A/N:- Hey Skittles, this is a shot that is basically a part III of Vengeance. Though you may read it as a stand-alone.

To make up for the time that I've been MIA this is a long shot. Like long shot.

T.W.- Hint at something suggestive like once,  and Prachi having violent thoughts more than once.

Make sure to Vote and leave lots of inline comments. <3

Enjoy!

~*~

MONDAY

Prachi leaned back, her eyes intently trained on the latest bouquet delivered to her cabin.

Finding a bouquet of freshly picked flowers waiting at her table every morning has become a new ritual. And with them comes a nameless handwritten letter. 

The penmanship, familiar. Awfully so.

'Don't throw them out.' Shahana had pleaded. But she had done exactly that. She had picked up the flowers and made a huge scene of discarding them.

Torn the letter to pieces and dumped them alongside the flowers.

Every single bouquet that month had followed the same fate. 

But then came the lilies, on her mother's death anniversary. Lillies were Pragya's favourite. She and Shahana had always saved up money to get her mother a stem of lily on her birthday. Never could afford more than that with their limited pocket money and the atrocious price of the said flower. But it had always brought a smile so bright on Pragya's face that made going a couple of months without ice creams worth it.

That was the only day the flowers were unaccompanied by a letter.

That was the first day she had kept the flowers by her side.

Now Prachi's eyes raked around her cabin, it resembled more of a botanical garden than a working place.

The entirety of her glass wall was filled with a wide range of bouquets. Arranged in a way that her secretary spent almost half a day on.

Prachi had found that time a waste of office hours.

A knock broke through her musing. "Come in."

"Miss Ester James has arrived. Would you like me to lead her here ma'am?" The intern asked.

Of course, it had to be the day to finalize the deal with James already.

"And give her a pollen stroke?" Prachi snorted, the idea didn't sound too bad. "No. Take them to Felix's office."

"Yes ma'am," The intern, whom she had never caught the name of, left.

Prachi took a calming breath, the strong aroma of hydrangeas invading her senses, she sneezed, and left her office.

~*~

TUESDAY

Yesterday's meeting had gone flawlessly. She had negotiated the deal in her favour smoothly. As smoothly as she could, while actively trying to ignore a human-sized absence by her side. Where the third party (Ranbir) was supposed to be, was a beautiful dusky girl, barely older than Prachi herself: Some head of finance or something.

He had bailed out of the meeting again.

Good. That's what she wanted.

Ranbir had followed her day in and day out following Rhea's exposure, apologizing profusely. When she had grown tired of it, she told him he was forgiven. She had said it more out of the growing frustration than anything else, really. And it wasn't like she was mad at him, to begin with. 

Just disappointed. And hurt.

Very hurt.

She plopped down in her living room late at night, the only source of light being the high chandelier. Her eyes grew heavy following the patterns reflected off its hanging crystals dancing around the walls. 

Another handwritten letter crumpled up in her fist.

~*~

WEDNESDAY

"Miss James is holding a party before she leaves for Australia." Felix's eyes sparkled at the idea. He was in the country for a couple of weeks just for the finalizing of this deal, "It would be great for PR as well. It will be a huge thing, all the big-shot business persons from all over Australia and Europe are invited."

"Hmm," Prachi pondered, "it will be good for making new contacts." She cross-checked the last of the contract. "When are they going back?"

"Next Wednesday," Felix smiled brightly, sitting up straight on the lounger. "The party is this weekend. There will be a lot of media. The dress code is black tie."

"Umm, hmm." Prachi carefully placed the pen she was using in its right place and looked up to see Felix giving a toothy grin, her eyes narrowed. "anything else?"

"No." He replied, the tips of his ears turning pink, a telltale sign of him lying.

"Felix." She said, in the same tone that she used to scold Shahana.

"Nothing!" He all but whined. She looked at him, making him sigh, "There is also an after-party."

"And..." Prachi prompted.

"There will be a fundraiser auction held in the afterparty. Only those taking part in the Auction will be allowed, it will be quite tight-knit." Felix explained taking a stroll towards her glass wall where (urghh!!) the flowers were kept.

"That's a good thing, and it may allow one-on-one with a lot of people," Prachi mused, "Why were you hiding it from me?"

"Were you not paying attention?" Felix rolled his eyes at her, "Only those who are willing to take part in the Auction will be allowed into the after-party." He said slower, as if talking to a child.

Prachi glared at his behaviour, an all-threat-no-consequence glare, "So? We can take part in this auction. You are good at it." 

"Nuh-uh." He poked at a sunflower, (huh, when did she get sunflowers??) "I can't."

