It was another Sunday when Shehnaaz woke up too early in the morning and decided to hit the gym though she was hella exhausted from working late nights, she needed a break from all her tensions & she thought working out may give her a bit of relief.

But who knew that her thought of relief was going to be short lived as she entered the gym & spotted Sidharth Singh Ranawat flexing his biceps with dumbbell sets. His face had weird expressions with every flex he did but boy! He looked smoking hot even with those sweat beads on his forehead cascading down his temples to his throat & an almost wet t-shirt,also his shorts hiked up on one leg doing no good to the girls around in the gym as they ogled at him.

She instantly felt a tinge of anger at those girls but suddenly thought why was she so affected by them ogling at a man whom she met only once & who abruptly ended her call on a rude note.

She gave a strong stare at those girls nevertheless as she shrugged and walked ahead to begin her warm up by stretching when she noticed that he saw her too but continued what he was doing.

"Kitna attitude wala Banda hai yeh" she thought in her mind & stared back at him, he looked away.

His nonchalance irked her all the more making her suddenly acknowledge that this man was affecting her like none would.

She began doing jumping jacks, an exercise where she had to
jump to a position with the legs spread wide and the hands going overhead, and then returning to a position with the feet together and the arms at the sides which usually makes the body bounce.

Sidharth was doing a dead lift completely ignoring her presence right next to her when he heard someone say "Bhai kya jump mar rhi...sexy dikh rhi hai nai, yeh curvy ladkiya hai na jab jump karte hai kya nazara hota hai unke kamar se upar..." And that male was punched on his face by none other than, No not Mr Sidharth but Miss Shehnaaz Kaur Bhalla.

"Kutta! Sorry bol... Bol sorry! Itna gandh kaise bak leta hai tu?!" She roared holding the collar of that person, truly like a lioness. Sidharth had a proud smile on his face but his fists were bound so tight that his veins on his wrist were evidently seen. He was filled with rage to hear such utter disgusting words for a woman & was about to punch him when Shehnaaz was quicker than him to do the same.

She left the collar of that person who commented & slapped the one who was listening to him & enjoying it. "Haiwan ho tum log! Tere ghar ke ladkiyo ko bhi aise bolta hai tu?" She slapped again & the other one was about to hold her hand. Sidharth stepped ahead before he could & twisted his arms but he stayed quiet knowing that she could fight her battles.

Shehnaaz saw that and called out
"Kabir! Kabir...!" She shouted at the manager of the gym & he came running to her listening to her loud screech.

"Ma'am... Wha... What happened?" He asked scared to face her.

"What sort of people come here? Don't you check the cctv cameras & strictly tell people to mind their business, not to comment on random girls who come to work out here?!" Shehnaaz glared at him.

"Ma'am... Uh..voh..." Kabir fumbled.

"Shehnaaz Ma'am, yeh Kabir ji meri baat sunte nai hai... Meine pehle bhi theen bar bola hai ki aise log yaha pe misbehave karte hai par unhone ek nahi suni meri... Last time jab aapne complain Kiya ek bande ke barei mei usko bhi inhone kuch nahi bola..." Sonu the instructor confessed, but it was Sidharth who was looking clueless as to why he was complaining about him to Shehnaaz. He still held the twisted arms of that person as he looked curious at them.

"Kabir, you are fired!" Shehnaaz spat.

Everyone were astonished to hear her say this except Sonu.

"Ma'am please... I... I... Will sort..." Kabir tried to explain but in vain as Shehnaaz showed her hand ✋ to stop and said "Jab mere gym mei mere bare mei aise neech batein boli ja sakti hai toh dusre ladkiyo ka kya? Don't even try to open your mouth. You are fired and that's it."

She said in a tone little lower than before but still firm enough to send chills to her employees. She then made those two hooligans tell her sorry, made them do 100 squats,50 burpees & 20 minutes of speed running on the thread mill as a punishment.

Sidharth inwardly laughed at her way of punishing people but he somehow knew this girl was unique. She'd do things that nobody would even think of doing.

He was with her all throughout the time she made them do all this but without speaking a word with her, he told them they had to do all that otherwise he'd put them behind the bars as he's the DCP.

