Coffee on the Rocks
Tamanna had managed to reach office early as she had to submit some reports to
her senior officials. No one from her team had come in yet. While she was busy taking
printouts of the reports, she remembered she had to take her medicines for hypertension.
She went and filled her glass with water from the cooler and after taking her prescribed
pills, she walked through the passage towards the washroom.
As she went closer, she could hear some strange sounds coming from within. It
scared the hell out of her. But with heavy steps she decided to move ahead. Soon she
realized that the strange sounds were of someone making out in the washroom!
‘Ooh yeah! Mmm…that feels so good!’ a voice muttered from inside the washroom.
Tamanna was standing just outside the door trying to hear carefully what was being
said.
‘Oh dear, you’re too good.’ It sounded like a guy’s voice this time.
She was stunned to hear a man’s voice coming from the ladies washroom. She
couldn’t believe all this was happening in office. Though flirting was quite common,
especially during appraisals, this was something new to her. Someone was actually
making out in the washroom! She didn’t have the guts to open the door and stood outside
silently.
‘That was so satisfying, baby. Get up, let me put on my clothes before someone walks
in on us,’ the girl muttered again. Tamanna kept wondering whose voice it was.
The moans eventually stopped and there was complete silence for the next couple of
minutes.
Tamanna thought of opening the door when she heard the girl say, ‘I don’t think
anyone’s out there. I’ll go first. Don’t come out for a few minutes after I’m gone. I’ll give
you a ring on your phone signalling everything’s clear and then you can come out.’
Tamanna quickly searched for a place to hide and found a spot behind a pillar. She
heard footsteps ahead of her and tilted her head slightly to check who it was.
Oh, fish! That’s Kajal! Is that why she’s been getting leaves and incentives without
even doing her work on time? Tamanna thought to herself. She stood there for a few
more minutes to clear all her doubts. She was not wrong. The guy was her senior
Manager, Mr Verma. He was in his mid-thirties whereas Kajal had just graduated. She
had joined the company only recently but took full advantage of her senior, knowing that
he was addicted to sex. Tamanna imagined what it would feel like to be with Deep in the
same situation and ignored the wrong things that happened in office. Deep was still on
probation and his leaves, HRA, bonus, and other benefits were in Tamanna’s hands. She
had a huge crush on Deep and wanted to be in a relationship with him in spite of him
being her junior. Though she had never shared her feelings with any of her colleagues or
friends, the same thoughts kept revolving in her head. She thought that even though she
was hiding her intentions from others, surely Deep had a hint about her feelings for him,
but he didn’t say anything.
She was drinking water when her phone rang.
‘Hello beta, how are you? This is Mr Dalal this side.’ Mr Dalal was the owner of the
house where Tamanna and Aleesha were staying.
He continued, ‘I wanted to inform you that I am looking to renovate our flat. Actually,
I am moving to my hometown in a year and thus I want to sell my flats and properties
before moving out of Mumbai. So I thought of renovating the flat so I could get a better
deal for it.’
‘But uncle, I can’t shift in such short notice. I need at least a fortnight,’ Tamanna
requested while on her way to the cafeteria.
‘It’s okay. Try and adjust somewhere else for a month. Once the interiors are done,
you can move back in. In fact, why don’t you leave all your furniture in the flat and carry
only the necessary stuff?’
Tamanna reluctantly agreed and disconnected the call. She thought of how Aleesha
had just shifted and telling her to look for some other place would be really awkward.
However, Tamanna had no other option. She had to now find a new residence on such
short notice. She remembered that a few of her colleagues lived in rented apartments and
thus thought of shifting to one of them for a month. She called Aleesha to tell her about it
but her phone was not reachable. She decided to inform her after reaching home at night.
In the meanwhile, she had completely forgotten that she was in the cafeteria and that
the counter boy was waiting to take her order. She was jolted from her state by Deep
who was patting her shoulders. He had been standing right beside her all this while and,
preoccupied in her thoughts, she didn’t hear him come. As she felt Deep’s touch on her
shoulder, her world came to a standstill.
‘One Maggi and one apple juice,’ she said regaining her composure.
While walking back with her order, she greeted Deep formally. Deep returned the
greeting. He took a bottle of Sprite, searched for his mobile, and called up his friend.
‘Guess what? She again gave me an overfriendly smile. Oh God, I feel so
embarrassed when she does that. I am not the type of guy she thinks me to be. I don’t like
to use people for personal pleasures. The rumour doing the rounds is that a girl from the
other team has crossed all limits to impress her manager. She now gets uninformed
leaves and other benefits as well. Even I can get all of these and you know that I am on a
third party payroll. So showing personal interest in my manager can actually be
beneficial for me and help me in many ways. She has the power to get me on direct
payroll but my heart doesn’t agree. Even though I need appraisals desperately, I
disapprove of those who take the shortcut to achieve their dreams,’ Deep told his friend
in one go.
‘It’s a rather tricky situation. Don’t ever be informal with her. It can send her the
wrong signal. But also don’t hesitate to smile and say a few nice words to her whenever
you meet her. After all, she is your senior,’ the other guy on the phone said teasingly.
Deep knew there was some sense in his words. He didn’t want to lose his job by
making it obvious through his cold behaviour towards her. He disconnected the call.
Deep
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