Chapter - 4
Shivanya ~
I answered the call, trying to steady my voice. "Hello."
"Miss Chopra, I need you in the office right now. The hearing that was initially listed for next week has been rescheduled to tomorrow afternoon. While we may seek an adjournment on the grounds of lack of preparation time, I specifically requested you because I am aware of your commitment. Get here immediately." Of course it was my boss, Vihaan Raichand.
"Absolutely, sir. I'll be there as soon as I can," I replied, summoning all the professionalism I could muster.
"And Shivanya, make sure you answer the phone when I call." His last words before hanging up left my mouth wide open.
"The audacity of this man... first, he commands me to get to the office so late, and then he gives me attitude about it. And the worst part is, he was so calm about it!" I muttered to myself, sighing.
"Let me save his number first, or he might just end up firing me." I rolled my eyes and was just about to type his contact name when an insult popped into my head.
"Okay, Vihaan Raichand, you will now officially be Mr. Birdbrain for me." I punched in the insult as his contact name and giggled before straightening myself up and walking back inside.
"Taran, can you please drop Radhika back home? I have to get to the office right now. Something important has come up." I told him, and he immediately nodded.
"I will first drop you at your office and then take Radhika home. Once you are done with your work, call me and I will pick you up," he said as he always does, but this time, I had to draw a line. He was going to be Radhika's husband, after all, and the less time I spent with him, the better it would be for all of us.
"Not a chance. I have already booked a cab for myself, Taran, and I'll take a company car to get back home. Today has been stressful for all of us. Let's just take it easy, alright?" I told him, and he looked like he wanted to argue, but my look shut him up.
All he did was nod. Maybe he understood that I needed some space.
"Just call me if there is any problem, Shivanya. You know I'll be there," he said as I picked up my bag and then went on to say goodbye to aunty and uncle.
"I know." I gave him a small smile and then turned to Radhika.
"Text me once you are home and lock the door properly. I have the keys, and I am going to be late, alright?" I asked my sister, and she nodded obediently as I walked out.
I then booked a cab, which arrived in the next five minutes and took another half an hour to get to work. Paying the driver, I rushed inside after making an entry of my visit since I hadn't carried my ID with me. Vihaan's assistant met me by the elevator and asked me to walk straight into the conference room on the fifteenth floor.
I thanked her and made my way upstairs to where I was asked to go. There he was, Mr. Birdbrain, sitting with a few briefs placed next to him and the laptop screen in front of him. But where was the rest of the team? Or was it just me who deserved no work-life balance?
"Do you plan on standing there for the rest of the night, Miss Chopra?" Vihaan's voice grabbed all my attention as he asked without turning to look at me, his back still facing me.
"No, sir." I almost panicked and then walked to the seat opposite him, keeping my bag on the running conference table.
He extended a few files towards me before getting back to what he was doing on the laptop. I nodded before opening the case file and started to go through it. But I found myself looking towards him for some answers more often than I'd like to admit.
"Excuse me, Mr. Raichand, while I go and grab a spare laptop from IT." I said, and he raised his head, which was currently buried in a brief.
"Has the firm not issued you your own?" he asked, sounding incredulous.
"It has. I don't have it with me currently. I wasn't home when you called, and I hurried here." I clarified. That's when his eyes scanned my outfit and perhaps made sense of why I was so dressed up for work.
I looked back and nodded.
Why was I the only one here? Where was the rest of the team? And why on earth were we sitting here if it was just the two of us working?
All these thoughts occupied my mind as I got a laptop and started to work. Instead of asking questions like a normal person, I chose to try and forget them.
"Out with it, Miss Chopra." Vihaan's voice grabbed my attention, and I blinked a few times to make sense of his words or even if he had said something at all.
"I'm sorry, what?" I let my eyes linger on the file for an additional second before looking at him, trying to regain any composure I had left.
"Ask what you have been wanting to since you sat there across from me half an hour ago." He met my gaze before abandoning it, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"It's nothing, sir. Just that... where are the rest of the people working on the case with you?" The words slipped out before I could stop myself, and I immediately bit my lip to stop from speaking further.
This made him look at me once again.
"You are my team, Shivanya. I don't prefer to work with a crowd." His reply was just as intimidating as he was, and for a second, I was stumped.
"With all due respect, sir, then why am I here?" I threw my next question at him and then averted my eyes back to the file.
"Because you are no crowd." He, once again, failed to explain the core essence of his words.
"Umm... thank you?" I offered him gratitude, even though I was confused about it, and that's when it happened.
He chuckled.
Vihaan Raichand does not chuckle. He does not show any emotion, inside or outside the courtroom. He was known to be a person without an ounce of display of any emotions, if they existed in him.
