That first hey!

PRERANA:

Work from home, is way more hectic than office work. Previously when I was in college, I had done a lot of internships. None of it seemed as stressing as the new concept of work from home since pandemic.

I had joined a new company Greywareline tech. It was a startup, but was quite developed and had a lot of projects offered to it. The boss sure had a lot of connections.

Since, it was a work from home, the new joiners were to be a given a brief description on our work we did ending with a QnA session.

I didn't get ready much afterall I was just at home. I had put on light makeup, and wore something which looked somewhat professional.

I checked the camera and mic on my system. A few more minutes until the meeting started.

The screen flashed with a bunch of people joining the call. None of their cameras or mic were turned on. Well nor did I.

Then the speaker spoke.

"Hey, everyone. Welcome to Greywareline tech. We are glad to have you on board."

Shit! I was going crazy. His voice, his accent, his sound! All of it was a sweet melody to my ears.

I had lost myself the second he said his simple hey.

He kept welcoming everyone, while I was enjoying his musical voice. It wasn't a heavy or deep voice. But euphonious.

I simply wanted him to keep speaking while I could listen to him all day.

"You can call me Dinesh, I will be your team leader. Feel free to contact me for any help and your work schedule will be sent to your work mail in a few minutes. We can have our QnA session now."

His name is Dinesh. What a lovely name. I can't stop simping on him. I haven't seen him but only heard his voice. Do I have a voice fetish?

But his voice makes me do somersaults. But heart was going crazy to every word he uttered. Was it some technology magic which changed his voice or did he naturally drip honey from his mouth?

I wasn't thinking straight. All I longed was to keep listening to his bloody, damn good and friendly voice.

All of a sudden, I thought of something dirty. I wanted to hear him dominating, ordering and even moaning.

What is wrong with me? I am here to work. Not to fantasize a person whose voice is the only thing I have heard. And who knows he might have a girlfriend or even a boyfriend or the worst case, he might be married.

The meeting ended while I was still lost in my thoughts.

I have work. I should work. My work schedule arrived. I started working.

No matter what, his voice didn't stop echoing in my ears.

Fuck! I wanted to kill myself to be an addict over someone's voice. Or wished the earth would just tear open and swallow me.

For the next few days, we didn't have any meetings to attend. Most of the talking was done through mails, texts and group chats. Every time there is an official message from him, I feel like I can hear his voice reading the text out loud.

I did miss his voice, in reality. But was equally pretending to hide the thirst to hear his voice.

'Prerana, call me when you are available.' I received a text from Dinesh.

The Dinesh, my team leader Dinesh, the one who had a voice which makes my knees wobbly and made me fall head over heels for him though I still don't anything about him.

The text was personally sent to me, not in a group chat or a mail.

Was it luck? I can hear his voice. Well not only that, I would be the only one to hear and feel his voice this time. He belonged all to me. Only me.

Am I a selfish witch now? Tch.

Something is definitely wrong with me.

I dialed. The call was ringing. And there he said," Hey, Prerana."

Hey. He said Hey. My heart throb for him was on another level this time. His simple hey again caught me.

"Hey, Prerana. Am I audible?" He asked, since I was lost in his dreamy voice.

"Hi, Dinesh. Yes, you are." I kept it short. I hated to hear my voice. All I wanted to hear was only his.

"Well, how are you doing? Is work all good? Are you facing any issues?" He asked.

Why was he asking this? Was he concerned about me? Why the hell am I overthinking it? It is just a professional call and regular feed back for new joiners.

"Yes. All fine."

All fine? What the hell is fine? Nothing is fine. I am losing my heart, mind, body, soul, everything to you here.

I hardly could talk anymore. I felt lightheaded and intoxicated by his voice.

Can one's voice be an huge impact on one's life? I mentally noted I should google it and do a thorough research on it.

"Well, glad to hear that. We will be working on a new project next week, so be prepared for it. See you then, bye." He said and ended the call.

It didn't make sense why he had called. But this short conversation made my day, no not a day but my month.

As long as this fantasy was with me there was no harm to anyone.

But a harm occurred.

The next week, when we were supposed to have a meet with Dinesh about the new project, he didn't show up. Someone else took up.

For a few days there were no information on Dinesh's whereabouts. He was AWOL. That concerned me a lot. What happened to him? Was he alright?

One morning, we received a text in the group chat from Dinesh, that he met with a minor accident and was under recovery. He mentioned he would join back soon.

That message hurt me.

He must have been in a lot of pain. I didn't know how he looked or what happened, all I could feel was his pain.

My worry and concern for him made me do things which I wouldn't normally do.

I called him. Yes, I, the least daring, scaredy and highly not confident Prerana called him.

The call was still ringing. He might be taking rest, I was about to cut the call. Just then I heard his, "Hey."

"Hey, Prerana." He said.

"Hello, Dinesh. How are you?" I asked full of concern.

"Well, I am having a speedy recovery, so I am doing better." He said with a chuckle.

"Okay, is anyone with you?" I asked.

What the fuck did I ask?

"Ah no, I live alone. But it's fine. I can take care." He said in a happy tone.

"Where do you live?" I asked, feeling desperate.

Why am I asking his personal questions? I have indeed lost it.

He was silent for an entire three seconds.

"B town." He said.

B town wasn't quite far from my place.

But how am I supposed to meet him, I need a reason to do so.

"My uncle is a doctor. He is very good in his field. I can ask him to visit you if you need any treatments." I spouted something, which I was partially aware of.

"Well thank you. But, I am healing well, all I need is to take more rest. So, don't worry about me." He said cheerfully.

How can one be so good, cheerful and simultaneously have a great voice?

I didn't care anymore on how he looked, I wanted to hear him in person.

"Well, that's great. Why don't you send me your address, just in case. I can ask my uncle for just a regular checkup." I said, this time I really did sound obviously desperate.

"Sure, if you say so. But I still think it is not required." He said.

"Well then think about it. Bye." I said and cut the call.

The next second, my phone beeped and there it was his address on my screen.

Without another thought, I was on my way to his house. When I reached, I could hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears.

I was standing in front of his door. What would I say, if he asked why I was there?

Ya, I can say this. My uncle is bad with directions, he said he would visit you tomorrow so he asked me to send the pin on the map.

I knocked on the door.

I heard his footsteps coming towards me.

He opened the door. He looked at me.

He looked magnificent, though his arm was bandaged. His black disheveled hair, his wheatish complexion, fit body, long arms and legs, his elf like ears, sharp nose, curvy lips and those sparkly eyes. Lastly, his dreamy voice.

"Hey, Prerana?"