Patang Read Free Page B

protested.
    Reena giggled. What was with girls and giggling? Karan hated girls who giggled meaninglessly. He let go of her waist and made no effort to hide the irritation on his face.
    ‘Aww,’ Reena purred like a cat demanding attention. ‘Is Mr Grover angry?’ She pouted and looked at him, trying hard to suppress her laughter. He was just one of those stupid alpha-male guys with a square jaw, a sharp Adam’s apple and absolutely no brains. It was so, so easy for her to make them fall for her. It was quite funny actually, come to think of it.
    Reena looped her arm through Karan’s and placed her head softly on his strong biceps. She could immediately sense his tense muscles relaxing. Men like Karan Grover liked to think that women couldn’t survive without their protection. Playing the helpless damsel always worked with them.
    ‘You’re ghanna lykhe whachiyu see, I phramise,’ she faked a tacky American accent, mastered through her training at work.
    Karan’s heart skipped several beats in anticipation.
    The twelfth floor of the swanky building housed the sprawling auditorium and media room of McArthur & Co. Thisbuilding was their BPO wing, with more than 7,000 employees working across multiple shifts. The auditorium itself could seat more than 4,000, and was equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. All of McArthur’s conferences and townhall meetings were held here, and it could also relay live an event happening in any of the 196 McArthur offices all over the world. McArthur’s business was growing and they were always running out of office space. A second building was under construction less than a kilometre away.
    Karan had joined McArthur two years ago. He handled the Paramax account and lent voice support to customers from the US East Coast. Reena had joined the same team less than four months ago. She was extremely attractive and she didn’t hesitate to dress accordingly. At first, Karan had been disheartened to know she was married, but when she had flirted back with him, his excitement had doubled.
    ‘This way.’Reena led him towards the far end of the corridor, which was pitch-dark. The low light from the flashlight apps on their cellphones barely lit the way and Karan had to strain his eyes to see where they were going. Reena finally turned to a door on her left at the end of the corridor and pushed it open.
    ‘Watch your step,’ she whispered.
    Karan was surprised to see that they were at the foot of a staircase. Slowly, he pulled up his phone to illuminate the steps all the way to a large door with a notice painted on it that said: ‘DO NOT ENTER’.
    The terrace!
    Oh, boy! This woman was even more exciting than he had imagined. He knew he was in for a wild night. Tonight, Reena Sharma would be his score.
    ‘Come, hold my hand,’ Reena said.
    Karan liked determination in women. His own pulse was racing. But…
    As they reached the door, Karan pushed the handle. It didn’t budge. Locked!
    Dammit. He knew it. His heart became heavy and he shut his eyes in frustration. Blasted security!
    In the mysterious half-lit environment, he heard Reena giggle again. ‘You give up too easily, Mr Grover! Is this how you intend to impress me?’
    A sharp beep suddenly echoed through the dark stairwell and scared the hell out of him. He held up his phone to find Reena’s beautiful face smiling at him, as she held up her access card.
    ‘Ta-da!’
    ‘But…how?’
    ‘Don’t ask how,’ she brought her face very close to Karan’s and whispered, ‘but I bet you’ve never been happier to discover a glitch before now, have you?’ She pushed the handle and threw the door open.
    The terrace was out of bounds for employees, Karan knew. A few years ago, everyone would come up here to smoke, but then the management decided to revoke access to the terrace after a security audit. Karan had no idea how Reena’s card opened the door, but he didn’t care, because by now, Reena had run on to the terrace and was