Mish' Fiction

She had his mobile number. A number she had never dialed, because the meetings were usually setup through Mrinal, unless Soumen himself set those up with his brother. At other times they had been spontaneously setup by him. And that one time she had barged into his office early morning! She smiled as she thought of that day. He was paying attention to what she had said then. “That you can depend on me!” he had said yesterday. It wasn’t random. It was carefully thought through!

Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number.

“Karishma?” The phone was picked up immediately, but his voice sounded so brisk that she lost her composure for a moment. Was he surprised to receive her call? Did the conversation she remembered from last evening never happen? Had she dreamt up some suppressed fantasy of hers?

“Sir.” She managed to acknowledge in a barely audible voice.

“Are you all right?” the affectionate, solicitous voice was back. She sighed in relief.

“Yes. And you?”

He chuckled, “Yes. I am fine.”

“I was wondering if we could talk–”

“I am in the office and my entire day has been cleared out. No meetings”

“Really?” he cleared out his entire day? For her? “How did you manage to do that?”

“I will tell you when we meet.”

“I– I need to drop Kirti to the pre-school. And Soumen happens to have a couple of meetings this morning. I’m sorry I can’t–”

“Lunch?”

“Yes. But can we meet somewhere outside office?”

“Sure.”

“Where?”

“I will take you there.”

“Take me from where?”

He laughed, “Not from the office, if you are worried. Meet me in front of Starbucks next block at noon?”

“Okay. I will be there.”

“See you.”

Damn! A lunch-date? Already? He would go to someplace fancy, won’t he? Did she even have a dress suitable for it? If he had at least told her where it would be, she would know what would work. She tried to pick up the best from among the four she usually wore to work. It was an exercise in frustration. But her time at it was cut short by the need to get Kirti ready and to reach office in time for meetings. The little quarrel with Soumen also needed to be settled before the meetings.

—

“Hi!”

“Hi!” She suddenly realized that she had no idea how to address him. “Sir” seemed too awkward now and she had never addressed him by his name.

“How did your meetings go?”

“Went well, I think.”

“And was the issue with Soumen resolved?”

He remembered the accidental mention from yesterday!

“Yes. He is impulsive, not necessarily stubborn. He saw my point.”

“Good for him.”

She couldn’t help blushing.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

She nodded. He led her to his car. The luxurious gray Audi was no more suitable for carrying grocery than Soumen’s red sports car had been. But Karishma could very well imagine children in the vehicle. It made sense!

“You know,” he said as he pulled out of the parking, “Nobody other than you calls me ‘Sir’ in the office. Everyone uses my name. You should do that too.”

“I have been calling you so from day one and you never asked me not to.”

“Well on day one – our first meeting – I wasn’t exactly planning on giving you a job.” She drew in a sharp breath, but he continued unawares, “I didn’t even have a job in mind. And then you had thoroughly annoyed me by looking so nervous and scattered in the beginning.”

She was surprised. Then seemed to recall something and exclaimed, “Oh. That!”

“What?”

She smiled sheepishly, “Sunidhi had told me that I should meet her Dada. I had always thought of her as a Delhi girl. I had no idea she was using a Bengali word.”

It took Siddhartha a moment and then he burst into laughter. “So, you came expecting to–”

“See an elderly man–” And not someone so breathtakingly handsome, she added in her head. Oh yes – she could accept that now. He was handsome and she had noticed it! Outwardly she added, “I couldn’t figure it out during our meeting. Then Mrinal brought me the hiring-related paperwork. I read in the offer letter that your brother, who needed an assistant, was Soumen. Then, of course, everything started making sense.”

“This is epic. I should have asked you earlier.”

“I wouldn’t have told you earlier.”

That made him look at her and smile, “I am glad that now you did.”

She smiled back.

She was taken by surprise when he pulled over near a small park and led her in.

“What place is this?”

“One of my favorites, but I can’t exactly come here for business lunches.” There were a few stalls inside the park selling street food. The place was crowded with mostly college students and young professionals. Common plastic tables and chairs were placed irregularly for those who didn’t want to stand or stroll while eating. She flashed a wide grin at him.

“This is perfect.” At least her lunch with this man was going to go well. They ordered food, which was quickly delivered and they brought it to one of the tables under a tree.

“Wow! This chhole-bhature is as good as the ones you get in Old Delhi,” she said after taking the first bite.

“And the place is more convenient to reach than Old Delhi. Best of both worlds, eh?”

“You negotiated your way very well, as usual.”

“What’s up with compliments?”

Her face fell at that. Was she being too familiar? “I– I am sorry. I did mean them though. I didn’t mean to be–”

“Relax, Karishma. I was joking.”

She smiled, albeit slightly uncertainly.

He waited until they had finished eating and then asked, “Do you want to talk?”

She nodded immediately, but took a while to start speaking, “The more I think about it the bigger it seems.”

“It is a big decision but don’t overthink it so much that it becomes more complex than it is. You can talk to me. Ask me questions any time.”

“Yeah. We need time–”

“Of course. I already told you. Take as much time as you want.”

“No. Not just me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You behaved as your position needed you to behave. And in the process, you made up your mind about something big. I am sure you gave it time. But you didn’t spend that time with me. You also don’t really know me. And you should take time to do that as well.”

The alarmed expression on his face changed. He leaned back and gazed at her fondly. “At least, I knew one thing correctly about you.”

“What?”

“That I could depend on you. To do the right and honest thing.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“Not really. But I am okay with what you said. We should take time and get to know each other.”

“And the first thing you should do is not be so sanguine about it all. I come with a lot of baggage.”

He leaned forward, “I don’t know all about it. But surely you understand that I am aware of it.”

She nodded.

“Then allow me to know it all. The fact is that all of us come with our baggage. Some lighter than others perhaps. But there is always something. And you will know all about mine too.”

“Thank you,” her voice grew thick.

“What is the one big thing on your mind?”

She chuckled, “Oh! There are hundreds of big things on my mind. It will be very difficult to choose one. Don’t ask me such questions.”

“It’s not a job interview you know. You shouldn’t be so nervous.”

“I know it’s not a job interview. Not that I know a lot of those. My only successful one was pretty weird I think. And–”

“What?”

“How did we even reach here from there?”

“Now you are making me nervous.”

“Come on.”

“Well you kept surprising me at every step and I kept surprising myself at what your surprises did to me, how they made me feel.”

“How?”

“That relates to my big baggage, I suppose. Do you want to know about it?” he smiled and winced at the same time.

“I, of course, want to know about everything if you don’t mind talking about it.”

“I will have to talk about it. Because I could you tell you some nonsensical stuff like love knows no reason and all. But that’s not how it works for me. So, you need to know where I am coming from.”

“Tell me, then.”

—

To be continued

Karishma was nervous when she entered his office. Kirti was also with her.

He didn’t notice her nervousness. Because he himself was in the same state, although outwardly he didn’t show any signs of it.

“Karishma!”

“Sir. You wanted to talk to me?” He had asked her to stay after office. Yesterday, after two weeks of working peacefully, Soumen had flipped. He had quarreled with her and hadn’t turned up in the office today. So, Karishma was not looking forward to this conversation with Siddhartha.

“Yes. Is it okay if Mrinal minds Kirti for a while?”

