Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Chapter 4


Hello everyone!
Here's Chapter 4.  Enjoy reading and leave all your comments below with your IF name. Buddy me on IF Mannat27 :) 
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Enjoy!!!!

Chapter 4




Please note I retain sole ownership of all the works of fiction on this blog so please do not reproduce or alter my work and claim it as your own.



IBM @ 8:30 AM:
Arnav Singh Raizada parked his car and strode confidently towards the building. The ASR mode turned full on. As he had already been informed that the 5th Floor was going to be his working place, Arnav made his way to the elevator and up to his destination.
Arnav signed in at the reception and the receptionist gave him the directions to the Conference hall, where he would meet with the manager, Mr. Mark Guido, who would have all his paperwork ready for him. Arnav made his way to the Conference hall.
Mr. Guido was a middle-aged man with a bald head, about 5”8 of height, fair complexion with a hint of red. After the introductions, the contract agreement had been signed, and all rules and regulations explained. Mr. Guido picked up the desk phone and gave some instructions to the person on the other end.
Few moments later, a man in his early-twenties, fair-looking, with a well-maintained body, and a face with a smile playing on his lips, entered the Conference hall with a file in his hands.
Mr. Guido gave a smile to the man and looked at Arnav, “Mr. Raizada, Mr. Aman Stephens would be your assistant. He would provide for all your needs on-duty.” 
Arnav looked at Aman and gave a curt nod, as if to approve him of the position. Aman, on the other hand, took in the strong posture of his new boss, the expressionless face, the determined eyes, and Aman had a strong feeling that this boss of his would be very different from the friendly Guido.
Well Mr. Stephens, it's your responsibility now to show the entire department to Mr. Raizada and introduce him to other members of the faculty and staff. And Mr. Raizada, I'll meet you here at 9:30, along with all the interns. You have nothing to worry since Mr. Stephens is one of the most efficient and diligent members of IBM.” Mr. Guido said.
Arnav shared a handshake with Mr. Guido and the man bid his short goodbye to the gentlemen.
Aman, who till now had been comfortable with the warm presence of his once-upon boss, looked at his new boss with a mild smile, having a feeling that his new boss might not approve of his usual grin. On the other hand, Arnav examined Aman head-to-toe, as if to validate his presence and his position in actuality.
Are you going to gawk at me for the entire day or do you intend to complete the task assigned by Mr. Guido?” said Arnav in a steel tone, which for unknown reasons sent sudden shivers down Aman's spine.
Yessss Sir....I meann....noo Sir.....I...” stammered poor Aman while avoiding any direct eye contact with his stone-voiced boss. Without further delay, he gestured Arnav to follow him. “Thiss way Sirr.”
Arnav looked at his supposedly-efficient-assistant, rolled his eyes, but followed him nonetheless.
Trying to control his sudden racing heart, Aman counted down from ten, to calm himself while holding the door open for his Sir. Aman, pleased to be able to control himself, got into his professional mode and showed Arnav all of the sub-departments of the Business Department. Since most of the faculty members got to work usually at 9:00, there were very few introductions to be conducted. While heading to the Finance sub-department, Aman recognized the file in his hand.
Sir, this file contains your copy of the contract agreement. I forgot to give it back there” said Aman, looking away hurriedly as he saw a glare coming his way.
Arnav took the file from Aman's hands, but more like snatched the file. “Where am I supposed to keep it till the end of the day?”
Ermm....your Cabin is directly to the right, but you can also keep it your car.”
Arnav cursed under his breath, and without sparing a glance at his ever-so-efficient-yet-forgetful assistant, he made his way to the elevator to go down five floors, to his car, then come back from the car, up five floors, and finally to his cabin which he hasn't even seen yet! Arnav surely hadn't imagined his assistant to be so whatever-ish! A person whose strides are full of perfection is stuck with an assistant who can't even confidently speak in his presence! 
How am I to tolerate him each workday? Unbelievable!
Busy with his monologues, while cursing a specific someone, Arnav opened the front door of the building without noticing someone rushing towards the same front door. Thumpp!!! A soft, slender form clashed into his chest. His reflexive instincts came in control instantly as his right hand went around her waist to balance himself. A sweet scent filled Arnav's senses, but before it could do any “harm,” ASR resurfaced once again. “What the!!!” He was about to give her a piece of his mind, but in a flash, the form went around him and inside the building. He heard a faint, but a sweet voice coming from her direction. "Sorrryyyy." Not being able to see the face of the soft, slender form, Arnav looked after her, shrugged and again made his way to his car.
After finally finishing up the “important” task, Arnav came back to find Aman standing at the same spot he had left him.
As soon as his new boss came into his vision, Aman went towards him and finally led him to his cabin. (Arnav's cabin)
Sir, at 9:30, everyone is to gather in the Conference hall where all the interns will be introduced, along with your formal introduction.” 
Placing few files on the table, Aman continued, “These are the profiles of all the interns, along with their transcripts.”
Having enough of Aman adventure, Arnav motioned Aman to leave, without giving any response to his first actual speech without stammering. However, secretly, ASR was impressed due to the courage Aman had decided to show suddenly. Arnav picked first of the files and began studying it.
Aman, on the other hand, made his way out as quickly as possible, and finally let his breath out which he had been holding since Arnav came back. While Arnav was gone, Aman had called his mother to hear her reassuring voice, and then he had muttered few prayers to all the heavenly Gods to help him. Having enough confidence to last him through at least an hour, Aman had stood waiting for Arnav. Unfortunately for him, Aman shortly realized that his confidence would only last ten minutes in the cold presence of his boss. As a last minute precaution, Aman had held in his breath to help him, and miraculously, it had worked! Mentally patting himself, Aman made his way toward the main hall where all the interns were to be gathered after the formalities.
