The Station Leave

Nine o'clock on the dot

When I was moving from Kolkata to Delhi, my mother asides from her long lasting list of dos and don'ts (mainly don'ts) she made sure she had engraved the stranger-danger-but-it's-your- adult-daughter-moving-out-to-work-addiction on my brain. Under this rule one must not interact with their colleagues or the people living around her or anybody else other than the three people on Mother India's safe list, so much so that they might cross the professional line of being just co-workers or strangers and might extend a hand of friendship towards the subject (me). Her last lines before I left were literally, " You are going out to work. Not to create useless closeness towards complete strangers. Don't be too frank with the people you meet and don't trust anyone blindly. Remember, you are on your own now and not under your Ma or Baba's umbrella! We don't expect you to be reckless with your safety. That's not how we raised you. Take care and listen to Tia."

She said those words digging holes in my eyes as if she's telling me the secret map to find Dwarka's lost treasure. I couldn't tell if she was just worried or simply didn't trust me!

But anyways, it turns out being a little bit friendly with people here and there does become quite helpful once in a while. For example, Mrs. Bhatt, one of the senior faculty members and one of the few good things left in the office, once told me about the problems she had to face throughout her life while balancing between her personal life and her work. Most of it revolved around being early while still making sure she had all her chores complete before she left. I couldn't even imagine what it must've been like for a family woman like her. Long story short, she told me that one day she got fed up and ended up taking a tour around the whole city and navigating a few shortcut roads which may not be reliable for daily use but are definitely a good backup. Thanks to one such unreliable shortcut, I'm inside my office at eight fifty three. I let out the biggest sigh of relief. Bless that old lady.

"I'm gonna have to run around today a bit. Just a few meetings with the freelancers we hired last month."

"I'm gonna go check on the designers. I have to go to get my pictures done too. Ok! See you at lunch." Tia said before we parted our ways to our individual parts of the battlefield.

Just as I was about to settle at my desk, the front door singed open and my eyes automatically darted to the watch. Nine o'clock on the dot. Shivansh Dixit has entered his domain.

Shivansh is one of those people who enter a room and everyone present might stand up without even realising it. There's something about his presence that demands to be acknowledged. Even the usually chatty receptionist who wouldn't let you pass without sharing a conversation doesn't look him in the eyes. Out of respect or out of fear, everyone in this office obeys him and his orders without a question. Even the employees who are older than him. It's been three years since he has taken the job of Executive Director and ever since he did IB Plublishers have made impressive progress, especially since we were in a tight situation back then. It all makes sense that people respect him so much. And honestly he would've been the best boss we ever had. He did make IB stand up on it's feet again. If only! If only he wasn't a complete jackass to his employees. Not to mention his insufferable habit of giving the cold shoulder to people even due to the slightest of inconveniences. It's either that or get lectured.

The first day he showed up to the office I tried to be friendly with him and start things on a pleasant note. I offered him a cup of coffee and had the sweetest smile plastered on my face.

"Good morning sir! I'm Anindita Roy from editorial. Since we'll be working together now I hope we can get along well." I had to be a real kiss-ass to try and win that skunk-face's approval. I still remember how he looked at me from top to bottom and a weird stare for a second before muttering a dry "thank you" in response. Didn't even smile back at me. Not that I've ever seen him smile or make any other facial expressions other than being either bored and annoyed or giving an extremely critical look, which everyone knows as the 'you're screwed 'cuz you made a mistake' look.