The next day evening after Vikram landed, the first thing that he did was to call up Akira.

She was flipping her pen and was procrastinating the whole day. Somehow her head and heart were not aligned since yesterday. All that she could do was to think about Raymond and all those things that he has said to her. She just wanted to run away from everyone and everything and to be with him. She wanted to give him every second of her life that she had. So when Vikram called, somehow she was in such absent-minded state that she didn't even realize that she was getting a call till the fifth ring.

"Hey !!!"

"Hiii.... are you back from the trip?"

"Yes, just landed and on my way to home. What are you doing in the office?"

"Nothing much. Just going through the assignment work which has been given to me and trying ways to figure out how to shrug off the work", she said and chuckled.

"Well the very first tip that I am going to give you is to never tell your boss that you are shrugging off work", Vikram said and smiled at her naiveness.

"Ok, then I will repeat myself again. Technically you are not my boss. You are my boss's boss's boss. So I can tell you anything that I have in my mind. Can't I?", she said and giggled.

"Ahhh... you are never gonna leave that. Are you?"

"No, never", she said and smiled.

"So how is everything between you and Raymond? Did he try to contact you?", Vikram now asked seriously.

For a moment she thought if she could tell him everything but in the other, she thought that it was better to wait for the right moment to tell so she replied in negation,

"No".

"Well did you try to contact him?"

"No".

He sighed and then said,

"Actually there is something that I wanted to tell you. Umm...Day after tomorrow, at the Gala night, he might be present. Will, you be ok with that?".

"Will I be ok with that? I am dying for that gala night to happen Vikram" - Her heart wanted to scream and tell him that but the whole conundrum of to tell or to not to tell, pulled her back into the reigns and she meekly replied,

"I guess".

"See if it's uncomfortable for you then we can skip it. Anyways you don't like attending such things".

"Nooooooo".

"No way !!! We are going to attend. I am not going to miss it making any lame excuses. I have given you my word and I want to go with you Vikram. In high school, I missed my dance with you because of your so-called stupid girlfriend fiasco, but this time I am not gonna miss it".

"You still remember that?"

"Of course I do !!! I was so mad at myself and a bit mad with you too".

"So you wanted to dance so bad with me?", Vikram asked.

"Now you are simply pushing your luck", Akira said and pouted.

His lips curled in a smile for his heart was set ablaze by just the thoughts of longingness that he had in his heart.

"So will you share the first dance with me?"

"Sure thing, but what is the first dance? It's like general open floor dance right?", she asked.

"No, we are opening the gala night".

"Opening as in, will we be the first to dance?".

"Yes, ma'am".

"Well now I am nervous", she said and started biting her nails.

She remembered what Raymond had told yesterday. About how he wouldn't tolerate anyone even touching her.

"Oh Boy !!! He is going to be so so mad", she thought in her head and chuckled. The idea of making him all jealous somehow excited her.

"Don't be. It's gonna be all right. Just trust me", he said and then disconnected the call.

His heart was just calmed to know that she wanted to attend the event for his sake. Rays of hope started scattering on top of his heart knowing that she was eager to have that first dance with him. He had huge hopes pinned for the night and his nerves were agitated yet calm for he was now assured that she wasn't going to break his heart.

---

As he reached home, he saw his mother waiting for him in the entertainment room and the moment she had a glimpse of her son she asked all beaming up,

"Did you get it?"

He tapped on his chest as an indication and a smile etched on his mom's face.

He came close and hugged his mom tight and said,

"I have never felt this nervous mom. I don't even know where to start with. I don't even know if she will even say yes to me".

"Have faith, my child. She is a very sweet girl and she just loves you. She just doesn't know it yet. She will never break your heart. I know my Akira and I know you. You guys are meant for each other. God has no other plans except for uniting you two".

"Really mom?"

"Really !!!", she said and kissed his forehead.

"I am going to my room then", Vikram said and got up.

"Well, I forgot to tell you one thing. Peter had come today morning and he gave some files and said that it was Confidential. I had asked Joey to keep them in your room".

Vikram's eyebrows lifted up suddenly and his happy face started turning all blank.

"Oh, my bad. Joey is the new housemaid who has joined a couple of days back to replace Bella. She is a sweet and quiet one. She isn't gonna trouble you".

"Um... did you open the file by any chance mom?", Vikram asked. His throat had suddenly started to run dry for he was worried if his mom saw the contents of those files by any chance.

"No, I gave it directly to Joey. Why what happened? Anything wrong sweetie? You don't look so good", she asked all worried.

"Nothing. I am just gonna go to my room and check on those files", Vikram said and dashed towards his room.

As he reached his room, he saw the files on his bed, neatly kept in a corner. A small sticky note was added on top of it.

"Files from Peter"

He relaxed a bit and then skimmed through the pages and found all the information intact and took a sigh of relief.

Then his hand automatically reached for the delicate Prussian blue velvet box for which he had covered miles and had gone to Sweden to obtain it directly from the owner. He smiled through his eyes as he opened the box and looked at the teardrop diamond ring which was soon going to be adorned by Akira. It was an imperial diamond and one of a kind in the whole world.

After all his girl was also one of a kind and she deserved nothing less than this.

He couldn't wait a single night more to be united with her.

She couldn't wait a day more to share the same dance floor with Raymond.

He couldn't hold his breath, for he was coming to the gala just for her sake, waiting to see her in that beautiful gala dress of hers.

The clock was ticking, but the three hearts were beating in anticipation even faster.