Chapter 27 | Her
Whoever mailed us informing about the reopening of the office certainly had no clue that only a fraction of people would actually turn up to work.
By what I am hearing most of them have been working from the comfort of their homes just like they used to during the pandemic. But this is no pandemic. When I asked my team lead about it, he casually dismissed me as floor attendance being none of my business.
It was rude, but he is still better than Veer; that jackass pretended to be like an angel. And I’d rather get along with a hard exterior over a rotting interior.
The underpopulated workspace looks like something out of an apocalyptic horror flick. My curiosity is getting the best of me, as I scan the floor to hardly find anyone apart from the few staffs of other teams and the cleaning crew. Walking to my cubicle is a pain in the ass with my eyes glued on the floor, to minimize my mind from probing the possible reasons for such an unusual understaffing.
I look over to the cubicle beside me. Empty.
Why is Jess not here? She hasn’t replied to any of my texts since last night; neither has texted me that she wouldn’t be coming. And she definitely couldn’t be sleeping it off. Strange.
I instantly start typing a text to Jess, but a voice cuts-in and I almost jolt at the suddenness of it.
When I look up, I find Gaurav narrowing his eyes at me, “What’s so urgent?” Another evil team-lead. I wonder if their hiring criteria includes being an asshole.
My blood runs cold at the thought of what could have brought him here, when we haven’t been on talking terms ever since the news of Veer’s death got out. I cannot afford to lose my job with all this shit going on. Neither can I afford losing it because the news of the festival’s events got out.
“Care to tell me why you’re here? Or do you want to keep gawking?” I turn on my system and start off with other things, hardly paying attention to him.
“The second option seems oddly enticing. But I’ll begin with the first one.”
He bows his head enough so his voice can only be heard by the two of us. Like there’s anybody around here who can hear him spew the poison he’s here for. Technique to instill fear Disha. Remember what Divit taught you.
It’s becoming increasingly hard to gulp, but it’s not for him to know.
His breath fans the side of my face he’s bending himself in, while I continue entering my login details without paying much attention to the moron.
“You’ve been transferred to my team, Disha. You’ll report to me from now on.”
My heart skips a whole beat before I turn towards him, indignation still on my face, “I haven’t received an official notification about any such change. So, could you just let me do what I’m supposed to...”
There’s mockery in his eyes. Like his disapproval means anything to me. But sensing my confidence, he pushes back to his feet away from me, with the frown is still lingering on his face.
“The more seriously you start taking my words, the easier it will be for you. You’re only going to end up in worse places with that stupid attitude.” He starts walking away, before turning back again, “And if you still have doubts, look for Anya. She’ll explain everything to you.”
The crooked smirk on his ugly face is going to give me nightmares, but I still nod. Professionalism is such a pain in the ass.
I get up to check out Anya’s cabin; I need to know if that jerk was telling the truth. And I need to know if she or anyone else knows anything about Aniket’s doings.
But the more I look for her, the more I discover that almost half the office is empty. What the fuck is going on here? None of my acquaintances are at work. Then why have I been called? And was Jess been excluded too, or is she absent on purpose?
After querying on the desk, I come to know that she won’t be available for any meetings for the next few days. That knowledge is making me more worrisome, because she was the only one other than Jess that I don’t know why, but I feel like trusting.
Divit clearly instructed me to not contact Nakul from the office, to avoid unnecessary suspicion in case the feed was being tapped. But being the bait is so much tougher than I initially anticipated.
Everything aside, I am still worried about whatever’s going on with Jess? I resign to it. I need to message her.
SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT. Jessica always answers immediately. But today, I have been messaging her since afternoon. No replies and no returning the fifteen calls I placed out of sheer dread. Has something happened to her?
Worst part is that I cannot contact Nakul about it; at least not while I’m in here.
But I could do that when outside the compound?
The only problem with that is, that I’ll have to let Gaurav know about it first. The door to his cabin is on the far-left side of the floor. Uncertainty fogs my head while I make my way towards it, a deceitfully calm expression on my face and a mind that’s screaming.
Of all the people I’ve worked with in the months that I’ve spent in this workspace, Gaurav has been the most difficult to deal with. Narcissist, shrewd and overwhelmingly self-centered – the words the accurately describe him. I lowkey know he will deny, even though its unethical.
The alarmed look that appears as soon as I knock before entering the suffocated space is all that was needed for me to understand that he was up to something. But what? And who could it be on the other end of the line?
“Do you need something?” he readjusts the thin pair of spectacles on his crooked nose.
“Yes. I just wanted to...” he starts talking on the phone again signaling me to sit on the uncomfortable looking chair on the other end of the work table.
He abruptly wraps up the call before turning to me, “Yes, why are you here?”
“I’ll leave early tonight. I thought it’d be better if I informed you before leaving, since you are my reporting manager now.”
His egoist-self senses a feeling of entitlement, and he smiles. So easy to impress assholes.
“You can’t leave!” He snaps, his smile vanishing as fast as it appeared.
“What? – Why?” I retort. That was unexpected after the extra dollop of butter I spread for him to fall.
He turns to his computer screen, “Because I say so... Now return to your cubicle and close the tickets left for tonight.”
“But... it’s already seven. What’s the deal with going home an hour early when I can login from there and complete the rest of them?” I try to control the raging fire inside of me, barely.
“Am I not clear, Disha? Let me repeat. You’re not leaving. Now I want you to go back to your system and finish all of your tasks before even thinking about leaving.” His expression is pure sinister.
I stare at him for two seconds, spilling every single curse that I could come up with in my head before starting towards the door.
