Chapter 8 -- Vikas With Family
"Damad ji, would you like tea or dinner right away?" Sonali said once Vikas was settled in his chair "I need to discuss something with you and get your opinion after dinner."
"Let's discuss what's on your mind, Sasu Maa. I can have tea while we talk and dinner later." Vikas said, and looked around "Unless anybody is hungry already then we can eat now."
Nobody spoke. Nobody was going to go against Vikas' wishes.
"I will make the tea." Shriya said and went out.
"Sit here and tell me what you need, Sasu Maa." Vikas said.
Rhea placed a chair in front of Vikas and Sonali sat down.
"It's about Rhea, Damad ji."
"Ok." Vikas said.
Sonali continued "She had applied to take part in a fashion show that her college is doing in Delhi. She had sent a dress for it that she designed. This week, they told her that she has been selected. The show is this weekend. Guddu was going to go with her. I had given her permission and told her to book the train tickets. But Guddu has received an interview call for a job on Monday morning so he can't go. Hemant has his office on Monday, he says he has taken too many leaves already and can't miss office right now. I have not asked Prakash but I think his answer would be the same."
"I have asked Prakash, mom," Amisha said from her seat, her tone was dry "and you are right. He can't take time from his business right now."
Acknowledging her with a nod, Sonali continued "Rhea still wants to go. It's a good opportunity. But I can't send her alone."
Vikas leaned forward and took her hands. Sonali got flustered and looked around as the whole family was there. But she could not pull her hands back. She left them in his hands and tried not to show how nervous it made her.
"First of all, you should have told me this earlier, we could have planned it better." Vikas said
"Sorry, Damad ji, I didn't want to bother you with every little thing."
"Anything that concerns my girl's future is not a little thing." Vikas said and looked at Rhea. Rhea beamed.
Vikas continued "What happens in this family interests me, you know that by now. Or I thought you did." Vikas said "But anyway, the main thing is that you can't tie down Rhea just because she is a girl. She is a girl but she is also intelligent, talented and driven. That means she would want to go into Fashion Design in a big way, either as a professional or a businesswoman. You can't expect her to be dependent on someone else for every little thing that she has to do."
"But Damad ji, she is a girl, and I worry about her." Sonali said.
"Your worry is valid, but your fears should not clip her wings. She is going to do great things in her life and you can't keep her down because she is a girl."
"Of course you are right, but --" Sonali started but Vikas held up a hand and stopped her.
"Let's leave that as a policy discussion for another time." Vikas said "For now, let's focus on the immediate problem."
"Ji, Damad ji." Sonali lowered her eyes.
"Rhea, how big a deal this fashion show is, baby?" Vikas kept holding Sonali's hands as he looked at Rhea.
"It's a very big deal, Jiju," Rhea said "there will be a celebrity designer as chief guest and colleges from the whole country will be participating. There were more than a thousand entries. Only 50 were selected."
Vikas nodded "Obviously it will help a lot in your career whether you do a job or business."
"Yes, jiju." Rhea said "Even taking part will look good on my CV, if I don't win any place."
"Then you should definitely go." Vikas said.
"But Damad ji --" Sonali started.
"Don't worry, Sasu Maa," Vikas interrupted her "I will go with her."
"You, Damad ji? But your business...?" Sonali said.
"My business won't go to pot if I am away for a day or two. That's now how I built my business." Vikas looked at Rhea "What tickets have you booked, honey?"
"Friday night, Jiju." Rhea said "I need to register there on Saturday morning. The show is on Saturday evening."
"Ok." Vikas nodded "Leave it like that. I will come with you instead of Guddu. We will stay there on Sunday and come back on Sunday night."
Rhea came over and hugged Vikas "Thank you, jiju, thank you so much!"
Chapter 9 -- Shweta's Time in VisCom
Shweta didn't have to wait 6 months for her pay rise. Two months after joining she got a letter from HR that she was being promoted from Junior Photographer to Photographer. Her salary increased 25% with the promotion. Shweta was ecstatic. She went and thanked Vikas personally but he dismissed it saying she was promoted because she brought value to the company not because she was "a nice piece of ass." Shweta had to let it go at that.
