by Van,P. G.
“Jack is being nice. There are no superstars, just great teams,” she said confidently.
“I agree, Varsha, and I am working on building a sense of ownership across all delivery teams. Can I get your input on a few things?” Kris asked with excitement.
“Sure,” she beamed a fake smile, her surprise turning into annoyance that he had not recognized her.
“Jack, you promised Varsha’s time for this so no going back on that commitment,” Kris teased.
“Anything for you, Kris,” her boss retorted laughing.
“I look forward to working with you and your engineering team.” Kris looked at her as he stood tall and strong. She smiled but did not respond.
“Varsha, I am going to set up a recurring one-on-one for us to talk strategy around improving security and quality of the delivery,” Kris said looking straight at her and added, “Do you have time this week?”
“Sure, my calendar is up-to-date if you want to set up a meeting,” she said smiling, and both men walked away from her desk.
She sat lost in a turmoil of emotions wondering if he didn’t recognize her or if he was pretending to not know her. She didn’t know which one was better.
Varsha was in the breakroom later that morning filling up her mug with hot water for her first dose of tea for the day when she heard Kris’s name being mentioned in a hushed conversation. Her ears perked up, and she slowed down the flow of the hot water so she could hear what the women were saying.
“We finally have some color in the building,” a woman giggled.
“I totally agree and when I saw him last week, I almost walked up to him to tell him he was in the wrong building.” The women laughed collectively, and Varsha felt a slight sting of jealousy making her feel disgusted with herself. She did what she never thought she would do that night, and she was paying for it.
She slowly stirred in the honey and continued to listen to the conversation.
“I purposely dropped the stirring stick on the floor so I could read the name on his access card,” one of the women confessed, and the group broke into laughter.
Varsha had heard enough and walked away from the women without turning back feeling the knot in her stomach tighten with the dying sounds of laughter.
It was no surprise women were talking about Kris. His elegant formal attire and his casual manner were little to no match to his rough rebellious looks. Her body quivered at the memory of him with his beard and longed for a repeat.
She cursed under her breath for being immature and distracted as she set her tea on her desk. She pulled up the documents she had set aside for vendor presentations that were scheduled for the following week. She pulled up the first set of documents to review and was interrupted by an instant message.
Kris: Hi Varsha.
Varsha: Hey Kris.
Kris: You have a busy calendar…what is a good time to chat today?
Varsha: Let me check my calendar and get back to you.
Kris: Okay…Thanks!!
Varsha closed the chat window knowing she had no time that day and took a deep breath. She had worked too hard to let a pretty face distract her. If she had to work with him, she was going to have to figure out a way to deal with it. She just needed to train her body and her mind to not go wandering off to la-la land.
“How much longer are you going to keep me waiting?” The all too familiar voice brought her back from the document she was reviewing.
“I am sorry, what?” Varsha managed to say turning around to look at him. She was clearly annoyed at that point.
He may be smart, successful, and good looking and she might have had a passionate night with him, but he had no business interrupting her three times in one morning.
“You told me you would let me know when we can chat today,” he said with a smile.
“Oh…yes, I got distracted with these documents, and I need to finish reviewing them today,” she said flatly.
“Got it, will you have time if I figure out a way to move some of your meetings around?” he challenged.
“Sure,” she said leaning back in her chair refusing to give into the teasing grin on his face.
“Why don’t you get back to your document while I work on finding time on your calendar for today?”
“Kris, don’t bother…Tuesdays are usually bad, and I am double and triple booked with meetings,” Varsha said looking at her computer screen.
“I know…but I have to try. I can’t just give up,” he said planting new seeds of doubt in her mind about him pretending to not know her.
She continued her work fully aware of him standing a few feet away from her leaning against a file cabinet typing away on his phone.
“Done, see you at three today,” he said making her turn around to look at him, puzzled with his over-confidence.
“Kris…I told you I am in back-to-back meetings this afternoon,” she objected.
“Not anymore…Oh here’s Jack,” he said smiling as Varsha’s boss approached them.
“Varsha, Kris wants you!!” Jack declared in a flat tone, but the words combined with the wicked smile on Kris’s face sent jolts of energy through her body. She grabbed onto to her desk to steady herself as Jack continued, “I think you and Kris need to meet prior to the presentations next week so he can assess our vendor selection process. I know you will be busy the rest of the week with the software launch so I gave up our time for him.”
“Got it,” she smiled back at Jack refusing to make eye contact with Kris.
“Thanks Jack, I appreciate your support,” Varsha heard Kris say as they walked away. She shook her head in utter disbelief at Kris’s persistence.
She cursed when she realized she was late to her meeting with Kris. She was determined to get some documentation signed off, and she lost track of time. She grabbed her laptop and headed towards the stairs, a rare occurrence, as she preferred not to go down a flight of stairs that were dimly lit and steep. She pushed the swinging door to the stairs with her shoulder holding her laptop in one hand and her water bottle and phone in the other. She went down a few stairs only to run into Kris as he ascended the steps.
