Rab Rakha

Chapter 48

A meeting was arranged by the manager, Kritika, to be attended by most of her staff. When Shehnaaz was making her way in, she fished her phone out of her pocket to put it on silent mode. Walking while doing so, she bumped into somebody.

"Sorry, sorry." She immediately backed a step and realized it was Naman she ran into. Out of everybody in the office? Him?

"It's okay." Naman replied, looked around and then made his way into the meeting hall.

"First and foremost, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of you. Launching our new chain of enterprises has been a monumental task and it’s your hard work, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence that has brought us to this significant milestone." Kritika read out the mail that had just arrived from their head office.

"Basically, Relianz is going to bring forward some offers and sales in the chain of groceries they just launched. And we are to discuss it." She added

"Here are a few key points I want us to focus on:-
Understanding Our Customer Base: We need to dive deep into understanding the needs and preferences of our customers. This will help us tailor our offers in a way that resonates with them. Use every tool at your disposal – from customer feedback to market research – to gain insights and inform our strategies." Kritika began. She showed them a slide, a powerpoint sent by the headquarters as well and the entire staff began to go through it.

Shehnaaz felt someone's eyes on her, she had a name in her mind but upon slightly turning her head, she found their new receptionist staring at her. She was confused if that girl wanted to talk to her, she couldn't even recall her name let alone recall if they had a tiff in between.

"Shehnaaz, let's go and grab something. Itni lambi meeting chali, mujhe toh neend hi aa jati." Priya hooked her arm around her, leading them to the cafeteria.

"Ha chal. By the way, yeh apni nayi receptionist hai na?" Shehnaaz replied, pointing at the girl in front of them through her eyes.

"Ha, she's Nidhi. she was hired last month I guess." Priya informed her.

"Oh." Shehnaaz nodded, checking out the new receptionist on her way to the cafeteria.

It was a little later while Shehnaaz and her colleagues were logging out of their system and calling it a night, they were using the washroom one last time for the day. Shehnaaz waited outside for Priya when she heard some hushed voices.

"Do you still have feelings for Shehnaaz?!" A girl said and it had Shehnaaz's immediate attention.

She peaked from the washroom to find Naman leaning against the new receptionist's desk and talking to her.

"No, I don't Nidhi. It's been a month since I've spoken to Shehnaaz!" Naman replied.

"Maine dekha, aap usko kaise dekh rahe the meeting me. Don't lie to me." Nidhi mentioned.

"I'm not lying. Bas, uske samne thoda uncomfortable ho jata hu I don't have feelings for her but I'm still hurt. Bura toh lagta hai na yaar." He replied yet again and it confused Shehnaaz.

"Oh." Nidhi replied as she held his hand.

"Chalein?" Priya's voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Ha chal." Shehnaaz replied, the scene she just saw kept replaying inside her head.

After rejecting Naman's romantic advances due to being happily committed to someone else, Shehnaaz found herself unexpectedly burdened with guilt. She never intended to hurt him and empathize deeply with his heartbreak. Every interaction now seemed laden with an awkward tension, as she navigated the delicate balance of maintaining professional decorum while unintentionally causing emotional distress.