After joining, she had tried to meet Vikas a few times but she found that while he was always friendly in his interactions with her, he never made a move on her. Shweta was extremely attracted to him, but she had to accept the fact that he was never going to make a move on her as long as she was married. Then she went on that trip with him and things changed.
In a company like VisCom there are always opportunities for training courses and trade conferences. Shweta had seen the invitation from PhotoCon lying on Rishi's desk. PhotoCon was an annual conference of international level which was quite popular with people in the media business. When she asked, Rishi told her that he was never interested wasting time in such conventions.
"There are enough projects for me to keep me busy until the end of Time." He said "I don't have time to waste on such nonsense. Vikas usually goes, he likes that sort of thing. I don't know if he's going this year."
Shweta's ears perked up. She asked Rishi to give her the invite and went to Vikas' office. He was planning to go, he told her. Yes, he would be happy to take her along. Shweta was grinning from ear to ear when she left his office.
PhotoCon that year was being held in Goa. Shweta took that as a sign. She bought some skimpy dresses and very bold bikinis. She wanted to belong to her boss by the time they came back from the convention.
Yes, she had given it a lot of thought and fantasised about having a relationship with her boss. She was married, so a normal relationship wasn't possible, she knew that. But she would be happy to be his girl whenever he wanted. She could call it an affair, she could say she was his mistress but she knew what a strong, powerful man he was. She had no doubt that once he fucked her he would own her. He had that vibe about him that makes a girl melt. Even if he were not Shweta's boss, she could not see a scenario in which she could say no to anything he wanted. She had this inner craving to make him happy, to give him everything he wanted.
She enjoyed travelling with him and as they chatted on the plane, she found out that Vikas was quite a photographer himself. She had heard that he had won awards etc. but she didn't know how passionate he was about photography. During her year in VisCom, she had also come to know that she was not the only person Vikas had helped. Apparently he had a tendency to help people in need and that was one of the reasons his staff loved him.
It was clear to Shweta from her first meeting with him that she was attracted to Vikas, but soon after joining VisCom she had accepted that she was in love with him. He was not only a successful businessman, he was a strong, powerful man who knew his power and used it benignly. She constantly compared him with her husband in her mind. While Abhi was likely to get easily irritated, Vikas was very even-tempered. Abhi was a very chaotic, unorganised businessman, whereas Vikas was very organised, relaxed and pleasant to be around.
Even in her first year, Shweta had managed to bring her family finances back on track. She had been able to pay off the most urgent debts and removed the risk of being evacuated any moment. She had hoped to move the family back into a bigger apartment, but Abhi's business was not doing well and most months she had to help him meet the office rent. Shweta didn't mind helping him out, he was her husband after all, but she had opened a new account where she kept her money.
Her sex life seemed to run just like her financial life. Her husband was not much use in either and she had to be self-sufficient. In both, Vikas was a big help to her. She invariably fantasised about him when having sex with her husband or even when masturbating. Since she had already accepted to herself that she was in love with him, she did not mind using his image to bring her the sweet release of orgasm. Travelling with Vikas she found that she was wet the whole time. Vikas was not going to fuck her as long as she was married but Shweta had no qualms about being near him or trying to seduce him.
For the Goa trip, she had packed only skimpy, skin tight dresses and even a couple of bikinis. The convention was only three-days long and she didn't know if there would be a chance to go to the beach but she was going to do whatever needed if she got the chance.
More than once, Shweta had considered getting a divorce and telling Vikas that she was fully available for him. He could make her his girlfriend or just keep her for fucking from time to time. The biggest reason she had not taken any action in that direction was her daughter. It was not good for a teenage girl to have a broken home. But even though they were staying together, the family dynamic had changed. Shweta was making more money than Abhi, she was running the family and she was managing the direction of their future. Abhi was not able to satisfy her in bed and he was not able to plan responsibly for their future, so he had lost the position of power.
In direct contrast with her husband, Vikas had gained a lot of respect in Shweta's eyes. The more she worked with him, the more she admired him. Whenever she had a plan to go to his office or go to a meeting with him, she made sure to dress sexy and he always complimented her. Shweta had not stopped offering herself on the casting couch after their first chat, but now it had become a topic of flirting with each other. Shweta had made peace with the fact that no matter how much Vikas flirted with her, she would never be able to have him in her. But then the Goa trip happened and her hopes rose.