"Why?" she asked.

"Personal stuff." He poked at another flower she didn't know the name of.

"So? You want me to go alone?" She huffed, crossing her arms.

"No," He shot her a look, "I'm quite surprised you want to go at all."

"Ofcourse I'll go. I'll ask Aryan if he is free." Prachi stood up, making her way towards the blond male.

"Oh, he's going, with Shahana." He picked up a peony bouquet. Earning an outraged 'hey' from Prachi.

"What? You have more than enough!" He replied. "Now please excuse me, I have a date!"

He was out of the door before she could snatch back the flowers from him, leaving a flabbergasted Prachi behind. 

Peonies were her favourite!

~*~

Thursday

If there was something that helped Prachi the most throughout her life, it was constancy. Be it from schoolwork to the office internship she had taken up in Fusion Beats.

Even now, when she was the CEO of a company brought up by her mother's hard work. One thing she craved was constancy.

Her Constancy was Broken!

She did not know how or when in the last four months -and she wouldn't be caught saying it under any circumstances- but opening her office door to see a new arrangement of flowers sitting by her windowsill had become a part of her daily life.

That was not the case today. 

At first, she thought that the French roses were the new arrangement, even though that was the same type she had gotten yesterday (She wasn't keeping tabs, she was just attentive to her surroundings). But upon closer inspection for half an hour, (She didn't have anything else to do!) she found that she had, in fact, not gotten any flowers that day.

Not that it mattered, of course.

She just didn't like her constancy ruined.

~*~

Friday

By four in the evening, everyone on the executive floor knew that Prachi was in a mood. The reason was unknown, but some speculations were shared in hushed whispers.

Prachi's secretary was quick to shut down any of the rumours that may make an ugly head, but still, glances were passed and brains overworked.

Prachi glared daggers at the back of the retreating figure of an employee that she had just ripped a new one. 

Though she knew it wasn't as big of a mistake, she couldn't help but unleash a hard scolding. 

She sighed.

Ranbir knew her well. They had spent two and a half years under the same roof and had known each other for almost twice the same amount of time. It was typical to pick up on each other's behaviour and nature.

That is why she was sure that that was the reason why no new bouquet had arrived.

He wanted to disrupt her routine, is all. 

Bad for him that she knew him well too. He didn't send her the flowers to make a point that he still had a part in her daily life. That he could stay well out of her life and still affect her. 

Prachi scoffed, as if.

That or he had forgotten.

That pinched her heart a little. She took a deep breath. Of course, it wasn't like she was expecting him to follow her with a waging tail her whole life. But still, Four months?

That was all it took. Four fucking months!

She scoffed again.

Pathetic.

Not that she was going to go soft or something, but she had some more expectations from him. All big talks, that one.

Even more pathetic was she who thought him to be dedicated.

She scoffed once more.

~*~

Saturday

"You could have just asked me, you know?" Shahana sent Prachi an amused look, that she was completely unaware of, courtesy the cucumber slices that covered her eyes.

Prachi had kidnapped Shahana right from under her brother's nose to have a pampering session. She needed one. Scratch that, she deserved one.

She was going to be one of the youngest businesspeople to have overtaken companies running the game for years. Shame on all the money she earned if she didn't look like it.

As much as she hated it, she had picked up fairly early that looks play a huge role in making a lasting impression. Especially among the rich.

Heaven will freeze over before anyone can see her dark circles.

"Can't talk, facemask." Prachi mumbled, causing Shahana to giggle.

"So, you are going to stay for the afterparty?" Shahana asked as a stylist painted her fingers a pretty pearl shade.

"Hmm," Prachi replied.

"Eyes on anything?" Shahana asked, turning to look at her sister. 

"Nah," Prachi answered, thanking the stylist who removed the mask from her face. "I'll see. Sushma Aunty will be there. I'll ask her opinion." 

Shahana nodded, her lips pressed tightly.

After getting their hair and makeup done, the girls took turns getting dressed. While Shahana stuck to a white cowlneck satin floor-length dress Prachi went for a black silk dress with sheer puff sleeves.

It was almost seven, giving them enough time to be fashionably late but not late enough to be rude. Hooking their arms with each other, the girls made their way out. 

~*~

The gathering was hosted in one of the hotels Prachi had driven past several times on her way to the office. Prachi had met the owners, the Mehtas, once or twice when she was an intern.

Prachi held her head high and focused on her steps as she descended the stairs, smiling politely at the few people who turned to look at her. Sushma by her side.

