Monsoon Summer by kaoruhana

Reprimands, Meetings, and Beach Visits

A/N: The last scene in the previous chapter is not meant in any way to represent all of rural Indian society.  Instead, it’s meant to highlight something that is often overlooked by people who want to help the “poor” in the world.  The men from the last chapter were wrong in what they did but, from their point of view, it was justified.  Why?  Because they saw Kagome as change and change is scary because it causes societal norms to shift.  From their perspective it’s easy to understand why they saw Kagome as a threat.  That said however, what they did was still wrong and until they understand what Anita and Kagome are doing and why that little bit of change they bring is okay, there will be tension.  Keep in mind though, they don’t represent all of rural Indian society (or rural societies all over the world).  I still remember meeting a father who proudly told me the training he had received from rural development programs helped him get a better paying job and now he could educate all his children, including his two daughters.  I know most of you understand this, but it always bothers me when I think I wrote stereotypes into my stories so I had to bring it out.  Now, on with the next chapter. 

* * * * *

     To say Sesshomaru was livid when he saw them was an understatement.  One moment, Kush had pulled the car up in front of the HORD building and the next thing Kagome knew, the door on her side of the car had been ripped open and she was staring at an enraged Sesshomaru.  She scrambled out of the car with Anita following her and stood off to the side waiting to see what would happen.  Sesshomaru shut the door to the car with more strength than required and turned to face Anita.  The anger in his eyes frightened her quite a bit. 

     “What the hell were you thinking when you took her there?”  He yelled, uncaring that they had an audience of HORD employees watching the confrontation.  “I asked you to clear all the SHG’s you visited with me.  Why did you not inform you me of this particular visit?” 

     Anita paled.  She had informed him.  But Mudhvel was a complicated town.  On the other side of that road was a second SHG- one that was thriving and one that was not curtailed by the men.  There were two communities in that village who had separated themselves long ago and didn’t get involved in each other’s affairs.  Sesshomaru must have thought she was taking Kagome to the safer side of the town.  It was true that he could have easily asked her for more information but she been the one who had made the mistake here.  As Kagome’s official mentor she had screwed up and taken her intern to a place where she could be harmed.  No amount of words or pleading would get her out of this.

      “I…”  Anita swallowed nervously, “I didn’t know sir.  I just thought of showing her the SHG that failed.  I didn’t think… the men were supposed to be out in the field!”  Sesshomaru clenched his fist.  She had a point in taking Kagome to look at the SHG that failed and note the reasons it did so.  However, she was also correct in the fact that she was not expecting the men.  They were due home around five in the evening, it was now four.  Still, she should have never taken that risk with an intern, especially a foreign one. 

     Eyes still glaring at her, he spoke, his voice cold and authoritative.  “From now on, I want an itinerary on my desk every Saturday right after your SHG meeting.  It will detail any and all visits you and other HORD employees working with SHG’s will make during the week and tell me on which ones Kagome will take with you.  I get the final say and approval on whether or not she goes with you.”  He turned to look at Kagome, who at this point had seen it wise to keep her mouth shut and watch the proceedings so that she knew what to do next.  Still, his gaze made her want to go hide. 

     Anita nodded, too scared to say anything.  She had gotten slapped with a light sentence.  Sesshomaru was known for being ruthless with those in his office who messed up.  She had feared the loss of her job as they drove here and was glad to see that it hadn’t come to that.  Looking towards Kush, she beckoned him over and the young man took slow, hesitant steps to stand next to her.  Anita then turned to Sesshomaru and stated a few facts that she knew her boss needed to know. 

     “Kush drove us out.  His quick thinking helped us escape the men.”  Sesshomaru inclined his head and his glare softened slightly.  The young driver understood what it meant and shook his head.  Kagome didn’t understand what that particular shake of the head meant, but Sesshomaru did.

     “He has my thanks.”  Turning to the HORD employees crowding the entrance, he raised an eyebrow.  They all scattered to their respective offices while he beckoned with a hand to Anita and Kagome to follow him.  “Anita- spend the rest of the day writing a detailed report of what happened while it is fresh in your mind.  I will get an account from Kagome and will have Dungar-Bhai talk to Kush.” 

