I called Karthik to let him know that I had impressed Rahul Khanna in the interview and I had the job. Well, I was a little late in doing that, Mr. Khanna had already informed him.

"I didn't know you were so close that he even informed you this."

"How would you know my friends, I was never home during my college days remember?"

"Again, can you tell me how you became friends with a lawyer while studying Business Administration?"

"It is simple really, his then girlfriend Sneha, who is his wife now, she was Gunjan's roommate."

"Okay, I don't want to hear anymore." He chuckled and let the topic change.

"So, you are joining tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yep. I have to be there at nine."

"So, you are taking your car right?"

"Yes, and stop worrying about me Karthik, I am not that fragile, not anymore."

"Okay, I will try to worry less, though I can't promise you anything."

The next morning I woke up with a determination of doing something. I wore a Black cotton Salwar to the office. I wasn't aware of the dress code, I knew Black or White was the assigned court uniform, again I wasn't sure whether I would be going to courts anytime soon. I decided it would be better to be prepared,

I reached KR Associates building by eight forty five. I met Neha as I went in and she accompanied me to the second floor even after I asked her not to. Neha promised to meet me during lunch and left me with Maya who showed me to my cabin.

"How do I already have a cabin?" I asked her.

"Mr. Rathore insisted. You are his first associate in three years."

"And why exactly is that?" I asked a bit terrified.

"He prefers working alone. When he can't make it to court he asks someone from the third floor to represent in court."

"Oh, is this the same with Mr. Khanna?"

"Not really, he started off with two associates the day these two started this firm, so did Mr. Rathore. A year later, three out of the four wanted to practise individually and then moved to the third floor. I mean that was like five years back and they were in a different building then. The fourth guy turned out to be a backstabber. He passed on top secret numbers of a client to the rivals and lost Mr. Rathore important clients. Since then he hasn't trusted anyone. Once he came close, but that girl turned out to be lazy and was not even a bit interested in her work. Actually, Rahul Khanna had assigned her to Mr Rathore. So when he fired her, the two had an issue for a few days. Then they realised Gaurav was right and got over their differences."

"Oh," I realised that they were talking about her in the phone call last day.

"You don't have to worry though; he is not that tough to work with. He is a very friendly guy, but serious about work. As long as you do your part, he will be fine with you."

"So, when does he usually get here? I was told to meet him at nine." I saw her demeanour change suddenly. I realised that Gaurav Rathore had arrived.

"Morning Maya." He said as he came in.

"Good morning Gaurav. I have kept the files on your desk. You have an appointment with Mr. Kapoor at ten, and then at ten-thirty Mrs. Malhotra will be here."

"Thank you Maya." Then he turned to me and continued, "You must be Kavya."

"Yes."

"I'll meet you in my office in five minutes." He said and I nodded.

Like she said, Gaurav Rathore seemed to be a pleasant person to work with.

"Come in Kavya." He said when I knocked on the glass door.

"Take a seat." He said without looking up.

Gaurav Rathore continued to sign the papers in front of him, and signalled Maya to collect them.

"Maya, please bring Kavya's file to me please." He told her and she nodded.

'Would he fire me? I already had the job right, why would he want to see my file now?'

"You need not worry Kavya; I just need to know about you before starting to work with you."

I gave him an awkward smile.

Maya came back with my file. She gave me a reassuring smile before she left.

"You have a pretty interesting resume."

"Thank you."

"This is your first job right?"

"Yes, but I assure you I wouldn't let it affect the way I work."

"Oh, there is no need for you to worry. I actually want newbies who can without letting their ego getting in between."

"Oh,..."

"And you are single, I see." I preferred not to reply to that.

"Don't get me wrong, I meant to ask whether you would be okay with working late?"

"Yeah, it would be fine with me." I said hoping he was a good guy, and didn't have any bad intentions.

"So, your job would be to study the cases, mostly the family court cases. There is too much drama in them. You would have to accompany me to courts for the first few weeks, so that you get familiar with the processes."

"Alright sir"

"You can call me Gaurav. I like it that way."

"Sure."

Later that day I sat with Neha, Maya and another girl from the HR department for lunch.

"You three are lucky. You have eye candies roaming in front of you all the time." Shreya the one from HR department said.

"I wish my office was there."

I just smiled at that comment. If you ask me, I was not interested.

"You mean Rahul and Gaurav?"

"Of course, who else do you think?"

"You do know Rahul is married right? Also I do not really see Gaurav. Anyways I have a fiancée. He would freak out out if he knows my other boss is single."

"Those two guys are almost ten years my junior. So there is no point in looking." Maya said and we all laughed.

"What about you Kavya? Are you married?"

And, there it comes, on the first day of work itself. I was praying that Gaurav wouldn't ask that and thankfully, he didn't. Here I was in a fix. Should I answer them or should I just brush them off.

I should tell them, I should learn to face the truth, so I told them my story.

"No one should go through all that pain, that too at a young age, in such a short interval of time." Maya said.

I gave the three an awkward smile.

"I am learning to live with it."

"We are here beside you girl, there is nothing for you to worry." Neha said.

"And you know what, you can help me to stalk your boss." Shreya said that and the mood in the table changed.

PIC: Gaurav Rathore