Narrator's POV
"So, how's the project going? Is Ms. Sanya done with it, Mr. Aarav?" asked Navya, sitting upright on her executive chair, with her hands placed on the table, fingers crossed of both palms with each other.
"Yes, Ma'am. She finished it off last Sunday and emailed it to both you and me before leaving for her hometown. I shall email it to you right away." Mr. Aarav replied, standing 2 meters apart from the table, holding his usual ring file of important papers in his left hand.
"Okay. And about the upcoming project, we'll be needing a group of great recruiters and employees. As my PA, I wish to get the list of the candidates by next Monday. It's a Thursday, Mr. Aarav, you shall be done by then." Navya spoke. Her Beige Coat resting on the chair back gave an enhancing effect on her silk white shirt, and her chic black official pants.
"Sure, ma'am. I'll send it to you as soon as I'm done." Mr. Aarav replied with confidence, as he gave a little twitch to his blue coat with his right hand.
"I hope you are not planning to go on a trip with your family this June, Mr. Aarav? We'll be needing you here for the project." Navya said.
"Don't worry, Ms. Rathore. You had already told me about the project in advance. I plan on going with my family this October. In addition to that, the entire staff is aware of how important 'The 7H's' is for our company, and we'll all be present until the project is completed." Mr. Aarav replied with a smile on his face.
"Good. That should be it, Mr. Aarav. You may leave now." Said Navya, now looking down at the file kept on her table.
Mr. Aarav thanks Ms. Rathore and exits the CEO's office.
~
Navya Rathore's POV
I feel so exhausted today. I haven't eaten anything since the morning. I've been too busy with the upcoming project, and the sleepless nights give me paralysis when I lie down for a few minutes to rest my body. Nevertheless, I'm not stopping until it's all done.
I lay back in my chair peacefully. I looked to my right. Through the large glass wall, I could see the leaves flowing with the wind blowing outside.
"The wind outside had been blowing for a long time now." I thought to myself. I got up to take a look out at the street from my beige, white, and soft grayish office. I looked down the street and saw 2 teenagers chasing after one another.
It reminded me of the time it all had occurred.
~
6 years ago
"Yo, wanna hang out after school?" My best friend, Poorvi Jha, asked me with excitement.
It was recess. Me and my two best friends were having each other's lunch like we usually did, sitting on the football ground.
We'd sit here every day, excluding the days it would rain. Students would come and sit down on the grass to have their lunch because the grass was soft. Hah! Or so I thought.
"Where are we going?" I asked her, while wondering what her mother put in the rice. Believe me, it was lip-smacking.
"Let's go to the nearby cafe. I heard they added something new to the menu. Plus, we can do our assignments together; it's usually quiet there." Suggested my other best friend, Krisha Thakur, with a smug look on her face.
We all agreed to go together after the bell rang for the school day to end. The recess ended 5 minutes later, and we started for our class.
"Which class do we have right now?" I asked.
"It's biology, I guess," Poorvi answered my question.
Poorvi is one of the most attractive people I've known; she's a rebel, too. Krisha has a soft heart and a pair of pretty eyes.
I have known Krisha since we were in kindergarten. But we had different friend circles, so we weren't that close at the time, unlike now. Poorvi and I have been together for the longest time, so we're pretty close.
If god couldn't give me something, he blessed me with these idiots. I'm grateful to him nevertheless.
~
Once the school got over, we rushed to the cafe nearby. Our friend, Yashna, joined us.
We sat at the table near the glass window, as it was the only unoccupied space we could sit peacefully at.
The waiter saw that we had finally settled down and came to take our order.
"Afternoon, Ladies! What can I get for you?" the waiter asked us in a joyful tone.
He looked like he was 19, a well-built guy, with skin smoother than his silky brown hair, and his smile seemed brighter than my future.
We gave our order and he jotted it down in his mini notepad. Then went away, claiming that our order would arrive at our table in the next 10 minutes.
I took out my assignment from my bag and kept it on the table. I was looking for my stationery when I heard Yashna say, " Guys.. I have some 'tea'." Pausing between two words and exaggerating the last.
