Femme Fatale
Chapter four:
Testing the boundaries
Rules for agents 4:
Distraction is the best tool
------------------
She was confused as she stood amongst all the three adults in the room. They were all staring at her with amazement, as if they had never encountered anyone like her.
She clasped on to her Baba's hand, wanting comfort against the stares and the scrutiny.
"I am scared" She murmured against his shirt, leaning against the one person she inexplicably trusted.
"Darling there is nothing to be scared of" Rajiv bent down to her level, letting her see the truth in his eyes. "They are your tutors, to make sure that you can learn all that you want"
Her eyes widened in surprise, for that was the last thing that she had expected.
"Indeed, you are their boss" he continued with a twinkle in his eyes. "You are our little boss"
------------------------
The Khurana headquarters had a data room, where all the e-data was kept under tightest protection. Only a handful had access to the room, even some family members were not allowed in.
Credit had to be given where it was due and it would be dismissive to say that Khurana's had good security; they had the best.
But even the best was no battle. For the boss, reaching Maan Singh Khurana's secret data on the defence project was not a hard task.
It was almost too easy to break into the system, especially with the right connections. Indeed it was like cutting through thin tissue layers for all the protection they had given. All that was needed was a key card, a video jammer and some ingenuity.
When one was a professional, the best of the best, security codes and guards weren't a factor. The main battle was time. The task needed to be completed within minutes to maintain a strong alibi and ensure that cover was maintained.
As the boss, one had to be in the shadows to maintain the aura of power and omnipotence, so even the best agent, Agent 2, was unaware of this step and would be told once it was done. She was too smart to not figure it out if given the right clues.
And what was the reason for the break in? To make sure that the Khurana's would be even more vigilant with their security. Nothing creates caution like a break in the protection.
So it was necessary to break into the outer layers, only skimming the top secret details. There was no need for the date, yet. The job of the boss was only to protect, not to gather any information neither was it to double cross the man who had hired them.
Bingo, a smile bloomed across the face as the final barrier was crossed. It would set of the alarms, because that was the intention.
With that the boss melded in with the shadows, escaping out.
---------------------------------------------
Maan knew that something had gone wrong the moment one of his top security men came running into his office.
It was a Friday evening but he had remained in the office till late, wanting to fix up some work. The world may see him as a carefree guy, indeed he did have that in him but the truth was that as the head of Khurana Company he couldn't be negligent.
"What happened Ashish?" Maan stood up immediately, watching the nervous look on the young man's face.
"Sir…someone broke into the data room" the guy gulped nervously but tried to maintain calmness. "We just checked the room; there is no sign of forced entry nor was there any major disruption. There is no record of people entering or leaving the building."
"WHAT!" Maan was furious at the idea of his domain being breeched. "Did they tamper or take any information?"
"No sir" Ashish started to sweat as he saw the look on his boss's face. "It seemed they only breeched the security but didn't take anything. We are going to view the CCTV videos now but it seems difficult to imagine someone breaking from outside."
"So who is in the office at the moment?" Maan demanded, needing to narrow down the list.
"On the level below there is Adi sir and Pinky the receptionist but on this level there is only you and-"
"I am back!" Geet entered the room cheerfully. Both simultaneously turned towards here. She beamed at the other two and that smile didn't dim even seeing their worried faces. "What happened?"
The security man looked at her suspiciously and before Maan could say anything he asked outright. "Ma'am where were you just then?"
"Me?" Geet gave a confused smile but answered the question. "The bathroom."
"Really?" The guy didn't look convinced but he was not prepared for Geet's next comment. Maan tried to butt in but Geet spoke before he could.
"Oh yeah" Geet nodded patiently. "It's a feminine issue."
"Feminine issue?" this time the man was confused, clearly not considering what she meant.
"You know, time of the month" There was not even a smidgen of embarrassment on Geet's face at admitting to two men that she was menstruating.
Maan groaned and rolled his eyes, wondering why he was the one who had to put up with the clearly insane secretary but he had to admit the look on the poor security man's face was worth it. The guy was blushing furiously and trying to look away from Geet, almost as if he was the one menstruating instead of her.
"Ummm….sorry…ma'am….ummm…..thank you" The poor guy stammered before running out of the room.
"Did you really need to tell the guy about your…..body functions?" Maan shook his head in disbelief and a bit of embarrassment. Hell why am I the one embarrassed? I am not the one….Stop thinking about it!
