The trail of questions inside Akira's head was making her restless. She was totally clueless and had no idea why Raymond was acting so cold and distant. She kept pondering for some time and thought that maybe he didn't recognize her so she blurted her heart out -

"We have met before on a flight journey. I was the girl who spilled coffee on you and we sat next to each other in the flight as well, Singapore to New York."

"Do you remember?"

Raymond listen to her ranting about the journey that they had together and got pissed. Right now for him, she was just a gold digger who was climbing up the ladder using the shoulders of others. So he decided to cut into her talk and asked -

"Can we start the interview if your monologue is done?"

Akira was taken aback by his question. She was deeply bruised not because he was hurtful but because he was acting all indifferent. This was not the man that she met on the flight. She tried to maintain her composure and replied,

"Sure sir".

---

Raymond asked her a couple of questions and she answered most of them satisfactorily. Her GPA itself spoke about her ability. Raymond realized that she was indeed a bright student and had a good career ahead. Initially, he was hesitant as for how she will perform in the company but now he was assured that even though he was keeping Vikrams request, it would be productive for his company too.

For the last question, he knowingly asked her,

"Why did you choose to apply in Delphie? Given your credentials, you could have landed an internship at bigger and better companies which would have written fatter cheques for you."

Akira had prepared earlier for this question. She knew this was definitely one of the questions that everyone would ponder about. So she answered the way she had practiced - "I was always more interested in joining a startup because I don't want to feel lost in an MNC. Here I will be getting more learning opportunities as compared to other companies. Given an opportunity, I would be able to learn about end to end development cycle.

Raymond heard her answer and smiled in his head as it was a typical well-rehearsed answer which was probably picked directly from some interview website.

Utter silence prevailed in the room for a couple of minutes. Akira realised that her answer was too dishonest and too cliche. So she cleared her throat and said-

"Actually to a very honest that's not the real reason. I had an internship at a big multinational but due to some personal reasons, I had to let go of it. But right now my monetary needs are quite high. So I am interested in any sort of internship irrespective of the size of the company."

Raymond was really shocked to hear such an honest reply from her. He could sense that she was a bit embarrassed as well. She was tugging the hemline of her skirt and was avoiding any sort of eye contact with him.

The next question that immediately popped inside Raymond's head was how she was able to afford a business class ticket when she was in need of an internship to support her livelihood. "Probably the tickets were provided by Vikram", thought Raymond and started loathing her again.

As the interview had already stretched for forty minutes, Raymond decided to wrap it up and said -

"Well, that would be all Ms.Akira from my side. Do you have any further questions?"

Akira shook her head and said - "No"

"Well, then my HR will get back to you for further details on this. We are done for the day", said Raymond in a very cold and harsh register.

Akira got up from her chair. She thought of exchanging pleasantries with him, but his cold aura stopped her. She just said "Ok" and turned towards the door to leave.

When Raymond Saw her leaving, somehow all the anger which was curdling inside him, came out in a flash. He didn't know what happened to him and he said -

"Well, why do you need to work so hard to earn money? People like you can always live off others. That's what your parents have taught you right?"

Akira could not believe what he just said. She stood there like a pillar whose plinth was running deep inside the ground. Her ears started burning and her eyes started welling up. She decided not to say anything and left the room.

Raymond was mortified with his own behavior. After the words left his mouth he instantly regretted. But before he could feel sorry about it or repair the damage that he had done, she had already left the room.

Akira was feeling utterly low. Raymond's statement was hurtful like a deathly jibe. But right now the pain of missing her parents was becoming even worse than that. She would not have been in this situation had they been alive. She clutched her resume tight and ran as fast as possible. She hailed a taxi and left. Tears were streaming nonstop from her eyes and her whole thinking process was clouded. All she could mumble was -

"Why did you leave me all alone? Why".

She felt like she didn't even have a single straw to cling onto in the ocean of pain. She called up Mike and started crying non-stop.

---

The moment she left the room, Raymond felt a deafening silence gripping him. He had clearly bruised her and if there was any way he could have retracted what he had said, he would have. So in the spur of the moment, he called his driver and ask him to get his car to the front door. He immediately rushed down and saw Akira getting in a taxi. He asked his driver to follow the car.