Chapter 9:
"That little bas***d has started his work Mitalee. Come to my office now." Vikram barked on the phone and hung up. Mitalee frowned. As she was walking out of her office, she got a call from one of her investors. Her steps halted when she heard the news.
"I'll fix it. I promise," she hung up and hurried towards Vikram's office.
"Son of a bitch! And what the f**k is that little weasel Varun is doing?" Vikram yelled at everyone in the room.
"He is somewhere in Europe screwing the actress of his new movie," Mitalee replied. "How many are we going to lose?" She added.
"At least two of them are given termination notice." One of the assistants said.
"Make it three," another assistant said slowly. Vikram growled like a wild beast.
"I am going to pay that little f**ker a visit," Mitalee hissed and left the cabin.
The three contractors whose contracts were terminated by Maan were also friends and investors in Khurana Capital. While they invested in Khurana Capital, they recovered their investments in Khurana Heavy Transport. The entire working model had been just shaken by Maan.
-- o00o --
"I am sorry ma'am but you cannot visit Mr. Khurana now. There are instructions as to not to disturb him," the nurse tried to reason with a completely angered Mitalee Khurana.
"Listen to me you little twerp…"
"Is there a problem here?" Geet asked walking towards angry woman with Satya tailing her.
"I want to meet my brother Dr. Handa. I suppose that isn't going to be a problem now, does it?" Mitalee asked.
"Mr. Khurana is not in a condition to visit anyone Ms. Khurana. Please come back later," Geet told her flatly and walked towards the ward.
"Dr. Handa you do realize that the hospital you work is actually Khuranas?" Mitalee asked walking towards Maan's room.
"I realize that Ms. Khurana. But I wonder how relevant it is in this context," Geet said smiling and walking behind Mitalee. She had already warned Satya to leave Mitalee to her as she knew exactly how to push her buttons and take her for a ride.
"What the f**k…" Mitalee hissed when the automatic doors to the ward didn't open.
"The doors here are access controlled. Ms. Khurana this hospital has state of the art security and privacy offered for our patients. Surely you didn't think that it was open for all like the general ward six floors down?" Geet asked as if Mitalee didn't know what two plus two was.
"Let me in Dr. Handa and you will be able to keep your job. Or else you will never be able to even hold the stethoscope ever again." Mitalee didn't pull back any punches.
"Ms. Khurana, you are forgetting who I am. I am Mr. Maan Khurana's doctor and of course the next largest investor in this hospital. Surely you remember your father and mine started this hospital in a faith of goodwill?" Geet chirped at the older woman. Mitalee only seethed. She had to talk to Maan and get him to talk. She lost her patience and grabbed Geet's collar and pulled her in.
"Don't take decisions that would repent you little girl," Mitalee whispered and yanked her identity card which was clasped to the breast pocket of her coat. Geet shifted her eyes towards the ceiling which made Mitalee still. It took her less than a second to realize the repercussions of her action. Geet had purposefully walked all the way back to Maan's room where a camera was installed few meters away from the door. The entire confrontation was recorded and Geet wanted Mitalee to barge in without right access. She would then create a scene and someone in security would just 'slip' the video feed to the press. Mitalee shoved Geet away.
"You slimy little bitch," she snarled.
"Go f**k yourself, Mitalee," Geet responded flatly and walked inside the room with Satya close on her heels.
"So?" Satya asked as the door closed behind them.
"It felt so good!" Geet gushed. Satya threw his head back and laughed heartily. Maan looked the two of them with a questioning face.
-- o00o --
"You can go in now." Geet said to Mitalee and Vikram who were hovering right outside Maan's door. They were bombarded with questions from their investors and their new operation was under jeopardy.
"What the f**k do you think you are doing?" Vikram yelled as soon as he entered the room.
"Keep your voice down. And I have no idea what you are talking about." Maan said solving crossword.
"Why are their contracts terminated?" Mitalee asked patiently. She knew that if they had to get through Maan, then they have to deal with the issue carefully.
"Because they are crap companies. Come on Mitalee don't tell me you didn't know about it." Maan said. Mitalee and Vikram exchanged looks.