They were quickly joined by Aryan and Shahana, who were marvelling at the grandeur of the decoration. The first thing that caught her eye was the large chandelier hanging a mere foot above the floor, complimented by several low-hanging flower bowls. Soft white lights gave a peaceful aura to the entire area.

She could hear Sushma Aunty hum in appreciation at the arrangement from her side. Taking in the people mingling around the large centrepiece. There were a few faces Prachi knew personally, but a larger part she had never seen before.

"Mrs. Tandon, Miss Arora." The Red-head secretary of Ester James made her way towards them, "It is so good to see you here, this way please."

"Ah, Miss Arora, Mrs. Tandon. Nice to meet you," Ester said, turning to them. 

Pleasantries were exchanged, contacts were made, compliments were received and on some occasions given. She had spotted Felix among the crowd, socializing with people like he had always known them. (Maybe he did). He had given her a small nod and smile, she had smiled in return. Before she knew it, the media was escorted out and they were led into another hall.

This one was decorated similarly sans the horse-sized chandelier. Instead, there were round tables littering the area, facing towards a higher, bigger stage that Prachi assumed to be where the artefacts would be presented.

She looked around to see that the crowd had significantly reduced. Finding the table reserved for them, they quickly took seats directly in the front as the lights dimmed, spotlights illuminating the stage as the screen behind it lit up.

The host made his way up the stage.

"Felix?" Prachi said in shock. That sneaky little traitor!

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," His voice flowed around the hall, "welcome all who have gathered here for the noble cause of fundraising. A large portion of what will be raised today will be directly used for the infrastructural development of orphanages, foster care and old age homes. The remaining will be used towards the betterment of animal shelters. The organizer of this auction is here with us,  Give a huge round of applause for Miss Minnie James," The hall erupted in praise as the young blond stood up, twirling a little, smiling ear to ear.

Prachi had to admit, in the few months that she had spent working with the sisters, she had experienced first-hand how opposite the sisters were. Given how Ester had more or less raised her younger sister, she was the fierce one while Minnie was all smiles and sunshine, not too different from Shahana.

"Miss James has organized this dating Auction as well as personally collected all the information about the organizations that will be benefiting from it."

She looked at Shahana, sitting right by her side, she had been right there, right next to her through every thick and thin. Through everything she went through, Shahana had been with her. 

Wait. What?

"So our first volunteer is Mister Moksh Bijlani, the heir of-" 

Prachi tuned out the voice as a man in his late twenties made his way towards the large stage, standing towards the far left of the stage.

What the heck!

"What!?!" Prachi turned towards her fellow occupants. Everyone were at perfect ease.

"You knew about this?" She asked. 

They exchanged a look and Sushma shook her head, "Of course, I speculated as much, It was either going to be this or cake making."

"This is wrong!" Prachi replied. "How is this even legal?!"

"They are volunteers Prachi," Aryan replied, "And very much adult."

"This is basically Prostitution." She hissed. "This should not-"

Her jaw snapped shut, blood running cold. There, in flesh and blood, and a ridiculously fine suit, was the devil himself, staring straight at her.

Ranbir Kohli smiled at her, a dimpled smile she had long known to be reserved only for her. This was the first time she had seen him in the last four months. 

The last time she had seen him was at her mother's death anniversary. She had spent the entire day buried in work, pointedly ignoring the heavy glances Aryan and Sushma Aunty kept sending her way. Trying to not mind the unnecessary visits Shahana paid to her office.

By the end of the day, she had been hanging by a thread, and when she saw him waiting for her at their side of the Mansion, as he did daily for the first month, she had snapped. She had unleashed verbal rebuttal at him, blurring the lines between rude and downright insulting, she had screamed at him till her throat ran dry and blood pounded in her ears.

 When the words failed her, she had cried. She had cried and wailed and sobbed. When she came to her senses hours later, wrapped around him as they sat on the floor, with her head buried in his neck and his arms around her waist and shoulder, she had told him that she forgave him.

And when she had felt his arms tighten around her and his heart rate picking up, she had asked him to never show her his face again. 

He had respected her words. Left right away and stopped coming to her house. Even managed to find a way to keep the business deal working seamlessly without having to attend the meetings at the same time or causing their conflict to come to notice to anyone. The flowers kept coming, and with them, the heavy envelopes that carried his letters, but he had not come in front of her.

But here he was now. And the flowers had not came by and she knew that this is what she wanted but-

This can not be happening. She grabbed the booklet placed on the table, 'Fundraising Dating Auction' written in bold on the front.

How had she missed it?

She almost tore the front open, skimming through names.

...

