||ManYa FF - Against all odds|| Epilogue Pg 45 Updated-12.10.15 - Page 21

Chapter 22

"Where is the Astrium group's file?" Dev Agnihotri thundered as soon as Amaya stepped into his cabin and Amaya flinched. "I finished the work on it and left it on your desk before I left last night," Amaya replied in as calm a tone as she could manage. "Oh really? I guess then the file just got bored of sitting on the desk and went out for the walk eh?" Dev replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "because its not my desk! I told you I wanted the work completed first thing in the morning!" Amaya felt her patience wear thin. She had been working extra hard and extra long hours and this is what she got in return. She headed to his desk and started looking for the file. It wasn't there. She felt the first stirrings of panic in her belly but forced it down as she kept looking, "I left it right here before I left last night." "Then where is it?" Dev asked, hiding a smirk as Amaya's search started to get more frantic. "Go ahead! Search the whole office all you want. Its not here!" Dev said.

After a few moments had passed and Amaya had finished checking Dev's desk thoroughly without any luck, Mukherjee dada who had been helping Amaya in the search spoke up. "Amaya, why don't you go check your desk? Maybe you forgot to put it on Dev Babu's desk?" he suggested, feeling bad for Amaya. "No dada. I am sure I left the file on Dev Babu's desk. But I'll go check anyways," Amaya said as she left hurriedly.

She was back a few minutes later. There was no sign of the file anywhere. "Tell me, Ms. Amaya Mathur.. Oh no.. Wait.. Tell me, Mrs. Amaya Abhimanyu Shrivastav, did you get the file?" Dev asked, leaning back in his chair, fixing Amaya with an icy glare. "No Sir. I.. I can't seem to find it," Amaya said worried. "Do you even know how important that file is? It had the original signed contract renewal papers, the original version and most importantly, the only copy! I gave you one job! One job and you couldn't do it properly!" Dev babu yelled. Amaya felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes even as her mind played and replayed the events of the previous night. She distinctly remembered coming into Dev Babu's cabin and placing the file on his desk as he had asked her to. Then where could the file go? Maybe she should have been more careful with it. Maybe she should have kept it safely locked with her.

"You know what? You are fired! I don't have room for someone as irresponsible and incompetent as you on my team," Dev spat out. Amaya's eyes widened in horror. "And according to the terms of the contract you signed, since you are fired before your contract period is over, you owe the company three years' salary. I'll expect the payment to be deposited in the company account by the end of this month," he said casually, as if he were telling her that it was supposed to rain this afternoon. "Now get out!"

Amaya swallowed nervously. Things were happening way too fast for her to comprehend. She was fired? She owed the company what? By the end of which month? She couldn't even reconcile with any of these, much less say anything. "Dev babu," Mukherjee dada spoke up, just the way Dev had expected him to, which is why Dev had made sure he was present too in the first place. Dev Agnihotri always covered his tracks. Always! "Dev babu, I think we should give Amaya a chance. Maybe the file is somewhere here. Maybe somebody else took it mistakenly. I don't think it'd be right to fire her like this. She needs to get a chance to prove herself." Amaya looked at the older man gratefully. "Fine. When is our next web conference with delegates from Astrium?" Dev asked. "The 15^th of next month Sir," Mukherjee dada replied. "Fine. Get me the file before the 14^th of next month and I won't fire you. Till then, you are suspended. And mind you, if you do not find the file, I fully intend to abide by the terms of your contract and you will have to pay the company 15 lakhs as compensation," Dev said. "I'll make sure it does not come to that Sir," Amaya said with as much determination as she could muster.

His plan was going just perfectly. Amaya and Mukherjee were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. This way, he had Mukherjee as a witness that he had been fair to Amaya. He had her trapped and he was also sending his message loud and clear to that Mantu. One master move, Ms. Amaya Mathur/Mrs. Shrivastav, Dev thought. One master move is all it took to ruin you, just the way I ruined your dad. Go search as much as you want. You will never see that file again. Now all I need to do is to make sure your husband pays for his insolence.

***

"All okay Rama? You've been a little worried and distracted for the past few days," Mantu asked as Rama got onto the bike behind him, "Why did you have to come to the lawyer's office?" Rama remained silent as he clutched the envelope the lawyer gave him a little tighter, "Everything is going to be alright now, Mantu." "Huh?" Mantu asked. "Nothing. Its nothing. Thank you for bringing me here. My bike is in for repairs or I wouldn't have bothered you," Rama replied, skirting Mantu's question. "No problem Rama. And I hope you know that I am always here for you if there is anything you ever need to talk about," Mantu replied.

