The Uncanny Encounter

When the dark clouds take over the sky.. When your mind refuses to answer any question.. When the going gets too tough for one..

What do you do?

**

"SCAMMER GROUP?"

Her eyes failed to fathom her own mistake.

"What were you thinking Miss. Vermount?"

Khushi heard Mr. Jones shouting on the top of his voice. For a second, it was hard for her to grasp what was going on.

Never in her life had she witnessed anyone shouting at her, not this way.

But then there is a "first time" to everything.

And today, she wasn't a newbie to this feeling of being shouted at anymore.

.

.

"I'm sorry sir, I.. I.. didn't intend to do it"

It was tough for her to gather words, assimilate them and make it sound as convincing as possible for she knew how wrong she was and it was thoroughly her fault.

She was assigned a responsibility and she had failed in fulfilling it.

As they say, life gives us ample chances to change our way of action but sometimes, that's not enough. We often tend to go back and in retrospect realize there are a plethora of things we have done that we shouldn't have done.

Khushi's scenario was no different.

Had she come back yesterday, and notified Kevin about the three files, this wouldn't have happened.

She messed it up once again.

She had created a vital rule for herself long back, during her initial days at work- Never to mingle her personal problems with that of anything official.

Unfortunately, she had never succeeded in following her own resolutions.

And thinking of the same, she sighed.

*

She saw many eyes gazing at her, as her superior continued to shower her with his words of tantrums and anger.

Khushi took it all without a flinch, because if not anything else, she was most definitely a true sport. If she did commit a mistake, she was sure as hell she would bear the brunt of it.

And she knew it very well in this case that the mistake was too big to be royally ignored.

Having Sciarrone Group's name wrongly published as Scammer Group in today's edition?

You gotta be kidding!

She again shut her eyes closed, ashamed at her stupidity and yesterday's wrongdoings.

Feeling embarrassed would have been an understatement.

Just when she had thought things were finally going in the right direction and everything was back on track, this bomb had to be dropped!

Why can't God show me some mercy?'

She questioned inwardly.

As Mr. Jones went on with some more of his, she stood there still taking it all.

"How could you?"

"Do you know what would happen now?"

"We have a reputation god damn it!"

As Mr. Jones' words kept echoing, she went back to last night.

Rebecca and Khushi had cleared all the misunderstandings last night and Khushi had finally slept peacefully, after what it seemed like ages.

How she thought, they all would go to this event 'Wayland Exotica' together and so many other things.

But..

"I don't understand one thing, how in the name of hell did I end up writing "Scammer" in place of "Sciarrone!?"

Was I that effed up yesterday that I made THIS kinda mistake, which is nowhere remotely close to a typo?!'

Or..

No, I was just perplexed.'

And..

And distracted..'

Because of all the mess that was happening at this very place, last evening.'

Kevin, Rebecca..'

Give me a break!'

I don't want to go through all of that again!'

*

She contemplated and concluded finally as she was free of the loud scolding from her boss.

She thought she was done for the day and this would be a mistake and moment long forgotten in no time, but she didn't know her bubble would be burst so soon.

Just when she was about to leave the scene and get started with her usual routine at the office, she heard Mr. Jones aver:

"They will be here any minute. I want you to apologize to them, saying that it was totally unintentional and that you won't do that again. "

"Also add that you will draft a brand new advertisement, with a full page view without any extra cost."

Khushi stared at Jones for a fine five seconds, trying to confirm whether her ears were actually following what his vocal chords were lashing out.

"Excuse me?"

Yes, that's all she could manage to blurt out from her mouth, astonished hearing the words "apologize to them."

Out of the many things she resented, buttering someone was definitely one.

She hated that.

Apologizing was fine, but doing more than needed was not necessary.

Why didn't this man understand, sometimes more' can be destructive!'

She mentally stated.

"I don't want to hear any other excuses Miss. Vermount. Do as I say!"

Saying this, the mid-aged man vanished into his cabin, leaving Khushi totally baffled.

After a few words of muttering to herself, she turned back to look at the bunch of people staring at her, making her further scandalized than she already was.

The drama is over. You can do your work!'

No, she didn't say that.

But she had this fiery urge to shout that on their faces most certainly.

But still she didn't because she didn't want any other scene after this huge drama that already unfolded couple of minutes ago.

But in her mind, she was cursing Mr. Jones to Pluto and back.

*

Rebecca consoled Khushi, caressing her hair and advising me to breathe deeply.

But nothing seemed to work at the moment.

.

"I'm sorry Khushi!"

She turned on her right to see Kevin standing with a frown on his face.

"Why are you being sorry?"

She inquired, shifting her gaze back to her computer screen.

"I should have made sure all the files were proof-read."

