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35. Raging Wars
Two days later, two consecutive meetings had been scheduled for us.
There was an old client of Innodea who had called on us again to do some rooms for them. On the same day, we had to be at ARK since the work was supposed to begin today. The meeting with the old client was set for the morning from where Vyan and I would rush to ARK.
In the restaurant, the meeting with the old client went well since we were already aware of his preferences. We were free in just a little more than an hour with one cup of coffee but as the client left, satisfied as he was, Vyan thought we could do fine with another cup of coffee.
"We need to get to ARK, Vyan." I reminded him when he tried to insist that we stay even after I had refused. I knew where he was coming from but since I wanted to reach for the next meeting on time and not get into a sour mood, or spoil Vyan's mood, by talking about us, I kept away from that discussion.
"Alright! Don't be so cross. Let's go." He immediately got up and led the way outside. I huffed and followed him.
The day had begun just fine for me but it had started to sour up. It made me wonder what lay ahead for me in this day.
The drive to ARK was more or less silent. I was wrapped in my own thoughts, which Vyan probably noticed and did not attempt to make any small talk. When he parked the car and I got out, he stopped me from going inside.
"Is anything troubling you?" He asked in a voice which was only concerned for me. Even though it strengthened my doubt over his feelings towards me, a larger part of me felt mortified at being so rude to him. He was not at fault for all that I was thinking, so he was not the rightful receiver of my bitter mood.
In that instant, I decided not to let Vyan suffer due to my confusions. I took a deep breath and released it with a smile to Vyan. "No, I was just worrying over this work." I pointed a thumb towards the building of ARK.
"Well, that's something to be worrying about!" He exclaimed as we started walking inside.
Beginning today, Vyan and I were supposed to supervise the skilled workers Innodea had assigned to work for ARK who would be working on the ninth floor of the same building. On reaching the ninth floor, we took a quick tour of what was happening and gave some quick instructions to the workers before we were met with Mr. Smith. He had just inspected the progress of the work and told us to contact him if need be, before he went away.
As we watched the workers go about cleaning the walls to prepare for the prime coat of paints, Vyan and I perched on the steel railing which bordered the open area on this floor from where the main working area of the eighth floor was visible. I observed the employees working on the floor below. There seemed to be a fun atmosphere as a couple of people gathered around one person who seemed to be telling a joke, which all the others laughed at.
I saw a man briskly walking towards the entrance doors as he turned his head and loudly said something to a coworker before he collided with someone who had just been entering with his eyes fixed on his phone. The whole atmosphere of the room swiftly changed to a stunned silence as the boss, namely, Maan Singh Khurana glared at the man who had just collided with him and been the cause of the clattering sound made by his phone falling on the floor. I heard Vyan saying something to me which I did not pay any attention to because I was stunned too, at the unveiling of this side of Maan. Mr. Smith had said they were not expecting Maan at ARK today so the office employees had all been relaxed. Now was a different scene altogether as they scurried away and tried to look like they had been working diligently.
Vyan, seeing me riveted by something on the floor below, turned his head to see what it was. "Oh! Do you see the way he's glaring at the poor guy? See, I told you about it." I raised my eyes to Vyan before silently looking back to the angry boss, to whom the man had just apologised profusely after picking his phone up and handing it to him, before rushing out of his range. My, oh my! Was it really happening? It was almost unbelievable to me, except that the very next moment, Maan looked straight at me. The same anger which he had showed to his employee now felt directed towards me and it made me want to wonder if I had done something wrong. I was almost going to ask the question from Vyan when, all of a sudden, Maan abruptly looked away and went straight into his office cabin.
I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding since the commotion on the eighth floor came to an abrupt end. Not five minutes later, Mr. Smith came rushing towards us and instructed us that his boss was going to come and take a look at the progress so we better be prepared with an oral report of sorts.
"What are we going to tell him?" Vyan looked at me with uncertainty. Somehow, it gave me the confidence of taking charge and believing I could face The MSK, unlike how I had felt a couple of minutes ago.
"The truth. The work just started today and there isn't much to tell. He can't be expecting everything to be done today, so relax." I turned away from Vyan and observed what the workers were doing. I inwardly goaded myself that it was no big deal to report to Maan and the anger which I had seen in his eyes was a leftover of the incident, and not for me.
When Maan stepped out of the lift, looking as spotless as always in his business suit, hair gelled away from his forehead, shoes polished to perfection, his face wore a very professional mask. There was no trace of any kind of emotion on his face or in his eyes. What gave me the courage to step forward and shake his hand when he extended it was the way he nodded slightly in greeting with a hint of a forced smile. If he could act professional, so would I.
"So what is the progress?" He questioned as he took a look around the room.
Vyan answered him, briefing what had been done and what would be covered during the course of this day.
"Are you two going to stay here to supervise?"
Since the question was directed at me, I spoke up. "Most of the times, except for small breaks for lunch or if we have any other meetings."
"I see." He said curtly as his eyes wandered around the room again. "And what guarantee do you give of this work being done to perfection in your absence, Ms. Handa? Don't you think you should put complete attention towards one of the biggest contracts your company has ever received rather than leaving it at the mercy of the workers who may or may not understand the importance of this work?"
This time when he met my eyes, there was a fierceness in them as compared to the flash of anger in mine. What did he think he was?
"Mr. Khurana." I spoke in a hard voice. "Innodea and every single person associated with it promises to deliver quality work to perfection. You can bear no loss in knowing that anything which ends up even a millimetre short of perfection in the presence or absence of the supervisors will be compensated by Innodea, and nothing will be charged to ARK for that." I knew both the men were taken aback by my heated speech so I half-smiled. "Besides, you and I know that you settle for nothing but the best and that is exactly the reason you chose Innodea to do you office interiors."
