131 I am just a charity case
An unruly drop of tear slid down her cheek and she immediately wiped it off with her sleeves. She was the sort of a girl whose heart was clear like glass, but she always tried to make herself opaque to people, for people to think of her as hard and unbreakable like metal.
Raymond saw her and recollected how she cried the same way trying to hide away her tears on their way back to New York. She had used her sleeves the exact same way that she did now. His heart felt like it would explode to see her in pain. His fists were clenched and his jaws tightened. He just wanted to embrace her, but with Vikram in the room, he just couldn't.
She summoned all the God's to give her the courage to stay put. She drank Vikram's words like a bottle of poison and died from within. She was disappointed with Vikram but what she was unable to bear was the fact that Raymond hid it from her.
She turned towards Vikram and asked,
"You never told me about it?"
"Well I explicitly didn't tell but it was just like a referral. You got in here with your own talent Akira. You got in after a proper round of interview. Right, Raymond?", Vikram said and looked in the direction of Raymond who was still unable to process the whole thing.
Hearing Vikram's statement, Akira looked up at Raymond and her eyes were filled with resentment. She was the sort of a person who could bear anything but what she couldn't bear was to be a charity case. She always hated being pitied by anyone, so knowing the fact that she was pitied by the one man who she loved the most in the entire world, made her feel even worse than what she did before.
She took a couple of deep breaths and then spoke,
"Now that we have discussed upon everything I will take my leave and go to the HR department to submit my resignation".
"But wait !!!", Raymond interrupted her immediately and then took a pause.
"What about some of the character designs that you were working upon? At least complete them properly and then join the new company", Raymond said and looked in her direction with a hope that she will agree to stay back.
"Well, first of all, I have completed all the assignments which were given to me by Simon and second of all, I think you have better employees to complete the work rather than and getting it done from a charity case intern", Akira said and walked out of the room without saying another word.
"Well then I am also done here as well", Vikram said and departed from the room quickly to follow behind Akira.
---
"Akira just listen to me Akira!!! Are you mad with me right now?", Vikram asked and pulled her hand.
She stopped her march and turned back and said.
"No Vikram I am not angry with you, I am just angry with myself because I always turn into this miserable girl. I always need somebody to help me out. I always need somebody to give me that push to be able to do something in my life and right now I am sick of it all. Maybe all that I need is some time for myself to figure out what I want to do next", Akira said and looked into his eyes.
"You think it was wrong of me? You think I deliberately hid it from you?", Vikram asked.
"You could have told me about it earlier. Why did you tell it today?", Akira asked him.
Vikram took a deep breath and then said,
"It all this to make your separation look more natural. You are angry with him for hiding the truth from you and now you can use this as a reason to stay away from him and create a gap. I couldn't think of any other better way to do this. But why are you asking me this? Do you think I had any other intention in bringing this topic out?", Vikram said and threw the question back at her.
She thought for a moment and realised that whatever Vikram said was right. She could actually use it as a reason to be mad at Raymond.
Taking a deep breath and sorting away her thoughts she said,
"I totally get your intention behind it all but just that it was a sudden revelation so I was a bit riled up. I am sorry. I will get back to my seat and complete the resignation related formalities".
"Ok then, see you in the evening. I will come and pick you up, just let me know when you are done", Vikram said and walked towards the lift.
Seeing him leaving without even giving her a hug, she realized that he was upset because of the way she had questioned him. So she immediately ran up to him and hugged him from behind and said,
"Thank you so much for everything. I wish one day I can repeat that debt"
Her gentle touch, her smell, her presence was everything that he wanted. He closed his eyes to capture that moment inside like he wanted to treasure it forever and ever till eternity.
He then turned back and said,
"Bye now. See you soon" and smiled.
The elevator door opened and Vikram entered inside.
After he left she also left for her cubicle unaware of the fact that someone was standing at the door of his room watching her every single move.
He clenched his fists and tried to pacify the anger which was boiling inside him. The hug that she gave him was his, to begin with. The smile that she offered, the touch of her that he tried to feel was all his, to begin with, but now she showered them on someone else. No matter how much he wanted to think of it as all fake, he just couldn't.
---
Akira went to her desk and initiated the resignation workflow. Then she pinged the HR about the necessary formalities that she needed to complete.
"Hello, I am Akira Peyton. An intern with employee ID 00108. I have initiated my resignation workflow. What are the other formalities that I need to do" - Akira
"Please wait for a moment. Let me get your details first" - HR
"Any specific reasons for quitting in just a few weeks?" - HR
"I got a better opportunity outside" - Akira
"Ok, I have mailed you the details. There are a couple of no dues forms that you need to get signed from your direct supervisor and IT department and since you are leaving before completing the minimum tenure of 2 months, you have to pay 2500 USD to the finance team as non-completion of tenure retrieval amount" - HR
"2500 USD?" - Akira
She took a deep breath and started to think,
"Why are you so merciless God? What have I done to irk you? Can't you show me some mercy?"
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