The first thing Anika Sharma did every morning was fall.
Not metaphorically. Not emotionally.
Literally, physically, with full commitment - off her bed, onto the floor, dragging her blanket with her like it had personally wronged her.
"OW."
Silence from the other room.
Then -
"Anika." Kyra's voice floated through the thin wall, completely unbothered, the voice of someone who had accepted her fate long ago. "Gajab, phir gir gayi tu?" Lagi toh nahi?
"Don't worry, I'm fine.... Wese bhi ab mujhe aadat ho gayi hai aese uthne ki." Anika announced from the floor, staring at the ceiling of their 2BHK Mumbai apartment, blanket tangled around her legs like a crime scene.
"Completely fine. Totally intentional."
"Haan bilkul."
"Wese Main STRETCH kar rahi thi."
"Floor par."
"Haan."
"Gravity ke saath?"
"Kyra."
"Anika."
A pause.
"Bas Chup kar ab." Anika muttered, finally untangling herself with great dignity and standing up. She smoothed her oversized tshirt - Property of Nobody, I Am My Own written across it, which felt very on brand - and shuffled toward the kitchen.
Their apartment was small but it was THEIRS.
Two bedrooms, one bathroom that had seen more arguments than a courtroom, a kitchen that Kyra actually used and Anika occasionally visited, and a living room that currently looked like a very enthusiastic tornado had passed through it.
One month in Mumbai.
One month of navigating local trains, aggressive auto drivers, coffee that cost four times what it did back in Banaras, and neighbors who played music at hours that should be illegal.
One month of the most chaotic, exhausting, WONDERFUL time of Anika's life.
She put the kettle on - the one good domestic habit she had maintained - and pulled out her phone.
7 missed calls. Maa. ❤️
Anika smiled before she even pressed call back.
It rang once.
"ANIKA SHARMA ZINDA HAI YA NAHI?!"
"Good morning aapko bhi Maa -"
"Good morning?? GOOD MORNING??
Kal raat se call nahi kiya, message nahi kiya, main yahan soch rahi thi pata nahi Mumbai mein kya ho gaya -"
"Maa main SOI thi -"
"SOYI THI? are you serious? Ek baari call yaa text karne nahi hota, haa? Ek text krke bhi so sakti thi n"
"Haa karne hi waali thi dimaag se nikal gaya Maa."
"Anika, samjha karo bacha, tum akele waha dur ho hum sbko chinta lagi rehti h tumhari."
"Ji Maa, agli baar dhayan rakhungi."
Then Kavya Sharma's voice shifted - from serious to soft, the way it always did, like she couldn't maintain the act for more than thirty seconds when it came to her daughter.
"Khaana khaaya tha raat ko?"
Anika leaned against the kitchen counter, something warm settling in her chest.
"Haan Maa. Kyra ne banaya tha."
"Kyra ne banaya." A pause. "Tumne nahi banaya."
"Maa aap jaanti hain main kitchen mein kitni dangerous hoon -"
"Dangerous nahi.. tum, lazy ho -"
"SAME THING -"
"Hey bhagwan, Yeh ladki -"
Anika was already laughing, and she could hear her mother trying very hard not to laugh too and failing completely.
This. This was her favorite part of every morning. Didn't matter where she was - Banaras, Mumbai, theoretically Mars - her mother's voice was home.
"Sab theek hai na wahan?" Kavya asked, softer now.
"Sab bilkul theek hai." Anika said, and meant it. "Mumbai dheere dheere adjust ho rahi hoon."
"Akele nahi lagta?"
"Maa Kyra hai na mere saath -"
"Kyra hai, haan." Her mother's voice had that particular tone - the one that said I know, but you're still my baby and Mumbai is very far. "Khaana theek se khaana. Raat ko bahar mat rehna zyada. Aur -"
"Maa."
"Haan?"
"Main theek hoon." Softly. "Pakka."
A small exhale from the other end. Like Kavya Sharma had been holding her breath since last night and only now let it go.
Kyra emerged from her room approximately eleven minutes later, hair in a bun that had given up halfway, wearing an oversized hoodie, and Anika giving her a look -
"Ishaan ka hai na woh?"
Kyra not answering but the smile giving everything away 😄
She found Anika sitting cross legged on the kitchen counter - because chairs were right there but okay - still on the phone, laughing about something, chai going cold beside her completely forgotten.
Kyra quietly made herself coffee, leaned against the opposite counter and just watched her best friend for a moment.
Anika in the morning was Anika at her most unfiltered - loud, warm, gesturing wildly even though her mother couldn't see her, completely unselfconscious.
This girl, Kyra thought, was going to take Mumbai by storm.
She just didn't know it yet.