"Why ever not?" She seemed genuinely surprised by his comment. "It is a natural thing. It is a sign of fertility and is essential to life. Your Mum had it, your grandmother did and even-"
"Stop!" Maan screamed out, this time truly disgusted and flustered. "I don't want to think about my grandmother and mother in that way!"
"Sir, why are you so sensitive?" She asked in a sympathetic voice.
"SENSITIVE?" Maan was enraged that she made him sound like a teenage girl. "Maan Singh Khurana is not sensitive! Never!"
"Why are you so upset then?" She gave her guileless smile but Maan narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Just go back to work" He ordered while pressing his fingers to his temple. This girl will drive me mad by the end of the week!
Geet shrugged nonchalantly, "You are the one who wanted to talk about it. Seriously sir, you need to pay attention to your work more instead of chatting." She shook her head in disapproval, as if it was him talking about his periods.
Maan wondered if he killed her now whether it would count as Manslaughter instead of murder. As long as the judge is a man, I think he will understand! But he didn't say anything to her, knowing that she would go off on one of her tangents. "Fine let us get to work!"
---------------------------
Meera took out her laptop with secure internet connection. She did not know why but for some reason Maan Singh Khurana's secretary set off alarm bells in her mind. There was something different about her but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.
So with her concerns Meera decided to do a quick search on Geet Handa and find out what secrets she was hiding.
But it seemed that there were none. Geet Handa, according to her records, was orphaned at the age of 9 and had gone through the public schooling system. She was adopted by a distant relative but it seemed that the relative had just let the girl live by herself.
Almost against her intentions Meera felt some sympathy for the woman, knowing firsthand the difficulties in being an orphan.
But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to keep an eye on Geet Handa.
As she was ruminating on these thoughts her phone rang and seeing the number Meera hurriedly picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi Agent 2. How is the job going?" The cool voice of the boss was enough to bring Meera to attention. If there was one person in the world that Meera had any fear of it would be the boss. Without having even met the boss Meera understood the power of the position.
"Good. I am keeping an eye on the family as you asked and have also found out about the office setting" Meera updated the boss.
"Hmmm….anyone suspicious?"
"Well…the secretary, Geet Handa seems a bit different. But I've done a search on her and haven't found anything yet"
"Leave that to me. I'll check up on the Khurana employees." The boss redirected her. "You need to focus on finding the weak spots on the Khurana security as well as keeping me updated on the family. By the way, I've tested out the security at the headquarters, so you don't need to worry about the break in"
"You broke into the data room?" Meera shouldn't have been surprised but as always her boss was two steps ahead.
"Yes" The boss ignored the disbelief, focusing on the task again. "Remember Agent two, this is an important task. I don't want any mistakes….or personal agendas for this case"
"Of course"
------------------
The world was bright and sunny, bringing in light and happiness.
She was given the best education, the best clothes and a lot of love. They treated her like a little princess, making sure that there wasn't a single moment of sadness.
She didn't see her baba as often as she would like but whenever she did it made up for the separation.
However there were others to help her. Ramu Kaka taught her how to unlock anything with a simple pin, while Aarti Bai showed her how to make the softest sponge cake. Ramola Kaki showed her how to dance, teaching her Kathak, Bharat Natyam as well as modern western dance.
However her favourite of them was Yash Chachu. Everyday Yash Chachu would take her to the garden at the back of the house and get her to do yoga. After that he would teach her to fight.
It initially began as street fighting moves; punches and low kicks, but he went on to show more techniques.
Curious Geet one day asked, "Chachu why do I have to learn this?"
"Because even small girls need to protect themselves" There was a forewarning in his voice, a premonition of what was to come. "Especially special girls like you."
And it was the warning of clouds that would once again cover the sunshine in her life.
--------------
AUTHOR's NOTE:
Firstly thanks for the lovely comments!😃
I AM A DAZZLER NOW! WOOT!😆
Alright...I gave some big hints with this update...just read between the lines!😉
As always I am sorry for making this story so convoluted...but it can't be written in any other way. Sorry if you guys are getting bored!
Please don't stop with the comments!
PLEASE DO COMMENT and press the LIKE button!!
Nothing motivates me as much as reading your comments!😃
-SanjanA
1.2k