When the Deputy Editor called his line, “Could you please come to my cabin for a moment?” Roger left a sentence typing halfway, logged off, threw his hands upwards to stretch his thin and gaunt physique before walking towards her cabin.
He knocked and entered. “Take your seat. The editor had called me to check if the story on the animal lover has shaped. She says it has to be published within the next few days.”
“Ya, in fact, I’ve already started ideating the story. David has taken brilliant shots of Lisa with her pets,” Roger said benignly.
With hair that looked interestingly bristly with a recent close crop, she looked younger and more immaculate, in her formal navy blue dress, he thought.
“Since it’s our feature, Editor said that we might think of a catchy blurb in the ‘Island time’ and also to inform Wendy that you will have your first byline in this,” the Deputy said looking straight into his eyes.
He controlled his jubilance at that and just smiled as he proceeded to debrief on the assignment.
As an animal lover, Lisa gave her opinion on the missing cats of Khatib. Facing the camera, Lisa had melted, “The animals are not like humans, they can’t possibly ask for their rights, you see?” cautiously feigning to touch her mascara laid eyes. She had two cats, a dog and a couple of hamsters. “When I heard about the serial cat killer I cried and cried the whole, you know. I hope the police can find the guy soon. Can or not?”
Almost in tears, Lisa said, “It’s already a sin you know when people abandon their cats and dogs. I can’t imagine someone is killing them one by one. Poor things, I cannot taahan any more lah[1]. Please do something, Police!” She tried to speak on the positive side when she said, “I like what ‘ACRES’ is doing, helping in so many different ways to treat and shelter the estranged and confiscated animals of all kinds.”
“I have three young children who always love to watch national geographic. But, I leave them in the neighbor’s house because I can’t watch animals killing each other,” she showed her hand towards the living room window. “She was so happy to get featured making it an opportunity to show her gratitude she had made chicken rice for us. And she had originally planned mutton curry and fish ball soup to treat us all, she said.”
Wrinkles formed on her forehead as she frowned slightly.
“All the best for your story,” the Deputy said indicating that he could leave. “Better not get personally involved with such contacts while on work visits.”
He nodded as he exited.
Roger went near Wendy and smiled, “How is your Sunday feature shaping?”
“Not bad.”
“An old woman called me for the third time in a fortnight to plead ‘Can you look for my cat?’”
“Oh dear!”
“The first time when she had called I told her I am just a reporter cum editor, not a policeman. But I was astonished when she told me to buy fish porridge on my way to her house.”
“Really? Maybe she has no one to seek help.”
“But I wondered since when have our cops become errand boys?”
“But how did she get your number?”
“That puzzles me as well. But I guess this number previously belonged to a police guy because this is not the first time that I was called with an assumption that I’m a cop.”
“You could have guided her to call the actual police,” she looked deeply into his eyes.
“She didn’t let me talk at all, you know. She went on saying she lived in Yishun and that her name is Aziza, and that she is eighty-three years old but would keep repeating in between – please look for my cat.”
Wendy’s line rang. Picking the call, she gestured towards the Deputy’s cabin. “Catch up later,” waved and glided off.
The Deputy looked at Wendy as if she was seeing her for the first time. She moved an A3 print out of the page in progress towards Wendy. “It’s like a slap on my face!”
Bewildered and confounded, Wendy stood open-mouthed for a second before saying, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“When I am here, telling you to use the text I had sent you, you are supposed to use only that. Why did you do your own editing?”
“Sorry, I still don’t understand.”
“I spent time editing that advertorial, you know.”
“Oh, okay. But I was not aware of that.”
“But you seem to have used the original text to edit yourself.”
“I received two internally forwarded emails. I still don’t understand how this happened. Let me think.”
Suddenly, Wendy realised that the Deputy was looking not at her but at her sandstone necklace.
“I don’t want to hear any of your stories.”
“But you will slap me with your words?” she muttered to herself.
“Beg your pardon?” the Deputy looked at her with a glare.
“I said I deserve an opportunity to explain, at the least.”
“But I have a lot to finish,” she spread her palm and showed her files on the table before placing her elbows with a deliberate gait. She folded her hands leaning on the table.
“I just remember now I received a forwarded attachment of the same from Mr.Tan the same day.”
“But why take from that attachment when I have sent you mine?”
“Well, I thought since they are the same,…” Wendy tried to explain.
“No, they weren’t, please don’t assume. My point is that I spent time editing and it defeats the purpose.”
“Precisely, in fact, I would have preferred to use the text you edited to save my time and efforts.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Feeling implacable, Wendy zipped her mouth.
“And why didn’t you edit the other text on the community event?”
“I thought you had vetted Mr.Tan’s edits.”
“You must edit where ever necessary.”
“Ok,” she said almost inaudibly, “And perhaps get ‘kicked’ by him for a change, instead of getting slapped.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing,” she foozled.
