"You are to meet with them upon arrival, following which you shall be escorted to your hotel rooms. And remember, you cannot miss the training session the next day under any circumstances, got it?" The manager's voice over the phone speaker is polite yet stern.
"Yes ma'am." All of us reply in unison. We are to attend a three day training programme at a company training centre in Midnapore.
"Fantastic. Enjoy your trip boys!" The lady manager wishes us before disconnecting the call.
The group of six gathered in the conference room wish each other and come up with plans of sightseeing after the training programme.
"Hey S'Ku!" my colleague slaps my triceps. It's really annoying and I have repeatedly told him not to do so, but he never listens "You got any plans at Midnapore S'Ku?"
While my friends at school and college shortened my name to 'Suresh', my work colleagues have shortened 'Sureshkumar' to 'S'Ku'.
"No plans bro, just gonna go there and get the training over with." I snub the conversation with him.
After a few pleasantries we all head out and towards the exit door.
Seated behind the steering wheel, I take out myphone and open Facebook. It's a habit of mine to check for updates before heading back home. The only notifications are game invites and Birthdays. I post birthday wishes on three people's walls and check my news feed one last time. I come across a picture of a hot girl staring intently towards a guy who is turning away from her. It's some sort of theatre post. But the girl looks familiar. I look at the person who posted it... Little Fairy... Pari! I look at the girl in the picture again and realize that it is none other than my best friend from school!
I immediately dial Pari. It rings but she doesn't pick up.
I dial Dalbir. He picks up
"Hello bro! Long time!"
"Hey Dalbir! Where are you man?"
"I'm attending the Convocation ceremony tomorrow... sorry it's past twelve, so today I guess. I'll be heading back to Delhi after that. What about you?"
"Oh so you're in Kharagpur?" I check the time on my phone. It's 12:38 a.m. "You know I'm coming to West Bengal tomorrow. I mean today."
"Oh great! Where?"
"We've got a training programme at Midnapore. I'll be reaching by around one or two in the noon and I'm free for the day as the training will only begin the next day."
"That's fantastic!" Dalbir's voice beams "Midnapore is just around fifteen kilometres from Kharagpur! You can meet me and Pari, we're both at Kharagpur!"
"I intend to man. Also I might just make Pari's dream come true." I chuckle "I think I'll let her be my girlfriend."
"What do you mean?" Dalbir sounds confused.
"I just saw her pic on Facebook dude! It was some drama photo."
"Yeah, she's part of a theatre group." Dalbir interjects.
"Yeah right. So anyway she has turned out to be quite a beauty! I really look forward to spending quality time with her." I wink even though he can't see it.
"So I take it that your little pursuits didn't work out?"
"Excuse me?"
"You said so yourself, didn't you? That you'll save the Tot Fairy for when the little pursuits of yours, of the tens and the nines, didn't work out. Remember?"
YOU ARE READING
Taken for Granted
Romance"By the way, did you do it?" "No." I shake my head. I was supposed to confess my feelings to Noora today. But, like the past nine hundred and ninety nine times, I couldn't build up the courage to do it. "Dude! Are you really gonna keep pushing it?"...
