The early morning sun of Delhi kissed Rachna's plump face softly, its light penetrating her eyelids and causing her to groan. Wasn't it bad enough that she had an alarm to interrupt her sleep?

Wait a minute. She was always up before sunrise. But she was late.

Her eyes flew open as she jumped off the bed. The figures shown on her alarm were enough to make her cry. She was going to be late!

She didn't even have the time to recite her morning prayers as she rushed into the bathroom. She was out in less than three minutes, her towel hanging loosely around her slender body. Flinging the doors to her wardrobe open, she hurriedly searched through her closet. She regretted not picking out an outfit like she always did the previous night. She settled for a skirt and blue chiffon top, matching the colour with white sandals and black bangles.

She grabbed her purse and rushed out of her room, having no time for breakfast as she headed towards the front door.

"Oh, Rachna, you're still here," she stopped and faced her mother, who seemed to have just finished praying.

"Good morning, ma," she greeted.

"Morning, dear. It's good that I caught you. Suman is ill, and I have to rush to the bank. We will be having Guptaji as a guest this evening. Do you mind tidying up the house quickly?"

What?

"Mother, I am running late to work. I really can't-"

"Remember, Rachna, your main duties are to this family before anything else. I don't know why you even bother having a job when Vicky is more than capable of providing for the family," her mother ranted.

"But mother-"

"No buts!" She snapped, causing Rachna to slam her lips shut, "I want this house to be sparkling by the time I return, understood?"

With slumped shoulders, Rachna nodded solemnly. "Understood."

The house suddenly felt more significant than usual as she cleaned, her eyes occasionally going to the clock hung on the wall. She spotted her elder brother, Vicky, on his way out.

"Vicky bhaiya!" She called out, earning a nasty glare from him.

"What?"

"Can you please help me out with the cleaning? I'm getting late for my work," she pleaded, joining her palms together.

He rolled his eyes in response, "Well, so am I. Don't be selfish." With that said, he began to walk away.

"Vicky!" Rachna screeched out. And then, he was out of sight.

Just her luck.

By the time she was done, over thirty minutes had passed. She sprinted out of her home and into the busy streets as she hailed an auto-rickshaw. She reached SL airlines, the company where she worked in a mess.

Rachna arrived nearly thirty minutes late after the usual time. She rushed out of the auto and headed into the company. As she emerged into the building, all eyes turned to her, both customers and workers. She shrank back. She hated being the centre of attention, but she couldn't help today. She passed by the receptionist, who greeted her but didn't return the greeting as she ran toward the elevator.

Getting into the elevator in haste, she pressed the fifth-floor button with her palms clamped together as she said a silent prayer to prepare her for what she was about to face

She rushed out as soon as the elevator doors opened when it got to the fifth floor. She took a deep breath as she walked toward her boss's office. Rachna was faced with a fuming Preeta, her assistant.

"Where have you been? The boss called for you!" Preeta seethed. She didn't give Rachna a chance to speak before shoving a tea tray into her hands, "He's in a meeting. He requested this. Go!"

Still trying to catch up with the world that seemed to be running faster than her, Rachna wobbled towards her boss's door. She gave a slight knock, and a 'come in' followed.

Her boss, Mr Solanki, was a very proud and intelligent man. His high status in society made him almost untouchable. Almost. He was a short, plump man with a bald skull and grey moustache. His tiny eyes turned to Rachna as she entered with the steaming cup tray.

"Good morning, Sir." Rachna greeted her boss and adjusted her red skirt and blue chiffon top. She knew she would get an earful from her boss Mr Solanki, the most annoying man on earth.

Solanki, who had the temper of a lion, raised his head and eyed Rachna. "You came late again!" He shouted and removed the glasses from his eyes.

Rachna comprehended how much he hated tardiness. Once this meeting was over, she knew she was in huge trouble.

"I'm sorry, sir. I-"

"Sorry!" he stood up and pointed fingers at Rachna. "You came late last week, the week before too! Are you the only one with a mother to look after!" He yelled.

"I don't care, drop the tray and get out." He said, dismissing her rudely.

She bowed her head in resignation and headed for his desk to drop the tray. Rachna tried getting a glimpse of Mr Solanki's business associate.

Unlike Mr Solanki, anyone could tell he was very tall and lean despite being seated. He looked around the same age as Mr Solanki but with fewer wrinkles and grey strands on his head. Rachna found him quite attractive for his age.

During her inspection of Mr Solanki's business associate, Rachna lost her footing, resulting in the cups tumbling over and spilling their content on Mr Solanki's lap.

Rachna wished more than anything she could disappear at that moment.

Mr Solanki shot to his feet, screaming in pain as the hot liquid burned his limbs. He pointed his red, rage-filled eyes at Rachna as he yelled, "You're fired!" He dropped the bombshell and sat down.

Rachna fell to her knees in an attempt to plead forgiveness for her mistake. "But sir, please. I'm so sorry-" Rachna begged. "If you could give me a chance to prove myself again. I'll do it in a heartbeat," Rachna promised. "I swear on my late papa."