They were sloshed & exhausted by the time they could finish the running.

"Agli bar kisi bhi ladki ko aise comment karoge toh Puri life jail mei beethana padega!" She said.

Two constables arrived as Shehnaaz spoke to them & she looked at Sidharth curiously.

"In dono ko station le jao, FIR lodge karo under my name that I witnessed them eve teasing. Aaj raat lock up mei dalo & wait till I come tomorrow" he instructed them & those two people were not even able to retaliate.

"Uh... You, you are a strong girl" he mumbled finally breaking the silence.

Shehnaaz just nodded,a tiny faint smile escaped on her face which didn't go unnoticed by Sidharth.

"Strong hona hi padta hai, choice bhi toh nahi hai humare paas" she replied rather softly.

It amazed him how she spoke profound things so simply. He nodded & grabbed his sipper from the bench.

"Voh... I guess uss din call mei meine overreact kar diya" he carefully said sipping on water, not meeting her eye.

"Yes, you did" shehnaaz replied firmly.

"Uff itna direct?" He asked amused at how upfront she was in telling him that he did make a mistake.

"Ha toh? Mujhse yeh meeti meeti batein hoti nai, Jo hai so hai bas apna clear hai boss" Shehnaaz said raising her palms in air.

Sidharth wondered whether it was the same girl who was fuming in anger a while ago cuz she looked damn cute at that moment.

"Sahi hai..." He nodded.

"Waise ek baat puchu?" He asked.

"Agar No bolungi toh puchoge nai?" She questioned back playfully.

"Umm No. Nahi puchunga... Cuz when someone says No it's a No, simple hai na?" He questioned & his ethics didn't fail to amaze her.

"Hmm... Pucho Jo puchna hai" Shehnaaz said as she sat on the same bench where his sipper was kept.

"I'm sure tum apne ghar mei aise 100 gyms banwa sakti ho...phir bhi you come here to work out among ordinary people. And yeh gym agar Pioneer Corp ke under hai toh why aren't you promoting it under its name? Buisness aur zyada hota usse right?" He asked curiously. He needed logics to understand things & he grasped minute details very quick.

Shehnaaz smiled at him at how sharp his mind worked.

"Actually, I own this chain of gyms solely... It's the first venture that I started on my own from whatever I earned while working abroad & the salary I get... Pioneer Corp is the blood & sweat of my nanu and papa... I'm just taking forward their legacy, but something that I can call mine in true sense is this gym without the shadow of being a heiress to the Pioneer Corp. So, I've started to visit alternative days to see personally how's it going... The other staff here didn't know about me so it's all fair... By the way... Mere Ghar pe bhi gym hai..." Shehnaaz answered in sheer honesty.

Shehnaaz didn't know why she told him her little story but she felt good after sharing. Very few people knew of it as she always kept herself away from the media buzz or the social limelight unlike the daughters of the other billionaires then.

"Wow! That's... That's uh... Great. I'm sorry meine tumhe judge kiya Shehnaaz. I was thinking ki tum bhi..."

"Ki mei bhi un Ameer bigde bachho mei se ek hu?" Shehnaaz completed his sentence & he sheepishly nodded his head. She smiled at his awkwardness & continued "That's okay Sidharth, hota hai. You have the guts to accept that you judged me. I'm impressed" she gave a sly smile to him & he rolled his eyes not knowing how to react when a girl so much younger to him made him spellbound like none could do to him in his enormous experience with women in his past.

"Uh yeah?" He uttered more like a question out of confusion and she chuckled. Her giggle, the way her head leaned back, her beautiful serene face all made him feel so much at peace. He kept staring at her as she packed her gym bag yet again, haphazardly.

"Uff... Aise nahi karte" he sighed and pulled the bag from her. He went on to neatly organise her sipper, towel, gloves, shoes in a proper manner in the bag, pulled the zipper close and handed it to her while she looked at him in a way he hadn't seen anyone look at him before like that.

"Thank you... Thodi messy hu" shehnaaz mumbled.

"Thodi nai poori ki poori messy" he smirked.

