Aasha's pov
"Why she is behaving very rude towards you? She is a heartless woman. How can she stoop so low, ha?" Riya said while examining my hand.
"She is a rich brat. Thats why she is like this" Rocky said which Shreya nodded her head in approval.
"I don't know why she is holding grudge against me. She is not leaving a single chance to insult me" i said while eating my lunch.
"Lets go to the hospital, Aasha. What if it leave a mark on your knuckles" Rocky asked me with concern.
"No need for that Rocky. I already applied some ointment. So now i am okay" i said with a smile.
"No, Aasha. We will go to the hospital after completing our work" Riya said.
"Yes and thats final. We will wait for you after finishing our work" Rocky said in his firm tone. I nodded at them with a huff. But i don't know why i am feeling like something bad is going to happen. But i shrugged that feeling. Soon we all finished our lunch. When me and Shreya reached our floor, we saw Ms. Josh walking towards us. She glared at me then soon she left the place.
"She is looking at you like her looks can burn you alive" Shreya said. I sighed.
"Here have this. It may reduce your pain" she said, giving me a pain killer.
"Thankyou" i said with a smile. Then she gave me the water when we reached her desk. After taking the pain killer, i left for my cabin. But i saw Tej near my cabin. He is from Finance department. But what he is doing near my cabin. He smiled at me when he saw me coming towards him.
"What are you doing here, Tej?" i aasked him with a smile.
"Ahh…Actually some files needed Mr. Malhotra's signature. So i kept that files on your desk" he said with a smile.
"Oh okay. I will send you the files once i get Mr. Malhotra's sign" i said then he left the place. I went inside Mr. Malhotra's cabin after knocking three times.
"Sir, this files needs your sign" i said while placing the files on his desk.
"Have you had your lunch?" he asked me.
"Yes, sir" i said. Then i left the cabin after he signed the files. I sent the files to the finace department. I resumed my work. But my thoughts kept shifting to morning incident. He stood up for me. He was very handsome in his grey suit. I don't know why he is avoiding me in this few days. I thought he is tired of me. But today he proved me wrong. When he said My Asahu, my heart skipped a beat. He gave me a nick name 'Aashu'. Everyone called me as only Aasha. Its the first time someone is calling me as Aashu. Then i looked at my watch. Its already 6.30 pm. I finished my work. I heard my phone buzzed. Its message from Rocky saying that he and Riya finished their work. So they are coming to my cabin now.
I messaged them saying okay. I started to pack my things. I opened my drawer to take the pendrive and the files related to the project. Because tomorrow morning is the meeting. So i have to give the pendrive and other files related to the project to Mr. Malhotra. I searched for the pendrive. But i couldn't find it. I started to sweat in panick. I threw everything from my drawer but still i can't find the pendrive. All details about the project and the presentations are in that pendrive only. Tears started to welled up in my eyes. Mr. Malhotra truted me thats why he gave that pendrive to me. He believed me.
No it can't happen….
I remember it very clearly that i kept the pendrive along with the files when i came to office today morning. I was in my cabin only. So it must be here. I again started to search my drawer and my desk. Suddely someone entered into my cabin. Its Riya and Rocky.
"Hey why you're crying? What happened?" they both asked me worriedly.
"I can't find the pendrive. I kept it here only. But… But.. " i started to sob. Riya hugged me while rubbing my back.
"You mean the pendrive which contains tomorrow meeting's presentation?" Rocky asked me. I nodded at him in 'yes'.
"Okay! Look Aasha nothing will happen. The pendrive must be here. Now tell me where you kept the pendrive?" he asked me.
"I kept it in my drawer only" i said wiping my tears.
"Then lets check every place" saying this Riya and Rocky started to search every place. I also seached along with them. I collapsed on the floor when we can't find the pendrive even after half an hour searching. Riya and Rocky came towards me and hugged me.
"Mr. Malhotra trusted me very much. Thats why he gave this project pendrive to me. Now how will i face him? Tomorrow morning is the meeting. What will i do now?" i sobbed on Riya's shoulder.
