Hasitha Adhikariarachchi
‘Don’t come to the office again, not even to meet your friends’ Lila said, in a bitter voice. Her thin lips shrunk.
Nadeeka’s face darkened, and I was pleased for a moment. Both Nadeeka and I were suspended from work last week.
Today, Lila, the HR executive, called us in for an inquiry. I had already prepared my resignation letter.
‘Fine’ Lila said after reading my resignation letter. Was it relief that I saw in her face? I had made things easier for her by giving the resignation in, myself.
‘Bye, Lila.’
I grabbed my handbag, and hurried out of Lila’s cubicle. I kept my back and head straight with all the strength I had. I walked to the exit and got into the elevator, where I wiped the sweat from my shaky hands on my pants.
I got into the taxi which was waiting for me, outside. Spending money for a taxi wasn’t wise, but I was scared to meet people I knew in the street.
A queue of school girls were waiting to cross the road. Their timid faces looked so innocent. They crossed the road, carefree but proud, their eyes full of dreams. I was one of them, five years ago. I wanted to organize art exhibitions to publish my work, and then open a gallery. Now, I was unemployed with only enough money to survive a few more months.
The taxi reached the destination: the small-scale design company that called me for a job interview.
I got down from the taxi, tightly holding my file full of educational certificates. A set of shabby buildings with dusty name boards was all I saw. I spotted the company name I was searching for, and walked towards it. It had an old wooden door, and faded paint on the walls.
I walked through a corridor with brick walls, and entered a small room. About twelve young men and women were working on computers. The ceiling of the room was illuminated by the yellow light of a filament light bulb. A pair of discolored window panes allowed sunrays to enter the room. A man in his thirties stepped towards me.
‘Miss Helani?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m Mangala. I’m sure you didn’t expect this kind of a place. Please follow me.’
As I followed him, we passed many curious young faces looking at me. Then we entered a room decorated with office furniture.
‘I worked in one of the leading designing companies’ Mangala explained. ‘
Two years ago, I decided to start my own thing. I recruited inexperienced young people and trained them. Most of them have done great work so far.’
He pointed to a chair, and I sat down, struggling to gather my words.
‘Why do you want to leave your current workplace?’ Mangala asked.
‘For career progression’ I heard my voice, but it sounded very stern. It felt like someone else in the room was talking.
‘We have been able to expand our clientele’ ‘Mangala replied ‘so the company is stable. I can assure you that we will be moving to better premises next year.’
Better premises! Elevator, air conditioner, the smiling receptionist in the front office. And the cafeteria where I was victimised.
‘We will offer you more than your current salary. I doubt that you would like to work in this building. Even my sister refused to work here, which was a slap in the face,’ Mangala said.
A slap in the face. Yes, I know that people let their loved ones down. My boyfriend didn’t answer my phone calls after I told him about the incident. I remembered hearing his angry voice, and then the beep tone indicating he hung up.
Co-workers in my previous office ignore me now.
‘She deserved it’ I overheard this in some of the conversations of some women in my previous office, while I was crying inside the washroom.
‘There must be more to the story; if not Nadeeka wouldn’t do that.’ My ears were hurting. My head was as hot as if it was burning. My entire body hurt, as if people were throwing stones at me.
My supervisor, the always-rational man, wasn’t present at the inquiry. He’s been avoiding me since I became a notorious target for gossip-mongers in office.
‘Come and talk to me anytime, for anything’ were his words on my first day in the office.
Nadeeka and I had worked on the same design team. Once I sensed that Nadeeka cared for me more than he should, I tried to stay away from him.
Then, Nadeeka confronted me in the cafeteria the day after the annual office party. He was fuming. ‘I want to talk about yesterday. Why did you refuse to dance with me?’
‘What’s the big deal?’ I said, looking into his eyes. ‘l’ll dance with whoever I want.’
I saw Nadeeka raising his hand. Then I felt hotness on my right cheek, and I was pushed backwards. It took a few seconds for me to realize that he had slapped me.
‘So, Helani, what do you think about our company?’ Mangala asked.
‘I’ve heard many successful companies were very humble in the beginning’ I said rotating my head to look around.
The light-colored wall hangings bounced around the sunlight. I looked away from the small window; pedestrians were moving on the road like busy bees. The place looked like an ideal hideout for me: a migratory bird sanctuary, till I was ready to step out again.
‘Yes. I’d like to join your company’ I said.
