"There isn't a whole lot you need to be worried about, working in this company. The salary is satisfactory, rooms airconditioned and work is, by comparison, not very stressful" said the middle-aged, and somewhat stocky man sitting on the table in front of him. "As long as you finish your work before the deadline... or a little in advance, since our boss is an unfortunate combination of forgetful and short-tempered, you should be fine. There are only two rules in this company, once you get hired - One, don't mess with ASR and Two, REALLY don't mess with ASR" the man added, chuckling soundlessly at the feeble joke he had just cracked before continuing - "Anyway, you shouldn't have much trouble anyway, since you're under Akash Raizada for the time-being. He's ASR's younger brother - but they're completely different people. Akash Raizada is rather nice. You'd think that with their varying personalities, the two wouldn't get along. But both of them are rather comfortable with each other. Although, ofcourse, ASR's attitude doesn't spare his brother, either - heh,heh. "What the hell are all of you doing? The Lunch Hour is over! GET BACK TO WORK!" came a voice from above "Send the new employee to my cabin.NOW"
"Mr. Aman?" came a different - feminine, this time - voice from behind. The difference between the two voices was remarkable "ASR is expecting you in his office - but I think you heard that" said a short, petite woman in her late 20's - probably - in a pink shirt, with a small and nervous laugh. "I'm Yvonne by the way... ASR's secretary..."
"YVONNE! Quit chit-chatting and send the new employee here, NOW!"
"We'd better go"
Aman just smiled, and fell into step behind her, as she lead the way. He was quite nervous about his first day at AR - it was a very reputed company, and he had been told on too many occasions that ASR was a very strict man. He watched his step, because there were a large number of little, delicate objects lining the walls, for decoration - it looked perfect -not to cluttered, not too empty. He didn't want to knock anything over and mess things up on his very first day. Yvonne guided him with a practised stride - she had obviously walked down this gallery many times before, never once did she look down. Lost in his own thoughts, Aman didn't realize they had reached their destination (which hadn't been too far off in the first place) until Yvonne said - "Okay. In you go" pointing at a beautiful glass cabin.
"Won't you come along?" Aman asked - he didn't want to go in there with this strange 'strict' man alone!
"Oh, honey, he asked just for you" said Yvonne with a sweet smile "But if you want, we could meet up later"
Oops. Maybe she'd got the wrong idea. He was just about to tell her he wasn't that kinda guy, when the door to the glass cabin opened to reveal the most handsome man Aman had ever seen. Or perhaps that was an understatement. Tongue tied, Aman stared at him dumbly, trying to figure out what to say, before finally squeezing out the lamest introduction in the history of mankind "Aman. You?" and then quickly adding "Uhm, I mean, I'm hear to see ASR...?"
"I AM ASR!"
"Oh.. Sorry, sir... ASR... sir?"
"Sir would do just fine. Now come in, and close the door behind you"
"I am Aman J."
"So I've noticed"
"I mean to say, I'm a new employee"
"I'm aware, Goddamnit! Now cut to the chase. I need to review your resume again - "
"But wh-"
"Don't question me"
Aman handed him the resume with trembling hands. Was he going to fire him? Whilst ASR looked through his documents, Aman couldn't help but stare in admiration. He was perfect. In fact, Aman doubted he had ever seen anyone so perfectly... gorgeous in the 25 odd years of his existance. However rude or strict this man was, he couldn't be all that bad. That's not possible for perfect people, right? He thought, dumbly. Maybe he's just having a bad day. He thought back to a movie he had once watched, and an actor - at this moment he couldn't recall his name - who had been, back then atleast, quite good looking. The actor's character in the movie had also been very business like, and somehow ASR reminded Aman of him.
Suddenly Aman heard a voice, interrupting his train of thought.
One of these mornings
You're gonna rise, rise up singing,
You're gonna spread your wings, child,
And take, take to the sky,
Lord, the sky.
Someone was singing. He'd heard this voice before. ASR snapped up and looked straight at him. He felt himself go red. Who was singing? He shot ASR a look that suggested that he was as lost as he was. But then, he realized that ASR was looking at him. HE was singing. The real world closed in on him, and he covered his mouth with his hand, but somehow, couldn't stop. The sound became muffled, but how much ever he tried he couldn't stop singing.
But until that morning,
Honey nothing's gonna harm you
No no no no no
Don't you cry - cry
Aman stared at Arnav terrified as his impromptu performance came to an end. Arnav was still staring at him wide- eyed.
"S-s-s-s-orry about that. G-got caught up in the moment" he said, internally kicking himself.
At that very moment, Yvonne entered the room. "Mr. ASR, Mr. Ak-"
"Not now!"
"Not now!"
Both Arnav and Aman shouted at the same time. Yvonne exited the room, flushed.
There was an awkward moment as both of them stared at each other, a silence threatening to kill seemed to have entered the room when Yvonne exited.
It was Arnav who broke the silence. "You're hired. You're going to work under me, now. Now go, and get to work"
Aman stared at Arnav in disbelief 'T-thank you! I can't tell you how-"
"I said get to work. Does your salary cover insurance?"
Aman shook his head.
"Well, it does now, so go and get your ears checked, I think they're not functioning properly. Now go"
Aman turned around and made to leave the room.
"And Aman? Don't you ever ever DARE sing that song again"
-----------x
Guys, this was a kind of flash-back segment about Aman, which is quite essential to the storyline, so please bear with me - I know you want more Arnav & Khushi scenes 😳 The next one will be about them, surely.
Please do like and comment if you liked it, the more feedback I get the more inspired I am, and the faster the updates! Thank you so very much.
And yes, Buddy Me for PM's 😊
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