It had been 2 weeks since the mail had arrived. And her life had once again taken for a huge leap. These days Archie didn’t even feel like putting effort into getting ready for office. She knew within the next few hours she will pull her hair out of mere frustration.
It had been an emergency email from Sachdev sir – their manager. His name was Manish Sachdev. But everyone called him Sachdev sir; more fondly as “Sachi sir”. He was popular in the office, and everyone trusted him. Though there was a rather sizeable age gap between the new employees and him, he quickly understood the problems of three different generations under the same roof. He spoke to each in their generation special language.
Sachi sir was a big hit.
Except now, he was really hit.
Three weeks ago, a very serious email had come from the higher management regarding a possible acquisition. All teams were working double time supplying with documents and bridging gaps where there were gaps. And hence why Archie had come early to get an early start on her work.
Two weeks ago, was the email that shook the entire office. Sachi sir had met with a terrible accident, and the workload was going to increase what with Sachi sir out of action and no immediate senior allocated. And since then, the mayhem had started. Workload had indeed increased and everything had escalated and haphazard.
Archie, Amrita and Nandan were the worst hit. They were the ones who directly worked under Sachi sir, and they were expected to “think like Sachdev”.
Ugh! I am unable to think like me these days. They want double duty on my head.
And then there was a nagging problem that Archie started having the moment she stepped out of the hospital when she, Amrita and Nandan visited. She just hoped her stalker had not decided to punish the guy who was overworking her.
She didn’t want to mouth the words. She felt saying them could make it true. She didn’t dare. She just couldn’t.
Though she came through scooter to office, Nandan would hear no more of it. After the hospital visit, Nandan insisted either she move in with Amrita or Amrita move in with her. The second choice was a feasible option as Archie didn’t have a roommate and the chances of putting Amrita’s family under threat was also minimal.
Nandan would pick both in his car every day. He suddenly became so serious and stubborn that Amrita and Archie were beginning to worry his aggression.
***
Work wanted to start the normal way, but nothing was normal about it. As Archie made her way to her desk to dump her stuff and beeline towards the conference room, she froze. And she kept gaping disbelievingly. Somehow, she didn’t feel like taking one step forward. Given her way, she would turn around and run.
There stood on her desk, a crystal vase with a bunch of yellow roses in it. Her breathing became uneven as she walked slowly towards it expecting it to explode.
The girl sitting behind her gave her a broad smile, “Someone named Bhargav dropped in and said he was apologetic and these flowers are for you. He left a note and I swear I didn’t read it.”
Archie had a weird and twisted expression.
Oxygen found way back to her head so fast; Archie was giddy for a minute. She heaved sigh of relief. Meghna handed her over the small envelope.
Look at me. How messed up am I. I am glad my ex has contacted me.
Archie took the note from Meghna. And kept it in the corner of her desk. Right now, she had enough work to last her a lifetime. The pitch deck she had emailed yesterday had found its way back with only one line destroying her.
Please make this deck interesting. I am losing the crux by 2nd slide.
Archie had read the email on her phone only. And she had fumed. How was she supposed to make it “interesting”?
Coincidentally, Sachi sir was looped on the email. He called her early morning from the hospital and gave her necessary instructions. She almost burst into tears hearing his strained yet determined voice. It was like talking to a parental figure.
Sachi sir had warned, “Don’t you dare cry Archie. I didn’t call you to get upset. I called you so that I can have some peace of mind knowing you guys are not doing stupid things.”
Archie broke into a smile hearing Sachi sir’s sass. She missed it.
I am a designer, not a salesperson. Even my life is not that interesting. How the hell was I to make this ppt interesting!
She had to make the mentioned changes before 2 PM. The proxy manager was not as nice as Sachi sir, and he seemed to be always in a snappish mood. The board and the council had made all senior employee’s lives miserable until this acquisition didn’t go smoothly.
Can’t blame them.
Archie barely noticed anything. She had not prepared lunch today. She knew she wouldn’t get to eat it anyway. Though by 1.30 PM, she had shared the revised pitch deck, she was fidgeting. Anytime now, the “proxy sir” as she called him in her head would call her and make her do more changes.
There was exasperation. There was urgency. Everything and everyone were running in a single momentum thought they were doing different things. And within fifteen minutes, she got a message on the messenger to the conference room.
Dileep “proxy” sir was impressed. There were minor edits only required. But overall, he was happy. She had walked towards the conference room with the trepidation of a soldier approaching a minefield.
Now, she could breathe.
Though there were still minor edits to be tackled. So, without thinking much about the rest of the world, she got on with the work. Archie was so engrossed in the work that she did not notice a sandwich zoom towards her with agility.
“Eat something Archie. Don’t kill yourself”, said Nandan, stuffing a slice of sandwich into her mouth.
Archie gagged a little as she held on to the possible piece that could jump out of her mouth. She pressed a few keys on the keyboard and with a flourish entered the “Enter” key. Nandan broke into a smile and beckoned Amrita to join too.
The three sat around Archie’s desk as they ate their sandwiches.
“Weirdo sent this to you?” asked Amrita.
“No. As a matter of fact it was Bhargav”, said Archie sounding confused, “We broke up. I wonder what he wants. Wait – there was a note.”
She pulled the note out of the corner of the stack of stationery.
Yellow flowers for the girl who always made me smile. Talk soon?
Amrita and Nandan could not hide their grimace. There was a momentary pause as Archie looked at both turn by turn.
“Don’t tell me you are going to call him”, scowled Nandan.
“Of course, not”, said Archie, a little too quickly, “But a “thank you” text is a courtesy thing? For the flowers?”
Amrita and Nandan collectively grunted disapprovingly, “If you are going down that lane…”
“No, I won’t. I will read it out lout before I send it”, said Archie, smiling.
There was silence except for chewing of food as Archie wrote the message.
“Hi Bhargav. Got the flowers you sent in the morning. They are beautiful. Thank you for the gesture – sounds, okay?”
Amrita and Nandan nodded. Archie hit the send button.
In less than a minute, her phone buzzed back. So, did the headache. It bloomed in the centre of her forehead and the panic returned in full measure.
“You broke up with me Archana. Why the hell would I send you flowers?”
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© 2026 Ashwati Menon | The Dusty Bookshelf
Post-it is an original work published as part of the Epistories series. All characters, events, and storylines are protected by copyright. Unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution, or publication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.
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