A week later, Aashi entered Swayam's cabin with a paper in her hand. Her bowed head told him she was afraid to speak up. "What is it now?" He enquired in a firm voice.

She kept silent and simply handed him the paper. It was an application form. Of newly recruiting interns. This one in particular had Kriya's name filled out with her passport size photo attached as well. As Aashi had predicted, it shocked him. "I found it this morning. I don't know how I missed it before." She explained her position.

He ignored other things. "Where is she?"

"I believe in canteen."

He took off. Sure enough, she was sitting in one of the chairs as she munched on her sandwich. "What is the meaning of this?" He placed it down on the table in a clean spot.

She smiled. "So you've finally found it." She didn't deem it necessary to answer and continued to eat.

"Yes. Now, answer."

"Want a bite?" She asked. He sat down on the chair opposite her, giving her a glare. She put the sandwich down on the plate and finished chewing. "Before I say anything, promise you won't get mad?"

"I'm already starting to and if you don't explain now..." He left the threat open. It was enough for her to spill the beans.

"See, I will be joining here sooner or later. Before working as a boss, I wanted to get to know everything. You know, start from the base. The internship seems to be the perfect place."

"Come with me." He pulled her up and took her to his cabin. Making her sit down, he disagreed. "Do you see this chair? Kriya, you are the boss here. It is your company. You are its original heir. You don't have to do the other work. That's why we have employees. I am here to help you understand everything. You don't need the title of an intern."

"I know that. It's a fact that this company was started by my father and genetically, I am its heir. I can't deny that, but I also want to be the boss by working for it. I'd feel better if I learnt everything as a normal person first before taking my rightful place. What's wrong in wanting to earn the position rather than just take it because it was passed down to me?"

He sighed, understanding her side very well but he wondered if she truly knew what she was getting herself into. "It will be a lot difficult."

"Come on, Swayam. You know me. When have I ever backed out from a challenge and hard-work? That's what makes life interesting."

"Alright, fine. Have it your way. But I will have my own terms and conditions. You will have to agree to them."

She gulped, scared for a second what they could be. Nevertheless, she agreed at the end for she really wanted to start as an intern.

××××××××××××

"Who is she?" Rinni asked when Kriya entered the office next day for orientation for the new interns. Kriya was dressed in a sand colored dress that fit her curves but hidden with an overcoat and a pair of black heals. She sat down in the seat, well aware of the eyes her way.

"I feel as if I've seen her here before." Simmi whispered back. Rinni nodded.

Kriya checked her phone when it beeped for a message.

All the best love.

Swayam. That morning, he had left early for a meeting and hadn't gotten a chance to meet her. Kriya smiled and looked at the ring on her left hand finger - their engagement ring. They didn't have a proper engagement but he did put it on her the day of their wedding. This was the first time she was wearing it after she had taken it off the day after their marriage.

Thank you. She texted back.

Rinni nudged Simmi noticing her ring. Simmi's eyes went huge seeing the diamond. "Smoking rich or what?"

Kriya turned to them at the sudden exclamation. Both of them quickly looked away. Aashi entered the room. "Hello, interns." They all stood up. "Kr-" She was about to say her name - surprised that Swayam had allowed her to.

Kriya assumed he must have not told her and so took charge. "Good morning ma'am." She interrupted her. Aashi quickly caught on to the plan and smiled back.

"Follow me, please" She said. The group followed her into a conference room where a projector was connected to a laptop already. "Have a seat."

"Welcome everyone to Rai Enterprise. You lot are the thirty selected from the thousands who apply here. For that, congratulations. I'll take you through the basic rules we follow here at RE before Mr. Shekhawat joins us." She then got on to explaining the different departments, each floor and its purposes and the explanation of rules and discipline that must be followed at all times.

"We have the best equipment needed here at RE and we also expect everyone to use it properly and when needed. There should be no abuses. At the end of the day, the work asked for should be achieved. No questions/excuses given. All personal electronics are to be kept on silent. We do understand everyone has a family and hence we won't ask of you to turn them off. But this privilege is not to be abused either. Use it only when needed. We build a work environment here. Work will be awarded and breeches will be punished. Is that understood?" Aashi concluded an hour later.

There were no questions asked and Swayam entered just few seconds after. He walked in, scanned the crowd quickly and then approached Aashi. He whispered something to her - at which she nodded and left the room. As soon as Swayam's eyes fell on Kriya she questioned with her eyes if everything was alright. The seriousness on his face had been scaring her since he entered but one calm blink from him at her assured her.

