The next day when Sikha reached the office in her casuals, ironically she felt a little uncomfortable in that comfortable attire. Maybe years of conditioning always have a deep impact on human behavior and Sikha was no different. She loved donning formal attire to work. But as they say, change is the only constant in life, so she had to embrace this change that had suddenly hit her life. She had paired her denim with a black T-shirt and was still trying to feel normal wearing it in the office setup.
Mr. Iyer called her up into his cabin. The introductory briefing of the project to Sikha took about twenty-odd minutes and by the end of it, she had understood that their client was a keen entrepreneur who had excellent style statements and they wanted to foray into the competitive apparel industry.
“They certainly are new in the market but they have potential and the best part is they are ready to spend! And that makes us interested. You will have to design a marketing strategy with your team and then get it approved by the finance team headed by Manav as he will be the sole point of contact wrt. monetary allocation from the client.”
“What? Manav!! No way !!” Sikha was stunned.
“Is that a problem? But why?” asked a confused Mr. Iyer with his specs on his almost bald head.
“Yes, what is the issue?” asked a voice from behind.
As Sikha turned behind, she saw Manav entering the cabin with a hint of a sarcastic smile on his face.
She kept her lips pursed though she wanted to scream at that moment.
“Sikha, what is the issue? You can design a great plan but unless and until it fits the budget provided by the client. it won’t work! We have to generate revenue for ourselves too. It is a lot of number crunching.”
“ I understand boss. No there is no problem.”
“You can call me Mr. Iyer, Sikha. No boss and all!”
“Yes, boss … err… Mr. Iyer!”
“So, Manav, you can just take her through the rest of the details. I have to leave, you know about that deal I spoke about. I have a meeting with the directors post lunch. I am sure Sikha will do a great job. I will meet you both soon then.” Mr. Iyer left his cabin in a hurry while handling multiple calls on his cell phone.
An uncomfortable silence prevailed in the room. Sometimes silence can be deafening and time seems to pause.
Manav, dressed in white trousers and a lime green cotton shirt looked elegantly pleasant and Sikha was trying hard to keep her breath under control. She was certainly not herself when it came to Manav and he too could feel the same. And this gave Manav a high.
“ So, as Mr. Iyer said let me brief you on the rest portion of the project.”
“I will read through the entire presentation and come back to you if there is any doubt. You can mail me the approved budget structure for this project. That will help me better.”
“ Ahhh. So you will do it alone. Like every time. Han !”. A hint of irritation was visible in Manav’s voice.
Sikha kept quiet.
“ That is great because that means I can leave office early. Anyways, I have a date this evening” Manav said keeping his gaze fixed on Sikha.
As Sikha suddenly looked up, their eyes met and it seemed as if both the past and present times met a collision. Both individuals stood there as if frozen in time.
Sikha silently picked up her laptop and walked out of the room without saying a word.
*****
Later in the night, when Sikha finished cleaning her kitchen, the entire day flashed in front of her She decided to sleep early tonight so that it became easier on her part to bear all this. After all, this had to be a routine affair till she works in this firm.
Sleep eluded her that night and all she could do was toss and turn in her bed. After a while, she picked up her phone and logged into the dating app which she had not touched for a long time, and swiped right and matched with a lot of profiles.
‘Date! Well certainly anyone can date. In fact, all singles should date. Why the hell was I away from it? And what does he think? I can not have anyone in my life. I will too, Manav!’, Sikha thought to herself as she struggled through the sleepless night.
PS: To be continued.
This blog post is written for #BlogchatterA2Z2023
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Love,
Chinmayee
Chinmayee's Creations 
Good girl, SIkha. Go out and explore. Show Manan what you’re made of
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Sikha really gets affected by Manav, doesn’t she? Time she went on a date with someone new! Good!
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really, badly want to know their history!!!
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