Manik's POV

 The door opened n she stepped in. The moment she looked up to me... actually us, she was shocked but soon covered it up n walked to the chair n I gestured her to sit which she did.

U must be thinking why am I not shocked, Right?

Well... I was shocked, actually surprised to know that she is coming for the interview here just an hour ago when I looked through the profiles of the interviewees from abroad whom I need for my upcoming project...

"Good afternoon Sir" she said after taking her seat.

"Good afternoon" we replied in professional tone.

"So, Miss Murty, u have a great profile... studied in New York Universities of Designing n Worked there as one of the lead designers of the company... Impressive." I said turning the pages of her profile.

"Thank u Sir." she replied in a complete professional tone, different from today's morning n yesterday too...

After that, we both asked her a few questions which she answered in a new way... This also impressed me a lot.

"Okay!... Can u show me some of ur designs?" I asked as it is important more than this question answers.

"Sure Sir... Here" she said forwarding a thin file which she was holding... I opened n we saw...

We both interviewer looked towards each other n gave an impressive look through the eyes...

"Well... What exactly do u feel while making these designs?" I asked probably the last question as I suddenly wanna know what she thinks while designing...

"I feel every design has its own story... the story that a designer wants to convey... sometimes he gets successful n sometimes not. N I design the thoughts in my mind n the feeling in my heart n aim to successfully convey it to others." she replied n once again she managed to impress me...

It's not so easy to impress The Manik Malhotra... But she did...

"So, Miss Murty, What r ur salary expectations?" the other interviewer sitting beside me asked.

"I'm looking for a starting salary somewhere between $ 25,000 to $ 30,000." she replied...

Hmm... she is expecting a bit more than our other designers... But her designs can bring us great profits in the upcoming projects...

"Okay... that's it. u'll be informed" the interviewer said.

"Thank u" she said getting up from the seat.

"Miss Murty! ..." I said as she was about to open the door.

"As we know each other... let me introduce to him... He is Cabir Dhawan, Son of Mr. R. Dhawan, CEO of Dhawan Enterprises. He is the Co-owner of this company along with me & a very close friend of mine..." I said introducing the other interviewer to her...

"N Cabir... She is Nandini Murty, Alya's sister." i added n cabir made an O face.

"Hello Cabir Sir." she said forwarding her hand... still in her professional tone *sigh*

"Hi, Nandini... u can call me Cabir... n it's nice to meet u again." Cabir said with a playful smile taking her hand in a shake.

"Me too..." she said with a smile... N I swear, she has a beautiful smile...

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Nandini's POV

"Nandu, r u ready? Let's go" Alya shouted from her room when I'm sitting in the hall waiting for her to get dressed n come down from last 30 minutes... Phew...

"Ya... Hurry up" I said as there is no use of shouting again n again the same thing which she is never gonna change...

We drove to the theater to watch a night movie together n spend some time...

I really wanna relax now after the continuous shock I got today... When I saw Manik at the office as CEO... Oh My God! I've never imagined him to be the boss there... I mean, I thought he would be CEO of Malhotra business na, then why this, out of anything?

I still have not told anyone about it. Let's see if I got the job then I'll tell everyone.

We watched a comedy movie which is not my style, it's Alya's choice... if u ask me, then I prefer Romantic Action Movies more n somewhat Tech Movies... Comedy is good but it depends on the mood u know!

After that when we r walking out of the theater suddenly Alya hit someone n tripped & fortunately I caught her.

"Oh My... U fall... Sambhalo khud ko Alu (Take care of urself Alu) " the girl said who hit Alya with a mischievous smirk...

Alu... Did she know her?

"Shut up... Why r u behind me always?" Alya said after straightening herself with an angry n irritated face.

"Oh... u don't know... Well, Let me remind u again... I'm behind My Manik n u r coming between us" the girl said in a serious tone pointing her finger to Alya.

"How many times do I have to tell u that he is not yours? He is my boyfriend n I warn u to stay away from him or else it won't be good for u, mind it." Alya said splitting fire from her eyes n walked away while she stooped her foot in irritation. I too followed Alya after giving a glance to her.

"Who was she?" I asked after a short while when I am driving back home n she is silently sitting in the passenger seat with a grumpy face.

"Irritating Leech on my BF" she answered n I turned to see her expression clearing showing her annoyance.

"Explain please" I said... We always share everything or directly deny sharing if we r not comfortable. Let's see what she says!

She sighed audibly before starting " Soha Khurana, Bade Baap Ki Bigdi Beti( Spoilt Daughter of Rich Father), she works in Manik's company under him n claims that Manik is his even after knowing that he has a girlfriend.

U know, sometimes I think she is Bipolar. She acts like a good, sweet, innocent n responsible girl before Manik n suddenly behaves the opposite in front of me. She leaves no chance to make me fall in Manik's eye... But Manik believes me as we r more of friends before getting into a relationship."

"Manik did not do anything about her? I mean..." I wanna ask about what he feels about her n why is he not throwing him out of his office.

"I know what u mean." she cut me. Maybe she felt bad that I doubted her BF.

