I must say, I did turn heads at work today. But seriously, who comes to work wearing an emerald and fuchsia low-necked dress that sticks to your body, accentuating curves one never thought existed? Okay, many of the girls around here do. But with me it’s different. I have a petite frame and a decent figure but I’m not tall and that’s where I find it hard to be sexy. I was always known as the cute girl in school, never model material, pretty but not beautiful.
‘Damn Lila, if I was a man, I would take you home right now!’ said Tammy as I sat at my desk that adjoined hers. She dramatically threw her head to the right and pouted her candy pink lips with one hand on the hips.
‘It’s 9 in the morning and I haven’t even had my second cup of tea yet.’ I said smiling to no end. Oh, how I was loving all the complements and ogling eyes. Just then I saw Collin walk into the department, concentrating on some papers, still walking. He could have tripped on anything at anytime but by now I figured out he managed just fine given he did it all the time. In fact, anyone would think he had eyes through whatever he held in his hand while walking.
‘Oh my gosh, he’s walking towards our desks!’ Tammy exclaimed, all too loudly, I was hoping it was out of Collin’s ear-shot. ‘I’m sure he will flip when he sees you, pout girl, wear a pout!’
Staring ahead, I smiled and kicked Tammy from the side of the desk. My heart started beating wildly; I thought I would go deaf from the sound of my drumming heartbeat. What will he say to me, how will I respond? Will he complement me or will his jaw drop with amazement?
He finally got to my desk and my heart must have skipped a beat. He looked up from his papers, handed them to me along with a CD, to put together the first draft of the big upcoming event presentation. He thanked me for my assistance with the Delver Bank’s column I had worked on the other day and, ‘big day for you is it?’ With that he was off to take care of more important things, take for example, his business.
So what if I was unable to turn his head. I had the whole day ahead of me and I was sure he would pay me all his complements once I finally told him of my feelings.
After lunch hour, and I hadn’t eaten anything due to jitters, I walked over to Collin Fisher’s office to finally disclose my two year secret. I straightened imaginary creases on the dress and asked Sheila, Collin’s boring secretary, if I could meet with Collin.
‘Hello Lila, how is the presentation coming along?’ Collin asked as soon as the door was shut behind us. He ushered me to take a seat.
‘Sweet, I mean good,’ I fumbled, lodging myself gawkily into the massive red leather sofa in front of the office window.
There was an awkward silence between us which was abruptly broken by Collin, ‘How can I help you?’ He had an issue with people who wasted his time; that and a lot of other things about him made him out to be a stuck-up individual. But I liked his astute ways and his perfectionism; it’s what set him apart.
‘I wanted to have a word with you, if you have some time to spare.’ Oops wrong words, no time to spare obviously! I quickly went on, ‘Collin, do you think we can ever be friends?’
‘Thought we were,’ he added a fake laugh towards the end, trying to understand what I was on about.
‘Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that,’ I tried to buy time with words, I don’t know why I couldn’t get straight to the point and my knees were doing the Elvis. ‘It’s been two years now and…’ oh shit, my mobile started ringing a loud tone of ‘it’s raining men’. I distractedly looked at my phone, I was aware Collin was getting impatient, guess he wasn’t used to handling employees’ personal issues, guess that’s why a human resource department was essential. What was I expecting anyway? We never spoke of anything else but work so I could hardly expect him to empathize with anything personal I had to say.
‘It’s my mother.’ I voiced out unintentionally. I don’t know why I didn’t press the silent button and move on to why I was present in Collin’s office dressed like a bimbo. Don’t get me wrong, I looked good and maybe even sexy but at work? I answered Mama Joyti’s phone, ‘Hello ma…no maa...I was busy all day, I wanted to call…ma I’m in the midst of something, will call you later…who is coming to London?’
I continued to listen to Mama Joyti and she on the other end continued to chat on about Sneha Devi’s second daughter making a trip to London and that I must be the one to show her around. That she has been in Bombay all her life and the poor girl needs to get away from it all. In honesty, I wanted to go on with the conversation just so I could have some more time before I told Collin of my feelings for him. I think, deep down, I was afraid of being rejected by him. I would have probably kept speaking to Mama Joyti if it wasn’t for tall and sexy Seville Pierre who walked in to the office and stole all of Collin’s attention. I cut the phone on Mama Joyti.
There are times of embarrassment but there are others of worse embarrassment. Having to answer Mama Joyti’s call in the midst of a conversation with my boss, in my boss’s office, driving him incredibly impatient is embarrassing and I felt it. Having to tell the boss that I fancied him and then finding out that he and Seville were engaged to be married is worse embarrassing. Thank God I was saved from feeling.
Seville and Collin to marry? Watch this space to find out what happens next...
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