The Girl Who Showed Me Kindness In A Strange New Office

“It is my wedding and you have to come. I will just not accept a no for an answer.” And she giggled into the mouthpiece.

Trisha also started laughing.

This girl never ceased to warm her heart.

***

5 years back

Trisha entered the office premises with much trepidation. It was her first leadership role and she wanted to ace it.

The Raipur commercial division of the bank needed an area operation manager for a long time. This branch, especially the corporate part, had always been a difficult area for the management to fill. The last AOM left the organization 5 months ago after a short stint and chaos had reigned since then. The management wanted to transfer one of their experienced managers here, but most of them refused. That was when Trisha volunteered to show her skills and upscale herself from the customer service manager role. Some of the seniors were skeptical as her age and gender both did not match their dream candidate. But she aced her way through the selection and today she was here, 850 km away from home, chasing her dreams.

She looked around to understand whom to approach when she found the Regional Head walking through the entrance. The officers, busy in their world, immediately became alert.

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“Meet Trisha Ray, she is the new area operation manager and will be heading the division from today.” He introduced the new boss to the team.

Trisha flashed a smile toward the cohort. It wasn’t that warm on the other side though. Some of the officers seemed to be gauging her age and others, her capability to control a male-dominated office.

Her eyes scanned the group, she could spot only two women officers standing in the remotest corner.

After the short introduction, Trisha found her seat and the others went ahead with their daily chores. The team wasn’t too excited to have her it seemed, and this worried her much.

She was thinking about it and filling her water bottle when someone tapped her from behind. Startled, Trisha almost made a quick jump. “Your bottle is overflowing.” A young girl, radiating a sweet smile warned her.

For the first time since morning, Trisha saw a smiling face.

***

“But, Sir, you confirmed to me that I could move in today. I have already checked out from my hotel. It is almost evening, where will I find a place to stay now? ”

It was 5 days since Trisha had relocated to the new city. The office accommodation was available for the first 5 days, and she needed to shift out after that. Accordingly, she had made arrangements with a PG to stay. She even checked out from the hotel before coming to the office that day.

But the day started on a bad note. The work was overloading and there was no one to properly guide her about the old files. The seniors of the team refused to cooperate and the juniors were themselves lost. Trisha was feeling overwhelmed by the mismanagement that prevailed. And just then the already crappy day just invited more shit. The owner of the PG she was about to move in called that due to some exigency the room which was supposed to be vacated today could not be done and they cannot accommodate her before next week.

It was a big blow. Finding no other option she called her hotel back but no room was available. Trisha went blank. She looked at her luggage stacked behind her cubicle and fought the tears welling up. These are the stuff nightmares are made of.

“Are you okay? Is there a problem?”

Those were the kindest words Trisha had heard that day. It was the same girl from the water station on the first day. They had had a few encounters in the past five days. But, it wasn’t beyond a formal hi or a smile. Trisha did not even know her name but she could not hold it back anymore and told her how she was homeless for the night.

“You can move in with me till next week. I stay in a PG down the street.”

She watched the girl with awe. The girl looked just out of college. She perhaps didn’t even know Trisha’s name, yet she was opening her room for her.

The girl perhaps read her mind. She extended her hand and announced, “Now is the moment I should introduce myself. Hi, I am Mithila and work in the branch banking division. And don’t be surprised. I was also a new girl in the city one day.”

Trisha was too grateful to speak.

“I am Trisha and I can’t find words to thank you. I promise I will move out as soon as possible.

“Oh don’t bother.” Then she added nonchalantly, “I’ll speak to the owner. One senior didi is leaving PG after 2 weeks. Maybe you can move in permanently. And till then, you are welcome to grace my small abode.

Three hours later the two newly acquainted girls moved inside a cramped room, arranged a makeshift bed for the night, and sealed a friendship forever.

No, it didn’t magically solve all her problems at once. But Trisha fought. With a roof over her and a compassionate friend by her side, the other fights became easier. Each learned from the other. While Mithila helped her to find the non-veg cuisine places in the predominantly vegetarian state, Trisha helped her to navigate through the office reports with ease. Mithila shared the tips to win the teammates and Trisha helped her to find better opportunities in her role. The days flew away. Three years later when Trisha was transferred back to a bigger branch in Kolkata she was again in tears. But, this time it was due to the grief she felt to leave the beautiful work family she had grown to love, and most of all Mithila, the girl who taught her the power of kindness.

Image source: Briana Tuzour on Unsplash

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