“Neha! you are new here. Its only been 3 years since you joined in this job. You are single. You are only 25 years old. You don’t have family of your own. Others are much older than you. They are married, they have kids. If they lose jobs, their kids would also suffer. They have been working in this office even before you joined. All the people who lost jobs are either single like you or they have spouses who hold a decent job”
“Sir, I have no words to say if you speak like that. You could have warned me earlier. I would have searched for another job and would have resigned peacefully. You have left me in the middle of nowhere now. That’s so cruel of you. I feel betrayed”
“Neha! You can easily find another job. Don’t worry”
“Sir, its easy for you to say. But I want a recommendation letter from you”
“ok Neha! I will write a recommendation letter for you. That’s not an issue”
“Sir, why did you call me? I know you didn’t call me for saying this. So, please tell me…”
“Neha! I don’t want to talk about this subject over the phone. I want to meet you somewhere private. Today evening would be perfect. Are you free?”
“Sir, I have free time 24/7 now. Thanks to you!”
“Neha! please stop it. I feel guilty. I am sorry for not warning you earlier. Anyway are you free?”
“Sir, May i know the purpose of this meeting?”
“Neha! Its little confidential kind of thing. I can’t speak over the phone. I will tell you everything when we meet”
“Sir, bring that recommendation letter while coming”
“Sure Neha! I will. Don’t be late ah? 6PM. I will be waiting for you at reception of Hotel Stay Inn”
“Hotel Reception? What kind of a meeting is this?”
“Neha! its a public place! You need not worry! I will tell you everything once we meet”
He hung up.
To be continued……………………
I felt very confused. I thought “What would I lose if I attend this meeting? I am jobless anyway. May be its something important. Its a public place anyway. I can only judge once I attend the meeting”.
I got a text from Manager (Aswin). It read “Hello Neha! I forgot. While coming, Don’t dress in office attire. Dress in a normal way. Its not a formal meeting. Don’t bring any files with you. Just come to the meeting normally. I will email you the recommendation letter in couple of hours”
I started thinking what this meeting could be. I wonder If the manager wants to sleep with me. Again, I felt its very odd because he is not that kind of person. He is a decent man. I shouldn’t think about him in wrong way.
I kept thinking about everything which happened since last week. I got more confused.
I went to restroom. I got ready. I picked T-shirt and jeans. I have medium size boobs. The dress looked great on me. Its been a month since I used this dress. I applied makeup to my face. I made a ponytail of my hair at the back. I got my handbag ready for today’s meeting.
My room mates have left some breakfast for me. I sat on table to have my breakfast. I opened newspaper. I opened business column. I was surprised to see that the company where I worked got a big Rs. 200 Crore loan and are planning to expand into surrounding states. I felt so betrayed. I immediately wanted to call the manager but I felt that I should confront him face to face in today’s meeting. I got very angry.