|| 11. PAIZE 4 ♥ ||
The words ‘your Omar’ blissfully rang through Mohana as she sat cocooned in the plush pink blanket, busy interviewing the fabric industry mogul Tyr. Thoughts about the famed designer celebrity tickled her fancy with every single breath she inhaled.
One mention or another had her remember some connecting instance, an ardent moment or simply the many times she had run into him, landing in the strength of his arms. The feel of him, enchantment of his eyes, larger than life presence made her longingly crave the man of her dreams.
The deep dive spread at Sophista was a quarterly coverage for exploring topics of interests in greater depth, those that had been voted by the readers. Taking on the role of editor-in-chief, Mohana had introduced this innovative concept alongside focus and exposé interviews, to bring in a wave of incorporating public engagement to the journal. This power packed strategy had distinctively set apart an already chart busting journal to become the ruler of the top grosser slot.
While even the idea of a two-way exchange made competitors uncomfortable, claiming the readers were meddlesome, begrudging, and held targeted demands, Mohana spun around the entire notion in her favor by welcoming direct interactions with their fans. Sophista opened the flood gates encouraging their readers to provide feedback, submit questions, vote on article choices and share their unrestrained opinions on coverage.
Hoards of fan mail received by the journal was soon filled with expressions of gratitude, readers vouching their support and association with Mohana and the team behind it, solidifying Sophista as the most beloved publication.
Despite being one of the youngest journalists at such a lofty role, Mohana rapidly earned an affinity from the audience at large for her sincerity and efforts towards transparency, earning multi-fold increase in reader engagement which skyrocketed the sales in the first few months of her hiring itself.
For this year’s last quarterly deep dive, a comprehensive exploration of the Sarrata fabric industry had been selected in sync with the annual Fashion Trend awards. Convincing designer celebrity Omar Shaan for the December cover, with his fourth consecutive victory at the famed Couture Catwalk segment, became the cherry on top for wrapping another winning year under Mohana’s leadership.
Sophista team had been tasked to cover the various functions at Sarrata, aiming to offer a quality laden lens for their readers on each core pipeline stage ranging from development, processing, distribution for the fabric industry. Their goal for all segments as always remained to ensure inclusion of successes, sharing business complexities and highlighting behind the scenes, to publish a rounded coverage.
Through their deep dive discussion Mohana had Tyr share his vision and journey on shaping the culture around Sarrata. Covering various commerce and trading trajectories, they spoke on a slew of leadership perspectives ranging from innovation, adoption of novel techniques, transformation processes among the larger umbrella of streamlining processes of such upscale manufacturing.
Tyr’s mention of Shaan Designs in sharing one of their joint revolutionary initiatives had Mohana nervously shift on the couch. Making a note on the digital screen, her heart bounced reminiscing the handsome owner of Shaan Designs, needily missing the warmth of his touch and the feeling of security she always felt in his presence.
Memory of his velvety rich voice demanding ‘..say you’ll miss me..’ made her heart achingly flip. Grappling at the realization she had been avoiding from this morning struck hard: while Mohana had sought solace in knowing that Omar Shaan was not on his honeymoon, the dreadful confrontation of reality that his marital status was bound to change, someday soon, made her heart skip a beat. Her digital pencil faltered on the device screen.
“Princesa? Are you alright?” Tyr concernedly checked, getting up to serve her more tea
“I was.. uh.. ya. ya..” Mohana forced a bright smile, disregarding the painful jitter traversing through her “..How did you have Sarrata establish the production limits?”
Making diligent notes, her heart quivered in ache, wanting to dream of dreams where innocent words of ‘your Omar’ would be all that could consume her and take her away from the threatening reality. Overriding her numbly freezing body Mohana ruefully persuaded herself to accept that no matter however much she dreamt of the magnificent man, craved a desire to be with him, wanting to get entwined for her forever, he was Omar Shaan, the man who would never be hers.
She dismissed her unwarranted feelings of possessiveness, firmly reminding herself that he would only stay a famed celebrity for Sophista, while her dreams were all she would ever have in her possession. Ignoring the chilly turmoil that shuddered her nerves, Mohana proceeded to maintain her facade, calmly interviewing Tyr, her pain adamantly shoved, ensuring she kept her work a priority.
For the later half of the interview, Sonya joined them to share more details around their business engagement model, architecture of the campus, employee welfare and association activities on the island. Through their discussion, Tyr shared many tidbits around his wife’s vital contributions towards making their fabric business become a familial corporation at large.