     Kagome didn’t say anything but did manage to give Anita a small, encouraging smile as she disappeared into her office.  When they entered Sesshomaru’s, she was surprised to see that he was packing up his laptop and a few other things into his laptop bag.  As he did so, he said something to both his office-mate and Kush.  The two nodded and got started on whatever task was assigned them while Kagome fidgeted nervously.  She understood why the man was angry and realized that in hindsight she and Anita could have avoided the situation that occurred if they had thought about it.  While Kagome didn’t know the area she should have pressed Anita with more questions about Mudhvel.  If she had, she would have known to warn the woman.  As it was, she was silently berating herself.  As a foreign intern she knew that whenever the word alcohol was involved, she had to be wary.  And she hadn’t been- that was quite stupid of her. 

     Sesshomaru straightened and grabbed his bag, “Come- we’re going to talk while I walk you home.”  She followed him out the door, not too keen on angering him again.  He had calmed down a little but not enough for the anger to have gone away just yet. 

    They walked out of the HORD complex and towards the main road that Anita had showed her yesterday.  Kagome shuffled quietly, a little behind her superior, and darted her eyes around nervously.  She was scared that she had lost the internship or that her internship was now going to be confined to paperwork.  She took a deep breath wondering if it was she who was supposed to speak first and try to resolve the issue at hand. 

     “I am sorry.”  And she was.  She should have paid a little more attention to things.  Sesshomaru sighed and looked at her over his shoulder. 

     “It’s fine.  This was a mistake made by all of us.  I should have told Anita not to take you to Mudhvel and she could have warned me she was planning on taking you to Mudhvel’s shadier side.”  He shrugged his shoulders now and pushed some hair away from his face, annoyed at the way it was starting to stick to his skin due to the heat and humidity. 

     “Oh.”  Kagome continued to walk a few paces behind him and waited for him to speak some more. 

     “Tell me what happened.”  He finally stated as they crossed a street leading to some sort of residential compound.  Unlike the beach area, this street had single family homes instead of apartment complexes. 

     Kagome swallowed.  “Well, um, we arrived and Anita took me into the town.  She greeted one of the ladies there and talked with them about dismantling the SHG.  Or at least, I think that’s what they were talking about.  A while later, a kid came running up to us and I don’t know what he said but he sounded… scared.”  She straightened her posture to regain some confidence.  “Then um, Anita stood up and we left the village.  We saw Kush being cornered by these men but he said something and managed to drive the car back to us.  Then, we got in but they continued to harass Kush and forced him to put the window down and talk with them.  I’m not sure what they were talking about but I knew it was about… about me.  Kush started the car and we left.” 

     “That’s all?”  His condescending tone irked Kagome but she forced herself to not reply in an angry manner. 

     “Yes.  Anita and Kush could probably give you more information no what was said but that’s all I know.”  He nodded, seemingly, satisfied with what she had to say.   Kagome wondered if she was supposed to do anything else.  Another thought popped into her mind: would Sesshomaru have to note this and record it in police records.  She would hate to see HORD’s reputation tarnished because of this.  But asking the question to him- Kagome shook her head.  There was no way she was doing that. 

     “We are here.”  She looked up, surprised to see they had reached her place of residence already.  “For the rest of the day, you will stay inside.  Tomorrow, I will personally escort you to and from the HORD office.”  Kagome turned curious eyes to him but nodded.  He was probably just as shaken up as she was about the events of the afternoon.  Still, she had really wanted to go to the beach today. 

     “Okay.”  Kagome took a step towards the gate but stopped and turned back to him.  “Thank you for walking me home.  Have a good evening.” 

* * * * *

     Kagome got up early the next morning and made it down to breakfast just as the doors opened in the dining room.  The servers looked at her oddly but she brushed off their curious glances and asked for a cup of coffee before settling down with two pieces of toast.  She normally tried a little bit of whatever Indian food they had on hand for breakfast but today, she was nervous and jittery.  Part of her still wondered if Sesshomaru was still angry.  Another part, hoped that he wasn’t and that things would be fine.  She finished her breakfast quickly and left the dining room to wait outside on one of the benches lining the reception corridors.