Priceless. The look on Maan's face was priceless. At that moment, nothing could have given me the satisfaction I got from seeing the eyes widened and mouth gaping, if only for a second, before he got into his own puffed up self.
"Well." He cleared his throat. "I believe in actions and their outcomes rather than a few spoken words and measly promises. Give me an outcome and you have my trust."
"Be assured, Mr. Khurana," Vyan spoke in a calm voice and I let him because I could feel anger simmering within me, "we will live up to every promise we make to your firm."
"Hmm. I expect nothing less." Not a moment later, Maan's phone rang which he pulled out, answered and began walking back towards the lift as he talked.
"What is wrong with you, Geet?" I looked at Vyan, who spoke only after the doors of the lift had closed. "Why are you getting so angry?"
By his voice, I knew he was frustrated and at the same time, baffled. His question resounded within me. Why was I getting so angry? It was never like me to get worked up and retort like I had answered Maan, today as well as in the previous meeting. The presence of Maan and his overbearing attitude was what made me react strongly. But, why should it bother me at all?
"Geet?"
"Nothing, Vyan."
A worker called for our attention on a matter which kept us occupied long enough for me to come out of my sour mood. It was lunchtime and Vyan and I decided to eat in the cafeteria on the floor below rather than going out of the office. We found a corner table where we sat with the work plan spread out in front of us as we ate our sandwiches.
"So, if things go by as planned, we will be done with this project within two weeks."
"Hmm."
"Maybe Khurana is right."
"About what?" I looked up at him as I dusted the breadcrumbs off my fingers.
"That we should concentrate solely on his work before getting on with anything else." I just raised my eyebrows. "Look, if we focus only on ARK at first, we'll be done in about seven to ten days. We won't have to stay here longer than that and Khurana will be satisfied too, and maybe a little less difficult to deal with."
I nodded. "What about our other clients and commitments?"
"They'll be more understanding than the hot-minded MSK." I snorted. "And tell me honestly, will you be able to really give your best to them when your mind will be stuck here with Khurana?"
My eyes flew up to him. "What do you mean?" I asked sharply which made him rephrase.
"I mean, he chews your head out whenever you meet him and then you're so irritable that you don't even talk straight." I cocked an eyebrow. "Unless sense comes back to you."
I rolled my eyes with a slight chuckle. A look at the time made me tell Vyan that we must be getting back to work.
"I want some tea." He wrinkled his nose, reminding me of what had happened in the morning.
"Okay, you go back and I'll bring tea for both of us." He tried to protest but I held my hand up. "No objections, alright? Consider it a compensation for depriving you of your precious coffee in the morning."
He laughed as he got up and gathered the papers on the table. "I'm going then. Come soon."
I went to the counter, from where I discovered that getting tea or coffee was a self service and the machine was in the pantry. After inquiring about where it was, I made my way to the pantry. The room was small and smelled of fresh paint. There was only one counter which held the electric kettle, the coffee maker, disposable cups and the tea-bags. I quickly set about making tea for both of us when I heard someone behind me.
Assuming it was Vyan who had gotten impatient and come looking for me, I spoke without turning. "I was just going to bring the tea, Vyan. You didn't have to come."
Contrary to my expectation, he did not answer me. It was unlike him, I thought just when I felt some movement behind me accompanied by a whiff of a strong perfume, which made me turn.
"Oh." A gasp left my mouth as I suddenly felt crowded in the small space by his huge body.
"Expecting someone else, weren't you?" Maan spoke in a controlled voice.
"Yes, actually." I stammered for a second before gaining control and backing away a bit. "I thought it was Vyan."
"Hmm," was his short reply as he leaned against the counter while I dipped the tea-bags.
It felt awkward to me to have him standing there just looking at what I was doing. "You want something? Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?" I said to ward off the strange feeling as I looked at him.
"No, thank you. You carry on with making it for your boyfriend."
This was the second time he had called Vyan my boyfriend and I couldn't stay shut now.
"What makes you think he is my boyfriend?" In response to my question, he just gave me a look which said it was a stupid question. "No, really. I am curious to know."
"I am not as oblivious as you think me to be. I have eyes that see all those lunch-outings, sometimes brunches, those drives together and maybe even dinner dates." Everything he had mentioned in a matter-of-factly voice was true, except that there was no romantic affiliation towards it all like he was portraying. "You might be an expert in pretending ignorance towards what's happening around you, not me."
"What do you want to say?" I asked bluntly. I had a doubt that he had seen Vyan and me together in the restaurant this morning.
"The truth." He shrugged as if his words had not been biting.
"You think if I don't talk about it, and if I don't go about taunting people, then I pretend ignorance?" I kept my voice tightly controlled. "Well, at least, I'm not like you, going out with a new girl every week. At least I stick to one person."
I had said the words without thinking what they could mean, or do, but the result of it was the fast-emerging anger in Maan's eyes, which probed into mine with an intensity I could not describe. He stood straight up, towering over me.
"Miss Geet Handa. Never forget that you work for me. I have not given you the right to comment on or talk about my personal life. What I do, or how I am does not concern you anymore." He had whispered all of it but so harshly that it felt that the words were being drilled straight into my soul.
With one swift movement, he turned around and walked away with fast, angry steps while I was left to stare after him. I did not know if it was a belated effect of the paint fumes rising from the freshly painted walls or the result of his harsh words, but my eyes began to sting. There were so many things I had to set straight.
Edited by mayyo - 9 years ago
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