Amaya

I'm literally panicking right now. I might have a panic attack if Sarah doesn't come out in a few seconds. 

It's been 15 min since Sarah went into his cabin. His Secretary said that he wanted to meet Sarah first as we reached his cabin.

How can I be so stupid?

Who dances in a meeting room?

Just kill me, god! If I lose this job, I have to go work for my Uncle and the hard work it took to convince my grandfather will be down the drain.

Now I'm sweating and fretting, this situation feels familiar. It feels like the day when I got caught cheating on an exam, and the principal called my grandparents.

Don't judge me okay I'm no saint.

The door opened, and Sarah has a poker face.  Give me some expression woman or else I'm gonna go crazy.

"Did he yell at you,? Is he gonna tell on us? Is he mad?" I started with all the stupid questions I had in the past 15 min as soon as she reached me.

"Calm Down Amy, the answer is a no for every question. He was cool about it, and he told me to invite him if we have dance parties," she replied giggling, and then my heart calmed down a bit.

"Then why were you in there for a long time?" I asked her thinking of the 15 min which felt like a decade.

"We were talking about the project and everything, he is so cool and super-hot. If I was not married to Riyadh. I would have definitely tried for him you know." she exclaimed and winked at me.

Firstly Eww...I can never imagine her in a flirty mode and I am amazed by her words she was not a person who says things like that. Does she like him?

"Ms. Amaya! Mr. Browne is ready to meet you." said his secretary breaking my chain of thoughts.

Sarah gave me a hug and wished me luck as we departed in our own ways. His Secretary knocked on the door and announced my presence and left.

As soon as I stepped into his room, my brain was bedazzled and the only word I could form in my mind was WOW.

The view is fascinating, it feels like I was standing on top Empire State Building. I could see all the skyscrapers through the glass windows and man it was really beautiful.

And his office looks straight out of a catalog, with a classy modern look, to my right there was a lounging area with a couch, T.V, and an entertainment system and to my left, there is a book rack nope it's a freaking library and in the middle of the room, there is a sleek desk and the man I should hate in all glory sitting behind it.

As I met my eyes with him I could still see the anger rising up in his eyes.

You know what? He should be in the angry birds world, he would fit in there for sure.

I smiled at myself thinking of swinging his face through the slingshot.

"If you are done smiling into outer space, you can have a seat, Ms. Amaya." Mr. Browne said smugly to me and I pulled the chair out and sat in front of him fidgeting with my fingers.

"Thank You, Mr. Browne, You can call Amaya," I told him after settling down.

No one is talking, this is so awkward. I hate silence, it makes me conscious and confused.

Should I talk?

Why he is staring?

Does he want me to say sorry?

Who cares let's just say sorry and get the elephant out of the room.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Browne. I will make sure that this will not repeat, we were stuffed with all information. We needed a break, and all this happened. It wasn't intentional you see, and our developers don't attend business meetings and I felt overwhelmed with all the information." I told him breaking the silence and rambling all the words that came into my mind.

"I beg to differ Ms. Amaya. You are by far the most careless person I met. First, you forget your car keys on your car. You jump in front of my car and then dance on a table when those wounds are not completely healed. Let me remind you almost fell again today." he said with a serious look on his face.

WHAT? Did he say I was careless?

Woah! I am confused now, Sarah said he was good with her. Is he one of those Racists who hate people of color?

Don't get angry Amy, remember to ignore Step 2, Ignore whatever he says, people like him are not worth it. Before I could open my mouth and defend myself, he said

"What were you thinking about getting a 60-year-old man on the table? How can you be so dumb? Do you at least think of the consequences before doing something?"

Larry is old I agree, but he looks so fit, if he doesn't have a problem why is he yelling at me?

He called me dumb, 2 strikes Amy one more I don't care if he is your boss, I'm gonna smash him said the angry hulk inside me.

"I'm not dumb Mr.Browne. I know I made a mistake and I accept it. I didn't jump in front of your car, you were driving fast it was a mistake on both sides. And I don't force Larry to get on the table. And most of all I don't have to justify my actions. you don't have the right to yell at me about my behavior if it's not related to work." I told in a polite tone and as cool as I could do it.

He looked baffled by my reply, after recovering from his shock he said something that made my angry hulk come alive and I knew I wouldn't be able to shut my mouth after that.

"Let me refresh your memory, Ms. Amaya. Technically I'm your boss and dancing during office hours is not what I pay you for. And I don't know how your parents put up with you. I thought Indians have a strict and disciplined upbringing."

Those exact words and all hell and resilience I was holding on to broke lose, There was an overwhelming amount of pain and sorrow surging through my body.

Parents, mother, and father, I try not to think about them because they are not there in my life. I am one of the unluckiest souls in this world when it comes to family.

