Comedy of Confusions

10. Minax : Hell

"Damn it. How did we end up here" Minax fumed as she mindlessly tried to fill in details of her current position on LinkedIn. Priya grunted.

"I had saved up my vacation days for my honeymoon.. Now new job and time off for the wedding. My honeymoon plans are a big flop." Priya ended her rant with a long sigh.

"I am so sorry, you have to go through this. If not for that stupid date, and stupider nail polish, this would not have happened." Minax was full of apology.

"No.... of course not.. It is all meant to be.. You know it is god's sign that maybe I should not worry about deadlines, vacation, paid time etc. Maybe it is god's sign to me to enjoy my wedding without having to stress about getting back to work in three weeks. Maybe it is not so bad." Priya was searching for some optimism on an otherwise bleak afternoon.

"At least you have a meant-to-be, a fiance. Here I am the last single alive, no meant-to-be and nothing worthwhile to fill in my LinkedIn and hell...Sam...What am I to do with him?"

Priya, fanning a writing pad near her face in a desperate attempt to get some air and keep calm "one thing at a time..."

"Mani? Is he around?" the familiar but now much hated voice caught them by surprise, again.

Minax and Priya straightened, their hearts racing. It was time.

"Is Mani in the conference room?" Krish asked them again. "Priya can you please check?"

Priya took a few minutes to recover and slipped out of the cubicle.

Minax stood there, telling herself that it was good that wait had finally ended. His highness stood in front of her waiting to fire them all. Should she call her beloved Nandini ma'am again? Should she fight for her job? Was this not totally unfair? It was. She should fight. She steeled herself thinking of an appropriate response after the inevitable. Nope, she will not go down without a fight. She took a slow deep breath looking away from his highness, Mr Made-in-America-Monster-Villian.

Krish cleared his throat. Minax still looked away aimlessly. She was determined to avoid the confrontation as long as possible. After all her brain was busy framing the toughest possible response once he fired her. She did not think of Priya though, or that she was taking a while to find Mani. Clearly he was not in the conference room.

"How do normal humans eat the red stuff?" His Highness spoke.

How insensitive could he be, to start a small talk, while waiting to fire us. Minax was a raging tempest on the inside trying to maintain a nonchalant calm on the outside..

"Next time, please choose a restaurant that has decent food. Not fissile material in the name of food." Krish went on.

Minax was too angry and way too proud to pay attention to his small talk. All she was waiting was for the inevitable so she could fire her brutal zingers and threat of legal action against unfair dismissal. He was an idiot to think she would go down without a fight.

"Priya is taking too long. Where is Mani?" Krish wondered as they spotted Priya returning without Mani.

"No point waiting for Mani. He might have already left." Minax's heart raced. This is no way to end their long term professional relationship. Especially Mani, he had worked very hard. Ungrateful American Monster. It would not have happened under Nandini's watch and it would not happen smoothly under her watch either. She got ready to fire her missiles. Bring it on, you made-in-America-monster

"You are right. No point waiting." Krish paused for Priya to join them. "Since you have completed your deliverables, all three of you will be given two days comp off. And take the rest of the day off. Please let Mani know. I will send an email to HR about your days off."