Flames [Ch 2]

Chapter 2

“Hey!”

Ananya was startled out of her reverie and saw Ronnie before her, looking amused.

“Stop daydreaming about your Kabir and tell me, did he like your story?” he asked.

Still dazed as a result of her tete-a-tete with Kabir, all Ananya could manage was a soft ‘hmm’.

“Kya hmm? Lagta hain Kabir sir ne tujhe pehli hi baar me accha khaasa dose de dia!” Ronnie laughed, leaving Ananya totally confused.

“Don’t worry, you’re just an acquaintance. Wait till you get to know him better!” Ronnie said, amused thoroughly by Ananya’s state. With a smile playing on his lips, he popped a chocolate into his mouth while Ananya fidgeted with her fingers, still looking quite lost.

She happened to glance at her watch, and saw that there were barely ten minutes before it turned nine. Kabir Sir was going to cover her story in his extremely popular 9PM bulletin. He had the entire hour dedicated to the Mehrotra case, now that he had the explosive evidence that she had collected. He was going to have a panel discussion and air her footage live. She couldn’t wait to see her hero present her story. She knew he would do an amazing job.

With an extra bright smile that spelt danger to Ronnie, she turned to him. “Ronnie,” she began in a sugary tones, “Tu mera best friend hain na, mera sabse pyaara dost…”

Ronnie looked at her enquiringly. “What do you want, Annie?” he asked. He knew her too well to be taken in by her little tricks, bewitchingly innocent though she was looking.

“Yaar… Kabir Sir na 9 baje ki news mein meri story cover kar rahe hain. I want to see him doing it. I mean in person. You can arrange that, can’t you? Please, please, please! I really want…” she said, when Ronnie cut her short by stuffing a chocolate into her mouth.

“Hmm… Dekh main check karunga, zero guarantee okay?” Ronnie turned and went into the PCR, while Ananya crossed her fingers, after giving him a last beseeching look.

~*~

“It is indeed a sad day for the world of journalism and our country. It is the duty of the media to be an accurate mirror to society, and seeing media personnel stoop so low is indeed horrifying. We are still awaiting a statement from GTV and have received none so far. I would firstly like to thank all of our panelists for joining us tonight, and also the person behind this explosive revelation - our junior reporter Miss Ananya Kashyap. With this I, Kabir Sharma, leave you tonight with a promise to meet to again tomorrow. Good night!”

Khalid spluttered in disbelief in his cabin, as he watched his channel’s 9PM bulletin live, spilling his coffee. The Kabir Sharma had acknowledged a junior reporter on air! And this sensational story which would change the fortunes of his channel was not Kabir’s finding! Khalid couldn’t believe his ears. And wait, did they even have a journalist by that name?

Descending the stairs rapidly, he walked right into the PCR, and was about to say something, when a young girl with large glasses and an excited expression on her face, leaning self-consciously against one of the walls caught his attention.

“Hey kid, who let you in here?” Khalid asked her, frowning, while she just looked at him with wide eyes. So much had happened in the last few hours, that Ananya was finding it difficult to come to terms with it all. The atmosphere in this channel was totally new and foreign to her, for one, and hearing her hero acknowledge her work was too overwhelming.

“Oh, stop staring at me! It gives me the creeps! Holy smokes, please train your eyes elsewhere!” Khalid snapped, impatiently, while a visibly displeased Malvika stepped forward. She was the owner’s daughter and the PCR Head, and therefore enjoyed considerable importance and power in KKN.

“Khalid, don’t talk to her like that!” she said in overtly sarcastic tones . “She is none other than the genius child Ananya Kashyap, who has secured a job for herself in KKN, without a vacancy or even consent from any of us!”

Ananya was rudely summoned out of her dreamland by this public outburst. Once she got over the initial shock, Ananya inspected Malvika from head to toe, trying to size her up. No doubt she was the perfect femme fatale, with her delectable figure and shrewd eyes. But there was definitely more to Malvika Prasad than met the eye.

