‘This isn’t over yet. You cannot stab me in the back and get away with it. It was on my recommendation that you got this job. I could decide to un-recommend you as well. You think about that when you mooch up to Neelima next,’ Ragini shouts at me.

She throws her cigarette butt at me and stomps off down the stairs.

Of all the hurtful things she’s said today, that hurt the most—Ragini didn’t ‘get’ me the job, she’d just told me there was an opening.

I place my handbag under the desk and pull out my notebook. Comma is not at her seat. Where am I supposed to meet her?

I scan the office for Mita—in case she knows where Comma might be. I notice many people inside Ed’s office—mostly various department heads and some people from human resources. The HR manager is writing something on a whiteboard and the others are staring at it. It all seems rather serious—could Neelima be right about the retrenchment?

Sinha looks away from the whiteboard and stares at me. It’s not a pleasant look. Hastily, I try to move away and drop my notebook in the process. I bend down to retrieve it and when I straighten up, Comma’s standing in front of me. She doesn’t look happy.

‘Can you do anything competently, Polly? Having friends at the right places will only get you that far, no matter who those friends are sleeping with,’ Comma says and walks towards the main conference room.

‘Kindly follow,’ she calls out and I follow her.

I am somewhat stunned and a bit worried about Ragini. It’s the second time now that that party night incident has been mentioned. How has it become such public knowledge?

We reach the conference room and I realize it’s only going to be the two of us. According to office lore, the conference room is only used for edit meetings, hiring or firing people.

‘We are here to evaluate the work you’ve done so far,’ Comma says without preamble. ‘Kindly have a seat,’ she says and points to a chair.

‘Let’s start with some performance-related questions. How many articles have you written since you’ve been here? How many bylines have you got? How many pages have you made? How much help from designers did you have on making those pages? I remember you didn’t know Quark Express when you joined—’

‘I had mentioned on my resumé that I didn’t know the program. I was told during my interview that it wasn’t a problem and that I’d be taught at work,’ I answer the first question that sticks in my head.

Comma is asking the questions so fast, it’s hard keeping track.