Joydeep looked at the address and said, “Well, your friend has arranged for an accommodation which is in Andheri, the hub of Mumbai City but my office is in Colaba and trust me travelling every morning from Andheri to Colaba would be really hectic for you. If you think you can manage then, I’ll take you there?” though it was a question but with the firmness in his voice, Maya understood that he is ordering her to stay at the place that he has decided. She looked at the address once again, which was in his hands and then said, “Fine, take me to the accommodation that you’ve finalized. I will inform my friend about it.” They both smiled and struggled the way out to the station. There she saw a cab waiting for them. He asked the driver to keep the bags carefully in the dickey, but the problem was she had four huge bags. Joydeep said, “I guess you have brought the entire Kolkata Haan?” and laughed loudly at his own joke and stopped when he saw no reaction from Maya. He thought to himself: “no sense of humor!”
The driver then instructed that they can arrange for a bigger vehicle, which will take half an hour to reach here. Joydeep and Maya agreed and decided to wait at the railway canteen. They had a cup of tea and discussed about Maya’s education, family and more about Kolkata. Maya was just engrossed in talking so much that she didn’t realize her phone is being ringing. She then saw the light blinking and saw ‘Shiv’ blinking on the phone. She told Joydeep that she needs to take the call and answered the phone. Shiv first inquired about her journey and then told her that he spoke to Mrs. Andrews and she would be waiting for her. Maya just took a more serious and professional poise and told Shiv that her boss has already booked an apartment for her nearby to the workplace. Shiv shrugged a bit but then just asked her to take care and disconnected the call.
Finally, as promised by the driver, a bigger vehicle arrived and they finally accommodated Maya’s luggage and drove off. Joydeep gave the day’s schedule for Maya, which said:
“1. Show her the apartment
2. Order lunch
3. Evening: show her the office
4. A few bookstores
5. Finally dinner”
Maya let her tinkling laughter out and Joydeep just kept staring at her with amusement. Maya then realized that the man sitting next to her is her boss and just said sorry. Joydeep ignored her and then asked her, “What was so funny?” Maya now a bit professionally told him, “I have never seen someone writing down a list for the day.” “Well! In that case, you should make a habit of this, because this will be your work from Monday. You are my assistant and you have to make a schedule for my meetings, press conferences and even lunch and dates, if any!” she nodded and he continued, “so now once we reach your rented apartment, you can rest for a while, take a shower or just unpack, your call completely. In the meanwhile there is some paperwork for you that I need to complete, so when I am done, I would order something for us, we can have lunch. You can rest and then in the evening we have to go to the office so that you can see your working area. Today is Friday, so don’t expect me to be around you the whole time.” She kept her silence and nodded her head in agreement as he spoke. He noticed that she was playing with the hem of her dress. He ignored the fact that she was least interested in listening to him.
He continued, “As, I won’t be with you the whole day, I have asked one of my employees to accompany you. His name is Shubhro. Hope you’d be fine with that” she looked at him for a second with a sheepish look and then realized that this man is his boss! So she said, “yes of course!” with a bit of a pause in her tone she then continued, “so my lunch would be with Shubhro?” he looked at her and said, “he’d be there for lunch with us.” Then he continued with a reassuring tone this time, “don’t worry you’d love him. He is fun and of your age, so I guess you guys would get along quite well.” Maya smiled and looked out of the window and thought: ‘Your age? What would be my boss’s age?’ she decided to rather put this question aside.
And within some thirty minutes, they reached the apartment which was arranged for her. The moment Maya entered the room; she was shocked because this was more like a man’s room. She looked at him and wondered if he realized that this apartment is neat but everything is what a man needs. Joydeep told her to freshen up and unpack her things while he can finish up a few things and then can join her for lunch. The moment, he left, she locked the door and looked around. She was happy as well as tired of the thought that she has to re-arrange everything.
She did manage to unpack her bags. She thought: ‘I need to buy more stuff to re-decorate my apartment.’
Her apartment was a cute one bedroom hall and kitchen room. The best thing about this apartment was the balcony. It had a nice open balcony. Maya had now made a mental note of things she needs to buy for the house. She decided to take a shower. Done with all her work of unpacking and keeping them in the closet, Maya now decided to sit down with a book and read for a while. She started reading, but didn’t realize when she was fast asleep.
The Chaotic Soul 