The Baffling Strike- Final Part (III)

“Your turn, best of luck.” Aditya said and he realized the expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Aditya asked in horror.

Ankita stands up and ran away from the office, crying. She ran, ran and continued running till her legs refused to cooperate and from there she took an auto rickshaw and went straight back to her office but stayed outside.

“Ankita got scared. She was not good enough.” This line was on the lips of almost very employee. Though there were people who thought, something was wrong and still respected her.

….

“Why did you do this? Ankita shot her question as soon as Sana left the office compound.

“Are you that dumb? I did it for promotion.” Sana replied rudely.

“But we were friends.”

“But I’m an individual first. I have to secure my future.” Sana shouted.

“We both are females. I trusted you only because you are a female. We need to stay together and united so that no one can harm us. How can you backstab me, a woman?” Ankita countered.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Are you insane? I don’t give a damn if you are a male or a female. I needed a promotion at any cost and I got one.

What did that fucking manager say that day do you remember? He said I was working under you. NO! I was not and I’ll never work under you, you’ll work under me from now onwards. Only if you are shameless enough to come to this place ever again.” Sana yelled and grabbed her shoulders and continued,

“I was sick of you. Everyone was so busy in praising you that nobody saw my work.”

“Why didn’t you do it on your own then? Was it important to steal my presentation? Why didn’t you work hard?” Ankita said in sarcasm.

“Oh! You know what I worked really hard on Roshan’s bed to please him. I turned into a sex slave for him that night because he promised me a promotion. I allowed him to fuck me like a whore but you spoiled everything. It’s because of you he was fired.”

Ankita was shocked and felt disgusted. Sana slept with a man who was harassing her friend, just for promotion. On her reply Ankita just slapped her hard and walked away. Sana watched her walking away as a drop of blood escaped her mouth.

Nobody saw what happened outside the office except the security guard.

Back to her home, Ankita stayed glued to her bed, crying and hugging her knees. She was devastated. She didn’t have the courage to face her colleagues.

Her past started haunting her again. Everything was exhibiting once again in front of her eyes. His drunken husband and his friends, they were pulling her saree and one of his friends was trying to tear away her blouse. Her husband gripped her hand and said,” Behave well in front of my friends. Don’t you dare to embarrass me.” She then grabbed a steel vase which was lying over her bedside table and smashed on two of his friend’s head and pushed away his husband and ran away. Then the image of Sana giving her presentation came in front of her eyes. She remembered how she ran away from the office. That was embarrassing. Her life was embarrassing.

“They would laugh at me. I’m not going back there atleast for a few days. How would I face them?” She thought.

The only reason why she came close to Sana was because she was a female. She hated men. Ankita never thought a woman will back stab a woman for success.

Women are rascals! But does it mean that even she was a rascal and if not then why did she think that every man is a rascal? Just because she knew two men who were rascals.

Soon she realized that it was not men or women who were rascals, it’s the lust. Lust for sex, money and success. No matter where you are, you will find people who are driven by their lust and workplace is the most likely place. They may say that they are working for passion but that’s a lie, they work for lust, lust for money and social position.

“No you can’t back out. This is not how an official behaves.” Her mind said.

“Yes, I have to be strong. I’m a professional, a self dependent working woman. No matter what I have to be strong. I can’t afford to be vulnerable.”

Next day she woke up at her usual time groomed herself for the office, took an auto rickshaw and reached her office on time. Standing in front of her office she took a deep breath and said to herself that her work was her ultimate identity and it was her work which defines her life.

As she enters the office security guard saluted her and said, “Good morning madam. It’s good to see you again.”

Ankita looked at him for a while and thought, “Atleast someone still respects me and working here is now simpler.”

Inside the office, she received a mixed response and it encouraged her. Though the majority of the employee saw her with appalling expression and few even refused to recognize her. For them she was a looser. She was a woman who was not good enough, a woman who got scared.

But now it didn’t bother her. She was there to work not to give clarification. Her sole objective from now onwards was to work though she maintained a healthy relation with her colleagues but nothing more that that. It was now her turn to be lusty and her lust was her work. The results would come one day and she knew this. She started doing the thing which she always did best, hard work. Her life was a lot simpler now and soon she found her mental peace. Every day she worked hard in the office and after that she worked hard on the treadmill. She let her work speak on her behalf and again the praises were flowing on her way. She never clashed with Sana and even Sana never traumatized her because her objective was fulfilled. Four months later, she won the employee of the year award and with that she received a promotion letter too.