Senior trainer

It was the year 2013. I have joined my first corporate job at a reputed organization. I had professional experience of working with a small firm, but this was my first high profile job. As a 22 year old young girl, I thought everyone in corporate acted super professionally. Soon that expectation was going to shatter.

In the beginning, I was going through a series of project training. Many senior professionals had been conducting sessions for us. One day our trainer announced, "team, next 2 days, our senior trainer Swapnil will conduct sessions. These are important, ensure nobody misses them". I had heard praise about Swapnil from a lot of my colleagues. My college senior, Sneha who had been working there had also told me about Swapnil. I was eager to meet him.

Next day happened like a scene from movies. When I came to the training room, I saw that all seats were taken except for the very first seat right in front of the trainer. I had no option but to take it. I hated that seat because it would attract the most attention from the speakers. Then Swapnil entered. A tall and good looking guy, walked with confidence, carrying a notebook and laptop with ease in his hands. He kept the laptop on the table. I was right in front of him. He smiled at me. He looked even more handsome when he smiled. I smiled back or maybe blushed.

I told myself that I was there to learn and grow, not to fall in love. My mind decided to reboot itself with new instructions and I put on my best behavior of a professional. While listening to him, I realised why he had been praised. He was quite knowledgeable. After the session got over, I was packing my bag. He lingered for a few moments, but I ignored him and left the training room. I had no regrets.

After that I had not seen Swapnil. Sneha who was friends with him told me that it was his last working day when he had conducted training session for us. The young girl in me felt a little sad. But professional in me quickly erased that emotion.

A few days later, when I was checking my social media, I saw that Swapnil had sent me a request. I was happy to see that somehow in the pool of millions of people he found me in the cyberspace. But my instincts alerted me. He did not know my name, then how did he find me? Was an insignificant interaction enough for him to send an unknown girl a request to connect? My instincts had been telling me to not accept his request.

Next day Sneha approached me, "did you receive any request from Swapnil? He was asking about you".

I felt a lump in my throat. Not only he knew my name, he knew that I was friends with Sneha. She continued, "just be careful. He is not a guy to get close to. I too have maintained the friendship at professional level that too because we had worked together. But to any other person, I would always warn".

Sneha went back to her desk leaving me in deep thoughts. Swapnil was not what I had thought. As Sneha suggested, I had to stay away. Needless to say, I declined his request to connect.