Radhika felt an overwhelming urge to go towards this strange guy and pet him as he reminded her of a sad puppy.
And she nearly did , but she stopped herself since she still had a rich asshole to deal with.
Radhika sauntered over to her seat deciding that she will take care of the cute guy later...
....
Radhika slid back into her seat while picking up the contract before her , and when she started to go through it seriously Kundan looked up from his tablet with surprised gaze as her behaviour kind of threw him off.
Radhika didn't pay attention to Kundan as she went through the contract looking at each clause, and examining everything properly.
"Clause three," Radhika said, without looking up. "No public appearances...That's fine. But you haven't defined what counts as public. A family dinner , is that public? Because if your mother invites me to something and I'm supposed to not make any public appearances then that's going to get complicated very quickly and I'd like that in writing." Kundan blinked thinking whether he heard something wrong but Radhika wasn't done as she continued.
"Also," she turned the page, "Is five years arbitrary. What's the exit condition if your parents stop caring before that? Is there an early termination clause? Because I'm not sitting in a paper marriage for the full duration if the problem resolves itself in year two. That's just inefficient."
She finally looked up at him and Kundan Oberoi, who had sat across from a great many people in great many negotiations, and had never once been on the back foot in any of them, was experiencing something he didn't have an immediate word for.
"The compensation structure," Radhika continued pleasantly, "also needs to be more specific. 'Well compensated' is not a number. I need a number. And I'd want to discuss it , because inflation is real and five years is a long time."
"Also," Radhika added , flipping the page, "I have some notes on clause seven—"
"There is no clause seven." Kundan interjected as there was a barely visible twitch of his lips that betrayed his mood.
"I know." She looked up. "That's one of my notes." Radhika said with a straight face.
"You're serious," he asked in a slightly confused tone since this was not how things were supposed to progress.
"Were you not?" Radhika asked back with a raised eyebrow like she was questioning Kundan's intelligence.
The way she was looking at him like she was speaking to a child and that attitude of hers irked Kundan.
He didn't know know why he felt his heart skip a beat when she looked at him that way. The impudence and that attitude... No woman had dared to speak to him like this... And he hated the fact that it intrigued him.
Kundan quickly got his emotions under control as his expression went ice cold once again, he felt the need to knock her a peg down.
"Let me be clear," he said, his voice dropping to a low mocking tone. "You're not here to negotiate. You're here because your father asked you to be, and because frankly, women in your position don't get offers like this twice."
Radhika looked up from the contract.
"Women in my position," she repeated with a calm tilt of her head.
"You're a middle class girl from Bandra with a decent job and a rented apartment," Kundan said, with the flat indifferent cruelty of someone stating weather. "I'm not insulting you, I'm being practical. This contract is the most financial security you will ever be offered in your life. The smart move is to stop performing and sign it."
Radhika stilled as the air around her changed and she gazed at Kundan with a blank gaze.
She set the pen down slowly and just stared at Kundan with a vacant unblinking gaze that made him feel a bit unnerved.
"One moment " Radhika said in a pleasant tone that betrayed none of her internal emotions. She stood up, smoothed her saree, and turned around and Kundan was hoping to say something just paused in his words...
...
Radhika looked around the cafe and she immediately spotted him since he was very hard to miss. He still sat at the same table with his untouched glasses of milk.
Radhika walked over to his table and stopped beside as she looked at him with bright gaze, but even after waiting for a few moments he didn't look up and was just lost in his own world.
"Hi" Radhika finally said. "You look like you're having a bad day."
Arjun looked at her. Then around, briefly, to confirm she was talking to him. And to his confusion she was indeed talking to him.
"I'm—" he started to say something but was cut off by an overly enthusiastic Radhika.
"Don't worry about it," she said, warmly, waving her hand as if he'd already explained everything. "I get it. These things happen." She tilted her head. "Are you from Mumbai?"
"I—" Arjun blinked thinking he missed something. "Yes."
"Me too." She nodded, as if this confirmed something. "I'm Radhika."
She extended her hand. He looked at it for just a moment too long, then shook it. His hand covering hers completely.
"Arjun," he said.
"Arjun," she repeated, pleasantly. Then, with no change in tone whatsoever, "Have you ever thought about getting married?"
"...."
.....