Hi guys,
Another OS from me. This time Sona is focussed on her professional career.
Dr. Bose's Medical Conference
Sona has a medical conference today where she would be giving a speech on changing trends in nutrition as the keynote speaker. Content for the speech was not her concern, she was always confident of her knowledge and expertise but it was the thought of hundreds of eyes staring at her that made her nervous as hell. It has been quite some time since she had addressed such a big crowd.
She was thankful to Dr. Sinha for suggesting her name as the keynote speaker. This was a highly prestigious platform for her as many leading medical professionals from all over the country were going to attend the conference. It was a great opportunity for her career progression and she hoped she would be able to get few options to explore post her job at Dixit house. As per the contract only 2 weeks were remaining and she had no intention to join Mr. Dixit's company.
Ma had suggested to wear a saree for this formal event and she draped herself in a light blue Bengali cotton saree. To finish the formal look, she tied her hair in a French knot.
Sonakshi hurriedly entered the Dixit house in the wee hours of the morning. She could see no one in the living room and straight away headed towards the kitchen to give today's diet chart to Kichu bhaiya and gave instructions on how to prepare today's meal for Mrs. Dixit.
She checked her saree one last time and was about to leave when Mrs. Dixit entered the kitchen. "Oh Nutrition, how come you are here, you said you have a medical conference today".
"Haan Aunty ji. I just wanted to drop off today's diet chart. I will see you tomorrow".
"Looking very pretty today in saree. All the best for your speech".
Sonakshi smiled and left in a hurry, she was always very conscious when she wore a saree.
Dev saw her from the stairs and called her name but she was already out the main door. Ishwari informed him about her medical conference. Dev was little annoyed as she had not informed him about it. They have hardly spoken in last few days and every time he called her, she would be in a hurry to cut the conversation.
At the conference
Sonakshi was standing outside the conference hall waiting for the event to start. She already had 2 cups of coffee to settle her nervous mind and was about to take the 3rd cup when someone said from behind "So much coffee is not good for you, Ms. Bose".
She turned in amazement. Dev stood there with a charming smile on his face.
She hadn't informed him about the conference and was so surprised to see him here. She was so used to dream about his presence everywhere that for a moment she felt it was another one of her dreams. Has he even realised he was the only non-medical person present at the entire conference.
"Mr. Dixit, what are you doing here? This event is for medical professionals only".
"Dr. Sinha invited me here. After all I am one of the board of directors for JLS hospital.". He lied, infact it was him who had asked Dr. Sinha for a guest pass to attend the conference.
Sonakshi was clearly irritated by his presence there. If Mr. Dixit was there in the audience, she worried it would be difficult for her to concentrate properly on her speech. She had no intention to make a fool out of herself and curtly told him
"Mr. Dixit, please don't attend my speech. I am anyways so nervous and a known face in the audience would distract me. This event is very important for me, so please if you consider me a friend, don't attend my speech".
Dev was disappointed but he agreed. He impatiently waited outside the conference hall. After an hour, silence in the corridor was broken by the loud appreciation inside the hall. He saw her coming out of the conference hall, surrounded by people congratulating her for her impressive speech.
He just stood still admiring her from the distance. She looked so pretty and elegant in saree. She always dressed to perfection. He admired her minimalistic approach to makeup and jewellery.
And she looked happy, so contended, as if she belonged here with this crowd of medical professionals. He always knew she was the best nutritionist in the city, he was impressed by her credentials and today it was validated again by the admiration shown by her peers. Some came to discuss her speech further, some came with their questions, some come with suggestions that she should write a book on nutrition and some even came with job offers.
Suddenly he felt so guilty. Because of him, she had to take a step back in her career. She had protested so aggressively initially but finally agreed as he had made sure there were no options left for her. She had not accepted his new job offer yet and this time he decided he would not force her to join his company. She has done so much for his family and it was time she thought about her career and family. But that would mean she would not be around anymore. He has grown so accustomed to her presence, her advices, she always knew how to handle his family specially his sisters. When she is around, he never had to worry about his Ma's health. She was the only one who saw through the facade of his figure of strength image and understood his restlessness and anxiety. Though she didn't understand his business, she was always there to listen to his endless business issues. She made him laugh and for those few moments, he would be transported to his happy land, away from business and family issues. She made him realise that it was okay for him to think about his own life and interests once in a while. And she understood his silence, there have been many instances when he would fail to express himself and he would find reassurance in her eyes.
"Thanks Mr. Dixit, speech went really well". Her voice broke his thoughts.
"I knew you would do great, Ms. Bose, after all you are the best nutritionist. Lunch on me today".
"Oh actually I already have lunch plans with some doctors here". She could sense his disappointment. He is not used to people saying No to him.
"Let's go for coffee then, next speech starts in half hour", however hard she tries to avoid any alone time with him, she just couldn't see him disappointed. He came here for her speech and agreed not to attend the session. And he patiently waited for her. He has his own way of showing his concern and support. It was just so impossible not to love him, and the most difficult thing for her was to move on with her life. She would miss him every day, every moment.
Just when they were about to leave, someone called her from behind "Sona...Sonakshi". She turned to find her old college classmate, Aarav. He had moved to US after college and has become a cardiac surgeon there.
"Oh my god its really you Sona. I thought I was dreaming. I just can't believe it that we would meet like this again. I am glad I came to the conference. How have you been? It's been so long since we last talked. Oh my I just couldn't recognise you earlier. Tomboy Sonakshi Bose in a saree".
While Sona laughed and replied to Aarav's long list of questions, Dev was staring at Sona and smiled. He could totally imagine Sona as a tomboy, she is so headstrong, always ready to start an argument.
Sona and Aarav were totally engrossed in their conversation remembering their college days and friends, when Sona suddenly saw Dev, she apologised to him and introduced Dev as her boss. Dev didn't like that she just called him her boss, does she still feel its only employer employee relationship between them. He thought of her as a friend but for her he is just her boss.
"I am sorry Mr. Dixit; we have to postpone our coffee to some other day. Next session is about to start in 5min".
"It's okay Ms. Bose, I anyways have an urgent meeting now, can't miss it". Dev lied again, he had already called Tina in the morning to cancel all his meetings.
While leaving, he stopped and turned back. Sona and Aarav were walking towards the conference hall, still talking and laughing.
"I cancelled all my meetings today for Ms. Bose and she has no time for me. Miss Aubodhro" he muttered angrily and left.
Just as Dev turned and walked away, Sona looked back and watched him leave.
Hope you like it 😃. Will wait for your comments.
- - Abi
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