Chapter 3 — First Day at the Office
1766 Words
Chapter 3 — First Day at the Office
After her brief conversation with Aryavansh, Vanya stood beside Zyan, and Zyan waited until Aryavansh disappeared down the corridor before turning back towards Vanya.
“Come on,” he said, motioning towards the hallway. “Let’s meet our team.”
Vanya blinked.
For a moment, her eyes remained fixed on the corridor where Aryavansh had disappeared, as though some part of her was still trying to process the fact that the man she had only ever seen through interviews had just stood in front of her and spoken to her.
Not through a screen.
Not through a magazine.
Not from a stage surrounded by cameras.
He had actually been there.
And she had actually spoken to him.
“Vanya?”
She looked at Zyan.
“Hm?”
“I said let’s meet our team.”
“Oh.”
She straightened immediately.
“Right. Team.”
Zyan gave her an amused look but said nothing.
Vanya adjusted the strap of her laptop bag and followed him.
They continued down the corridor, and within a few minutes, Zyan brought her into the main project area.
The atmosphere was completely different from the quiet professionalism of the reception.
People were moving between desks, discussing work, answering calls, checking documents and working on their screens. Large glass windows allowed the pale London daylight to fall across the office, while the soft hum of conversations and keyboards filled the space.
Zyan stopped near a group of employees.
“Everyone, this is Vanya. She'll be working with us on the project.”
A few people looked up from their screens.
Vanya smiled.
“Hi, everyone. I'm Vanya. I'm originally from India, and I was previously interning with Westmere Technologies in the India branch. I'm really happy to be here.”
Someone immediately smiled back.
“Welcome to London.”
“Thank you.”
Another person nodded at her.
“Welcome to the team.”
“Thank you so much.”
Within a few minutes, the formal introduction was over.
Zyan pointed toward an empty desk.
“That one's yours.”
Vanya followed his gesture.
Her desk was beside another employee who was busy typing something on her laptop.
Vanya placed her bag down and was just about to pull out the chair when the girl beside her looked up.
Their eyes met.
The girl smiled.
“Hi.”
“Hi!”
“I'm Meera.”
“Vanya.”
“I know.”
Vanya laughed. “That was fast.”
“Everyone knows already. Zyan introduced you.”
“Oh.”
Meera closed her laptop halfway and looked at her curiously.
“So… you're from India?”
“Yeah.”
“Which part?”
Vanya told her.
Meera's face immediately brightened.
“No way! I'm Indian too.”
Vanya's eyes widened.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
For the next several minutes, their conversation moved from where they were from to college, food, London weather, work, travelling, and everything in between.
It was almost ridiculous how quickly they clicked.
There was no awkward silence.
No careful introduction.
No hesitation.
It felt as though they had known each other for years instead of minutes.
Meera eventually leaned back in her chair and laughed.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“I think we're going to get along.”
Vanya grinned.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
And just like that, she had her first friend in London.
Or, judging by the way the two of them were already talking, probably her first best friend.
By the time Vanya had finished arranging her desk, she had already spoken to almost everyone sitting around her.
The security guard at the entrance knew her name.
The receptionist knew she was the new girl from India.
Someone from the design team had already recommended a nearby café.
One of the senior employees had told her where to get the best lunch in the building.
And Meera had somehow already heard enough about Vanya to start forming theories about her.
Which became very obvious during their next conversation.
Meera suddenly looked at her.
“So…”
Vanya continued typing.
“So?”
“Do you have a crush on our boss?”
Vanya's fingers immediately stopped moving.
She slowly turned her head.
“What?”
Meera tried not to laugh.
“I'm just asking.”
“No.”
The answer came far too quickly.
Meera's smile widened.
“Oh?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then why were you blushing this morning?”
“I was not blushing.”
“You were.”
“I wasn't.”
“You absolutely were.”
Vanya turned toward her completely.
“I was just surprised to see him.”
“Exactly.”
“He's my role model!”
“Hmm.”
“What does that 'hmm' mean?”
Meera laughed.
“It means I believe you.”
“You don't.”
“I don't.”
Vanya rolled her eyes.
Meera leaned closer.
“Relax. I'm not judging you. If I had spent months watching Aryavansh Suryavanshi's interviews and suddenly saw him walking through reception in real life, I'd probably forget my own name too.”
