You're okay!

PART IV - A

Okay, I have no impulse control so, here it is. My favourite part of the whole series.

Please give me your reactions, come on, just type y'all.

PART IV A - INFINITY TO INFINITY

Five years later.

This was the best day of his life

Parth sat back in his chair amused, as he watched Michelle tear the head of communications and marketing to shreds in front of him. Mr. Goenka was sitting next to him and he looked like he desperately wanted to fetch a bowl of popcorn in his excitement in watching Michelle berate Mr. Sharma.

The man was at least twenty years older than her, but he still sweated like a pig in the immaculately air-conditioned conference room of Goenka Industries.

Michelle's words were sharp and her eyes even sharper and Parth watched, mesmerized as she radiated power, confidence and poise.

Michelle looked ethereal. Her curly hair was tied in an elegant bun, she wore a crisp sky blue shirt and plain brown trousers. Her make-up was always subtle and soft. But she looked nothing like the skinny girl with baggy t-shirts and messy hair that he had grown up with and still saw on weekends. This was work-Michelle and work-Michelle never had a hair out of place.

"In essence, Mr. Sharma, you're fired." She finished firmly. "Please report to HR to collect your severance and to complete the rest of the legalities. I'd wish you all the best for the future, but I'd be lying. You are a backstabbing piece of shit and your employee review will include the same in more appropriate words."

Mr. Sharma who was bald and had a pot belly nearly ran out of the room.

Michelle smirked after him.

"I would say that was cruel but he deserved it."

"Damn right, he did. Do you know how hard I worked for this? I haven't slept in months. And the jerk had the audacity to leak the whole damn thing, to Harman Labs of all places."

Michelle looked frustrated and with good reason too.

She was one of the administrative manager of the Goenka Trust Fund, the branch of Goenka Industries that overlooked all their charitable activities and she had worked harder than anyone Parth had seen for the past six months to launch a new program named 'SHIKSHA' which would educate millions underprivileged school children freely. Only for Mr. Sharma to leak the files to a rival company who then announced the same project with the same name just today morning.

Michelle was livid. She had sat down and checked all the back logs and entries made for the last two weeks and identified the traitor within an hour. She had then ambushed him with the proof and had tore him a new one while Parth, Mr. Goenka and Samira, their middle aged PR manager sat back and watched in amazement.

Michelle looked defeated now though. All those months of hard work and now they needed even more, with damage control and recuperation.

But Parth knew Michelle, she would bounce back. She was the strongest person he had ever known. There was no way someone like Mr. Sharma could ever bring her down.

"Hey, it's okay Mish. This is not the end, this is just a roadblock, we'll just have to clear it."

Michelle turned to him. She looked tired but she smiled and Parth's breath hitched.

"It's just- It's not fair."

Her face betrayed no emotions but her voice sounded small and Parth's heart sank. Michelle was never someone who complained about things. She was someone who always tried to find solutions rather than linger on the what-ifs. She never counted her losses and she always got up no matter how many times she had fallen. She must be really shaken up, Parth decided to even address her frustrations verbally, even with the few words she used.