The way of life

Chapter 1

Muskaan's POV:

I woke up this morning to many things.
1. the pressure cooker in the kitchen of our large house
2. religious songs (bhajans) being blasted through my mom's new speaker
3. My alarm blasting some random Indian song that I absolutely hated!
4. Loud screams approaching my bedroom

"Oh sh**! They are here!" By they I mean my two best friends Shagun Singh and Virat Sharma. I was done! I was finished! I quickly acted like I was sleeping since I really didn't think I had time to hide. The door opened, (no not slowly as you would expect in the typical Indian movie). My two friends barged in and yelled....
"MAKHIIIIII" you heard it right "Makhi" that was my nickname as my two idiotic friends thought "Muskaan" was an old school name. He loved your name.....and you loved him...I was quickly revoked from my thoughts when...
"Makhi wake up!" Shagun yelled
"Guddi listen, she isn't going to wake up like this!" Virat said to Shagun (and yes, "Guddi" was Shagun's nickname. This originated from her dad always calling her "Guddi"so we decided to carry on the tradition)
Virat yanked off my blanket and literally pushed me off the bed and emptied out my water bottle on my face! Obviously he ran away as he feared getting killed.
"JUNIORRRRR" I yelled ("junior" was his nickname as his entire crazy family called him that, once again we decided to carry on the tradition)
I ran after him as fast as I could! I wouldn't let him alive, not this time!
"Muskaan, you are awake! Good morning beta!" Cheerfully said my mom as she stopped me in my tracks and gave me a warm hug. After all that has happened to us both my mom was my role model, my inspiration, my best friend, and yes...my mom.
"Yeah mom! I didn't want to wake up though!" I said groggily
"Why so?" My mom asked with concern
"I was awake until 3 in the morning waiting for a reply from the manager at Malhotra industries" I replied
"Wait! THE Malhotra industries?" Shagun asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I am sure that I've told you. Well I'll tell you again! A few days ago I received an email from the manager of Malhotra industries saying that they would like to appoint me as their lawyer, because they have heard a lot about me and what I do. So, obviously I said yes! So yesterday I was waiting for the manager's reply on what to do next, while studying some files from my previous cases and I didn't see the time so I ended up sleeping at 3 in the morning." I explained
"Oh my beta has grown up!" Junior/Virat said while wiping his fake tears.
"Really! I remember when you were only in high school working on your assignments, and now...."my mom said, tears of happiness flowing through her beautiful eyes. I quickly wiped her tears as I couldn't see her crying.
"Yeah, so what's up with you guys?" I asked my friends
"Well you can't believe what happened! I got a job at Mumbai's biggest software agency! Tech world!" Junior exclaimed
"NO WAY! Me too!" Shagun said while making a sad face
"Perfect! I knew you guys were always meant for each other!" I said in a cheesy voice.
You should have seen Junior's face! He was delighted! Overly happy! His mouth was wide open in shock! I just started laugh. Shagun looked sad and in shock!
"Why meeeeee!" Shagun wailed
"Geez! I'm not that bad!" Junior protested
"No! You are not bad! You are horrible!" Shagun said as she stormed out the door
"Wait! Guddi! It doesn't matter if you are angry with me! Drop me home! I don't have a car!" Junior said as he ran after her.
Me and my mom started laughing, this is the daily occurrence in our house. Shagun and Virat would come over then we would talk about how we were going to spend the day, and after we would go to where we needed to be.
"Beta, if you want, go back to sleep. I will wake you up later." Mom said while smiling
"No mom, it's okay. Guddi and Junior already woke me up and gave me half a bath so....I'll just take a quick shower and do some work." I said.
"Okay, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me" my mom said as she walked away.
I went to my room, took a shower, got dressed and sat on my bed. The first thing I did was check my emails (it was a part of my daily routine)
So looks like  I had received an email from the manager of Malhotra industries. It said that I would be joining work today.....TODAY! What the....! At 10:00 am! I quickly checked my clock....oh sh**! It was 9:15am! I literally jumped out of bed, put on my most business-like clothing and dashed downstairs to tell my mom that I was leaving.
"Mom I'm leaving! I don't know when I'll be back, so eat without me!" I said as I grabbed my car keys and ran out the door.
I started driving towards Malhotra industries and thought.....today is going to be a long day!

After 1/2 an hour of extremely fast driving, I reached the famous Malhotra industries. The building was beautiful! There were more than 18 floors from what I could see. There were fountains outside the main entrance. The fountains were surrounded by a variety of flowers giving the building an elegant look
"He would have loved this place..." I thought. I was brought back to reality when I noticed the time 9:50 am! I still had to figure out where I had to meet the manager, owner, secretary etc....
I ran into the building to meet a lovely receptionist names Arya Patil.
Where have I heard this name before?
"Hey! How may I help you?" She asked interrupting my thought process.
"I am Muskaan Thakur, I have been appointed to work here." I stated politely.
"Oh! Ok! Please take the elevator to the 19th floor. Mr.Khanna the manager will be there" she said
"Thank you!" I thanked her and then took the elevator to the 19th floor. While going up, I kept on thinking about the receptionist, I have heard that name before...but where?
I was greeted by a middle aged man.
"Hello! You must be Ms.Thakur" He said politely
"Yes, that's me! You must be Mr.Khanna" I replied
"Yes! That's me! Please take the elevator to the next floor. Mr.Malhotra will be waiting for you there." He said as he guided me to the elevator
I got on the elevator and went to the 20th floor- the last floor. I was scared, nervous and excited to meet this Mr.Malhotra. I've heard many great things about him...obviously from gossip queen Guddi. She said that he has set up this entire business and he is only 25 years old. I was impressed.
Finally the elevator reached the 20th floor and I got out to see the entire city of Mumbai staring back at me. The view was amazing I felt like I was on the top of the Earth! Suddenly a voice interrupted me from behind....
"Ms.Thakur?"
I turned around to see who it was.....I was shocked! I was staring back at the one thing I wanted to forget! I was staring at Mr.Malhotra! No, not just him! Akash Malhotra......