Shobhana decided to wait under the plex awning of the bus stop while the rains pelted down in a steady stream. “Oh, this is so irritating. Why can’t it rain when I’ve reached home? Just when I decide to step out of the office does it have to become a veritable Cherrapunji.” She tried to stand strategically so as not to get rain spotted. Just yesterday this new sandal had been delivered from Flipkart, dainty tan strips of leather that caressed her pretty feet, through which her manicured toes peeped out prettily. “Drat this rain, it will ruin, totally ruin my sandals!” Shobhana grumbled under her breath, her lips pursed in an ugly grimace. She seemed quite oblivious to the obvious beauty of the rain. The lights appeared magical as the rain slid over the glass surface. The air smelt heady with petrichor. It was becoming cooler. The air was less humid, and more breathable. But Shobhana seemed oblivious to all this. Caught up in her own hurry to reach home to get ready for the party she had been waiting the whole week for. “Today I will get to meet Mr. Mehra. Must make the most of it. A good impression today will help me make a pitch for the opening in his firm. But nobody should understand my ploy. Taxi!”

“Excuse me, I had hailed it first,” the mild voice said.

“Of course not, I did. Please vacate the cab. I am in a hurry.”

“I’m sorry but so am I. Just ask the cabbie who he saw and flag him down first.”

“Rubbish! Get out, I hailed it and I am taking it. Get yourself another one.” Shobhana was fast reaching the end of the tether. She didn’t care that she was being rude. She was, however, completely taken aback by the chuckling she heard from the voice. “So, is this what this city does to its beautiful ladies?” said the voice. For the first time, Shobhana looked at the person whom she had been so rude to, just a while ago. A mass of unruly hair framed a nondescript face and then it smiled a crooked, loopy, lopsided grin. Her breath stuck with a sharp intake and she felt slightly dizzy. Smiling back in spite herself, she heard herself murmur a rueful apology and surprised herself by actually explaining her hurry to a rank stranger. “Why am I giving a reason to a stranger? What’s the matter with me?” She wondered. Aloud, she said, “So you see, I really need this cab to get to where I am going in a real hurry. Sorry to be so brusque but you are a tourist and have time to chill. So…” “Now if you are going to be so compelling…” said the stranger smiling once again. Shobhana wondered how anybody could have reason to smile so often, so beguilingly. She was back again to being her brisk self. She nodded an acknowledgment and got into the taxi, barking out the address at the cabbie and then the car sped away, with Shobhana not giving another thought to the incident or the man she had just met. She needed to be at her convincing best if she was going to get that coveted job with Mr.Mehra.

“Ah, there you are. I was beginning to get a little worried,” said Smita Kulkarni, Shobhana’s immediate senior and ever-critic. What a relief it would be to get away from this woman! Shobhana smiled guardedly knowing that that would happen soon with everything falling in place. She matched the pace of this indefatigable dynamo would was snidely called the human-robot by her detractors. Smita thought they had come to give a demonstration on behalf of the company and that Shobhana was the obedient underling. Little did she suspect that Shobhana had tweaked the presentation in such a way that it highlighted her acumen as a strategist, enough hopefully to catch Mr. Mehra’s eye and pique his curiosity. She really needed this job. Success was all about being upwardly mobile.

“And so you see, you this module we will not only be socially conscious but will also generate an extra 5 million in international endorsements, not to mention a solid national presence.” Shobhana finally breathed as she drew the presentation to a close. The eyes of Smita Kulkarni were drilling holes at the back of her head, she didn’t have to be an astrologer to predict that. If she didn’t get this job for which she had made this inspired pitch she knew she would be sacked from her present job, Smita would make sure of that. However, in the present moment, she was drinking in the heady feeling of many an admiring glance and appreciative nods from cautious, hard-nosed businessmen. But she was most keen to know her fate. What was the man, who she had wanted to impress, think? Mr. Mehra sat with an impassive face which was a mask. Shobhana’s heart beat felt irratic. Finally, the magnate gave a curt nod and told her, “Yes, I think it is a workable plan. Get to work. I will ask Rahul to have a word with you. Rahul Sood, the youngest COO this company has seen. Not to mention the most maverick. You must be prepared to impress him. He is not easily convinced.”

