With you Forever

CHAPTER:- 5

As soon as his name was announced, Aahan stood up like a nursery kid. Everyone were too nervous for their own turn to notice the 26 year old man-kid.

Aahan ran towards the interview room like a monkey, jumping at each fallen things on floor. Anyone would misunderstand him as a hyper-active. But he was just too tensed.

This is the turning point of his career.

He stopped before opening the door. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and then pulled the door handle.

"May I come in?" He politely asked, carrying a small smile on his face.

"Yes." A feminine voice echoed. The voice was familiar. But Aahan was not in a sense to recall the familiarness.

He went inside, carrying the same smile as a constant feature of his face. His mind gave him a quick reminder to adjust his neck tie, cross check all the documents. But it was too late. He was already inside the meeting room.

Now Aahan could listen his heart-beat rising with each steps he was taking.

Who says that heart-beat only rise when you are in love? Damn... Such a terrible moment it was, when you are afraid of your own heartbeat's rate.

"Please, Have your seat." Aahan looked up to find a man in his mid fifties, smiling at him.

He too smiled a little and replied, "Thank you, Sir."

"Good morning, Sir. Good morning, Mam." He greeted everyone.

His nervousness stopped him from taking a clear look of his interviewers. But he got the idea that there were three persons, taking his interview, and among them one was a girl, who gave him permission to come inside. So he added one more greeting with 'Mam' too.

"So, Tell us something about yourself." The same female voice arose again.

And yeah, realisation hit him hard. He understood why the voice seemed familiar earlier.

"No. No. It can't be her. Not in this whole earth, you got me to roast today, dear God!" Aahan almost cried in his mind before looking up.

Unfortunately his brown eyes met with the same hazel one, that he had met a while ago. But this time they held authority. Aahan gulped his saliva.

A few minutes ago, he was insulting the same girl for her looks. And now she will take his interview for his job. Could he be more lucky?

"You will be disqualified before the interview only."

Kamal's voice repeatedly played inside his mind.

"Interviewee?"

"See you soon."

That evil smirk was now making sense to him.

Why me?

"The interview is a gone case." Aahan thought.

For a moment he was lost in his thoughts.

"Mr. Choudhry!" The masculine voice broke his trance.

He forwarded his resume and other documents to them. All the while he was praying God to at least end the interview soon.

He had lost all his confidence after finding Ishita on the interviewer seat. He mentally cursed himself for behaving like a jerk with her back in the lift.

"So, Mr. Choudhury! Will you now tell us something about yourself." One of the interviewers asked sarcastically. Aahan released a breath as it was the very basic question he had always been asked.

"Sir, I am Aahan Choudhry. I have been brought in a orphanage. I have completed my Graduation in CSE from the Rajiv Gandhi institute of Technology, Mumbai. I love my best friends so much, and I love to be kind for the poor as I have seen difficulty in my life. I believe in compassion, and helping others. That's it." Aahan tried to be confident as the interview proceed. The man who had offered him to sit first was an amiable man. He was smiling time to time easing Aahan's nervousness.

Then there was another man in his late twenties. He was constantly staring Aahan as if he was a criminal on run. It might be an instinct, but Aahan could feel that the man had already made an opinion about him, even before he entered. Maybe he didn't like something in his resume. But what could it be? Was it because he had no experience?

Nevertheless the interview went smoothly with that old man. Aahan was praying for a miracle to happen. Either it will change the morning encounter with Ishita or, it would stop the other two interviewers to ask any questions. He was comfortable with the old man asking him questions.

"Alright, Miss Ishita. Now it's your turn." The man smiled at Ishita who in return nodded looking straight at Aahan.

"No, Aahan. Don't run. Don't run. Sit here. Sit calmly. She is just a girl. Yeah, kind of a devil she is, then you are strong Aahan. Be a man." He constantly reminded himself, but was that enough.

He tried hard not to gulp his saliva. Ishita's eyes travelled from his head to toe and stopped there. Aahan immediately stopped tapping his foot.

Damn... This woman! A pure nightmare she is!

"So, Mr. Aahan Choudhry?" Ishita said, while looking keenly at Aahan's resume. Aahan tried hard not to show his nervousness.

"Yes, Mam." Despite of his hard try, nervousness was clearly visible in his voice.

"Now she will take her revenge. That's why she was smirking back in the lift. She would have set her whole plan to insult me in front of the panel. She-devil!" He mentally cursed Ishita. In the middle of his interview room, he had no other option too.

"Your academics are quite good. Well record in athletics. Impressing." Ishita said and looked at Aahan. "Be confident, Mr. Choudhry. We can't trust you, if you won't trust yourself."

Her words surprised Aahan. He felt as if his friends were taking his interview. He was no more nervous. The interview went on for few minutes. Aahan was still surprisingly looking at Ishita, not because she's beautiful, but may be there was something else, which wondered him in his mind.

And to his dismay, Ishita asked questions exactly the way Ritik had asked.

