well as he should have, so I’m here to offer you that job.’

‘Why would you think I’d even be interested?’ shot back Nina rudely.

Aadith narrowed his eyes at her and said, ‘Why not? Ask anyone, they’ll tell you that I’m a very generous boss.’

Nina was incensed at his suggestion that money would even tempt her to consider his offer. She looked at him pityingly and replied tartly, ‘You seem to be under the belief that money will get you whatever you want but you are sadly mistaken in this case. I’m perfectly happy with my current crop of clients and have no intention whatsoever of working with a moron like you.’

Aadith laughed out loud. ‘Your insults are totally redundant. I’ve been called worse names than that and, let me assure you, I always get what I want. If money doesn’t make you tick I will find out what does. Whether you want to or not you are going to work for me, Nina,’ he finished confidently.

Nina felt a frisson of apprehension course through her. She knew he was relentless and she did not want to work with him. Her lips trembled slightly in response. Aadith’s gaze latched onto them and he felt a startling urge to trace her beautiful mouth with his fingertips.

All that she felt showed clearly on her face. Anger, irritation and a slight sense of alarm. She is right to be wary of me, thought Aadith. For some strange reason she seemed to be drawing his attention much more than he wanted.

The light of challenge was burning brightly in her sparkling eyes as she retorted, ‘Don’t count on it, Mr Varma.’

Aadith felt alive in a way he hadn’t in a long while. This promised to be way more interesting than he’d anticipated.

‘I think we’ve known each other for far too long for you to call me Mr Varma,’ he objected.

Nina knew their first encounter several years ago had marked her for life and she had no intention of subjecting herself to spending more time with him. She always learnt from her mistakes and working with Aadith would prove to be nothing but a colossal one. She vowed to avoid him at all costs.

‘I don’t intend to see you long enough for it to matter what I call you,’ she declared hotly. The sound of his mocking laughter set her already ragged nerves on edge.

‘Make no mistake, before long you will be working with me,’ he warned once again.

Nina groaned to herself. Before today whenever she had chanced to attend the same industry dos as him she had managed to steer clear of him. Now a cruel twist of fate was tossing them together.

The more she resisted, the more Aadith seemed to be looking upon this as a challenge he intended to win, so Nina quickly changed tack.

‘Look, if we can’t work together harmoniously, it’s bound to reflect on the results in the press and I’m sure that is something you can’t afford right now,’ she said persuasively.

Aadith cast her a lazy look and said, ‘Don’t worry…. I can be as harmonious as you want me to be.’

Nina drew in a breath for patience and released it slowly. He was just toying with her and pulling her strings as he had done in the past. But this time she would not take things lying down, she promised herself. She would give as good as she got.

‘Your long line of ex-girlfriends are out telling the world how you really are, so save your breath,’ she snapped.

Aadith felt his temper rise in a second. ‘You of all people should know how the press spins stories to sell their papers and magazines, yet you persist in believing those ridiculous tales,’ he accused.

‘Not all of them are false,’ she argued.

‘And not all of them are true either,’ he countered.

Nina bit her bottom lip. If she could forget that he ever existed she would. But forgetting his existence was easier said than done when he was splashed across newspapers and magazines with a different pretty young thing on his arm every other day.

‘For some reason I’ve become the media’s favourite bad boy and I want to get rid of that tag now. And you, Miss Goody-two-shoes, are going to help me do it,’ insisted Aadith arrogantly.

A discreet knock at the door later, Mrs Dutta let herself in with the coffee. Nina watched Aadith work his charm smoothly.

‘I’ve a meeting scheduled shortly so I’ve got to leave now. But thank you for the coffee, Mrs Dutta. Once Nina and I start working together I’m sure I’ll be around for many more,’ he said, giving her an easy smile.

‘My daughter is a crazy fan of yours and will be beside herself when I tell her I met you,’ said Mrs Dutta happily.

‘Thank you. If she ever wants to visit the sets just let Nina know. I’ll send some passes along,’ he promised, winking at Nina as he let himself out with a casual wave in their direction.

Nina felt like throwing the pretty etched-glass paperweight at his back as he closed the door behind him. Damn! Now Mrs Dutta definitely wouldn’t let her forget about him. Miss Goody-two-shoes indeed, she fumed. She’d rather walk over hot coals than lift a finger to help him, she thought savagely as she settled down to work.

After a headache-inducing lunch with Sonia, Nina was perusing a contract when the managing director, Mr Samuel, summoned her to his cabin. Just a few days ago he had congratulated her on the success of the Tiwary account and had promised to look into her promotion soon. She had been gunning for the post of VP for a while now and if she became one she would be the youngest ever in the history of the eighty-five-year-old firm. This sudden summons made her mildly curious as to the nature of this second unexpected call.

Her MD was generally not a man prone to displaying his emotions. For him to nod approvingly at someone meant that he or she had done an exceedingly good job. So when Nina found him with his face wreathed in a huge smile she felt the first stirrings of misgiving.

‘Nina, I gather you and Aadith Varma are old friends,’ remarked her boss cheerfully.

Nina was startled. Their past had been stormy to say the least and they could certainly not be labelled as friends, she thought darkly.

A frown marred her face as she clarified, ‘Well, more like neighbours really.’

Her boss continued as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘After the success of the Tiwary account, to land a prestigious client like Mr Varma within the span of a week is a definite coup. Consider your promotion a done deal,’ he said appreciatively.

Something roiled in the pit of Nina’s stomach. She did not like where the conversation seemed to be heading.

‘Mr Varma was very impressed with your work and mentioned that he was looking forward to collaborating with you. I trust you to do a wonderful job with this account as well,’ he finished.

Nina knew she would have to try something quick to get out of this mess.