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It was a bright and sunny morning after a weeklong of foggy conditions in Delhi. Amit reached his office at the usual time wearing another of his tweed jacket and tie. He sat down to check his e-mails.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU COME YESTERDAY?” yelled Naina suddenly marching in. She was wearing her dark overcoat over a black and white sari and was actually looking lovely.
Amit was taken aback. He couldn’t gather why this girl should be throwing such a violent fit.
“Shhhhh.... can we talk about this somewhere else? Why do you want to create a scene here?” said Amit.
Naina nodded and both moved to the staircase. Amit sat down but Naina preferred to stand.
“I had already told you that I was busy yesterday. So what’s the problem?” said Amit in as calm a demeanour as he could muster.
“We had a breakup last night. And it was all because of you,” Naina said screaming again.
“Excuse me? And what did I exactly do?” asked an incredulous Amit.
“Last night I told my boyfriend about you,” said Naina.
Amit looked startled. Why was this dame talking about another man, a stranger perhaps, to her boyfriend? He was intrigued.
“Okay, so what happened?” he said after a brief pause.
“I told him that there is a man in my office who I really like and that I wanted my boyfriend to meet him,” said Naina.
“Huh...Ok?” Amit didn’t know what else to utter.
“Can you believe what he said? He told me that I was making up stories. He just didn’t believe me?” said Naina.
Amit remained silent. He wasn’t surprised in the least. That would have been quite a natural reaction. Had he been in Sameer’s place, he too would have reacted in more or less the same way.
“He challenged me, Amit. He said if you didn’t turn up by midnight, he would presume that I was imagining things. And he challenged me to prove him wrong,” continued Naina.
Amit looked at her and didn’t still say a word.
“I waited till midnight in the hope that you will turn up and keep your promise. But you disappointed me,” said Naina.
“But Naina, I didn’t make any such promise yesterday evening. Anyway, so what happened after that?” asked Amit.
“You didn’t turn up. Sameer started making fun of me. He called you a figment of my imagination,” Naina was ranting non-stop.
Amit nodded in sympathy and said, “Okay.”
“He didn’t stop there. He told me for such a cantankerous person like me he was my best bet. The way he has tolerated me, no other guy in this world would. He has been putting up with a lot of my nonsense and it was time he took some action,” said Naina.
Amit kept listening quietly.
Naina paused for a moment. She wanted to say something more but stopped to gather her thoughts. She wanted to tell Amit the whole story...
She wanted to tell him that their arguments didn’t stop there. She had told Sameer that Amit was not at all like him. He was a patient listener, caring, sensitive and extremely gentlemanly in his behaviour. She told Sameer that Amit was way more handsome than him. She told him that Amit never made himself a martyr and never made her feel as if he was doing a favour by listening to her. Amit actually made her feel good. She was much more in tune with herself when she was with Amit. She had told Sameer that Amit was loyal. She had never seen him casually flirting with any of the ladies in her office. He was a serious guy something which she deeply appreciated and was falling in love with.
But for some reason she couldn’t tell Amit...
She wasn’t sure how he would react. Whether he too had the same feelings for her as she did for him. After a brief pause, she started speaking again:
“I told him he never paid attention to me. He was busy fiddling with his phone or flirting with my female friends most of the time. And if he didn’t have any time for me, where was the question of tolerating me?” said Naina.
“So how did Sameer react?” asked Amit.
“He became nastier. He said that he had to keep himself occupied with his BBM and emails because he could no longer listen to my whines. And look at his arrogance. He also challenged me that I could not find a better guy than him,” said Naina.
Amit knew something terrible would have happened after that comment.
Naina paused for a moment catching her breath.
“So what happened next?” asked Amit curiously.
“I couldn’t help it. I was so angry at him. I took my glass of red wine and poured all over him starting from his head. His shiny creamy shirt got stained with red wine,” said Naina.
Amit burst into laughter.
“He deserved it, I guess.”
Naina’s mood lightened up a bit but Amit could see how hurt she still was.
“He started yelling at me. He told me that I had spoilt his such an expensive shirt. It was thousands of rupees down the drain,” said Naina.
Amit listened quietly. His face becoming serious again.
“I said he was only concerned about his shirt and never about my feelings,” Naina said.