"Maa mujhe jaana hai abhi "
"Haan haan ja, kaam kar, badi officer ban"
"Abhi officer nahi hoon"
"Banegi. Meri beti hai." Simply. Completely certain. The way Kavya Sharma said everything about Anika - like her success was never a question, only a matter of time.
Anika was quiet for exactly one second.
"Haan." Softly. "Banungi."
"Ja ab. Khaana khaana. Call karna raat ko."
"Haan Maa."
"Aur Anika -"
"Haan?"
"...Hoodie pehen lena. Mumbai mein thanda hota hai subah."
"MAA APRIL CHAL RAHA HAI -"
But her mother had already hung up.
Anika stared at her phone. Then smiled at it like an idiot.
"Maa?" Kyra asked, sipping her coffee.
"Maa." Anika confirmed, hopping off the counter and finally picking up her cold chai.
"Sab theek?"
"Hamesha." She took a sip, made a face at the temperature, drank it anyway.
By 10 am the apartment looked marginally less like a disaster zone.
Marginally.
Anika was at her desk - their second bedroom had been converted into a shared workspace, Kyra's side neat and organized, Anika's side looking like a research explosion - going through her preparation notes for the hundredth time.
Singhaniya Tech.
She had an entire folder dedicated to it. Printed articles, handwritten notes, highlighted annual reports, Post-its in three different colors screaming at each other from every margin.
Most people who got a job stopped researching the company.
Anika had only researched MORE after the confirmation call last week. Because knowing was power. And she intended to walk into those offices on Monday knowing more about Singhaniya Tech than half the people who already worked there.
"Tu abhi bhi padh rahi hai?" Kyra appeared in the doorway, coffee mug in hand, expression somewhere between amused and concerned.
"Knowledge ki koi expiry date nahi hoti." Anika said without looking up.
"Anika. Tu join kar chuki hai. Interview khatam hua."
"Preparation kabhi khatam nahi hoti -"
"Yaar -"
"Kyra." Anika finally looked up, eyes bright, "It's SINGHANIYA TECH. Mumbai ka sabse reputed tech company. Mere liye yeh sirf ek job nahi hai, yeh -" she gestured vaguely but meaningfully at everything around her, "Yeh sab kuch hai. Every single thing I ever planned."
Kyra looked at her for a long moment.
Then smiled - soft and genuine and proud in the way only someone who had known you since school could be proud.
"I know." She said simply. "That's why you'll be brilliant there."
Anika pointed at her. "See THIS is why you're my best friend."
"Also because nobody else will live with you."
"KYRA -"
"I'M JOKING -" Kyra was already running back to her room laughing and Anika threw a Post-it at the empty doorway.
It missed.
Obviously.
---------------------------------------
The call came at 11:47 am.
Anika almost missed it because she was attempting to make Maggi - attempting being the operative word, the water had boiled over twice already - when her phone lit up on the counter.
Unknown number. Mumbai.
She frowned. Wiped her hands. Picked up.
"Hello?"
"May I speak with Ms. Anika Sharma?" Professional voice. Female.
"Speaking."
"This is Rhea calling from Singhaniya Tech HR department. I'm calling regarding your joining formalities for Monday -"
Anika's hand tightened on the phone.
"- we wanted to confirm your reporting time as 9am sharp. You'll be directly reporting to the CEO's office as his Personal Assistant. Please carry your original documents and -"
The rest of the sentence became background noise.
CEO's office.
His Personal Assistant.
9am Monday.
"Ms. Sharma? Are you there?"
"YES." Anika's voice came out slightly strangled. She cleared her throat. "Yes, absolutely. 9am. Documents. Got it. Thank you so much."
She hung up.
Stood very still.
The Maggi boiled over for the third time.
She didn't notice.
"KYRAAAAAAA!!"
The shriek that left Anika Sharma's body in that moment was genuinely something the neighbors three floors down would later discuss at length.
Kyra came SPRINTING out of her room, eyes wide, hair flying -
"WHAT HAPPENED ARE YOU OKAY -"
"DIRECT REPORTING TO THE CEO KYRA." Anika spun around, phone clutched to her chest, eyes absolutely wild. "PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE CEO OF SINGHANIYA TECH. THAT'S ME. I'M THAT GIRL."
Kyra stared at her.
Then the information landed.
"WAIT -"
"YES -"
"ANIKA -"
"I KNOW -"
"OH MY GOD -"
What happened next could only be described as two grown women completely losing their minds in a Mumbai kitchen while Maggi burned quietly on the stove and neither of them cared even slightly.
They jumped. They screamed. Kyra grabbed Anika's hands and they spun in a circle like absolute children and it was the best thing either of them had done in months.