She cast a polite smile his way, as she knew he was headed to her floor.
“I thought you stood me up,” he said laughing. She nipped the questions that started to spring up in her mind, walked past him, and speed walked towards his office. She walked ahead of him, went into his office, and settled into a chair across from his desk.
When he showed up a few seconds later with a puzzled expression on his face, she smiled and said, “It’s rude to be late to your own meeting, Kris.”
He shook his head smiling and said, “Yes, I know. I am sorry.”
“What do you want to talk about Kris since you so badly wanted this meeting today?” Varsha asked in a professional tone.
“I have a list of questions for you,“ he said looking at his computer. “Can I get you some coffee? Espresso or a cappuccino?” he asked showing off his fancy coffeemaker tucked away to one side of his office.
A dark gloom enveloped her heart when she realized he didn’t remember anything about her and the wonderful time they spent on the roof-top garden. She had felt fearless and unbounded that night when she was with him. He made her feel like a woman and a very desirable one, something she had never felt in her life.
She looked at him not showing any emotions as she shook her head politely. They had a conversation that night about how she didn’t drink coffee and didn’t like it in any form. She was convinced he didn’t remember her and wondered how many women he had slept with for him to not remember.
She kept telling herself she didn’t care that he didn’t remember her, but at the same time something kept nagging her. It was best for him if he didn’t remember, but she needed to know why her sister referred to him as Sam in her conversation earlier that week. She needed to know but had no idea how she could ask him.
“So…ready?” he cheered getting ready to type her responses.
“Yes,” she said calmly.
She spent the next twenty minutes responding to the series of questions he had for her, and she responded with everything she knew without letting her mind wander. She noticed how professional and focused Kris was when he was working and made a mental note to work on building her focus levels.
“I think that’s all I had for today,” he declared and added, “but I am going to set up a follow-up meeting. Can you tell me when you are free next week?”
“Sure.” She opened her laptop and started typing in her password and her fingers trembled when she felt his eyes on her. She cursed under her breath when she typed her password incorrectly twice in a row.
“What’s going on?” he asked looking at her distressed look.
“I can’t type my password, and I don’t want to get locked out by typing it incorrectly again,” she said through gritted teeth as she started typing her password slowly, one character at a time.
“Finally,” she looked up at him to find him staring at her with a smile that had a wicked twist to it.
She looked away to blankly stare at her screen hoping he would look away, but he continued to bore his eyes on her face.
“I am waiting, Varsha,” he smiled his tone weighed down with mockery.
“I am checking,” she retorted finding her composure.
“I am free at noon on Monday next week for thirty minutes,” she declared.
“Oh…I can’t, I am going to lunch with MaryAnn. Do you have an alternate time?” His words felt like knives slitting through her skin as she felt the burn from her own jealousy. MaryAnn worked in the vendor management team and charmed every guy in the building with her porcelain clear skin. She knew he was a charmer and couldn’t wait to go to lunch with that woman.
“How about 3pm on Tuesday?” she asked sounding desperate and bit her lip when she felt anxious for his response.
“That’s perfect!! We can step out and grab coffee,” he said with excitement as she got even more pissed at his comment about drinking coffee.
“Sure,” she said blocking her calendar for the next meeting and added, “What’s the agenda for the meeting?”
He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Do you think we should talk about Formula 1 racing?”
Her heart fluttered, and she stuttered to find the words for her response and looking down at the keyboard said, “I was hoping you could talk about software methodologies you applied in your past projects.”
“Sure, but first we need to talk about those cool-looking Ferrari race cars,” he said, his voice flat. She knew at that point he remembered everything from that night and was messing with her head all along.
She looked up into his eyes taking in a deep breath and said, “I am sorry, I really don’t have time to talk about anything other than work-related stuff.”
“I didn’t think you were this boring, Varsha,” he teased.
“Unfortunately, I am,” she said shaking her head, a slight relief sweeping her body at the ease of the conversation.
“I know you’re not,” he said as she folded her laptop away and stood up to leave.
She had her hand on the door handle when he said, “How much longer are you going to pretend nothing ever happened?”
She froze gripping her fingers around the handle as a million responses popped in her mind to his unexpected question.
“It’s best to leave it that way,” she said without turning to look at him.
“What if I don’t want to,” he retorted.
“It’s not up to you,” she said in a stern tone and looked into his eyes and added, “See you later.”
She left his office as he looked at her in disbelief, his chiseled features unfaltering. She felt relief swarm around her for clearing things up with him and was glad she was able to set the expectations without any of the unwanted drama.
Chapter Four
“Goodnight baby!!” Varsha said to Myra as she waved to her and added, “Do not trouble Aunt Meena.”
