A young executive was nervously biting her nails, the
creases on her forehead looked like those on a crumpled cotton cloth, trailing
around her temple. She was wearing black formals with stilettos that stood an
inch above the earth. In her right hand she held a green office file with a
note attached on the top, slid under a plastic name badge. She was squatted
on the sofa with her legs in a ninety degree angle to the tiled
flooring, while her back was away from the rest of the sofa. She was
positioned as if she was raring to jump off the couch and dart into the
Manager's cabin like a zebra.
"Anna Mathew" shouted the PR executive daintily dressed in a chiffon saree.
"Yes madam, it's me" she replied
She stood up with a jerk much like a camel cobbling up a sea of
dust. She paused to breathe for a minute and then slowly and steadily with the
grace of a tortoise walked into the Manager's room. She was tensed, down to her
last taut muscle and it took her sometime to seat herself. The room was a
rectangular one or a square it seems, with Venetian blinds veiling
the windows on either sides.
The furniture was futuristic, with a sleek desk and chairs of
black and white colour standing on either sides. The end of the
room was accommodating another table stacked with files
and folders of various colours. She took a while to look
through the room until a throaty voice yelled at her.
"Anna, are you here? Annaaaaaa"
"Yes sir, yes of course" she replied.
"Masters in Business Administration with two years of
experience in media affairs, interesting!"
"Yes sir."
"Then why did you leave you previous job?", came an
enquiry.
"I had to leave the city because my dad was getting
transferred."
"Alright and who all is there in
your family?"
"Dad and me, mom passed away when I was seven."
she declared sorrowfully. "Oh! I am sorry, so you are a
self made girl?"
"Not really sir, my dad played a great role in bringing me
up."
"Admire your dad to have brought you up single
handedly."
"Yes that is why I left my earlier job to accompany him to
this city.."
"Oh! I see,that is great."
"This job will be of a great help to stay back and be doing
that." she muttered gulping her saliva.
"Have you arranged public meetings before and handled
media houses?" he asked.
"Yes sir,the firm I worked in was small but exactly did all
this."
"What are your expectations from us?"
"Anything that you think I deserve."
"Alright. We will get back to you soon Ms.Anna.Thank
you."
With the usual exchange of polite pleasantries she waded out of the room. The simper on the manager's face told the story, even then it was too early to declare herself as the winner.
The very next day was a tough one. It was the day of the week when she did laundry. As she was separating her coloured clothes from her dad's stripes and checks, and pinning them on the line neatly,her phone rang. She quickly collected the orange bucket and all the cloth pins and darted into the verandah of the house with the swiftness of a kangaroo. Hurling the can of cloth pins into the bucket she charged into her room. Quickly she tried to dry her hands by wiping them on the t-shirt and picked the phone. It took a moment for her to gather the air in her lungs which by now were heaving heavily after the marathon run from the backyard.
"Hello, Ms.Mathews,this is Ravi Saxena from Zoom News channel."
"Hhhello sir" after a long deep pause she replied.
"Are you alright? You don't sound good."
"Of course sir I was in the backyard and had to come
rushing to attend to you."
"Ah! Alright. This was to tell you that you've got the job.
You can join from monday."
"Ttthank you so much sir. Cannot tell you how
relieved I am to have got this job." she swirled in excitement.
"Meet you on Monday then. You have to report to
me at 9 am."
"Yes sir I'll surely be there at sharp 9'o clock."
Her joy knew no bounds and she broke into a jig after the
conversation. She called her dad and gave him the news immediately, even though
that meant he had to walk out of an important meeting on the pretext of taking
his daily dose of medicine. In the evening both of them dined at their
favourite restaurant. She counted the days from that Wednesday for a
Monday to arrive.
Dressed in her favourite green salwar kameez and with a prayer on her lips, she entered the main glossy gate of the office. As she tiptoed into Mr.Saxena's cabin she could feel her heart thumping inside her, like a drum being tapped violently at a rock concert. She got in and seated herself on one of the black and white chairs positioned opposite Mr.Saxena's tall table. He came a few minutes later and greeted her with a formal handshake and a grin that was less polite than fishy.
"Sorry Anna it took me sometime. I was in the washroom."
" Oh that's alright sir."
"So you'll work under me and report to me directly.
Also if you don't mind you would assist me as my secretary until the interview
for a new one happens.''
"Yes sir. As per your wish. Thank you for considering
me for this job. I needed it badly."
"Of course you were my first and only choice for this
post. You are educated,young,qualified and most of all beautiful" he
announced with a wimp.
Somehow the last adjective he uttered made her smell a dead rat.
To clarify she asked with the innocence of a four year old child.
"Sorry sir. I didn't get you.''
As she blurted those sentences Saxena got up from his
chair and went to the door,firmly giving instructions to the office boy
wandering at the end of the corridor to not let anyone in, for the next half an
hour. He pretended to the office staff loitering around, that he had to give a
briefing to her about her responsibilities and didn't want anyone to interfere
or bother. He shut the door behind her and locked it with a clink.
As he came back to his chair his sardonic sneer had widened as
if someone had pulled his lips apart to fasten it tightly around his ears.