"Get out, you filthy witch!" Solanki yelled and threw a folder in his hand towards her, but Rachna dodged it before it could land on her.

She knew there was no way Mr Solanki would agree to her pleadings. She knew it'd be better not to argue with someone like him. His anger was the last thing she wanted to experience.

"Okay, sir," Rachna bowed and turned to leave. Rachna stumbled to her feet and ran out of the office, clutching her head. Preeta gasped at the sight, "What happened to you?"

"I have been fired," Rachna coldly informed as she packed her stuff from her desk, placing them all in a box.

"But-"

"Goodbye," she said before walking into the elevator, a trail of cold sweat dripping down her face. Once she got to the ground floor, all eyes were on her again. Only this time, they stared at her in shock and worry.

"Oh my God, Rachna, are you okay? You're sweating profusely!" Ameer, one of SL's customer attendants, asked. When her colleagues saw her, they asked her questions, but she didn't reply and walked out of the company with a heavy heart.

"Y-yes, it is okay. I'm fine," was all she could say as she hurried out of the company.

After some time, Rachna found herself having lunch on a bench in the park outside the company's office building as she didn't want to go home. This was all too much for her. She tried and recalled all the earlier sequences of events.

Rachna sat on the bench in a sitting position, and her legs were folded underneath her as she placed her work bag on it and rested her rear against the bench's backrest.

Recalling how life has been unfair to her, how she has been unlucky in life in her twenty-five years of being on earth, Rachna never imagined that her family responsibilities would fall on her ever since her father died.

Ever since her father died, everything in her life changed. She became clumsy at work and got to work late because of her mother, who wouldn't stop crying.

"Ma'am, we did all we could, but the bleeding was too much to control, I'm sorry, but your husband is gone."

And there it was, the doctor's words that silenced all of them. Rachna and Vicky didn't even have time to process the news of their father's death as their mother fainted that day.

It was as if her whole world had come crashing down. At that moment, she felt crumbled and wished for the ground to open up and swallow her. Her father had suffered from a brain haemorrhage.

Two months ago, her father had been diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. They had done all they could to get the money needed for his treatment, and after a while, it looked like he was fine and that he would return home with them but now this. How come? What was supposed to do now? Move on without her dad, just like that?

And they did move on, but it wasn't easy for them.

Her elder brother Vicky, with pure luck, was able to get a job in the department where her father worked with the government. It was one of the government's rules on getting a job on compassionate grounds to have concerning death, and Vicky became the breadwinner alongside their mother, who had lent money from Guptaji, using their small plot of land as collateral if she failed to pay back the money he lent her.

While Vicky was away at work and barely came home early, Urmi, her mother, has been the one going up and down, finding ways to make ends meet, and Suman, her brother's wife, has been doing all she could to manage the house affairs.

Her younger brother, Raja, who acted like he didn't care for anybody, was a college student that preferred to show off on social media and spent time in the gym shaping his body features. He was considered the black sheep of the family.

Rachna exhaled loudly. Hands akimbo, she straightened her legs out in front of her as she continued to ponder about her life. Her father's death changed her life, including getting her fired.

Rachna used to work with an airline company owned by Mr Solanki. As a hardworking and easy-going human, she did her best to be on her boss's good side and keep being punctual at work because Mr Solanki hated lateness.

He would always say, "What if the time you came late, a customer had come and left? What would be your excuse?"

Mr Solanki was temperamental and overly strict regarding office work, so Rachna did all she could to be on his good side, but it didn't work out.

That morning, Rachna had done all she could to get to work on time, but luck wasn't on her side.

Since she lost her dad, she had assisted her brother Vicky in caring for the family. With no job for her, Rachna wondered how her family would survive.

"Hello, Rachna, right?" Snapping out of her world of thoughts, she turned her head to the right to see none other than Mr Solanki's business associate.

"Oh, hello," she quickly picked up her water bottle and took a sip in an attempt to hide her fluster. The man sat at the far end of the park's bench.

The man returned his attention to Rachna, his eyes on her worried face. "He honestly shouldn't have done that to you. Your actions weren't deliberate."

Rachna didn't know how to respond to that, so she took another sip of water and focused on anything but him. He noticed her reticent behaviour and smiled.

"I'm sorry for asking, but I was just concerned about you. Are you okay?" He asked, and when Rachna didn't reply, he introduced himself. "I am Rahul. Rahul Acharya." He introduced himself.

"R-Rachna," she stuttered before taking another sip, her lips lingering longer for water this time.

The man nodded slowly, with a small but charming smile, "I know that."

Rachna summoned all the courage in her to take a good look at the man while he dug his hand into his pocket. From the wristwatch alone, one could tell he was a man with high status, just like her former boss. It made her wonder what a man like him was doing on a bench in this park. She grew suspicious.

They sat together in silence. Occasionally, either one of them would glance at the other.

Rahul, finally, decided to get straight to the point. "And what would an employee be doing out here?" he asked.

Rachna burst into tears and quickly wiped her tears in order not to look weak in front of Rahul. "I am no longer an employee. I have just been fired for coming late to work since I started working here," Rachna explained and sniffled.

