Warning: This is a short story about sex, money and power. If you are below 18 or you are sensitive toward these concepts, please do not continue to read.
My hands were shaking and palms were sweating. Every now and then, I was rubbing them against my demure black-colored formal skirt to make sure they wouldn’t feel damp when I shake my hands with Mrs. Seema Sharma, CEO of Beautiful You Magazine. Just then Mrs. Angela D’Souza, secretary of Mrs. Sharma, approached me. “Mrs. Sharma is ready to meet you. Please go in straight.”
“Yes, thank you Mrs. D’Souza.” I winced when I heard the tremor in my voice. Apparently, Mrs. D’Souza heard it too and recognized it for what it was because she gave me the most sympathetic smile, the kind that we generally reserve for the poorest of the poor. I returned her smile with a quivering heart and walked toward the cabin door with as much confidence as I could muster.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door briefly and pushed the door open.
“Ah, Miss Kapoor! Please do come in and have a seat. I was waiting for you.”
Seeing Mrs. Sharma’s warm smile, my misgivings eased. Maybe she’s really a nice woman and will listen to me with an open mind. I definitely hoped so and kept my fingers crossed. I wasn’t sure what I would do if she didn’t believe me.
“Thank you Ma’am for agreeing to meet me. I really appreciate the time you have taken out from your busy schedule.”
“Please don’t be so formal. You are one of my best editors and I truly value your opinions. I am sure whatever you have to say is quite valuable. Please tell me, what’s the matter?”
“Ma’am, I don’t know from where to start. May be we can start by watching the video in this pen drive.” I took out the pen drive from my pocket and handed it to her.
With a frown of puzzlement, she asked me “what’s the video about?”
“Ma’am it would be better if we start with this video first. I would really appreciate it if you could watch it now.”
I knew I was baffling her but didn’t know what else to do. After eyeing me for few moments, she got up, walked to the 42-inch LCD mounted on the wall behind me and inserted the pen drive. After switching on the video, she came back and sat beside me on the other chair.
“I think this is Payal Mathur’s cabin, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Nodding at me, Mrs. Sharma silently stared on the screen. The video was showing Payal working on her PC. Suddenly there was a noise of her cabin door closing and getting locked. Payal looked up and gave the newcomer, who was not currently visible in the video, a sultry smile. Payal stopped working and leaned back in her chair, thrusting out her breasts.
“Who’s the newcomer?” Mrs. Sharma couldn’t stop herself from asking me. As I knew the newcomer would be visible in the very next minute, I kept silent.
When the newcomer strolled toward Payal, he came into the direct line of vision of the camera. When Mrs. Sharma recognized the newcomer, she gasped and jerked forward from her lounging position. “He’s Dhwanit, my husband.”
I still kept silent. I was expecting this reaction; in fact, I would have been more surprised if Mrs. Sharma hadn’t reacted this way. In the video, Dhwanit walked over to Payal and switched off her PC monitor. He then pulled Payal up and started undressing her. The entire time Payal was smiling seductively at him.
“Oh, darling! I love it when you are so impatient to have me. Why, we just spent entire yesterday evening making love on that couch and it’s not even noon before you are back, pulling off my clothes to ravish me.”
Grunting and snorting, Dhwanit continued to shed Payal’s clothes. “Dhwanit, be careful. Don’t tear up my shirt. I will have to wear it again after you are done.”
“Shut up Payal. I have to be inside you right now or I will go crazy.” Saying this, Dhwanit ripped apart Payal's bra and started suckling her breasts.
“What about your wife? Can’t you go to her? Give me little bit of respite. I am still little bit sore from yesterday’s lovemaking marathon.”
“Don’t talk about that bitch. She doesn’t even know what to do in bed. Just because she’s the bloody CEO of this magazine, she thinks she knows it all. She knows squat about sex. Now just shut up and let me fuck you.” Saying this, Dhwanit drove into Payal. For the next 15 minutes, there was grunting, moaning and sticky flesh slapping against flesh. When the table started creaking, Mrs. Sharma had had enough. She switched off the TV calmly and walked to the window behind her desk.
