The Marriage Contract

48 - First Day at Work

~*~

"See? It wasn't that hard, was it?" Abhimanyu asked Akshara as they stepped out of the conference room an hour later.

Yeah, I was freaking out over nothing."

"Exactly. It was just a meet and greet session so they could get to know you and you could get to know them better."

"Do you think they liked me?"

"Of course they did. Why? Do you have any doubts?" He frowned at her question.

"No..."

"Then stop overthinking!"

"Wow, you really don't know us girls at all, do you? Don't you know we are the queens of overthinking?" She quipped.

"Oh I know that. But since when have you started calling yourself a girl?" He responded cheekily, leaving Akshara's jaw hitting the ground.

"Wow. Rude." She shook her head at him, trying hard to think of a good comeback. "I would say something in return but my comebacks currently require a 3 to 5 business days notice due to all the stress of today."

Part of her stress was attributed to her not wanting to disappoint or embarrass Abhimanyu in front of his colleagues and the board especially considering how much trust he'd placed in her. She was just grateful everything worked out for the better.

"Akshara. Abhimanyu." Abhimanyu and Akshara glanced at each other before turning around to face the person calling their names.

Mr. Harshvardhan Birla came to a halt right in front of his son and his 'daughter-in-law'. He gave his son a small smile before turning to face Akshara.  "I just wanted to congratulate you on your new position and welcome you to the Birla Hospital. We hope you enjoy working here. And good job, I really like the ideas you shared about the design and layout of the Children's ward."

Harshvardhan gave Akshara a hearty smile which she returned by saying, "Thank you, I look forward to working with all of you too." She could feel a sense of longing in Harshvardhan's eyes as he looked at Abhimanyu whilst Abhimanyu maintained a posture of distance, not at all affected by his father's silent step towards a truce.

"Abhimanyu." Harshvardhan nodded his head at his son in defeat, accepting the cold hard demeanor of his son.

"Mr. Birla. Sir." Abhimanyu grit out just as Harshvardhan turned on his heel and left.

Akshara had a lot to say, a lot to point out, but held her tongue, knowing that now was not the time to say it.

"So...I can go home now?  Since the construction doesn't start in...I think 2 weeks time?" She mentioned, quickly proceeding to change the subject.

"Yup. You are free to go. Unless you want to see your cabin? The place you'd be working out of?"

"Actually, yeah. I would."

"Great! Let's go. Follow me." Abhimanyu quipped just as they fell into step with each other again, walking the corridors of Birla Hospital.

~*~

As they entered Abhimanyu's cabin after the board meeting, Abhimanyu informed her that this would also be her office. "And this will be your cabin until we can find a place for you. Since you are only going to be coming in periodically, I think it just works better if we share a cabin. Don't you think?"