The Rose & Her Thorn

Part 9

"Sir? Cabins for all interns?" repeated Shekhar, staring at his boss with incredulity swirling in his widened eyes.

"You heard me right the first time, Shekhar. Cabins for the interns," said Vikram, strumming the fingers of his left hand against the back of his right hand. His clenched jaw had sprung to life, with a muscle dangerously twitching at the angle of his jaw.

"We don't provide cabins even for those employed for short-term, sir. And if we provide cabins for all the interns, we might have an uprising on our hands," explained Shekhar. He began to wonder what, or rather who, planted the thought in Vikram's mind, because as far as Shekhar knew, accepting interns was just a show for the world, and Vikram had never cared about them.

"I don't give a damn, Shekhar. I don't think there is anyone in the company who is dumb enough to voice their dissent against me," averred Vikram in an annoyed tone. Employee satisfaction, surprisingly, did matter to him, but it came nowhere close to the satisfaction of a certain intern.

"Agreed, Sir. But, we still have another problem. There are no vacant cabins, and we cannot ask those who are already occupying cabins to vacate them," replied Shekhar, hoping his answer does not disappoint the Singhal heir further.

"Install partitions in the storeroom or conference room and convert them into makeshift cabins. If there are any more hitches, ease them out yourself, Shekhar, but I want this done by evening," instructed Vikram, resting his forehead against his stretched fingers in resignation.

Shekhar knew better than to irritate his boss when he was already in a bad mood. "As you say, Sir."

_____________________________________________________

"Wow, yaar, Shi! You convinced our boss to provide us with cabins, and he actually listened to you! Wow! Are you sure that you don't know magic?" questioned Rohan, leaning sideways towards his best-friend as Shekhar made the announcement to the interns.

"Didn't I tell you he is quite compassionate? Now, see for yourself!" remarked Shikha, crossing her arms against her chest proudly. Her eager eyes searched for any signs of the man in question but, dejection awaited her when there was no sign of him.

"Yeah, yeah. Nowadays, someone doesn't tire of singing praises of the Devil!" teased Rohan, earning a nudge in his ribs by Shikha, frowning at him.

"I just want to give him the benefit of doubt like he is giving me. He is... different. There might be a reason for those actions and words as well. Who knows?" mused Shikha, gazing toward his cabin in anticipation.

Unbeknownst to her, Vikram had heard her words through the short-range transmission mic that was secretly placed in her ID Card chip. The annoyance for providing cabins to interns, the frustration of bearing witness to her closeness to Rohan, and the exhaustion of the day disappeared into thin air when he heard her empathetic words for him.

What had begun as a fascination and something very basal and chemical was turning into something much more demanding and quintessential for his peace. Any regrets that he had for invading her privacy by installing the mic had washed away with the flood of ecstasy brought upon her words. There was no dearth of people who would sing his praises in his presence, and yet backstab him, and he was glad to find that one who caught his fancy was not one of them.

"See! anyway, girls are always interested in 'bad-boys' and never in 'boy-next-door' like me! Don't forget your friend after finding such a 'compassionate' boss, at least till I find a girlfriend!" joked Rohan, chuckling as he dodged a punch from a giggling Shikha, who made her way towards her cabin.

"I don't think you ever find that girlfriend! Have you ever heard yourself talk? Monkey is a better option," she retorted, with her thumb down as she rejoiced having her friend in the room right next to hers.

"Happy now?"

His voice interrupted her train of thoughts as she turned around with a jerk to face him, surprising herself with her eagerness to meet the owner of that voice.

"Very. Thank you so much, Sir!" she replied, smiling widely and letting a beautiful crimson hue dance upon her warm cheeks.

"And, now that your friend is right next door, I guess it will only add to your happiness further?" asked Vikram, pointing towards the storeroom which had turned into the cabin for two of the interns, including Rohan. Despite his murderous feelings towards the other man in Shikha's life, he had every intention of using his existence to his advantage.

"Yes, sir. I missed having him around for the past five days," answered Shikha.

"I could see that, and I separated you two during the allocation of the mentors, so I thought I should compensate in this way. Hope you liked it," he stated through gritted teeth and forced a smile which soon turned real when he saw her smile widen and her eyes twinkle with admiration.

"That was so thoughtful of you, Sir," exclaimed Shikha, unable to believe that it was the same man who reigned over the State by terrorizing everyone, and yet she could not help but allow admiration and appreciation to overpower every doubt which arose in her.

"Glad to hear that you liked it, Shikha! I'll get going and see you later!" muttered Vikram, walking back into his cabin as he realized he was losing rein over himself around her. Her naïve and dazzling eyes threatened to force out every wish, every desire and every malice of his heart, and he could not afford to let that happen.

The charade he was weaving around her to entangle her with himself was successful in entrapping her, but was it strong enough to stand the test of time and trust?