“You said something.”
“Well, I said, from now I shall clarify with you daily as to which ones I should be editing and which ones I should not be editing.”
“But you are the editor of the page, aren’t you?”
“I think so. Or am I?”
“When I send, use them as they are. Any other texts you receive, please edit suitably.”
Wendy came out fuming. They just exchanged eye contact,and Roger knew from her flushed face not to ask her anything for some time.
Roger watched her hurriedly checking her mobile. He waited for her to finish the serious conversation that lasted for a few minutes. Then he went near to ask, “Anything wrong, Wendy?”
“Nothing wrong. It’s just that my younger doll had a fever this morning. But she is fine now and playing it seems. I just checked with my domestic help.”
“Aziza had called again,” he said thinking that she looked more tired than usual.
“Roger, why don’t you take it as a mission to look for her cat? Poor Aziza,” she laughed mildly.
“Come on, am I Murakami’s Nakata?”
“How is your grandma’s roaches problem now?”
“Oh, she said cockroaches anyway return after some time. That’s the price we pay for the low-level flats, priced lower. It seems there is less number of cockroaches recently. She is allergic to sprays,and so we had to shift her to our house before spraying her whole house a few months back. And she has recently spotted a few lizards,and she is terrified of them now.”
“They must have been feasting on the roaches,” Wendy beamed broadly.
The Deputy peeped out of her cabin to call Roger. Not expecting to be called again, he hurried to her cabin. He noticed that Mr.Tan, in his beige polo and brown denim pants, was already seated there. With an awkward care avoiding glancing at him, he sat looking at the Deputy. He felt the air heavy. They seemed to have had a long argument or some serious issue.
“HDB is investing 45 dollars in its new project,” lampooned the Deputy throwing on the table before him the page folded to show the two-column news. Nonplussed, he kept quiet.
“The very first sentence has the ‘million’ missing.” Roger was shell-shocked. His brain seemed to have stopped functioning.
“Why don’t you say something?” her propensity, as usual, had put him into silence.
“Sorry,” he tried to mumble with despair in his eyes and voice.
“It’s almost a year since you joined, I think.”
“I complete one year next month,” he said feebly.
Deputy’s smile looked hideous to him when she said, “And you could make such a factual error. I need to talk to your mentor, Wendy, on your nescience.”
“Mr.Tan was on duty that day. Not just that, he was the final proofreader of the page as well,” in remorse he searched for the best suitable words but almost failed.
“Stop pointing fingers at others. Be happy that you are not thrown out immediately as we normally do for such blunders. Carelessness as yours can be perilous. Do you know what it can be to answer the respective officials?” she asked with a controlled but ferocious hiss.
“I was doing my page with a severe migraine that day. I desperately needed help,and I got none. Mr.Tan stopped helping me totally except searching for an image or two. Subsequently, everyone started to follow him. And that left me with no help.”
Both looked aghast.
A warning letter was issued. With a pale face, Roger walked out of the room languidly.
Roger went straight to Wendy and showed. With repugnance, he lamented, “They had typed, signed and kept it ready. Isn’t this verdict without investigation?”
“Hush, and easy.”
“I thought Mr.Tan was a Senior Sub Editor. Since when has he become the Accuracy Editor? Did we ever before have such a post in our office?”
“But we have it now, don’t we? A new incarnation. Someone has to become the scapegoat. And who will that be? Most junior in the team, or contract staff,” she smiled broadly,but he didn’t.
“But,…”
“Come on, Roger baby.”
“Will this affect my annual appraisal? Having worked here for more than ten years, you should know well.”
“Why worry about that now?”
“But all the blame is thrown on my shoulders,” he sulked.
“That’s how it is mostly. It’s teamwork just in name. As soon as an issue arises, each will put self before others. That’s the basic rule everyone follows.”
“He interacts so warmly,and I have felt him treat me like his own son. And to think he didn’t even utter a single word to her.”
“I know how you feel. Don’t fall for the urbane manners. Everyone learns from the past and applies his experiences the same way when they get their opportunity.”
“It’s not as if I have never seen people in my life. I am not from an alien planet. But these open, intricate, direct, indirect shades of politics overwhelm me. If it is a mistake committed or carelessness then shouldn’t the magnitude remain the same irrespective of whose it is?”
“Been there and seen a lot of that.”
“But,..”
“In the power race, the fittest survive. The upper hands would do anything to save their asses. Creating a completely new abstract position is absolutely nothing, though this is entirely new to me as well. Face the fact, but cheer up. Don’t be such a milquetoast,” she said.
“Today, I voiced my stand, Wendy.”
“Oh good, I think you will be fine after you sleep it off tonight,” she said patting hard on his shoulder. “Time for our meeting,” they scurried along with the others.
During the Editorial, Roger was not his usual self. Ahmed bent down to ask in his ears, “Are you unwell?” He just shook his head to say no.
