In life, there are moments that change everything.
After certain situations or something that happens, there is just before and after.
It feels as if everything is changed, even tho it's all the same.
The same faces, places, and things don't feel the same anymore.
And right now, that's what Swara was experiencing.
Standing in the office lobby, waiting for the elevator, Swara felt that change in air around her.
After the short leave of hers, she felt entirely different in the office, even tho everything was the same as before.
Except a very important thing has changed.
Her marital status.
And it's not simply her marital status that's making the difference.
No. It's her husband.
Simply put, before she was just an intern, and now, in the after, she is the boss's wife.
Before, she used to look at people, to see how they work, and how everything works around here.
But now, everyone was looking at her.
Scratch that.
Staring at her.
Watching her.
Observing her.
And obviously, murming and whispering among themselves.
Just as she was trying to look around with eyes lowered, her husband came and stood next to her.
Sanskar was on his phone. Feeling the eyes on him, he looked up and around. That made the others lower their eyes.
Ding.
The lift arrived and opened.
Swara rushed into it, and sanskar followed her.
Somehow, taking deep breaths, she calmed herself.
"You ok?" Sanskar asked, looking at her, taking deep breaths and murmuring something.
"Yeah? Yes. Absolutely. I'm fine. I am fine." She said. The last line mostly for herself.
Settling in her desk, she logged into her laptop.
Seeing if any work she left unfinished before leaving.
After a certain period of time, that is a few days, the interns are grouped and assinged a senior, who is their mentor.
Every day, the interns are to report to their assigned seniors to get their work for the day.
The seniors accordingly assigned them tasks, presentations, etc.
Swara was absent when it started. And today's the first day for her, working under her mentor.
Swara, along with 4 other interns of her group, reached their senior,Ms. Riya Roy.
The other four were talking amongst themselves, and Swara wasn't part of their conversation.
Before her small holiday, she had met with them.
They used to talk with her back then,at least the bare minimum you do with new people.
But now, it wasn't the same.
Riya reached near her table, where her interns were waiting.
She put her coffee down and settled down on her chair.
"Good morning, mam." The 4 interns said together. To which they got a nod.
"Good morning, mam," Swara wished her, and Riya looked up at her from her laptop.
"Hmm. Anyways, you guys continue with your ppts, submit to me before the second half. Now leave." She said.
The 4 others left while Swara was still standing.
"Umm.Mam, am Swara. I was assigned to work under you. I was actually absent, so can you please help me out?"
"Well. Swara. This is not your school, and I am not your teacher to give you the pending work when you were absent. Go do whatever you are assigned."
"Mam, I wasn't assigned anything yet."
"Oh, right. Uh. Do one thing. Take these files and make softcopies, along with the corrections. You can do that, right?" She said sharply, showing her 3 files.
"Yes, mam." Nodding her head swara said slowly.
She picked up the files and started going to her table.
She could feel people staring at her, but she decided to avoid that and focus on her work.
May be she was just feeling that, and people were actually not looking, convincing herself this, she moved on.
As she sat down to work, she saw the files had so many pages, and almost all had mistakes.
Bitting her lips, she looked up at her co-interns , who immediately looked away from her, confirming that they were indeed staring at her.
Taking a deep breath, she started to do her work.
It was lunch time, and the other interns started going towards the cafeteria.
Swara was almost halfway done, and she decided to go grab a quick lunch.
Just as she entered the cafeteria, she again felt the stares.
She decided to just grab a coffee or juice and leave from there, as fast as she could.
And in 10 minutes she was back to her desk.
Those 10 minutes were torcher for her.
She was now alone, in the big working hall type area, with a coffee in her hands, and she didn't even like coffee at all.
She sat down on her chair.
"Come on, coffee itna bura bhi nahi ho sakta. Khadoos bhi to pitein hein hamesha. Let's try."
She took a sip, and it burnt her freaking tongue.
It was hot and not even good.
It's just bad and bitter. Amazing day so far.
"Bahut bura hai. Yuck. Sorry kanha ji khana ko aise nahi kehna chahiye, I know, but ye sachme Ganda hai. Ufff. Breakfast bhi nahi kiya thik se mene.." She became a little sad and also a little hungry.
"Koi na swara. Aj teri intermittent fasting hai. Yay." She cheered for herself and went back into typing.
It was almost the end of the day. She was finally done with those files.
She with the files and her laptop in hand and her bag with her went to her senior.
"Mam, I am done. Apko mail kr dun?" She asked.
"Oh yeah! Now you are done? The whole day you spent on this. And now asking Mail Kr dun?! Do it. Right now. You should have been done before hours ago." She said rudely.
Swara lowered her eyes,"Sorry mam. Mujhe nahi pata tha. Kal se I'll work harder, mam."
"Ati to pata hota. Now go. " Riya replied and went back to doing her thing.
Swara walked out of the office towards the parking lot, as Sanskar had told her she would go and come back from the office with him.
Suddenly she heard laughing sound nearby and looking around she saw a group of girls laughing and definitely at her.
They were looking at her and saying something and laughing.
As she looked at them, they turned away as if they were not just talking about her.
Swara stood far away from others now.
Just then, Sanskar's car came near her and honked. She opened the back door and settled in.
Sanskar was laying his head back on the headrest, and eyes were closed.
Swara leaned back on the seat and turned to look out of the window.
She was thinking how her day went today.
The whole day she was being looked at, some gossiped about her, may be mocked her and what not.
Nobody talked to her. They just avoided her, it seemed.
Reaching home both freshened up and sat down to eat.
Swara had not eaten anything the whole day,just drank water to keep her hunger at bay.
Technically, she was hungry, very hungry, but she had lost her appetite.
Sanskar saw her staring at her plate and not even moving to take a bite.
"Kya hua? Khana nahi hai?" He asked her normally.
"Huh.. nahi woh mai.. kha hi rahi thi." She broke out of her thoughts.
She took a bite, and that worked up her appetite cause then she just inhaled in her food in a few minutes.
She reached out for second serving, which she never did, not at least in this house.
And sanskar noticed it.
But he let her be. The first day after a break might have been tiring for her.
After dinner, they silently did the remaining works.
Sanskar cleaned the plates while Swara cleaned the dining table and kept leftovers in the refrigerator.
While keeping the containers in the fridge, she noticed a few fruits. She looked more for milk packets, vegetables, and whatever was in there.
"You want something?" Sanskar asked, wiping his hands after being done with the dishes.
"Oh. No. No. Well, yes. But I will get that in weekend. Few stuff for the fridge. Let's go." She replied.
Sanskar was already asleep, but Swara lay awake.
She was making a to-do list for tomorrow.
She was thinking of things she needed and what she would do in office.
She decided firmly to be professional and focus on work, only on work.
Avoid unnecessary stuff and just work hard and learn.
Do what she is going to the office for.
She didn't need friends. She could do better even without anybody in the office.
She won't back down. She is strong.
Praying to God for the strength and well-being of her family, she dozed off.
The next day, Sanskar saw swara carrying an extra bag with her. But avoided asking about it, and let her be. It could be her work stuff or personal stuff.
Swara had actually prepared herself for office.
She took a biscuit packet, a tiffin box carrying the extra parantha she asked the chef to make, and her own water bottle.
The office water was just not of her taste. She needed her bottle,also to avoid going near the drinking water area.
"I am ready. I am here to work. And I am the best. Come on, Swara , you can do this." Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself and went inside the office building.
To be continued...
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*Hey guys. I know am late, I apologize. I'll try to update regularly, as much as I can. Hope you guys understand.*