Hi Erika,

Sending you edits for Ch 5.

TIA!

Regards,

Payal Mathur.

Chapter 5: Cringe Binge

For Zen and Zoe, dignity and emotional upheaval aside, even the brain waves were currently too chaotic.

A self-conscious Zen stiffly walked to where Mrs.Lobo was sitting, diagonally behind the Érevna executives. It was an ideal location. It was a corner that can be easily overlooked and thus made for a perfect observation spot.

Zen would have praised Mrs.Lobo’s quick thinking if he hadn’t caught her laughcough and her body intermediately shaking in subdued laughter!

Beaten by his own inexplicable actions, Zen could only straighten his already straightened back even more and stare at the company executives a little more sternly.

With as much poise as he could manage, Zen said, “begin”.

With his side eye Zen could see Mrs.Lobo hyperventilating on her choked laughter. Through gritted teeth he asked if she needed help or water, because courtesy…

With no one to blame but himself, Zen rained internal abuse at his short-circuited brain while externally placidly following the interviews being conducted.

Zoe was beyond irritated at herself for losing herself over a handsome face, chocolaty brown eyes, and a hot body...how vain could one be?

And this was Zen Kohli, the one she hated for squandering his family’s money and reputation so easily and openly!

Zoe couldn’t understand how her self control and morals just slipped like that at the sight of a beautiful face?

And that too at Zen Kohli’s face! She lost face on the face of a person she doesn’t even like!

And it is not like he is movie star handsome. He is just ok looking!

Sure he has a good figure, but it should be because of the custom-fitted designer clothes.

The body looks toned, but that can all probably be attributed to the extracurricular activities he seems to be always engaged in.

The wavy soft and shiny tresses that are making her fingers itchy to comb them are also definitely a result of branded hair products.

And those eyes, oh gosh those fathomless hot caramel eyes are like a whirlpool that are sucking her in deeper and deeper and…

With a sudden mental screech Zoe brought her unusually unruly thoughts to a jarring stop!

She couldn’t believe what was happening to her suddenly. She was a 23 year old woman not a 15 year old newly awakened girl!

After all these years of being perfectly dormant why were her emotions suddenly going haywire now, and that too for this person?

Danny’s, “everything alright sis?”, in her ears provided her the anchor she needed to come back from her emotional freakout.

She mentally recited her reasons for being here and managed to collect herself to answer the interviewers in front of her and willfully ignore ‘the one’ trying to become one with the shadows.

Zen was still reeling under the after-effects of the ‘accident’. But the professional in him didn’t forget to be suitably surprised and reasonably impressed with the resumes of the candidates in front of him.

But it was the CV of the ‘chashmish’ or the ‘spectacled one’, as Zen had mentally dubbed this particular interviewee, which moved him the most. With a degree in engineering and computer designs from premiere institutes of the country and work experience at OZ Tech, this person was just perfect for him!

Equal parts surprised and equal parts dismayed at his brain’s capacity to supply him with a double entendre at this time, Zen decided to push this ‘incident’ at the back of his mind and act the professional he actually was.

Zen knew that his outside reputation wasn’t too great, but because it was his own design, till date, he had had no complaints either.

His hard work of the last 3 months was unanimously witnessed by the executives and employees of the company.

They now had a clear understanding of his abilities and capabilities. They no longer looked at him as was his projected image or as an interloper, but as their true boss.

Him sitting in on an interview was not breaching any professional courtesy or considered as stepping on other’s shoes, either.

This post was very important and everyone in the company knew that. They also knew how long this process of finding the right person had been going on.

Currently, there was a growing sense of impatience in the company regarding this position.

The work on the latest government project was already underway and the one liasoning with all the respected departments would be the chosen personal assistant to the boss.

The work plus all the running around was getting a bit tiring.

It wasn’t the first time the company was working on a government project, but it was the first time that Zen Kohli was heading the job.

The employees across the board had seen the effort and sincerity Zen had employed in the last 3 months to learn the people and their work in the organization.