Except for a quick nod and smile, Siddhartha didn’t seem interested in the child today and, in fact, wanted her out of the way. Did he have bad news for her? He had repeatedly assured her in past that her job was safe. While it felt gratifying and reassuring to hear him say it, when he got busy with his work and she didn’t speak to him for days at length, his assurances started feeling like a distant, hazy, unreliable memory. She could no longer believe that he would care enough about her if her presence indeed became an irritant instead of a help at work.

“Yeah… Okay. I will leave her with him–”

“I will call him,” he said as he picked up the phone. He motioned for her to sit, but kept standing himself, “Mrinal. Can I trouble you with baby-sitting duty for a bit? Karishma’s daughter- yes. They are in my office.”

Mrinal came and after throwing a puzzled glance at both Siddhartha and Karishma, who sat slumped in a chair, took Kirti away. Having a child who was comfortable with everyone was a convenience Karishma couldn’t thank her stars enough for. But now there was the bad news.  She couldn’t bear the suspense any longer and blurted before he could start a conversation, “I am sorry about Soumen. I am sure he will come around. I wasn’t saying anything outrageous.”

“What about Soumen?”

“Oh! You… you didn’t know?”

“Should I know? What is it?”

“Nothing that you need to be bothered about, really. What did you want to talk about?”

“You have been worried all this while?” Siddhartha finally realized.

She gave an embarrassed smile.

“Wow! Karishma. What would it take for you to believe that I am not going to just fire you one day, out of the blue. That you can–” he paused and then added an expression she had used sometime back, “That you can depend on me?”

But she didn’t seem to recall the context from that. “I am sorry. I really am. I don’t mistrust you. I am incredibly nervous about this issue. And it grates on Soumen too. I am aware of it. And I will behave from now on. What did you want to talk about? Please tell me now.” She looked at him and something in the way he was looking at her made her throat go dry.

“I just did,” he said, his tall frame bent forward on his table, looking intently at her, “And I think I have to assure you that the outcome of this conversation will have no impact on your job. With that out of the way, do you think you could depend on me, Karishma?”

The implication finally hit her. And it hit her so hard her instinct was to flee from the situation, to pretend that the question had never arisen. But she felt herself glued to the chair. She couldn’t as much as stand up, much less flee. After a long pause, she croaked, “You can’t possibly mean what I am thinking that means.”

“Why?” he smiled, nervous and expectant at the same time, “You can’t possibly mean that I am not allowed to express my feelings for the woman I am in love with.”

“Me?”

Her reactions were now amusing him. “Yes, Karishma. You.”

“I can’t afford to have an affair with my boss. Too much is at stake,” she said and immediately regretted saying that.

Predictably, Siddhartha took offense, “What the hell, Karishma! I am not a married man looking to have an affair on the side. I am proposing a relationship. A marriage. What are you–”

“I am sorry!” she interrupted, then added in a low, embarrassed voice, “I apologize. That was uncalled for. But even then, it’s too big. And my brain seems frozen.”

Siddhartha was, quite willingly, quick to forgive the unsavory accusation. Her flustered reaction was not unexpected.

“I have taken you by surprise. I am aware of that. But I couldn’t have gone the conventional way of flirting with you or giving you any signals because the power dynamics of our relationship wouldn’t allow it to remain innocuous. Trust me, it was not because I took your acceptance for granted. Far from it, I have plans A, B, C, D – a lot of them – prepared in anticipation of a number of reactions you could have given. For now, I am happy that you are not screaming ‘no’! It has been sudden, because I felt it couldn’t be any other way. But that doesn’t mean I can’t give you time now – lots of it, as much as you like. You don’t have to answer right now.”

That relieved her. She could feel her body becoming lighter. It actually seemed possible to get up from that chair now. So, she nodded and did just that.

“Will you be fine?” his sounded so solicitous that Karishma regretted not having an answer ready for him. But she was still dazed and she did need time to process the idea.

“Don’t worry,” she managed to reply and made for the door.

“I will ask Mrinal to call you a company taxi. It is too late and I don’t want you to be looking for buses.”

She did not resist. Oh yes – she could depend on him. Depend on him to take care of her, and also to be discreet about it. A company taxi dropping her home would be much less conspicuous than her boss dropping her in a flashy car!

While leaving, she stopped at the door, turned and asked, “Why me?”

He walked up to her and said, “Because it feels like I can depend on you.”

A hint of a smile appeared on her face. She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Everything okay?” Mrinal asked as she waited in his office for the taxi to come. She was completely quiet and looked dazed, barely responding to even Kirti’s questions about when they would be home.

“Yes,” she replied weakly and wondered if she could talk to Mrinal. She didn’t just then. But he was one person who could be trusted to be discreet about all of Siddhartha’s doings.

—

Karishma was surprised at how refreshed she felt in the morning. When she had gone to bed last night, she had expected to remain awake the entire night. After all something so extraordinary had happened last evening. Siddhartha Sen had proposed to her. She couldn’t treat this proposal frivolously. Unlike Soumen, Siddhartha knew his mind. But it wasn’t that simple to accept it either. She respected him professionally and as a boss. He was definitely a dependable man. But was he the right husband for her? And it wasn’t just about her. Kirti? What about her own parents? If she accepted, money would never be a problem for her. But was that enough? Would it stand the test of time? Besides, he may be dependable, but how well considered was his proposal? How much did he know about her? What about her past? Would it be easy to move on? Despite all these questions indulging in a chaotic dance in her mind, she had drifted off to sleep. Something deep inside her must have calmed her mind down. Because in the morning she was feeling quite refreshed and clear. The conversation with Siddhartha wasn’t sounding like a hazy dream as it had last night. It was real. It opened possibilities. The possibilities that may not be realized. But she was ready to explore them.

—

To be continued

“Karishma. Dada has okayed me taking a break for the Europe trip,” Soumen informed her the next day, “I leave in a week. So, we have enough time to wrap up reviewing the proposals we received for our e-commerce site development. Then you can oversee the contracts and initial work until I return, right?”

“Sure. A few more proposals have come over last couple of days.”

“Oh! I hadn’t paid attention.”

“That’s okay. We have enough time to review them all.”

—

Karishma rushed for the meeting with Siddhartha after disconnecting the call. She only had a fifteen minutes slot with him.

“You have reviewed the contract, right? If the legal has okayed it, I can sign right away,” he said as soon as she entered. He looked swamped with work. This was the contract that Soumen would have signed, but since he had left for his trip, it fell to Siddhartha to do that.

“Do you have a few minutes? I’m sorry to bring up issues in the last minute, but it seems important.”

His demeanor changed immediately. He pushed away the papers that were occupying him and concentrated on her. “What is it?”

“I read something about the company we have chosen to go ahead with and it didn’t look right. They seemed to be involved in another project where some Internet security related things had gone really wrong. I didn’t understand all the details; so, I called up a friend of mine who is a techie. I just got off the call with him, and it seems like we need to review the strategy we are adopting here.”

He sighed and leaned back on his chair.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized again, “That it didn’t come up when Soumen was still here. If you don’t have time, we can postpone it until Soumen is back. Or–”

“No. That’s fine. But it needs more time than what we have right now, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Let’s see,” he peered into his laptop screen and said, “There are no lunch meetings. Can we meet in one hour here? We can talk over lunch.”