Without saying anything, she stared out of the window. Her office was located on the 18th floor of the tower, the top most floor that housed the offices of top management executives. Even though the view was fantastic, I was sure that Mrs. Sharma wasn’t watching the traffic or the blazing sun on the horizon. I was deeply impressed when she turned around and serenely sat on the chair. I expected her to either react violently like any other woman when faced with the proof of her husband’s infidelity or fire me, stating the video to be doctored.
“I have three questions for you: How did you know about this affair? How did you tape it? Why did you bring this to me? I would appreciate it deeply if you would answer these questions honestly. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, I admire more than honesty, loyalty and generosity.”
“Yes Ma’am. First of all, you may know that Payal is my competitor for the upcoming post of Asia Editor. Just few days back, when there was an internal email about the opening of the post, I was speaking with Aditi Pillai, another editor, about it. We both were discussing if we should apply for it. When Aditi left, Payal came to me and said that I shouldn’t bother applying as this post was hers. When I asked her how she could be so sure about it, she said that Dhwanit Sir was her boyfriend and if she asked, the position would be handed to her. At first I didn’t believe her. I thought she was lying.
“So I spoke with Aditi about it and we came up with the idea of recording her cabin for few days. We planted the camera in her cabin with the help of my friend in the IT department and we got this on the camera on the first day itself.”
“Why did you bring this to me? Why didn’t you take this to Dhwanit? Alas, he’s the Editor-In-Chief, the head of all the editors globally. You could have blackmailed him and got the position. Given your intelligence, I am sure you must have thought of that.”
“Yes Ma’am I could have but I didn’t think it was right. To be honest, I can’t trust a person who cheats his family. According to my thinking, if you can cheat your loved ones, there’s no redemption for you; and I thought you have a right to know what’s happening.” Giving a tense smile to Mrs. Sharma, I went silent.
Just when I was contemplating whether I should just say thank you for listening to me and get back to work, Mrs. Sharma asked me “how would you like to be the Editor-In-Chief?”
Never in my dreams had I expected this question. I couldn’t say anything. I just opened and closed my mouth like a fish. Seeing my reaction, Mrs. Sharma exploded with laughter. “I see I have rendered you speechless. But I am serious about my offer. Would you like to be the Editor-In-Chief of the magazine?”
By then I had regained full control over my faculties. “Yes of course Ma’am. Who wouldn’t? But what about Dhwanit Sir?”
Listening to my question, Mrs. Sharma’s mouth tightened and a hard glint came into her eyes. “Mr. Dhwanit Sharma is going to find himself fired within next couple of hours, and he will be receiving his divorce papers in next 2 days. He’s also going to pay me a fat alimony for cheating. In short, Mr. Sharma is facing bankruptcy; he’s just not aware of it right now.”
I didn’t know what to say to that statement and so I just kept quiet. “So Miss Kapoor, I will be declaring your promotion shortly. You can start clearing your desk to move to 16th floor office. Congratulations on the promotion. I appreciate your honesty and hard work.”
“T-thank you Ma’am.”
I walked back to my cabin in a daze and plopped down on the chair. Once I was sure that I wasn’t dreaming about the promotion, I couldn’t take off the huge grin gracing my face.
“Oh dear world, here I come!”
Photo Courtesy: www.flickr.com
My hands were shaking and palms were sweating. Every now and then, I was rubbing them against my demure black-colored formal skirt to make sure they wouldn’t feel damp when I shake my hands with Mrs. Seema Sharma, CEO of Beautiful You Magazine. Just then Mrs. Angela D’Souza, secretary of Mrs. Sharma, approached me. “Mrs. Sharma is ready to meet you. Please go in straight.”
“Yes, thank you Mrs. D’Souza.” I winced when I heard the tremor in my voice. Apparently, Mrs. D’Souza heard it too and recognized it for what it was because she gave me the most sympathetic smile, the kind that we generally reserve for the poorest of the poor. I returned her smile with a quivering heart and walked toward the cabin door with as much confidence as I could muster.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door briefly and pushed the door open.
“Ah, Miss Kapoor! Please do come in and have a seat. I was waiting for you.”
Seeing Mrs. Sharma’s warm smile, my misgivings eased. Maybe she’s really a nice woman and will listen to me with an open mind. I definitely hoped so and kept my fingers crossed. I wasn’t sure what I would do if she didn’t believe me.
“Thank you Ma’am for agreeing to meet me. I really appreciate the time you have taken out from your busy schedule.”
