Suddenly she
remembered that she had to attend office too! She had to face Norman again. She
felt like taking another day off and then decided against it. She didn’t want
to behave unprofessionally and have the office staff gossiping that she was
taking undue advantage of her closeness to the Boss. Then again, the prospect
of meeting John tempted her. But she sobered on remembering Norman’s wrath. She
really hoped that Norman hadn’t already fired John in her absence. She decided
to confront Norman and give him a piece of her mind if he had indeed done so!
As she was
already late by two hours, she contemplated letting Norman’s haughty secretary
know that she would reach there in another hour. Then she voted against it. She
was just an honorary employee, not a confirmed one and she could afford the
luxury of going late. She’d let Norman draw his own conclusions. It would serve
him right. She felt like an ungrateful wretch but she was mad at him. So there! For the first time since the
previous afternoon, she really looked at her cell-phone ensconced in a corner
of her purse.
She had
deliberately avoided checking her missed calls and messages. She had received
20 missed calls from Norman’s cell phone and 5 from John’s. She didn’t bother
reading the messages at all. She knew that everyone in the office was worried about
her. She suddenly felt rebellious at being treated like a truant kid who had
bunked school and not a responsible adult! But that was probably because she
was right then behaving just like one that deserved a sound spanking.
The phone rang
with the pleasant tune of ‘Silent night, holy night….’ And she was pleased to
see that it was the Doctor’s call. Then as she remembered the ‘scene’ she felt
glad that she wasn’t actually facing him. “Hello” she said softly. “Hello
Martha,” his voice reached her crisply. Highly cultivated and ever-so-slightly
nasal, the voice said, “Are you still at my place or have you reached home
safely?”
She felt sorry
that she hadn’t remembered to let him know that she was on her way home. “I’m
sorry Doctor, but I’ve reached home and will be leaving for work right now.
Thanks for everything.” He said, “All right then. Have a nice day” and hung up.
He was a busy man. She suddenly felt lonely.
She was glad that
she could go to work where there were many people around her. But her heart
hankered for a certain someone special. John D’ Costa. If she could meet him
and speak to him her day would be made!
She quickly
changed into a pale pink frock, made up lightly, brushed her hair and locked
the gate to the cottage. As she got into her car and looked into the rear-view
mirror, she froze. She could see a beefy guy in a cream T-shirt and black jeans
looking at her keenly. As he dunked out of view, she could tell that he was
observing her movements, hidden from view. Who was he and what could he
possibly want? Was he the one who had revived her, the other day? No, that had
to be John because she had seen the single eye and fainted, hadn’t she? So who
was this stranger? She felt uneasy as she liked her privacy and didn’t like
peeping-toms. If she saw him again, she’d dial the Police Control Room. For the
moment, she’d not bother telling Norman or anyone else about the intruder. She
could handle this on her own!
When she reached
the office, she walked straight into her department, took the papers from her
drawer and started working on the subbing of the piece. Susan looked at her
curiously as if trying to figure out where she had been earlier that morning
and mentally debating whether to broach that topic with her. But she kept quiet
on seeing Martha’s defensive demeanor. It appeared as if Martha wanted to be
left all alone and Susan took the hint. Soon enough, the intercom on her desk
rang. Norman wanted her in his cabin. He had important things to discuss with her.
With great
trepidation, she walked into his tastefully done up cabin with animal prints on
the walls and crystal curios. He was standing with his back to the door and had
said “Come in” without a backward glance when she had knocked self-consciously.
“Good afternoon Norman” she said as casually as possible. He whirled around and
she could see his lips pursed into a thin line. Every muscle of his appeared to
proclaim his displeasure.
He didn’t say a
word about her absence the previous day or that morning. Instead he took a
bound manuscript from his desk and handed it to her saying “I want this edited
by tomorrow evening. It was evident that this was her punishment hence she
wisely refrained from voicing the protest that had formed on her lips. Just a
day and a half for that thick volume! But she accepted the challenge as she had
inadvertently asked for it. “Anything else?” she asked tartly. “That’s all!” He
said brusquely and dismissed her, by staring at the papers in front of him on
the desk. She wished that he would get down to business and ask her outright
about why she had missed office. Seeing his stubborn demeanor, she beat a hasty
exit.
She wondered
whether John was there in the office. As she walked along the corridor, she couldn’t
resist the urge to peep into his cabin. She was disappointed to see that he
wasn’t there. She decided to send him a message from her cell-phone and decided
against it. That could wait until she got home. Though she was sorely
disappointed on noting his absence, she had urgent work to attend to. She
looked at the thick manuscript in her hands and groaned.
To be continued....
The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
