Boulevard of Broken Dreams

‘Isn’t this your phone, Maya?’ Jatin Kaushik asked by flashing the latest model of iPhone 12 Pro in his hands. ‘Oh, shoot…. Did I leave it on the desk?’ replied an attractive young lady in her late 30s. Dressed in ankle-length jeans (designer cult), white crisp slim shirt paired with a beige semi-formal jacket, long colored tresses, she is an alluring beauty to behold.

‘Nope, I found it next to the coffee machine’ replied Jatin in his trademark sensual tone, he is senior AVP – digital marketing at PaperDime Marketers Ltd. Jatin is a smart man in his early 40s, well chiseled body with athletic physique, yoga enthusiast, and a marathon runner. He is often compared with Bradly Cooper or Goerge Clooney for the salt-n-pepper mane, in the office cafeterias.

‘Thank you, Jatin. You saved me today, I owe one for this.’ Maya answered while hurriedly taking phone from his hand.

‘Big deal, you may get as many as you want, Maya’ quipped Jatin with a smirk, while returning to his room.

The statement left Maya stunned for a moment, she has been trying hard to come out from the opulence her surname provides, but every move seems like a failure. She angrily stuffed the phone in her Coach Bag and stomped out from the office.

With just fifteen minutes to reach the train station, she hastily stopped a taxi and hopped in. Agitated with what Jatin or others think about her, she didn’t realize the taxi driver took a detour for the station. It was well past 7 when they arrived at the station, realizing she missed the train and next would be tough to catch, she asked taxi to take her home instead.

Coming from a family of influence, many think it is a blessing but ask Maya, she has struggled to prove her worth all life. In school, she was every teacher’s pet peeve for being an average kid but trustee’s child. The principal could never muster the courage to tell her Dad about the poor academic track record. Maya’s whole childhood was a fluke; everyone was only bothered about her family’s affluence but never her feelings. At the age of 14, she was dating more than a dozen guys only to prove she deserves attention and love from her folks.

A string of heartbreaks and two abortions later, she realized the patronage was only for her father’s name. At 22, she decided to travel the world and turned into an adventurer but those foreign trips were sponsored by her Dad with various perks and luxury attached. The debacle in travel blogging pushed her into depression and she fell into bad company.

With strong political interference and backhanding numerous officers, she could see freedom and a clean slate name record. The rehabilitation program brought some change into her perspective and she started taking challenges head-on. She decided not to use the family name in her career, documents and left the family home to live independently, but tabloids and paparazzi often cover her in random articles.

Her thought train abruptly broken when she saw Jatin entering Ruby’s Bar, next to her residence, she decided to follow him instead of going straight to her flat. It was Maya’s most favorite hangout place on weekends; Ruby is her buddy and doesn’t bother about her lineage, in fact, she makes Maya work at the bar to pay for her drinks. No free lunches honey! She often says.

While entering, Maya searched for her friend, who was at the rear end chatting with a silhouette of a man, Jatin. What the hell Ruby doing with him? Flabbergasted, Maya stumbled upon a few crates of beer.

They both turned to look around and saw Maya staring back at them; ‘Hey baby girl, how come you are here on a weekday?’ quizzed Ruby.

‘Nothing much saw rear door’s light was on hence came to check around’, Maya replied sheepishly avoiding Jatin completely.

‘Meet Jatin, he has recently bought equity at Ruby’s we are thinking of scaling up the ops, come in join us my marketing genius. Jatin, this is Maya, she works for some ad company; and is my adorable darling’, said Ruby while pulling Maya from the ally.

Jatin followed them quietly; Ruby’s office was a rugged place with papers and files stashed in one corner, bohemian interiors with minimal design, and a giant couch that Maya loves to snuggle on. Ruby entered with three large beer mugs, while placing them on the table she asked Maya to help them with the marketing plan.

This made Maya a little uncomfortable, but before she could say anything Jatin quipped, ‘Well for that you have to take madam’s appointment, isn’t it Ms. Kalsi.’

Maya thwacked the mug down on the table with a huge thud, ‘what is your problem in life, Kaushik just because you are a boss doesn’t mean you act bossy everywhere. I am a single woman living on my terms, a working professional who earns her OWN money with passion and hard work, paying my bills on time from my OWN hard-earned money, get ONLY what I deserve. If you have a problem with that, suck it up!’ and she stormed out from Ruby’s office.

‘Isn’t she the hottest mess you have ever seen, Jatin? If I was a man, God I would have sneaked her away from everyone, commented Ruby.

The entire conversation confused Jatin, to give it closure; he started following Maya for an explanation. In the lift he caught up with her to ask what’s wrong, ‘I don’t know what got into you, Maya but I was not disrespectful to you.’

‘Yes, you were Mr. Kaushik not once but twice since the evening. You can’t choose your parents, your family, can you? I am born into one which has power, money, and everything in this world, but no compassion. I have billions of dollars in my family account but no one knows what I want. I prefer to live in this apartment instead of hiring chauffeur-driven cars or plush luxury flats just to keep myself grounded and away from that name. But all you guys see is the name, ‘KALSI’ no one is bothered if there is a human with feelings behind this name. So, stop justifying what you have done and please leave me alone.’ She said while unlocking the flat’s door.

Sensing he is still standing behind her, she turned around to speak but before words came out from her mouth Jatin’s lips found hers, and everything else went blank. After a few moments of complete stupor, she caught her breath back but by then the desire overtook their conscious mind.

Around midnight, Maya woke up in a mess of linen and disarrayed clothes. Reality struck her slow but with a pang in the gut, she just had the wildest encounter with her boss. The man everyone thinks is untouchable, just gave her the most memorable night of her life.

Engulfed into pure passion, they shunted the professional entente to enter a dangerous game of lust and desires. The boundaries which she always respected in the past, she smiled at her foolishness and wondered what Sushma will say about this mess.

Have you read the part one of this story? If not, please click here to read the beginning of this short story, here.

‘This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon‘

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