Vanya covered her face for a second.
“Please don't remind me.”
Meera laughed again.
“And you know what?”
“What?”
“Aryavansh isn't even the only handsome man in this building.”
Vanya looked at her suspiciously.
“What are you talking about?”
“His PA.”
Vanya blinked.
“His PA?”
“Very handsome.”
“How handsome?”
Meera gave her a dramatic look.
“Dangerously.”
Vanya burst out laughing.
“Meera!”
“What? I'm just giving you useful information.”
“I don't need useful information like that.”
“You might.”
“I definitely won't.”
“Okay, okay.”
Meera turned back to her screen, but the mischievous smile remained on her face.
Vanya shook her head, laughing quietly.
She had known Meera for less than an hour.
And somehow, it already felt like she had known her forever.
Vanya's personality made the rest of the day even easier.
She didn't know how to sit quietly in a new place for too long.
Within the first few hours, she had introduced herself to almost everyone she came across.
She talked to the receptionist.
She thanked the security staff.
She joked with the employees from the neighboring team.
She asked questions without hesitation.
She offered help when someone was carrying files.
She even somehow ended up discussing Indian food with one of the senior employees near the coffee machine.
By the time morning break arrived, half the team knew something about her.
By lunchtime, almost everyone knew her name.
And by the afternoon, people had stopped treating her like the new employee.
She was simply Vanya.
The girl who talked too much.
The girl who laughed loudly.
The girl who somehow made every conversation feel easy.
Even Zyan noticed the difference.
He walked past her desk and stopped.
“You've been here for a few hours.”
Vanya looked up.
“Yes?”
“You've already made friends with almost everyone.”
She smiled proudly.
“That's a skill.”
“It's definitely something.”
Meera looked up from her desk.
“She's impossible.”
Vanya gasped.
“Excuse me?”
“But everyone likes her,” Meera added.
Vanya smiled.
“See?”
Zyan shook his head, amused.
“Keep that energy. You're going to need it.”
Vanya didn't think much of the words at the time.
She simply smiled and returned to her work.
She had no idea how important that project would become.
Or how much the next few days would change her life.
The peaceful rhythm of the afternoon continued until a notification appeared on everyone's screens.
New Email — Aryavansh Suryavanshi
Vanya froze.
Her eyes immediately went to the sender's name.
For a second, she simply stared at it.
Meera noticed.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
“You're doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Staring.”
Vanya ignored her and opened the email.
The message was brief and professional.
There would be a meeting regarding their project the following morning.
Everyone involved was expected to attend.
The work assigned to each member had to be completed before the meeting.
Vanya's expression slowly changed.
The fangirl in her disappeared almost instantly.
Now, she was an employee.
A fresher who had been given an opportunity most people would have dreamed of.
She looked at the work in front of her.
Then at the email again.
Tomorrow wasn't just another day.
It was her first official project meeting at Westmere's London headquarters.
And Aryavansh Suryavanshi would be there.
She took a quiet breath and opened her laptop properly.
“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Time to prove why they brought me here.”
Meera glanced at her.
“You're serious now?”
Vanya nodded.
“Very.”
“Good.”
A small smile appeared on Meera's face.
“Because I want to see whether the girl who talks nonstop can actually survive a meeting with Aryavansh Suryavanshi.”
Vanya looked at her.
“Challenge accepted.”
By the time the workday came to an end, Vanya had somehow managed to make an entire unfamiliar office feel a little less unfamiliar.
The security team knew her.
The reception staff greeted her by name.
Her new teammates had already accepted her.
The seniors had noticed her enthusiasm.
And Meera had gone from being a stranger at the next desk to someone Vanya already knew she could call a friend.
For a girl who had arrived in London that morning wondering whether she would fit into this new world, the day had gone better than she could have imagined.
As she packed her things, she looked around the office one last time.
The same place that had felt intimidating that morning now felt strangely comfortable.
Her first day at her dream office had been peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
Because tomorrow, everything would begin to feel a little more real.
There would be a project meeting.
There would be expectations.
There would be challenges.
And, somewhere in that room, would be the man whose interviews had once given her the courage to believe in herself.
Vanya smiled to herself as she walked out.
She had come to London for her career.
At least, that was what she believed.
For now.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD