it and what it means to me. I rattle on endlessly in excitement. I must have never spoken this much to him my entire life. But this is a foreign trip, the first in the family, and it’s no small feat.
‘Where will you be staying?’ he finally asks.
I already know the resort and it is a five-star one. It is out of the world, and the fact that I will soon be there is really a dream come true. I tell him that the company would make arrangements for all that.
I decide to go clothes shopping over the weekend. I no longer need Chetana’s help or advice now. Also, I have a lot more money now than I did earlier.
I also call up Akash and thank him for making me apply for the passport. He truly seems overjoyed for me. He says Parinita chucking me out of Point to Point was the best favour she could have ever done to me. Now it may seem so, but while it was happening, I remember how dejected I was. Things truly have a way of turning around. A month back I was desperate, begging for a job, and going for countless interviews. Today I amplanning a trip abroad, and my self-esteem has multiplied by leaps and bounds.
No sooner than I hang up after speaking to Akash, the phone rings again. This time it is Prashant. I am surprised as he has never ever called me before. I ask him how he is and he comes straight to the point.
‘I heard you are going on a trip abroad with Samir?’ he says. His tone is rancid, accusing. I am taken aback at the bitterness in his voice. It is like he cannot stand anything good happening to me. I was ‘Nisha—the underdog’ back at Point to Point. Now I am a somebody, and it looks like his ego cannot accept it.
‘News travels fast. Who told you? I spoke about it only just now to Akash,’ I reply.
‘Oh, so it is true?’ he asks.
Then I realize that Leena must have told him. And if Leena has told him, then the whole office at Magellan must be gossiping about it.
I am annoyed with him. What cheek does he have to call me up and question me?! He wasn’t even nice to me when I was his colleague. It was also partly due to him that I lost my job at Point to Point, though things have turned out for the better. But at that time, none of us knew it. My need to rub it in further and really get my revenge, returns.
I want him to burn with jealousy. I want him to regret the way he has behaved with me all this while. I want to once more gloat in my moment of triumph, and this time, it is a genuine achievement, not just a silly date which I am boasting about. So I tell Prashant about the conference, its importance, and about how I cannotreveal what Samir and I have been working on, as it is top secret.
I tell him about the five-star resort we would be staying at. I tell him I am excited and eager and really looking forward to it.
He listens in pin-drop silence. I am happy to have really given it back to him and rendered him speechless. A kind of slow satisfaction is spreading over me.
Then he says in a quiet tone, ‘Of course, what else can you expect when you sleep with the boss? You have cleared your way up, spreading your legs. That is all you were worth, and that is all you will remain,’ he says.
His words hit me like a shower of arrows. I am so angry that I cannot think straight. My breath is coming in short gasps. I clutch the phone hard in anger. I am so angry that I can barely speak.
‘Fuck you, arsehole’, I finally manage to say, but he has already hung up.
Prashant has managed to throw a shovel full of ice and dirty muck on my cherished dream.
I am hurt, upset, and angry—all at the same time. Yet it was me who had implied that I had slept with Samir. But still, there was no need to use the words he did and be mean, nasty, and cruel.
I sit for a long time, thinking about it that night, and even though I know Prashant is being deliberately cruel, I still cannot get his words out of my head, and they sting like hell.
Like a Hurricane
T he Bali resort is even more picturesque than the
‘Where will you be staying?’ he finally asks.
I already know the resort and it is a five-star one. It is out of the world, and the fact that I will soon be there is really a dream come true. I tell him that the company would make arrangements for all that.
I decide to go clothes shopping over the weekend. I no longer need Chetana’s help or advice now. Also, I have a lot more money now than I did earlier.
I also call up Akash and thank him for making me apply for the passport. He truly seems overjoyed for me. He says Parinita chucking me out of Point to Point was the best favour she could have ever done to me. Now it may seem so, but while it was happening, I remember how dejected I was. Things truly have a way of turning around. A month back I was desperate, begging for a job, and going for countless interviews. Today I amplanning a trip abroad, and my self-esteem has multiplied by leaps and bounds.
No sooner than I hang up after speaking to Akash, the phone rings again. This time it is Prashant. I am surprised as he has never ever called me before. I ask him how he is and he comes straight to the point.
‘I heard you are going on a trip abroad with Samir?’ he says. His tone is rancid, accusing. I am taken aback at the bitterness in his voice. It is like he cannot stand anything good happening to me. I was ‘Nisha—the underdog’ back at Point to Point. Now I am a somebody, and it looks like his ego cannot accept it.
‘News travels fast. Who told you? I spoke about it only just now to Akash,’ I reply.
‘Oh, so it is true?’ he asks.
Then I realize that Leena must have told him. And if Leena has told him, then the whole office at Magellan must be gossiping about it.
I am annoyed with him. What cheek does he have to call me up and question me?! He wasn’t even nice to me when I was his colleague. It was also partly due to him that I lost my job at Point to Point, though things have turned out for the better. But at that time, none of us knew it. My need to rub it in further and really get my revenge, returns.
I want him to burn with jealousy. I want him to regret the way he has behaved with me all this while. I want to once more gloat in my moment of triumph, and this time, it is a genuine achievement, not just a silly date which I am boasting about. So I tell Prashant about the conference, its importance, and about how I cannotreveal what Samir and I have been working on, as it is top secret.
I tell him about the five-star resort we would be staying at. I tell him I am excited and eager and really looking forward to it.
He listens in pin-drop silence. I am happy to have really given it back to him and rendered him speechless. A kind of slow satisfaction is spreading over me.
Then he says in a quiet tone, ‘Of course, what else can you expect when you sleep with the boss? You have cleared your way up, spreading your legs. That is all you were worth, and that is all you will remain,’ he says.
His words hit me like a shower of arrows. I am so angry that I cannot think straight. My breath is coming in short gasps. I clutch the phone hard in anger. I am so angry that I can barely speak.
‘Fuck you, arsehole’, I finally manage to say, but he has already hung up.
Prashant has managed to throw a shovel full of ice and dirty muck on my cherished dream.
I am hurt, upset, and angry—all at the same time. Yet it was me who had implied that I had slept with Samir. But still, there was no need to use the words he did and be mean, nasty, and cruel.
I sit for a long time, thinking about it that night, and even though I know Prashant is being deliberately cruel, I still cannot get his words out of my head, and they sting like hell.
Like a Hurricane
T he Bali resort is even more picturesque than the
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