IBM few minutes ago:
Once the elevator doors closed, Khushi held her hand to her chest, waited for her breathing to get even. As she closed her eyes, the “clash” came back in her mind: the strong cologne, the husky voice, the strong body, the rough hand on her waist. 
Who did I clash into? I hope the poor man didn't get hurt anywhere. Well, I don't know if he got hurt or not, but my head surely did. She thought while opening her eyes and rubbing her forehead where it hurt a bit still.
Before Khushi could further ponder on her recent experience, the elevator opened and Khushi quickly went out. She looked around for any sign of Lavanya, but no luck. 
Of course, what can I expect from her? She would be more concerned about making herself look presentable and being on time than her own friend. Devi Mayyia, who would even need enemies with such a friend? No no Khushi, that's wrong to say. She's still your childhood friend. Maybe no one is allowed to wait. Or maybe she needed to do a touch-up of her makeup. Or maybe.....
The receptionist was looking at Khushi awkwardly, while Khushi was busy in her monologue. Khushi looked up to see a girl in her early-twenties with an annoyed look on her face. 
 “Oh, I am Khushi Kumari Gupta. I am one of the interns. This is my ID.”
Not wanting to bear another second with the strange girl who enjoyed jumping from one expression to another without any reason, the receptionist helped her with all the formalities and gave her the directions to the main hall where all the interns were to gather presently.
As Khushi entered the hall, she spotted her friend. She went to stand next to Lavanya, only to find her looking in some other direction. Khushi followed her gaze and saw the reason of her friend's distraction. Khushi looked at her friend and pinched her on her arm.
Ouchhh!”
Lavanya looked at Khushi with a scowl on her face. “Khushiii. What the hell was that for?”
Well, if you had noticed me standing here, I wouldn't need to do that.”
I was just looking at one of the directors of the Internship program. See, that's Shyam Manohar Jha!”
Without paying attention to where Lavanya was pointing, Khushi said “Directors? Wasn't this program being headed by one person only?”
Yeah, it is. He gets the final say in everything. But all the directors work to provide for all the funds and permissions he would need. So, isn't Shyam cute?”
Khushi looked at Shyam, observing him for a moment and then back at Lavanya.
I don't know about cute, but he sure gives me negative vibes.”
Oh shut up. You say that about every single boy!”
Before their argument could be continued, a voice was heard on the PA for all the interns and faculty to head to the Conference hall.
Khushi and Lavanya made their way to the Conference hall. All the interns were provided with their IBM identification cards, which they would need to have on them at all times. All four interns were pointed towards their seats, while the faculty was already seated.
Hello everyone. I am Mark Guido, the manager of IBM. I welcome all the interns to our Extreme Internship Program. This program will continue for the next six months, and then, one of you will be given the opportunity to work at IBM. I now introduce you to Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada, who will be heading this program.”
Khushi's eyes followed Mr. Guido's hand pointing to a man, who was sitting on the left side of the conference table, safely away from the view of the interns until he finally stood up. A tall, young, and handsome man walked to the podium and adjusted the mike to his preference.
Good Morning everyone. I, Arnav Singh Raizada, will be heading the Extreme Internship Program. This internship is only for the top-notch students pursuing high career goals. As a team, your challenge is to develop the best strategies for business and plan.....”
While Arnav continued his speech, Khushi had lost herself at the mention of his name. The way he said his name with such a great pride stopped the time there itself for Khushi. She was in awe. But no, it was not because of his looks, but it was because of the respect the man held with his own voice. For some unknown reasons, his voice seemed familiar to Khushi. Khushi examined him, moving her gaze carefully on his face. While he looked like a perfect gentleman from every angle, there was something about his eyes that struck Khushi. 
An enigma....yes, his eyes looked like an enigma.....a perfect riddle.....a determination, yet something more.....a focus, yet a far-away look.....a satisfaction, yet an emptiness....
Lavanya nudged Khushi when she saw her dreamy look. Khushi straightened right away and paid attention to the speech by the perfect “enigma.”
....therefore, I would like the interns to just get familiar with the atmosphere. The interns may leave once they have introduced themselves to the faculty. However, I would meet all tomorrow only. At 9:00 sharp, all interns would report to my office. You will be given your first assignments tomorrow.”
Arnav gave a nod to Aman and made his way out of the conference hall, thus dismissing the conference. Aman took the mike and formally introduced each of the interns.
Khushi looked at Lavanya confused. “What happened? Why did he leave so abruptly?”
Lavanya shook her head and said, “No wonder there since you were day-dreaming during his speech.”
I was NOT day-dreaming!” Khushi said defending herself.
Oh, forget it! He just said that it's his first day and he wants to have all the papers ready for us and begin the program with proper assignments, rather than little stuff. So he just gave us a day off. Now shall we finish the intros and move out of here?”
Hey Devi Mayyia, I completely got lost back there. Well okay then, let's get it done with. There is no point in staying here without any work.”
Khushi and Lavanya went around to each of the faculty members and introduced themselves. The last introduction ended up being with none other than Mr. Jha. While everyone else seemed friendly or simply professional, Khushi still wasn't comfortable around Shyam. His sickly sweet smile surely wasn't helping. There was something unsettling about him, something that made Khushi feel wrong. Khushi quickly finished the introduction and held Lavanya's hand, literally pulling her out of the Conference hall. Before Lavanya could protest or show any tantrums, Khushi made a lame excuse of not being well due to a lack of sleep. Both made their way out of the hall, while a pair of black eyes followed their movements.