“And one more thing. Don’t just come barging in when I’m busy.” I know how thoroughly this man enjoys insulting other people to show his fake superiority. Flashing that evil grin is the last thing that he should have done.
I shut the door a little too hard while exiting.
Great! So, now I can’t inform Nakul about this Jess situation for at least the next two hours till I get home.
Pissed from the interaction with my new boss, I return back to my cubicle to find the surroundings near empty. By the looks of it, even the cleaners have left. Am I the only one not allowed to leave because of this asshole?
Just when I get back to work, my phone buzzes at least twice. Ignoring the instant urge to check the message, I return to the notes on my notepad before tearing the current one, shredding and disposing it in the trash bin below in the corner.
Something unusual catches my eye, the basket is full with sheets of paper. How did these sheets end up here? And why haven’t they been through the shredder?
I pick up one of the sheets from the top, and as I reach for the shredder to feed it, I notice something strange. There’s a message written on it.
LOGIN WITH THIS EMAIL ID>> [email protected] qNcVers556
My mind instantly realizes what the hell that means. But I still manage to check the rest of the sheets with trembling yet super-fast hands.
LOGIN WITH THIS EMAIL ID>> [email protected] qNcVers556
LOGIN WITH THIS EMAIL ID>> [email protected] qNcVers556
LOGIN WITH THIS EMAIL ID>> [email protected] qNcVers556
Every single one of them with the same fucking message. Since I can’t risk revealing Nakul or others in such a situation, I’ll have to use my own fucking sense of reasoning and judgement, which is lowkey shitty.
I click open the email app on my mobile phone, typing in with the given details. Id and password, enter.
The new mail address opens. The greeting almost instantly halting my breath – Welcome Rose.
My heart drops instantly. That’s the name Aniket told me I was supposedly going to use as an alias on the god knows what kind of website.
My hands are shaking as I open the unread mail directed to Rose. The contents are nothing other than another id and password. Just as I am staring at my phone screen silently screaming in my head, the landline on the end of the empty line of cubicles rings.
I wait for a solid two minutes, withing which the line rings several times. Where the hell is everyone? And Gaurav, he is supposed to take these... where the hell is he?
When I realize that I’m the only one present to pick the call, I rise to my feet; steadying my breath and making the slowest walk of my life.
Whoever’s causing the phone to ring continuously without missing a second is sure as hell nothing closely related to work. Moreover, could Veer and Aniket be operating their dirty deeds from the office?
My mind is racing, raising questions. Obvious questions that didn’t seem as obvious until now.
I pick the landline even slower; bringing the earpiece to my ear, so cautiously as if a ghoul is going to jump out of it any moment. I bite my lip just as I breath into the receiver, when a distorted voice acknowledges my presence.
“Greetings Disha... or may I say – Rose...”
Whatever I was instructed in the morning by my brave friend is absolutely washing away from my mind with the beads of sweat dripping from my forehead.
The man laughs mockingly before speaking again, “That’s exactly what I had expected. Silence is expected since it’s your first time. But I’ll warn you. It’s not going to fetch you anything but problems if you keep quiet with our clients. They’ll be paying, and you’ll be expected to entertain them. If you know what I mean...”
“I don’t know whatever you mean, asshole! Neither am I going to play into your sick game.” The words get away before my mind can logically process whether or not to argue with this person.
“What a foul-mouthed bitch! Let me tell you something – I have been instructed to upload everything we have on you if you disagree. Now tell me, do you still want to make this messy? Because I would love to see how many people would hire you when you’re more famous. You understand?”
My palms hurt from being stabbed by my fingernails. God! How bad I am seeing red right now. “You have no idea who you’re messing with. My boyfriend’s going to kill you when he finds out –”
“Would it surprise you if I said I don’t care? Threaten me next time and I’ll make sure you speak to the head boss. He’ll laugh at your threat harder than me; he’s that accustomed to dealing with boys like that...”
I grit my teeth but no words escape my breathless mouth.
“That’s what I thought. Next time think well before opening that stupid mouth of yours. Also, I am sending you a list of protocols you’re supposed to follow during the calls with our clients. Do well and you might end up in the wealthiest beds.”
The filth surrounding this voice is intense. Like I am talking to a real demon putting a price tag on me. “I’ll take that as an acknowledgement. Make sure you don’t let me down. Or I’ll keep my promise. Our company will earn from you one way or another.”
“How do I know you’re not bluffing?” My voice is hardly a murmur. Is it even logically correct to question someone sounding dangerous to prove exactly how dangerous they can be?
“Ask that again and I’ll upload a pilot episode of your beautiful love making. For starters, look for the mail I’ve sent you just now.”
I click open the video attachment in the new mail I received three seconds ago. The camera is angled at such a position where our faces are not clearly visible, but I can still make out the clip from Veer’s birthday night at the club.
“That’s only a little fragment of the tons I have on you. You both look sexy together. Too bad the boss thinks otherwise...” Who the fuck!?
“You have no idea who you’re talking about. He’ll find you and it’ll only end in gore...” I spit out.
“You could go ahead and tell whoever you want to... I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if your friend suffered worse consequences.” The tone dropping down to a dangerous level.
“Jessica?” My own voice hardly a whisper.
The amusement this person is getting from threatening me into this is seeping through the receiver. “Be on time, Rose. Cooperate and who knows if you get lucky... You might just hit jackpot on the first night!”
The line cuts abruptly before I can utter any more words. Not like I could. My lips have been sewn with the poisonous thread of the orders this person expects me to follow.
Whether or not I follow their instruction, my life is going to be doomed after this. If I ever thought my life was going downhill, it was not even half of where it’s heading now.
Because it’s going to be in fucking hell after this anyway.