Neel returned to the office on Monday and immediately began working with Surabhi on her project. He prepared an outline on the weekend and was ready to discuss with her the notes he wanted to discuss. He helped her address issues that may arise in the system if the proposal was to be implemented. He also helped her resolve client queries. She was impressed by his methodical approach and could not stop thanking him for his help. He, in turn, asked her to thank him by giving a treat if her proposal was accepted.

Soon the day of her meeting with the clients arrived. Neel requested Vijay to sit in on the call. Initially, the call went fine. Neel observed as Surabhi went about explaining solutions to all the queries they raised. But then the CFO of the client's company entered the call. He had some very specific questions. Surabhi tried as best as she could, but for the last question, she got nervous. The clients began sounding unconvinced. Until that point, Neel had not interfered. He sat back, relaxed. But then Surbhi could not convince the clients and looked at Neel for help. He offered to step in and explain. He calmly explained until they were convinced. His calm demeanour saved her. She looked at him with admiration as she wondered how he did that. She had never seen him frustrated or irritated all the time that she had known him. At the end of the call, the client promised they would get back soon. Vijay looked impressed as he told Surabhi the prospects looked good. Surabhi was grinning ear to ear. She thanked Neel. But Neel, on his part, stepped back and let her take the full credit.

That day just as she was soaking in the success of her presentation, a mail popped up on her screen. It was an escalation mail marked to some senior managers and Vijay. It stated that the report sent by Surabhi was unintelligible or could be called ramblings at best. Surabhi read it and re read it to make sure she was reading it correctly. She felt her heartbeat get faster every second. How could she have committed such a grave mistake, she wondered. She had the habit of checking her reports once after they were prepared, and then she would sit on it for an hour or two and recheck again before sending it just to be sure she had a fresh view to spot errors when she checked it the second time. She quickly opened the file in question. In a couple of minutes, she was sure that the report was fine. Now a different question bothered her. Why was it called ramblings? She realized that she shared the reports via a shared drive. She quickly opened the file from the shared drive, and the first look shocked her. 'Ramblings' was a dignified word used to describe the report. She stared at it in disbelief. All her work was wiped out from the report, and all it contained was some random lines from some famous writers and some mathematical equations. Just as she was getting out of the shock, Vijay called her to his cabin.

Her legs felt wobbly as she walked over to his office. This was the first mistake of her professional life. "Vijay, I don't understand what has happened," she said as she sat down.

"I just checked the report in question Surabhi, I don't have any words to describe it. Any idea how this may have passed unseen from you?"

"My copy of the file looks fine. And that is the one that I uploaded into the shared drive. I have never seen the one that is there now," she said as she showed Vijay her laptop screen. Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Neel came in.

Neel, too was marked on the mail. Vijay brought him up to speed as to what Surabhi had told him. Neel thoughtfully looked at both the files and said, "I think that there has been a security breach. Although the file in the shared drive shows that the file was uploaded by Surabhi, someone has access and has corrupted the data," he paused and continued, "There was some problem with Megha's reports last week wasn't it? I remember you mentioning that to me, Surabhi. I think these two incidents may be connected. And if that turns out to be true, then something is seriously wrong, and we need to stop it as soon as possible."

Surabhi was relieved that the mistake was not on her part, but a herculean task lay in front of them to retrieve as much data as possible and stop the hacker. Neel quickly set off into action. He called in Raj as he was the tech expert and worked with him to gather all the information needed for the next steps. He then called a meeting with the team and the tech team. Everyone was asked to check their files or reports and any information which may have gone out to the management or the clients which may be corrupted. The tech team soon started working with individual team members, securing the information and finding corrupt data, if any. It was late in the evening by the time the tech team began clearing some of the unaffected team members. By the time they were able to assess the extent of damage, only 6 people from her team were left behind, including Vijay. Surabhi's data was found to be most corrupted. Megha and Sanjeev were the two other members who were affected by this breach. Raj and Neel stayed behind just to help them, although they were in the clear.

Since this was time-critical and valuable confidential information, they had to stay back at the office until they could retrieve it. As Surabhi began checking each and every file, she realized that previous years files too were corrupted. These were the files that Dhruv had worked on, and she did not have a backup to. Just as she was debating whether to inform Dhruv about it or work on her own to avoid troubling Dhruv so late into the night, Neel walked over with his laptop.

'Surabhi, I had a quick call with Dhruv. He has offered to help you with the backup files. You can use my laptop for the time being. I have access to all the data folders from our team. So you can use it.' he said, handing over his laptop to her. She sat down with his laptop and called Dhruv. It was late in the night, but Dhruv sounded like the first drops of rain. They worked together going through each mail, attachments, backup data for missing files for the next 2 hours while Neel helped Megha and Sanjeev. Neel knows the workings in and out like a pro, wondered Surabhi as she saw him in action.