5. Elise Brown

6. Theodore Brooks

7. Saksham Roy

8. Ranbir Kohli

Her fingers dug into the pages. Mind came to senses when the hall lit up again. Everyone got up, returning to the main hall. Prachi walked in a daze. Grabbing a flute of bubbling gold liquid, taking a huge gulp. 

He wasn't a trick of light. There he was, laughing and conversing with the guests, in full charm. As handsome and lovely as he has ever been.

Prachi wanted to throw a chair at his face.

"Prachi, are you okay?" Shahana gently grabbed her arm. "Hmm," Prachi nodded, exchanging her now empty glass with a full one.

"I wanna go home, I'm tired." Prachi muttered.

"You can't." Sushma said, looking at her sympathetically, "There are a lot of elites here. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." Aryan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in a side hug, "We thought you knew about this being a dating auction. And we didn't know he would be here as well."

That sparked something in her, "Actually," Prachi straightened up, "I have something to do."

Making a beeline towards her currently not-so-favourite Aussie, Prachi excused herself and Felix, giving him a look and tight smile that made him automatically follow her to the side.

"What the heck is this?" Prachi asked, a smile pasted on her face even though her eyes shot fireballs at him.

"Well, nice to see you too, aren't you a ray of sunshine this evening?" Felix smiled brightly at her.

"Don't mess with me right now Felix. First of all, you said you were busy after the party why didn't you tell me you were hosting this auction? And why didn't you tell me this is a dating Auction." Prachi asked.

"First of all," Felix replied sassily, "What I do after the party was none of your concern, and as I've said before, I didn't even think that you would be here for the auction. So I didn't think it would be necessary to mention it. Also, what is it to you for this to be a dating auction?"

"It is wrong." Prachi almost stomped her feet on the ground like a child, her eyes automatically slipping through the crowd towards the familiar silhouette. "It is unethical. It is practically prostitution!"

"It is not prostitution," Felix scoffed, "It is just that a person pays money to spend some time with some other person..." He cringed lightly at how it sounds.

"That sounds awfully like prostitution to me!" Prachi countered.

 "Oh, please, you know it isn't that, it helps the poor Prachi, and just because you are adamant about living the life of an old nun doesn't mean everyone else is too."

"What?" Prachi asked, genuinely confused.

"Oh come on," Felix rolled his eyes, "How long has it been since your secret admirer has been sending you flowers? Life runs at neck brake speed nowadays, how long do you think you will be receiving those expensive ass flower arrangements? Even if he has ordered someone to send them to you daily, how long do you think he will continue it? Life is all about taking chances Prachi, just because you have been hurt once before doesn't mean that that is all life has in store for you."

Before Prachi could come up with something to retort with, Felix excused himself, leaving her alone with her wandering thoughts.

But Ranbir hadn't been sending her those flowers via someone else, her eyes spotted him again, conversing with the younger James, if anything the handwritten lengthy letters that accompanied them daily were proof that he had been personally involved in it.

And they hadn't been just some random words written on a page. They were things that he held close to his heart. 

And they had stopped.

Shahana caught her eyes from across the hall, eyebrows raised, concern shining in her eyes. Prachi shook her head lightly, smiling softly. The guests started making their way back to the auction hall, Prachi moving slowly, staying in the far back of the dispersing crowd.

"Hi," A shiver ran down her spine as she felt more than heard the words uttered right next to her ear, goosebumps covering her skin in record time.

"Can I ask for a favour? Please?" Ranbir whispered, his eyes shining so alluringly.

Prachi raised her eyebrows daydreamingly, the world blurring around her as she blinked.

"Felix and Minnie coaxed me into taking part in this Auction thing, but now I don't want to be embarrassed, there are so many eligible volunteers here, if no one bid for me, could you please? Just for the show of course. I'll owe you forever." He gave her the puppy eyes he knew she could not resist on the best of her days and turned and left, leaving her there staring at thin air.

~*~

Prachi had been to a couple of fundraising auctions before, all goodwill, once to a property auction, which was good too, she had bought a small cottage in Dehradun, that she planned to gift to Shahana. Shahana loved mountains and cold.

Back to the topic at hand, the auction she was currently witnessing was everything against her morals and then some. Five of the contestants have been bided. The highest reaching seventy lacks.

Seventy goddamned Lacks!

For one freaking date! This was the literal definition of what it is called to burn money.

It was barbaric!

Haven't numerous countries fought long wars against this very practice? Haven't there been bloodshed because of it? 

"This isn't slave trading Prachi," Aryan said, amusement barely concealed, letting Prachi know that she was muttering out loud.

Prachi huffed in response, crossing her arms across her chest, looking every bit like an angry child.

