“Karishma. Is Kirti’s admission to the pre-school finalized?” Siddhartha stopped in his tracks as he heard Mrinal’s voice inquiring about Karishma’s daughter. He didn’t open the door connecting his office to Mrinal’s as he had intended, and instead snooped in on their conversation.

“I am not sending her there.”

“Why not? It is absolutely the best. The best way to get admission into a good school when time comes.”

“I don’t know if it’s for her.”

“Why do you say so? Both my kids have gone there. What’s wrong with the place?”

She replied after a pause, “Nothing, really. It is the best as you said. But I can be honest with you. It is too expensive for me. I still need to have some money left when she has to join a real school.” She chuckled.

Figuring that the conversation was about to take an awkward turn, Siddhartha decided that it was an opportune moment to interrupt. He opened the door and asked Mrinal for the files he wanted.

He gave a cursory nod to Karishma, but she addressed him directly. “Sir, whenever possible, could you please give us some time to discuss the project you want Soumen to pick up.”

“As soon as he is in the office, both of you can come to me. I don’t have any other meetings today.”

“Soumen said that he was busy with something outside the office today. But he really wanted me to get some details from you so that he can get started on it later.”

Even if she were a good liar, it would have been difficult to lie about his brother being busy. But Siddhartha didn’t have the heart to call her out on her lie. Instead, he said, “Right away, then.”

—

“So what details did Soumen want you to get?”

“Firstly, the broad idea of the project itself. What is it about and what exactly do you expect him to do?”

The question was giveaway. Siddhartha had already explained it in details to his brother. Soumen, obviously, hadn’t spoken a word to her about it. He himself might not have heard a word of what Siddhartha had told him. But once again, Siddhartha didn’t call out her lie and repeated the information for her.

“The project is relatively simple. This is a fledgling NGO which is happy to receive whatever support we can give them so long as they get paid. And in our retail stores we should be able to move a small inventory from them quite easily. The contract with them has already been finalized. You – I mean Soumen – had reviewed it too. Now he basically needs to coordinate with merchandising to see what SKUs to acquire from them, then coordinate with design and the NGO to see if there are specific logistic requirements to bring them to stores – does the fabric or the design need any special treatment during transit and storage – that kind of stuff. Then, discuss with various logistic provider and finalize on the most cost-effective one, who would be able to give a good enough service.”

“We will also have to negotiate with the logistic providers, right?”

“Not a whole lot. We have existing relationships with many of them. You can limit yourself to the ones we already deal with and pull out their existing contract. Then get drafted something along similar lines. Yeah – you will have to coordinate with legal for that.”

A look of relief on her face told Siddhartha that she didn’t shy away from all the other grunt work, but she didn’t like the task of negotiating. She was obviously happy to learn that she wouldn’t need to. Which meant that she was going to do this project on her own!

—

But a happier surprise awaited Siddhartha over next few days. He saw Soumen in the office for long hours. He was often busy on phone or poring over documents with Karishma. Three days later he walked into his office with Karishma following behind to discuss the potential partners he had shortlisted. And this time, Karishma wasn’t the only one who was making sense. Soumen had also been involved in the project. If it hadn’t been so inappropriate Siddhartha would have liked to give Karishma a grateful hug. But he paused at the thought. He looked at her receding form as she was leaving after the meeting and realized that if he gave her a hug, it will be more that a grateful one. He muttered a few curses for himself under the breath.

Later in the day he summoned Mrinal and asked, “Do you have any recommendations for a good pre-school? Which one did your kids go to?”

Mrinal had a good camaraderie with his boss. He asked back, chuckling, “What do you want to know about a pre-school for?”

“For a friend, who has recently shifted to the city.”

“Which friend of yours has recently shifted to the city?”

“Are you my wife or what?” Siddhartha pretended annoyance.

“Sorry, sorry, boss! The one my kids went to is very close to the office and it’s a good one. I will send you the address and contact number over email.”

“Thank you.”

—

It was a Friday evening. It was customary for Siddhartha to have a meeting with Mrinal before ending the week where they planned the tasks and meetings for the next week. Siddhartha finished it by telling Mrinal about all the meetings he wanted arranged. But he had noticed Mrinal looking at him searchingly throughout the meeting. He couldn’t put up with the suspense and asked him before he could leave, “Is there something you have to say?”

“Damn it! You always know it, don’t you?” Mrinal ejaculated!

“Of course, I do. What is it?”

“Well – did you really expect it to go this way for Soumen?”

“What for Soumen? Which way?”

“I mean you hire him an assistant and she gets him to work.”

“I was not stupid enough to expect it and I was not wise enough to predict it. Hiring Karishma was an accident and that Soumen actually started working is a pleasant side-effect.”

“And while we are on that topic. I heard something crazy. Karishma’s daughter got a scholarship at the pre-school I had told you about.”

Perhaps for the first time in his life, Mrinal saw his boss flinch a little. But he still responded coolly, “That is indeed crazy. Who gets a scholarship for pre-school?”

“Wasn’t it your doing?”

“What are you talking about?”

That pretend-annoyance was a signal for Mrinal to shut up.

“Nothing. Just sounded crazy.”

“Crazy, indeed.”

Crazy! That was precisely the word the owner of pre-school had used when Siddhartha had called her with the proposal. But with the promise of another hefty donation, she had agreed to call Karishma and inform her that her daughter was selected for a scholarship at the pre-school and wouldn’t have to pay a dime for her time there!

—

To be continued