His words resonated in her head . She could feel that he meant well from the way he looked at her . She took the jacket from him and wore it without saying a word . He wanted to help her to wear it, but it looked like she wasn't interested . She was struggling to get the right words to speak . She continued looking down and said,

"I wasn't hiding . I was just . . . "

And her words were interrupted with a knock on the door .

It was David again .

He came in and saw both Raymond and Akira together and he could sense that he had interrupted their conversation again like the day before . He could clearly feel that something was wrong as the whole aura of the room seemed tense . But he didn't have the courage to dissect and probe further . He looked at Akira and saw that she had her head hung low . So he decided to go ahead and speak his mind out .

"The delivery guy is here and he has got both the colors", David said .

"Ask him to get both of them to my office . I will choose and let him know", Raymond said .

"But there is a slight problem", David said .

"What?", asked Raymond .

David then looked at Akira and she immediately understood that she had overstayed her welcome in the room . So she looked at Raymond and said,

"I will send you the minutes of the meeting after lunch", and left the room .

There were so many things that she wanted to tell him . She wanted to explain to him why she always hid her pain . But first, she had to handle her own heart which was going haywire .

She rushed to the washroom immediately and splashed water all over her face to calm her nerves . But nothing was helping her out . She then drank ice cold water and took deep breaths . Then she went up to the terrace and sat there silently, feeling the wind on her face . Then she slowly said,

"How can I ever explain to you the things which are buried deep inside my heart . I learned not to show my pain since long . Don't break me, Raymond . Don't make me weak . My heart can't take it anymore" .

Then she placed a hand on her chest to calm her heartbeats . It was hard for her to forget him . His closeness, his touch, his care, his gaze, his questions were like slow poison . It was spreading slowly but steadily consuming her more and more day after day .

She sat there silently for quite some time and then left for the cafeteria . She did not want her teammates to wait for her for too long . She was afraid that if she was too late then there would be questions again . And somehow she was fed up of being answerable to everyone .

"What is the problem?" Raymond asked David again after Akira had left the room .

The problem is, you have to leave the office by 5:00 p . m . so that you can attend your niece's birthday party . But 15 minutes back I got a call from the finance team of Abacus stating that they want to have a video conference meeting at 6:00 p . m . today", David said with a worried look on his face .

"But why all of a sudden they have decided to have the meeting so late", Raymond asked all worried .

He didn't want to be late for the birthday party because he knew that Katherine would be really p.i.s.sed if that happened . But more than that he was worried that it would break his niece's heart .

"I have no idea . Just that they wanted a briefing on the fiscal report", David replied .

"I do not understand . Today morning only I have discussed it with Mr . Vikram . So what is the need for this meeting? Can you check with the finance team of Abacus?", Raymond asked .

"Well, I am not sure about it either . I have myself asked the same question to them . But they insisted to have the meeting today so I didn't resist much", David replied .

"Ok . I got it . We will handle one thing at a time . Let the delivery guy come first . I need to choose the teddy for Kate first . I will try to wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible . Be ready as you might need to cover for me if it gets too late . I can stay for one hour but not more than that," Raymond said and went back to his seat .

Something was not summing up appropriately . But Raymond was unable to map what .

Meanwhile at Abacus Inc .

"So is that clear to you?", asked Vikram to Mr . Whittaker who was his finance team leader .

"Yes, crystal . Do you need any other information?", asked Whittaker .

"No that would be all . But please make sure you go through all the points that I have discussed . I need to have the decision made today itself . So even if it gets late please bear to stretch for this one day . But make sure to finalize the budget plan by today," Vikram said .

"My team will be on it", said Whittaker .

Vikram paused for a while and then said with his expression turning all cold,

"I don't care whether it's 10 or 11 p . m . today, but I need the plan ready . I hope that is clear," Vikram said and relaxed back on his seat .

"Sure Mr . Vikram . The report will be on your desk by tomorrow morning . My team and I will make sure of that," Whittaker said and left Vikram's cabin .

Even though Akira had told him that the birthday party was only for the kids, Vikram didn't want to take his chances . So he didn't leave any stone unturned to make sure that Raymond stays late in office . He was the sort of guy who liked eliminating all the odds . He knew he had to do something to make sure things fell back into place . He couldn't just sit at his seat doing nothing, not after when he had seen the way Raymond looked at Akira .

He knew it was high time to take up the matter to his own hands and raise the stakes high .