"Mr. Raichand, there is no murder weapon described here. I mean, yes, it has to be a sharp object, but here in the FIR copy, the police have failed to make any note of it." I pointed out the obvious, but it was only when I said it that I realized he couldn't have missed the detail.
"Follow up on this with the IO assigned to the case and ask him to file that in court first thing tomorrow morning." He asked me, and I nodded a little before making a note of it in my planner.
I went through the FIR once again, just in case, and continued to make small notes to brief facts up. When I was done, it was already two-thirty in the morning.
Shit.
"Excuse me for a moment." I stood up. Vihaan was typing something on the laptop, so he gave me a brief nod. I stepped out of the conference hall and made my way to the restroom, washed my face, and then looked into the mirror. The whole day once again came flashing by in front of my eyes, and I sighed.
"Yes, yes, Shivanya. Stop pitying yourself. So what if the love of your life does not love you back? Not everyone gets a fairytale life. Besides, you are married to your work." I spoke to myself and then tied my hair with a claw clip, letting a few strands fall on my face to not look like a boiled potato, and then got to the break-room to get some coffee.
I got two mugs of coffee before getting back to the conference hall and kept one mug next to Vihaan, who was still typing.
"Sir, coffee," I said because I was pretty sure he was zoned out on work and wouldn't have realized I was back.
"Thank you, Shivanya, but I find it plausible to assume that your taste in coffee does not resonate with mine." He said, and I suppressed my laugh.
"Sir, the whole office knows your taste in coffee after you fired your third assistant last year." I deadpanned, and being up at this time had most definitely made me lose my filter.
His face showed an amusing expression as he looked up at me.
"I did not take you to be one who cares for office gossip, Miss Chopra." He raised a brow before he took the cup in his hand and raised it to me in thanks before bringing it to his lips. That's when I took my seat once again.
"I prefer not to, but some things are just unescapable. Firing three assistants in one year over a cup of coffee does have the potential to become the hot topic among associates, paralegals, interns, and help staff alike, sir." I told him honestly.
His amusement turned into a smirk, but he did not say anything further as we resumed working until it was almost six in the morning.
"Sir, I should get home now to reach the court on time." I said, and just then, he shut his laptop down.
"My driver will take you home." He said, and I was about to protest when he stopped me.
"You don't have your car with you, Miss Chopra." He added, pointing out the obvious.
"Thank you, Mr. Raichand." I gave him a thankful smile and picked up my handbag.
"The hearing begins at eleven." He informed me, and I nodded before walking out, desperately dying to get home to at least get an hour of sleep.
But the strangest part about the past twenty-four hours was my boss, Vihaan Raichand.
I walked out of the building into the early morning light. The city was waking up, and I was longing for sleep. Vihaan's driver, a stern-looking man in his fifties, opened the car door for me.
"Thank you," I said, sliding into the back seat.
The drive home was quiet. I leaned back and closed my eyes, trying to piece together the whole of the past day. Vihaan Raichand, the epitome of control and detachment as known to the world, had shown a side of himself that was almost... human. His chuckle echoed in my mind, an anomaly that I couldn't quite reconcile with the image of the man I had heard about is such a different light by so many people.
We pulled up to my apartment building, and I thanked the driver again before heading inside. The elevator ride felt interminable, my exhaustion weighing me down. When I finally got to my door, I fumbled with the keys, eager to collapse into my bed, which I did.
But the alarm blared all too soon. Groggy and disoriented, I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. The cold water shocked me awake, and I quickly dressed in a fresh suit, ready for the day ahead.
Shivanya's Look ~ ( Imagine this on a curvy woman, it's difficult to find like an outfit exactly as I imagine on the body shape I've described of Shivanya)
Radhika was already up, making breakfast. "Good morning Di," she greeted, looking concerned. "You look exhausted."
"I am," I admitted, grabbing a piece of toast. "Had to pull an all-nighter for a case. I'll be in court today."
"Take care of yourself, Didi. You push yourself too hard." She handed me a coffee.
"I know, but I don't have much of a choice." I smiled weakly. "I'll see you later. Text me if you need anything."
I hurried out, catching another cab to the courthouse. The traffic was surprisingly light, and I arrived with time to spare. The courthouse buzzed with activity, and I found Vihaan already there, reviewing notes.
This was the first time I was in court with Vihaan Raichand, and it was clear that he commanded attention. The Hawk of the Court. That's what he was known as here, and naturally, being around him made me a subject of scrutiny, something I hated to my very core. Having so many eyes on me was extremely uncomfortable.
