"Good Morning Sir", everyone greeted him and he coolly replied to all of them.
"Please be seated in the conference room, I will join you in 5 mins"
Bhasker started preparing certain documents on his desktop which he wanted to present in the training session today. He entered the conference room and settled down in front of the main computer, remote logging in to his desktop and starting the projector simultaneously for the entire team to view the content.
The training session was quite exhaustive, with Bhasker being considerate about giving breaks at regular intervals to refresh the minds of the new candidates for them to absorb all the content effectively. At the end of the day, he greeted all of them with a smile and sat down for a few minutes as he was also exhausted. It can sometimes take a toll on you to conduct and entire day's training session and still be fresh.
"Thank you for the training Sir!", Meena said in an extra sweet tone.
"You are welcome", Bhasker was surprised as well as a bit startled. What on earth happened to her so suddenly. In fact Bhasker was happy that she kept her dirty mouth shut during the entire training session, but in the end, those 6 words irritated him a lot. He sensed that this girl is definitely up to something, and wants to use her so call girly power to bend things, and Bhasker was such a guy who wouldn't allow anything close to what Meena was planning to do.
This went on for a few days. Throughout the session Meena was quiet and at the end, the same dose of compliments were showered, sometimes more, sometimes even more but never ever less than the previous dose. This prompted Bhasker to rethink about Meena.
Has she suddenly changed or is this the original Meena and what he had seen earlier was just a one of case of a person behaving differently according to the situation? He was totally confused. And he said, "I'd rather not think about this and concentrate on my work, as that is more important for my career"
But day by day, Bhasker saw improvement in Meena's behaviour. She became more polite and was now actually concentrating on what Bhasker taught in the conference room during the training sessions.
The Day arrived. Heavy rains lashed Mumbai that night, to such an extent that the roads were clogged with too much traffic, potholes everywhere and waterlogging became the rule of the night. And the same night was a sales refresher meeting where the new joiners had to understand the sales process within the company, put their questions across and become ready to go live in a few days. Meetings are always meant to be strechable and the same was with this case. At 10 pm, people breathed a sigh of relief as the VP concluded the boring presentation, and of course at this hour, even if someone had a question, no one would dare to ask!
Everyone hurried to go home but were stuck at the gate. No Auto Rickshaws or Taxis, No buses as well! The VP took at least 8 new joiners with him in his Brand new SUV, left were Meena and Tushar. Tushar said he is waiting for another friend in another dept. and he would go with him on his bike.
"Are you crazy? You will get all wet. Come with me, I will drop you"
"No, Its ok Sir, I will Manage"
"Sure?"
"Yes Sir, don't worry"
"Great! Ah.... Meena, can I drop you somewhere?", Bhasker asked wondering how come he said this and that too to Meena.
"Sir, I stay in Kondivita, It would be good if you can drop me"
"Come, sure I can drop you"
Meena sat on the front seat, next to the driver's seat. She was a little bit wet, but didn't mind as she knew she would reach home sooner than expected. Bhasker was a favorite among the ladies and Meena was aware of his charming abilities. But today, in the car, he was silent. Switching on the FM and listening to some old songs was what he preferred rather than talking to Meena. Meena was disappointed, but somehow gathered courage to speak up to him.
"So, Sir are you married?"
"What?. No No, I am single. There still time. Marriage can wait, and I want to have fun before I can commit to someone"
"Fun! Ah.. I got it Sir!"
"No, Not that kind of fun, just enjoying life and all, that's it"
"Sir, that is also enjoyment na!", Meena chuckled with a devilish smile on her face
Bhasker couldn't believe his ears and his brain. He was conversing about having fun, implied meaning having fun with women, with a girl whom he still doesn't like. This was not something new for him as people close to him know that he is a cassanova and he has had high profile girl friends in the past. But with Meena, he was in no mood to talk, yet he had to answer as he didn't want to cross the boundaries of professionalism.
"There, we have reached your home. Good Night Meena, See you tomorrow in office"
Bhasker face was straight, pointing towards the steering wheel and was waiting for Meena to get down. After about 5 seconds, Meena leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheeks. "Thank you sir, you are so sweet. I wouldn't have reached home had it not been you"
"F**k, what just happened?" Bhasker said to himself in his mind. He waited for Meena to close the door, didn't even look at her and straight away drove off and stopped a few meters ahead, away from her view. "WTF, WTF. how did this happen, and why didn't I react. Shit man. Shit"
"Cool down, Cool down. you haven't committed a murder, a girl just kissed new and its not the first time", Bhasker reassured himself and closed his eyes for 5 mins. He regained his mental composure and off he drove to his house for a Good night's sleep. But that kiss didn't make him sleep that night and the fatigue was visible on his face next day.
"You are not well Sir?"
He stared at Meena for 5 mins and Meena equally stared at him, also asking the same question thrice. "Ah..no no I am fine, Just lack of sleep".
"Oh, My kiss didn't make you sleep sir"
Bhasker looked around and heaved a sigh of relief. No one else was present in the conference room. He warned Meena, "Don't you ever dare do that again. What the hell was that kiss for yesterday? and if you tell anyone over here, I will recommend your name to the HR and have you fired from this organization"
Meena was shocked and as is with Women, she started crying the next instant.
"Unbelievable man!", An angry but silent Bhasker uttered.
"Ok! Sorry, now don't cry and please go and wash your face. we are about to begin the training session shortly." Bhasker didn't knew how to handle the situation but he kept his calm and concentrated on his work. The end of the day was nearing and he desperately wanted to talk to Meena. He called Meena and told her I will drop you again today. She initially was adamant to go with him considering what happened in the morning, but when Bhasker said he wants to talk, she agreed.
Bhasker parked his car a few meters before her apartment. "See, I am sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you or hurt you, but I was shocked yesterday and didn't know how to react. Plus I haven't slept properly as well. Hope you understand."
"Its ok Sir, I understand." Her hand on Bhasker's hand. Bhasker tried to pull his hand away but Meena stopped him. "What's wrong sir? I know I am not that smart like you, but I was the hottest girl in my college. Don't you like me? I know you don't like my nature but then I am good looking too, at least you can be happy that a good looking girl likes you and wants to be with you"
"Excuse me, I don't deny that you are good looking but please, I don't want to talk further about this. Leave my hand and please go now, I am getting late, My family is waiting"
Bhasker turned his face away from her. And Meena got an opportunity to plant another kiss on Bhasker's cheeks. "What the...."
"Bye Sir, Muaaaahhhh"
The flying kiss was what made Bhasker smile a bit. She is one crazy female, is what Bhasker thought. And the smile remained on him till then time he reached home, prompting his Mom to ask, "Have you made Katrina Kaif your girlfriend?" He smiled again.
To himself he said, "No mom this time a simpleton, worthy of bringing her home to you"
