"I am scared, Rohan. There is something about this whole situation which is instilling an impending sense of doom. I hope I am wrong about this," remarked Shikha in a shaky whisper as they walked out of Vikram's cabin after being dismissed by him.

"Hey! We'll be fine. Honestly, this place and our boss' reputation isn't helping me either, but I am sure that we'll make it out just fine!" assured Rohan, wrapping his arm around Shikha's shoulder and pulling her closer to himself.

"Why am I posted alone, Rohan? And why do I have to report directly to the MD?" demanded Shikha, her thoughtful hazel eyes meeting his compassionate brown ones, seeking solace and positivity from his compassionate ones.

"I don't know, Shi! It is better if you do not question him about anything. You do know about his short temper, right? It is best to avoid being on the receiving side of it. Besides, you might be posted alone but he did say that we can meet during the breaks and we will!" consoled Rohan, holding her by both her shoulders, grinning at her affectionately, prompting her to reciprocate his with a weak one of her own before she enveloped him in an embrace, much to his surprise.

"You really know how to calm me down, Mister! You should have taken up counseling!" whispered Shikha, gratitude gleaming in her eyes.

"What to do, Shi? If I don't calm you down, I might end up dying catering to your tantrums so it's really self-preservation," teased Rohan in stentorian tone as she chuckled internally before pushing him away from her in mock annoyance.

"You are impossible!" she exclaimed, unable to fathom that the show she had put up had roused frank fury in someone watching her every move unlike her fake anger towards her friend.

"I want you to indulge him in so much work that he doesn't have time to breathe, let alone speak to her. Send her in! She has had enough of his company for today!" announced Vikram through gritted teeth, his intense and penetrating gaze watching her double over with laughter. His balled up fists were struggling to be set free to wring his neck or tear everything down, and yet, for the first time in his life for someone other than his family, Vikram Singhal had chosen patience.

"As you say, Sir. I will try to change his working times as well," offered Shekhar, hoping that the change would cause the friends less pain. Vikram nodded at his statement but his eyes continued to be glued onto her. In the few meets that they had, he had never seen her careless smile intended for him, and instead was bestowed with a helpless frown marring her features. He wanted to turn the tide, irrespective of what it sought from him, and be at the receiving end of her whimsical and graceful smile which reached her soulful and warm eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by the curt knock at his door. He straightened himself up and allowed himself to lighten up. His usually dark, emotionless and unfathomably green eyes with hints of brown had softened up as he voiced his approval for her entry.

"Sir, Shekhar Sir said that you wanted to meet me," inquired Shikha meekly, her hands fidgeting with one another behind her as she chose to hide the signs of her nervousness from him.

"Yes, Shikha. Please take the seat," said Vikram, pointing towards the seat opposite to him in an uncharacteristically gentle and husky tone.

Shikha shuffled nervously as she took the seat uncomfortably. She barely rested herself onto the seat as if she would have to make the run at any moment.

"So, tell me something about yourself. What do you want from life?" he asked, hoping that she would ease up while answering his questions.

"I want to be financially independent, Sir. Our orphanage has helped us with everything since I was four. I want to be able to make them proud and contribute to the orphanage one day," she answered, weak gratuitous smile playing on her lips as she spoke about the orphanage which helped her in every aspect of her life.

Vikram nodded in understanding, jotting her priorities in his mind. He wondered that if guiding her towards her goal would help her appreciate him, and he knew what to do. He had seen her academic record and he would not have given it a second glance if it was not for his inherent interest in everything related to her. He was keen on changing that aspect to push her closer to her dreams.

"You will, Shikha, I am sure. So, I know that you are in your final year of B.Tech Computer Science but what coding languages are you proficient in?" he questioned, leaning towards her, setting his plan into action.

"Python, JavaScript and to some extent Swift," she answered, although she was not confident about her abilities in the languages.

"Excellent! As you know, my company specializes in DataScience which preferentially uses Python. As a part of your internship, you need to do a few projects with us. Why don't you do the first one in Python? I am sure you would do a wonderful job. You can always reach out to me for any kind of help, never hesitate," said Vikram, relishing the way surprise danced on her features listening to his confidence in her abilities and his praise of them.

"I will surely give my best, Sir. Is there anything specific that you want me to do?" she asked, hints of smile tugging at the edges of her lips after listening to the words of encouragement from him. After years of struggling to ace her academics and putting up with comments of everyone around her, she had almost given up, especially after the continuous rejections during the placement drive but his words acted like a ray of hope through the darkness around her.

In the view of the blinding light that his encouragement brought along, her fears seemed to have lost their footing as she focused on improving her skills and turning his words into reality.

"I am giving you free rein of this project, Shikha. You may do anything that you deem fit. We do cater a large number of clients and I am sure that your project would find a good use," remarked Vikram, victorious glint surfacing in his eyes upon seeing smile on her face, and for being the cause of her sensuous and beautiful pink curve.

She could not believe that he had offered her the chance to market her project. Her smile widened like her eyes which had turned into saucers.

"Thank you so much, Sir! I will not let you down!" she exclaimed gratefully, cursing herself for questioning his intentions in the past, unbeknownst to the fact that she was being manipulated and was getting entangled in his shrewd plan.

"Pleasure is all mine! Oh, the cabin on the right of mine is yours! There is a laptop and an intercom, and if you need anything else, do let me know!" he added, shocking her further that she had been provided with a cabin of her own. She had never heard of such luxuries for the interns but she brushed it away as altruism once again took over the reins of her mind.

"Thank you so much for everything, Sir! I will start working right away!" chirped Shikha, fidgeting with her hands but with excitement.

"I will see you for lunch. All the best!"

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