Raj was working with the tech team when Neel suggested that the access to all the 3 shared files were different, but there may be someone who had read and write access to all. May be someone whose access was not revoked.

Surabhi, Megha and Sanjeev began checking for access given to each of their folders. Neel suggested that it would be time-consuming to go through each access, and an easier way would be to shortlist the people who have access to all three and maybe access to only those three since the rest of the team's data seemed to be secure so far.

Surabhi was chatting with Dhruv regarding work on Neel's laptop when Neel suggested this. That's a good idea, exclaimed Surabhi to Dhruv.

Dhruv: It would have been a better idea for me to have flown into Bangalore. I would have met you again and made sure all the problems disappear.

Neel: :-)

Dhruv: It feels so weird that 'Neel' is typing these messages. I don't even like flirting as I see Neel's face while I want to talk to you.

Neel: Good for me.

Dhruv: :-( I wanted to be there with you now! I cannot forget the time we spent together last week.

At that moment, Neel came to Surabhi's desk. He accidentally read Dhruv's message but pretended as if he didn't read it and asked, 'Any luck Surabhi?'

Surabhi had narrowed down the list to 3 people. Neel took the information to the tech team. Surabhi was embarrassed that Neel had read the message. But was glad that it was Neel and not someone else.

Dhruv and Surabhi had completed most of the recovery, but the security was still a worry. Vijay had not left the office and dropped in once again to check on the progress. Since there was nothing left for them to work on, Vijay asked everyone to take a break and let the tech team check their laptops. Leaving the tech team to work, everybody dispersed to take a break. Surabhi walked over to the water cooler. Picking up a glass of water, she sat down, leaning against the wall beside it. A few minutes later, Neel walked to the water cooler and, seeing Surabhi tired and slumped, asked her, 'How are you doing?' as he poured himself a glass of water.

'I am okay I guess. I sure was glad that it was not something that I had done.'

'Yes, that must be a relief. But that was a lot of work, and you and Dhruv pulled it off.' he said without looking at her.

'Speaking of Dhruv, there is something I meant to tell you. I went out with Dhruv when he was visiting.'

'Okay.' he said but did not respond any further.

'I told Megha, and I meant to tell you this.' she paused. 'and it's not because you read his message on your laptop earlier today.' she added.

'Okay' said Neel, nonchalantly hiding the fact that he had hated Dhruv flirting with her.

Surabhi changed the subject and said, 'Thank you for staying back for us. It would have been impossible to do it without your help. How do you manage to keep your cool while dealing with this? When I first read the email, I was literally trembling.'

Neel sat down on the floor beside her as he said, 'Years of mistakes make a man tough' and smiled.

'No, seriously, you were so cool and professional...'

'Well, my first rule is don't panic until you have full information. And almost all the time, it so happens that once you have learned about the error fully, you realize that it is very small and there is nothing to panic about. And in case you have committed any mistake, accept it, correct it and move on.'

'Hmm...I need to learn that philosophy.' she paused and said, 'You have been a great help. I don't know what I would have done without you today.' as Surabhi spoke, Megha and Raj joined them on the floor. All of them sat in a single line leaning against the wall while facing the cubicles.

'Yes, Neel, we don't know how we would have managed without you and Raj.' quipped Megha.

'If we keep thanking each other, it will take up the whole night. I did what any of you would have done for me. And I have a lot to thank you all for.

As Raj was very quiet, all of them turned to their right to check on him, only to find him fast asleep on the floor.

'What a day this has turned out to be.' said Surabhi.

'Yes, truly! I never thought I would see such a day when Neel was sitting on the office floor, and Raj spread out on it!' commented Megha to a burst of loud laughter from Surabhi.

'What do you mean? Am I so....' trying to find a word to define himself. When Megha interrupted, 'Too formal, you mean? I meant it in a good way, don't get me wrong. But I find Surabhi more flexible. You have an office to run, so I guess that behaviour is right. But Surabhi is ...you know more carefree, but in the last few months, we have seen you open up more and enjoy more.'

Neel knew he had changed and changed for good. He had always been a bookworm, geek type of person, but he had to become a responsible adult overnight with his parents passing. This changed his personality into an introvert. As Neel was thinking this over, Megha and Surabhi continued chatting. He joined them in their chatter. They chatted into the night until the IT department gave them a green signal.

'Shall we leave him sleeping here?' Megha said jokingly, looking at Raj.

'No, that's just mean.' said Neel trying to wake up his friend.

Neel managed to wake him up with great difficulty, then he gave his shoulder to lean on as both of them entered back into the office.

This was a very considerate and soft side which Surabhi had seen in Neel today. She was glad she had such friends.

The next day they were informed that one of the disgruntled employees had managed to get approval for all the three shared folders and managed to wipe out his presence pretty clean. However, they had found enough evidence to know he was guilty and to get him fired.

