Manvi'S pov
As soon as I reached college, I spotted Anisha waiting for me outside, leaning casually against the railing. Her face lit up the moment she saw me.
"There you are! Took your sweet time, didn't you?" she teased.
"Blame the bus, not me," I replied, rolling my eyes as we hugged briefly. We strolled toward our classroom, even though there wasn't much to do. Final year had its perks-less work, more freedom-but it also came with an invisible clock ticking louder every day.
Just as we reached the corridor, we ran into the one person we always dreaded seeing-Riya. She stood there, perfectly poised, her designer handbag slung over her shoulder, and that ever-present smirk on her face.
"Just ignore her," Anisha muttered under her breath, quickening her pace.
I nodded, but it wasn't easy. Riya had a way of making her presence impossible to ignore. Her eyes followed us, and I could practically feel her disdain. The reason for her hostility was standing a few steps away-our close friend, Anush.
"Hey, dude! What's up?" Anisha and I greeted him in unison, grinning as we approached.
Riya's reaction was instant. Her jaw tightened, and her eyes burned with jealousy. It was almost funny-if looks could kill, Anisha and I would have dropped dead on the spot.
Now, here's the thing about Anush. He's one of the most popular guys in our college, the kind of guy girls line up to impress. And Riya? She's at the front of that line. With her wealth, charm, and influential family, she's used to getting what she wants. Except for one thing-Anush's attention.
Riya has had a massive crush on him for years, but he's never reciprocated. In her mind, I'm the villain who "stole" him away. The truth, however, is far from her dramatic assumptions.
Anush isn't interested in girls who idolize him. When he first met me and Anisha, we treated him like an ordinary guy, not some celebrity. At first, we didn't even like him. He was arrogant and seemed too full of himself, so we kept our distance. But that only intrigued him more. Eventually, he wore us down with his persistence and turned out to be surprisingly cool.
"Hello, ladies," Anush greeted us with his signature wide grin.
We all sat down together, discussing the day's plans. Anisha and I wanted to make the most of our final year, and that meant preparing for the real world. After much debate, we decided to start searching for jobs and applying to companies.
For all the drama and nonsense we dealt with in college, when it came to academics, Anisha and I were serious students. We knew our future depended on the decisions we made now.
As we chatted, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Sure enough, Riya was glaring at us from across the corridor, her expression a mix of rage and frustration. Her fiery eyes lingered on me and Anisha, then shifted to Anush, as if silently cursing us all.
I leaned closer to Anisha and whispered, "I swear, if looks could kill, we'd be done for."
Anisha stifled a laugh and whispered back, "Good thing we're indestructible."
And with that, we turned our attention back to our plans, ignoring Riya's death stares. We had bigger things to focus on-our future was waiting, and we weren't about to let her petty grudges distract us.
We applied to almost every company that was hiring-except for my dad's company. Anisha didn't know about this, so she ended up applying there as well.
Abhinav 's Pov :
I arrived at my office and quickly settled into my daily routine. As usual, I asked my secretary about my schedule for the day. Predictably, it was packed, leaving me little to no time for lunch or anything else. The workload had been increasing steadily, and I desperately needed an assistant to help manage it all. Balancing everything was becoming overwhelming, especially with our competitors constantly trying to one-up us. I wasn't the type to back down from a challenge, but it was starting to take its toll.
Without wasting time, I called the HR department and instructed them to arrange interviews for the assistant position as soon as possible. I knew people would be eager to join my company, so finding candidates wouldn't be an issue. However, I wasn't looking for just anyone-I needed someone who could give 100% and meet my high expectations. I don't tolerate incompetence, which made the search a bit more challenging.
Pushing that matter aside, I turned my focus back to my work, knowing I had plenty to get done. That's when my best friend, Arayan Singh, walked into my office. He's the CEO of the RR Group of Companies, my business partner, and my childhood friend. We've practically spent our entire lives together, and if there's one thing he loves, it's annoying me.
"Hey, idiot! Where are you lost? Thinking about a girl, huh?" he teased, grinning mischievously.
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Arya. You know how busy I am, and yet here you are trying to irritate me. If that's why you're here, just get your ass out of my company."
"Oh, chill, man! I was just kidding-you know that, right? Anyway, I'm here to discuss the project," he said, his expression suddenly turning serious.
No matter how much he jokes around, Arya is all business when it comes to work, and I'm the same way. We quickly got into discussing the project, eventually heading to my cabin for a more detailed conversation.
As we sat there, he suddenly said, "I'm looking for an assistant to help ease my workload. It's getting tough to handle everything on my own."
I stared at him in shock. "What the hell, man? How can we both be doing the same thing? I literally told HR to arrange interviews for an assistant this morning!"
We burst out laughing at the coincidence. "That's exactly why we're best friends," he said, chuckling.
I couldn't help but smile. No matter how stressful life gets, Arya always has a way of making everything seem lighter. He understands me better than anyone and has been there for me through thick and thin. I know I'll never let go of this bond-it's one of the most important parts of my life.
By evening, I remembered the party my mom had mentioned earlier. It was important to her, so I wrapped up my work and left the office, ready to attend.
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What fate has in store for these two? Let's find out in the next chapter.