"And besides, everyone here is adult and very much able to refuse to take part in this," Sushma said further. Prachi kept her eyes glued to the booklet she had strangled beyond retreat. Feeling his eyes trained upon her.

"Are you sure you're not jealous Prachi? And isn't this how Swayamwars happened back in the time?" Shahana added.

"I'm not jealous!" Prachi glared at her with a look that promised bodily harm, "and this is no swayamwar," Prachi grunted, downing the sparkling drink placed in front of her, "All this just for a couple of hours of talking and a dinner."

"It is not just for that." Aryan laughed softly, at the confused glances from Shahana and Prachi, he cleared his throat, red creeping up his face.

"What is it?" Shahana asked and Aryan shook his head grasping her hand in his under the table.

"Aryan." Prachi kicked him under the table when he remained silent. "Tell me." She growled.

Aryan's face turned deep red, he sent a tentative glance towards Sushma who was thankfully not paying attention to them, and gestured the girls to lean closer.

He cleared his throat and whispered, "Most of these bidders and all the volunteers are single, and when they say dating, they mean it more as a one-date thing, most of these dates are more likely than not to end up in private suits."

Prachi froze as she looked around her, she kicked herself mentally for not noticing it before. All the volunteers were young and single. The oldest being Moksh at twenty-nine, that's what was written in the booklet she had scourged through. The thing is, The bidders were all single too! Only now had she noticed that the majority of people were neither married nor in a committed relationship, well except for Aryan, Felix, Mr Robinson and Mr Lucas.

But Aryan had Shahana right by his side and Felix, he was hosting. Mr Robinson was divorced and Mr Lucas, he was notoriously famous for cheating on the mother of his three children.

"Next up, we have Mister Ranbir Kohli," Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

He couldn't have known right? Of course not, he said he was forced to take part by Felix and Minnie James.

Oh, she's going to murder Felix and use his ashes as plant fertilizer.

A fire burned deep in her bones as Prachi saw the girl sitting next to their table perk up. Caitlin Oak. An Irish strawberry blond who handled the foreign affairs of her brother's company. Extremely pampered by three elder brothers. She was one of those who had pulled investments out of Fusion Beats, causing the downfall of Mehras.

"Can we have an opening bid?" Felix asked into the microphone.

"Seventy Lacks!" 

WHAT THE FUCK!

A silence rang through the hall as no one dared to take a breath. Several voices that had wanted to bid stayed struck in throats.

Caitlin Oak smirked into her champagne at the flabbergasted look on everyone's face.

Ranbir raised his eyebrows and if it were any other occasion, Prachi might have laughed at him.

"Seventy Lacks," Felix cleared his throat, clearly dumbfounded, "That has been the exact price we have received in the highest bid of this evening, and we have Miss Oak opening with this amazing price. Of course, we expect nothing less for our rising businessman who has made his way into the list of Top 30 eligible bachelors of Asia within the first year of his debut in the business world."

"Seventy Lac-"

"One Crore!" 

Aryan choked at his drink, turning his head so fast he saw a blur. Ranbir's eyes widened comically and it took Prachi everything to not bolt out of the hall at this exact moment.

WHAT HAD SHE DONE!!

"One crore twenty-five lacks" Came the screechy voice of Oak and Prachi gritted her teeth.

Well, what's done is done, she might as well get through with it, "One crore fifty lacks."

Caitlin turned to look at her and Prachi mustered up her smuggest look in return. 

Caitlin turned back to type something in her mobile as Prachi chanced a look at Ranbir. He had his eyebrows furrowed as he stared directly at her. As their eyes met, she saw something click in his brain as his lips turned up in a small smile.

Quickly averting her eyes, Prachi snatched Shahana's drink and took a large gulp.

"We seem to be having a new highest bid this evening going to Miss Prachi Arora at One crore Fifty Lac-"

"Two crores." Caitlin Oak bid and Prachi was an inch away from smashing a flower bowl on her head.

Chancing another glance at Ranbir, Prachi saw him smirking as he raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes glinting in mischief. Challenging her to go ahead and do something. Do something that will either prove or disregard something that was going on in his mind.

Narrowing her eyes, never one to back down from a challenge, Prachi looked straight into his eyes as, sensing what she was about to do, his smirk turned into a full-blown grin.

"Three crores!"

Prachi kept looking at him as Ranbir hung his head low, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose as his shoulders shook in silent laughter. 

She was so screwed.

A/N:- Hey munchkins, This was due for far too long.

I know this didn't have much of Ranbir but the next one will be from his point of view.

Make sure to vote.

Lots of love,

Simran