     “Kagome.”  She looked up at the greeting and gave a hesitant smile at the man who was her boss.  He nodded to her and walked out prompting her to follow him. Much like the first day, she took the passenger’s seat in his car and waited to see what would happen. 

     “Today, the SHG’s will hold a meeting.  It starts at nine so you have an hour until then to get some work done on your project.  After the meeting, you will stay here until I come back to escort you to lunch.  In the afternoon, you will give me a detailed analysis of all that you have done so far and what you have accomplished.  Understood?” 

     “Yes.”  Her voice was meek and she turned to look out the window so that he wouldn’t see how nervous she was.  They pulled up to the same tree in front of HORD and as soon as he parked, she got out, following him to the office.

     Unlike usual, Sesshomaru led her to an office that she had only seen the first day of her internship: Mira-Bein’s.  The elderly lady had yet to arrive but it was obvious that Kagome was going to be working from here.  An extra chair and table had been brought into the room and the fan was already whirring in the space.  Sesshomaru indicated for her to take a seat, which she did, and he explained to her that for the rest of her internship, she could use this office as her workspace.  Not knowing what to say, Kagome merely nodded along to his words and watched him leave.  Only then, did she bring out her laptop and camera. 

     She spent the first part of the morning organizing the information she had collected.  Ages, education levels, amount of time invested in the SHG, were entered into their respective excel columns.  Following that, she opened the first video of the women she and Anita had first interviewed.  She listened carefully, trying to see if there was anything worth mentioning in her analysis.  As far as she could tell, this was just a regular SHG.  The only difference was that these women had active discussions on how they wanted to use their money.  Making that note, she went to open another video when a hand on her shoulder startled her and made her stop her task.  It was Anita. 

     “The SHG meeting is next door in the larger complex.  Shall we go?”  Kagome nodded, saving her work and packing her laptop away.  She was told to leave her backpack in the room and did so but grabbed her water bottle and laptop.  It was hot already- the day proving to be another humid and heated one. 

     For the past week, Kagome had wondered about the building across from the HORD office.  She had seen people come and go from it but she herself had no idea what it was.  As she followed Anita inside she realized that it was a conference room of sorts.  A large open space greeted her.  She noticed a table with a PowerPoint projector at the far end and chairs stacked on the side by the walls.  There was a door to the right and Anita made her way there.  This door led to a smaller room, enough to fit twenty people.  Most of the people were there already and Kagome recognized a few.  She waved a shy hand to Neelam who waved back and took the seat next to Puja- the woman who ran the store. 

     “Kagome- these are the women from various large SHG’s, clusters, and other SHG enterprises. I know you recognize a few and hopefully by the end of next week you’ll recognize a few more.”  Anita took a seat and pulled out one of her many binders calling the meeting to order.  It was conducted largely in Gujarati- the local language- but Kagome could follow along.  Puja, it seemed, had been appointed as her translator. 

     The meeting discussed the closing of the Mudhvel SHG and the opening of two new clusters: one focused on rexin products, the other on jute.  The rexin cluster was well on its way to becoming the next big thing, Puja noted.  They hadn’t started selling their products yet but the samples that they had sent out in bulk to a large supermarket chain in Ahmedabad was received well.  That meant that the cluster might have a market it could supply to.  The jute cluster was just forming.  One woman knew how to do things with jute and was still in the process of teaching others.  At the end of the meeting, the women all decided to give the rexin cluster the support it needed and to continue with the jute cluster before making any decisions.  As they left, Puja whispered something to her.

     “I think by the time you leave, they’ll disband the jute cluster.”  Kagome looked at Puja curiously. 

     “Why?” 

