03. Rose and Thorn - Sandhya
“Read the agreement and sign it…”
Baskar’s voice was normal but it’s the hint of smile in his lips that bothered Subha.
‘Why wouldn’t he smile? I have never seen a stingy business man like him…’ she thought to herself.
Though scornful she signed the agreement quietly and handed it over to Baskar.
“Good, you can start your work now… And remember to be punctual… I make it a habit to keep account for every minute…”
“Ok sir…”
“Sarathy will help you with the formalities… Just try to be sincere and you will not lose anything…”
‘What is there for me to lose when I am working for free for you…?’
Though her mind mocked him, she managed to give him a dry smile.
Once she was out of the room, she felt very relieved… It’s like coming out of a lion’s den…
‘Oh god, how am I going to manage this for the next 12 months??’ she wondered within herself.
“Don’t worry Subha, it’s just 12.5 months…” said Sarathy in an assuring voice as if he heard her mind’s voice.
Subha looked at him in amazement. He gave a friendly smile.
“I know how it is… I have been working under him for some time now…”
“But why is he like this??? He just seems to bark at everyone for no reason…”
“Bark??? Ha ha ha!!! That’s a funny way to say it… But yes, he likes to shout, scream, yell or whatever you call it… I guess he wants to irritate everyone…
“Irritate?? He is mistreating people…”
“Yes I know… But what can we do about it??? You are stuck here for a different reason… I am stuck here because I am not able to find any other job… I have no other option but to adjust his insults…”
“I am sorry sir…”
“That’s ok… Let’s forget about it… let me tell you about this company... We are a consulting firm… We have around ten employees here…”
Subha attentively listened to Sarathy as he explained about the business of Boss Consulting services.
“… So your job is to type letters, quotes and also keep things ready in case of audits…”
“Audits??”
“Yes we have surprise internal audits….”
“Oh…!”
“Obviously it’s done by our boss… So just be careful… Otherwise, yours is no nonsense job as long as you do what he asks you to do…”
“I see….”
“Ok, let’s start with this KPA report… You have the inputs here… Just prepare a report in a presentable format…”
“Ok sir… I will show it to you once I am done…”
“That’s not mandatory… You can show it to our Boss directly… I believe you know you report to him…”
“You call him boss???”
“Yes…”
“Monster would suit him better….” murmured Subha and started with her work.
She spent the next few hours preparing the report… Instead of just typing and sharing the details, she presented it as charts and tables.
She shared it with Baskar and explained how he can filter the results and get answers to many questions easily.
Baskar’s face showed glimpses of satisfaction…
And Subha stood there expecting few words of appreciation.
After playing around with the report in the computer for a few seconds, Baskar looked at her and said,
“Ok, this is done. Start with your next task... You can go now…”
Subha stood there in disbelief.
But Baskar didn’t care about her… He started dialing some number in his phone.
Subha came out of the room with a sigh. She knew she couldn’t expect big appreciations from Baskar.
But a ‘Good’ or atleast a ‘thanks’ would have made her feel comfortable… She really wanted to escape from there...
He is stingy even in his words…
She came back to her desk and started her next task.
Time ticked by…
Others started to leave one by one… Finally it was only she and Baskar…
She kept starring at the clock… When it stuck ten, she got up from her desk, swiped her card to record her out time and came out…
It was pitch dark and scary…