Conflicted Desires – Part 2

We have embarked on the story of Rohini, a career counselor with an ultra-talkative grumpy parakeet, she met a new student who has come to seek her guidance, along with an attractive man. Let’s read ahead to know, what will Keezo do next to irritate Rohini and how this story shapes up from here. You can read the first part, here.

Over the years, Rohini has met several parents and guardians, but she has never seen a ‘Broadway kind’ of the beauty of a guardian. She was taken aback by this man’s attractiveness and raw masculine vibe.

Pulling his hand out from his pocket he said, “Hello! I am Vikram Sethi, and she is Krisha. We are here for our 12 o’clock student counseling session,” while glancing at his very manly luxurious watch.

His voice is deep and gravelly, similar to the dark romance novels ‘growling men,’ it took a moment for Rohini to pull herself back together, she was flustered by her unpreparedness.  After all, the first impression is the last in her line of work.

“Hello, I am Rohini Kaushik, we will begin with the young lady introducing herself, and let’s try and understand why she is here?”

Krisha started speaking about herself and the course she is aiming for in the future. While Rohini was taking her notes to understand the girl’s future vision, she felt another set of eyes following her every movement, somehow that uncalled attention was making her nervous.

An instant urge to look at the man sitting beside the girl caught hold of her, and when she pulled her eyes to the one demanding her attention, she met a scorching hot pair pinning her down.

Rattled by the powerful gaze, she forcefully pushed herself back to Krisha’s voice. Rohini’s concentration is sidetracked by the man’s aura, and she wants to ask him to leave, but that would only show her as weak and unprofessional. She cannot ask a parent to leave his/her child with her alone, there is nothing private in these conversations.

The doubt hit her again, he could not be her father! He is younger to be a father. She waved the girl to stop talking, and asked the man, “May I know who are you to Krisha, Mr. Sethi and in what capacity are you accompanying her today?”

“It’s, Vikram!” he corrected her. “Krisha is my niece and I am accompanying her as a guardian, her parents are out of the country, they booked this session well in advance, but had to leave for an urgent business matter.” He replied with a slight twist to his lips as if challenging her to ask more.

Rohini is usually not affected by nerves, she has seen enough life to get swayed by meaningless emotions, but Vikram has an underlying bossy appeal to him. She just cannot figure him out, he is challenging her calmness and she is not in her element in front of this man.

Moving back to the young girl, Rohini handed her a questionnaire and asked to fill it up, while guiding her toward a desk and chair. Krisha moved a little away from them to fill up the form as asked.

“So, how many years you have been practicing career counseling, Ms. Kaushik?” the way Vikram spelled her name, like challenging her for a rebuttal, made her uncomfortable and she did not like it at all.

With a sense of pride, she answered, “This year marks as 14th year of Roh’s Academy, I have been in the education domain for the past 18 years, as an educator and certified counselor. And, it is Mrs. Kaushik.” The deep dark brown eyes breaching her comfort zone stopped at her eyes. She was just a moment away from getting up and moving towards Krisha when Keezo shrieked from the sundeck.

Corncorncorncorn…. Hot-maal corn!!

…and their eyes collided! Vikram’s eyes were filled with amusement, she saw a glimpse of a smirk on his lips. She could not take the stress of unwanted attention anymore, “excuse me, that is my son’s crazy pet bird, Keezo,” she excused herself and thanked the heavens for a welcoming disturbance.

Out of all the days, only today Keezo’s caretaker had to take her weekly off, she was upset by Keezo’s words in front of the client.

“He is not wrong, though!” Vikram whispered nonchalantly while removing a non-present thread from his denims. He said it so softly, that she would not have even heard it if her whole concentration was not on him.

What are you doing, Roh? Pull yourself together. He is a client and much younger than you, she mentally slapped herself over her heightened emotions.

To be continued…

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024

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