"Are there any questions on what Aashi just went over with everyone?" He asked. There were none. "Alright then, we shall begin with introductions then. I am Swayam Shekhawat, as you all have met me during interviews. You will not necessarily be reporting to me, depending on where you are placed. Not all will be working with each other as well. Nevertheless, let us introduce. Starting with you." He pointed at the person in the first row sitting to the very right. "Just names for now."

"Jack English."

"Shane Donovan."

"Jessica Sam."

"Rinni Paes."

"Simran Kaur."

"Mason Bo"

"Vihaan D'Mello."

And it went on. When Kriya's turn came, she announced, "Kriya Rai," making everyone's head turn towards her. Her last name caught their attention. Rai - same as Rai Enterprise. She looked at the person besides her. The girl continued after finding her voice back.

Aashi came back in the middle of it with two other employee and once done, they split the group into two, each with the two employees that had just entered. "Alright guys, Jennifer and Ashley will now give you a tour of RE. We will see you after lunch." Saying so, Aashi and Swayam left, followed by both the groups. One started from the ground floor while the other from top.

Kriya had seen it all of course. Still, she went on for she had to. She was in the group with Jennifer and they were going to start from bottom. The girl who had been sitting beside her, Nicole as she had introduced herself as, struck a conversation. "It's a huge place."

Kriya nodded being polite. "I'd be surprised if it wasn't."

"Right. So you're Indian?"

"Yes."

"My mom was born there too, though a Christian."

"That's great! I am from UK though, not India."

"Oh! I've always wanted to go there. No wonder you still have a bit of British accent."

Kriya chuckled. "Hard to let go off."

"Isn't it a funny coincidence? Your last name is Rai too."

"Yes. It's a common last name."

Nicole nodded. "Of course."

The conversation was off for the time as Jennifer began talking. In between, Kriya's phone vibrated. She opened the cover to read the message.

Panera?

It was Swayam asking if she'd meet there for lunch.

Sure, but idk when the tour will be finished.

J isn't the one to explain things in detail. You'll be free soon ;)

It made her chuckle. Nicole looked her way. Kriya straightened her face and shook her head.

Fifteen minutes later, they were done. Rather fast - as Swayam had told her. Nicole asked her, "Do you have plans for lunch? We can eat together."

"I'm really sorry Nicole, but I'm actually meeting my husband for lunch."

"Oh. Not a problem then. We'll have some other time. Hope to see you around." With a final smile, Kriya exited the building. Getting into her car, she drove the mile away to Panera where Swayam was waiting at one of the booths.

"See, I told you." He said when she neared him.

"Fast indeed. Ordered?" He nodded.

"Already done." Then he noticed she was wearing the ring. What he felt was unexplainable.

He touched her hand which laid in the middle of the table. "You're wearing it." She smiled, looking down at her hand. Her silence, speaking for her shyness. "It looks beautiful on you."

"Hmm." Thankfully for her, the food arrived then and they went on to eat. Kriya told him about the whispers she had heard from Rinni and Simran aka Simmi. "I think I already have enemies."

Swayam laughed. "I'm sure they don't stand a chance against you."

Kriya read the look on his face. "What is it?" She questioned, understanding there seemed to be something he wanted to share.

"I don't want you to worry..."

She sighed, "Come on, Swayam. I'm not a kid anymore. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

He nodded, "I know. I guess I'm just not ready to accept that yet. Well, remember Vihaan from today?"

"The new intern? Yeah. What about him?"

"He's actually FBI. Undercover."

She had to do a double take. "Okay, cool. Wait, what? FBI? Why? What's going on? Is it because of Sharon?"

"Maybe. I know she's locked away, but I have a feeling this isn't over. It was a bit too easy; and knowing her, it felt like she let herself get caught. I'm probably just being skeptic. But it's Sharon we're talking about. She's always cautious. I don't believe she would have walked in the office like that without having an ulterior motive. I had Aashi check over things in last few months and there seems to be some ups and downs in figures. She might have manipulated someone to work for her. So..."

She caught on, "You had a little chat with your friends."

He bobbed his head to the right, "Yeah, if you weren't working as in intern, I wouldn't worry so much. But since you are, I can't be around you at all times. He can be and I trust him. He's one of the best agents."

"Does he know who I am?"

He shook his head in response, "Not yet. I wanted to tell you first."

She nodded, "Okay... Can I have some fun while we're at this?" She earned a look from him. "Oh, come on. I know it's serious, but we can't stop living. It'll be fun. Imagine the look on his face when..."

