‘No, she finds other reasons to be miserable. Luckily, this time it has nothing
to do with me.’
‘Ananya, let’s go out, OK?’
‘I can’t today. My aunt is visiting from Canada. Come at eight.’ She gave me
her address. I noted it down after making her spell it thrice. ‘See you in five
hours,’ she said and hung up.
I stared at the watch, hoping it would move faster. The reps left at six, and as
Citi’s great culture goes, MBAs never left until eight.
I killed time reading reports on the Indian economy. Smart people had written
them, and they made GDP forecasts for the next ten years with confidence that
his the basic fact – how can you really tell, dude?
At seven-thirty I stood up to leave. Bala came towards me. “Leaving?’ he
asked, puzzled as if I had planned to take a half day.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Not much to do.’
‘One tip, never leave before your boss,’ he said and winked at me. He laughed,
and I didn’t find it funny at all. I want to see what a Tamil joke book looks like.
‘What time do you leave?’ I said, tired.
‘Soon, actually let me call it a day. Kusum will be waiting. You want to come
home for dinner?’
‘No, thanks,’ I said.
He gave me the second disappointed look.
‘I have to go somewhere, distant relatives,’ I said.
‘Oh,’ he said, his voice still a little sad.
I am sorry dude, I am not handing you the remote of my life because you are my boss,
I thought.
nora
(Nora)
#1