MaNan FF - THE GREEK GOD

- 39 -

Apologize. The very word sounded like a demon that gave a dull ache in his head. The room looked noticeably darker. Or was he at the brink of passing out? Manik's fragile ego was bruised beyond recognition. On any other occasion, he would have just said "screw it" and walked away, but here... he was trapped. He had no choice. All these years, he had a monster to protect him, to come to his rescue. But now, even the said beast seemed to have been locked down in his dungeon.

"Come on Manik," Mukherjee's booming voice seemed to be distant and yet it didn't fail to startle him out of his wavering consciousness. "You don't have a choice. Your second chance depends entirely on how you deal with the mess you've made."

Manik's chest felt uncomfortably constricted. So much that his breathing had gone shallow. Apologizing to someone was something he could never get to do. His brittle ego always stood in the way. But now, he had to say that he was sorry. And that too to Nandini.

His eyes were drooping now and it flickered like an old tube light. In spite of putting up a fierce struggle, he simply could not get himself to look into Nandini's eyes.

Her attention though was on Manik. She could clearly see his dilemma. The palms of his hands were wet and sweaty like a limp old rag and his long fingers trembled uncontrollably.

"We don't have all day Manik," came Waudby's reminder.

With great effort, Manik raised his batting eyes to meet Nandini's wide anxious ones. All this while, he had concentrated on working up the courage to apologize. It's not like he wanted to, but he had to. That was the only way he could save his sorry ass. And speaking about apologizing, he was almost there. The words were at the tip of his tongue. But no sooner had his gaze met Nandini's, a huge surge of anger washed over him. The words he had gathered up in his mouth rolled down his throat in an instant. He took a deep breath, screwed his eyes shut and looked away as his ego took over the reins.

Nandini had her eyes on him. From his flaring nostrils and clenched fists, she could make out how difficult this was for him. Surely, he never had to face this situation before.

"Fine then," sighed Mukherjee and began to make his way towards Waudby's table. "You leave me with no choice. I guess I will have to just lose you. For good."

"No wait!" Manik's arm shot out to stop Mukherjee. The very realization of him having to beg for something to stop made him cower into his shell in utter humiliation. This was a part of him he never wanted to reveal to anyone. But...

His voice was hardly audible as he spoke again. "I... I just need more time."

Hearing this, Mukherjee stood rooted to the spot with his arms crossed. Watching. Waiting.

Manik took a huge gulp and closed his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled quickly.

"Manik, I wanted you to apologize to Nandini," said Mukherjee in a stern voice. "Not to the floor. Not to the wall. Not just let it float in space. Now come on. I need you to look at her and say it out loud and clear."

It was a herculean task for Manik to raise his eyes towards Nandini. The tears of embarrassment that had started to build in his eyes stung her deeply. She never wanted things to turn out this way. She had never asked for it. And yet, here she was, in the CEO's cabin, waiting for an apology from her bully of a boss who now looked like a little toddler in his little underpants.

Manik was taking short, shallow breaths. That was all what his constricted airways let him.

"Say it Manik," said Mukherjee firmly. "Say... Nandini. I am very sorry. I know I was wrong. Henceforth, I'll make sure that it doesn't happen ever again."

Manik's heart thumped hard in his chest. The effort he had to put in to say those words were massive. A thin sheet of sweat glistened over his beet-red face as he clenched his sweaty hands into a tight fist. Slowly, he raised his flickering eyes to meet Nandini's

"Nandini..." His voice was barely audible. "I... I... I'm... sor..."

Though she knew that he deserved every bit of what he was going through now, she couldn't stand to see him in such a pathetic situation. "No need!" she announced and quickly looked away. "No need for all this, sir," she said to Mukherjee, "This is not at all required."

Manik's flickering eyes were wide open at her statement. On one hand, he felt relieved but on the other, frustrated.

"Nandini," Mukherjee was very calm when he spoke to her, "I understand that this must be difficult for you. But this is very essential. And everyone will know about this. After we're done, I will float a mail across the company with a clear message that we have absolutely zero tolerance towards such kind of behaviour. So I would suggest you to kindly co-operate."

"But sir. I don't... want this. I hope that you'd understand and respect my decision."

Mukherjee and Waudby watched her quietly. After a brief moment of silence, Mukherjee finally spoke up. "Alright," he replied calmly. Saying this, he picked up the letter he had printed before and signed it before passing it over to Waudby. After it got signed and stamped, Mukherjee handed it over to Manik.

Manik's fingers felt weak as he held the letter in his hands. His vision had blurred to such an extent that he could hardly read what was written on it.

"Manik Malhotra," said Mukherjee in his deep baritone voice, "You are hereby suspended from your duties as an HR officer for three working days. This is effective immediately."

Though it was relieving in one way, it was still disturbing. Nandini knew that Manik could never live this down.

Manik clenched his lips tightly as he folded up the letter with shaking hands. Without another word, he walked out of the cabin.

**********************

Moments later, Nandini was out on the deserted corridor, walking back to her department. From the looks of it, lunch hour was pretty close. But her mind was elsewhere. She wasn't hungry at all. Her mind was still clinging around in the CEO's office where the fateful incident had taken place.

She felt sorry for Manik now. She never really wanted all of this to happen. But now she was worried. Will the monster hunt her down? She knew that she wasn't the one who complained. Did Mukti do it? After all, she was forcing her to walk up to Mukherjee and put an end to the Manik Malhotra's reign. Could she have complained? If she did, then she shouldn't have. I'm going to ask her now.

Nandini picked up her pace. I have to catch up with Mukti before she disappears for some other work. But as she closed in on her department, the door to the stairwell suddenly SWUNG open and a strong arm shot out and grabbed her.

Nandini's attempts to SHRIEK and call for help turned futile as her assailant clamped her mouth shut and viciously dragged her away from the corridor and into the stairwell.

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