He gave in, "Alright, you've convinced me. Nothing I say will make you agree otherwise, anyways."

She grinned, "You know me well, Boss."

He laughed, "You like this, don't you?"

"Oh yeah. I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

He shook his head while covering her hand with his, "Just be careful, okay? As of now, we don't know who is working for her."

She put her other hand on top of his. "And you should work on worrying less. Whoever it is can't harm me or us, as long as I have you." She quickly added, "And your 'suit' friends."

He nodded, though not making any promises. He would never stop worrying about her. He had since they met and even when he didn't know her then, he wanted to protect her... look out for her. Now that he did know her, and that too to this extent, he couldn't stop himself from worrying or caring for her.

××××××××××××

Kriya received a text from Rey telling her he had news for her and they needed to meet. At the end of the day, she decided to meet him in the café across from work.

"I think someone's been following me the last few days." Rey informed right away, not bothering with pleasantries and small talk.

"What?" Kriya questioned, stunned at the piece of news.

"I could be overreacting, but with what we'd done to Sharon... I guess I'm being paranoid."

Kriya shook her head, "No, uh, no. Maybe you aren't. In Maldives, I felt as if someone was watching me too. But since we've been back, I didn't get the feeling."

Rey questioned, "Are you sure we shouldn't tell Swayam? I mean, what we did was..."

Kriya stuck to her previous decision, "No. He can't know. He'll flip out."

"Really Kriya? That's what you're worried about? That he'll flip out? If someone is following us, both our lives are in danger! It's not a little thing. I pretended to be on Sharon's side, for God's sake, and betrayed her! She's smart. She knows how to put two and two together."

"Rey, seriously. Nothing is going to happen!" She tried to convince him to calm him down. "Sharon is locked up in prison. No jury is going to let her walk. Nothing is going to happen to you, whether or not she figured out her plan. It's in the past now. Let it go."

Rey stayed silent for a few seconds, as if deciding whether or not to believe her. It was hard for him to do.

Kriya asked to change the topic, "Anyway, how was your internship? It was your first day too, right?"

His shoulders dropped, relaxing. "It was, and it's not as fun working for your father as one would think. Especially a hard ass like him."

"I don't understand what you've got against your father."

He answered, being secretive, "You're not the only one with a messed up family, Kriya."

"Right." She spoke, respecting his privacy and not asking further questions, though that is all she wanted to do. "Hey, what's Taani been up to these days? I haven't heard from her in past two weeks. We should all hang out. Do something."

Rey raised his brow at her.

"What?" She questioned.

"Since when do you care about spending time with us?"

"Hey!" She exclaimed, taking offense. "I'm not how I was a year ago, okay? And the past few months... I've learned a thing or two about you and Taani. And Taani especially, its nice being friends with her."

He chuckled at her slight anger, "Chill, girl. I was only joking. Ofcourse we can all do something. I just didn't think you'd want to be a third wheel."

She felt her insides tighten for a second as she let the word seep in. "Oh. I didn't know you two were back together."

His brows knitted, confused why she'd say that, and then realizing the word he'd used, he clarified, "Oh no, we're not. It's just that since we've been friends pretty much our whole lives, other people feel like third wheelers whenever we're hanging out."

Kriya nodded, understanding that it was their comfort level with each other, whether or not they were still a couple.

Since Kriya had got out of office before Swayam, she'd let him know where she was going. Swayam didn't know Rey would be there as well. He thought to surprise Kriya, and so decided to go the café. He saw the two of them at a booth eating dinner, laughing and having a conversation.

Swayam decided to join them, until a thought nagged him. If they were just randomly meeting up, she would have told me she was having dinner with him... right?

Changing his mind, he left the café. Suddenly, he had no idea what to think.

Since before the trip to Maldives, since karwa chauth actually, he had been getting the feeling that she was returning his feelings towards her. With Sharon in prison and her trial date coming up in few weeks, he thought they could finally move past everything and give their marriage a real shot.

After years, for the first time, this morning, she had worn their engagement ring. Was it for nothing? He wasn't sure about her, but it had meant something to him. Then, by the time it is evening, she was having dinner with Rey, and that left him in all sorts of circles of confusion.

author's note:

I was sick all last week. Flu ): I just felt horrible... To make up for it, I will be posting another chapter today (in about 2-3 hours... in the process of writing it right now). 

And all future updates are now being changed to Tuesdays, instead of Mondays. Since I have no classes on Mondays, it always feels like Sunday to me, and I forget to update xP