Hey all..
well.. the depression continues on the forum..! i hope this part makes you all feel a little better..
and oh yeah.. i have no idea about the business world.. so whatever mistakes there are about the business terms and procedures etc.. i'm sorry..! lol.. just read and pretend that i'm right..! lol..!
and madhu i hope you like your namesake in the chapter..!
Chapter 3 As Prachi walked into the building she could feel change in the air. Somehow everything seemed different even though it all seemed the same. There seemed to be a hush in the lobby as she walked by, the only noise was her high heels making a clicking noise. Suddenly she heard a squeaking noise, like a mouse or some other rodent, and the noise just seemed to get bigger. That was all she needed now. Not only was her company being taken over there seemed to be rodent infestation in the building. She turned around and tired to pin point where the noise was coming from. And lo and behold she found the culprit. Geet had forgotten to change her shoes after leaving the hospital. They were some sort of sneaker like shoes that were causing that annoying squeaking.
"I can't believe you didn't change! Forget that. I can't believe you wear those shoes in public" Mrudula murmured.
"Well excuse me! I spend 10 hours of my day on my feet and those things you two wear seem like some sort of torture device." Geet defended her choice of footwear.
"Guys! Not now!" Prachi ended the argument before it went any further.
Prachi had crossed the lobby to the elevators and pushed the buttons repeatedly.
"Prachi you know pressing it once is the same as pressing it a million times. And I think you might break the button." Geet said.
Prachi shot her a glance that effectively silenced her, and went back to pressing the button.
She thought she heard Mrudula jab Geet but didn't bother to turn around to find out.
On the way up her friends kept on trying to reassure her that it was all going to turn out alright. But somehow she knew it was all falling to pieces.
Once they reached the 24th floor, she walked on ahead with her friends following. She thought she saw people whisper as she walked by. Maybe she was imagining it but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was under a microscope.
As soon as she reached her office door she saw her assistant Madhu hovering. Prachi didn't have time for the older woman's words of sympathy. "Good morning Ms.Reddy. I need you to get me all the VPs in the conference room in 10 minutes. I also want Mr.Singh to come to my office immediately. And could you please get my friends and me some coffee. Thank you Ms.Reddy."
Prachi usually spent some time at her assistant's desk, asking about Madhu's family, how her son was doing in school and she had never asked Ms.Reddy to get her coffee. While the assistant sat with a stunned look on her face Prachi walked into her room with Geet and Mru following her and giving the assistant an apologetic look.
As soon as she walked into her room Prachi felt an immediate sense of calm. It had been her father's room. He had always brought her here on the weekends and school holidays. Prachi could see her 8-year-old self, working on her latest crayon masterpiece sitting on her father's lap while he took care of his business. The office had always been his second home and Prachi had adopted it as well. Even after Prachi learnt of her father's betrayal she still loved and respected him, but she hadn't completed forgiven him for all the deception.
She heard a knock on the door and Mr.Singh poked his head in. Her friends took that as their cue.
Geet decided that she was hungry and was going to the canteen to buy some food and she needed Mrudula to pay the bill. They both left telling Prachi to call them if she needed anything; they were going to be in the building.
Prachi quickly got down to business. Mr.Singh updated her on the status of situation. It was nothing she wanted to hear but she needed to get her facts straight. As soon as she thought she was prepared enough she asked Mr.Singh to join the rest of the VPs in the conference room.
As soon as she entered the conference room a hush fell over the room. It was the kind of awkward silence where you know you were the topic of every conversation before you walked in. She shook off the feeling and walked to the head of the very large table. She took her seat and tried to understand how her company could have been taken over without so much as an alarm being raised.
"Gentlemen, How on earth did we lose controlling interest? I thought the Shah family owned 50% of the company. Definitely this has to be a mistake." Prachi asked.
" Ms.Shah, unfortunately the Shah family only owns 49.5% of the shares. The rest of the shares were made public. When the company was doing well we didn't think that anyone could afford to buy the rest. And of course people respected your father so much that they wouldn't even make an attempt. When the company was failing we didn't think anybody would be interested in buying the company out. I hate to be so blunt Ms.Shah but the company right now is an albatross. So you must believe us when we say this nobody saw this coming." Mr.Gill said. Prachi had a feeling that the man must have rehearsed the speech a million times before performing it here. It definitely felt rehearsed.
"Well gentlemen. Apparently Mishra wants this company. I don't care why. All I want to know is what can we do to stop him from taking total control."
"Unfortunately Ms.Shah he seems to have somehow bought the remaining 50.5%. We were all pre occupied with putting out fires everywhere else. But you are still CEO of the company. We have to get the legal department to see what options we have. But Ms.Shah I want to warn you that the situation is very bleak now." It was the very same Mr.Gill again.
At that moment the lone phone on the very large table rang. The VP closest to it picked it up and told Prachi that Mr.Milind Mishra was waiting for her in her office.
Edited by critically-sane - 17 years ago
Veer Hanuman
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
