Meet Riddhima

A girl was standing in a room, gigling and admiring herself in the mirror

“Mirror Mirror on the wall”
“Who’s the most beautiful out of all”

Suddenly the lights go off and the girl sees a reflection in mirror
It wore black hoodie, black pants and a black mask
It was a man
He tilt his head a little so that his reflection is seeing in the mirror more clearly

“You”
It spoke

The girl’s breath hitched
She turns slowly, terrified
But,
There was nothing, no one
Just then light comes

“Ohh god riddhu,tu bhi naa kuch Ni h”(ohh good riddhu, nothing is there)

(So the girl was riddhu)

Then she got a video call and she started chatting happily with her friend
They were chatting and light again went

“Riddhu,y light ko Kya hua”(riddhu what happened to light)
“Arre,kuch Ni yaar,Strom ki vajah se light ki dikkat h”(nothing yaar ,there is some issue due to Strom)
“Riddhu…ri…dh..”
“What, light yahan gyi h vahan nahi “(what electricity is gone here not there)
“Riddhu Tere peeche koi tha, black clothes m”(riddhu someone was behind you in black clothes)
“Pallu yaar,Dara mat,I Know tu mujhe daraane ki koshish karahi h naa”(paalu yaar don’t tease me know you are trying to making me afraid)
“I swear riddhu,koi tha”(I swear riddhu, someone was there)
“Wait let me check”

Riddhima moved from there, terrified and pick out candle and matchstick
She light the candles and start looking everywhere
Just then a sound come from window
Riddhu Take slow step towards it… panicking
She remove the curtains and her breath hitched
It was…
It was…
It was..

It was a cat
She take deep calming breaths
And went back to her phone

“Kya yaar pallu cat thi”(what pallu it was a cat)
“Cat,maybe mujhe koi confusion hua hoga andhere ki vajah se”(cat,maybe I got confused during to darkness)

“Okay then”

Riddhima was half asleep when she felt something or rather someone hovering upon her
Her eyes snap open at the realization
It was man, the same man she saw in the mirror..
Due to fear she couldn’t speak a word
Just then the man move towards her ear and whisper

“Jaan….”
In husky monotone
“good girls don’t disturb others so go back to sleep”
“Who are you and why are you here”
“Kaha naa Jaan,m kaam Kar Raha hu so don’t disturb”(I told naa Jaan,m working so don’t disturb)
“Kaisa…kaisa Kaam”(what, what work)
“Tumhe dekhne ka”(of staring you)
“Leave me”
“Help someone help”
“Bhaiiiii…………”(bro….)

Beep beep beep

Riddhima wake up sweating
She was hyperventilating
Just then a man enters a room

“Riddhu Kya hua ,why are you panting”(what Happened riddhu why are you panting)
Riddhima-(Trying to act normal and smiling)
“Nothing Bhai,nightmare
Yes Bhai now go mujhe office k liye late ho raha h “(yes Bhai and now leave I m getting late for office)

Just as the man left the room her expressions changed to previous one’s

“Riddhu he is not here , relax”

Riddhima brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth and take shower
She came out of bathroom Wearing a bathrobe
She stand in front of mirror and giggle looking at it

“Mirror mirror ……”

She stopped suddenly and get ready like doing her hair and makeup
Then she moved towards her closet and pick out a dress … she smiles but then remember something

“Miss.riddhima this is what you called formally dressed”

She sigh and pick out another dress it was a shirt and trouser

“That khadus,uske chakkar mein kapde bhi Sade se pehnane padte h , idiot”(that khadus, because of him I need to wear rotted like clothes, idiot)

She look last time in mirror satisfied with her look and walked out of the room…

“Ohh god it’s already 8:25 I don’t want to get late today”

She glanced at manik who was dressed up formally too
was settling the table and placing breakfast

“Come on riddhu you can do it..you just need to leave the hall before Bhai sees you”

She started tiptoeing just then

“Where do you think you are going”
“Bhai…Bhai voh m “(Bhai voh I I..)
“Aaj ek Kaam Kar excuse rehne de…fatafat breakfast Kar thanda ho jayega”(do one thing today leave that excuse and do breakfast other wise it would get cold)
“Bhai aaj bahut late hu pakka office m kha lungi”( Bhai m already very late today I swear will eat in office)
“No means no vaise bhi tujhe office toh m hi drop krta hu toh jb tk tu khayegi nahi office . .”(no means no and moreover it’s me who drops you office everyday so untill then you don’t eat office…)
“Okk fine”

They both do their breakfast

“Bhai where is sejal di”
“I don’t know”
“Bhai”
“Fine I will see where is she”
“That’s like my Bhai”

Then they both sit in the car and manik drop riddhima to her destination

“VR interprises“

Riddhu to herself
“Welcome to hell miss riddhima, yesterday you unfortunately survived but today it seems difficult”

She enter the office and straight move into elevator for 30th floor
Nothing new, like everyday no one talked to her , everyone eyed her weirdly and she became the topic of gossip
She didn’t know why every one hate her so much except siya ,her colleague no one in the wholr office Even talk to her properly
Why wouldn’t they Because they clearly see how boss behaves with her …so they do the same
And female employees just because she worked on same floor as him… she often thought if they are so much interested why their jobs can’t get interchanged

Getting out of elevator she noticed the complete floor is empty
That means he is not here
” thank god” she looked at her watch and frown

“Ohh god its already 8:55 ,he would be here by 9″

She leave her things on her desk and ran towards the canteen
She prepared black coffee without sugar