His words resonated in her head . She could feel that he meant well from the way he looked at her . She took the jacket from him and wore it without saying a word . He wanted to help her to wear it, but it looked like she wasn't interested . She was struggling to get the right words to speak . She continued looking down and said, .

.

"I wasn't hiding . I was just . " .

.

And her words were interrupted with a knock on the door

.

It was David again

.

.

.

He came in and saw both Raymond and Akira together and he could sense that he had interrupted their conversation again like the day before . He could clearly feel that something was wrong as the whole aura of the room seemed tense . But he didn't have the courage to dissect and probe further . He looked at Akira and saw that she had her head hung low . So he decided to go ahead and speak his mind out

.

"The delivery guy is here and he has got both the colors", David said

.

"Ask him to get both of them to my office . I will choose and let him know", Raymond said

.

"But there is a slight problem", David said

.

"What?", asked Raymond

.

David then looked at Akira and she immediately understood that she had overstayed her welcome in the room . So she looked at Raymond and said, .

.

"I will send you the minutes of the meeting after lunch", and left the room

.

There were so many things that she wanted to tell him . She wanted to explain to him why she always hid her pain . But first, she had to handle her own heart which was going haywire

.

She rushed to the washroom immediately and splashed water all over her face to calm her nerves . But nothing was helping her out . She then drank ice cold water and took deep breaths . Then she went up to the terrace and sat there silently, feeling the wind on her face . Then she slowly said, .

.

"How can I ever explain to you the things which are buried deep inside my heart . I learned not to show my pain since long . Don't break me, Raymond . Don't make me weak . My heart can't take it anymore"

.

Then she placed a hand on her chest to calm her heartbeats . It was hard for her to forget him . His closeness, his touch, his care, his gaze, his questions were like slow poison . It was spreading slowly but steadily consuming her more and more day after day

.

.

She sat there silently for quite some time and then left for the cafeteria . She did not want her teammates to wait for her for too long . She was afraid that if she was too late then there would be questions again . And somehow she was fed up of being answerable to everyone

.

--- .

.

"What is the problem?" Raymond asked David again after Akira had left the room

.

The problem is, you have to leave the office by 5:00 p . m . so that you can attend your niece's birthday party . But 15 minutes back I got a call from the finance team of Abacus stating that they want to have a video conference meeting at 6:00 p . m . today", David said with a worried look on his face

.

.

"But why all of a sudden they have decided to have the meeting so late", Raymond asked all worried

.

He didn't want to be late for the birthday party because he knew that Katherine would be really p.i.s.sed if that happened . But more than that he was worried that it would break his niece's heart

.

"I have no idea . Just that they wanted a briefing on the fiscal report", David replied

.

"I do not understand . Today morning only I have discussed it with Mr . Vikram . So what is the need for this meeting? Can you check with the finance team of Abacus?", Raymond asked

.

.

"Well, I am not sure about it either . I have myself asked the same question to them . But they insisted to have the meeting today so I didn't resist much", David replied

.

.

"Ok . I got it . We will handle one thing at a time . Let the delivery guy come first . I need to choose the teddy for Kate first . I will try to wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible . Be ready as you might need to cover for me if it gets too late . I can stay for one hour but not more than that," Raymond said and went back to his seat

.

.

Something was not summing up appropriately . But Raymond was unable to map what

.

.

--- .

.

Meanwhile at Abacus Inc

.

"So is that clear to you?", asked Vikram to Mr . Whittaker who was his finance team leader

.

"Yes, crystal . Do you need any other information?", asked Whittaker

.

.

"No that would be all . But please make sure you go through all the points that I have discussed . I need to have the decision made today itself . So even if it gets late please bear to stretch for this one day . But make sure to finalize the budget plan by today," Vikram said

.

"My team will be on it", said Whittaker

.

.

Vikram paused for a while and then said with his expression turning all cold, .

.

"I don't care whether it's 10 or 11 p . m . today, but I need the plan ready . I hope that is clear," Vikram said and relaxed back on his seat

.

.

"Sure Mr . Vikram . The report will be on your desk by tomorrow morning . My team and I will make sure of that," Whittaker said and left Vikram's cabin

.

.

Even though Akira had told him that the birthday party was only for the kids, Vikram didn't want to take his chances . So he didn't leave any stone unturned to make sure that Raymond stays late in office . He was the sort of guy who liked eliminating all the odds . He knew he had to do something to make sure things fell back into place . He couldn't just sit at his seat doing nothing, not after when he had seen the way Raymond looked at Akira

.

.

He knew it was high time to take up the matter to his own hands and raise the stakes high