Chapter 3 Company and work

* Present Time *

The bus hissed to a halt at Dharna's stop. She stepped down, the afternoon sun spilling across the pavement, and walked the short block toward her office. Six months into her architecture job, she still carried the weight of Ritika's treatment on her shoulders. The salary was decent for a fresher, but never enough. So evenings were spent tutoring children from affluent families, weekends filled with extra lessons, every rupee carefully saved for her sister's surgery.

Inside the office, a chorus of greetings met her. "Hello, Dharna."

She smiled back, grateful for the warmth of colleagues who had become her allies in a place where not everyone wished her well. Her work often drew praise from the higher-ups, more than those who had been here longer, and envy had sharpened into quiet hostility.

She reached her desk, set down her bag, and brushed her fingers across the frame of her family photo before opening her laptop. The familiar ritual steadied her.

Dharna was halfway through her current assignment when a heavy pile of documents hit her desk with a violent thwack. The sound, amplified by her sensitive hearing, rang in her ears like a gunshot.

She looked up, her nose wrinkling involuntarily. Even before her eyes met her visitor's, her wolf senses had already flagged the intrusion. A cloud of cloyingly sweet, cheap perfume hit her first-a scent so thick and artificial it felt like a physical weight in her lungs.

Standing there was Glenda, her supervisor and self-appointed nemesis. Glenda was in her late twenties, but her face was often lost under a mask of heavy foundation and neon-bright eyeshadow. Today, her fake eyelashes fluttered like trapped insects as she looked down at Dharna with a smug, tight-lipped grin.

"I want you to finish this today," Glenda said, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. She pointed a perfectly manicured, neon-pink finger at the new stack. "These are vital. I need them ready for the meeting tomorrow morning."

Dharna took a shallow breath, trying to filter out the suffocating scent of Glenda's perfume. "But I'm already mid-assignment, Glenda. I have to finish the current blueprints by the end of the week, and this pile looks like two days' worth of data entry."

Glenda leaned closer, her perfume pressing harder into Dharna's senses. "Then you'd better work faster. Or maybe you'd prefer I tell the director you can't handle multiple tasks?"

Dharna's jaw tightened. "That's not fair. You know I've been meeting deadlines consistently. If you overload me, the quality will suffer."

Glenda's smile widened, predatory. "Quality? Sweetheart, I care about results. If you can't keep up, maybe this company isn't the right place for you."

The words stung, but Dharna forced herself to hold Glenda's gaze. "I'll finish it," she said evenly, though her chest burned with frustration. "But don't mistake compliance for weakness."

Glenda's brows arched, amused. "Oh, I like that fire. Let's see if it lasts when you're drowning in paperwork." With a final flick of her hair, she strutted away, leaving the stench of her perfume hanging like smoke.

Around the office, colleagues exchanged uneasy glances. No one spoke, but Dharna could feel their sympathy in the silence. She exhaled slowly, steadying herself. She didn't have the luxury of breaking down. She had a sister to save, a surgery to fund, and no time to indulge Glenda's cruelty.

As Dharna stared at the mountain of documents Glenda had dumped on her desk, her human mind sighed - but her wolf instincts stirred, mischievous and uninvited.

Dharna's wolf side muttered darkly, You'll get results, all right... The Leela (Dharna's wolf) began to imagine Glenda's mishap. Glenda was suddenly trapped inside a sprawling spreadsheet maze, cells stretching endlessly with glowing formulas and error codes, her shrill voice echoing, "Where's the exit?! Why is everything, #REF!"

The wolf chuckled. "Welcome to Excel Hell." As Glenda tried to climb free, the maze shifted, and a giant pie chart rolled toward her like a boulder, thundering WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP, while she shrieked, "Not the quarterly report!" The wolf urged gleefully, Run, Glenda, run...

Dharna blinked, shaking her head to clear the visions. Her lips twitched despite herself. The wolf was relentless, always ready to turn irritation into slapstick sketches.

Focus, she told herself. This is work. Not a comedy show.

'We can not harm her, a wolf can only imagine. Sigh!!!' Lella spoke with dramatic expression.

I hope you have fun. Now, let me focus. I have a pile of work to finish before the day ends. Dharna told her wolf.

But the wolf only chuckled, curling up in the back of her mind, satisfied with its little theatre of Glenda's downfall, but not before saying.

'Don't tell me you didn't like it.

The wolf retreats. The documents remain.

With a sigh, she opened her laptop and pulled the first document from Glenda's stack.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, determination hardening in her chest. I'll finish this. I'll finish everything. Because I have no choice.

Mary, her colleague and quiet friend, drifted past Dharna's desk a little later, balancing a steaming cup of coffee. Without a word, she set it down gently beside the mountain of documents.

"Thought you could use this," Mary murmured, her voice low enough that only Dharna could hear.

Dharna looked up, the tension in her shoulders easing for a moment. She offered Mary a grateful smile, one that carried more weight than words. "You're a lifesaver," she whispered back.

Mary returned the smile, soft and knowing, before slipping back to her own desk. She understood Dharna's situation - the endless juggling of work, tutoring, and saving for Ritika's treatment. She never pried, never asked for details, but her small gestures spoke volumes.

Dharna wrapped her hands around the warm cup, inhaling the rich aroma. The earthy scent cut through the lingering haze of Glenda's perfume, grounding her. Each sip was a reminder that not everyone in this office was against her.

She straightened, determination settling back into her chest. The day was far from over, but with Mary's quiet support and her own resolve, Dharna was ready to push through the pile of work and finish what needed to be done.