“Sure.”

“Will you let Mrinal know what should be ordered for you–”

“I am carrying my lunch. No need to order for me.”

“Okay, then. See you.”

—

“I am reading out from my notes and I don’t necessarily understand everything I am saying,” Karishma clarified, “Is any of it making sense to you?”

“It has been so long, but I did have a technical education. Unfortunately, I never used it in my professional life. I can understand something of what is being talked about. But I am in no position to really take a technical decision here. We need somebody else.”

“Shall I speak to someone in IT?”

“No. This is beyond maintaining servers and configuring software. We need someone who understands the fundamentals of Software development. Who did you speak to?”

“A friend.”

“Is he available as a consultant? Or can he recommend someone?”

“I can ask.”

“Do that. I think that’s how we should go about it. Hire someone trusted to handle this technically. Someone who can vet the vendors, their proposals and even their output.”

“Okay.”

Their lunch was still not over. So, some small talk was inevitable.

“How are things with you otherwise?” he asked, “How is your daughter doing?”

“She is doing great. Between her pre-school and the day care center here, I don’t have to worry about her.”

“That’s good. Day care is perhaps one of the best investment we have made on employees.”

“I am not surprised and I wholeheartedly agree.”

“Do you live with your parents?”

“Yeah,” she replied, but her voice was weak now. So, he decided not to ask anything about them.

“How had your discussion with Soumen gone? Did he like the idea of taking a break? Or did you have to force him to?” she asked next.

“He wouldn’t have told me himself. But when I suggested it, he lapped it up.”

She smiled weakly.

“Does that worry you?” he asked.

“For my job? No. I have your assurance.”

“For him?”

“I don’t know. I hope it does him good.”

“I hope so too.”

“I should get going now,” she said as they had finished eating, “I will speak to my friend. But whosoever he recommends, I think someone other than me must interview them before hiring. Who should it be?”

“I will do it.”

“Your calendar is full–”

“You talk to him. I will figure out how to fit it in.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

—

Mrinal came to her with the invitation. “Boss is throwing a party for his staff. It’s a yearly ritual.”

“Oh! That sounds great.” Was she included in his staff? Well perhaps, he had decided to extend it to his brother’s staff and she was the only member there!

“Is it very formal?” she asked.

“Oh no! You can’t expect him to hire a DJ, but it is super informal. You can attend it like you would attend a friend’s party.”

“That’s a relief.”

Mrinal grinned at her.

Soumen was back. He seemed to have benefitted from his break, and he was attending the party too. Although she knew everyone else present there because she had interacted with them on Soumen’s behalf at some point of time or the other, she had been afraid of feeling awkward there. Soumen’s presence, however, gave her confidence. Nobody seemed puzzled to see her there. She managed to mingle well. So, it was a little surprising when at one point of time she found herself alone with Siddhartha. He wasn’t exactly drunk, but his tongue did seem more loose than usual, as he repeatedly asked her if she was enjoying, and if she had had something to eat.

“And is my brother behaving well since his return?”

“Yes, Sir. He never misbehaved with me anyway. But now, he seems to be able to focus on work too.”

“That’s good. That’s good. By the way, let me ask you something. Do you enjoy this job?”

She smiled uncertainly, then said, “I suppose so. Why do you ask?”

“I am not evaluating you. Don’t worry. I really am just having a conversation here.”

“Do you enjoy your job?” That was the best she could think of to deflect him.

He laughed, “You are clever, aren’t you? But I will answer that. Truth be told, sometimes I feel bored, annoyed, fed up. I started running the company because I had decided that as soon as I can, I will relieve Baba of the responsibility. But if that hadn’t been my overriding concern, I might have wanted to do something else.”

“Like what?”

“No, no, no, no. You don’t get all my answers without giving some of yours. I think it’s a given that if you were really choosing a job – let’s say when you had graduated – you wouldn’t have thought of this one. What would you have done if you had a choice back then?”

She thought for a moment and then said, “I think I would have liked to do a post-graduation and then take up teaching.”

He looked at her for a long minute, and she perforce averted her eyes. Then she heard him say, in a low voice, “Me too!”

—

To be continued

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” Siddhartha was at least partly guilty as charged, and he knew it. But he didn’t think his confession would undo the offense. He decided to go the way of acknowledgement without confession and an unconditional apology, “More like, my brother is known to be a lady killer of sorts. But my question came out wrong and I apologize. You don’t love him, I suppose.” Later he would wonder why he was engaging in this chit-chat with her. Was he hoping to intervene on his brother’s behalf? Or was he grabbing on to a rare opportunity of getting to know her?

“I don’t know what love is,” Karishma replied, not wanting to hold onto the offense, and implicitly accepting his apology, “But I can’t depend on him.”

He smiled, “You don’t know what love is? Surely you love your daughter?”

She bit her lips, then said slowly, “I don’t know. But she should always be able to depend on me. And I will do whatever it takes to ensure that. Soumen, understandably, wants to do nothing with me now. But I need this job and I would do–”

“You have your job, Karishma. You can stop worrying about that.”

She inhaled sharply and Siddhartha could almost see tension easing out of her body.

“Thank you,” she was almost choking, “But Soumen?”

“Do you want to continue in the same role?”

“I will do whatever–”

“Whatever I ask you to do. I know that. But are you comfortable with it?”

“I didn’t believe even for a moment that he knew what he was saying. So, I have no difficulties in forgetting that he ever said anything like that.”

That was rather savage towards his brother’s feelings. But instead of feeling bad for Soumen, Siddhartha found himself appreciating Karishma’s clear-headedness.

“At least you don’t hate him.”

She smiled at that, “No. I don’t hate him. In fact, contrary to what I had expected in the beginning, I am quite fond of him. Just not– He is impulsive, young. He is like a younger brother to me.”

It was Siddhartha’s turn to be amused, “You seem to forget that he is the same age as you.”

Karishma flushed, “Of course. I– I am talking more than I should. I apologize.”

He laughed, then said, “I will talk to him. If he is stupid enough to not want you as his assistant, there isn’t any dearth of work in this company for someone who is willing to do it.”

She nodded and averted her eyes. Siddhartha surmised that she had tears in them. He shouldn’t detain her any longer. Because he was feeling a strong urge to hold her in his arms and reassure her that everything will be all right.

“You should take the day off today. You are overwhelmed. Those red eyes tell me you haven’t slept well and it has barely been a week since you recovered from viral. Let me talk to Soumen and we regroup tomorrow. Is that alright?”

She nodded and left with her daughter in tow. But going back home early was of no use. She decided to take Kirti on a day outing instead.

—

“Are you so heartbroken that you don’t intend to come back to work?” Siddhartha had cleared out his afternoon and had gone home hoping to catch his brother there. Soumen was standing in the balcony of his bedroom, looking out into the garden, his expressions blank, a few empty beer bottles strewn about the place and another half-filled one in his hand.

“You know?”

“Karishma was worried about her job. She came to see me.”

“That’s all she cares for. Her fu***ng job.”

“She needs it to take care of her child and to support herself. She should have married you just for money, Sonu. She didn’t. I think you should respect that. She is honest.”

“You are right. And you were also right that she is not my type. She is more your type.”

