chapter 4

Chapter 4The poet walks inAnu was at the reception desk the next morning, signing the register, when she heard Arya stepping into the office. She turned to greet him and her eyes were drawn to the taller, younger man behind Arya. She recognised him instantly as the man who had accompanied Arya on the day of the board meeting. Her eyes met his dark brown eyes, flecked with deep grey, and she inhaled sharply at the intensity of his gaze. For a few seconds, her mind stopped thinking as he held her gaze magnetically, and then, abruptly breaking the eye contact, turned away to follow the older man in. Anu realised she had been holding her breath. The man had seemed to fill the small room in the few seconds it took to cross it. He had a presence that was hard to ignore – and Anu realised instinctively that this was Arya’s son. He was a shade darker than his father, and a contrast in many other ways. Where Arya was dapper and smartly dressed, he was more casually dressed in t-shirt and jeans. His beard and ponytail definitely fitted perfectly with the image of a lyricist - even if there was nothing else to prove he was one, Anu thought cattily.The office was abuzz now, and since she and the receptionist were the only ones to have seen him, there was much curiosity. She was in the middle of answering a question about the man when the inevitable call to meet Arya came.“Come, come,” Mr. Arya called and she walked in self-consciously. She waited to be introduced to Chintan, and was surprised at how she hesitated to look at the man openly. She was so preoccupied with these thoughts that that it took her a minute to realise that Arya was holding out another set of printouts. Mr. Arya casually mentioned to Chintan, “You know, in the entire team of jokers that Ganesh had, she is the only one who can write English!”Anu blushed at the unfair comment. Her anger at Arya now encompassed the man sitting next to him – no doubt he was enjoying the joke. She focused on the papers and said, “Sir, I think you should mail them now.” Arya looked at her unblinking, a look that chilled her spine. “We will send it after this. I am going to be out of town tomorrow, so you can have them mailed to the addresses we have in the database. How many names?” he asked coldly.She shrugged. “The marketing team handled that.”He continued staring at her, waiting for her to drop her gaze. When she finally did, he said, “I don’t think you can function in isolation. You will find out how many names, then see if the addresses are correct. If there are returns, you will make sure they are deleted from the database. When I return next week, you will tell me the final numbers.”Humiliated, Anu got up and said, “Yes sir,” with a special emphasis on ‘sir’.“See? This is the level of incompetence the old team had,” Arya commented to Chintan.Anu squared her shoulders as she walked out, though tears stung her eyes.Nothing could make continuing at this job a necessity. Back at her desk, she focused on typing out her resignation letter, when she was called again. Sighing, she went to Mr. Arya’s room and started explaining, “I need some more time.”He waved it away. “You can show it to Chintan here. Bring your editorial plan and show it to him. He will tell you what to do.”She stood for a minute, defiant. She turned to look at Chintan properly for the first time, expecting to see a know-all expression. The apology so evident in those intense eyes threw her off balance. “Yes sir,” she replied mechanically and returned a few minutes later with the print out of her editorial plan, her heart still strangely tremulous.There was a small conference table in his office, and Mr. Arya suggested they use that. He took out his mobile, dialled a number and talking loudly into it, walked out of the room. And the way he stressed the name in her hearing, she had no doubt it was probably the prime minister he was talking to.Anu moved to the conference table followed by Chintan.“Hi,” he said smiling and extended his hand.She took it hesitantly, wondering where the knife was hidden. He seemed more relaxed now that it was just the two of them, and the crinkling of his eyes made him very attractive. He was an Arya, she reminded herself to protect herself against his charm that he had turned on unexpectedly.She spread the printout on the table and told him of her plans. She sensed him watching her intensely, but when she looked up, he turned quickly to focus on the papers, as if trying to assimilate it all. She launched into a detailed explanation of all that she planned and added hesitantly, “But I need people. Lots of attrition.”“Why are you still here?” he asked in a low tone. She looked at him startled, not sure if she had heard him right, as if this were a trick question. “Sorry?”He cleared his throat and was about to say something when she sensed Arya re-enter the room. Chintan said, “I am sure, with your experience, you know what needs to be done next.” Her jaw dropped. She had expected all her ideas to be rubbished. “Just keep it rolling.” Chintan smiled warmly and got up. His father eyed him. Chintan made a thumbs up sign and said, “I have told her what needs to be done.”Mr. Arya looked at her triumphantly, with a ‘what did I tell you, isn’t he a gem!’ look. She was too confused to acknowledge it.