Destiny does not always play cupid. Things did not go in office as Deepak and Seema had hoped. As it turned out in due course, Deepak was passed over for promotion when his manager left the company. Someone named Keshav from another company with more experience took charge of the team. As luck would have it, Keshav managed to get more business from the client in the very first month he joined. Deepak resented Keshav right from the beginning since he though Keshav had deprived him the opportunity of leading the team. As a result, Keshav would never leave a chance of cutting Deepak to size in front of the team. A conversation between them once nearly came to blows. Keshav had allocated Deepak some analytical work that needed to go the client urgently.
Keshav told Deepak, "I need this in an hour. Don't leave before finishing. It has to go today." Deepak did not like Keshav's that tone of speaking in front of everyone. Besides, the work would have delayed Deepak's departure from office by an hour or so, which meant that he would get a special cab all alone and not with Seema. So, Deepak finished the work as soon as he could and emailed it to Deepak. When Keshav checked the work, he found quite a few inaccuracies and nearly lost his temper.
"I did not ask for such a slipshod work. They say you are an MBA, and this is how you analyse a balance sheet. Maybe I will have to get your credentials checked," said Keshav.
"Mind your language. If you give me work at the eleventh hour, I am going to do it like this only. You are the manager. If you think you are more capable, why don't you do it yourself? You just want to delay my departure at the end of the shift. This is the third time you are doing this in a week," replied Deepak angrily at the top of his voice so that everyone, including HR, could hear it.
"Lower your voice or I will report to the HR," said Keshav in a normal voice. However, it was a trap Keshav had laid for Deepak to show Deepak's insubordination in the eyes of HR. No wonder he soon got a call from HR to meet them before leaving. Seema couldn't intervene to say anything to Deepak to clam things down as they had not revealed their relationship to their colleagues. Any intervention could have led to office rumour mill churning out stories that something is going on between them, and Seema did not want this to happen as she had been once bitten in a similar case at her college. Many of her classmates still referred to her as the ex of one of their classmates, which she did not like. Seema was still not sure how her relationship with Deepak will eventually turn out to be. There was no commitment from either side.
To make things worse, when Deepak was being told plainly to behave himself in the office by the HR in one cubicle, Seema was called by the VP to tell her that her proposal for a new project has been accepted by the client. She would be heading this project and work with HR to hire some new talents with experience in the travel industry. Both Deepak and Seema got delayed and eventually boarded the same cab to go home.
"I think I will put in my papers. I can't take any more nonsense from this guy," said Deepak.
"Don't do any such rash thing in a hurry. Things will work out. Maybe you will be moved out to some other project. I can help you in that. At least, I think so. VP just told me that I will head the project that the company got through my proposal of scouting new geographies for market entry," said Seema with a smile. I
It was something that came as a bolt from the blue to Deepak.
"What? You never told me that you submitted a proposal," snapped Deepak, but then he controlled himself and said, "Anyway, congratulations! Also, thanks for the invitation to join your team, but no thanks! I am not moving from data analysis to scouting new markets for the client."
Two people in the same cab, one thrilled with a promotion while another in a hostile mood thinking about quitting the company can lead to an explosive situation, especially if they are in an undeclared, non-committal relationship. And it eventually proved to be so.
The coming month proved to be challenging to Seema as she had not only to pick up team members for her new project but also take care of her relationship with Deepak which was not going anywhere now. Deepak was now behaving in a more courteous manner towards her than he used to do earlier. They were not even on the same cab any more, as Seema was staying till late to attend conference call for the new project. After a few weeks, Seema message Deeapk:
Seema: Care for a cup of coffee at the canteeen?"
There was no reply from Deepak. So she just came over to Deepak's desk and saw him busy working on an Excel. His mobile lay on the desktop. Appraently he hadn't seen the message. He looked up and said with a wry smile.
"Got loads of work. Want something?"
"Let's have cofee if you got a minute or two," said Seema.
"Yea, sure. Just give me a couple of minutes to finish this Excel sheet. I will message you when I get free. You don't need to be standing here," replied Deepak.
"You don't reply to messages," said Seema with a smile.
Deepak just checked his mobile, saw her message and replied, "Oh, really. I see. And how many messanges have you sent me over the last few weeks, Miss Project Lead?"
The sarcasm was not lost on Seema as it carried en element of truth but she kept quite as she did not want the whole floor to know what was going on.
"Let's catch up on all these over a cup of cofffe. Just give me a call when free," Seema returned to her desk controlling her emotion. They did not meet or speak to each other that day.
Seema was not willing to lose Deepak, but Deepak seems to have made up his mind to disconnect with her. He thought that somehow Seema led him up the garden path, first by cooking up the story that he was going to be the next team leader and then by not telling him about submitting the proposal.
"You kept me in the dark. In fact, you crept into my life like the forces of darkness overturning my whole universe," Deepak said to her in a message after having ignored her for weeks.
Seema initially thought of ignoring his message. But then another message came, "You be happy with what you have got. I am pretty blissful with my lot." Then she thought she needed to reply though it was past 1:00 pm at night.
Seema: I do not understand your cryptic messages. Be direct, be honest.
There was no reply to her message for quite some time. Seema could not bear the pause. In fact, she was quite enflamed by this insolent behavior of Deepak.
Seema wrote again: You don't seem to have what it takes to be a leader. One failure, and you are just not able to take it. People rise from their failure to claim their place in the world, but you are just not able to process one setback. And I am in no way obliged to inform you about everything that happens either in the office or in my personal life. What do you think of yourself? Eh!
And yet there was a long pause before the message turned blue. Deepak resigned from the job, but the HR, due to his analytical abilty, persuaded him to move on to another project in its another office in Noida. He wanted a break and as luck would have it, the project went into a stall, giving him an oppurtnity to take leave without pay for a while. Shimla was a place where he thought he can relax for a while before bouncing back to his professional life.
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YOU ARE READING
Sunset at Scandal Point
Romance.. Liz went close to the wall. She could only hear muffled voices and moaning coming from the Major's room. "Ah, don't bite so hard. It pains" It was the Aya's voice. Liz was surprised. Didn't she say she was 40 now? That makes her quite older for t...