"Manik never give hopes to any girls bugging around him... He believes in true love. N about that Soha, Manik said that she is one of the important employees of his company n her works r reliable n punctual. so he can't take any personal decision affecting his professional life." She added n I just hummed while driving. The traffic is too much here, unlike New York.

"Should we hang out in Marine Beach for some time?" she asked in soft tone... She seems disturbed n needs peace.

"Okay" I turned in the traffic n drove to the destination.

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Alya's POV

"Here" I turned to see Nandu standing aside forwarding a Gola to me. I took it n she settled down with me on the stone near the shore of the beach...

The surrounding here is a bit silent n calm as we got to the other side of the beach with less traffic n noise mainly for tourism purposes. The endless sea is visible in moonlight n cool breeze of hot summer days is blowing. Citylights r brightly visible far away hiding the stars in the sky...

"U remember this?" I asked after brief silence when she was sucking her Kala Khata Gola n I Orange flavor.

"Of course. ... When u fight with Mom Dad n even ur friends then u use to come here."

"The last time I ran here when I fought with Mom Dad to pursue Fashion course instead of Dad's business empire."

"Right... Dad wanted one of us to take over his business, especially u. When u denied he was very upset. He took me to his office to teach me the business management n I learned for more than a year under him along with my high school studies."

"But then u suddenly desired for learning designing n got the scholarship in New York universities which u applied for secretly."

"Ya... at that time Dad became very disheartened. He was very sure that I would be a great successor to his empire but I changed my mind. I wanna explore more instead of managing the business I got in the hierarchy."

"Right. Even I never wanted to manage any business. U toh learned something, at least have a lil knowledge... But that was never my cup of tea."

"Now Dad thinks that his Son in-laws would take over his empire. this adds one more reason to his agreement for these marriages."

"True. On top of that, Malhotra family has great name n fame in society, they r well settled, rich, educated, kind n moreover bound to traditions which make Mom attached to them."

"Okay! Now tell me more about ur would be husband... now that I saw him u have to open everything to me from the very beginning." she said excitedly shifting in her position completely turning to face me. Even though I told her some parts of my relationship over the phone but never in sequence properly.

I started after an audible sigh looking at the dark endless sea  "From the college time FAB5 r BBFs. Actually, Manik, Cabir n Mukti r friends since school times n I n Abhi joined them in college n became best friends. Actually Abhi is their senior n I'm their junior but still, situations made us together. After 2 yrs of friendship, Mukti n Abhi got close n I proposed Manik when he said that he didn't feel it more than friendship. I got sad n started to avoid them but they came to me & Manik said that let's give it a chance n take it slow. If we feel that we r meant to be then we'll take steps. I agreed n that is how our relationship started 2yrs back.

After that Mukbhi got married n than Cabir got Navya, Manik's family also wanted him to get married like his friends n mine too of course. As we know each other, understand, trust n love each other so here we r with the marriage proposal."

"Did Manik's parents knew about ur relationship?"

"Ya, they do. Even I met them a few times before. They r quite modern outlooked n when I said that our parents r bit traditional conservative so they agreed to not let them know of this relation."

"Hmm... but I guess Mom Dad somewhat guessed it."

"What?"

"Don't shout Alu... My eardrums will tear. .... What I mean is even though they r of old backward outlooked but they r living with the current generation n Dad is managing this empire alone. Don't u think he would've guessed it by now."

"N don't worry... they might not think about 2 yrs relationship but just knowing each other n since the proposal came from that side, our parents won't react." She added n I nodded in understanding.

"What's ur story?" I asked turning to her n she looked at me before turning back to sea.

"Nothing more... At New York universities for designing... I made many friends n Dhruv is one of them. He used to stay sad n dull n not talk to others much... Also, we r from different departments so we got less time together but still he used to help me & stay by my side whenever needed. Actually out of all my friends, only Dhruv, Aryaman n Naira were Indians so we r more close than anyone. After that he shared about his mother's death n sadness with me, we spend some time together n he too started to join our friends' gatherings... Then he proposed n further u know."

"Hmm... he seems a good guy." I added taking the last sip of my Gola.

"He is indeed very good at heart." she said.

...Tring Tring...

"I'll just come." she said getting up to answer the call.

"Why r u up?" she asked coming back seeing me standing n waiting for her.

"Don't u wanna go home. It's 10. Mom called." I answered walking to the car to drive n she followed.

"How was ur interview this afternoon? I forgot to ask." I asked while driving.

"Good. n... I just got the call saying I'm selected n would join from tomorrow." she answered.

"Congratulations... Even I'm joining Ur BF's company from next Monday." I said braking the car in the traffic.

"I got the job in 'SPARKLING STAR'" she added after a pause.

"Okay... What!!!" I shouted realizing that it's Manik n Cabir's company.

How do u think Alya would react?

How do u want to be Soha's character n level of thinking?

So here is the staring of Manan journey... from the office...

to know more... stay tuned... n yes! don't forget to click on STAR Button n comment ur feelings.