Pretty hastily done. Haven't done much of proofreading or adding more colours. Still, I hope you'd enjoy. Will try to give more updates today. Stay tuned.
~ CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN ~
Mukti bolted in through the door that led to the stairwell. The door was slightly ajar when she saw it. So she was damn sure that Nandini had used the stairs instead of the lift. Mukti craned her neck over the railings and checked out the flight of stairs below. Empty. But then, an obvious sniffling from the next flight of stairs caught her attention. "Nandini?" she called out softly but no response.
Mukti bounded up the stairs and stopped as she reached the next set. There she was. Nandini. Huddled on the stairs with her legs drawn to her chest. Her shoulders shook furiously as she quietly sobbed into her hands. Mukti was beside her in no time. "Nandini?" She put a consoling arm over her shoulder and shook her gently. "See look at me. Tell me what happened. Why are you crying?"
Nandini was too broken and breathless to give her a reply. She continued to sob with her face buried in her hands. "What did he do to you?" asked Mukti. The very thought of Manik having said or did one of his nasty things got her blood boiling over.
"Come on, tell me!" Mukti demanded quietly. But Nandini was having a tough time in controlling herself. She was drowning in a crying fit.
"Nandini," hissed Mukti as she gently tried to pull her face off her hands, "see look. If that mother fuc... sorry. If he has stepped out of line we need to put an end to it. Do you understand? So you need to tell me. What is it?"
*********************
Harshad Saxena, a handsome devil in his mid-twenties stepped out of his department - Project Management, and headed down the stairwell. He was a handsome devil in every sense of the word. Blessed with drop dead gorgeous looks and the twisted mind of the devil himself. A deadly and dangerous combination.
As he effortlessly floated down the stairs, a woman's high-pitched voice made him stop in his tracks. "Is someone crying or what?" he mumbled to himself and stuck his head out to see the flight of stairs below. When he did, he spotted two girls huddled on the steps. And one of them was...
"... Mukti," he whispered to himself. "I wonder what's wrong."
Mukti was probably the only member of the HR team who was in Harshad's good books and for obvious reasons. The way she carried herself, her vibrant outlook and "don't give a damn" attitude coupled with her stunning gorgeously bold looks could leave Harshad tingling at any time of the day. Twisted as he was, he decided to hang around and eavesdrop on the girls' conversation.
"All what I wanted was to go home earlier for just one day," came Nandini's quaking tear-ridden voice. "Perform the rites of their anniversary. But he insulted me. Even that's okay with me but he insulted my parents and my brother. Mocked their memory."
"Seriously! This Manik Malhotra!" Harshad could hear the audible gnash of Mukti's teeth. "This guy is too much! This has to stop! Mukherjee has to know."
"No..." said Nandini.
"Nandini. What do you mean no?" asked Mukti in disbelief. "Girl, he harassed you! And I mean... like on a personal level! This is way over the edge. Mukherjee must know."
Harshad couldn't keep in his curiosity any longer especially since the topic was on Manik Malhotra, the one person from the company he loved to hate the most. After all, he was that arrogant HR bully who kept finding ways to screw up his paid leaves, bonuses, increments etc. "Manik-Manik-Manik," he chanted under his breath, "you just can't stop being the asshole that you are, eh?"
Harshad decided to confront the girls and trotted down the stairs. "Hi ladies," he chirped in a cheerful voice, "everything alright?" He paused for a moment as he noticed the girl accompanying Mukti - Nandini. "Hang on, this... you are the speaker girl, aren't you?"
"Her name is Nandini," Mukti snapped irritably through clenched teeth. Harshad was one guy besides Manik that she just didn't dig. Her radar could pick up his negative vibes from even hundred miles away.
"Nandini..." Intrigued, Harshad wrung his jaw as he glanced over at Mukti. "Sweet. But why is she so upset?"
"Harshad," began Mukti with a sarcastic smile, "I believe you were heading out for some important business?"
"Nah!" said Harshad as he casually leaned onto the railings. "Just for a breath of fresh air." His eyes twinkled as he stared at Mukti. She on the other hand had displeasure written all over her face.
"Then I think you better make it fast," said Mukti as she hastily rose to her feet, "...before you suffocate to death."
"You Mukti," Harshad snorted, "You're really very funny you know."
"Thanks, I know!" Mukti flashed him a quick, tight-lipped smile. "Come Nandini."
Mukti helped Nandini to her feet and led her far away from Harshad and back to the HR floor. "See listen. Do as I say. Just pick up your bag and leave. Or else you stand here. I'll go and get your stuff."
"But..." Nandini was hesitant. Indeed, she did fear that leaving the premises without getting an official permission... from the monster would put her into trouble.
"No buts!" snapped Mukti. "Just do what I tell you. Leave now. I'll talk to him." She gave a couple of assuring pats on Nandini's shoulder. "Trust me girl. He won't say or do a thing. I'll handle him."
"Okay," replied Nandini feebly.
"And don't worry," said Mukti as she prepared to head back to the department, "ping me if you need anything."
"Thank you so much Mukti," said Nandini in a low voice, "I really don't know how to thank you."
"Just buy me a coffee later on." Mukti winked at her whilst she returned. "Pun intended."
