“Please tell me you have the results from the pilot,” Abhimanyu growled, looking at Neil on a video conference.
“Almost. Waiting for reports on two groups.”
“We need to announce next week. No questions asked,” Abhimanyu ordered.
Neil shrugged. “Abhimanyu, this is the fastest we have ever been able to pilot a youth program like this. What’s the hurry?”
“Really? Guess what happened in the last few days?” Abhimanyu sounded frustrated.
“What?”
Abhimanyu let out a sigh. “Akshara has four teams identified, and we have data. You know what we did today?”
Neil shifted uncomfortably. “You are making me nervous.”
“She has students from the top college in India volunteering to be mentors for the high school children of the employees. She is a genius who is going to make our plan look like shit.”
Neil fell silent. “This woman is something. How does she come up with such ideas?”
Abhimanyu shook his head. “You have no idea. She came up with this because I told her I was up for a challenge.”
“Abhimanyu, please don’t give her ideas. Distract her.”
Abhimanyu shook his head. “I don’t want to, not when she is so good at what she does. She needs to be in a special position and not in HR. The first organizational change I am going to do is make her a C-class executive.”
“Can you distract her with your charm? I need time to pull this pilot through,” Neil confessed.
“I feel like kicking myself for doing this, but I will give you all the results from the pilot she has been driving, so let’s include it in the final presentation of the program.”
“What if she finds out we used her data and ideas?” Neil asked the question Abhimanyu had thought about many times.
“I’d be lying if I say I haven’t thought about it. The day my six-month rotation ends, I will confess everything to her. I will give her full credit for the program.” Abhimanyu pressed his lips together.
“Do you think she will be upset?”
Abhimanyu nodded. “I will need to find the right moment to tell her everything. I’m worried she will suspect me when we announce the program with the ideas that are truly hers.”
“Do you think it’ll blow your cover if she suspects you?”
Abhimanyu looked up at the ceiling. “It might unless I can get a waiver from Mr. Pranav to tell her the truth.”
Neil nodded. “Got it. Can you make it to the meeting at—”
Abhimanyu looked away when he heard the chime of the doorbell. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.”
He opened the door to find Akshara holding two cups of steaming liquids. “Good morning. I brought you coffee. I was hoping we could discuss the plan for today sooner than later.”
He reached for the cup she handed him. “Thank you. C’mon in.”
She followed him to the dining area of his suite and sat across from him. “I am really hoping to make a trip to the women’s engineering college before we have to leave to go to the airport.”
“What? I thought it was debrief day for us.” Abhimanyu was taken aback.
“I was able to get a twenty-minute slot in their weekly student council meeting. I think it’s a great opportunity for us to understand what women look for in a company, especially women in tech.”
