Nikhil had joined work last year in a position that no one knew existed. And no one except HR knew about what Nikhil did exactly. He would come to the office and after dumping his bag on his desk would literally spend an hour in the pantry taking his coffee slowly and chatting with every female employee possible.

Then, he would rotate his chair towards a corner and put his face inside the laptop for a long time. And the expression on his face would be as if he is saving the company from going bankrupt! No one had ever seen him prepare any presentations or make any recommendations while others were giving presentations, but he would be present in the conference room without fail with the same serious look.

He would often lean over Mr, Rajat the MD, and make some suggestions. And suddenly after listening to his whispers, eyebrows of Mr. Rajat would go up making his face look extremely difficult. Only, God knew what effect  Nikhil’s suggestions had on him.

Nikhil would always seem busy. He had mastered the art of pretending to be busy without any valid business ! And once, when one of the teammates had mocked him saying that Nikhil seemed glued to his laptop without any concrete output, Nikhil had almost threatened to kill him!

Sikha had never liked Nikhil. Neither his mannerisms nor his existence in office. And yet, Nikhil would never leave a chance to flirt with Sikha with his cheap comments.  The moment Nikhil came near her, Shikha would feel as if her skin would peel off, an uncanny feeling surrounded her the moment, Nikhil came an inch closer to her.

“Sikha madam, did you hear what the boss said? Iska matlab be ready to pack your bags, ready to leave this company madam. Did you understand?” He had said that day to Sikha after her presentation when Mr, Rajat, the MD of the company had warned Sikha.   

 Just when Sikha was about to answer him…

Triiinnnggg Triiinnnggg… the phone rang!

“Nikhil, answer the phone”, Mr. Rajat had commanded with a fear factor in his voice.

Nikhil picked up the receiver of the phone and listened to it silently. His face changed expressions, and no one knew what he truly felt.

“What is it about, Nikhil?”, Mr. Rajat asked.

“The deal went through. The one that Sikha proposed, has been appreciated. They are going to allocate the model to us for sole distribution both in metros and in B-town cities. They have made it exclusive for us. They are ready to rework the budget as well.” Nikhil answered without any expression in his voice.

“Really!!” Mr. Rajat had almost jumped from his seat. “This is huge! Exclusivity will make our market share boom! Well done, Sikha! I knew you had it in you, I knew it.”

 Sikha’s heart was beating faster than ever! This was huge and all she could say was, “Nikhil, Iska matlab samjhao na, bag pack karu kya … par kiska ?mera ya tumhara?”

( Sikha asked Nikhil ” Please explain me the meaning na , whose bag should I pack ? Yours or mine?”)

  Everyone else except Nikhil burst out laughing!

PS: To be continued.

This blog post is written for #BlogchatterA2Z2023

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Love,

Chinmayee