Stories by Preetam

Sometimes things get awkward between two people who were once in love. Imagine all that awkwardness and sum it up with the situation when both you and your ex work at the same workplace. The irony strikes hard when you are supposed to work together within the same team in an organisation.

“So you’re telling me that you and her are on the same team and have to come up with an analysis document. Did I get that right?”- Darshana asked.

“Yeah, you got it accurately.” – I affirmatively said.

“So what’s such a big deal in this?”- Vishnu asked.

“Bro, we were in love. It ended due to unforeseen reasons. We neither spoke to sort out those reasons nor did we speak to maintain a minimal level of friendship. It is just awkward.”

“So, you believe that you were in love with her. How do you know that you’re in love?”- a friend who was supposedly in kindergarten asked.

“Well, it’s when you are indecisive about almost everything.” – I answered.

All these discussions were regarding the mere fact that I finally got placed in ABC company.

“Is the name of your company really ‘ABC’? It sounds like a made up name for some sort of case study.”-Vishnu smirked at me with that line.

“It’s not a made up name. It’s a channel name. Google it bro!!”

Getting placed, after almost a couple of years of joblessness, I presumed that my life’s gonna get better.  But, life had a funny way of proving me wrong. Little did I know that I had dug my own grave by being a part of the team same as my ex.

“Who all are there in your team?”-Darshana asked with curiosity.

“Our team consists of four members. One is obviously me, the new comer. Second is unfortunately Neha, the impudent ex. Third one is Simran, an expert coder. Fourth one is Tanya, the labour. Technically, Tanya used to do most of the team’s work.”

“So, prior to your joining, was it an all-girl squad?”

“Haha. It supposedly was…”- I said that. In the mean time, I spotted an Outlook pop-up on my laptop stating that I had a meeting at 4pm.

“I have gotta go now. I have a team call at 4pm. My first team call!”

“All the best to you. In case they decide to kick you out, you cannot blame them because you’re the one who invaded their squad unity.”- Darshana lectured.

“Yeah yeah. I know. Let’s just hope for the best and prepare for the worst.. Cya both of you.”

To be honest, I was pretty much excited for my first team call in my first company, which could probably offer me an experience certificate at the end of my tenure there.

Call started. I joined the call a couple of minutes late.

Sometimes you do everything correctly but things just gets screwed up and it’s just not your fault. I understood the meaning of this line that day.

As soon as I joined the call and was about to introduce myself, the people of mumbai experienced a power grid failure! My net connection also left my side. My mobile data was also not working.

“Holy shit! I am totally gonna get screwed as soon as I get myself online…the next time. Can the situation get even worse?” – I thought this to myself.

I guess, I spoke too soon…

I went to my balcony to check if I was the only Scapegoat who suffered such fate and then..

“Arey Sam! When did you come back to Mumbai from hometown?” – Mahima aunty asked. 

Have you read the book named – “How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company” by Varun Agarwal? If not, then you probably may have encountered a certain kind of people, especially neighbors, who just cannot mind their own business.
Sometimes you have some people in the neighborhood, that you would want to avoid by a mile but unfortunately, they have a real knack and curiosity for mystery.
The situation got worse when Mahima aunty caught me off guard standing at my balcony. If I had an option to hide, I would have.

“5 months back.” – I replied trying to avoid making an eye contact.

“How? I didn’t see you before today”- she asked while frowning her ‘brows.

“Luckily!”

“What??” – she said.

“Nothing”.

“When is your return trip to hometown?”

Well, I am at a point of no return. I cannot really wait, look back or regret, but can only try to look forward. So, buckle up and press the accelerator hard…