“What does that mean?” Siddhartha asked sharply.

“I am kidding, Dada. Just that she keeps worrying about things and feeling responsible for them just like you do.”

Siddhartha let out a sigh and came to the point that mattered to Karishma, “Do you have a problem in keeping her on as your assistant?”

“I hadn’t thought about that.”

And that was all Karishma had been thinking about, Siddhartha thought. He stayed silent to allow Soumen to make up his own mind.

“Well, you gave her the job.” Soumen said at last.

“I can give her another one. She has more than proven her worth. But she is good for you. So, I would like her to continue assisting you. But that will work only if you are going to be okay with it.”

“I will be okay, Dada. This entire episode was stupid. I am going to forget about this.”

“Good!”

—

But Soumen was not okay. Siddhartha couldn’t ignore his brother’s moroseness. And his absentmindedness at work. Karishma was, again, bearing disproportionate share of his work.

“How are things going with you?” he asked, finding her alone in the office one evening.

“With me?” she seemed confued by the question, “Everything is fine.”

“I meant with you and Soumen. Or rather between you.”

She gulped hard, “Everything is fine, really. A few things have been delayed, but I – we – are working on catching up. These marketing plans have to be reviewed–”

“Karishma!” he sounded tired, “Stop being so defensive all the time, please.”

She fell silent.

“Look Karishma. I have not come here to demand anything from you. Rather I have some responsibilities. And–” here his voice became dim, “I am asking for your help in discharging them.”

She felt concerned now, “What is bothering you so much?”

“First is this. Tell me very, very honestly, how is Soumen’s behavior towards you. Because if there is anything even slightly inappropriate, in the context of workplace that quickly becomes harassment. And–” What on earth was he doing? Karishma was too terrified of losing her job to think of something like that. Why would he give her ideas? The reason, he acknowledged, was that he had come to put immense trust in this woman. He could reveal his vulnerabilities to her without being taken advantage of.

“Sir,” she interrupted him, “Soumen has been nothing but cordial towards me. You do not have to worry about that. And I assure you that if there is ever a problem, I will come to you first. I won’t go about complaining of harassment. I know that I don’t need to.”

“Thank you,” he said. His trust in her was not misplaced. Now he could be even more vulnerable in front of her. “My second worry is what is going on with my brother. This is partly professional, but largely personal. It seems like he is not doing fine. And at least at work, you would know about it better than I would. So, once again, I need you to tell me honestly, how is he doing? Don’t defend him, if he isn’t doing alright. But if I am worrying unnecessarily, you can tell me that too.”

She looked at him for a long moment; then finally said, “He is not doing well. I’m sorry about this. I don’t know what to do to fix it. He is always nice to me, like I said. So, I have no complaints there. But he himself isn’t doing that well.”

Siddhartha nodded in understanding. His fears were confirmed. For a while they both sat in silence.

“Do you think,” she spoke finally, “that I shouldn’t continue in this role?”

“I don’t know if that is the right thing to do or if it would even help. Besides, I don’t want to impose that decision on him or you. If either of you tells me that that’s what should be done, I will do it. But I really don’t want that to be my decision. So, I am giving you an opportunity now, do you think that’s what should be done?”

“I am not the one suffering, Sir. It really should be Soumen’s decision. What I can assure you is that I won’t take it otherwise and if you give me some time and trust, I will find my footing in whatever other role you decide for me.”

He smiled slightly, “I am sure you will.” Then he stood up to leave, “Thank you, Karishma. I will speak to him and then see how it goes.” Sensing a sign on worry on her face, he added, “Don’t worry. I am not going to tell him that you complained.” She chuckled at that. He had hit the nail on the head. By now, she expected him to.

“Sir!” she stopped him when he was at the door.

“Yes?”

“You may already know this. He had planned a Europe trip with his friends a while back. But since then he had decided against going because of work. If you think it will help him to take a break, perhaps…”

“I knew but had forgotten about his plans. Thanks for reminding me. It may be the thing to do.”

—

To be continued

Soumen looked elated to see her back. That relieved and scared her in equal measure. Did it mean that her job was safe? Or was she headed into some inappropriate, dangerous territory?

“You still look unwell,” Siddhartha commented when he ran into her in Mrinal’s office.

“I was saying the same thing,” Mrinal concurred with his boss.

“I’m fine, Sir,” she replied, “Looks take more time to improve than illness.”

“Take care!”

By late afternoon she felt her fever return. Thankfully, Soumen was not in the office. So, she sneaked out early only to run into Siddhartha.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She flushed, “I wasn’t feeling well.”

He sighed and said, “Look Karishma. I appreciate your dedication to work. But it isn’t a crime to take a few days off to recover from an illness. Your job isn’t going anywhere.”

She flushed even more. Then she smiled nervously and thanked him.

—

“What was the need to rush off to the office when you were still unwell?”

Karishma saw concern in her mother’s question – a concern she was dying to see ever since she had come back to this house.

“I did think I was fine, Mummy. And I came back, didn’t I, when I realized that I wasn’t well?”

“Or you couldn’t stay away from that boss of yours, eh?”

So much for the concern! Karishma looked in the hall and satisfied herself that her daughter was busy playing by herself. Then she told her mother, “Please shut the door, Mummy. I need to sleep.”

She could shed a few silent tears in her bed.

But her mother didn’t leave her until she had shot another arrow, “How did it come to this? Since when did you become a woman for whom her home was not enough? Not her husband’s home? Not her child? Not her parents’ home? How come none of this is enough for you?”

Karishma pretended not to hear her and held her tears until the door was shut.

—

Soumen knocked at Siddhartha’s door after dinner.

“What’s up, Sonu?”

“Dada, are you never going to get married?”

“Why did you suddenly think of that today?”

“Well, I have been wondering about it for long, obviously–”

Siddhartha chuckled, “No. You haven’t been. Let me guess. Do you want to get married?”

“How on earth do you always know?”

Siddhartha started laughing seeing Soumen’s perplexed face.

“Well. You don’t have to wait for me. Your sister didn’t.”

“She is a girl. They can get married in childhood and nobody will blink an eye. Look at Karishma. Marriage, child, divorce – everything done!”

“Who is the girl?”

Soumen sat on a chair opposite Siddhartha nervously.

“Shivani?” Siddhartha prompted.

Soumen shook his head and said, “Please don’t laugh, and don’t get angry.”

“That sounds serious. Come on, now. Who is it?”

“Karishma!”

“What!” It had been easy to know what was on his kid brother’s mind. But even in his wildest dreams Siddhartha couldn’t have guessed who was on his mind. “Why?” he blurted, baffled.

“I like her. She is great.”

“Is it your way of ensuring that she stays your assistant for life? And does all your work?” he was now amused.

“Come on, Dada. Now you are making fun of me.”

“You are serious?”

“Yes.”

“And she has agreed?”

Soumen sank back on his chair, “I haven’t asked.”

“Then that would be the thing to do, won’t it?”

“Dada. I am really confused. And nervous. Should I ask? Would Baba be okay with it? Are you okay with it?”

“The only important question is – Sonu – are you okay with it? Have you really thought this through? She isn’t your type – so to say. She comes from a different world. She has been married, she has a daughter–”

“I know all that, of course.”

“It’s not a small matter.”