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While dealing with professional problems, Surabhi realized that she had much more strength to face it and come out of it than she gave herself credit. But personal life was a whole different ball game. Although she considered herself strong, she had broken down from the inside while putting up a brave face. But a scare on the professional front gave her hope that she could deal with personal problems with much more ease, but she was wrong. A few days after their night out at the office, Surabhi walked over to Neel's desk. 'Neel, I am going to Pune tomorrow morning. Will be back after 2 -3 days.' she said as she stood leaning against his desk beside his laptop.

'Is everything alright?' he asked as he sensed nervousness in Surabhi's behaviour.

She could not immediately reply and was searching for words while fighting back the tears. He immediately stood up and asked her to take a walk with him. He took her to the cafeteria, and they sat in a corner, making sure no one could see them directly.

As months had passed, Neel had noticed her strained relationship with her parents. She rarely spoke about them and only once mentioned about her older sister married and lived abroad. While he missed his parents terribly and cared for his little sister wholeheartedly, he could not understand Surabhi's cold behaviour towards her parents. She was a very warm and caring person. He had noticed that she would help out anyone in any possible way. Many a time, people would take undue advantage of her generosity. But that would not deter an ever-smiling Surabhi. People were fond of her wherever she went. Neel wondered what might have caused such a sweet person to turn so cold towards her own parents. But now, he sensed something was wrong at her home.

'My dad had a minor heart attack yesterday night. My mom called to inform me. I could not get flight tickets for today, so I am leaving tomorrow morning. My dad will most likely be discharged in 2 days, so I plan to bring them here for rest. I have informed Vijay about my leave.' she said while playing with her finger ring nervously.

'Don't worry, I am sure he will be alright.' Neel said, consoling her.

'My mom had been calling me for a few weeks now, pestering me to visit home. But I ignored her request. I have not visited them since I moved here. And the first thing I said today when she called was not to lecture me again on visiting home, even before she told me what had happened. I am so sorry about my behaviour. I did not mean it.'

Neel held her hand while she looked out the window, trying to fight back the tears.

She continued 'My aunt called me later to tell me that the only stress my dad has is me. He is worried about his unmarried daughter.' She paused and then continued, 'I don't know how she could say that. I was not the one that ran away from the wedding. It was an arranged marriage. It was not as if I chose the wrong person. I am worried that my going there will be very stressful for my dad and me because people don't let go of things that they can turn into a public humiliation.'

'I know it will be tough for you, but you are a very mature person. I am sure you will turn a deaf ear towards everything else. And it is a matter of only 2 days. Let me know if you need any help. I have a lot of friends in Pune. I can ask them to help you.' he said reassuringly.

'Thanks, Neel', she said. She had slowly begun depending on Neel for emotional support. All her life, except a few close friends, she rarely opened up to anyone. Today when she needed a kind ear, she turned to Neel.

The following day Surabhi flew down to Pune. Her father was in a better condition than she anticipated. It was an anxiety attack and not a heart attack. She was glad when the doctor told her that he would be discharged the next day. There was a constant flow of visitors, and she was surprised that most of them, when informed that it was an anxiety attack and not a heart attack, nodded their head and gave her a sympathetic look. Did they not understand that it was a much better prognosis, or was it more important to them that they point out the reason for his anxiety, she wondered. With the constant flow of the visitors, she barely found time to discuss her plans with her father. She had already spoken to Neeta and convinced her to travel to Bangalore with her for a couple of months. When Surabhi's father, Vivek, was discharged, she broke the news to him. He initially opposed but gave in when he found out that Neeta favoured Surabhi's idea. Both the days, Neel called her inquiring about her father's health. Finally, Surabhi returned to Bangalore with her parents.

Vivek Nene was a very industrious man. He came from a humble background and completed his education through scholarships. He worked in a multinational company as an engineer and had achieved enviable success. He had retired a year ago. He was tall and a fair guy with a balding head and black sincere eyes. He had a sharp nose and broad forehead. He was a handsome man. Surabhi bore a striking resemblance to him. Neeta was fair and had had black wavy hair. She was of medium height with a fair, smooth complexion and a broad smile. Neeta worked as a corporate lawyer for 25 years but then decided to quit pursuing personal hobbies and working in a non-profit law firm.

Vivek and Neeta settled down comfortably in Bangalore. They liked being close to their daughter, although she did not spend a lot of time at home. Vivek was happy that there were many parks and quite jogging tracks close by, as Surabhi had promised them while trying to convince them to take a break in Bangalore. The pleasant weather and greenery made their early morning walks better. Surabhi, too, enjoyed mom's cooked meals and an extra hour of sleep that she could get. Neel noticed she was back to a smiley, bubbly self once she was back. Although he knew she was holding something back regarding her relationship with her parents, he could see she was happy.