"Personal Assistant to the CEO!" Kyra kept saying, "Anika that's not just a job that's -"
"Everything." Anika breathed, slightly dizzy from the spinning, eyes suddenly glassy, "Kyra that's literally everything I planned for."
"You DID it." Kyra grabbed her face in both hands, very serious suddenly, "You actually did it. By yourself. With no help from anyone."
Anika's chin wobbled exactly once.
She was NOT going to cry over Maggi.
She blinked hard. "Don't make me cry -"
"I'm not -"
"Aese shakal q bana rahi h phir-"
"ANIKA -"
The smoke alarm went off.
Both of them stared at the stove.
The Maggi had achieved a level of burnt that was almost impressive.
Then they looked at each other.
And absolutely lost it laughing.
Kavya Sharma picked up on the first ring.
"Maa." Anika said, still slightly breathless.
Something in her voice made her mother go immediately quiet. Still.
"Kya hua?"
"Mujhe job mil gayi Maa." And even though she'd known for a week, saying it out loud to her mother, in this moment, made it feel real for the very first time. "Singhaniya Tech mein. Direct reporting to the CEO. Personal Assistant."
Silence.
For exactly three seconds.
Then Kavya Sharma started crying.
Not sad crying. The other kind. The kind that comes from watching your child become exactly who you always knew they would be.
"Maa -"
"I'm so proud of you my bacha" Her mother managed, voice thick, "bas aese hi humesha aagye badhte raho"
"Love you Maa"
"...Meri beti." Kavya said finally, softly, like a prayer she'd been saying for years and had finally been answered. " Love you too mera bacha."
That did it.
One tear. Just one. Anika wiped it immediately and very aggressively.
"Kisi ko mat batana main royi, nahi toh sab chidhayenge" She whispered.
"Ha ha nautanki" Her mother whispered back.
---------------------------------------
Papa called at 3 pm.
Anika stared at his name on the screen for two full rings.
Then picked up.
"Haan Papa."
"Haan." Vikram Sharma's voice - measured, careful, the voice of a man who had never quite learned the language of easy affection. "Teri maa ne bataya. Job mili."
"Ji."
"Singhaniya Tech hai." He said. Like he was confirming a fact rather than acknowledging an achievement.
"Ji Papa."
"Achha company hai." A pause that stretched just long enough to feel like something. "Theek hai."
Theek hai.
That was it. That was Vikram Sharma at full emotional capacity.
"Ji Papa." Anika said quietly. "Thank you."
"Haan." Another pause. "Khaana khaate rehna theek se."
"Ji."
The call ended.
Anika sat with the phone in her lap for a moment longer than necessary.
Theek hai.
Not - bahut khushi hua sunke. Not - mujhe tumpar garv hai. Not even a simple well done beta.
Just. Theek hai.
She exhaled. Slow and quiet. But I know he tried his best to express himself.
Then stood up, squared her shoulders the way she always did when she was putting something away inside herself, and walked back to the living room where Kyra was already pulling up options on her phone
"Okay celebration dinner ya club?" Kyra looked up.
Anika smiled. Wide and real and completely her own.
"Club." She said. "Hum aaj definitely club ja rahe hain."
Kyra's eyes lit up. "FINALLY she says something right -"
"Ishaan ko bhi bula lo -"
"Already texted him -"
"Kyra."
"Haan?"
"Thank you." Simply. Quietly. "For being here."
Kyra looked at her for a moment.
"Hamesha." She said. Just as simply. Just as quietly.
---------------------------------------
Three hours later, burgundy dress, hair loose, eyes bright - Anika stared at her reflection.
Girl from Banaras. Holding a meaningful degree. No shortcuts. No connections. Just herself.
Monday, she would walk into Singhaniya Tech as the CEO's PA.
Tonight, she would celebrate.
Kyra leaned against the doorframe, smirking.
"Imagine if the CEO is hot."
Anika snorted. "Pfft. As if. I'm here for the job, not some arrogant boss."
But her stomach flipped anyway.
She laughed it off, grabbed her bag, and walked out - completely unaware that Monday morning wasn't just going to be about conquering Singhaniya Tech.
It was going to be about colliding with the one man she wasn't prepared for.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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Helloooo my cute little butterflies! 🦋❤️
Anika Sharma - clumsy, chaotic aur ek dum apni - aa gayi hai
officially! 🌪️
Yeh meri pehli story hai so please bhula chuka maaf karna 🥺 Main apni poori koshish karungi ki aap log disappointed na ho - promise 🤞
Chapter 2 mein someone's going to walk in and ruin all of us. Including me. 😭❤️
See you soon my cute little butterflies 🦋
Tab tak ke liye......
Batao mujhe comments mein -
Anika kaisi lagi aapko? 🦋
Aur haaaa
Vote karo 🌟
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