“But I want her.”

“If you are so sure, then ask.”

“Thank you, Dada. This is a relief.” He got up to leave, then suddenly hesitated, “But aren’t you ever going to get married?”

“Oh, come off it, Sonu,” he guffawed, “Take care of your life, that should be enough of a worry for you.”

But the smile disappeared from Siddhartha’s face once Soumen left. Karishma in this house as his brother’s wife! That was going to be difficult to put up with. It was bad enough that he had fallen for that chit of a girl who was nothing like them. Now Soumen? He himself wouldn’t act on his feelings. But Soumen would. And what reason did Siddhartha have to stop him?

—

That knock on his office door at seven in the morning annoyed Siddhartha. A couple of times a week, he would arrive in his office as early as five to be able to deal with some of his tasks in peace before meetings took over his life and day. Not many people knew about this practice of his and those who did knew not to disturb him. He ignored the knock. Then a slight screech told him that someone was tentatively pushing the door. He was forced to look up.

“Who the hell—” his words got stuck in his throat when he spotted Karishma’s frail figure behind the door.

“Come in,” he said, his voice now normal, almost soft!

She looked more flustered than she had looked in her first meeting with him. She came in blabbering apologies, “I am sorry. I know you are not to be disturbed now. But your calendar for the day was full. I had to talk to you immediately. Else it may have been too late–”

“Breathe, Karishma. Too late for what? What do you want to talk about?”

“Soumen!” she blurted, and then added as an afterthought, “And me.”

Siddhartha couldn’t help smiling. So, his brother had gone ahead with the proposal after all. But he pushed the responsibility of this conversation on Karishma. What for? Why did Soumen not inform him? And then it dawned on him that Karishma’s nervousness was not a happy one. She was agitated.

“What happened?” he asked, anxiety showing up on his face.

She started pacing the room. Then spoke in one breath, “Last night, out of the blue, he proposed to me. I need you to know that I have never tried to seduce him. I have just been trying to do my job all through. I really can’t afford to lose my job.”

From that Siddhartha could guess the answer, but he asked anyway, “So you refused him?”

“Of course. It was a ridiculous idea.”

“Why ridiculous?”

She started, “You don’t think it is ridiculous?”

Siddhartha paused for a moment before asking, “Did you refuse because you thought I would have objections?”

He noticed her hesitate. Finally, she spoke, “I would have thought of that, of course. Yours and his entire family’s–”

“If that was the case, you needn’t have refused. You can still set it right, I am sure–”

“You didn’t let me complete, Sir. I would have thought of your objections if it came to that. But it never did.”

They were distracted by a soft knock on the door. “Mommy,” a faint voice seemed to call.

“I am sorry. That’s my daughter. It was too early for her pre-school and day care wasn’t yet open–”

“You left her outside, alone? Bring her in.” Siddhartha frowned and Karishma complied immediately, partly relieved, partly worried.

The child looked confused inside the huge office, in front of a stranger. “Say hello,” Karishma nudged her.

“Hello,” she obliged.

“Well, hello,” Siddhartha grinned at her, “How are you doing today?”

“I am doing fine. Thank you,” Kirti replied with a clarity that seemed to take even Karishma by surprise. She still didn’t pronounce Soumen’s name correctly. And here she sounded like an adult. Siddhartha broke into a laughter.

“Very sweet. Why don’t you take a seat?” he said, still grinning.

Kirti looked at his mother. “Say, thank you,” Karishma prompted and she obliged again.

Karishma was happy to see Siddhartha smiling at her daughter. A twinge of guilt raised its head. Was she using her child to win her boss over and save her job? But she stamped it down. Keeping her job was the most important thing. For the same child of hers.

She helped Kirti sit on a chair by a wall, slightly away from where she and Siddhartha were talking, got her busy with a cartoon on her phone, then came back to continue their conversation.

The interruption had cleared Siddhartha’s head a bit.

“Sit down, Karishma,” he said, realizing that she had been standing until then. She slumped rather than sat on a chair.

“Why did you refuse him then?” he asked next.

For the first time since he had met her, he found that he had offended her. “So, if there isn’t anyone else objecting, is it unfathomable that a woman would refuse him? Perhaps you think that it is, especially for someone in my position. It must be foolish and arrogant on my part that a rich, eligible guy should propose to me and I don’t agree at the drop of a hat. Given that I am struggling in my life and money is my biggest problem.”

—

To be continued

“Sorry, I got late. But where is Kirti?” Karishma panicked to see the caretaker at the day care already on her way out. Kirti spent her mornings at the pre-school, but her afternoons were still spent at the day care. Karishma had stepped out to do her grocery shopping before collecting her daughter and leaving for the day. But the checkout queue had been long, and it was well past the closing time of the day care.

“Don’t worry. Your daughter has a rather dedicated and, I must say, expensive caretaker.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is with your boss.”

“Boss?”

“Soumen.”

Karishma rushed to her office and there they were. Soumen was showing some cartoon show to Kirti on his tablet and the child was rolling over with laughter.

“Kirti!” she called her daughter to draw their attention.

“Mommy. Momen Uncle!” Her pronunciation of Soumen’s name made Karishma chuckle. Then she turned apologetically towards Soumen, “I am so sorry. She must have troubled you so much. You needn’t have–”

“Not a problem. She is a sweet kid. A youtube video was all that was needed.”

His expression surprised Karishma to no end. Until a few weeks ago, this guy couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that someone his age could have a kid. And now he was happily playing with her!

“Thanks! But we won’t bother you any longer. And her screen time must be limited. It’s not good for kids.”

“Oh! I am sorry. I didn’t–”

“No, no. It’s fine. A few minutes is fine. Really.” She shifted her shopping bags in one hand and held out the other one to her daughter, “Come on, sweetheart. Time to go home. Say thanks to Soumen Uncle.”

Kirti obliged her by thanking Soumen.

“How will you go?” Soumen looked at the heavy bags in Karishma’s hands and asked.

“What do you mean how? Just like I always go.”

“Let me drop you. The bags are heavy and the child–”

“I do that every week.”

“But I have a car. So why should you–”

“It’s–”

“Kirti will enjoy it. Won’t you, Kirti?”

“Momen Uncle! Red car!” the child smiled broadly.

“Yep. I have a red car. See?”

“No Kirti. It will be a lot of trouble for him. Come on.” Karishma had seen the red car. It was a fancy convertible, meant for racing, not for carrying groceries and kids!

“I will drop you and this is an order,” Soumen said and picked Kirti up. Karishma had no choice but to follow him. She kept protesting, but he wouldn’t heed her.

Once they reached the car he hesitated for a moment. “There is no child seat in it.”

“That’s fine, Soumen. You don’t need to drop us anyway–”

“Never mind. Will she sit in your lap?”

“Yes. But–”

“Let’s put the bags in the boot.”

—

“How come you are attending a meeting without your able assistant?” Siddhartha said jokingly but was really curious about Soumen attending a supplier meeting by himself.

“She is unwell,” he looked distracted.

Siddhartha himself got worried, “What happened?”

“Viral fever. Apparently, there is nothing to worry, but it will take a few days to recover from.”

“Oh! Sorry to hear that.”

