Shape of the Sun

Office politics

"Oh my goodness Madam, is that the latest Versace you have on? It's giving stunning."

...It's giving what? Even though Manmeet Chatterjee didn't understand why her junior assistant liked breaking all the rules of formal conversation in her office, it didn't stop her from liking her bubbly personality. If she dared say, she had liked Tanvi ever since they had first met.

Tanvi Bajwa had been a returnee NRI from Japan and after finding out she studied Swedish when they had small talk at the gym, Manmeet shamelessly hired her. In fact, the knowledge of Swedish had nothing to do with her duties, but what could Manmeet say? Nepotism was real, and look what her boss, Vicky, had done with his quota. He hired Mishra and now every time Manmeet saw him, her head hurt. Pooh.

"Yes, Tanvi." she managed to say, giving a weak smile. The number of documents she had to approve today exhausted her.

Tanvi, as if on cue, picked up a cup of herbal tea from atop the bookcase, which Manmeet hadn't noticed earlier.

"This is for you, Madam. It will refresh your nerves."

"Thank you, Tanvi." she gratefully took the cup and sipped from it. Ah. It really hit right.

Meanwhile, an older woman was glaring at the junior assistant, scolding her severely in her mind for being such a shameful bootlicker. Sharda still couldn't understand why her trusted boss hired this girl a few months ago. She did nothing but use her phone all day, only to turn complete three-sixty degrees when the boss was around. And it seemed her lip service was working, which made Sharda feel threatened. She glared even harder.

However, Tanvi didn't think she had ever been a coward, and as soon as she felt the other woman's gaze, she glared right back, contempt in her gaze.

How can an old woman want to compete with me? Tch.

All these actions happened under Manmeet's scrutiny. She wasn't a nosy boss, and so, she didn't mind the competition between staff and the careful tricks that they played. In fact, she and Vicky had discussed this just the other day to let them be. How many times had they done the same in the past? It hadn't been easy to build Arora Architects from the ground up and they had needed to go to many investors to request funds with nothing but a ten-year plan.

But the expression on Tanvi's face made Manmeet frown. How did she look at Sharda? What she didn't know was that if it came down to it, Manmeet would choose the older woman over her. While Sharda's older age meant she was less slick in tricks and office politics, those were the exact qualities that she appreciated most from her. She was hardworking and reliable, not to mention that she had been her sole assistant for a record six years. If that wasn't a deserving staff, Manmeet didn't know what was.

She opened her mouth to scold Tanvi.

"Tanvi, don't ever look at Sharda like that and show some respect or I would have to fire you. Don't you know that she is your senior colleague? And you," she turned to Sharda, "have been complacent, Sharda. Why are you slacking these days? Look at the new nameplates Vicky asked you to order for the office." she pointed to hers on the desk, "Why is my title incorrect? I am the chief architect, not the MD and CEO. That's Vicky's position. How could you make such mistakes when you are not a rookie?"

Her words effectively poured cold water on the burgeoning cockiness of her two assistants, which was the effect that Manmeet intended. Office politics was alright, but not when it was hindering quality work. And she couldn't have anything related to her reputation tinged with shoddy jobs.

Sharda was the first to apologize. She couldn't believe how she allowed a little girl her daughter's age get in the way of her work. She felt so grateful to the boss for pointing this fault out to her.