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“You are from HR, right?” he told the first one.
She nodded.
“Is gossiping about your colleagues part of your job description now?” he asked curtly. He looked at the other girl. “Is this your work ethic? If that’s the case, I need to fire you both immediately. I refuse to employ people who have no respect for another person’s privacy and have the gall to discuss it the way you two were doing.”
Fear crossed their faces. Good. They should be afraid. He could not and would not condone what they were doing.
“Sorry, sir,” The first one said.
“It won’t happen again,” the other one mumbled.
“It better not. Take this as a warning and spread the word. If I hear one ill word or gossip spread about Ms. Sehgal by you or anyone else, I will terminate that person without a notice and without a recommendation immediately. Am I clear?”
The girls nodded. Arms crossed, he watched them as they hurried to the elevator bank. When he turned around, Sheena wasn’t to be seen anywhere.
It struck him that the only thing that affected Sheena was this particular topic. She was always so damn fearless. Only when faced with her past did she end up reacting contrary to her basic nature. That was the only time she froze or looked defeated.
He racked his brain. He knew the Sachdevas had a son and a daughter. He’d met the siblings at his mother’s functions over the years. The son was quite a party animal. Had he been imprisoned at some point? The compulsion to Google and find out exactly what Sheena had been involved with rang inside him. But he wouldn’t invade her privacy that way. Whatever she’d endured clearly upset her till date. He didn’t want to form a judgement on her based on media opinion. It really was none of his business what she may or may not have been involved with. In fact, her scandal ought to be one more mark against her that he ought to consider and thus put an end to this strange fixation and fascination he had for her.
Sheena Sehgal was trouble, and he had stayed away from trouble for far too long to get embroiled in it now. Pivoting, he returned to his own office.
10
Sheena stepped out of Poseidon’s office building and was immediately hit by the heat and the humidity. Even inhaling felt like she was breathing in hot air. She quickly checked her cab app and was relieved to see the cab was only a few minutes away. She waited at the curb, thinking through her day. It hadn’t been half as bad as she’d expected.
After listening to those girls gossiping about her, her mood had gone down the drain. Professor Shetty, however, was too sharp, and he’d sensed her edginess right away. He’d demanded that she attend back-to-back meetings with him. At first, she’d been hesitant because the same girl from HR who’d been talking about her had also been present in all the meetings. But then, she’d noticed how subdued the girl was. In fact, she hadn’t glanced at Sheena even once. And it had been all thanks to him. Rajiv.
Twice now, he’d heard about her past and without even knowing the details, he’d come to her rescue. He’d protected her without her asking him to. And that was…that had been real kind of him, she had to admit.
While she’d been mad at him about brushing away their kiss as nothing of import, she had to accept that because of him, she wasn’t in the center of a raging gossip storm in the Dubai social circles nor at her new workplace. A sense of freedom had settled in her bones at that realization. And for that, she ought to be grateful to him. In fact, her day had brightened considerably after he had stood up for her and warned those girls off.
After that, she had truly enjoyed herself at work. She could be plain Sheena Sehgal here, with no baggage. She could start afresh without worrying about the past coming to haunt her here.
Her heart had lifted. Sitting in on the various meetings Professor Shetty had with the HR team, listening to them discuss the various policies and what they felt was missing and needed to be implemented had been enriching. Contributing her own thoughts to the ongoing discussion had been challenging at first, but the more she had spoken her thoughts aloud, the more she realized that people were actually listening to her advice. And that…that had been exhilarating. All in all, she’d had a good day. She’d even managed to start charting out a plan with Professor Shetty for her PhD studies.
She hadn’t spotted Rajiv for the rest of the day. So far, she couldn’t make up her mind whether she was relieved or upset about that. She exhaled. Relieved…she was relieved, not upset. A drop of perspiration rolled down her cheek, distracting her. Shit. It really was too hot.
A big grey Mercedes AMG SUV stopped in front of her.
The front window rolled down, and Rajiv leaned out. “Are you waiting for someone?”
“A cab,” she replied.
“Cancel it. I’ll drop you,” he declared.
She put a hand on her hip. “Do you simply just announce to people what they need to do?”
“When it’s for their best, yes. Now, get in.”
God. He was too much. She didn’t want to be in close proximity with him again. Already, her heart had begun to rumble, and her skin had begun to tighten under his heated gaze.
“My cab will be here in…” She opened the app and frowned. “Damn! My ride’s delayed. I’ll just cancel this and book another.”
To her luck, there was no cab available in her vicinity. She made a face.
“There’s no cab available, right?” Rajiv asked.
She shook her head, still looking at her phone.