Aahan thought, "Is there something between his friend and this girl, or it was just a coincidence?"

But anyway, it helped Aahan to reduce his nervousness in the interview, and he could impress the interviewers with his confident answers.

"Mr. Basu. Your turn." Ishita said, before looking at some papers on the table.

Aahan couldn't believe that she managed the interview so smoothly, despite of him insulting her.

Was she really not angry on him!

But, not every path is full of roses. And Aahan's nightmare started.

"So, Mr. Choudhry! I would ask only one question to you." The man named 'Mr. Basu' said. Aahan nodded. "You have good academics. Still you couldn't qualify for any job in your college. Then you have no prior experience too. So why should we hire you?" He asked.

Aahan felt nervous. This was the question, he was afraid of. During his college days, he had no idea about interviews and that was the reason he faced a lot of rejection. Over the time, he improved. But this time the reason for his rejection changed to lack of experience, but rejection remained constant.

While his face showed every sign of nervousness, the interviewer's lips twitched to a cunning smile.

"I am willing to do work here, with dedication. Over the time, I have improved myself with each rejection. Now I don't want to justify them, they are a part of me only, which are modified by myself for better. So it's your decision, Sir." Aahan replied.

"Okay, you may go now. We will get back to you soon with the results. Considering my experience, it should be a positive one." The first interviewer said carrying a little smile on his face. Aahan knew he had done better this time.

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Mam." He conveyed his gratitude to everyone and left the cabin.

As he came out, he encountered with a number of worried faces. A few minutes back he was one of them. He smiled foolishly. The reason was unknown to him. Ishita had some magic around her, that had calmed his nervous-self.

"She-devil is not a bad devil. She is an angel behind the mask of the devil." He whispered and joined other interviewees. They had to wait for the results, which was going to be announced after some hour.

On the other side, no body called the next interviewee. There was a heated argument going inside the room.

"Why did you throw his application, Mr. Basu?" Ishita asked.

"Excuse me, I am your senior and probably not answerable to you." Mr. Basu replied in a firm tone.

"You two are in same position. She is also a HR. You are her senior only if we consider age. And if that's considerable, then I am at the highest position. So answer me. I am asking you the same question, Why did you throw his application?" The man, whom Aahan had liked asked.

"Mr. Roy! He was an inexperienced candidate. We are going to have best options here." Mr. Basu nonchalantly replied.

"Excuse me. There is a first time for everything and everyone. You just can't took opportunity of someone so deserving on such a useless basis." Ishita argued.

"Exactly. And that person was hardworking and have a good knowledge over academics. He would be great with proper guidance. And yeah, I am telling our of my experience, he has a bright future." Mr. Roy too supported Ishita.

"That immature boy couldn't answer my question looking at my eyes." Mr. Basu was in no mood to consider Aahan for the job.

"That's because the way you portraited your question. There was no need for such an exaggeration." Ishita muttered, but it was audible enough for the other two to hear.

"Miss, Ishita. You are insulting me." Mr. Basu harshly said.

"You are insulting someone here at the first place. And I believe everyone should get the respect they deserve." Ishita firmly replied.

"Alright. Stop the argument now. Other candidates are waiting. So let's take their interview first. Then we will discuss about this. Mr. Basu, please keep his application here." Mr. Roy said as a peace maker. Mr. Roy gave an ignored look. "Please, I don't want to complain to management." Mr. Roy added.

Mr. Basu clenched his teeth. He knew that he had no win when two of the interviewers were against him. He silently put the application paper of Aahan on the desk and shouted for the next candidate to come.

The next one entered and the procedure continued. They evaluated each one's ability in number. An enraged Mr. Basu made sure to lower his numbers for Aahan. Nevertheless the interview ended on a hectic note.

"God. It was so tiring." Ishita muttered, while arranging the sheets.

"Forward the results to the management, they shall announce the result at least in an hour or two." Mr. Roy said.

Mr. Basu stood up and moved out without saying anything. Ishita looked at him and sighed.

"He has a big fat ego." Mr. Roy said.

"That won't justify his act of destroying someone's career." Ishita replied.

"There are thousands of him. I have saw many in my entire career. They rejected candidate if they don't like them personally. Or should I say they reject them whom they feel as a competition." Mr. Roy said and Ishita nodded. "But, you are unique. For the first time I saw some one who argued for an unknown's right."

"I just opposed the wrong. No matter whoever he is, everyone should get what they deserve." Ishita said.

Mr. Roy smiled at her noble nature. The girl had joined the office two years back. Just after completing her masters, she directly qualified the interview. In fact he was one of her interviewers. He had witnessed her growing. But he never found the change in her attitude.

Yeah, she talked less, but she never disrespected anyone. Such a rare trait to find now a days.

Ishita stood up and said, "I am taking a break, Mr. Roy. I hope you have no problem?"

"No. Everything is done from our side." Mr. Roy replied.

Ishita released a breath and came out of the room.

She needed fresh air. So she went in search of it.

To be continued...