“She is my little princess, and I know she will be wonderful,” Meena said smiling as she held Myra in her arms with utmost care.
“I will see you guys in the morning, and I will call you before I start.” She winked at the smiling faces and got into her little red commute car to head to work for an overnight software rollout.
“Varsha, are you really working or partying tonight?” Meena called out as she started the engine.
Varsha rolled her eyes at her sister and said smiling, “Definitely partying, Meena. Sleep tight.”
As soon as she hit cruising speeds, her mind wandered to the last conversation she had with Kris. She had not heard boo from him since their meeting and wondered if he was purposely avoiding her.
Kris and she were on different floors of the building and barely saw each other. He was part of the core leadership team and was a special advisor to the Executive Committee.
Varsha was impressed with what he had accomplished and was inspired by what he had done with his startup ventures in the past. She learned a lot in just the twenty-minute conversation she had with him the previous day. He was extremely professional to the point where she had no inhibitions about the past and didn’t care even if he was pretending to not remember her. She was sure she did what was best for both of them by refusing to acknowledge a connection from their night together.
She reached the office an hour later and walked into the conference room holding two trays of coffee for her team. Her team was scheduled to work until two in the morning and as always, she made sure she was around to provide guidance and support.
“Perfect timing, Varsha. We badly needed coffee,” one of her team members said smiling at her.
“Good, let’s get started with the deployment then,” she cheered.
It was four in the morning, and Varsha and her team were still working on pushing out the software. They had to work through a lot of unexpected issues and pushed the end time further out. She continued to guide them and helped with the tasks, and it was seven in the morning by the time they were done. Her team was completely spent, and she made sure to send them home safely and decided to stay at work in case there were any issues.
“Good morning, sis,” Varsha said to her sister on the phone.
“Where are you Varsha?” Meena asked in a sleepy tone.
“I am still at work, and I think I will stay back just in case we have issues,” she said and added, “I am going to have the nanny come to your place so she can watch Myra.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!! I can watch Myra, and I don’t need the nanny to help me.” Her sister was clearly annoyed at her. “You should give your nanny a day off. I am sure she will appreciate it,” her sister suggested laughing.
“That’s a good idea. I had texted her to go to your place at eight, but I can tell her to take the morning off. Good thinking, Meena,” she said smiling and asked, “Are you sure you want to keep Myra?”
Her sister did not respond and gave Varsha her signature silent treatment to which she laughed and said, “Okay, sis, I am going to let the nanny know.”
“Good. I am going to work on getting the boys out of the house as soon as I can so I can hang out with my darling,” her sister said with excitement.
“I am going to ask the nanny to come get Myra before her afternoon nap. You know she will not nap with the twins at home,” Varsha declared in a flat voice.
“Yes. You are right. Have the nanny come get Myra before I go to pick up the boys from school.” She confirmed the plan.
Varsha called her nanny who was very excited to have the morning off and gave her instructions for the afternoon.
She spent the rest of the day running through her ongoing tasks and covering for her team as they recovered from sleep deprivation. She overdosed on caffeine to fight the need to cuddle up and stayed focused on the tasks at hand.
She was in her boss’s office for a meeting in the afternoon when a sleepy daze crept over her.
“Varsha, are you okay?” her boss asked looking concerned.
“I am fine, Jack. I am running low on caffeine,” she said laughing at her supportive boss. He was very protective of his team and was notorious for taking care of them. Varsha built her leadership style based on what she learned from working with him. He was very supportive and considerate when she was dealing with the legal stuff with her ex-husband and also during the initial months after Myra was born.
“I can’t believe you decided to stay after a night-long deployment. You know the support team could have handled the issues,” Jack said in a caring voice.
“That’s okay, Jack. I will leave early today,” she said smiling back at him.
“Please do and come see me before you leave,” Jack said as she stood up to leave his office.
“I will.”
She called the support team to give them instructions on how to reach her if there were any issues and finished up by responding to the last of the emails. She gathered her things and went back to Jack’s office to let him know she was leaving.
“All set to go?” Jack asked smiling as he finished typing on his laptop.
“Yes, I am. Did you want to talk to me about something?”
Jack smiled and said, “Yes. Just to be clear I am not saying you are not capable, but I am not comfortable with you driving home today.”
He stopped her before she could object and said smiling, “You can leave your car here, and I have someone who can give you a ride home.”
“That is very thoughtful of you, but I will need my car to get to work tomorrow, Jack,” she said laughing.
“That is taken care of as well and here is your ride,” Jack said looking over my shoulder.
She turned to see who was going to take her home and saw Kris walking towards Jack’s office. She felt her stomach clench as their eyes met, and he smiled back looking at her with his sharp prying eyes.
“Hi, Varsha. How are you?” Kris asked in a cool voice.
“I am good,” she managed weakly.
“Kris has agreed to take you home and also drive you back to work tomorrow, Varsha,” Jack said smiling at him.