     The young woman shrugged her shoulders.  “Jute has to be made into a fiber in West Bengal.  Then it gets sent here so the woman can make bags which are shipped all over the country.  It’s expensive to make jute fiber and that is going to cost that cluster a lot of money.  They probably will not be able to meet their costs.”  Kagome nodded understandingly as she stepped out of the room into the sunshine.  The meeting had lasted around ninety minutes and she had a little bit of time to kill before she had to go back to the guest house for lunch. 

     “I see.” Kagome hesitated and then turned to the HORD offices.  Sesshomaru was standing there looking at her expectantly.  She felt a little unnerved by his gaze.  “I guess that means I have to go.”  She stated trying to discreetly motion to where he was standing.  “I’ll see you late Puja- maybe, I’ll visit the store again.  I have to pick up a few souvenirs before I leave anyway.” 

     “Sure.”  Puja turned to leave and Kagome walked towards Sesshomaru. 

     “How was the meeting?” 

     “Good.”  She looked towards the office and he let her in, going into Mira-Bein’s office.  The older woman had arrived and greeted the two of them warmly before turning her attention back to the work she was doing.  Sesshomaru pulled up a seat and sat next to her while Kagome took the other seat next to where she had left her things. 

     “Did you create a new schedule with Anita?”  Sesshomaru asked as he relaxed in the seat.  Saturday was always a relaxed day at the office so, he didn’t have much to do.  The day ended early at three thirty and unless required, most people went home for weekend at lunch.  He and Kagome, along with Mira-Bein and sometimes Anita were generally the only few who showed up for the last hour of the day. 

     “We wanted to make two trips next week- one to the rexin cluster and one to the jute cluster.  Anita also mentioned that she would try to take me on a few house visits if she was allowed.” 

     “Very well. The clusters are fine, I will talk to Anita later about the house visits.  Anything else?”  Kagome shook her head as she packed up her laptop and took another swig of her water bottle.  Seeing this, Sesshomaru stood and motioned to the door.  “Come, I’ll drop you off for lunch.”  Kagome followed him out the door and back to his car. 

      Later in the day, as the afternoon sun began to shine on their heads and make everything hot and unbearable, Sesshomaru came back in to the office that Kagome now worked in. She had made her presentation and he found that he liked it.  Of course, he offered pointers- why didn’t she ask about family income and what the women did with the SHG money?  And he had told her to make graphs- as many as possible for as many categories as possible.  So, Kagome was now working on that. 

     “Mira-Bein, abhi office close karna.”

     “Oh!”  She turned to Kagome who was watching the two interact.  “We close early on Saturday: at three thirty.  It’s time for you to go now.” 

     “Oh- is that for all of the township?”  Kagome asked as she saved her work and shut down the laptop.  She placed it away before making sure all the other materials she had brought with her were packed as well. 

     “No.” It was Sesshomaru who spoke this time.  “It’s just for HORD employees.”  He hesitated but then spoke.  “What have you seen since you came here?”  Kagome looked at him wondering how to respond to that statement. 

     “Um, I went to the beach a few days ago.  But that’s it.  Why?”  Sesshomaru seemed to think on it for a moment.  She thought he would be angry but he didn’t seem it.  So travelling alone in the township was fine but other travel wasn’t? 

     “There is a path further along the beach that leads a little inland.  Peacocks are known to frequent that section.  Do you want to go visit?”  Kagome’s eyes lit up and she bit her lip to contain some of her excitement.  Peacocks- she was going to see a real peacock! 

     “Can we really?”  He nodded watching as Mira-Bein stood up with her packed materials. 

     “Of course.  We have to make a quick stop by the school but it should be fine.  The weather is turning cooler now and it looks like it might rain tomorrow.  This should be the best time to catch sight of them.”  He helped the older lady down the stairs where Anita and Kush stood waiting.  Kagome followed them outside and watched as he locked the doors.  Anita and Mira-Bein said goodbye to her before getting in the car with Kush.  Sesshomaru noticed the curious expression on her face as he made his way down the stairs after locking the office. 

     “Kush lives in the same area they do.  He drops them home and then goes home himself.”  Leading the way to his car, he asked Kagome if they could stop by his house. 

