Everything For Him - Part 11

Rahul, Sheela, Vishal, and two other members from the creative department assembled in the conference room. Vishal as usual sat in the front row, waiting anxiously as if a belly dancer is soon going to begin her performance. I tried my best to act like he wasn't in the room, to stay focused on my idea.

Mr.Muralidhar was also a part of these meetings but just an hour ago he declared he is no longer the CEO of the company. I sent a word to Jayanth through Rahul about whether he would join the discussion. 

'You can start Ananya,' Rahul said. 'I informed him. He said he will join soon but he asked you to start.'

I took a deep breath. 'Well! Considering the theme of our client Jobversity.'

'I am sorry!' Jayanth stepped in. 'I hope the discussion has not begun so far?'

I nodded firmly and before I could say "yes" Sheela came forward and pushed a chair for him. He was seated exactly beside Vishal.

'Mrs. Ananya you can start!' He said, smiling at me. I couldn't control laughing inside as he thinks I am married. He doesn't know that I am divorced.

'In the first frame, we will be showing two camels, a mother camel, and a baby camel. Baby camel asks his mother "Why do we have humps and rounded feet?" to which the mother replies "Our humps are for storing water so that we can survive in the desert and these rounded legs help us in cruising the desert comfortably. The baby camel thought for a while and said, "So mama, we have humps to store water for desert journeys, rounded hooves to keep us comfortable when we walk in the desert sand, and long eyelashes to protect us from sand and dust during a desert storm. Then why are we here in this zoo? And after this comes the slogan 'Like these camels don't end up your career in a wrong place. Find your dream job today with jobversity.'

Vishal all the time stared at me with the same fetish look. I wonder whether he has listened to my entire speech. Turning my face away from him I now locked my sight at Jayanth.

'Not at all good! Sheela said, raising her palms up in disapproval. 'It's looking as if we are telling a story.'

'As human beings, we are automatically drawn to stories because we see ourselves reflected in them. I think the audience will accept it,' I replied to her.

'What she said was right!' Jayanth said as he stood up. He walked towards the center and parked himself six feet away from me. And looking at the small group of six people he said, 'Stories are central to human cognition and communication. We engage with others through stories, and storytelling is a lot more than just a recitation of facts and events. And from this particular advertisement, we are not only going to promote the product but also going to spread wisdom. Personally, I liked the story. You really have a good creative imagination'

Wow! He liked it!

'Mrs. Ananya, your idea is really fantastic,' he extended his hand forward for a handshake. The moment he grabbed my hand, I felt a sudden shock of electricity ripple through me. He must have felt it too because he immediately let my hand go. 

I was lost in his incredible eyes. I realized his eyes weren't entirely blue. His irises were outlined in a wispy cloud of charcoal gray and there were speckles of emerald green gleaming within them. I loved the touch of his hand. I just can't believe that I will get to meet Jayanth again. 

'Mrs. Ananya, please do come up with great concepts like these. From now on, all our advertising campaigns should not only be promoting the products but also spread wisdom. I wish you good luck,' and he stepped out of the conference room.

'Ananya!' Sheela interrupted my train of thoughts.'Can you complete the storyboard by the end of the day?'

'I will!' I said and headed straight towards my cubicle. 

I feel this strange energy coursing through every vein of my body. The soft-touch of his hand is still sending a tickling sensation inside. I gathered all the motivation in my mind and started working on the storyboard. 

How things have changed all of a sudden? When I try to recap the series of events that happened right from yesterday till today, a smile escaped from my lips. Never in my dream, I dreamed about meeting Jayanth again. He has given me the motivation to pull through the day. 

I deliberately picked up a pencil and a chart. My colleagues Nikhitha, Lalitha, and Sushma joined me and we all immersed ourselves in preparing the storyboard. 

Post lunch I logged in to my office mail and an email flagged as "important" popped up on my screen.

From: Jayanth Kumar

To: Ananya Sharma

Subject: Company policies and suggestions.

Date: January 6, 2019, 2:30 PM

Mrs. Ananya, 

In case you happen to have any free time please come and meet me in my cabin.

Thanks and Regards,

Jayanth Kumar.

Vice President for Indian Operations,

GoldWin Advertising,

USA.

Why did he ask to meet me? Did he send this only to me or for everyone? I composed my reply mentioning my acceptance. I hit send and shut down my computer. I walked over to my wall calendar, sighing at the date that was circled, and crossed off yesterday's date with a red marker.

Tomorrow is my birthday…

'Ananya!' Sandhya rushed into me. 'Our new boss is interacting individually with everyone. Just now I had my discussion with him. He is asking for suggestions.'

'He asked me also to meet.'

'Why don't you go and meet him now?'

'I will meet him in the evening.'

'Jayanth has thousands of other things to do. Being Vice President if he is taking the time and listening patiently to everyone, then it's important for us to reflect with the same level of gratitude.'

She is right. I didn't even thank him for the help that he provided at the supermarket. 

'It's ok! I will meet him now,' I stood up and walked into Jayanth's cabin which was once occupied by our former CEO Muralidhar.

'Good Afternoon Sir!' I greeted him as soon as I stepped in. 

'A very good afternoon!' He turned his face from the computer and smiled at me. 'Please take your seat.'

I sat straight in front of him. Every nerve in my body ran wild. My heart started fluttering against my chest and I could literally hear it, and tingles started crawling up and down my spine.

