Petals (Short Stories)

2.1~ Navita's story-- Part 1

Hello guys. So this is a one shot or a short story based on one of the characters of Destined Choice. To ones who have read- You'll be excited to know who it is. To those who haven't read, no worries, you can read it as a one shot. Read on.

6.1- "I'll take that as your sarcasm Navita."

It doesn't matter whether you are chatting or attending a job interview. People often ask you this question-- What are your hobbies? While my most favorite hobby had always been immersing myself into the world of gaming, there was another something I fancied doing-- Observing people.

I don't know why these peeps regarded me with weird looks or worse laughed whenever I made it a point to mention. It was exciting to observe people from a distance, to watch their facial expressions and derive your own story out of it. From a small child to an old man, everyone had a story to tell. You could learn many things from your surroundings alone. Which lead to my third favorite hobby-- Embarrassing them.

People always wondered how I was brutally right on point or how I ace in teasing them. Well, what they do they know? This was my secret weapon.

But never would I have thought that my weird choice in hobbies would fetch me a job in Dhruva gaming. My portfolio was good enough but let's be real, it's never enough to get you selected in big shot companies. That's where interrogation-- coughs-- interviews came in. To shit the nerve cells out of everyone. Almost everyone. I just gave my honest answers when asked about my hobbies. Strangely enough, the recruiter seemed keen to know more. He concluded my interview saying, he was impressed with my views while I was left wondering why the hell was he not impressed by my skills instead.

Eventually I was, sitting at the prestigious building, doing what I dreamed of. I had been assigned to work under the designing department, doing coding to be specific. These seven months had been mind blowing so far-- A little disappointing at times but nevertheless, fruitful.

"Don't you get tired playing Candy Crush. It's lunch time for God sake. Put down your phone," Aditi, one of my colleagues insisted, disturbing my romance with the game.

"Not to mention Clash of Clans, Duet, Temple run-" Shashank added but I cut him off.

"Atleast I'm not like you who is flirt- texting her potential boyfriend in the middle of the presentation," I replied without looking up. "And not like you too, who keeps on stalking our senior ma'am," I said talking about Shashank. Mohit who was sitting besides me, started laughing.

I could imagine the look of embarrassment in their faces without glancing up at them. "Don't blow my cover you ass," Aditi whispered shouted in my ear. I simply shrugged.

"Hey," I raised my voice when Shashank snatched my mobile. I extended my hand to grab it but failed. I was about to try snatching it again when another hand grabbed it for me. I lifted my head to see a tall man in specks, holding my phone like a prized possession before giving it to me.

"Afternoon Miss Navita Mishra," He greeted me in a deep husky voice and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "And you too, Shashank, Mohit and Aditi." He added or more like, felt the need to say.

Not again.

"Afternoon, Mr Nishant Tyagi," I greeted back, my tone clipped. I sided a glance to my friends who were throwing mischievous looks at me.

If that wasn't enough, Nishant took the trouble of sitting down with us for lunch. He did conversed with others but his purpose of coming was clear as day. 

Nishant Tyagi had recently joined this branch of the company and was assigned under the graphics department for both 2D and 3D. I first encountered him during one of our joint meetings. We were discussing about character designs and the backgrounds of the mobile game we are currently working on. After carefully analyzing them, one by one, our boss narrowed it down to three designs. When asked for a majority vote, the group was split into three groups. Then questioning about the third type of design, only three hands shot up-- I, Nishant and a girl from the management department. Since we were in the minority, our opinion was rejected. I took upon myself to rant about it with Nishant after the meeting. Obviously I was frustrated since my decision wasn't taken into consideration but in the end, that was my opinion. Nishant gave his reasons too, and I was kinda impressed by his input. We ended up bonding a few times over though it was strictly professional.