The right thing to do

“Who… who is Pooja?” asked Shreya, stuttering and afraid of the look of betrayal Vansh held on his face. Was she someone close to him?

“She is the human resource manager of our company and one of my dad’s favourite employees. He treated her like his daughter; he believed and valued her so much. I can’t believe she’d do that” Vansh spat and speed-walked out of the house.

He clenched his fists as he broke into the fresh air, he needed the air. His head was hazy and he didn’t know what to do.

Pooja always acted like the older sister he didn’t have. She started working with his dad when he was just a teenager and soon, she started coming home on weekends to babysit or play with him. He had some beautiful memories with her.

He remembered the one time he found a bug dead in his room, and started digging a hole in his garden to respectfully pay his respects to the bug he had killed. He had known it was senseless, but he wanted to; somehow he felt guilty for the death of that bug. And Pooja, instead of shouting at him like any adult would have, she joined him in digging and also found flowers for the grave.

He loved how she had given him the free reign to do whatever he wished a long as he wasn’t hurting anybody.

He pulled his car door and sat inside, the turmoil in his head rising. He couldn’t believe she did it. Even though he saw the video with his own eyes, he couldn’t that she’d cheat his father or steal anything from his father’s company. Even questioning her felt wrong, what would he do if she was guilty?

How would his father react?

He shook his head to clear away the thoughts but they kept rushing back in. But he had to go to her place now. He couldn’t procrastinate here.

If the police found about the recording, which they of course would, Pooja’s career would be thrown off the drain in a minute’s time. Everything she had worked so hard for would be destroyed.

And then there was Shreya, now that he had proof that Shreya was innocent he couldn’t step back. He had to free her of all the charges and Pooja was the way.

So he drove through the busy street and arrived at Pooja’s home. This 25-minute drive filled him with even more doubts and questions. He had tried finding reasoning behind Pooja’s act but he couldn’t; not even the lame ‘Maybe she took it and forgot about it?’

She walked upstairs to her apartment at the second floor. The surrounding cream walls stared harshly as he tapped his foot outside her door. The first time he came here, he had been amazed with the little she had in her house.

Her house was painted white with some peach and lavender dashed over some walls. Her walls were bare except for a family portrait hanging and there was little enough furniture.

“Wow!” he had admired, “So much space” and though he didn’t understand what minimalist meant, he loved the idea of it.

A pale white woman in her thirties unlocked the door and a smile graced her thin lips instantly. She welcomed him inside warmly, and he noted how her house looked almost the same.

“Would you like some water?” she asked, her brown eyes twinkling with the warmth of a sister.

“Did you steal the file?” he interrupted, throwing manners out of the window.

“Why do you ask?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning back in cool composure.

“I checked the cameras, I saw you taking the yellow file from my cabin. You took it but why? Why would you betray my father like that?” he asked.

“I did NOT betray your father. I stole the file so I could get rid of your useless, unqualified, good-for-nothing assistant, but maybe my plan wasn’t that great.”

“DO NOT SPEAK OF SHREYA LIKE THAT” he shouted at her.

“Oh! Have the uncountable office fuck sessions finally turned into care?” she asked degradingly but her voice laden with sweet butter.

When she saw the shock and confusion on his pretty face, she laughed. “Aww did you think your office was so sound-proof that a person standing right next to the door couldn’t hear you?”

“So what if I was fucking her? I have fucked so many girls before, why do you care?” he snapped.

“I don’t who you fuck” she said as she stepped closer to him, “but I do care who you bring into this office and I do not want filths like her ruining the peace and good-working environment of our company.”

“I approved of your decision to hire her when she was not qualified for the task, only because I trusted you. I believed you had other ways to know her knowledge and efficiency but who knew her efficiency was in sucking cock?” she threw at him, every word spoken to degrade and shame her.

“I told you to…” he started but she cut him off.

“Oh shut up! Open your fucking eyes” she said, and as she pointed her index finger over his heart, she said, emphasizing and increasing her volume with every word,

“You gave her a job she was unqualified for

You gave her the work she could not complete and other employees had to do it

You gave her the time you could have used to work on your projects

All so you could fuck her? Is this how low you have gone?”

“First, do not speak of her like that – I love her” he started but before he could complete, Pooja interrupted, and said with utmost confidence,

“A girl who spreads her legs to climb the career ladder cannot be trusted, nor can they stay loyal. You do not love her; you are simply attracted to her.

I know these kind of girls, they are good at seducing but..” as she was saying, Vansh interrupted her.

“Do not interrupt me” he warned in a low voice, and then added, “And don’t judge things you don’t know. I love her and I hired her because I wanted her near me all the time. She did not seduce me, nor did she use me to climb the career ladder like you believe.

I convinced her to work for me.

And I hindered her from working during her working hours, not the other way around”

Pooja started saying something, but he had heard enough. “The cops will be at your door by tomorrow morning” he said as a way of goodbye and went away.

He turned around and walked out of this place, Pooja calling over him incessantly, as he remembered how it was when he was 14 and came to her house with his father. She had cooked delicious food for them and they had eaten until the last bite, because they were all his favourite dishes and she was a great cook.

He remembered how she had told him not to judge a book by its cover. She had said, with the gentlest and sweetest voice, “We never know what’s going on behind the scenes so do not judge anybody. Judging them is only a mirror of how you judge yourself”

He chuckled at the irony and hypocrisy of this statement. The one preaching ‘not to judge’ is the one who ‘judges’

He drove to his house and ran straight to his father He needed to clear his head and he needed his guidance. Even though he said that he’d call the cops on her and show them the recording, he worried if this was the right thing to do.

How would his father feel? Would he feel betrayed by his son?

As he walked into his father chambers, he thought of every reason he should not speak of that to him. The stress, the betrayal, his weak condition, his heart, but he could not contain the thoughts and questions in his head.

He needed an answer – an approval or a rebuke.

“Dad” he called softly as he knocked on his door. An old-ish nurse-like woman opened the door and welcomed him in. She had the gentle, motherly and caring look on her face that passed for a good nurse.

“Is dad awake?” he asked, and when the answer was in positive, he rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants and walked to his bed.

“Come, son, come” his dad said, in a crooked, breaking voice filled with love. He was lying on a hospital-like bed in his bed clothes. His grey hair fell on the top of his head and his round chubby face was a little hollow now.

“How are you?” asked Vansh and took a seat beside the right side of his bed.

“Good, great, but you don’t look good. What’s wrong?” his dad asked, and he blurted out everything. From what happened to how he felt about it, he poured down everything over his dad’s head. With each word, he felt a little lighter, a little better.

This was the right thing to do, he thought and when his dad answered the same, he smiled proudly. Vansh had finally done something right on his own and he wanted to celebrate it.

“Now tell me all about this girl” his dad said and winked, though he coughed just moments later.

He smiled at his dad, the best dad and the words rolled out again, this time dipped in love, lust and loyalty.