"Do you have the post-mortem reports?" He gave me a side glance, and I nodded, taking the reports out of my bag, almost fumbling before handing them over to him.
"I have highlighted the conflicting testimonies right there." I handed him the other drafts, and he gave me a well-done look. To be honest, that did make me flustered a bit because that was totally expected of me to do.
And then it began. The cross-examination. To say that I was mind-blown would be a complete understatement.
"Mr. Kumar," Vihaan began, his voice steady and commanding, "you testified that you saw my client, Mr. Prakash, at the scene of the crime on the night of June 15th. Is that correct?"
Rakesh nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's right. I saw him with my own eyes."
Vihaan paused, letting the courtroom settle before continuing. "You claim to have seen Mr. Prakash at approximately 11:30 PM, correct?"
"Yes, around that time," Rakesh confirmed, his eyes darting nervously.
Vihaan nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response. "Can you tell us exactly where you were when you saw Mr. Prakash?"
Rakesh hesitated, shifting in his seat. "I was... I was across the street, near the bus stand."
Vihaan raised an eyebrow. "Across the street, near the bus stand. And how far would you say that is from the actual crime scene?"
"Maybe... fifty feet?" Rakesh guessed, uncertainty creeping into his voice.
"Fifty feet," Vihaan repeated, nodding thoughtfully. "Mr. Kumar, do you wear glasses?"
"Yes, but I don't need them all the time," Rakesh replied quickly.
Vihaan turned to the judge. "Your Honor, I would like to submit Mr. Kumar's optometry records into evidence." He handed a file to the bailiff, who passed it to the judge.
"Proceed, Mr. Raichand," the judge said after glancing at the records.
Vihaan turned back to Rakesh. "Mr. Kumar, according to these records, you have severe myopia. Without your glasses, you would have significant difficulty seeing clearly beyond a distance of twenty feet. Is that correct?"
Rakesh squirmed in his seat. "Well, yes, but I was wearing my glasses that night."
Vihaan's eyes narrowed slightly. "You were wearing your glasses. Yet, in your initial statement to the police, you mentioned that you had been drinking at the bar before you supposedly witnessed the crime. How many drinks did you have that night, Mr. Kumar?"
Rakesh looked visibly uncomfortable. "Just a couple."
"A couple," Vihaan repeated. "Mr. Kumar, I have here the bartender's statement from that night. He recalls you having at least six drinks over the course of the evening. Were you intoxicated when you supposedly saw Mr. Prakash?"
Rakesh's face reddened. "I might have had a few drinks, but I know what I saw."
"Do you?" Vihaan asked sharply. "Is it not possible, Mr. Kumar, that in your inebriated state, without your glasses, in the dark, you could have been mistaken?"
Rakesh hesitated, glancing around the courtroom. "I... I don't think so."
Vihaan seized the moment. "You don't think so, but you're not sure. Isn't it true, Mr. Kumar, that you were paid to identify Mr. Prakash as the culprit?"
Rakesh's eyes widened in panic. "No! That's not true!"
Vihaan leaned in, his voice lowering but gaining intensity. "Isn't it true that you were offered money by an unknown individual to place Mr. Prakash at the scene, hoping to benefit from his conviction?"
Rakesh's hands shook. "I... I..."
Vihaan turned to the judge. "My Lord, I request that Mr. Kumar's credibility be re-evaluated, given his severe intoxication, impaired vision, and potential financial motive to lie."
"Mr. Kumar," the judge began, his voice grave, "your testimony has been called into question by the defense. I find your statements to be inconsistent and unreliable. Furthermore, your admission of intoxication raises serious doubts about the accuracy of your recollection. Therefore, I am striking your testimony as inadmissible and sentencing you to six months for perjury. Matter adjourned."
The judge adjourned the matter and set the next date for the following month as we walked out of the courtroom.
"Follow up with the investigating officer and report back to me by five, Miss Chopra." He handed me the copy of the chargesheet, and I nodded.
"I'll see you in the office, sir." I said before parting ways. I was just walking up to my car when it hit me—I hadn't thanked him yet.
His mechanic had my car sent to my home in the morning before I left.
I turned around to find him standing exactly where I had left him, his eyes on me.
Why was he looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong? But most importantly, why did his eyes make me feel so exposed to him? Like I was naked? Like he could literally see through me?
"Umm...thank you for your help with the car, Mr. Raichand. How much did it cost you to get it fixed?" I took a few steps towards him once again, but his eyes never faltered away from me.
"On me, Shivanya," he said before walking away this time, not giving me a second to respond at all.
What even?
Hey guys! This is the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Do tell me what you feel about it through the comments section. I love you all. Until next time. Byee!!
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