"The situation isn't as simple as you are presuming it to be Maan. The contractors are our primary investors in Khurana Capital and if they lose contract with our other subsidiaries they won't sit and watch. It's highly possible that they will react on Khurana Capital." Mitalee tried to explain. Maan knew about it of course.
"So what do you want me to do? Allow them to loot us?" Maan asked.
"They aren't really looting us are they? They are only asking for little levy when they deal with our subsidiaries in exchange for the trust they have in us when they invest astronomical amount with us. What's wrong with that?" Vikram replied. Maan looked at his brother and sister who were justifying corruption.
"Wrong answer big brother." Maan said harshly. The room was quiet for minutes. Vikram looked at Mitalee clueless about what to do next. Maan wasn't like other people. If his father came to know that he used illegal means to convince Maan, he would disinherit him within seconds. It was too dangerous to use other means to convince him. If Maan didn't revoke the contracts, there was going to be panic on their equity.
"Why don't you do it one by one Maan? Why do you want to terminate three contracts in one shot? It will be difficult to continue business with change in contractors and vendors this drastically." Mitalee bargained. It was better to deal with one investor at one time. Maan was impressed with his sister. No wonder Dalal Street called her as one of the smartest entrepreneur.
"I think I like my original idea." Maan said carelessly. "The three contractors who have done nothing but provided us with substandard products and even worse services will no longer be associated with us. And that decision is final." Maan's voice was carefree which Mitalee didn't like one bit.
"You know that these decisions require the authorization of the CEO?" Vikram asked narrowing his eyes. "Varun wouldn't do something this drastic without consulting us," he said.
"He didn't tell you because he doesn't know." Maan said. Vikram and Mitalee were startled.
"Varun told me I could do whatever I wanted to with the company as far as I recovered the money he invested in that big budget movie," Maan shrugged.
"He told you and you agreed?" Mitalee asked surprised. Maan looked at her as if she had two heads.
"Well yes. And after that I drew up a nice air tight contract and got him to sign it. I may be a newbie in this world Mitalee but I am not a downright moron." Maan said.
"If this is all ladies and gentleman I would now like to get some rest as both of you are telling me the same thing in active voice, passive voice, past tense, present tense, pathetic anecdotes etc. etc which quite frankly is boring. So kindly get out," Maan said and flopped on bed. "Shoo shoo," he waved his hand as if he was chasing pigeons. Vikram looked murderous and Satya who was standing in shadows watching the proceeding chuckled soundlessly.
-- o00o --
"You think they know what we are doing?" Maan asked Satya several minutes after Vikram and Mitalee had left.
"They will once the investors withdraw funds from the company," Satya said nonchalantly.
"I am bored," Maan said pacing the room. Satya looked at him in surprise.
"He says he is bored when he is nervous too," Geet said coming in. Satya raised an eyebrow. "Come on Satya, don't tell me you didn't know that he was one weird guy," Geet smirked. Maan rolled his eyes.
"Let's go on a date," Maan said wide eyed as if a bulb was switched on in his head looking at them.
"I think it's a brilliant idea," Geet agreed. Maan was taken aback momentarily at her easy acceptance.
"You and Satya make a wonderful couple," Geet trilled happily. "I feel like such a proud mama when I see you together," Geet said sniffing and wiping invisible tears.
"Ha-f**k-ha," Maan rolled his eyes at her childishness. Satya slipped out wordlessly leaving the two alone.
"Things are changing Geet and my life is not going to be all the rosy anymore. I may be a Khurana but for Mitalee, Vikram and their band of people, I am just an annoyance that has to be eliminated. I am going to be their biggest pain in the ass and they will do everything they can to squeeze me under their shoes." Maan said seriously. Geet didn't respond immediately.
"Get dressed, I'll buy you lunch." Geet said walking out of the room. She turned back remembering something. "In future if you need anything, you know where to find me," she smiled and walked out. "You better get your butt out in five minutes Maan or I am leaving without you," she added as the door closed behind her.
Maan simply smiled at the turn of events.
To be continued.
Music companion for the day: Free loop by Daniel Powter
And (My current favorite): The sun by K.Will