The Female Boss (CURRENTLY ON HOLD)

Chapter 16

Neil's pov

"Uh-huh, nope. Orphanages are not my thing, definitely not on my list of favourite places", I violently shook my head as I tied up my shoelaces.

"Oh come on! What's wrong with orphanages? The kids love you so much. Come on Neil, please come with me," Pakhi kept on whining, "you have to come ! You are so rude, and uncharitable, and stone-hearted, and, and..."

" ... yeah, yeah, I know, irresponsible, irritating, bad mannered, etc, etc. But no, I am not going to the charity function, go find yourself a date." I grabbed the keys from the counter and glided towards the door.

"You're seriously not coming with me?" She stared at me, disbelief and disappointment clouding her face. I sighed and reached out towards her with my arms wide open, "Please don't mind Pakhi, I have a date tonight, and I think you also need to relax in life. Find a date, go to the charity function, club, disco, parks, anywhere you like with him. I'm really sorry, I have to leave now." I enclosed her into my arms, patting her back to calm her down, but when she didn't hug me back, I let her go. I sprinted towards the door and closed it shut just when a cushion could hit me on the face...

~~~~~~

"Hello ! Hello Pakhi ? Pakhi ? Where are you? What happened? ....Pakhi ? Pak- ? Hello ? Hello..." I frantically dialled the number a few times..but nothing. Nothing but a loud beep.....

"Is she okay ? Where is she ?"

"What did she say Neil ? Why don't you answer us !?"

"She's in danger Ma. I could not hear anything but a scream. Ma, I, I can feel she's in some kind of danger..." I couldn't say more. Million thoughts ran through my mind, and I ran towards the door to escape them all......
I could hear the footsteps running behind me, Dad and Akash following me probably.

~~~~~~~

"Pakhi..How did this happen ? Please talk to me. I'm so sorry Pakhi, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you. You were right. I'm irresponsible, stone-hearted, foolish boy... Please talk to me Pakhi, please talk to me, call me names again, please..." I sob and murmur incoherently...

But nothing comes... All I can hear is a loud beep, and all I can see is red... Red everywhere, the hospital bed, the bedsheet, her hand, her face.... Red... Until I see black in front of my eyes, as I slowly collapse to the floor......

*******

I woke up, startled and sweaty. My whole body shook, shivers running down my spine. After a minute of stillness, I remembered to breathe.
"Take a deep breath Neil, it was a bad dream."
But my heart and mind, both knew it was not just a bad dream. 18th December - It's the day. I removed myself from the tangled sheets and entered the bathroom.

Everything was quiet when I left for the orphanage. The orphanage was a place of solace for me. Instead of suffering the unusual, unbearable placidity of my house, I liked to spend this day with the orphanage kids. It is a special day, and the children are special too.

The place was brimming with positivity. I could feel it seeping through me when I parked my bike and entered the gate. The children were playing in the garden, and as soon as they spotted me, all of them came running towards me. While I was being smothered by hugs and kisses from all sides, a child spoke out excitedly, "What a wonderful day ! We have two of our most favourite people on the same day !"

I was immediately curious... I asked the child who was the second person as special for them as me. The child just replied "Mimi!" as if, it was the most obvious answer and anyone could guess it. Upon enquiring more about the woman from others, I came to know a lot. Apparently, this woman in question is one of the biggest benefactor of the orphanage. She loves the children like her own, and supports the women at the shelter financially and morally. Like me, she is the person closest to the children and the sheltered women. The children affectionately call her "Mimi", and that's actually not her real name.
I was impressed, and at the same time curious, so I expressed my desire to meet her. What I heard about her, her contributions to the charity, her affection towards the children, and the attachment of the children towards her, all this reminded me of her . She was exactly like this woman, the person who loved everyone, and whom everyone loved.

"There she is Neil da !", a little shriek and a gentle tug at my sleeves pulled me out of my reverie. I looked down at the excited girl, still tugging at the sleeves, "Mimi ! Come, let's introduce you two to each other !"

Her excitement made me smile. But when I turned my head up to greet the lady , my smile disappeared. Standing in front of me, was the last person I could ever imagine to be here. Miss Bose ! Miss Bose was standing in front of me, her face as red as a tomato, her facial features reflecting her urge to flee. She looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. Holding her in place were two excited little kida, who probably have no idea that their two favourite people already know each other, and are arch enemies. It was the most awkward meet ever. We both were shell-shocked to encounter each other here. None of us attempted to speak anything. On my part, I can just say it was a complete surprise to me to see Miss Bose at the orphanage, and even more surprising is the fact that she loves, and is loved by, so many people!

Miracles do happen then, eh !

Not a word passed between us. The children too diverted their attention towards other stuffs, leaving us two alone. We kept standing there, watching, wondering what to say next. A moment passed like this, then Miss Bose came back to her usual form, and spoke arrogantly,
"What are you doing here ?"

"Well I can ask you the same thing."

"You don't seem like a charity guy," she raised an eyebrow, "are you sure you're not following me around?"

I snorted loudly at this, "Ironically, I could say the exact same things to you. But I'm a sensible person, and I know you and I have better things to do than follow each other around. What amazes me is that you say I am not a charitable guy. Well, for once at least, people can even consider me as kind. But you ? People can't even imagine you as a benevolent person. You can ask anybody about that. Your behavior and attitude rules out any possibility of you being charitable."

She glared at me like she would swallow me up if she could, "You are forgetting something, I see. Where are your manners and your respect ? I'm your boss-"

"― only at the office, my dear lady. You are my boss at the office, but outside the office, you are just Miss Bose to me. Just my sister-in-law's friend." I smiled, waved and moved away from there, leaving Miss Bose fuming over my words.

It was so much fun ! For the first time, I could really hit back at the woman. A sense of pride and satisfaction rushed through me.

Just when the pride diminished, curiosity took over the mind. To be honest, it was indeed shocking and surprising to know that Miss Bose is a regular donator at the orphanage and shelter house. If a woman who is ruthless, cruel and selfish towards other people behaves nicely and lovingly with the children, which side of her should be trusted ? Is she really a good person in reality, and the boss-image she carries around all the time is just a way to keep her subordinates intimidated by her ? What is the truth ? Which Miss Bose is real ?

I decided that I have to find out the truth, and that too from Miss Bose herself.

―×-×-×-×-×―

A.N : Hello guys, another update after a ridiculously long time, I know. As a punishment, you can use any slang you would like in the comment section below, I wouldn't mind a thing I promise. In my defense, I only can say that I've been through a lot in this period of 3-4 months, but with the help of my friends, family and some of you wonderful people, I'm finally recuperating... Thank you to everyone who had been patiently waiting for the next update, I really really appreciate your support !