The people they were meeting walked in just then and the conversation was interrupted. Siddhartha saw Soumen struggling to concentrate and knew that although he had not planned to, he would have to lead the meeting. Looking at how paralyzed he was in her absence, Soumen was more of an assistant to Karishma than the other way round!

“I thought you had started liking working, Sonu.” Siddhartha told his brother after the meeting.

“I have. I like working.”

“Then if you want to continue doing so, you can’t depend on Karishma all your life. She is here today, she may not be here tomorrow.”

Soumen looked startled, as if the idea had never occurred to him.

“Even if she stays in the company, she needn’t be your assistant all her life,” Siddhartha added.

“I will see you later, Dada.” Soumen rushed off.

—

“Go to your granny, Kirti. You can’t stay with me. You will fall ill,” Karishma’s mother and the visitor she had escorted heard Karishma’s voice at the door of her room.

“There is someone here to meet you,” the old lady announced as she opened the door.

“Soumen!” Karishma sat up in her bed with difficulty.

“Momen Uncle!” Kirti looked excited too.

The name made her mother realize that it was Karishma’s boss. As much as she hated that her daughter was working against her husband’s wishes, she instinctively had a respect for authority. She fetched a chair for Soumen and offered him water. Then she tried to take her granddaughter away. But Kirti didn’t want to go with her and Soumen interrupted, “Let her be, Auntie. She will stay with me.”

Karishma had absent-mindedly answered Soumen’s enquiries until then. She was growing conscious of the shabby state of her parents’ small house. Although they had two rooms, one occupied by her parents and the other by her, both were a severe compromise in the name of a room. With her bed and the chair Soumen had been offered, there wasn’t enough space left even to close the door. An open cupboard was stuffed with all of hers and Kirti’s possessions. Kitchen items were overflowing into the hall, which also housed dirty laundry. It was all visible to Karishma; but her only relief was that Soumen had his back towards the hall. Not that he wouldn’t have seen it on his way in. What on earth was he doing here?

And she blurted the question out.

“I just wanted to check up on you.”

“I am fine. I just have to wait out the viral. How did the meeting go?”

“Fine, I guess. Dada led it.”

“You could have.”

“I couldn’t, without you.”

Something about the way he said kept Karishma tongue-tied. He changed the topic, “Isn’t Kirti at risk of infection.”

“Yes. But my father is ill and my mother has to be by his sick bed all the time. Kirti doesn’t like it in their room.”

“I could take her to the day care, or pre-school if there is still time.”

“No. Why would you–” It was all getting too much for Karishma. After dropping her home for the first time, he seemed to have figured out that she did her grocery shopping every Wednesday and he would always insist on dropping her home on those days. He spent too much time with Kirti and the child was getting a bit too fond of her Momen Uncle and his red car. It now also sported a child seat. He would normally store the child seat in his boot, but it always came back on Wednesday evenings.

“It isn’t a problem for me and she would be safer there, won’t she? I will drop her back in the evening. On time.”

He was right about that. She would be safer there. Karishma relented and had her mother pack Kirti’s food and toys. But would he come every day and do this?

He did! And while his first visit didn’t seem to have bothered her mother, subsequent ones weren’t as acceptable. She as polite while he was there, but her questioning gaze and sly taunts got on Karishma’s nerves.

Fed up with the tyranny of Soumen’s inexplicable kindness and her mother’s taunts, Karishma tore herself out of the bed before she should have and made her way to the office four days later.

—

To be continued

“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

“Does Karishma need to be in the meeting?” Siddhartha asked, sounding casual, but as far as Soumen was concerned, Siddhartha’s eyes were penetrating through his very soul.

Seeing her boss tongue-tied, Karishma had to come up with an excuse, “Soumen thought I could take notes. It will help him.”

“Right!” Soumen mumbled his agreement.

‘She doesn’t call him Sir,’ Siddhartha made a mental note of that without intending to. “Alright,” he said outwardly, “Let’s get started. First the broad feedback. When you are reviewing a contract, remember that your job is to review the business terms. What can we commit to, what must we ask the other party to commit to. All with a view to what is best for our business. Is that clear?”

His audience of two nodded in unison.

“So, you can leave the grammatical issues aside. The legal team will take care of it before finalizing.”

Karishma went red in face, while Soumen continued to nod. Just another confirmation of what Siddhartha had assumed was going on.

“I think we can now go over the individual contracts you have already reviewed and see which of your comments were valid and which were not. This last one, for example, you correctly pointed out that we had missed the crucial clause against them poaching our customers when the customer details are handed over to them. Given that it is a contract for logistics, this is a very real possibility. So, good work there.”

“Thanks, Dada.”

“But look at this other one. It is for design services. You have mentioned that there is no punitive clause. Why do you think we need it?”

Soumen wasn’t forthcoming; so Karishma had to speak again, “Weren’t you comparing it with other contracts, Soumen? They all had punitive clauses.”

“Yes. All other contracts had this.”

“Okay. But this is different from most other contracts you saw. In a manufacturing contract defects are easily defined, and hence punitive clause can be invoked to cover the damages. But this is for a creative service. The definition of a defect will always be contentious. Besides, if the output of manufacturing is defective, we can ask for another in place of it. But in case of creative service, you either hit it off, or you don’t. At least that’s how I think of them. So, instead of a punitive clause, which won’t solve our problem, and whose conditions will anyway be contentious, we should look at introducing a clause that helps us cut our losses early on. That’s why, if you see, the milestones are defined very minutely in the appendix and a percentage of payment due is specified at each milestone. We also have the right to stop the project at any milestone. If things aren’t going well we would just stop it at the earliest one and cut our losses.”

Karishma took notes furiously for next half an hour, as Siddhartha took them through all eight contracts she had reviewed.

—

After Soumen and Karishma left, Siddhartha leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. There was no denying the situation. His brother hadn’t lifted even a finger. It was his assistant doing all the work. What made her do that? The desperation to keep her job? The real surprise for him wasn’t that she did it, but that she hadn’t done a bad job for someone completely inexperienced. He wouldn’t have expected his brother to do as well.

But what was he to do about this situation? He had wanted his brother to work; he had no interest in Karishma’s abilities. But now that her potential was staring at him in face, could he just ignore it? A knock at the door brought him out of his reverie. It was Mrinal reminding him of his next appointment.

—

“I have no idea if I am mad or glad about what you did,” Soumen told Karishma once they came out of Siddhartha’s office.

“You were never around. I did it in desperation.”

“What desperation?”

Karishma bit her lips. “Never mind. What do you want to do from now on?”

Her ‘never mind’ put him in a foul mood. “I suppose I am mad after all. I don’t know what I want to do from now on. But I would prefer not to be blindsided,” he said and walked off.

Karishma grinded her teeth to keep herself from retorting. Her job was a dead end from day one, and it didn’t look like she would be able to do much to keep it. Who will fire her? Soumen or Siddhartha?

She looked at her watch. There was nothing for her to do right now. These brothers would do whatever they do. Keep her or fire her. Right now, she had the luxury of her daughter being there at the company day care. And the misfortune of her falling ill. So, she might as well spend some time there.

—

“Karishma,” Soumen found her in the sick room attached to the day-care. The child in her lap started crying.

“Please wait,” Karishma looked up pleadingly, “I just need to put her to sleep.”

He nodded and stepped out.