He hadn’t simply come in and sat on the high chair and issued autocratic orders, but had worked with each and every one of them to understand the process; the cause and effect.

They had seen how straightforward Zen had been about the job and how steadfast his ideals were regarding the work ethics and process.

Even when he had been drowning in foreign information initially, he hadn’t been flustered. He had kept his head above water and unmindful of his image, had paddled like crazy to stay afloat.

That is why when Zen had proposed to open this post, the entire team had been behind this suggestion.

But after multiple rounds of solid failure, the HR department was currently on the verge of a mental breakdown.

They had in hand the standards set by Kohli Sr. and requirements listed by Zen, even then, they had been struggling with getting the right person for the job.

Zen too had been getting progressively dejected about the situation.

They all felt like somehow they had let Zen down when he had been so earnest in his task of preserving the jobs and reputation of Érevna Laboratories Worldwide.

The two candidates in front of them were their last chance in selecting the person they had been looking for so long.

The HR head had a very strong positive feeling about the candidate currently being interviewed. For the same, he was keeping all his fingers and toes tightly crossed.

He dubbed the recent ‘episode’ between the candidate and Zen as an ‘accident’ and just hoped and prayed they’d get the right one this time!

Zen cleared his throat to catch the attention of the people in the room.

With utmost difficulty, he managed to meet ‘the spectacled one’s’ eyes and promptly forgot what he was going to say!

Zoe was a little surprised and a bit shocked that Mr.Kohli would hand over his company’s operations and reputation to a guy who has peas for a brain and mud for his morals.

Someone who couldn’t even walk properly on his own two feet without tripping even while entirely sober, shouldn't be randomly made responsible for hundreds of peoples livelihoods!

She resolved that while saving the Kohlis from Saavri Mahanta, she will also ensure that Kohli Jr. doesn’t drain Kohli Sr. 's years of heardwork down the drain.

‘What a waste!’, lamented her heart while looking at Zen Kohli’s chiselled features and sculpted body!

Shushing her errant thoughts, Zoe decided to start on her mentally dubbed project ‘Save Érevna Laboratories Worldwide from Zen Kohli’ by taking charge of this interview!

Facing dumb Kohli...errr...Mr.Zen Kohli, she began, “what exactly are your expectations from your PA?”

Surprised at the sudden spotlight on him, Zen could only blubber, “err...to assist me!”

Mrs.Lobo’s jaw took to the floor seeing her Jr.boss’s flustered reaction and hearing his ‘witty’ response.

She shook her head to clear it and realized that all the people around her were wearing similar expressions of incredulity on their faces.

The change in dynamics was frankly quite terrifying. The shark acting as an amnesic kitten was painting a profoundly disturbing picture.

Zoe mentally rolled her eyes at Zen’s ‘intelligent’ answer and continued, “what would be the role and responsibilities attached to this position?”

Zen, still unrecovered, could only murmur, “same as everyone else’s.”

At this point, Mrs.Lobo’s entire being was cringing in second-hand embarrassment. She couldn’t believe that today of all days, her boss’s brain cells had bunked the class to play loose.

She WattsApped the HR manager to handle the situation before things became even more awkward and cringey and they lost an awesome candidate because of it.

Smart guy, the HR head, immediately took over the reigns of the session, “the nitty-gritties of the job and our expectations from you would be explained to you in detail once you officially join the organization.”

Zen meanwhile couldn’t grasp what was happening to him.

His mental recap of the situation for the past 3 months had made him miss the interview of the 1st finalist and then when he had come back to the present and decided to show the candidates that he wasn’t just a figure-head, he had lost face again!

He couldn’t understand what it was about this person that his brain circuits were losing all their charge!

Before he could restructure his mental synapses, he heard his HR Head say, “Congratulations Mr.Danny Rathod! Welcome aboard!”

Danny, who had been listening in on this entirely confusing conversation the whole time through the studs on Zoe’s ears dropped his headphones in shock and bewilderment and gasped, “...Danny Rathod?”