So, how was it? 
Let me know, and leave your lovely comments with IF name below. 
:)

18 comments:

  1. Balle balle balle balle balle balle balle balle!!! LOL I'm full on hyper today since it's Barun's b-day :)

    LOLs but anyways!
    Awesome update and YAY!
    Me first...
    everyone in India are sleeping...
    but not me
    I'm wide awake!!!
    LOL :p and I'm writing... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing update..
    Well written..
    Loved it..
    Thanks for the PM..

    ReplyDelete
  3. awesome update
    loved it
    very well written
    thanks for the pm
    drunkiiebabe

    ReplyDelete
  4. nice update! i liked dat u included an Aman-Arnav bit....

    damonzlady

    ReplyDelete
  5. loved it...
    awesome...
    i liked the way you used the same character in this story and also the way they speak in the serial like what the... hello hi bye bye...etc..
    well written...'waiting for the next update...

    ReplyDelete
  6. love d way u present their characters...
    kushi s alredy day dreamin abt arnav...
    amazin update...
    tanx 4 d pm..
    pdate soon
    kamalapushpa-if

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow! awesome update.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. superb update. loved it. totally loving this story

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice chapter.. Khushi is daydreaming abt Arnav and loathes Shyam.. lol.. great..
    mishti_17

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow!!...nice chapter!! Finally they met but whats with the shyam...who was watchin khushi n la?? Ws it arnav or the snake shyam?? Awesome update...especially arnav n khushi's feelings of their first meet...thanks for the pm...
    - smdosi from IF

    ReplyDelete
  11. nice chapter

    luv it

    thanks for pm


    summaiyasayed

    ReplyDelete
  12. hello mannat

    sorry i cudnt comment before bt let me tell u i love it itz wonderful interesting plz do continue

    well is shyam a bad guy in it ???? luks like la is interested in him but he is luking at ku i hope that doesnt create a prob

    thanks dear

    mwaah
    gem

    if: cheval

    ReplyDelete
  13. thanks.....well done.........
    ~udaymanyata07

    ReplyDelete
  14. wooww..
    loved it..
    simply amazing n awsum one..
    thnx for the pm..


    anumeha_rajat - IF

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow awesome update loved it cant wait to read more thanks for the pm.

    Shyperson from IF

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome update...loved it

    -Chandana.s(IF)

    ReplyDelete