“I am sorry,” she came out after ten minutes, looking flustered, “It was—It was still lunchtime. So, I thought I would—I’m really sorry. Did you need something?”

“It’s okay. I am not here to—You said your daughter is unwell?”

“That’s not a problem. The staff here will take care of her. I just—I just thought I had time. So—You have some work for me?”

“There is a small project that Dada wants me to get involved in. He wants to promote hand-made things – clothes mostly – from rural women’s collectives with our brand. He wants me to look after the supply chain and logistics.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I am not sure.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just so—so boring. I don’t want to do it.”

“Well, couldn’t you ask him for something that you would enjoy doing?”

“I know what he will say to that.”

“What?”

“That I need to prove myself first.”

And he didn’t want to do that! There was no surprise there, but Karishma had to bite her lips. Soumen was definitely not in a mood to hear a lecture on his privileges. At least, he had recovered from the foul mood he was in since that meeting with Siddhartha in the morning and was now talking to her again.

—

“Vikram called,” Karishma’s mother informed her, “He’s really upset at how you are behaving.”

Karishma remained silent as she stirred the noodles she was making for Kirti.

“He is right to be upset. Since when have you become so selfish, Karishma? Are you not thinking of anybody else? Is this what I raised you to become?”

Silence!

“Which couple in the world doesn’t fight? Does Kirti not need her father? He misses the child.”

Silence!

She was living under her parents’ roof. If her mother wanted, she could turn her out of the house. But despite her inability to understand how irredeemable her daughter’s marriage was, she wasn’t going to do that to her. Having satisfied herself of that, Karishma had given up on making her parents – mostly her mother – understand anything. Struggling with his debilitating illness, her father hardly seemed to be a party to the discussions anymore. If her boss worked more, Karishma would have happily stayed longer at office. Just to avoid this mother-daughter bonding session every evening. Perhaps she could start staying on late anyway. So long as she packed enough food and toys for Kirti, what was waiting at home for them except a bed to sleep in.

—

To be continued

“Vikram doesn’t want you working,” her mother said, as if informing her of something new.

“Vikram doesn’t want my daughter alive. What do you advise?”

“A man can lose his temper once in a while. You are supposed to keep this together. But you are hell bent on being stupid, running away from your marriage.”

This wasn’t the first time it had come up. This won’t be the last. But she now had a difficult job to worry about. She wouldn’t spend any more energy on this. She took a decision of not opening her mouth ever again. Before going to bed, she locked herself in the bathroom and cried her frustration out. Then she washed her face and waited until it no longer looked puffed. By the time she went to Kirti – her daughter – to put her to bed, there were no signs of tears left on her face.

—

Siddhartha went over to Neela’s place to pick her up for dinner. But as soon as she entered the car, he knew he wasn’t looking forward to this date. She had sounded interesting when he had first met her. She had talked a lot. And she had a lot to talk about too. But now he realized that it was enough only for one meeting. She never seemed to remember that she had told him a story or talked about a particularly curious opinion of hers on an obscure issue almost every time they had met. Besides, she believed in speaking instead of having a conversation. There was never any time or space for him to talk. And he wasn’t the kind who would talk unless the other person really seemed interested.

Perhaps, he thought as he drove, it was time to admit that he would never have a meaningful relationship. Perhaps the fault was not in the women he met, but in himself. Perhaps he was looking for impossible in a life partner when he didn’t have anything special to offer. Perhaps he should just find a good escort service to take care of his physical needs once in a while and forget about dating and relationships forever. He was getting too old for all this.

His state of mind didn’t matter as Neela continued to talk through dinner. That was expected. The surprising part was when he dropped her back and decided to announce his intention to break up.

“It’s me, really, Neela. I just don’t have time and energy for a relationship right now and it will be unfair–”

“it’s okay, Sid. You don’t need to soften the blow. I expected it.”

“Really?”

She smiled, looking sad, but speaking with ease, “Your reputation precedes you. It had to happen. I am alright.”

“What reputation?”

She chuckled, “That you are commitment-phobic. Anyway, let’s not drag this out. I do hope we can keep in touch. I don’t have any hard feelings.”

“Of course,” he replied, relieved that it had been so quick and easy, “We will keep in touch.”

Reputation? He had a reputation for being commitment-phobic? Is that what he was then? Not someone waiting for the right woman, but just commitment-phobic?

He wasn’t going to keep in touch in any case.

—

Mrinal called Karishma. Siddhartha had sent a contract to Soumen to be reviewed. He wanted it back.

“Was it a soft copy?” she asked.

“No. A hard copy. Must be in his drawer.”

“Okay. I will check it. By when does he want it?”

“Yesterday?” Mrinal chuckled, “I don’t think Soumen would have done any review, and I don’t think Siddhartha is expecting him to. But he keeps pretending that his brother is involved and perhaps hopes that by pretending he would be able to turn it into a reality.”

Karishma knew that Mrinal didn’t mean any harm. He was only jocularly stating what was the truth. But she felt her anger surge. She needed this job. And if her boss was delinquent, she couldn’t possibly have it for long. Mrinal’s joke didn’t sit well with her. She put a lid on her annoyance though and said, “I will see where it is.”

She opened Soumen’s drawer and had no difficulty in locating the contract. The drawer was empty save for those sheets of paper. She picked them up and flipped through them. Soumen hadn’t disappointed anyone. There were no comments anywhere on the contract. It was as clean as a freshly printed one would be.

She picked up the sheets, brought them to her office and threw them on her desk. After staring at them blankly for a moment, she sat down, picked them up and started reading through them.

—

It was a week before Siddhartha could catch Soumen at home during dinner. Sunidhi and their father were there too. He decided to use the opportunity to drop the bomb.

“Sonu,” he addressed Soumen by his pet name, “You have done well reviewing the contracts I have been sending your way recently.”

It didn’t take Siddhartha’s extraordinary skills at reading body language to see that Soumen was startled and confused.

“What are you saying, Dada?”

“I am serious. Your assistant sent those contracts back to me with your comments. You have even marked out grammatical errors in them. That’s some attention to detail. I didn’t think you had it in you. You have surprised me.”

“Oh! Right. Thanks, Dada,” Soumen didn’t want to own up before his father that he was getting praised for something he had no clue about.

“However, you would do better by focusing on the business terms rather than all the little spelling and grammar issues. There are other people to take care of that. If you could sit with me tomorrow, I would go over them with you and that should help you understand.”

Now he was really trapped. But also, curious. So, he agreed.

“I have some time at 11.30 tomorrow morning. I am blocking the calendar for you.”

“Okay, Dada.”

—

At eleven o’ clock, Soumen grew frantic. Karishma was nowhere in sight. And whatever review had gone back to Siddhartha could only be her doing. If he couldn’t talk to her before his meeting with Siddhartha, he would certainly be exposed. He didn’t want that. It had felt good to be praised by his elder brother who had always been too good to be measured up to. He regretted never noting down his assistant’s mobile number. But he hadn’t thought he would ever care.

“Where were you?” he demanded when Karishma walked in five minutes later.

“I.. I just– Did you need something?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in office by 9 ‘o clock?”

“You are never here,” she retorted.

“So what? Are you not supposed to be at work by nine? Why weren’t you? Today I actually needed something and you weren’t here.”