"Haaaw aap kitne paapi ho Sidharth" she fake whined & he laughed wholeheartedly in a long time.

*******
The Annual General Meeting of the Pioneer Corp had taken place the previous day discretely among the Board of Directors & share holders of the company. Shehnaaz was unanimously voted as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pioneer Group & it was decided that her father Mr Randheer Bhalla would remain the Managing Director of the company with lenience of not being completely active at forefront owing to his health issues.

Right now, Shehnaaz sat in her car proceeding towards the venue where the Annual Meet for all the employees, directors, shareholders,clients, business associates etc of Pioneer Corp were invited. And also mainly the big press conference was to be held to announce the new CEO of the company followed by formal cultural events by the employees & and after party.

Shehnaaz had worked very hard to reach where she was unlike other billionaire heirs who would easily inherit their parents' wealth & position.
She was excited,nervous but also confident to take upon the new role in her career until her parents began their usual banter on some trivial issue before she left.

Instead of happiness or excitement she had tears in her eyes thinking if she'll ever have a happy family when her phone pinged & her face lit up in a faint smile.

Sidharth (DCP)
Hey! Nervous?

Sidharth & Shehnaaz had started texting each other often after the gym incident. They'd become from strangers to acquaintances. There'd be a few text messages exchanged daily, some casually some about the annual event just as an excuse for both to converse more. Sidharth even helped her in running errands for the event going out of his way & she loved having him around. There was newness in what both felt, it was an unnamed emotion that both went through but hesitated for their own reasons.

Shehnaaz Kaur Bhalla
Hmm...
A bit or may be a lot... I don't know 🙃

She replied & she got a call from him instantly. She swiped to receive to hear his raspy voice uttering her name without even a formal Hello on the call.

"Shehnaazzz..." He cooed her name softly like it was a divine hymn.

"Hey... Sidharth" She responded calmly.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern laced in his voice as if he sensed her tears.

"Theek hu... Aa rhe ho na aap?" Shehnaaz enquired.

"Haa baba aa rah hu, in fact I'm on the way there. Bas 5 minute mei pahunch bhi jaaunga" he sighed knowing that she was okay & was wanting for him to attend her event.

"Acha okay... Milte hai venue pe" Shehnaaz said.

"You're okay na Shehnaaz? Mei janta hu tumhare liye aaj ka din kitna important hai...You can tell me sweetheart" Sidharth urged in his usual way not realising he had used an endearment for her for the first time.

Shehnaaz fell mum hearing "sweetheart" from him. She was silent, the tears she was holding up in her eyes till then rolled down her cheeks as she sniffed back them & that shook Sidharth.

"Shehnaaz, tum ro rhi ho? What happened baba? Bolo na, did I say anything wrong?"

"Sidharth, aap kuch zyada hi sorry sorry nai bolte mujhe?" Her voice had an instant chime.

Sidharth was bewildered at how this girl could change her mood in a snap and behave as if nothing happened.

He so knew she was crying a moment ago,strangely he could feel her agony though he was away from her & just spoke on call. But he let her be anyways for now as he didn't want to spoil her mood all the more.

"Jee... Lag toh aise Raha hai ki aap mujhse zyada sorry sunna pasand karti hai" he smirked.

"Uff...Drame" She sighed.

"Acha listen, I'm at the entrance, jaldi aa jana" Sidharth informed as he waited for her to reach the venue.

"Ha theek hai, see you" she replied and cut the call.

Sidharth stood at the entrance checking with his subordinates about the security arrangements & safety protocols as the home minister was supposed to be the guest for the event & also it was a high profile program.

He perhaps took extra care since Shehnaaz was involved in this. As he spoke to them, Shehnaaz's car reached the entrance and she got down.

As she walked towards him, he saw his darling niece Nisha too walk behind her towards him!

"Abey yar! Ab yeh phirse tease karegi merko..." Sidharth mumbled to himself.

*********

Thanks for reading guys!

And sorry for the delay had been held up with some unforeseen issues in life!

Will definitely try to update soonish...

Please do drop some stars and comments 🥺 I'm not sure how this chapter came out since I wrote in stress.

Love,
Avni