     “Um, I guess.”  Sensing her hesitation, he clarified. 

      “I have to park my car there.  I thought I could take you on a walk to the beach.  My niece gets off from school at four, so we could pick her up as we made our way there.” 

     “Oh that works then!”  Kagome felt a little better at the explanation and agreed.  She was now confused though.  He had a niece here with him?  She hadn’t thought that her boss was the kind of man who would take care of children.  He just didn’t seem like a family person.  She thought he would be the eternal bachelor.  Kagome wanted to ask him about it but she felt a little like she would be intruding if she did so. 

     “Rin is my…”  Sesshomaru sighed as he continued.  “She is my niece.  My brother and sister-in law passed away when she was still a baby.”  He didn’t offer her any more information but Kagome understood why he did offer the bit that he did.  She didn’t know how to respond to his words though.  Did she tell him she was sorry?  Did she tell him he was courageous to take care of a little girl all by himself in a different country?  She found that she didn’t have to worry because they pulled up to his house moments later. 

     “You have a house.”  She stated stupidly before catching herself and offering an explanation.  “I just… I saw apartments on my walk to the beach the other day.” 

      “The houses are for office managers and department heads.”  He stated parking his car and getting out.  “And may I ask just how did you go to the beach?  Did you walk by yourself?” 

     Kagome got out of the car and debated on how to answer him.  If she said yes did that mean someone was going to be in trouble?  She hesitated in answering mostly because she did not want to be yelled at again.  She peeked a glance at him and flinched at his hard stare.  Maybe it was better she told him?  He seemed to be the kind who would see through any lie she made. 

     “Sunil told me the way and I walked there on Thursday.” 

     “Next time, have someone walk with you.”  He stated moving around the car and towards the road they had taken.  She followed him trying to figure out where they were. 

     The street that Sesshomaru lived on was a residential one and she didn’t remember seeing it before.  As they walked down it and towards the main street it connected to she realized where she was.  This street branched off the main road that she took to the HORD office.  They were only a few minutes away from the guest house and she thought she knew the way from here.  She followed him past the guest house and down the same path she had taken a few days ago.  This time, when they reached the school, she didn’t pass it but instead followed Sesshomaru onto its grounds. 

     The school didn’t look any different from her Japanese high school.  She supposed the only difference was the abundance of dirt and clay soil instead of concrete walkway.  It kind of made sense in this environment she noted.  The asphalt would probably be too hot to do anything on in the Okha area weather.  Many kids were going home- the youngest ones clutching tight to their mothers while the older ones were lounging about talking before they had to go home.  She saw a few playing what looked to be a weird version of baseball and wondered what it was. 

      “Cricket.”  Sesshomaru answered for her as he searched for his niece.  “You can’t leave India without learning it.” 

     “Oh.”  She waited with him and was surprised when a girl no older than five or six ran up to him and threw her arms around his legs. 

     “Uncle!”  She cried out full of excitement.  “Are we going to the beach?  You promised me we would!”  He nodded letting her go and watching her pull away. 

     “I promised didn’t I?”  He turned to Kagome who Rin had just noticed.  “Rin- this is Kagome.  She is the Japanese intern who works with me.  She wanted to join us on our trip to the beach.”  Rin peeked out from behind her uncle’s leg, a little shy around the stranger. 

     “Hi.”  She hesitated but her childish curiosity won out.  “Have you been to the beach?  It’s pretty!”  Kagome couldn’t contain the smile that threatened to burst at seeing the little girl. 

     “I have.  Your uncle told me we might get to see peacocks today.”  The little girl deemed this worthy enough to be the basis for a new friendship and stepped out from behind her uncle to take Kagome’s hand. 

     “Then let’s go!  We’re going to have so much fun!” 

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A/N: What Sesshomaur says about cricket- it's true.  South Asia has an obsession with the sport that is borderline crazy.  It's like how Americans are with football (except a little bit more extreme sometimes).  As for the beach visit- I was going to write that in but honestly, I need to go back through all my pictures and think for a moment before I write more about peacocks.  I'm on a writing spree this weekend- yay!