“Black coffee that too without sugar, isliye itna kadwa bolta h”(black coffee that too without sugar that’s the reason he speaks so sour)
“Wait Wait riddhima,one slice of lemon cake too”
“Agar coffee without sugar peeni h toh cake Kyu saath m “(if you drink coffee without sugar then what’s the use of getting cake with it)

She walked back to floor and went inside a huge cabin
Put the coffee on table and open curtains
Ran back to her desk and got her tab and again go back to cabin and stop facing the gate
Just then a man enters the cabin

“Good morning sir”

He just nods
Riddhima whispering to herself-
“good morning bhi Ni bol sakta h….vaise sahi h jabse company m aai hu ek bhi morning issne good nahi hone di”(can’t even speak good morning… well that’s right from the day he had come here my single morning has been good)

The man sits on the chair and sips his coffee
Then riddhima started telling him his schedule

“Okay riddhima you may leave”

Riddhu in mind- what!! What did he said I can leave without any embarasent,bina koi daant khayye
Aaj sooraj Kahan se nikla h”(what!! What did he said I can leave without any embarasent, within getting scolded, from where the sun has risen today)

Vansh-(now irritated) what now leave naa
Riddhu– yes sir
Just when she was above to Leave his phone rang and looking at the caller ID he asked riddhima to stay

Riddhima noticed the change of expressions his face held even the frown and growing anger didn’t go unnoticed
She hates to admit it but if he had been married then she would have known him more than his wife .
But thank God he isn’t married… bechari ladki Jo bhi ho isse accha bhagwan usse apne pass bula le( poor woman god just call her to him rather than marrying him)

“Welcome back to earth riddhima”
Vansh spoke gritting his teeth

“What happened sir?”
“Really, what happened riddhima?
What did I asked you to do with Malhotra’s presentation yesterday”
“Sir you asked me to check once again for any mistakes ,do the necessary changes, make it presentable and email it to them”
“And did you email it?”
“Of course sir”
“Ohh really
Then why didn’t it reached there”
“I swear sir,I emailed it to them”
“So you mean Mr Malhotra is lying”
“No sir”
“Then it must be me who is lying”
“No…”
“Just shut the hell up and get back to your work right now send it …
Can’t do a work properly
If it isn’t for my dad I would have I fired her the instant she joined“

Riddhima get out of cabin and wonder because she really remembered Saving it in drafts… she remembered Saving it but not sending it
“Huh stupid riddhima how could you”

Flash back
A very tired riddhima was packing her stuff to go home… just then her intercom buzz
Sighing she picked it up

“Riddhima in my cabin now”
“Yes sir”
She went to the cabin
“Sir”
“Ohh yes get that Malhotra’s Presentation ready, check it last time make it presentable and send them”
“But sir, it’s already leaving time”
“Miss riddhima if you work a little over time you won’t get evaporate right”
“But sir yesterday also I worked overtime just because you preponed an meeting”
“Miss riddhima do you want to work extra for few hours or never want to work because you very well are aware that if you got kicked out of here you wouldn’t get any job anywhere“

Riddhima (murmuring to herself)(staring him)- khadus,akdu,jalkukdi, idiot, stupid, nalayak,nikamma
“What”
” Nothing sir “
“So Leave”

Leaving out of the cabin riddhima cursed all the way to her desk
And finally done the changes it was almost 8 when she got done
Hurrying towards the cabin she showed the report
And then on her computer clicked on save instead of send
*Clicked on save”
“Clicked on save”

Flash back end

“Shit shit riddhima”
“But that wasn’t my fault either he literally force me to do overtime and what to do if I feel sleepy and tired”

Rest of the day went smoothly as vansh was gone on an meeting with aangre… thankfully leaving her alone
Walking out of the office she prefers walking rather than travelling by cab or something it’s quite calming but from a few days she prefer taking cabs

“Fine got it, and great it will just take 15 minutes”

After 5 minutes a cab came in front of her

” Arre waah bahiya aap toh 15 minute bolke 5 minute m hi aa gye”(woah bro ,you told 15 minutes and here in 5 minutes)

The driver didn’t reply and riddhima think him to be rude didn’t bother either

Standing in front of supermarket was such a relief for her
The walk to home from here just take 10 minutes and area was crowded too so it was safe
Getting into the mall she brought some groceries and stuffs
She was shopholic and shopping reduced her stress so it was her routine to visit mall in 2-3 days doesn’t matter if she had to buy something or not
She was busy in buying chocolates when her phone rang
Looking at the caller ID she frown and picked up the phone

“Ji bhaiya”(yes bro)
“Madam kaha h aap,mein aapke office k bahar khada hu”(ma’am where are you m standing outside your office)
“Yeh aap kaisi baatein Kar rahe h bhaiya abhi 5 minutes phle hi toh aapne mujhe mall chooda h”(what are you talking bro just 5 minute before you dropped me at mall)
“Ma’am aapko koi confusion hua h mein toh abhi yahan pauncha hu aur aapne to housing society ki location di thi naa mein aapko mall mein kyu drop karta”(ma’am you are in some sort of confusion I just reached here and you shared location of housing society why would I drop you at mall)

Ignoring the call riddhima ran outside,sweat beads were forming on her forehead, looking here and there

Many questions revolving in her mind

“If he wasn’t the cab driver,who was he?”
“How did he know I visit this mall?”

Unknown to her a man in Black hoodie was smirking looking towards her standing few meters away

Done

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