Because I lost mine when I was 3 and Niya was 7 in a car crash, and when my dad's parents kicked me and my sister out of their house saying that we will nothing but a burden on them.

That's when my aunt (mother's sister) and my grandparents took us in. After 4 years of my Aunt's care, I lost her too, because like every Indian girl she got married and moved to the states. We stayed in boarding schools and colleges as my grandparents live in a village where we couldn't access education.

All the immense pain of not having parents piled up when he questioned my upbringing

"My parents are extremely happy with me. I do have a better upbringing than you Mr.Browne. I already asked you to not comment on my personal life, it's none of your business. If you have an issue with me or the way I look or work, you can hire another developer, I am not dying to work here and I can get a better job." I hissed at him, got up from the chair, pushed away all the papers on his desk, and started to leave.

I couldn't stay in this room anymore, I wouldn't have cared if he said things to me, but I don't tolerate people questioning and judging me because I am an Indian and my values.

Before I could reach the door, he yanked my hand and pulled me to the left side of the door. He caged me with his stupid tall body. I could feel his breath on my shoulder which gave me a tingling sensation and goosebumps.

"I didn't ask you to leave Amaya" he whispered enjoying the position we are in.

What does he think he is? This is it, I'm not gonna accept him hovering over me. Just because he is my boss, he doesn't have the right to touch me.

So, I stomped on his feet and punched him in the stomach. As we were thrown out of his I am strong realm, I pushed him back, left the room, and ran towards the elevator trying to hold my pain in before I burst out.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened, I could see an Indian man in his 50s in it. I went into the elevator, and he asked me which floor and I said 9.

"Are you okay?" he asked me in Telugu my mother language.

I nodded my head a yes because I was so overwhelmed with all the feelings and I didn't wanna talk.

"You are hand bleeding and you are crying," he said with a concerned look on his face.

"When I get angry tears come out, and people think that I'm crying," I told him brushing the tears off my face to which he chuckled.

"Let's stop this bleeding first. And if you don't mind me asking what made you angry?" he asked me and I nodded because my hands started bleeding again as the black shell broke.

"I don't know how you work with this stupid boss of yours,  he is so confusing and racist," I told him implying how he treated me and Sarah differently.

"Who was racist? Was it Jameson or Andrew" he asked me with a confused look?

"It's not Mr. Jones, It's the other arrogant jerk, Mr.Browne. " I told him as we walked towards the reception.

"Mr. Browne is Jameson. I'll go and get the first-aid kit" he told me before leaving me in the main floor lobby.

Jameson that's an unworthy name for jerk face.

He came back with a first aid kit and took some time to inspect my wounds.

"Why did he yell at you? Jamie is not someone who gets mad at others," he asked me looking at my wound and starting to clean it.

That's not the person I know, he started yelling from the minute he met me.

"Today was my mistake we were having this meeting, we were so bored with it and decided to take a break. Then it converted into a dance party, when he came in check on us he saw us dancing. He didn't say anything to others, but he told me that I'm careless, and dumb and that I have a bad upbringing for an Indian. That's the reason I'm telling you he is a racist." I told him the whole story.

"If you don't believe me, he is the reason my hand is bleeding now and how I got hurt in the first place," I told him justifying my answer, and then I told him about how we met at United Tech and everything even the kiss. He looked at me like I said something inconceivable.

"My name is Amaya and thank you so much for helping me," I told him as he completed bandaging my wound.

"I'm Shaurya, I'm sorry about my pale face, it's just that I'm just amused by the things you told me," he said smiling at me, and went to return the first-aid kit.

Shaurya is like the happy, cool Indian uncle I guess, he didn't judge me, he helped me without knowing me.

I would consider him as Indian fair, and he wore just a plain black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. And then it hit me the stupidest thing I did as I saw Andrew's secretary leave the office building.

I punched him and ran away from his office. He could fire me and my team. Oh God, how can I be so dumb, and he is correct I don't think of the consequences, What do I do now? And I broke all 3 rules today. Shaurya signaled me to come near him, and he gave me a glass of water and a pain killer.

"Do you think he will fire me and my team?" I asked him as I am worried about Sarah and Rick

"Don't worry he won't fire you or your team?" he assured me holding my hand.

His voice was so soothing and convincing he should definitely try to be a politician. I would vote for him.

"3 more days and I can go back. I'll try to keep a low profile." I told myself and Shaurya as we reached our floor, I gave him a hug and thanked him for everything.

When I went back Sarah and Aarav asked me why I took so long. I told them the partial truth that my hand started to bleed again, and I had to get it cleaned. It's been an hour since no one said anything. So Shaurya was correct he is not firing us. I thanked God and went home.

Thank you for reading

Please let me know if this has any writing errors and suggestions you have for me , Thanks in advance

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Love,

Sneha