"What the hell you're saying?" i heard someone's yelling. I looked up to see Ms. Josh standing in front of us with a rage. We all stood up from the floor.
"Mam, i kept the pendrive in my drawer today morning. But its not there when i was looking for it" i said with tears rolling down from my checks.
"How can you be so careless, Ms. Sharma? If you kept it in your drawer then where will it go, ha? Don't lie to me. Tell me how much you got for selling the project details?" she asked me. My heart nearly stopped hearing her words.
"Mam, why would i sell the project details? I didn't sell any details" i said with my cracking voice.
"Yes mam. Aasha will never do such things" Rocky said in my defence.
"Yes. Aasha also worked in this project. So why would she do that?" Riya said.
"Of course she must have sold the project details for money. Dev believed you so much. You used his trust for you. Now lets show him what a greedy bitch you're" saying this she dragged towards me to Mr. Malhotra's cabin. Riya and Rocky trailed behind me.
Ms. Josh pushed me inside his cabin. Mr. Malhotra and Mr. Mehra got shocked when they looked at me.
"What the hell Nishma?" saying this Mr. Malhotra ran towards me and hugged me. I looked down not able to meet his eyes.
"Look what your innocent PA had done" dhe said in her raised voice.
"What happened Nishma? What you did to Aasha? Why you're behaving like this to her, ha?" Mr. Mehra shouted at her. I closed my eyes in guilt. Ms. Josh clapped her hands.
"Wow! You all are really under her spell, i guess. You will not support her if you know what she did" she said.
"Whatever she did, you should not treat her like this" Mr. Malhotra yelled with his clenched jaw. I startled hearing his raised voice.
"Shhh. Okay relax. Don't cry. I am here, Aashu" he said softly while wiping my tears.
"She lost the pendrive which contains our project's details and presentation" Ms. Josh said. Everything went silent for a moment. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for Mr. Malhotra to yell at me or fire me. But nothing came. Only my sobbing filled the cabin.
"She must have sold our project details. You trusted her very much now you see what she did and now shedding her crocodile tears in front of you" she said.
I wanted to say 'no i didn't sold our project details'. But my words got struck in my throat.
"No. Aasha didn't sold the project details. She kept the pendrive in her cabin today morning. But now she can't find it" Rocky said.
"Okay then we will search the cabin. It must be there only" Mr. Mehra said in a calm voice.
"We searched her whole cabin but we couldn't find it" Riya said.
"No matter how many times we search her cabin we could not find the pen drive. Because she sold the pendrive for money" Ms. Josh said.
"Shut up. Just shut up, will you?" Mr. Malhotra roared.
"Aasha tell me what happened?" he asked me softly. He held my face in his hands.
"I kep..kept the pen..pendrive and files in my dra.. drawer. But when i opened it i didn't find the pendrive. I searched tho.. thoroughly. But i swear i didn't sold the details" i said. He wiped my tears.
"What a drama queen? Dev don't come with her tears. Girls like her is like this only. She is not worth of you trust. She betrayed us" Ms. Josh said.
"I know about my Aashu very well, Nishma. Aashu will never do anything like this. And i trust her. She is worth of my trust. Now everyone leave my cabin. Sameer you know what to do" Mr. Malhotra said. Hearing his words i felt more guilty. He still trust me. He still believes me. But because of my careless i lost that pen drive. I sobbed. Everyone left the cabin. Suddenly Mr. Malhotra dragged me near to a book shelf. He clicked some switch soon the book shelf moved revealing a door knob. He opened the door. Its a big bedroom with a king size bed. He made sit on the bed. Then he gave me a glass water to drink, sitting beside me. But i shook my head in 'No'.
"First stop crying and drink this water, Aashu" he said softly. I would have felt better if he had yelled at me. But the way he softly behaving towards me even after knowing everything is whats making me feel more bad. I didn't moved my gaze away from my lap. My vision blurred because of my tears. He sighed and kept the glass near the bed side table. Then he hugged me tightly. Thats when i realized that my body is trembling.