************************
This had been quite a day for Manik. It started off with a sharp dose of pain then anger followed by embarrassment and fear. Then back to rage and now a rattling, uneasy feeling in the head and chest. Though he allowed himself to wallow in the huge waves of e-mails that had flooded his inbox from morning, it wasn't quite working the charm he wanted it to. Keeping her speechless with no space to fight back was a very satisfying experience indeed but the way her lips trembled and nostrils flared when he rattled her before... the way her eyes brimmed over with shock, hurt and pain was disturbing. Deep down, a voice kept reprimanding him for his impulsive behaviour.
You shouldn't have. Couldn't you hear me asking you to stop? What's wrong with you? Why were you so harsh with her? Is this the way you handle things?
I know... I didn't want to... didn't mean to get her so upset and all that... and there was no need for her to either... but I was angry... because she told Dhruv about it... and they were laughing... I had warned her not to...
A soft rap on his door brought him out from the depth of his thoughts. It was Mukti.
"Manik?" Her voice was low, but her expression was grim and the tone in which she spoke made it clear that she didn't give a damn to what he thought. "Just dropped in to let you know that Nandini had to go home. It's her parents and brother's death anniversary so she has to attend the puja and other functions."
Manik just looked at her. His features were soft. No angry glares, no scowls, nothing.
Mukti prepared to leave but stopped in her tracks. "And Manik. I had forced her to go home. So... I take responsibility for her absence this afternoon."
"Okay," Manik replied quietly after a brief moment of silence.
************************
8 PM. Manik wasn't in formals anymore as he walked into a posh residential building with a bunch of blood red roses in his hand. He seemed to be dressed for a casual evening with...
Soha opened the door of her apartment and grimaced at Manik and the flowers. She definitely didn't seem pleased.
"Hey," he grinned sheepishly. Looks like she's still mad at me. "H..."
Before he could talk further, she BANGED the door shut on his face.
Manik was stumped. "Soha?" He rapped softly on the door. "Hello?"
With a frustrated sigh, he pulled out his phone and tried ringing her up. From his free ear, he could hear her phone ringing for a while from inside the apartment but after a couple of rings, it was switched off. "What!" he muttered to himself in disbelief, "You can't be serious? How can you just..."
"I think that she's really mad at me," he mumbled as he gave up on trying to call her and had a go at the door again. But this time, the door was answered by a grouch of a man - Soha's father. He was one guy with whom Manik hardly liked to lock horns with. "Yes?" asked the man with a deadly glare.
"H-Hi uncle," he fidgeted in a soft uncomfortable voice, "Soha..."
"Soha isn't here," he snapped abruptly. It almost seemed as if he was in a hurry to end the conversation.
"Wha...?" Manik was stunned. "But she just opened the door now."
"That was her sister." he concluded irritably.
"Sister?" As far as Manik knew, Soha had a brother, not a sister. Have I missed out on something, he wondered. "But she doesn't have a sister..."
"How dare you!" he growled at Manik. Soha's father was an extremely delicate nuclear bomb that had to be handled with care. One wrong move could cost one his ass. "Are you telling me that I don't even know who or what my children are?"
"No uncle..." Manik knew that he had blurted out the wrong stuff before. "it's just that I didn't know th..."
"If I say that Soha has a sister then she has a sister. Do you understand!??"
"Of course, but..." replied Manik. He so wanted to get away from there but he had to meet Soha and patch up with her. He was a bit harsh to her this morning and he knew that she was upset.
Before Manik could talk any further, the door was slammed shut on his face once again.
************************
A new day had dawned but it seemed that Manik was off to another miserable start. He was unusually late to work today. This was something that rarely happened with Manik but today he was late. Extra late.
By the time, he walked into the office, it was past 11 in the morning. He hardly looked around as he bustled to his cabin.
Cabir, who was preparing to step out for his routine work stopped in his tracks as he noticed Manik finally present in his cabin. "Manik?" Cabir walked in after a couple of soft raps to his door.
"Hey Cabir." The late start to the day had a huge dose of adrenaline pumping through Manik's veins. His PC was already turned on and mails had begun to pour in. "Shoot."
"How come you're late today?" asked Cabir curiously.
"Traffic jam," answered Manik, "long story besides that."
"See listen," began Cabir in a low voice. He had a very solemn expression as he spoke. "Mukherjee was in here a while ago... looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Manik was a bit worried at the unusual silence in his department and the grim expression on Cabir's face. Something was definitely not right.
"Yeah," replied Cabir looking equally curious, "he said he'll be in Waudby's cabin. You need to meet him there."
Now Manik was sure that something was wrong. It's not like it was the first time he had to sit down for a meeting with Mukherjee and Waudby or any of the other senior management. He had done this before. After all, he was a core member of the HR team. Its backbone.
"Is everything okay Manik?" asked Cabir after a brief moment of silence. Manik had no answer to that. He wasn't sure though he hoped it was.
**************************
Moments later, Manik walked into the CEO's lofty cabin and found Mukherjee sitting beside Waudby on a comfy ergonomic chair. "Come Manik," said Mukherjee in his deep voice.
There was an air of uneasiness as he entered. He had never felt this before. He knew that something wasn't right. As he closed in, he noticed that one of the two visitor's chairs was occupied by a familiar someone who gave him the chills - Nandini.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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