The Silver Lining

She stood rooted to the spot. Her face burned and she wished the earth would swallow her. She just looked at his face, thinking of all the things she'd like to do to him right now. Her nails bit into her fist as she tightened her fists to a point. She bit her lip. Turning around on her heel, she walked out of the door.

To add insult to injury people had been watching intently. They instantly looked busy but she knew some of them had even enjoyed the scene. As she walked down the corridor, she could feel carnal rage welling up from her chest, through her throat till she could taste the hatred she felt. Her heart pumped so hard, it would have probably exploded.

She pushed at the glass door and rushed out into the street. She looked right and left at the cars whooshing by, turned left and kept walking. Her steps kept getting faster and faster till she found her self jogging down the pavement to nowhere.

After what felt like an eternity, " Ani ! AAANI, Wait up !!!! ", she stopped and turned around.

" What is it ? ", she asked tightly.

Deven stood there huffing and puffing. Man !! He needed exercise. How should he handle this ? One wrong turn and this would blow up in his face. He'd just had lunch and his stomach was hurting from the sprint he had to take to catch up with her. But he'd heard and knew he had to go see if she was ok.

" What IS IT ? ", a bit louder this time.

" Uh ", he took a deep breath, took a step closer. " I just wanted to see if you were fine. "

" Fine ? FINE ??!! ", even louder, " Define FINE . "

He spread his palms towards her, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. " Hey Babes !! I just meant if you need to talk or something ?! "

She looked wound up tighter than a struggling baby in it's swaddle. He felt bad for her. " What the hell about? He's a jerk. Everyone knows that. Everyone talks about it. So what if he was a jerk One more time to someone else in a totally new way that surpasses everything a human without a brain can manage. "

He touched his elbow and steered her towards the coffee shop. " Lets just go have a cup of coffee and then we'll discuss this. "

He sat her down at a corner table and ordered two cappuccinos. He could see the fire in his eyes, as she muttered, " I don't want coffee. I would rather have his head on a platter."

" It'll make you feel better. Trust me. And then we'll think about food. ", he smirked.

" I wasn't being funny!! And you are not winning any competition either. ", she jerked with realization, " You heard, that means by now everyone at work knows. Shit !! What an effective grapevine we have. Oh My God ", she pulled at her hair pulling all strands away from her face. " I'm so mortified. "

" It's ok, you know . Like you said, he's a jerk. So big deal! Why are you letting it affect you so much? "

" You weren't there, you didn't hear the things he said to me. It wasn't that bad an idea. It was as if he was venting out all his life frustrations on me. So rude ... so loud ... so sinister !!!! He said that I was thinking all wrong, wondering if I had a brain even. That I shouldn't even have put those designs forward, without consulting with him. That I insulted his intelligence and the company blah blah blah !! He made me sound so stupid .... urgh !! I don't wanna remember. Maybe I am an idiot . I hate this job. "

" That's bullshit and you know it! Everyone, and I mean everyone knows you are talented and have brilliant ideas. You love what you do , and it shows. He's your boss He's not your friend. He doesn't Have to be nice. If he is, that's a bonus for us. And it's not like he's not thrown a back handed compliment your way now and then. Hell !! You're like the star employee. "

" Yeah, right !! ", she mumbled.

" You know I'm right. ", he grinned at her, pushing the coffee towards her. " Maybe that's why it's hurting so much . Coz it's the first time. You need to get over this. It's not as big a deal as you're making it. "

She raised her eyes to look at him questioningly .

He continued softly, " Hey !! I'm not taking sides. Sure !! He's surpassed himself . He had no right to behave that way. What happened was way out of line. But you've been working here for what ? 8 months now ?? He's been coming up the ladder for years. Everyone knows how he is, but he gets the job done. You went over his head and he couldn't take it. Lucky for him, you slipped this once too.

You have yet a long way to go, here And in life. If you let things like this get to you, no one but you gets affected. Unless you're thinking of resigning on One horrid day but that way you won't get anywhere. This is an Office babes, it's bound to be hard, people will be manipulative, confusing ... that's the game. But it's where your salary comes from. Very few people get a job that they enjoy doing. You're taking this hard coz for the first time your aptitude has been questioned. But that doesn't mean you're useless. That just means, what you did Today was not just not right for the project at hand. "

Her eyes opened in acceptance and she sort of deflated in front of him. Her eyes glistened up, and a tear rolled down as she let go of all the pent up rage. She wiped it with one hand and the other eye let go of another. She wiped that with the back of the other fist.

" Yeah, but how will I face him again, all those people ??" , she looked at him like a lost puppy.

He squeezed her hand and smiled, " Hey !! Only those who haven't been under the firing squad can be on the squad right ?? Besides, why do you even care ? There's a quote on this. I think something about people who are your friends not caring and those who are bitchy are definitely not friend material. Maybe this will help you differentiate. "

A twinkle crept to eyes. " The silver lining ."

He beamed. " Yup !! The silver lining. "

" You are a good friend Dev. Let's sit here a while longer. ", with that she picked up the coffee, had a long sip and looked out the window.