'I hope everything is good at your end? And I was really surprised to find you here today in this office. I should have asked you where you were working on that day.'

'Yes sir! Indeed it was a surprise for me as well.'

'Don't call me sir. Call me Jayanth,' he said, shooting an affable smile at me. 'So, Mrs. Ananya I just wanted to know if you are facing any problems here. As I told you in the meeting we are going to hire a few more members. I was going through the profiles of various persons and I was shocked to see your profile also in the category of active job seekers. You have been working there for more than nine years and our company cannot afford to lose a talented person like you. Is it only about the pay or anything else? Feel free to express yourself.'

'Nothing much!'

I can't say how much I wanted to tell him everything, but I was afraid to express myself.

'You're lying!' His eyes hardened a bit. 'While you were giving the presentation I happened to see you feeling uncomfortable. You are one of the senior-most employees in this company. I am ready to take in any kind of suggestions.'

Shall I tell him about Vishal?

'Our company is going to have a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment. If anyone is caught, straight away I am going to terminate him on the spot. I will be appointing you as a point of contact for any grievances related to sexual harassment. You can directly report it to me. I will even have a word with the Human Resources Department to come up with stringent policies related to sexual harassment. Our primary aim is to provide a cordial atmosphere for everyone.'

I was completely at a loss of words. I didn't understand what to say. I simply said - 'Thank you Jayanth!'

The day went on peacefully and after a long time today, I worked peacefully. The conversations with Jayanth did lift up my spirits and I stayed late working on the storyboard. Truly I have never seen the coolest boss like him.

By the time I finished, it was already ten. I placed my designs in the folder and decided to call it a day.

I took the elevator down to the parking lot and saw the wheel under my steering deflated. I got mad looking at it and kicked my car hard with my leg.

Why do things like these happen only to me!

The security guard on duty approached me. 'Madam any problem?'

I pointed to my car tyre and asked, 'Can you help me by calling any puncture guy here?'

'I am sorry madam it's already late. No one will be available at this late hour but I can bring him tomorrow. Better you take a taxi.'

'Thank you,' I said and sat on a bench outside the security office. I pulled out my phone from my purse and started looking for any available cabs.

In the same instance, a white-colored Audi car stopped exactly in front of me. As the window got lowered I realized it's Jayanth. He got down from his car and smiled at me.

Once again tingles started crawling through my spine as my eyes landed upon him.

'Hey!' He sat down next to me on the bench. 'You still didn't go home?'

'Actually, my tyre has gone flat,' I pointed towards my car.

'It's so unfortunate and we can't even get anyone now from outside to get it repaired.'

'I know that's why I am trying to book a cab but there are no cabs available.'

'I presume you stay at Ayyappa Nagar near Giant supermarket?'

'Precisely! How do you know that?'

'I had seen you at the supermarket. The chances are you might be staying somewhere nearby.'

'Yes, my house is just a five-minute walk from there.'

'Cool! Why don't you call your husband to come and lick you up?'

'Mr.Jayanth! I am divorced. I stay alone in my flat.'

His jaw dropped and he narrowed his eyes at me in disbelief.

'Oh, I am so sorry! Please do excuse me!' His voice was so polite.

'No problem!'

'If you don't mind you can get into my car. I also stay nearby to the giant supermarket.'

'No issues Jayanth I will take a cab.'

'Please come with me! You can trust me. Else do one thing, you get on to the driving seat.'

'Are you serious? It's an Audi car! If anything were to happen to it I can't bear the expenses for the repair.'

'Nothing will happen!' He stood up.

'How can you say that?'

'Because I trust you!' He smiled at me and walked towards the car opening the door of the driving side.'Get in Miss Ananya! This car is not going to leave this building without you.'

My cheeks turned red when he said that...

I got into the car and fastened the seatbelt. The car has an automatic transmission and there's no need to grapple with gears making my work easy.

Jayanth closed the door and walked around to the passenger's side and sat beside me. I changed the mode to driving and steered the car out of the building and out into the main road. I turned my face towards him and I saw him sleeping. I thought of waking him up but later I dropped it.

All throughout the while, I was driving with extreme caution to ensure I don't dash into anyone. Jayanth on the other hand fell asleep sleeping like a little baby leaning his head against the window. I thought he would talk about himself and ask the reasons for my divorce.

Who dares to put a car worth crores of rupees in another persons hand without knowing them completely. But Jayanth did. I didn't trust myself but he placed his enormous trust upon me.

Luckily the traffic wasn't dense making my work easy and in forty minutes I stopped my car exactly in front of my apartment gate. But Jayanth was still asleep. I awoke him up by gently tapping on his shoulder.

Jayanth woke up rubbing his eyes and yawning. 'Oh we reached? He said looking out through the windshield.

'Yes! Thanks for the lift,' I released the seatbelt and turned off the engine.

'You're a good rider. I didn't feel any kind of jerks throughout the driving.'

I returned him with a smile and got down the car. I waited there out until he moved towards the driving seat. He started the car, lowered the window, and waved me bye. I waved back to him and stood rooted to the spot until the car disappeared from my view. 

I was still hypnotized by Jayanth's generosity and honestly wished that this time and moment hadn't ended so soon. I don't know what to call this feeling? He really made me forget all my worries and even myself. After many years I came to live a perfect day. 

To be continued...