Enduring Ally

Chapter 5 : Problem to be solved

           

With the tight schedules, she didn't recognise that almost three month was got over since she joined DMG. Zoya, was running like a speedster from home to office to client office and back to home without a break.

Even Arshad started complaining to her that she is workaholic and she needs to take a break. In these three months, Arshad and Zoya have become good friends. She even introduced Arshad to Riyaz and they have been spending time together and even they went to few parties too. But for the last one and half month, She was busy with auditing and her reports and she couldn't afford to spend time with her friends too.

She had interacted 3-4 times with Aditya Hooda, with regards to her client's auditing report. But she gets only "Okay" or "Done" as reply from him. Aditya never interacted with her properly in these three months. But, he knows about everything what she has been doing with her client's auditing? Also, he never questioned her about the way she works too.

That day, Zoya was working on her reports and clients documents rigorously. She receives a call from Riyaz. But she ignores it and put the mobile in silent, as she can't afford to make any mistake in the report that she was working on.

Arshad has been checking on her for 2-3 times for lunch, but she asked him to carry on without her.

When Zoya's stomach started to make sounds, she realised that, she has been working on the report for straight 4-5 hours non-stop without taking a break. She took her phone to check time, and then only she noticed the 30 missed calls from Riyaz. Usually, he was not that type, he will not call again and again, if she did not answer the calls.

Zoya understood there is some problem and she called back Riyaz. But, he did not answer the call. She tried one more time but no response. She dropped everything that she was doing and went to Arshad's cabin and knocked on the door.

Arshad looked up from his laptop and smiled, "Ohhh... finally you got free"

She hesitated and said, "Hey... Sorry Arshad, but I need permission to leave now. There is an urgent problem which needs my attention immediately". 

Arshad looked worried, "What happened, Zoya? You know you can share it with me". Zoya replied, "Nothing... It's... personal... sorry Arshad... I can't... tell you... anything now... I'll tell you... later... but I need permission to leave now..."

"Okay, but that's not in my hand, Zoya. You need to check with Aditya sir because you're reporting to him", he said. "Yeah... I know that, Arshad. But, how can I reach him without his permission? Can you please help me in this? I really need to go urgently", she pleaded.

Arshad immediately dialled Aditya's extension and asked him whether he can meet Zoya as she is in some emergency, finally he said, "Okay sir" and end the call.

He turned to Zoya and said, "He asked you to come to his cabin after 15 minutes, that's all I can do. You need to convince him to leave early; I can't ask permission for you, he doesn't like such things". She thanked him for his help and left to Aditya's cabin.

Zoya knocked on Aditya's cabin; she heard "Come in". She opened the door and get in.

Aditya was buried himself in his laptop and was typing in 200WPM. She hesitantly, "Excuse me, Mr. Hooda. I... need... to... speak... with... you..." without looking up from his laptop, he said, "Yes".

"Mr. Hooda, I... need... I... need... permission to leave early", she finally said and scared of what's going to be his reaction and reply.

"Okay, Ms. Zoya Siddiqui", he replied without looking up. "But, there is problem with my friend that needs to be sorted out, and I need to leave early for that", she ranted without realising what he said.