~ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ~
Nandini's ass was on fire! Adrenaline bombarded through her veins and yet she found it hard to keep up with the time. She kept glancing at her watch as she helped Dean fill out the remaining cheques in a very crude handwriting. She wasn't really worried about Manik's threat. In fact, she was so pissed off right now that his nonsense didn't seem to matter anymore. What she was really worried about was getting the signatures from Jane Adams or David Barney, the concerned signatories. As far as she knew, Jane wasn't around and David would be travelling sometime in the afternoon. But even if she made it, how fast would these people be ready to sign? These guys are top management and have their own set of million dollar issues to deal with. Signing salary cheques and other silly documents were trivial for them and would never top their priority list.
Then there's... Trilok Chaurasia, the Sr. Accountant. If ever there was an "asshole competition" in town, Trilok would bag the trophy. Or at least, he would be tied up with Manik. As it is, she was yet to see more of Manik's monstrous colours, so who was she to conclude the actual winner? Why oh why couldn't Raghav Mehta be the Sr. Accountant? He looked older, wiser and most importantly, nicer. She absolutely loved the warm, open-hearted smile he gave her before. But this guy Trilok... had a nasty sneer on his face and sounded like the eternal incorrigible jerk. Why can't this guy be nice to someone? Maybe his wife is giving him a tough time at home? Or maybe she's not giving him what he wants! So I take it that he's frustrated.
By now, Dean was at the end of the task. After she entered the last cheque's information into the system, she exchanged a quiet high-five with Nandini (lest Hashmi got pissed off again) and hissed through gritted teeth, "Mission accomplished!"
Nandini didn't waste any more time. As soon as Hashmi was done with the cheques, she gathered it up and bounded off to catch up with David.
She thundered down the corridors, determined to catch up with David. As she closed in, she could see him out on the corridor - locking the door to his cabin and preparing to leave!
"Sir-sir-sir-sir! Wait-wait-wait-wait!!!!" she gasped and struggled to control her speed. But it seemed that her muscles had a mind of its own! Before she knew it, she went SMACK right into the wall.
David Barney, a bald Brit in his early fifties, looked up in bewilderment and held her back. "Whoa! Slow down young lady!" he exclaimed in a thick British accent, "What's it with you? I hope you're alright?"
"I-I'm fine sir," she groaned in a low voice and screwed her eyes shut from still being dazed. "Ouch," she hissed quietly through clenched teeth.
David stroked her forehead gently, right where she had got busted. "You really need to be careful, you know!" he said with concern.
"Sorry sir," she gasped whilst sweating profusely, "it's just that I wanted to catch up with you and I don't mean to block you up, but I really REALLY need you to sign these cheques. It's really important! Please!"
"What cheques?" he asked in surprise and took a couple of them and examined it.
"The salary cheques for the site workers, sir," she replied breathlessly.
"I thought I signed these last week," he said with a squint.
"Yes sir," she replied, "but we had to re-do it. I'm so sorry." When she said the word "re-do", her voice dropped down. How do I explain what happened to those cheques?
"No, it's alright," said David with a cheerful glint in his eyes, "but ah! I wish I could get these done for you today. Unfortunately, I have to rush now as I need to catch my flight in less than an hour, so I'll just have to do it once I'm back. Is that okay with you?"
"No sir!" she blurted out in horror. "Please don't say like that!" She quietened up again as she noticed that her notes were higher than usual! "It's just that... I really have to turn these in like... right now! Or... or the employees on the site won't get paid."
David smiled at her innocence and concern. "Ah well," he replied in a peppy tone, "why don't you get it through Jane then?"
"But Sir, Ms. Adams..."
Before she could complete, David filled in for her. "Oh! I forgot! Jane is out of town. Do one thing. Hand it over to Waudby then."
"Waudby?"
"Yeah," replied David, "Charles Waudby? The CEO? He's the last and final signatory for anything and everything. In fact, I'll have a word with him. Come along."
"Thank you so much sir!" Nandini was ecstatic and very much relieved. On one hand, she was finally going to get the job done and on the other, he never even bothered to find out on the condition of the previous cheques. "You're a life saver!" she added.
"Ah! No worries!" David chuckled and put a friendly arm around her shoulder as he led her to Waudby's cabin. "I love your smile by the way. You kind of remind me of my little girl. So cute and bubbly always."
"Thank you sir," Nandini was beginning to blush now. "That's so sweet of you!"
Nandini began to breathe easier as things finally seemed to be moving her way! She was FINALLY reaching the end of her horrifying task! Looking back, Nandini felt astonished at all the shit she had to go through just for these cheques to get made!
Thankfully, Waudby was really friendly just like David and offered to sign the cheques on short notice. Why the others can't be like this, thought Nandini in exasperation. She couldn't help but remind herself of the cold and intimidating Trilok, Hashmi - the bomb that would go off any minute and lastly but not the least - her rude, sly boss, Manik.
Much later, Nandini victoriously walked into Manik's cabin and found him drowned in some work like always. As soon as she walked through the door, he gave her a menacing stare.
"I'm done," she stated.
Manik glanced at his watch. His eyes looked red and angry as he replied, "you're late."
That's it. Don't appreciate anything at all. Be the nasty insufferable son of a bitch you always are. Cause if you appreciate something you might end up losing your balls. So be that way. Nandini clenched her teeth and took a deep breath as she struggled to channel her thoughts and contain her frustration. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "I did try my best."
"Saw that guy sitting out there in the waiting area?" asked Manik as he pointed out at a short, stubby guy seated on a plastic chair outside.
Nandini glanced over at the man and turned back to Manik with a raised eyebrow. Needless to say, she was really busted and fed up that she wasn't in the right mood or energy to take his crap let alone thinking straight.
"That's Bashir," informed Manik, "the site administrator. He had been waiting for more than half an hour just to pick up the cheques."
Nandini tried not to close her eyes as he said this. She was fed up indeed. Great, now he's going to taunt me again with his oh so perfect lectures! Seriously. Just go take a hike!
"It wasn't easy," She sighed irritably, "I had to rush like a maniac to get it done."
"Yeah, I can see that," said Manik sarcastically, picked up a cheque and flashed it before her eyes, "is this your handwriting?"
Nandini glanced over at the cheque filled in a really bad hand. "Yes," she replied.
Manik let out a long breath of air and raised his eyebrows. "Gross," he said with a nod of his head, "you write like a kid."
Nandini's mood was terribly disturbed. She was ready to vent out her frustration through bloody murder.
"By any chance... Are you sure that you haven't filled up these cheques on the escalator?" asked Manik with a smirk.
Escalators! She felt something clench hard in her chest as she was reminded yet once again of that disastrous incident! Nandini looked at Manik straight in the eye and could see that he enjoyed ripping the scabs off yet to heal wounds.
"I mean... how else could one write so terribly?" he added with a shrug, "even small kids write better."
Then... before she could stop herself, she blurted out the one question that had been pricking at the back of her mind for a very long time. "Why did you lie to Hashmi?"
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