CHAPTER-2

Minakshi stands like a statue at her place and dares not to move at all. She is shocked to see the person in front of her.

"He is a guy from the lift," she thought inwardly still in shock.

"Good morning, sir," Lata greeted the boss. He nodded at her.

"Good morning, Abhimanyu," Akhil greeted, waving his hand.

Abhimanyu greeted him without any expression on his face.

Abhimanyu looked at Minakshi and the people standing with her and turned around to Lata.

He asked with a heavy voice, "Are these people here for the interview?".

"Yes," Lata replied in a low voice.

"Send them one by one" he instructed her as he passed Minakshi without looking at her now.

On his right side, there were cubicles for employees. He stopped for a moment and looked at a particular place. The employees got up from their seats to greet their boss.

Abhimanyu looked seriously at the last cubicle and asked an employee to come to him.

"Why is that cubicle vacant?" he asked gravely of the guy.

"Sir, she is not here yet," the guy replied with a shiver.

A girl came running and stopped when she saw Abhimanyu standing there. She remained there, her head bowed down scared and gasping for air. Abhimanyu walked towards her and stand right in front of her. She dared not to move back and was shivering with fear.

"I am sorry sir, I met with an accident and got late" she almost choked on saying it.

She tried to look up at him, who was glaring at her deadly. She bowed her head once more. Abhimanyu looked at her carefully from head to toe.

"You can go home," he said in a hoarse voice.

The girl was shocked when she heard him.

"Sir, I am not lying, I actually had an accident. Please don't fire me" she pleaded with him almost crying.

He looked at Akhil tilting his head. Akhil looked at him and as if reading him he came forward. He respectfully asked the girl to come with him. Abhimanyu told everyone to take their seats and walked to the cabin.

"I think she is fired," said the person making a sad face.

Minakshi cannot believe he is the boss; she walked to the counter to ask the lady known as Lata.

"Excuse me. Is he the boss?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes mam, he is our boss, Mr. Abhimanyu" Lata replied seriously raising her eyebrows.

"You idiot, stupid," Minakshi said cursing herself.

"Excuse me?" Lata asked her in shock thinking she was telling her all this.

"Huh, nothing. I am sorry. I was talking to myself" Minakshi told her sheepishly and walked back to her seat.

"Oh god, he is the guy in the lift. I talked to him very impolitely. What will I do now?" she thought getting pale.

She cursed herself thinking about the lift incident. She should understand that if he is taking the lift of the boss then he is the boss, why is she so dumb? She said in her head as she tapped her leg worriedly.

The counter's phone suddenly rang. Lata picked it up and answered it.

"Yes Sir" she replied politely to her boss in the cabin.

"Alright, sir," she said, cutting off the phone.

"Excuse me, sir, you can walk inside," Lata said to one of the interviewees.

The person sitting next to Minakshi got up and stepped inside the cabin. In a minute he was out with disappointment on his face. Everyone sitting there thought the interview did not end well. After a while, Minakshi stepped inside for an interview. She was the last candidate for it.

She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Come" came a voice from the cabin.

Minakshi entered looking into the cabin. In the cabin, there is a three-seater sofa set with a glass table along with a table where snacks and a coffee maker are displayed, as well as a coffee mug stand.

There is a table at which some files and a desktop are placed. Three chairs were there. One chair was where Mr. Abhimanyu was sitting and two were opposite him on the other side of the table. There is a plain sky-blue wall behind Abhimanyu's chair in which some photographs of an award ceremony and others of someone receiving awards giving speeches are displayed.

Minakshi moved forward with small steps looking at Abhimanyu. He was devoted to his laptop.

"Sit," Abhimanyu said to Minakshi while typing without looking at her.

As Minakshi sat on the chair, she held the documents tightly in her hands.

"So, Ms. Minakshi you are here for the assistant job," he said looking at Minakshi now.

Minakshi was sitting straight in her chair in an alert position after hearing him.

"Yes, sir," she replied, looking at him.

"Well, you can relax. After you drink this, we'll start the interview". He offered her a glass of water, which she drank half of.

"Nervous?" He was watching her carefully and asked arching his eyebrow upward.

"You should be," he said leaning back on his chair.

Minakshi kept quiet.

"Tell me about yourself" Abhimanyu started the interview with a basic question.

"I am Minakshi Singh, age 26 born and brought up in the city of J. I have a younger sister also who is doing a cooking course. I completed my MBA from College X."

Minakshi started telling him about herself and he was listening very carefully.

"So, you have previously worked in a company ABC, which is an advertising company," Abhimanyu confirmed from her looking at his laptop. He opened her resume on his laptop.

"Yes," she responded back.

"What work did you do there?"

"Sir, I worked as a volunteer there. Occasionally, I take a look at whether the material requested for an advertisement is available, such as the cameras and miscellaneous items. Whether it has been ordered and brought to the studio on time or not." Minakshi said confidently.

She is less nervous and more confident when answering questions.

"So how is a volunteer job similar to an assistant job? Would you be able to take the pressure of this job?" Abhimanyu asked folding his hands.

"Sir I used to take direct orders from and also respond directly to the boss of the advertising company. He always asks me if the things ordered have arrived or not, whether everything is ready or not. I have already faced the pressure sir" Minakshi said looking into Abhimanyu's eyes without blinking.

There is no time limit for work in my company. If necessary, you will have to work overtime as well." Abhimanyu stated.

"Okay sir" Minakshi replied without taking a moment to think.

"All right then," Abhimanyu replied, raising his eyebrows.

"You may leave now Ms. Minakshi. Nice to meet you" Abhimanyu said standing, and bringing his hand forward for a handshake, which Minakshi took by standing and shaking her hand with him.

"Thank you, sir," Minakshi smiled and headed out.