Rahul stared at her for a few seconds and felt pity for her. Apart from that, Rahul had seen some great qualities in her and had decided that he would employ her. "I truly am devastated at the loss of your job, which is why I'd like to offer you a spot in my company."

Rachna froze before looking at Rahul with eyes filled with shock. "Pardon?" She asked, not sure whether she had heard correctly.

"If I give you a chance, will you take it?" He asked.

"What chance?" Rachna wiped her face dry and raised her head to look at Rahul.

"A chance to work in my company," he brought out a card from his pocket and handed It over to her.

Rahul nodded once again, "You heard me. In fact...." He rummaged through the inside of his suit jacket, pulling out a card and placing it on the bench beside Rachna. "Here, take my card. I will be expecting you tomorrow, at 2 pm, for a quick interview. Don't be late."

Rachna, still speechless, could only nod in response.

Pulling back the sleeve of his jacket, he checked his diamond-encrusted watch. "I will take my leave now, have a lovely day." With that said, he decided to leave Rachna alone to ponder his offer. "Call me," Rahul smiled at her, got up and walked into the office building.

She thought, why would he want to employ her? Did he not see how tardy she had been? Not to mention clumsy? Why would anyone want to hire someone like her?

It all didn't make sense to her.

No, she decided she wouldn't take the offer. It was just too risky.

Rachna stared at the card, still untouched as it lay cold on the iron bench. Rachna stared at the blue card and smiled when she saw his name on it. "Rahul," she whispered.

She wasn't going to accept his offer, right? So why was she picking up his card and putting it in her purse? The answer was unknown to Rachna herself.

The sun cascaded an orange light upon the bustling city as it began to set. Rachna had attempted searching for work elsewhere but was found unlucky, just as always.

She returned home with slumped shoulders only to be met by her mother's lender, Guptaji. Their conversation ceased when they saw Rachna, catching their attention with her depression-like facial expressions.

"Namaste, Guptaji."

He replied with a nod and a smile. "Rachna, how was your day at work?" Her mother asked, and Rachna had the sudden urge to scream.

How can she ask that after brutally making her go late? Which resulted in her getting fired. All this was her fault!

"Fine." Was her only response before heading up to her room. She didn't come out for the rest of the day, and nor did anyone bother to come to check on her.

Rachna was out of her house as early as six in the morning, wishing to start her job hunting early. Again, she was unlucky. She had been to several customer service offices, airlines, and companies, but they rejected her. News and rumours travelled fast in Delhi. This was how the story went, a young woman gets fired after terribly injuring her boss. He is lucky it was nothing major, but who knows what could happen next time. As if she wasn't a victim as well.

They made her look like the wrong person! How could Mr Solanki sit back and allow such news to spread? He was plain wicked to her. 

But the damage was done. That night, Rachna pondered on whether to take the job. When she explained everything that happened to her to Urmi and Vicky, they agreed that she should take the job for the sake of the family's survival. And the following morning, she headed for the one place in all of Delhi that would save her from the cold hands of unemployment and poverty. Rachna walked into the company that was an airline, just like the SL at her previous workplace. At the top, most floors of RH airlines was a great office with the best view of the city. Its sparkling white walls and marble floors gave it an angelic touch. A black, large desk was placed in the middle, accompanied by one spinning chair behind it and two in front.

Rahul sat behind his desk, buried deeply in his laptop, as a call came through his office telephone. He picked it up as his secretary informed him of Rachna's arrival. "Send her in," was his reply before returning it and continuing with his paperwork. 

Shortly after, a knock came through his doors. "Come in," he said. He was not taking his eyes off his work. Rachna stepped in and met a busy Rahul, typing rapidly on his computer and simultaneously reading various contracts and business propositions."Please, have a seat." 

Rahul, still not bothering to spare her a glance, gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "Th-thank you," she stuttered before taking a seat. 

"Now, unto business," he dropped the file into his hands with a thud. His gaze was sharp, pinning her to her seat. 

"I'm sure you know what is being said about you. It would look not very good for business if I were to employ you. You are tardy, clumsy, and terrible at speaking properly." His words made Rachna bow with sadness. However, his following terms were enough to make her want to run for the heels, "Give me one good reason why I should hire you."Rachna looked at her hands and fiddled with her fingers. She was not even sure if she knew the answer herself.

"I don't know, i-it is all up to you."A moment of silence passed between them, followed by the all-important statement: "You are hired."Rachna's head snapped upwards, her eyes bulging out. She stared at Rahul with her jaw slack, "W-what? Why? I mean- thank you, but why?"Rahul sat back in his chair and did a little spin, his pen raised to his lips as he pretended to ponder over her question. "Well, as you said, it's up to me.

"You are hired!" Those words changed her life forever, and since then, her life became better. For her family, Rahul was an angel sent to rehabilitate them. The next day, Rachna started working as a file manager at Rahul's company. At first, she found it hard to cope with the new job, but she soon became acquainted with it and her new surroundings.