“Please don’t be so formal. You are one of my best editors and I truly value your opinions. I am sure whatever you have to say is quite valuable. Please tell me, what’s the matter?”
“Ma’am, I don’t know from where to start. May be we can start by watching the video in this pen drive.” I took out the pen drive from my pocket and handed it to her.
With a frown of puzzlement, she asked me “what’s the video about?”
“Ma’am it would be better if we start with this video first. I would really appreciate it if you could watch it now.”
I knew I was baffling her but didn’t know what else to do. After eyeing me for few moments, she got up, walked to the 42-inch LCD mounted on the wall behind me and inserted the pen drive. After switching on the video, she came back and sat beside me on the other chair.
“I think this is Payal Mathur’s cabin, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Nodding at me, Mrs. Sharma silently stared on the screen. The video was showing Payal working on her PC. Suddenly there was a noise of her cabin door closing and getting locked. Payal looked up and gave the newcomer, who was not currently visible in the video, a sultry smile. Payal stopped working and leaned back in her chair, thrusting out her breasts.
“Who’s the newcomer?” Mrs. Sharma couldn’t stop herself from asking me. As I knew the newcomer would be visible in the very next minute, I kept silent.
When the newcomer strolled toward Payal, he came into the direct line of vision of the camera. When Mrs. Sharma recognized the newcomer, she gasped and jerked forward from her lounging position. “He’s Dhwanit, my husband.”
I still kept silent. I was expecting this reaction; in fact, I would have been more surprised if Mrs. Sharma hadn’t reacted this way. In the video, Dhwanit walked over to Payal and switched off her PC monitor. He then pulled Payal up and started undressing her. The entire time Payal was smiling seductively at him.
“Oh, darling! I love it when you are so impatient to have me. Why, we just spent entire yesterday evening making love on that couch and it’s not even noon before you are back, pulling off my clothes to ravish me.”
Grunting and snorting, Dhwanit continued to shed Payal’s clothes. “Dhwanit, be careful. Don’t tear up my shirt. I will have to wear it again after you are done.”
“Shut up Payal. I have to be inside you right now or I will go crazy.” Saying this, Dhwanit ripped apart Payal's bra and started suckling her breasts.
“What about your wife? Can’t you go to her? Give me little bit of respite. I am still little bit sore from yesterday’s lovemaking marathon.”
“Don’t talk about that bitch. She doesn’t even know what to do in bed. Just because she’s the bloody CEO of this magazine, she thinks she knows it all. She knows squat about sex. Now just shut up and let me fuck you.” Saying this, Dhwanit drove into Payal. For the next 15 minutes, there was grunting, moaning and sticky flesh slapping against flesh. When the table started creaking, Mrs. Sharma had had enough. She switched off the TV calmly and walked to the window behind her desk.
Without saying anything, she stared out of the window. Her office was located on the 18th floor of the tower, the top most floor that housed the offices of top management executives. Even though the view was fantastic, I was sure that Mrs. Sharma wasn’t watching the traffic or the blazing sun on the horizon. I was deeply impressed when she turned around and serenely sat on the chair. I expected her to either react violently like any other woman when faced with the proof of her husband’s infidelity or fire me, stating the video to be doctored.
“I have three questions for you: How did you know about this affair? How did you tape it? Why did you bring this to me? I would appreciate it deeply if you would answer these questions honestly. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, I admire more than honesty, loyalty and generosity.”
“Yes Ma’am. First of all, you may know that Payal is my competitor for the upcoming post of Asia Editor. Just few days back, when there was an internal email about the opening of the post, I was speaking with Aditi Pillai, another editor, about it. We both were discussing if we should apply for it. When Aditi left, Payal came to me and said that I shouldn’t bother applying as this post was hers. When I asked her how she could be so sure about it, she said that Dhwanit Sir was her boyfriend and if she asked, the position would be handed to her. At first I didn’t believe her. I thought she was lying.
“So I spoke with Aditi about it and we came up with the idea of recording her cabin for few days. We planted the camera in her cabin with the help of my friend in the IT department and we got this on the camera on the first day itself.”
“Why did you bring this to me? Why didn’t you take this to Dhwanit? Alas, he’s the Editor-In-Chief, the head of all the editors globally. You could have blackmailed him and got the position. Given your intelligence, I am sure you must have thought of that.”
