Journals, Tea and Victim - Part 2

Connaught Place, New Delhi

8.30 a.m.

“I would not be able to sit for editor’s meet on 25^th of this month. I have to attend my best friend’s wedding at Mumbai”, spoke Rahul Arora in a nonchalant manner. He was on phone with his colleague. Keeping the receiver down, he sat in his chair sipping hot cup of coffee. Caffeine was all he wanted at that hour to soothe his brain from dwindling thoughts. He had marathon meetings, conferences, deadlines, pending assignments. In midst of all these work pressure, he had a family wedding to attend. Though Praveen was a best friend to Rahul, he fitted more like a family than a close friend.  

“Excuse me Sir, Can I come in?” came a voice. The voice was of Sheetal Naik. Sheetal was a secretary to Rahul and been with him since 10 years. She was kind and soft spoken girl.

"Yes, tell me Sheetal. What’s new in the market," asked Rahul in a pleasant tone.

"Sir, I need a signature in all these documents. The clients need this in order to move forward in the process."

"Yeah, No issues. Said Rahul taking the whole bunch of papers with him. I will do it. You can take it after lunch". Heading Editors unit involved lot if signing, he sighed.

"Hey Rahul, What’s up?" , said Rajat in a boisterous tone. Rajat was a best friend and colleague of Rahul. He was heading marketing and communications department.

“Nothing yaar, the same old editing and signing” said Rahul lowering his voice.

“Do you know Devyani?”

“Who? Devyani Sharma of ‘The Times Daily’? What happened to her?”

"Yes. She is planning to do a writeup on our work and events."

“What does she want now?” Rahul remembers that he has never had a good experience with that lady. Last time he met her in Ficci meet, they disagreed on various topics. She is really a headache, he thought.

Rajat broke his reverie and chipped in with his opinions. Hey Rahul, this would be a great milestone for us. And moreover we have carried out various CSR operations that we have enough to tell and boast” said Rajat with his usual body language.

Rajat was a jovial sort of character who loved to spread fun. Rahul loved his company. But now that his friend has come with bitter news, he wanted to have a ME time. He asked Rajat to excuse him and ensured that he will talk about this issues after office hours.

3.00 Noon

Rahul was so busy with his morning documentation and meetings that he forgot his lunch. He saw the clock and the two hands of the clock were mocking at him. It was already three o clock and he was starving. He shut his laptop and quickly rushed to the canteen to have a bite. The fragrance of the various eateries tempted him. Suddenly he was ravenously hungry. He ordered salads, potato fries, pulav and dal and came to the seat which was closed to magazine shelf. He thought while the pantry staff are at work and preparing food for him, he would read and have a look at some of the articles in the The Week. He grabbed a copy and sat with his legs criss crossed. The color of his face changed and it took him few minutes to regain his composure. He straigtened himself and placed the copy of magazine at its own place. The Week was his favourite magazine which he never failed to read. But today, his animosity triumphed. The cover page had her- Devyani Sharma.