Amit didn’t say anything.
“Then he started calling me names. He called me a psychopath. He said he had enough of me. He broke up and wished me good luck in finding my ideal boyfriend and just left,” said Naina. There was a hint of a tear drop welling into her eyes.
Amit took a deep breath.
“He didn’t deserve you,” he said.
Naina looked puzzled.
“You certainly are capable of finding a better person,” added Amit.
“But first buy a punching bag,” said Amit.
“Excuse me? The what?” said Naina startled.
“You need to release your anger in a more humane way,” said Amit with a smile.
“I don’t get it. What are you talking about?” said Naina.
Amit exhaled heavily and took another deep breath.
“Look it is natural to feel angry. I fully understand that. You are not alone in this regard.”
“I still don’t get it,” said Naina looking even more intrigued now.
“Look what is not right is the way you express anger. You take it out in many, err....let me call it, inappropriate ways. Like banging your poor phone on the desk, crushing a bouquet of red roses under your heels, or pouring red wine on your boyfriend’s head,” said Amit.
He noticed Naina was immediately going to be defensive. She looked at him as if Amit was supporting her boyfriend and what he said.
“No, no, no. Don’t take me wrong. I don’t justify what your boyfriend did to you. He clearly said one of the meanest things in the world,” Amit explained.
“Nor am I saying that it is you only who needs to control anger. But that you need to find some other ways to vent your anger. That will make you feel much better. Take my case. There are too many things that are not going right with my professional life too. There have been times when I feel like bashing up my bosses but if I didn’t control my anger you know what would happen,” Amit continued.
“But then how do you remain calm?” asked Naina.
“I use exercise to de-stress myself. Whenever I feel like bashing someone, I go for a long jog. I keep jogging till I am completely exhausted. Then I use workouts like Yoga or Pilates to calm myself down. I have noticed when I am completely exhausted, the desire to hit someone hard also goes away,” said Amit.
“So are you suggesting seriously that I should invest in a punching bag?” asked Naina.
“May be. Whenever you feel like doing something silly, go and punch that bag. It will strengthen your knuckles, improve your blood circulation and de-stress yourself. Or figure out something else that works for you. I...”
Amit was about to complete the sentence when his mobile buzzed. It was Mr. Ram Kapoor. Amit immediately pressed to answer.
“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU AMIT?” asked Mr. Ram Kapoor.
“In office Sir,” said Amit looking puzzled.
Naina noticed he looked startled, upset perhaps.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE? THERE’S SUCH AN IMPORTANT MEETING GOING HERE AT THE COMPANY’S OFFICE AND YOU ARE STILL IN OFFICE? HOW CAN YOU BE SO CARELESS?” Kapoor was still shouting.
“But Sir, I had no information. Smriti too didn’t tell me anything about any meeting,” said Amit.
“THE HELL SHE DIDN’T. STOP MAKING EXCUSES. WHY DIDN’T YOU ASK ME THEN?” asked Kapoor.
Amit knew that Mr. Ram Kapoor was asking an unreasonable question. In the firm hierarchy, Mr. Ram Kapoor was at the top and he at the very bottom. He could communicate frequently with Smriti but very rarely with Mr. Ram Kapoor.
In such a scenario, it would be unreasonable to expect him to keep asking Mr. Ram Kapoor about some very basic stuff like when is the next meeting going to be held. Had he really asked that, he would have been told to ask someone directly above him (Smriti) and not waste Mr. Kapoor’s time.
Amit wanted to blurt all that but realised that he should then be willing to say goodbye to working with Singhania & Co. In any case, he also sensed that Mr. Ram Kapoor was in no mood for an argument.
After a brief pause, Amit replied, “Sir, I am on my way.”
“YOU BETTER BE. YOU HAVE ALREADY MISSED THE MEETING. THE COMPANY IS PROVIDING US WITH SOME MORE DOCUMENTS. COME HERE RIGHT NOW AND START REVIEWING THEM. GOT IT?” said Mr. Ram Kapoor.
“Yes sir,” mumbled Amit.
Mr. Ram Kapoor hung up. Amit told Naina that he needed to rush to Pitampura right away, picked up his laptop and ran down the stairs.
