chapter 7

SerendipityEpisode-7As soon as Megha entered her office in Worli, she was greeted with thunderous applause.. She was stunned for a moment..Keeping the trophy in the cabinet, she looked at the many awards that SWC had won in the last 35 years.‘There is much more to be achieved ... the most important being the trophy of the No 1 consultancy firm of India... without it the cabinet was as good as empty.’She remembered her first day in this office... the seat in the corner near that window was hers... 10 years ago...‘Senior Consultant Megha Joshi... I don't even remember how fast days, months, and even years passed...New challenges ... Promotions .. Increased responsibilities ... Every year, a new goal was achieved... Two years ago I became Vice-President and today the trophy of Best VP is shining in the cabinet..’The moment she entered her cabin, it felt like entering a garden... the cabin was filled with bouquets and greeting cards..She picked some of the flower bouquets on the table and kept them aside...but a particular fragrance attracted her...She inspected all the flowers...the usual roses, gerberas, orchids and a bunch of lilies...She walked towards the left corner of the cabin in search of the source of that sweet scent... a big bunch of Nishigandha lay invitingly on the corner table...She felt a little strange and even a bit surprised... ‘Today is the first time in so many years that someone has sent me Nisigandha ...Only he knew that I like Nishigandha....how is this possible??'... Sameer's face appeared in front of her eyes..She quickly looked to see if there was anyone's name attached with the flowers... but the accompanying card had only two words,'Congratulations' & 'Sorry'. ‘Why would someone have sent such a strange card??.. The signature initials are also not familiar...’She tried to recall if she knew anyone who had these initials but couldn’t remember anyone...The curiosity to know the unknown person’s name had now increased... She asked the office assistant over the intercom but more than fifty bunches had arrived since the morning and so, no one knew anything.She picked up that fresh Nishigandha bunch and inhaled in its fragrance to her heart's content. She brought it to her desk and placed it in front of her to keep it as close to her as possible.Taking one final glance at the flowers, she opened her laptop and started working.She sent an email to the managers of four important ongoing projects... Scheduled project update meetings... Called the junior managers and asked them to submit the workings...Some important points about the ongoing preparation for the annual appraisal meetings of senior managers next week were duly noted in her diary.  She was concentrating on the important reports for the Sehegal project which had been emailed to her by her team, when suddenly“Hello beautiful!” Hearing the accustomed voice, a wide grin spread on her face and she instantly looked up.“Ohh its you” She teasingly shook her head in disbelief...He was standing in the doorway of her cabin with a large bouquet of roses, a cute smile on his face...Her friend and colleague... Purab Gupta!!!When he called her beautiful, she always looked at him with irritation etched on her forehead but after all calling her beautiful intentionally was his usual habit of teasing her...Noticing how the joy in her eyes was slowly mingling with a hint of annoyance in realisation of what he had said , he instantly corrected himself,“Ok ok... don't give me that look... please don't be angry... Hello, Vice President Of The Year!!... Congratulations!” He came forward and hugged her lightly ...As he placed the bouquet of roses on the table, he looked at the flowers of Nisigandha with a somewhat questioning look, surprise clearly visible on his face.‘Megha has never decorated the table with any flowers for a long time now’ Seeing the bunch of Nisigandh placed specially on the table with such love, he felt jealous of the one who had sent those flowers for a moment.Looking at those flowers, he immediately sat on the front chair...“Purab... How could you miss the award ceremony?” She asked him playfully in mock anger.“Sorry yaar! My flight from Singapore was delayed...I landed at 10 o’clock on Saturday night, how was I supposed to get to the venue? ... Ohhh! But someone seems to have missed me lot” He winked and their banter resumed.“Yes ... of course ... Gupta sir missed you a lot ...” She also answered his taunt with a taunt.The phone on her table rang and she got busy talking to Mrunal, the senior consultant of her team... She was lecturing Mrinal about the numerous mistakes in the report...Purab sat back comfortably in the chair ... staring at her ... he rarely got such an opportunity and today, he was fully enjoying it.'How can she look so adorable while yelling at her team member?’Her sweet honey–coloured eyes fixed on the laptop screen...those arched eyebrows...those fluttering eyelashes...the tiny strands of hair touching her cheeks... A mole resting in the left corner of her lips... thinking and playing with her chain...looking gorgeous in this pink saree...No yaar!!! Every color suits her pearl complexion...Megha!! The perfect  blend of intelligence and beauty... Sweet and innocent...'He knew that she knew how much he liked her... But he had accepted that she would never consider his proposal of marriage. However, that did not stop certain questions from still haunting him...‘Will she ever consider our 10-year-old relationship beyond friendship sometime in the future? I can’t see her struggling any more... I want to help her...Can she ever forget her past?Will she reconsider my marriage proposal just once.....just once?...Can she ever love someone again?If not me, someone special should come into her life ... fill her life with happiness ... love her for the amazing woman that she is.....’“Thank god, it finally finished...sorry, you had to wait for so long...these juniors don't understand the importance of accuracy in the reports”She apologized with a sweet smile...and he smiled back ‘Ohh man, how can anyone be mad at her?’"So ... how did the Singapore visit go ... are we getting the Raheja's project?" Her curiosity increased.“I have tried my best...We will get to know in a couple of days..I hope we get it” He sounded a bit disappointed.“Aree Purab, I’m sure you will get it... Only you can handle such a troublesome client like Raheja”... As always , she gave him the confidence he needed...He kept looking at her in wonder..‘How does she know everything... Maybe this is what is called being 'Best friends’. I am really lucky to have Megha in my life...’He looked away as she stared at him.“Megha... you have become quite famous on social media” exclaimed Purab looking into his mobile."What?... I'm not on social media... you know how much I hate social media... it's nothing but a waste of time" Megha replied angrily.“Hey, look, your award ceremony video is all over the place... 1 million views in two days”Purab handed over the mobile phone to Megha. She was shocked for a moment...‘Why did someone make the video viral?’People had appreciated the video of Megha receiving award from Vishakha Shetty a lot...‘Megha - the Rule Breaker’ ... ‘Strong Woman - Megha’ ... ‘Megha – the Pride of Women ... ‘Megha -  ‘New Star in Male Dominanted Finance Sector’... ‘Best Female Leadership – Megha’ ... ‘Best VP Megha’... Many such hashtags and the video was trending on social media ... The funniest one out of them all was ...'Victory of Feminist Governance ... Victory of Nari Shakti ...'.To be continued....© ®️ Meghana_Yadav 2021Special Thanks to friend Gayatri and my loving daughter, my buddy.Hello Readers,Illuminate the five stars of ratings with your gentle touch. Do let me know your thoughts via comments..Thanks and Regards,Meghana Yadav...