Karishma took a deep breath before replying in a clipped voice, “I was here at nine. But my daughter, whom I leave in the company’s day care, had fallen sick. So, I had to go and see her. I was away for barely fifteen minutes.”

“Your daughter? You have a daughter?”

“Yes.”

“But we are the same age. How can you have a daughter?”

Karishma was getting angrier by the moment. But snapping at Soumen was not an option. This spoiled brat had power over her. She grinded her teeth and spoke with as much calm as she could muster, “What did you need?”

“Right,” he seemed to need a moment to gather his thoughts together. Then he spoke, “Dada had sent some contracts to be reviewed.”

“Eight of them.”

“And he received them back, reviewed. Who reviewed them? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”

Karishma went pale. “Was it–” she gulped, “Bad? Is he angry?”

“No. Apparently it was pretty good and detailed. But who on earth did it? He now wants to discuss those with me and I have no idea what was in them.”

She sighed and opened her drawer. “These are the photocopies of reviewed contracts. You can go through them.”

“You did the review?”

She didn’t respond.

“Of course! You were the nerdy kind even in college, weren’t you? I am sure you enjoy reading pages after pages. But how am I supposed to figure out what was in eight of them in next–” he looked at his watch, “twenty minutes?”

“Shall I explain?”

“Yes.”

When it was time he asked her to accompany him to the meeting. Nervously, she followed him.

—

To be continued

“Mr. Sen?”

Siddhartha’s one unfailing strength was his ability to accurately read people’s body language. And this woman’s tone and posture conveyed that she was utterly distracted and confused. Although this friend of Sunidhi’s – his baby sister – had taken him by surprise since she appeared so different from his flamboyant, flippant sister, her uncertain demeanor put him right back in the foul mood he had been in since his sister had started pestering him for this meeting.

“Dada! Karishma was a brilliant student and she is in need of a job now. Can’t you do this to oblige me? Just a little bit?”

What did the spoilt brat think a job involved? What job could he give to a woman who had graduated six years ago and hadn’t held any job in all these years. She would neither have the keenness and enthusiasm of a fresher, nor experience of years.

But Sunidhi wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Siddhartha took another long look at Karishma and couldn’t help wondering if his sister was really friends with this plain-looking nervous creature. She didn’t look to be one of Sunidhi’s circle at all.

At last, when he found her fidgeting growing more uncomfortable in his silence, he spoke, “Yes. Ms. Gupta, I presume?”

She looked even more confused for a moment, then seemed to gather her act together. She came forward and shook his hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Sir.”

‘Sir’ always made Siddhartha flinch. He would have told her to call him by name, but what was the point? He wasn’t really going to offer her a job and perhaps would never see her again.

“How can I help you?”

“As you perhaps know, Mr. Sen, that I am looking for a job. Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t try to approach someone at your level for this, because it is an entry-level job we are talking about. But since I am looking for it 6-years too late by conventional standards, I get filtered out in the regular recruitment channels. Somebody needs to take an unconventional decision to give me a chance. And a person at a lower level can’t take such a decision. That’s why I grabbed the opportunity of taking Sunidhi’s help in meeting you despite knowing how unusual it is.”

Siddhartha found himself listening intently. The annoyance her initial demeanor had produced disappeared. At the very least, this young woman was far more sensible than his own sister.

“And why do you think I will take that unusual decision?” he asked.

She sighed, “Perhaps only because Sunidhi insisted that you should help me. But you will not be disappointed. It has been difficult for me to prove that I deserve a job. But I definitely need it. Which means that I would do anything to keep it.”

At this Siddhartha flipped through her short resume for the first time since Sunidhi had handed it to him. Her academic record was enviable.

“Why are you looking for a job after six years of graduating?”

She hesitated for a moment, but then decided to speak, “I will answer that honestly. But please know that I am not saying it to gain sympathy. Only that lying is unlikely to get me anywhere. I have come out of a six-year old abusive marriage just now. I have a daughter. My father is too ill to work or support us. I have to take care of myself and my daughter.”

A thousand questions popped up in Siddhartha’s head. But he refrained from asking them. She had obviously revealed something she wasn’t comfortable talking about. It would be inappropriate and cruel to dig more into her story.

But what job could he offer her?

“My brother needs an assistant,” he blurted before thinking it through. Soumen was no better than his twin Sunidhi when it came to taking responsibilities. But with the privilege and expectation parents tend to accord to a male child, their father really wanted Siddhartha to ensure that he got involved in the business. And Siddhartha had not been able to even make him stay in the office for any length of time, much less do any work. What would Soumen need an assistant for? From where did the idea even enter into Siddhartha’s head? And then he realized that he had just asked one of Soumen’s batchmates to be his assistant. One who had done so much better than him in academics. Damn!

But Karishma didn’t look offended. “Would you give me that job?” she asked, looking hopeful.

“I would, but I am afraid it isn’t going to be an easy job. Before assisting him, you would have to make him work.”

She seemed uncertain, as anyone would be, but what she said confirmed her desperation for a job, “I would do whatever it takes.”

“Okay then. Please wait at the reception. I will ask my assistant Mrinal to coordinate with you and take care of all the formalities.”

She nodded, and got up, but continued to linger instead of leaving.

“Yes?”

“There is something else I was hoping to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“Salary,” she replied quickly, “I would need at least–”

“Entry level positions come with nothing above 25k a month–”

“That would do!”

Siddhartha chided himself. Had he just blurted the upper limit in a negotiation situation, instead of starting at the lowest he thought he could get away with? How on earth did he commit such a blunder? But he calmed himself down. This girl making a few thousands extra was not going to sink his company. He would make sure he didn’t lose his mojo in the negotiations that really mattered!

“Please wait outside at the reception.”

“Yes Sir.”

Damn! He hadn’t asked her to call him by name.

—

Mrinal had helped her with the formalities of joining, given her an orientation to the company and explained the role of the assistants. But he had a puzzled look on his face throughout.

“When do I meet my boss?” Karishma asked in the afternoon, after all of this was done.

He sighed and gave voice to what was puzzling him, “That’s what I don’t know. I hardly see him in the office. Siddhartha keeps trying to get him interested in the business. But he doesn’t seem to care. It isn’t my place to say anything more about Soumen, but I have no clue what your job is.”

Karishma gulped hard. So that’s what Siddhartha had warned her about. He had obliged his sister by offering her a job, but perhaps it was one she wasn’t supposed to survive.

She had to try though.

“He doesn’t know he has a new assistant, does he?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Could you introduce me to him at least? Over phone?”

“I will try calling him.”

To both their surprise, when Soumen heard that he had been assigned an assistant, he said he would come to the office right away. He did, saw Karishma, uttered a disappointed ‘Oh!’ and then left after saying hello.

Mrinal’s ashen face confirmed Karishma’s suspicion of what had happened. Soumen had made this trip to the office in the hopes of seeing a ‘hot secretary’ and Karishma wasn’t exactly that. Humiliating as it was she couldn’t help wondering if she would have had a better chance in succeeding at the job if she was what Soumen came looking for and hence could have held his attention for a while at least.

“Before assisting him, you would have to make him work,” Siddhartha had said. But how on earth was she supposed to do that if he won’t even grace the office with his presence?

—

To be continued