Talking about the central employee cafeteria, discussing the menu servings, their conversation pivoted to a fond mention of the yester years. Relaying the anecdote Tyr was chuckling “..not only it wasn’t easy to make her agree for a date, the only thing she would eat were those instant mako’n chako. Pour boiling water and you’re done. Here I am planning to learn complicated recipes while her heart was being won by a cup of dehydrated grains and artificial flavorings”
Laughing at Tyr’s dismissing expressions, Sonya ardently shared her favoritism on the boxed packaged meal “They tasted so delish”
“What flavors did they come in?” Mohana curiously enquired, making a side note on her digital pad she drew a small box labelling it mako’n chako. She tried snuggling deeper into the huge pink throw which did nothing for her chills except longingly remind her of the warmth that could never be hers
Interweaving fingers together with his wife, Tyr smiled “The idea is for you to not like them princesa, too many additives, imitation flavors, but yes the ones she liked were the fiery cheese, chili chicken and popcorn”
“Oh Tyr, but popcorn? Did the mako’n chako taste like the real buttery popcorn?” Mohana checked inquisitively, having never tried the food item
Refilling her tea cup, Tyr laughed in adoration of the young editor-in-chief “If I remember correctly, yes very popcorn flavored, a rich buttery taste but with a dash of sweetness to mimic kettle corn”
“Ya and they had the same tinge of color to them, I guess they must mix white and yellow cheeses” Sonya excitedly added
“As you can see it has been significantly hard for me to keep my then fiancée and now wife, away from those little tubs of instant-ness..” Tyr laughed with both women joining him “..so you must avoid them at all costs”
“But what’s the fun if I haven’t tried even once..” Mohana lamented “..I’ll only do it for research purposes, because it is for the deep dive! Sophista readers would like to know all about the mogul of the fabric industry and his nemesis, the mako’n chako”
Throwing his head back Tyr laughed with his wife chuckling besides him “Nemesis indeed. No one can afford the desire of their dreams, to want anything besides themselves, nevertheless those instant bits of grain..”
Concluding their interview Tyr and Sonya took Mohana to venture the industrial island. Giving her a tour of the expansive residential neighborhoods, covering market areas, school campuses, recreational hubs and libraries, they made their way back to the Sarrata campus.
Halting at the crowded employee depot, Tyr signaled to the busy area from the window “What you see here is a central terminal connecting intra-island super high speed buses and the back segments are the inter-territory runways for small planes..” he affectionately spoke of his wife who had enabled the expansive vehicle depot “..my Sonya has not only created powerful opportunities but she has brought in a culture of growth”
Sonya shyly smiled from besides him “Tyr will always say I am the one behind it, but you know him, and none of this could have been made possible without his unending support”
Mohana rapidly blinked her glassy eyes, giving the couple a warm smile “It’s both of you, together, your bond of forever”
“For always” Tyr and Sonya murmured complimenting Mohana’s words
Their vehicle driver halted them besides a grand building when Tyr offered “How do you feel princesa? If you like we can check the employee cafeteria from inside as our last stop”
“Yes, let’s do that, I am completely fine it’s just the weather” humbly smiling Mohana shrugged off her blanket, bravely ignoring the shivers in her body
Hopping off the vehicle, Mohana and Sonya excitedly exchanged notes about the observatory styled eating place. Touring through the maze of offerings, seating areas, lunch meeting rooms, Tyr halted alongside an exceptionally large open kitchen area looking over to the sea “..and this is where we have cooking classes on Sundays..”
Overhearing the discussion about the cafeteria, from behind the counters a woman from the staff peered at the company Tyr stood in “The big boss from factory is here. Is this really that head journalist from Sophista?”
“Yes, they call her the chief. Bless her heart, she looks like a princess. She manages the responsibilities for the entire journal just like Inaya used to and that too at this young age. No wonder there is such difference between good news and cheap news” another staff member commented uncurling the rolls of pastry dough
“She is a beauty with brains, and look how delicate she looks in that dress, I really like it, I will ask my son to get something in that color for my daughter in law, she really likes red too” working on the oven an elderly woman from the kitchen staff added with a smile
“I just hope my boyfriend doesn’t see her beauty, the useless guy lures after all beautiful women” joining them a young woman spoke longingly looking at Mohana
“Don’t worry maybe she has her own boyfriend. Has the journal said if she is seeing anyone? She looks such an angel, how do you think she will look paired with that superstar Sor..” but the woman’s words got interrupted by a powerful growl “Don’t even dare to finish that thought”
Hearing the fury in the man’s voice, the group of staff members turned to look at the source of the volcanic eruption. Cowering together their eyes held shock, glancing at the tall and handsome man who angrily strode ahead sparing them from any further outburst. Unsure of what had transpired from their genuine hearted chatter, they curiously mapped the attractive eye candy confidently making his way through the grand area.
Unaware of the communication exchange within the kitchen staff or the low grumblings that had followed, Mohana stood busy talking to Tyr and Sonya, admirably complimenting them “You both are the best!”
Approaching the fabric industry mogul, the man demandingly declared “I’m here to take what’s mine” making the kitchen staff in the near distance share a glance in anticipation
Gently caressing his wife’s hand, Tyr murmured his approval “Of course”
Exchanging a nod with the couple, the superiorly dashing intruder whispered “Hey” to the astounded Mohana who gazed at him completely mesmerized. Staring into her beautiful silver eyes, he fluidly swung her in his arms.