Why was he being so extra nice to me?'

It was of course my fault and there was absolutely no denial to that because I was the one who closed the document of that solus ad for the Sciarrone Group.'

Khushi thought to herself.

"Kevin, for the last time, it's NOT your fault. I closed the file accidentally and hence it went missing to be proof read and thus, the blunder. So, please, for heaven's sake stop blaming yourself."

She finally spoke, trying to sound as honest as possible since no matter what she could do right now, she could never change reality, which in this case was her error from yesterday.

.

Kevin gave her an assuring smile and sat at his place, resuming his work, not before saying to her, "Don't worry. It will be okay!"

"Yeah right! You are not the one dealing with this sh*t!"

That's all Khushi could mumble to herself.

*

'Apology'

Why was this seeming to be utterly difficult?'

Why was it feeling to be the beginning of the end?'

Why?'

Her mind wanted to explore this equation more, when she suddenly heard the call-

"Miss. Vermount, come to my cabin immediately."

Khushi felt her heart skip a beat at this summon and her body felt numb. She didn't know what was suddenly so grave about this moment, about this hour, that made her have these strong instincts of everything going to change.

She felt as if she would stumble, but managed to keep herself together somehow.

"Just a sorry, Khushi. Just an apology and everything will be back to normal"

She mumbled to herself, trying to have her own little pep-talk of motivation.

*

"Mr. Ralph Sciarrone is busy with some meeting, so his sons will be coming in place of him. Talk to Aaron Sciarrone, the elder one among the two. Apologize and add whatever I told you. Get done with it."

Mr. Jones ordered without a pause.

Khushi simply nodded to show she was listening, trying to act as if she was the most confident person in the world.

"They are already here. Perhaps in the elevator. They will be in the 7th floor. So, be ready and show perfectly that you deeply regret your mistake. It is a matter of our firm's reputation, Miss. Vermount."

Jones was being incorrigibly unjust.

What does he think I am?'

An actress of the theatrical group?'

Khushi almost blurted out her inner thoughts but somehow stopped herself.

"Control Khushi, control."

She relaxed herself, counting the alphabets backwards and finally turned to leave, when she heard Mr. Jones sealing the words once and for all:

"Miss. Vermount, NO MISTAKE THIS TIME"

And as if her anxiety wasn't killing her already, Khushi gulped hearing that deadly warning greet her senses.

"I am so dead!"

*

*

She finally found the elevator come to halt at the 7th floor and the doors slowly opened.

Taking a deep breath, she walked out, going through the lobby, her heartbeat going all abnormal as she finally reached her destination for the hour.

The Visitors' Room

.

.

Taking a deep breath, she finally opened the door.

The pin drop silence and the ticking of the wall clock, made an excruciating emotion run through her veins. Something she had no definition for.

Her eyes darted at all corners of the huge space as she searched for her person of interest and at least, here she wasn't disappointed as she finally discovered a tall figure standing at the extreme corner of the room, with his back facing Khushi.

.

.

"Mr. Sciarrone?"

Her voice was trembling as she spoke.

Another jolt of nervousness hit her, when she found him still in the same position, not even turning to face her at her words.

It seemed as if he hadn't even sensed her presence, for he didn't move at all. Or perhaps he was in an insanely angry mood due to which he was royally ignoring her.

Khushi began fidgeting.

You can't lose it this way. Focus on it. Apologize and get over with it.'

Her conscience kept repeating it again and again, but her body seemed to differ, and not comply with her own inner thoughts.

Taking another deep breath and with a lot of effort, her hands clenched into fists as she managed to put up a headstrong face.

This couldn't be the end of the world.

This guy needed an apology and she would give him that and get it over with.

Yes.

"Look, Mr. Sciarrone, I'm really very sorry. I didn't intend to do it. I was totally out of my mind and.. and.."

She tried searching for words but failed miserably at her attempts.

She had no clue why she was stuttering so much and why this uncanny entity in front of her was making all her thoughts and courage go for a toss.

She tried contemplating everything once again when suddenly she saw his hands move.

Being alert, she began to continue,

"..And, it was purely unintentional. Trust me. I.. I will draft a new advertisement as per your want and.. It will be the cover ad.. "

Breathing seemed to be difficult and she suddenly felt her throat go dry. As if, someone had intoxicated her with something and she would collapse on the floor any minute.

"..I ..and it would be without any extra.."

Before she could complete my sentence, she saw him turn, revealing his identity.

Without giving her a second to look at him, he was standing just a feet away from Khushi.

His eyes filled with hatred.

Anger.

And

And something else, something else that was too hard for Khushi's eyes to fathom.

She felt her senses knocked out of her system as did her breath, when without any forewarning, within a fraction of second, he grabbed her arms, and she saw his muscles tighten..