But she was Ananya Kashyap, and no person, no matter how impressive, could intimidate her. She was well aware of what a favour she had done to the channel by sharing that story, and they had better respect her for it! “To the best of my knowledge, people about eighteen are adults. Since I am well past that milestone, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from referring to me as a kid!” she snapped. Malvika turned a bright crimson with rage, not used to her father’s employees replying to her so nonchalantly.

“Kya kar rahi hai Annie!” Ronnie hissed. Ananya shrugged her shoulders.

“I am used to being respected for my work, Ronnie! I am not signing a contract for bonded labour!” Ananya said, angrily, while Khalid looked at her, with growing admiration. The girl had spunk, and was spicy to the core.

“Kabir’s taste has improved!” Khalid laughed, while Malvika glared at him.

“What do you mean, Khalid?” she asked him in icy tones. The smile on Khalid’s face faded as Malavika gave him a  you - are - so - dead - loo.

“Ah Kabir!” he said, with a sigh of relief, seeing Kabir enter the PCR.

Malvika placed her hands against his chest as soon as he came near, though he did not respond to this gesture, and did not seem at all interested in her. “Kabir,” she said. “How could you hire this girl without consulting any of us? We don’t even have a vacancy and you need to discuss these things with us first! You always do! Why an exception for her?”

“My dearest Malvika” Kabir broke in, sensing matters heating up. “Aren’t we one? How does it matter whether I take a decision or you do? How about dinner at my place?” He said with a seductive smile. Malvika immediately forgot her grievances and blushed a pretty pink, while Ananya stared at Kabir in wide-eyed surprise.

“But Kabir, can you tell me why you have hired her?”

“Alright, fire her then!” Kabir said breezily, while Ananya looked at him in disbelief and dropped her bag. “Fire her and find someone who can get us better stories. And anyway, our channel could do with a few more capable reporters!”

“Okay, now why did you take her name in the bulletin? You have never mentioned a junior reporter’s name before, Kabir!” she asked him, with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

“No junior reporter has given me such a story before!” he said, as unruffled as before.

Malvika knew when she was beaten, and with a shrug of her shoulders, she walked out of the room, with Khalid following close behind, leaving only. Ananya who was standing in the far corner of the room, walked quickly up to Kabir and smiled at him, trying to attract his attention. He saw her immediately, and with a smile said, “Oh hello Miss Kashyap!”

He outstretched his hand, and gave her a long, firm handshake. Ananya was too overwhelmed and was at a loss for words.

“Hi!” she managed to say at last. “and… thank you.”

“Don’t” he interrupted her. “Don’t thank me before you know me too well!”

Ananya was about to argue when he shushed her, “I know you are my fan, so you probably know everything about my life and career. But what do you know, yet, of me as a person?” Ananya let out a sharp squeal of pain as her foot hit the wall.

She didn’t even realise that he had been taking steps towards her, and that she had been moving backwards - so much did his presence affect her. “I… uh…” she fumbled for words.

“It’s fine,” Kabir chuckled. “Pata nahi mere saamne aake log shabd kyun bhul jaate hai!”

“I got another piece of information…” she said, finally.

“Tomorrow,  9 A.M sharp in the conference room. We’ll talk about it then. For now, keep calm and enjoy. By the way, how are you leaving?” Kabir asked her, for it was rather late.

Ananya fidgeted, nervously, with her fingers. “Um… a taxi or an auto and yeah Ronnie’s here so maybe he..” she began.

“Oh, that’s good,” he said. “And, by the way, collect your appointment letter from Richa, that girl in the red dress and black jacket. You can join from tomorrow.” He walked out of the room, coolly, while she stood rooted in her place, looking like she had just been hit by a storm.

She couldn’t believe she had been interacting at close quarters with her hero! This was an evening that she would never forget all her life. However she was a tad disappointed that he had not offered to drop her home. But then, who was she kidding? She was expecting THE Kabir Sharma to drop her, after an acquaintance of not more than a few hours?

Over-thinking was so Ananya Kashyap.

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