After his call with Akira was over, Vikram immediately called up his assistant Peter.

"Hello, Peter !!!", said Vikram.

"Hello, Mr. Shah. What can I do for you", Peter asked politely.

"Do you remember, a couple of days back I had asked you about the possibility of a graphic designer position creation in one of our subsidiary companies?", Vikram asked.

"Yes, Mr. Shah !!! I remember that. I had sent you details also as the HR was ok with it", Peter said.

"Ok, great then. Send me an offer letter for that position for Akira. I need it at my place by tomorrow morning", Vikram said.

"Any other addendums do you want in the offer letter?", Peter asked.

"None as of now", Vikram replied.

"Sure then !!! Consider it done", Peter replied.

Vikram disconnected the call. Although he was unhappy about the circumstances under which she was coming to work at his place, he was still happy that she was going to join his company. The possibility of seeing her under the same roof where he worked, made him unusually happy. Everything was falling into place for him. She was parting her ways with Raymond and was going to come to his side. With Raymond out of the picture, he was sure that he would now be able to show her how much he loved her. The only thing that excited him till now was the upcoming Gala Dinner where he was going with Akira, but now he was looking forward to tomorrow. In fact, he was looking forward to every single day with her now.

He picked up his phone and made a couple more calls and then came down to the dining hall, all beaming with happiness.

After so many days he came down in a good mood to have dinner together with his parents. Otherwise, he would always stay back in his room and ask the food to be sent up.

"Did you get a big deal or something son?", asked Mrs. Shah, Vikram's mom curiously. After so many days she was seeing his son in a good mood and good appetite.

"Something like that mom, something like that?", Vikram said and ate in peace after ages.

---

She buried her head in her pillows like she wanted to suffocate herself to death. A few minutes later she got up and opened her laptop and opened her blog page.

She had received a few more comments but the one that caught her attention was from RodeoMaverick.

RodeoMaverick had commented again on her post !!!

"My words can come true only if you let someone come and mend your broken heart !!!

Well, to be honest, I am here scavenging for some good poems so that I can get inspired for my thesis work. So can you please open up more about your heart?" --- RodeoMaverick

She couldn't imagine in her wildest dream that someone could be inspired by her writing. She was a bit shocked at first and then replied,

@RodeoMaverick

"If pain can give you any gain, then I will let the pain grip me and let my sorrows be manifold for my pain will pour like rain".

The state of my heart TODAY

--------------------------------

Burdened is my soul with your unconditional love.

Apart from my soul, I have nothing to offer.

Nothingness is all I can feel beyond and above.

Going back in a shell, I am ready to suffer.

Amassing all the memories, I will depart from your life.

Looking for me everywhere? I am not yours to find.

Opaque and cold heart of mine will surely struggle to survive.

Rummaging within, I will stay back supporting you from behind.

Easy? Not at all but I will mold and straighten my mind.

After she posted her poem, she saw that RodeoMaverick had given another comment immediately.

"You write well. Maybe I can share a bit of your pain, give you a shoulder to cry? Looks like you belong to the city of love Rome." - RodeoMaverick

"More like the city of broken shards, where every step causes you to bleed" - Akira

"Hey, I hope you won't mind if I base my poem on your pain?" - RodeoMaverick

She wanted to reply but then she just shut her laptop down and came out of her room.

Mike was watching something on TV but the moment he saw her face he knew she wasn't ok. She stood there near the door looking at Mike and didn't know what to do. Mike immediately got up and went to her and hugged her tight.

All the tears that she had been holding up, started raining. She sobbed and cried and Mike patiently held her and gently tapped her back. He knew that right now she didn't need any words, she just needed a shoulder to lean on. He knew her sister was very strong and never let out anything that bothered her. So he understood that something big must have had happened, otherwise, she wouldn't have been in this vulnerable state.

After a few minutes when the intensity of her sobs had died down, he asked,

"Want to watch Notebook again?"

She looked at him and then finally smiled,

"Yes"

"You want to talk about it?", Mike asked.

She shook her head looking down.

"Ok, will get you some chips to binge on", Mike said and went to the kitchen.

Akira settled on the sofa and then unlocked her phone.

Raymond had sent her some message on WhatsApp.

She opened the chat and saw that he had sent her a screenshot of his phone main screen but the important thing was, she was in it. A picture of her sleeping happily was his wallpaper.

"When did you take this?" - Akira

"When you were snoring in deep sleep yesterday night" - Raymond

Akira wanted to fight back and tell him that she didn't snore, but she knew that then the conversation would go on and on. So no matter how badly she wanted to say what she wanted to, but she didn't.

"Nice, I am watching TV with my brother. See you tomorrow" - Akira

"What are you watching?" - Raymond

"How can I watch anything if you keep texting me?" - Akira

"Ok, my bad. Enjoy and Good Night !!!" - Raymond

She sighed after seeing his message and kept the phone down. Her heart felt heavy like she was being crushed under the foot of a mammoth.

He kept his phone back on his table and his fingers pinched the space between his brows. He was tensed. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes and then mumbled,

"What all will you do to get away from Akira !!!"