"How dare you?"

He gritted through his teeth.

His vice like grip that was as deadly as the look in his eyes made a massive pain shoot through her being.

She wriggled under his hold, trying her best to get away, but his strength seemed to overpower her in every way possible.

"Just... Just leave me."

She found her voice, but it was not even audible to her own self.

What was happening?

She wasn't in a state to find answers as the eerie haze engulfed her in it, making it tremendously difficult for her to come out of it.

His hold tightened and she felt like he would crush her to shreds any minute.

She had no idea of why she was ensnared in a moment like this, and frantically looked for a way out of this ordeal. Her senses betrayed her, as she miserably failed to defeat him, but there was no way she was going up.

Her attempts so futile, she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes and she felt the haze all over again.

Even through that tormenting moment, she could see his dark brown eyes, his chiseled features, and his deadly strong demeanor.

But then.

Then she spotted the devilishly dangerous rage in his eyes.

The hatred in them.

The urge.

The urge to?

Maybe,

Kill her?

She felt flabbergasted at her own conjectures and a new found fear consumed her.

"Just let go of me!"

She shouted on top of her lungs, but his gaze never left her. He was still that unblinking, dangerous, insane person.

"Hey! Hey! Just leave her.."

Khushi suddenly heard a voice.

.

She managed to turn her head, and found another guy, maybe 21 years old, approaching them, a line of concern evident on his face.

He was tall, dusky and had a great build.

His hazel eyes were generous and kind.

His voice calm and assuring.

Khushi felt the strong hands leave her finally with a jolt and she ultimately got out of the painful hold that had trapped her almost fatally moments ago.

*

"Arnav, just leave."

Khushi heard the calm voice say to the devil that almost took her life.

She pressed her palms on my arms, trying to soothe away the pain that seemed to be killing her every second and continued to be an even stronger residue of the pain that she had to go through without any valid reason from him.

Khushi couldn't help the tears flowing out of her eyes, though she tried hard to control them.

.

.

"I'm so sorry. You must be Khushi Vermount?"

The gentleman said, handing Khushi his kerchief.

Hesitant at first, she took it from him, rubbing the tears off her cheeks.

She waited for some seconds before nodding slightly, affirming that she indeed was Khushi Vermount.

.

"Great. Hi! I'm Aaron Sciarrone. My father Ralph couldn't be here so on his behalf, I came along with my younger brother."

He said with a smile as he brought his hand forth for a hand shake, but seeing her terrible condition, he withdrew with a sorry look on his face.

"Mr. Aaron, I'm sorry. I thought, he.. He was-"

Before she could finish, Aaron Sciarrone intervened and said-

"Oh! It's absolutely all right. No worries. He's my younger brother Arnav Sciarrone."

And so the devil has a name!

Arnav Sciarrone.

The enunciation of it in her head instantly brought back all the flashes of what had happened moments ago.

But she tried as hard as she did not want to not lose herself in that zone again.

She went ahead with her words of apology, which were by now stored in her brain word-to-word just like a nursery rhyme, given that she had rehearsed it properly before that uncanny encounter with the younger Sciarrone happened.

But to Khushi's surprise, Aaron Sciarrone refused to hear anything further and seemed like the calm-headed man forgave her already.

"It's okay, Miss. Vermount. We are humans. Mistakes are bound to happen. We don't have any complaints against you. Just make sure, such things are not repeated again in the future. That's all."

He gave her a small smile, as if he just wanted to get done with this discussion.

Khushi couldn't help staring at him in astonishment.

She was still lost in her thoughts when she saw him taking his over coat and draping it over his shoulders.

She looked outside the window, diverting her attention from the two men in the room. A devil and a not-so-devil man.

Outside, it was dark.

Dark, not because it was night, but due to the black clouds taking over the endless sky and the rain, and it seemed to be perpetual at the moment.

"Thanks for your time, Miss. Vermount. It was good to see you."

Saying this, Aaron went out of the room and waited for the elevator.

The devil followed him soon after.

Her eyes didn't blink even for a tiny second as she saw them getting inside the elevator.

And

And, neither did his gaze leave her.

Those deep brown eyes, with that same rage, same anger, same hatred remained fixated on her, doing nothing yet speaking volumes.

As she silently stood there, watching them depart, she felt her throat constrict with her inability to comprehend what was going on.

At this moment, she had no iota of understanding that this was only the beginning, only the first step towards an unexplored, unknown horizon, the one where everything was going to change.

As she still looked at him silently, she watched the doors of the elevator conjoin, but not before registering that his penetrating gaze was still on her.

And that was the last sight of him she captured before realizing he was gone.

The devil, Arnav Sciarrone.

**