Mansi POV (2021)

When I entered office, my kurti was sticking against my back due to the sticky May heat. My hair was disheveled and my face was grimy and maybe, I've dropped my handkerchief on the way. Well, these are the perks of traveling in a Pune Mahamandal Parivahan bus. Well, it doesn't make much of a difference. I am not a model or movie actress who expects paparazzi to click her airport (sorry government bus, in my case) look.

I flopped on the chair in front of my cubicle and the seat slipped, and with it I was on the spotless floor. And the worst thing was, no one even noticed. Oh! They must have noticed, but they were saving that joke for lunch break. Weird Mansi! Mad Mansi! I thought that after two months of being transferred here, these jeers would hurt less but no, they hurt like brand new and not even one day has passed, when I had not cried at office. I never in the world had dreamed I would end up here.

Today again, I'm half an hour earlier than office timings. I take out my cellphone and take the BuzzFeed quiz Which Planet have you come from? Now, I fully know I am born of human parents in the third planet of solar system, but just in case! I mean, nothing is impossible. For the fiftieth time, I check again my Wattpad notifications. My oldest story written from the perspective of a Kdrama second female lead has just fifty reads and two comments on the total of thirty chapters. Next thing, I do is to log in to the ConspiracyTheories.Net and write a 1000 word post on how Teletubbies had more than enough Illuminati symbolism. I have a pretty busy, multifaceted online life you know.

My cellphone starts ringing. Oh shoot! I again forgot to inform Mummy that I've reached office.

I receive the call, "Hello! Mummy. I've reached the office."

"I'm sure that you are again wasting your time, that's why you forgot to call me."

"Are nahi, Mummy. It's just that I got busy in talking with a girl in the office?"

"What's her name?"

"Are, she's Namita."

"But yesterday you told, Namita is on fifteen days' leave to prepare for UPSC and will come after mid-June."

The worst thing about lying is you must have memory equivalent to Rajnikant in the movie Robot to not get caught in logical fallacies. And I have a memory equivalent to Aamir Khan in the movie Ghajini.

"Tell your mother, you'll be late today," my senior Ms. Nishigandha Kulkarni said.

"Why would I be late?" I always arrive earlier than office time but never work late unless it's an emergency.

"New CEO is joining us today. You are not expecting to pick your bag at 6 pm and go home."

Now, this new CEO, he'll go straight in the conference room with Company's Vice President, CFO, CTO, and other such high level officials who are not even aware of people like us.

"He's just twenty seven," Khushboo is squealing, "Imagine being that young and achieve this level of success in career." Now Khushboo is that highly ambitious colleague of mine who gets turned on by the success stories of these kinds of young achievers the way girls like me are hyped about Kdrama actors. I hate her since I met her and I hate this new CEO, from now onwards, I decide. I remember when I was a student, I used to hide the newspaper of the day after results were declared to save myself from the cringe of seeing students eating laddoos because they got 96% and teenagers jumping in air. Bhai exam me top hi to kiya hai! Itna chane ke jhaad par chadhane ki kya zaroorat hai?

"I've heard he's damn hot," another colleague of mine whispers.

Haan! Haan! If an ugly frog has bagged that crazy pay package, these people will find him hotter than Tom Cruise(yeah, I'm old school, who's the paragon of hotness for this generation, I've got no idea). This CEO 👿 By the way, what's his name? Kahin Nishigandha ma'am yahi na pooch le? (Trans. : I hope Nishigandha ma'am doesn't ask me the name of the new CEO?) His name was mentioned in the corporate Email but I deleted that mail out of irritation.

Suddenly there was pin drop silence, and being how short I am, I could not see what was happening?

"What's the CEO's name?" I whispered to Khushboo.

Khushboo shushed me irritatingly and craning her neck, made her way forward.

Unfortunately, Nishigandha ma'am had listened, and twisting her face to impossible angles, she said, "Nikhil Parihar is his name. I don't want you to embarrass our department today."

Meanwhile, I was imagining playing whack the mole with belan on Nishigandha's head. As if the CEO has faltu time to question me! That Nikhil Parih...ar. It can't be possible. Stupid Mansi! There's not only one Nikhil Parihar in the world.

So this is the first chapter...What do you think about Mansi Mishra? And what kind of person do you think Nikhil Parihar will be?