In the local section, the serial cat killer getting 18 months supervision took center stage discussion. “It seems that guy was mentally ill. The noisy cat had made that 41 year old get furious, they say. He came out of his house, lifted the cat that was trying to go up the stairs to the second level. Holding the cat, calmly he went up the elevator to the thirteenth floor and threw it on the ground from there,” Ahmed elaborated.
Mr. Tan tried to contribute, “There has been a string of feline deaths. Since October, seven cats were dead in twelve days.”
“Check if the images are embargo and remember to add the byline. I think the image credit goes to the police. You may show me a print out at the earliest for me to have a look at the layout,” the Deputy said.
“If there is any breaking news this will go in. We will decide that later. As of now, this is the first page lead of the section. And it goes into the top attraction of tomorrow’s issue, don’t forget.”
When Mr. Tan said to Roger, “I don’t have an assignment today, please help him with the story,” he simply nodded in affirmation. He didn’t look at him more than a second.
“Wendy, please spare me a few minutes after the meeting,” Mr. Tan said as he got up to exit. Once the ‘local section’ team along with the reporters came out, the ‘Asia section’ team filled the room.
When Samy started raking, “PTI says a tigress was killed in the Soopkhar range of the famous Kanha Tiger Reserve in a suspected territorial fight with another feline, a forest official said today,” everyone’s attention focused on him.
“Was it a man-eater?”
“I don’t think so. Earlier on, in South India, a tiger was shot for having killed three women over two weeks,” Samy added. Looking deeply into his face the Deputy gave a hostile nod without the slightest croak.
“And last week, Menaka Gandhi criticized the minister for the ‘go ahead’ to shoot the nilgais. As per India’s Wildlife protection act 1972, she argues that vermin like rats, crows and termites can be exterminated but not the endangered species.”
“Samy, could you stick to the current story? Why connect all that comes to your mind and slant the story?”
Unyielding as always he said, “We could add some background. And I thought this story could develop further and there could be some possible follow-ups this week.”
Her frown said she didn’t like his idea. “Remember to check with other sources as well.”
“Shall we have an exclusive page for cats?” Suddenly, Samy tried to ease the atmosphere. “Cat page!” Laughter filled the room. “Enough of the rhetoric,” Deputy barged in to stop the amusement. The hubbub subsided instantaneously.
The Asia team spilled out with all the hustle and bustle.
Wendy went to Mr. Tan’s desk. He was sulking to someone over the phone, “Oh she holds a post so decorative that even the weekly editorials are to be always written only by me. I think it could help to have a framed photo of hers on the wall here as we almost forget her face these days,” The moment he spotted Wendy he wrapped up the conversation abruptly saying he would be busy the whole afternoon.
“I just wanted to tell you please don’t edit the community event text I attached to you because they want an extensive coverage. The organisers had called me in the morning.”
“Did you discuss it with her?” she showed the Deputy Editor’s cabin.
“No, I haven’t,and I don’t intend to.”
“Then I will go with a printout and check with her first,” Wendy said smilingly trying to sound normal as she left.
He just gave her a villainous look behind her back.
Around five when Wendy came to his desk and said, “Shall we go for a coffee?” Roger was checking his emails.
“Aziza’s is one of the few dozen cats missing,and I don’t know how to explain it to her?” Roger said. Wendy didn’t respond but gave a ‘poor thing’ expression.
Roger kvelled within himself when she said, “Your layout stood out, I’d say. I will read through soon,” and wished that at least this time his story doesn’t get killed with some inevitable coverage of some breaking local news.
“I left my mobile charger at Lisa’s house. I had been there yesterday. She was away to the vet with her pets,but she had left my charger with her neighbour. Lisa’s children, all below seven, were there.”
Wendy listened with occasional nods.
“Leaving the children to play on the floor in the common corridor in the afternoons, Lisa stays inside the house with her pets. The father who works in Batam comes once in a fortnight. Seeing the children having ant bites all over their bodies, he would reprimand her,and they both end up fighting. She would scream at the top of her voice and wouldn’t let him touch her pets. The irony is we are going to feature her as an animal lover.”
“We are not here to change the society — mediamatters, but always remember we can only report. Be happy that you have another contrast angle to cover when the appropriate time comes.”
“But I don’t wish to. I wouldn’t be allowed to anyway.”
Both of them turned to look when Samy joining a group announced happily with a boisterous laughter, “And now all the cow, goat, chick eaters head fast towards the canteen.”
Walking behind them, Wendy turned with a smile, “My cousin says that you can ward off lizards using peacock feathers. You can buy a fan from one of the shops in Little India. It would be a good wall ornamental item for your granny’s living room. No harmin trying.”
“But then, will the roaches return?”
She halted to look blankly at the floor for a few seconds and wide-eyed she shrugged her shoulders as she continued to walk with an easy smile at him.
[1]Ican not taahan any more lah – I can’t take it anymore