“Yes Ma’am I could have but I didn’t think it was right. To be honest, I can’t trust a person who cheats his family. According to my thinking, if you can cheat your loved ones, there’s no redemption for you; and I thought you have a right to know what’s happening.” Giving a tense smile to Mrs. Sharma, I went silent.
Just when I was contemplating whether I should just say thank you for listening to me and get back to work, Mrs. Sharma asked me “how would you like to be the Editor-In-Chief?”
Never in my dreams had I expected this question. I couldn’t say anything. I just opened and closed my mouth like a fish. Seeing my reaction, Mrs. Sharma exploded with laughter. “I see I have rendered you speechless. But I am serious about my offer. Would you like to be the Editor-In-Chief of the magazine?”
By then I had regained full control over my faculties. “Yes of course Ma’am. Who wouldn’t? But what about Dhwanit Sir?”
Listening to my question, Mrs. Sharma’s mouth tightened and a hard glint came into her eyes. “Mr. Dhwanit Sharma is going to find himself fired within next couple of hours, and he will be receiving his divorce papers in next 2 days. He’s also going to pay me a fat alimony for cheating. In short, Mr. Sharma is facing bankruptcy; he’s just not aware of it right now.”
I didn’t know what to say to that statement and so I just kept quiet. “So Miss Kapoor, I will be declaring your promotion shortly. You can start clearing your desk to move to 16th floor office. Congratulations on the promotion. I appreciate your honesty and hard work.”
“T-thank you Ma’am.”
I walked back to my cabin in a daze and plopped down on the chair. Once I was sure that I wasn’t dreaming about the promotion, I couldn’t take off the huge grin gracing my face.
“Oh dear world, here I come!”
Photo Courtesy: www.flickr.com
Honesty and Hard-Work really pays off and the other thing,The One who is capable of Cheating his/her Dear Ones is no less than Devil and surely there is no redemption for such people...
ReplyDeleteI would like to believe so. :) Thanks for dropping by.
DeleteThe woman really puled a fast one on her competitor. Though there was an element of "Honesty" about this story, I really felt that naked ambition was the main theme here, in both, the heroine as well as the other woman.
ReplyDeleteYup. Payal went about her dreams in dishonest way and the heroine went about it another way. Thanks for reading :)
DeletePankti its written almost perfectly, quite suiting the scenarios of our corporate situations here. And of course the protagonist was lucky to have found a wonderful senior who respected her honesty things could have been altogether different...
ReplyDeleteRicha
Well... ummm... I didn't find enough cheese to spread over my bread (ref: warning at the top)... [grin]...
ReplyDeleteJokes apart, flow was nice but my appetite for some story in it remained only 'partially taken care of'...
Guessing from your label 'short story' I think it's the beginning episode... is it so? Otherwise it's an event, not a short story right?
I don't understand much of the language... just shared my instantaneous thoughts...
Cheers :-))
Yes AS, it's an event but I have said it's a short story because this event has a moral and a theme. I might be wrong in it :) Thanks for reading it.
DeleteAbout cheese, this warning is for faint-hearted people. Glad to know you are not one of those :)
Good One!!Specifically loved the part played by the protagonist. Though,i don't see myself in her shoes,nevertheless i liked the way she pulled the rug out from under Payal's feet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jini :)
DeleteThis was seriously nice, Pankti. I somehow think that the hidden ambition of all this was to get the man screwed up and step up the ladder herself. Also, I would have loved to see the fate of Payal.
ReplyDeleteDiwakar, it can be interpreted your way too. Alas, these things are quite complex when we sit down to think about the intentions behind such actions.
DeleteVery well written Pankti. What I really liked was that though there was ambition, sex, cheating and immorality weaved in; the moral of the story was promoting ethics and correct values. Tit for tat!!
ReplyDeleteIf Payal was smart enough to pull this off; she would do very well in any corporate scenario!!
Thanks Sfurti. I am glad that you liked it. :)
DeleteIt was nicely written, Pankti. Easy flow. Though I expected a twist in the end. Like Ms. Kapoor doctoring the video and putting her rival's face instead of her own face.
ReplyDeleteTF, I wanted to make this a very dark story but originally this was written for another purpose. But then felt too lazy to change it the way I wanted.
Delete