Abhi abhi..

Chapter-5

Rida was excited for her first day of school. Like every other kid she was excited to use her new books, colours, water bottle, lunch box. Her teacher made her sit on a colourful chair. She was happy. She saw some kids sitting quietly and some were crying for their mother. All of a sudden a boy with Spiderman bag comes and sits next to her.
"Hi, I am Adi" with smile on his face.
"Hi, I am Rida"  said Shyly.
They shake hands. Teacher indulges them into fun activities. They even shared their lunch with each other. She was happy.

On the other hand, As soon as she opens the door the person looks at her. Sana's eyes popped out of the socket.
"Tum" she screamed.
The person sitting on the chair looked at her with smirk.
"Welcome to R S Constructions Ms Gill".
He was staring at her like he would eat her.
She looks at the nameplate on the table and then at the person sitting in front of her. He was the same person she met in the morning. She was scared, scared to lose her job because she didn't want to. This was the only job where she was getting good salary and designation.
She mustered up courage and whispered"Sorry".
"Kya? Tumne kuch kaha?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Sorry"
He scratched his ear and said " Mujhe theek se kuch sunayi kyu nahi de raha hai"?

She looked at him angrily and said sorry loudly.
He raised his eyebrows, Sana immediately lowered her eyes and waited for him to accept her apology. He called Kaushal. Kaushal entered the cabin. He was just not his friend but his personal assistant.

"Kaushal inhe inka kaam samjhao aur Aaj ki meeting ki file do. Aaj ki meeting Ms Gill lead karengi along with presentation." He smirked.
She badly wanted to swipe that smirk. Kaushal looked at him surprisingly.

"Sir Ms. Gill kaise lead kar sakti hai? Inki joining aaj hi hui hai." Said Kaushal.

"Meeting 4 baje hai aur abhi 9:30am baje hai. She has enough time to prepare aur waise bhi bolne mein toh inka koi jawaab hi nahi hai toh presentation toh ye asaani se kar lengi. Right Ms. Gill?" He said sarcastically.

She wanted to punch him but calmed herself and said "I'll do it".

Kaushal gave her the file. She went towards her desk and started working on the project. After 15 minutes, phone on the desk rang. As soon as she picked up, she heard " Black coffee in my cabin in 5 min".
"What"? Said Shehnaaz.
"Aapko sunayi kam deta hai kya Ms Gill?"
"Ye mera kaam nahi.. he.. hello.. hello... kaat diya?"
She got up from her seat and went towards pantry to make black coffee. She took deep breath and knocked.
"Come in" she heard.
She looked at him. He was busy on his laptop. She kept coffee on the table. She came out of the cabin and started doing her work. She was very busy. Again the desk phone rang. She picked up.
"Khaali coffee kaun peeta hai?"
"Haan??"
"Bring some cookies and croissant"
"What? I am not your PA."
"Really?"
"Coming" she said halfheartedly.
"Black coffee k saath cookies and croissant kaun khata hai?" She mummered.
Again she went inside his cabin to give cookies and croissant. She gave him a look and went outside to continue her work.
Sidharth saw her working from his cabin as he could see outside from the glass. He smiled and started doing his work.
It was almost 2pm. She was still working. It was lunch time. She skipped her meal and kept working.
Kaushal asked her to eat her lunch but she refused as she took challenge to complete the presentation. She completed her presentation around 3:30pm. She saved her presentation, took out blueprints. She kept everything on side and went towards pantry to grab coffee and a sandwich. She was missing her daughter. She took a deep breath and controlled her tears and finished her food.
Kaushal's voice grabbed her attention.
" Meeting in 10 minutes Shehnaaz".
"Yup, coming" said Shehnaaz.
She grabbed her laptop and blueprints, and went inside the meeting room. Everyone sat on their respective chairs.
"Good evening everyone! First of all, let me thank you all for coming here today. My name is Shehnaaz Gill and I will give a presentation on this project here today. As you can see on the screen that our project name is Aashiana. It's an orphanage. It is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. We have seen that the rooms of the orphanage are very basic and boring.....
She continued her presentation and showed them all the 3-D designs and blueprints. Sidharth was impressed because she worked on each and every minor details. He was observing her. The way she was presenting. Her body language was so confident. The way she was moving her hands and continuously making strong eye contact with the clients. She was confident about her presentation. He came out of his thoughts with her voice.
"Every child deserves happiness. I sincerely appreciate your attention. And that's bring us the end. I hope you like this project and you will definitely give chance to our company. Thank you".
She ended her presentation with a smile. Everyone applauded for her. She looked at Sidharth who had smile on his face. She rolled her eyes at him. He immediately frowned.
"Mr Shukla, we are highly impressed with your company's presentation. I must say you employ skills are amazing and impressive. Let's work together you get this project". Said the client.
"Thank you sir" said Sidharth.
They shake hands.
Kaushal and Sidharth go outside to see off the client. Shehnaaz grabs her things and goes towards her desk and looks at her watch. It was 6pm. She immediately packs her bag and rushes towards school to pick up Rida.
Here Rida was sitting quietly. She was missing her mother. She was scared.The sparkling eyes in the morning was now teary. She had never been away from her mother for so long. Sana reached around 6:15pm. She came out of auto and ran inside. Rida saw her mother. Her lips started to tremble.
"Mumma" she hugged her and started crying.
Sana was no less. She was also crying.