It was yet another indifferent day at office, a near tiring one. I was still settling down at my new work place. The changeover from an audit and advisory services kind of profile to a full time corporate one had not been an easy one. The person, who I was replacing, would be there for a couple of weeks more, and within that short time-frame, I was expected to acquire the whole skill set from him, which he had accumulated over a couple of years or so.
But of course I was nervous. More so because I would not let anybody point a finger at me commenting on my skills. Deep down, I knew I would be in control in due course. Nevertheless I was under pressure. The nervousness coupled with my anxiety to make a solid first impression was only adding to the feeling of my insecurity.
The afternoon was gloomy, perhaps it was drizzling. I left my desk and slowly started walking towards the window. As I looked at the sky, I could see the last valiant effort of the sun to break through the dark patch of cloud cover before it succumbed. Slowly though, the triumphant clouds were starting to look ominous.
The drizzle was getting stronger. And it was making me calmer with a soft soothing effect on my turbulent mind. I was lost somewhere in the darkness of the clouds, losing my sense of insecurity, inadequacy. I was beginning to get back the feeling of freshness of the morning.
Suddenly I turned back, surprised to hear a soft voice, the voice of a lady. Hearing a lady’s voice at my workplace was as rare as the May rain. She was standing at a distance far enough to be clearly audible, but I could tell that she had got an awesome voice. It was commanding enough without being arrogant, soft enough without being unsure. The sound of the raindrops on the window pane was providing the perfect harmony to her honey dipped voice. I tried moving closer, carefully, avoiding her attention. She was deeply engrossed in speaking to a colleague. When I was close enough, I looked at her face. It was calm, emotionless and firm. Her eyes were razor sharp. She certainly means business, I thought. I saw a striking simplicity within her, which to me was her most prominent feature that I picked from the first meeting. She finished her discussion and left in a few minutes, but the room was filled with the intoxicating fragrance of her perfume for the rest of the day.
I was now back at my desk, trying to force my mind back to the task I had left unfinished. Soon I found it futile, and decided to close for the day. As I made my way out of my office building, I saw the relentless rain hitting the drive way with its full vigor. I was stranded there with quite a few people, and I was hoping to see her again. No way could she have left, I thought. I kept looking around until the rain stopped, every now and then clarifying my colleagues that I was looking for that “Other colleague”. But I never saw her again that day.
Years passed by. Now we were friends. Well, at least I believed so. Trust me, it was a great feeling. She was always formal in her interactions, without sounding mechanical. She always gave me a feeling of holding back a lot to herself, but that was natural. Our interactions were almost always at a formal level, arising more out of our respective professions. I was smart enough to realize that and this very fact had kind of drawn an invisible line in my mind every time I spoke to her.
I liked her, but there was nothing unusual about it, a lot of people liked her. Barring those few cheap comments, that was so omnipresent, she always invoked positive reaction.
But of course I was nervous. More so because I would not let anybody point a finger at me commenting on my skills. Deep down, I knew I would be in control in due course. Nevertheless I was under pressure. The nervousness coupled with my anxiety to make a solid first impression was only adding to the feeling of my insecurity.
The afternoon was gloomy, perhaps it was drizzling. I left my desk and slowly started walking towards the window. As I looked at the sky, I could see the last valiant effort of the sun to break through the dark patch of cloud cover before it succumbed. Slowly though, the triumphant clouds were starting to look ominous.
The drizzle was getting stronger. And it was making me calmer with a soft soothing effect on my turbulent mind. I was lost somewhere in the darkness of the clouds, losing my sense of insecurity, inadequacy. I was beginning to get back the feeling of freshness of the morning.
Suddenly I turned back, surprised to hear a soft voice, the voice of a lady. Hearing a lady’s voice at my workplace was as rare as the May rain. She was standing at a distance far enough to be clearly audible, but I could tell that she had got an awesome voice. It was commanding enough without being arrogant, soft enough without being unsure. The sound of the raindrops on the window pane was providing the perfect harmony to her honey dipped voice. I tried moving closer, carefully, avoiding her attention. She was deeply engrossed in speaking to a colleague. When I was close enough, I looked at her face. It was calm, emotionless and firm. Her eyes were razor sharp. She certainly means business, I thought. I saw a striking simplicity within her, which to me was her most prominent feature that I picked from the first meeting. She finished her discussion and left in a few minutes, but the room was filled with the intoxicating fragrance of her perfume for the rest of the day.
I was now back at my desk, trying to force my mind back to the task I had left unfinished. Soon I found it futile, and decided to close for the day. As I made my way out of my office building, I saw the relentless rain hitting the drive way with its full vigor. I was stranded there with quite a few people, and I was hoping to see her again. No way could she have left, I thought. I kept looking around until the rain stopped, every now and then clarifying my colleagues that I was looking for that “Other colleague”. But I never saw her again that day.
Years passed by. Now we were friends. Well, at least I believed so. Trust me, it was a great feeling. She was always formal in her interactions, without sounding mechanical. She always gave me a feeling of holding back a lot to herself, but that was natural. Our interactions were almost always at a formal level, arising more out of our respective professions. I was smart enough to realize that and this very fact had kind of drawn an invisible line in my mind every time I spoke to her.
I liked her, but there was nothing unusual about it, a lot of people liked her. Barring those few cheap comments, that was so omnipresent, she always invoked positive reaction.
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