Arjun was much annoyed with the new girl that joined their company, The Sight recently. Sharmishtha Singh, the newbie, was someone who could be explained with two words, bossy and rude. Arjun had never met someone with this much attitude. She wouldn't speak to someone until she was spoken to. When she would pitch her ideas, she would speak as if it was her order. Everyone at the office was terrified of her gape, it felt that she would freeze their souls with her gaze alone. She carried that murderous gaze always. This earned her a nickname, Medusa. Sometimes, she would become insolent and joke around as if she was the smartest person alive. Once she hit Roy, even playfully hitting a senior editor was not polite at all. What a rude and annoying person! The more he thought about her, the more irritated he became.
It had been two days since they were assigned to investigate a human trafficking network, she behaved like she knew everything. Arjun was so irritated with her that he decided to talk with Roy to get them removed from the case. Roy was the person who collected their reports.
"I am telling you Arjun. She is a brilliant person. Just give her some time," Roy spoke with knitted eyebrows. Arjun frowned at him and replied, "I can't...I can't work with her. She is rude and insolent. It is awful. Honestly, at this point I am not even annoyed, I hate her."
Roy lowered his glasses that were sitting elegantly on his nose. His hands were crossed on his chest. Taking a peek upwards to Arjun, he said, "You think anyone cares about what you feel about someone personally? Honestly, I thought you were professional."
Arjun's face darkened. He clenched his fists. Still controlling his anger he replied, "Have I not been professional all these days? I can't stand that woman. I am unable to coordinate with her. If you can't remove her then remove me!"
"You are being so immature. She is not a demon. Please try to understand your colleagues before you make an opinion regarding them. Since the first day you have started hating her for no reason at all!" scolded Roy.
"No reason? Can you not see how rude and abusive she is? Can you not see how she undermine people with her know-it-all attitude? She even hit you the other day. Why are you speaking for her?" asked Arjun.
Roy sighed. He knew that Arjun wasn't entirely wrong but even though the office was a bit scared of her, Roy had seen certain traits that were marks of a brilliant individual. He wanted her to become a permanent part of the company. He then decided to disclose a piece of information Arjun didn't know regarding the case to convince him to work with her. "Arjun, do you know why you were moved to the investigative department from travel and lifestyle?"
"Yes! You said that a prominent persona of the field had recommended me," said Arjun unable to understand why they were suddenly having this discussion.
"Do you know who it was?" asked Roy firmly. Suddenly Arjun felt that he was struck by lightning.
"Was it her? Please don't tell me that Medusa recommended me!" yelled Arjun.
"No Medusa I mean Ms. Singh did not recommend you directly. It was our former head of the investigative department, Mr. Chatterjee who recommended you," stated Roy.
Arjun let out a sigh of relief. Then he realized what Roy just stated and asked, "What do you mean that she did not recommend me 'directly'?"
"She didn't recommend you to the project head but she had requested Chatterjee to ask the head of the company to move you to the investigative department so that you and she can work together on this case. She practically conversed and argued with Chatterjee for three days to let you in on her guarantee. More so if anything goes wrong because of you, she will be the one to be terminated from the company and you would get placed back to travel and lifestyle," stated Roy.
"What?" Arjun was baffled. He couldn't process all the information that was showered on him all of a sudden. Then after thinking about it for quite a while, he asked, "You said the former head of the department, as per my information, Chatterjee Sir is still the head of the department. The company hasn't appointed anyone yet."
"Well, your information is not wrong altogether. But, the company has already appointed Ms. Singh as the head of the investigative department. She has not been formally introduced yet. But every senior member knows this. After Chatterjee's farewell party, he will announce her name as a successor," said Roy casually dipping his biscuit in tea.
Arjun was dumbstruck. "Wait so she isn't a newbie?"
"Well in The Sight, she is but if you are asking about the field or you know in broader aspects, then no, she is definitely not a newbie. She has been working in the media for more than ten years now. Even though she keeps a low profile, yet, she is quite famous among our people as well. We were trying to rope her in for the past two years. Thanks to Chatterjee, we were finally able to get her."
"Huh?" Arjun didn't have words.
"This is why I am asking you to put up with her. She is already impressed with you. You might receive bigger projects soon after this one ends. So it's better not to jeopardize your position with her. You understand?" asked Roy.
Arjun nodded and walked out of Roy's office slowly. He couldn't believe Roy's words. He kept thinking about it over and over again. Suddenly an idea occurred to him. He decided to have a chat with Mr. Chatterjee. It seemed like Chatterjee and she was on good terms. He would convince him that the work was too hard and would request him to transfer him back to travel and lifestyle. After knowing he would have to work under her, Arjun decided to quit the investigation department while he still could.
He walked up to Chatterjee's office and was about to enter when he heard a familiar voice. It was her! The evil, arrogant, insolent Medusa! What were they talking about? He decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"So what do you think about the boy so far?" asked Mr. Chatterjee sipping his tea.
"I think he has potential. He has been doing great as I expected," replied Ms. Singh as she took out a black cigarette. "You mind?"
"Oh no please go ahead. But I would like you to quit. It's not healthy," replied Chatterjee with a smile as he helped her light the cigarette
"You're saying that? Aren't you a chain smoker Sir?" She giggled.
"That's why I would like you to quit precisely. See the job is so stressful if you don't commit to quitting, you won't be able to," said Chatterjee as he lit up his cigarette.
Taking a puff, she asked, "So did you ever commit to quitting?"
"Well, I did. You know about ten years ago I met someone beautiful. We became close. Closer than friends, you are an adult yourself so you must understand what I am saying," said Chatterjee as he smiled at her. She nodded with a smile. Looking at a photograph placed on the table he continued, "So that time, I felt I was really important to someone and to think that if something were to happen to me, she would be devastated. I quit smoking."
