Bound to leave

Chapter 15: Gone Gone Gone

"Anisha! Are you here with us?" She heard her exasperated colleague Mini calling her out.

Pooja who was sitting to Anu's right nudged her elbow causing her to tear her gaze away from the Bandstand promenade.

"Yes... yes, sorry, I am here," she apologized to everyone on the team and looked down to refer to her meeting notes, scribbled on the pad. Blank. Fuck.

"I think the meeting is over, let's regroup tomorrow. Anisha, can I see you in my office?" Her boss asserted.

Anisha nodded in response and looked over at Pooja with wide eyes. Pooja patted Anu's shoulder for support.

"Do you want to get fired?" Pooja hissed at her standing near their desk. Anu shook her head without saying a word.

"Pull up your socks! It's been a three months Anisha since and if this continues, Rajan sir is going to fire you. I've heard Mini telling people that she is going to take your promotion and your desk. If you don't care about your life, fine! But don't make me share space with that devil incarnate." Anu chuckled at her banter.

"I'm serious!"

"I am going to see Rajan. Pray for me," she saw Pooja smile back at her sympathetically.

As Anu walked into Rajan's office, he was typing on his phone. "Yes, have a seat and close the door," he pointed to the door.

"You've been one of my strongest team members, Anisha... What is happening to you?" Rajan leaned forward in his chair, holding his reading glasses in one hand.

"I am so sorry Rajan, I know I haven't been myself lately. I just need more work to distract myself."

Rajan had taken away some of the projects from under her and passed it on to her competitor Mini. She had worked so hard on those projects.

"I can't do that without you being present 100%. Why don't you take a break and come back?" Anisha panicked as the last thing she wanted to do was sit idle.

She had wasted so much time after Lavassa, most of which was spent searching for Siddharth. The only thing stopping her from entering a wild goose chase again was this job.

"No, please! Don't make me do that. I like coming to work. Please!" she begged, holding back my tears.

"Anisha... you haven't even told me why the Kanwal group broke their contract with us. Has it got to do with your relationship with Siddharth?" she inhaled sharply not realizing how much affect his name still had.

Charmi and mom had promised weeks ago that they wouldn't take his name ever again. He was going to stay dead to them.

"I can assure you it's not me. I tried to reach out to their office and the team of lawyers that handled the Kanwal group. They told me that the management had decided to shut down their Mumbai office and later handed me the liability check for the breach of contract. It had nothing to do with my personal equation with Mr. Kanwal," she emphasized.

"You should have told me about your relationship. That was very unprofessional. I was blindsided when Mini came forward with that information. My bosses think it was you who caused the whole issue."

"It was not, I promise you."

"I understand and I am trying hard to get you back in their good books but you can't go around daydreaming during meetings again. That is unacceptable."

"I get it. And I am sorry. It won't happen again"

"Get back to work." Anisha nodded and rose from the seat, realizing how much was at stake.