Shobhana let out her breath, slowly, very slowly. She had pulled it off. Now to convince this young turk, Rahul Sood, who so obviously was the blue-eyed boy of the great Mr. Mehra. Bring it on, was her mood. Very graciously she turned and smiled at a silently fuming Smita Kulkarni and said, “I will be coming back to the office to complete the formalities. I have learnt so much from you and really liked working with you.” “Congratulations! I hope you know what you are doing. In this industry back-stabbing is viewed as a cardinal offence and one that is not forgotten easily,” Smita said with a tight smile, eyes glinting with malice. Shobhana was disconcerted for a fleeting moment but brushed aside the feeling immediately. This was her moment of triumph, she was not willing to let the likes of Smita Kulkarni ruin it.

“If you would like to rethink about your decision, remember, the doors of this organization are open for you. However, I wish you all the best for your career. Hehe, you must have rattled Smita and she is not the forgiving sort,” chuckled Sumit Raina, her Boss at Croma Solutions. He was an easy-going person or so people made the mistake of thinking. A businessman with killer instincts, he had always had a soft corner for Shobhana. She had always made use of it to her advantage. She knew that what he had said was because she had shown steely resolve and bagged a prestigious job with a respected competitor. But there was no coming back.

“Please follow me, Shobhana. I am Ritu Paul, the Liason Officer of immigration. Welcome to the organization. I am entrusted with the task of getting you up to date with the running of the place. I am to also prime you for your meeting with Rahul Sir. He is a little tricky dealing with, you know.”

“Wonder who this man is? Seems to have made quite an impact on everyone here,” thought Shobhana. She followed Ritu down a plush carpeted winding corridor which opened up into an office space that took away Shobhana’s breath. The wall overlooking the skyscape of the teeming city was glass from the ceiling to the floor. Stark grey walls were bare of any ornamentation. A large black desk was the only striking bit of furniture with a high-backed swivel chair in which sat the man who was obviously respected for his business acumen in this hallowed organization. Shobhana could feel her curiosity rising along with nervousness. She had won over ‘the’ Mr. Mehra who it now appeared had relinquished the reins of his company to Rahul Sood, perhaps the heir apparent?

“Please be seated. I will be with you in a while.” A quiet voice spoke from beyond the chair.

Shobhana could hear the timbre of authority in the quiet voice. A frisson of unease ran down her spine. “I hope I did the right thing by quitting Croma.” “Why am I even second-guessing myself? I am here to prove myself. This man too, will concede that I am a good strategist. I have to impress him.”

She seated herself at the far end of the huge office, waiting to be called. Her mind wandered over the events of the day since the morning. Her eyes wandered over the office. Very impersonal. No indication about the kind of person that inhabited that space. Strange it was more impersonal than her workspace had been at Croma. She let her mind wander. The man on the other side of the high-backed chair was obviously very busy with something important. She was patient, a trick she had picked up when working with important people. One couldn’t rush them, it antagonized them. She was feeling a little groggy. Unknown to herself, her head lolled on her shoulders and she fell asleep. She woke with a start when she heard herself being addressed to, a little disoriented and not her composed and assured self that she prided herself on being and one that had won her the sobriquet of the Sphinx.

“Enjoyed your little nap? Can we get back to work?” the voice enquired quietly. Strangely, Shobhana felt that she had heard this voice before. She was trying to regain her composure quickly. Contrite at having started off on the wrong footing, she was keen to regain lost ground. “It is very uncharacteristic of me, frankly speaking, Mr. Sood. I really have no explanation. However, I assure you I am not in the habit of sleeping on the job,” Shobhana said dryly. “Mr. Mehra assigned me to you and I will prove to be an asset.” “You are a very self-assured lady, I can see. You also are acerbic and impatient. Blunt and brusque.” Where was this coming from, Shobhana wondered. Why was the gentleman making assumptions? Just as she was gearing up for the question, came the next jolt. “You also have brown eyes flecked with amber that seem to glow when it catch the light.” He has not even seen me and then this? Shobhana was stumped. “Relax, I am not a charlatan or astrologer. We’ve met before and the fireworks happened. I was actually at the receiving end of your ire.” The voice chuckled and everything fell into place. It was the stranger she had come to loggerheads over the cab. The face peeked from behind the wings of the high-back chair, the impish grin in place. Shobhana’s heart made an alien summersault. This partnership was going to be the most interesting one by far!

.    .    .