Unsuitable Proposal

I blinked, trying to stop the sleep from taking over me. My fingers paused on the keyboard as my eyes adjusted their focus back on laptop's screen. It was past two in the morning and I was still up, working.

I was tired, sleep deprived, and hungry.

I had skipped dinner just out of my laziness of not wanting to get off the desk. Now my growling stomach was reminding me that a bag of potato chips wasn't meant to replace a proper meal.

"The sensitivity of camera is adjusted. If there's nothing more, I'm hitting bed." My laptop pinged with Ranjan's text.

I sighed. "I'll take care of the rest. Good night." I messaged back.

Ranjan kept his words and helped me with the massive workload that was dropped on me. We worked on the system together at his office, and when the time came for the security guard to lock up the building, we brought our laptops and work with us back to our respective homes.

"You sure? I can stay up if you need me to do anything else."

"Don't worry, not much is left. It won't take more than 15 minutes to wrap it all up. Go, sleep."

"Okay. Good night :)" Ranjan went offline.

I was grateful to have Ranjan working with me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to finish even if I had pulled an all-nighter. Instead of 15, it took me almost 45 minutes to debug rest of the code. I miscalculated. 

By the time I was done, I was cured of my insomnia and welcomed sleep with open arms. Half-asleep, I groaned into my pillow just thinking that I had to be up early in the morning, even though it was Saturday. I had to be online while people at Brillio tested the code, in case anything went wrong and they needed my assistance.

Aghh... Grind never stops.

**

I covered my yawn as I walked out of the elevator to my office's floor. Along with my handbag, I was also carrying a tired face and dark circles under my eyes. I had already planned on spending my whole Sunday on bed. My lack of sleep was overpowering my anxieties about Antarang. Which was good... I guess? I so needed rest. 

There were few people today as it was weekend. The sound of my kitten heels clicking on the marble floor reverberated throughout the large room, grasping attention of those few people. I wasn't used to seeing our office this empty. I greeted my colleagues with a shy smile. 

Only me, Ranjan and Mohan were coming from our team. We weren't expecting much work today and were looking forward to get out of here before lunchtime.

Before starting my day I decided to greet Ranjan and thank him for his help yesterday. He could've easily dropped whole thing on me, but he didn't, and I felt grateful he wasn't like my previous team manager at Vision.

I dropped my handbag on desk before heading for Ranjan's cabin. My steps halted as I reached the glass doors of his office. 

Antarang.

What's he doing here today?

In a solid brown shirt and the pair of khaki pants stood Antarang behind the doors with Aadeel sir and Ranjan. Aadeel sir was seated and they all seemed to be busy in some conversation. 

My 'thank you' could wait, I didn't want to be in the same room as Antarang right now. Last time he made it very clear how much he despised me.

"Kashvi, you're already here," came a cheerful voice from behind just as I took a small step back. I turned around to find smiling Mohan. "Good morning!" He chirped.

"Hey, good morning." I failed to match his enthusiasm. I had never seen a person this happy to be working on weekends.

"You're not going in?" 

"Ranjan seems busy," I said, gesturing at Aadeel sir and Antarang, who still hadn't seen us, "I think we should come back later."

"No, we should go greet them. You're new Kashvi, but don't be so shy. We're working with them after all." He knocked on the door before I could say anything.

The moment I felt Antarang's eyes on me, a domino effect started in my body. My face heated, palms turned clammy and my stomach was in knots, just by his piercing gaze. His demeanor turned steely just at the sight of me.

"Yes, please join us you two," Aadeel sir invited us in.

Mohan grinned and entered without any hesitation. I followed behind him, using him as a shield from Antarang's eyes. 

"I called them in for support while your team did the testing," Ranjan told Antarang and Aadeel sir as we greeted them. "But I guess they can take a day off now," he added, frowning.

"Brillio's team couldn't do the test run today due to some issues," Aadeel sir explained, his fingers playing with the glass paper weight on table. "We three were discussing just about that."

I pursed my lips, stopping myself from saying anything rude. Ranjan and I worked all night to get the job done by today, just like we were instructed, and now here it was dismissed just like that. Again.

"What issues?" I heard myself ask.

"The team that came from Germany found some technical problems in their equipment. We've given them till Monday to sort it out," Antarang said, his brown eyes sizing me up. "But at least you delivered the code on time, now things will run smoothly next week, if you did your job right that is," he taunted and took a seat next to Aadeel sir.

What- This man! 

My fingers balled into fist and I had the urge to punch him in his gorgeous face. 

"Yes, we're glad we managed to get it done on time," I gritted, trying to maintain my professionalism, "even though it cost Ranjan and me our whole night." Trying, I said. I wanted him informed of the inconvenience it caused us.

Antarang's brows knitted. "What do you mean Ranjan and you worked on it all night?" His angry voice caused goosebumps all over my body. Did I say too much? I looked at Ranjan for help and found him shaking his head, making me realize: yes, I did. "It was your job, not his, Ms. Acharya."

**