He halted for a bit. He then adjusted his position on his chair and looking up, he took a puff. "But nothing lasts forever. She died in an accident a year later. I couldn't keep my mind straight after that."
Ms. Singh held one hand of Chatterjee and said, "Let's quit together then. If you want me to quit, you'll have to quit too. And don't drink too much tea. It's not healthy either."
"Ah! No words for the broken heart?" asked Chatterjee smiling at her. "All hearts are broken Sir," replied Ms. Singh without flinching.
"Oh, dear! Such heartless words at such young age! Did someone break your heart?" asked Chatterjee gently.
"Don't divert the conversation. You asked me to quit so you are quitting as well now."
"Ah, you are ordering me around as always. Alright alright, I will try to quit."
"Really?" asked Ms. Singh as her eyes lit up.
"Of course. I can't say no to you," said Chatterjee as he lightly patted her head with a gentle smile.
"So coming back to work. You sure the new boy can handle a complicated case like this?"
"Yes sure. See he is very good at making conversation with people and at getting out information. Something I struggle with. He doesn't come off scary like me," replied Singh.
Hearing her reply Chatterjee broke in laughter.
"What? I am well aware of my reputation you know. Even an open-minded guy like Arjun thinks that I am arrogant and abusive. Maybe I joked around a bit much. They even nicknamed me Medusa."
"Wh-at?" Chatterjee was unable to control his laughter. "They went a bit overboard with that name I think. Personally, I don't know why they feel that you are arrogant." His tone became a little softer. "Believe me child you are not. Don't pay heed to their words. These people will never understand how much you have struggled. I believe in you and I believe in your decisions. If you are saying that he is doing great then I will take your word for it."
Ms. Singh smiled widely. Chatterjee let out a peal of soft laughter and said, "Also if anyone bothers you inform me right away. I won't let anyone bully you."
Ms. Singh's face visibly brightened. She then put out her cigarette and prepared to leave. Both of them waved at each other. As she was about to come out, Arjun prepared to hide. But his mind went blank at the moment, he couldn't find a place to hide then suddenly he heard a familiar voice call his name. He froze one the place he stood. "Arjun?" called Ms. Singh lightly.
"Yes? Ma'am? Uh sorry Sharmishtha?" asked Arjun. He was behaving strangely.
"So did you find any information regarding Sonapur?" asked Sharmishtha.
"Well, I asked the sex workers if any new women were brought there. They told me that they heard about some little girls being brought there from the Northeast and and the northern country," replied Arjun.
"What?" screamed Sharmishtha. She became visibly stressed. It seemed that she was about to cry. "So we couldn't save them."
"No, another woman said that they hadn't been brought to the place yet but there was news of bringing little girls. Sorry I misspoke," said Arjun. He had never seen her this emotional. He didn't know what to do. He had not seen a journalist so personally involved in their works like this. Now that he thought about her, he realized she never cared about what story would be published, she was not someone who was interested in fame or money. All these days, she had been trying to save people without thinking about what would happen to her. Maybe she was not that bad. Arjun smiled and said, "We will save them."
Sharmishtha nodded and went her way. Arjun was about to leave when he heard Chatterjee call him in. He slightly opened the door to Chatterjee's office and asked, "You called me Sir?"
"Yes, come in, take a seat."
Arjun entered the room and sat down on a chair opposite Chatterjee. "I heard you don't like working with Ms. Singh. Why is that?" asked Chatterjee going straight to the point.
"Well, she behaves a bit rudely. I mean she comments a lot on almost everything I say. I feel that she is arrogant and abusive," said Arjun honestly in a calm tone.
"She is kind of a sarcastic person and a bit bossy I will give you that. But she is not abusive. If you think that you don't like something about her, you can let her know, she would not mind. Have you tried speaking to her?"
"No, Sir." Arjun had never tried to make conversation with her.
"Young man, since she speaks so fondly of you, I believe that you are a good individual. You know why I trust her judgement?" asked Chatterjee.
"No." Arjun nodded.
"It is because she can always see people inside out. But, she is a person who can look beyond another person's mistakes and flaws. It is not like that she is unaware of your mistakes or flaws like your immaturity, your sudden mood changes, your utterly judgemental behaviour; it is just that she chose to look past it and pay attention to your good qualities like social skills, analytical skills, your kindness. So I advise you to do the same. She is brilliant and kind. She is bossy but her intentions are always good. If you don't want to bond with her just keep it professional."
Arjun nodded. "Alright you can go," said Chatterjee calmly.
Arjun walked out of Chatterjee's office. This evening Sharmishtha was supposed to retrieve a piece of information regarding the case. At first, Arjun thought it was all hoax but when he spent three nights in Sonapur, he realized that he was wrong. Sharmishtha's assumptions were right. After having conversations with Roy and Chatterjee, he could see that he was being a bit unreasonable. It turned out Sharmishtha was friendly to those who were friendly to her like Chatterjee. She joked around Roy because they actually had similar positions. She ordered him around well because she was his boss after all. Also, Chatterjee Sir and Sharmishtha seemed to share a warm relationship. But he still couldn't understand why she chose him to work on this case. Aren't there others who have social skills as well? Maybe again he was overthinking. After having all his misunderstandings cleared up, he decided to have a conversation with her later.
____________________________________________**Sonapur - I named this place after Asia's biggest red light district 'Sonagachi'. The original name of the place means The Golden Tree. I didn't feel comfortable with using the actual name. Please note that this is a story and it has no connections with the actual place whatsoever.
Hi, this is an auxiliary chapter. One of my readers personally requested me to give more insight to certain things. So here's a chapter from Sharmishtha's past. This is solely Arjun's point of view and misunderstandings.
Coming up next: Sharmishtha's POV