He's Our Man...

"A dejected Elham goes straight to his cubicle, throws his jacket on the table and sinks into his beanbag. He knows that the people around are talking about him… laughing at him… he just wants to disappear…"

This is RK Sharma, the Digital News Director at Global Hour, and Elham’s boss. Global Hour is one of the leading digital news agencies with its presence across the globe.

Sharma is not a typical ‘Boss’ material and doesn’t even like bossing around. In his early sixties, Sharma is blessed with a cool, calm and composed nature. Still, he can make his subordinate’s life hell if things do not go according to his requirement.

Sharma, in a calm yet stern tone, “What the hell is this?”

He points towards a large screen behind Elham. Elham turns and sees his article on the screen. He tries finding any mistakes in his article due to which Sharma is fuming. It has got some 23K views, which is way more than decent.

Elham clears his throat and asks politely, “What’s wrong in that article?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong with you? Whom did you ask before publishing this story?”

Elham, again clearing his throat, “I…”

“You are working on that School Scandal project… if I’m not wrong… Right? Any lead there?”

“I’m on it sir… in a day or two I’ll get the…”

“Why… Why… I mean… I don’t understand why do you do such things Elham? What made you think that people will be interested in knowing what happened with you in that dingy and deserted lane post-midnight?”

Though Sharma started softly, by the time he finished his sentence, he was on top of his voice!

“But am I wrong sir? I haven’t fictionalized anything. You know how dear that bag was to me… You know it very well Uncle Sharma…”

Whenever Elham is alone with Sharma, he addresses him as ‘Uncle Sharma’, because his late father and Sharma were good friends.

“I know that son, but you should understand that it is not your personal blog where you can write anything and everything you want. And top of it, why are you linking your bag’s theft with the Global Peace Summit for God’s sake? You know it very well that we are promoting this event. Our sales team is working day in, day out to generate the revenues. You know how it works, right? … And what do you want from the organisers of this Global Peace Summit, find your bag???”

“But sir…”

“Still ‘buts’? I haven’t put down that article as it has received 23K views as of now, but…”

“28K views as of now sir.”

Elham points towards the screen and Sharma notices that the number of views has increased.

“Still, I want you to put that article down. NOW, do it right away, PERIOD.”

Elham takes out his tablet, and unwillingly unpublishes his article before leaving Sharma’s cabin. He finds everyone in the office looking at him. Few with sympathetic eyes, but most of them with a cunning smile.

A dejected Elham goes straight to his cubicle, throws his jacket on the table and sinks into his beanbag. He knows that the people around are talking about him… laughing at him… he just wants to disappear…

“What a perfect way to start your day!”

Elham turns around to see Sameer, the head of entertainment section. Sameer wants Elham to join his team, but Elham has no interest in movies and feels that cinema gossips have nothing to do with journalism.

“I really feel bad for you… what a waste of talent…”

Elham tries to ignore Sameer, but Sameer knows how to make his presence feel.

“Had it been the way I wanted… you know what I mean… like you in my team… I would have never forced you to put your story down.”

“I know that Sameer, but you also know it very well how much I hate working with you… you are that kind of person who knows how to screw anyone’s happiness… if things would have been the way I wanted, I would have thrown you out of this office long back… now, as you can see that I’ve started folding my sleeves, it will be better for you to get lost from here before I vent-out my anger on you.”

This is what Elham thought of saying to Sameer, but just nods his head in confirmation, and starts reading his mails.

Meanwhile, in a conference room overlooking the beautiful beach of Lisbon, few people are discussing about the Global Peace Summit.

“Our hard-work will finally pay its dividends. We’ve just received the blueprints of the summit. And we’ve found our man too!”

Though the speaker is not visible, from his accent and body-language, he seems to be an Asian in his early fifties.

On the other hand, Sharma receives a phone call which changes the expression of his face.

“You gotta be kidding, right? …I mean it is not any other conference… and of all the guys… hmm… still… OK… if that is the case, you send me an official mail and after that I’ll see what I can do…”

Sharma keeps his phone and starts checking his emails… he picks up his cell phone… dials the number, but soon disconnects. He takes a moment, thinks something then moves out of his cabin.

Elham is surprised to see Sharma coming to his cubicle.

“Now what? You want me to delete that write-up from my hard-drive too…”

“Still not over with that article? I’ve got something else for you… maybe a compensation for that article…”

Elham gets curious and asks, “Are you giving me some monetary perks, I’m sorry but it’s ok…”

“Oh shut-up… Will you? It’s nothing to do with money… Okay… All I want to tell you is that you are going to cover this Peace Summit”

Elham is pleasantly surprised. It is a big opportunity for him as you don’t get to cover a global conference quite often.

Elham finds it hard to believe what Sharma just said to him.

“Are you serious? I mean, especially after what happened between us in the morning, you are offering me to cover the Global Peace Summit…”

“I’m not offering you… I’m ordering you to cover this event, but make sure you don’t ruin this opportunity. This can be the ladder to your successful career… All the best!”

Before Elham can react or digest the news, Sharma draws everyone’s attention towards him and makes the announcement.

“The management has decided that Elham from our team will be covering the Global Peace Summit. As we all know… this is a big event and we all must help Elham in whatever capacity we can… HE’S OUR MAN!!!”

“He’s Our Man!”, says the speaker in the conference, pointing towards the large screen displaying Elham’s picture.

Next Chapter...

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