Yashna looks like a cute, chubby bear when she's happy or excited.
I continued to do my chemistry assignment while listening to her alongside.
You see, Yashna is one big yapper. But whatever it is, she's always fun to be around.
"Vandana had sex with her boyfriend. She's just 17, you know?" I felt uneasy with the amount of ease she delivered the sentence.
But honestly, she can be a great journalist in the future, keeping in mind how aware she is of at least one thing about almost everyone she knows, which, if it comes out, can actually destroy them.
Our drinks arrived in exactly 10 minutes. The waiter placed our drinks on the table and left.
"Vandana Bhati?" Poorvi asked.
"Yes, bro," Yashna replied.
"How are you so sure? I know her and I'm sure she can never do something 'that'." Poorvi protested; her palm cupped the coffee mug.
I glanced to my right and noticed the discomfort on Krisha's face due to the discussion, but decided to ignore her and hear the conversation instead.
"It's true, sister. She would let him into her apartment when no one was around, and that's bad." Yashna continued.
"No wonder no one saw her around lately," I said.
"Wait, her mother doesn't know about this, no?" Krisha joined the conversation.
"No, her mother was informed by the neighbor about all this. She had gone away to her hometown for a while now." Yashna said.
"Dude, that sounds even worse," I said.
"Bro, no matter how she might be, but I know she can't do something like that," Poorvi replied, still protesting.
"It might be true, you know," I said, not wanting to discuss this further.
All three of them looked at me, their eyes waiting for a valid explanation.
"We had a few classes together. She told me a few things that happened between them. Of course, she didn't tell me directly, but it all pointed directly towards it." I told them.
Fortunately, that discussion ended there.
After we were done, we split the bill and went our ways.
~
I reached home at around 5 in the evening. Good thing, I had no coaching that day. I tossed my bag and set my uniform in the closet.
After completing my physics assignment, I was looking for my chemistry assignment, but I couldn't find it anywhere inside my bag.
"Oh shit! I left the assignment in the cafe!" I blurted with realization.
"Shit, bro! I need to get it back. I don't want to be lectured." I said, half panicking.
I informed my mother about it. She very gently offered 2 handfuls of taunt, maybe more, definitely more, until she finally let me go after I begged for her permission to let me grab that assignment. She only let me go because she felt pity for me.
I had to run for the cafe because the scooty was with my dad, and he was still in his office, working.
I ran as fast as I could, hoping the cafe would still be open by the time I got there.
The weather didn't seem quiet like it. The wind was blowing powerfully. It looked like it would rain heavily any second now, and well, I had no umbrella with me.
After about 15 minutes of jogging, I finally reached there, just to see that the cafe had closed already.
I checked the time on my analog watch that my father had gifted me on my 16th birthday, almost a year from now.
It showed 8:17 pm. I was 17 minutes late before the cafe closed.
I sat down on the bench nearby to let my lungs breathe some air and reflected, thinking about how careless I had been to have left the assignment in the cafe.
I was still regretting with my hands on my head, supported by my knees, when a guy came and sat beside me.
I didn't bother to look at his face, as I was too busy thinking about the taunts my chemistry teacher would throw at me to humiliate me to my core.
But yes, he was tall and wore a black overcoat. He had a pile of stapled paper in his right hand, along with a spiral jet black notebook, and a black umbrella in the other that he kept in the space between us.
I lifted my head a bit and read what the paper had on it from a distance.
'The Witmen Scholars, ' it read.
"Oh, so he's a student in my school", I thought. I tried to read his name on top of the assignment, but it read "Navya... Rathore." Wait.. isn't that.. That's My Assignment!
I looked at his face in an instant. He had a scarf on, and I wasn't able to see his face entirely. His eyes, glaring at the paper, as if he would devour it whole.
Suddenly, he looked up at me. I opened my mouth to ask for my assignment, but I froze. I had seen these eyes before.
Before I could say anything. He handed me the assignment, then got up and left, leaving me in a daze.