“In done sir.”

“Great! Guys! This is Anshika Arora. She's in her final year of MBA and she'll be an intern here for the next two months. Feel free to approach her for any assistance required.”

Anshika greeted everyone with a smile which most people returned while some were nonchalant.

“And Anshika. Make sure to get whatever work is given to you with utmost dedication. Everyone is equal here. There's no junior or senior. Koi bhi kaam de. You have to complete it.”

“Yes sir.”

“For now, come with me.”

He said and she followed him. He took her to a big room which was full of files.

“This is the file room. If someone asks you to read some file, you can take it from here. Lekin bina permission ke koi bhi file nhi leni. Some files are highly confidential and you're not allowed to access them.”

She nodded in understanding and he picked out a file for her.

“Your first task. Read this file and prepare a summary of the finances involved. List out the problems and suggest the measures to tackle it. Prepare a doc and mail it to me.”

“Yes sir.”

“Pehle kabhi banaya hai aise?”

“Nhi sir. Finance department mai pehli internship hai.”

“Since it's your first time, you have the day to this. Lekin aaj shaam ko ghar jaane se pehle mujhe doc chahiye so that we can discuss and I can tell you what needs to be improved. Clear?”

“Yes sir.”

He gave her the file and Anshika came back to her desk. She opened her laptop and started working.

Aditya was right. It did take her a lot of time. Just reading the complete file took her 3 hours. Then it was lunch time. She went to the cafeteria and had her lunch and returned to resume working on the file.

It was her first day and she didn't want to disappoint anyone. Especially Kanika mam. And that meant not disappointing Aditya.

“Where's your intern at?”

Tanishka asked Aditya over lunch. 

“What intern?”

Kanav asked curiously and Aditya glared at Tanishka who smiled innocently.

“You were late today. We have a new intern. Final year MBA student. Anshika Arora.”

“I didn't see her. How's she?”

Kanav was known as the office casanova. Nothing dangerous. Just a cute flirt.

“She's an intern. And my mom's student. Don't even think about her like that.”

Aditya warned and Kanav raised his hand in mock surrender.

“What's the harm in a little flirting though. Who knows if she gets charmed?”

He teased and Aditya shook his head at his fate of being stuck with this idiot.

“Stay away from her Kanav. And I mean it. No funny business with her.”

“Ohhoooo! Possessive haan!”

Tanishka teased and Aditya sighed giving up. It was no use to talk to these crackheads. They were hell bent on setting him up with anyone and everyone.

“Waise galat baat hai Aditya. She is your intern. You should have asked her to join us for lunch.”

Tanishka said genuinely and Aditya rolled his eyes.

“Don't roll your eyes on me mister. We've all been at her place once. And we all know how it feels to be secluded. And it's just lunch. Call her from tomorrow onwards.”

He scowled but nodded.

Anshika finished her work by 5 pm in the evening. She quickly mailed it to Aditya on his office id and rushed towards him.

“Sorry sir. Thoda late ho gaya. I've mailed the document to you. There are some things jo mujhe samajh nhi aayi sir.”

Aditya nodded and asked her for a minute.

“I'll get back to you. I have to finish this up right now. Baitho thodi der aaram se.”

She smiled and went back to her desk and waited. 10 minutes later, he came to her desk making her senses alert.

She didn't miss how they were alone in the room and were hidden behind her desk. The door to the room was closed and Anshika was hyper aware of him as he settled besides her.

“Doc kholo.”

He instructed and she did. And that's how they spent the next hour with him correcting her mistakes and answering her doubts, to help her perfect her brief.

He also gave her a sample of his own brief that he had originally created for the project. She had readily grasped all the knowledge he passed her way.

Safe to say that Aditya was impressed by her commitment and dedication to work and it was just the first day.

His mother was right. Not all people are the same. And Anshika was the perfect example for that.

From the second day onwards, listening to Tanishka’s advice, Aditya had invited Anshika to join them for lunch. She smiled wide and readily accepted.

She had Tanishka had become friends real quick. They didn't have much age difference as it is plus Tanishka was super easy to talk to. And the way she and Kanav teased Aditya made Anshika all the more entertained.

It was one such day and all four of them were in the cafeteria having their lunch. Anshika was having a sip of her drink when Tanishka asked.

“Hey Anshika! Do you have a boyfriend?”

Aditya had no clue why he looked at her for an answer. He went back to eating when Anshika shook her head while gulping down her drink.

“Pehle toh raha hoga?”

Anshika shook her head again and Tanishka frowned.

“How's that possible? I mean no offence but you're beautiful, hot and rich. How did you never have a boyfriend?”

Anshika chuckled and said.

“For this very reason mam. Because like you said, people see me as beautiful, hot and rich and want to be my boyfriend. Not because I'm me. Not because of what I've achieved or what I am. But because of how beautiful I am externally and how much money my father has.”

She said and Tanishka nodded. 

“I get you girl.”

Aditya kept looking at her as he processed her words. How can people not look beyond her external beauty? She was an internal beauty too. And it was very clear by the way she had everyone in the office smitten by her dedication and commitment to work hard.