***

"Amaya?" Mantu was surprised to find her home so early. He had just gotten back from checking arrangements for the Tourism Festival that was starting in two days. He dumped the bags of stuff he'd gotten by the door and went to her. He could sense it, even before he saw her face, that she was upset. He sat beside her on the charpaayi and placed his hand on her shoulder. Amaya turned towards him abruptly, buried her face in his shirtfront and started crying. "Amaya! Amaya! What happened?" Mantu asked. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" Amaya kept saying in between sobs. "Wait! Just wait one minute," Mantu said, as he pulled away from her hug and rushed to the kitchen. He got her a glass of water and made her drink. When her sobs quietened down, he pulled her right back in to his arms and stroked her hair comfortingly, "Now tell me. What happened? Why are you crying?"

"I.. Dev Babu suspended me from work.." she said. "What?! Why?!" Mantu asked. "I don't know. He had asked me to translate a copy of the Astrium contract renewal papers and have it on his desk first thing in the morning. And I was doing that late into the evening yesterday. I clearly, clearly remember that I took the original file and the translated copy and placed it on his desk before I left office last night. But.. I went in this morning.. The file is missing Mantu! It was the original signed contract Mantu! And its missing!" she replied. "Amaya, are you sure you placed it on Dev Babu's desk? Maybe its on your desk or in one of the drawers by mistake," Mantu suggested. "No Mantu. Mukherjee dada and I searched the whole place. We couldn't find it anywhere. And.. If I don't find it before the 14^th, Dev Babu is going to fire me and I will owe the company 15 lakhs as compensation for early termination of my contract," Amaya explained, burying her face in her hands. "What do I do Mantu? What do I do?"

Mantu thought over it for a moment, "If the file genuinely is missing, it would have to be the work of someone from the office itself." "But why would anyone do that?" Amaya asked. "Who would gain anything out of getting me suspended or fired?" "Dev Agnihotri would," Mantu replied. Amaya looked at Mantu confused. "I've been meaning to tell you Amaya," Mantu said as he filled her in on all that he had been thinking and he had found out about Dev Agnihotri in the past few weeks, including the details of his encounter with Dev and Rudra's meeting with Dev.

Amaya sat stunned in silence. "Dev Agnihotri is behind all this? You think he has a hand in ruining Superman too?" "I don't have solid evidence yet. Except for the fact that Dev Agnihotri has a namesake head office in Mumbai and that this "ghost" office of his, as they call it, has been involved in dealings with companies that dealt with your father's company as well. The only thing that does not add up though, is the motive. If it were just a business rivalry, shouldn't it have ended with your father's death? Why would he go to the lengths of joining hands with Rudra and getting Rachita kidnapped?" Mantu pondered.

Amaya was silent for a very, very long time. "I can't believe that so much happened and you didn't even bother to tell me," she said. Mantu looked up and felt warning bells going off in his head. "Amaya, I am telling you now. How does it matter? I mean, you were already so stressed and overworked. I didn't want to add on it. And its not as if I have any solid evidence. I am just trying to piece things together," Mantu rushed to defend himself. "So much happened Mantu! Dev Babu called you to his office! Rama jiju and you spied on Rudra! You found out about Dev Babu's indirect links to Superman's company and you still didn't tell me? If this missing file situation hadn't come up, were you ever planning to even tell me? What else are you hiding from me?" Amaya asked crossly. "Amaya you are overreacting! God! Whats wrong with you girls? Why do you always have to make a mountain out of a molehill? And I was planning to tell you! Maybe after the Tourism Festival. And I was doing this for you," Mantu said. "I am not making a mountain out of a molehill. I am making a mountain out of a mountain! The fact is you hid things from me and that too such important things. I thought we never hid anything from each other! And you have hurt me Mantu by not telling me about this sooner," she said as she got up and walked away.

Mahadev! Never! Never in this life would he be able to understand women. Forget all women, he didn't think he'd be able to understand his own wife. The fact of the matter was, though, whatever his intentions, he had hidden all this from Amaya and maybe she had a right to be upset. But how would he get her to forgive him? "Okay fine," he said, following her into the bedroom. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have hidden any of this from you. Its my fault. Please forgive me," he said. She turned away from him without saying anything. "Amaya.. I am saying sorry.." he said but she walked past him without anoher word. "Yeh plan tho fail. Have to think of something else Guru," Mantu thought.

Amaya was pulling off the clothes she'd hung out to dry from the clothesline when she heard the radio crackle to life.

Arziyan de raha hai dil aao, sun lo kuch keh raha hai dil aao,

Aahatein kuch nayi si jaagi hain, nausiki ek nayi hai sun jao.

Arziyan de raha hai dil aao, sun lo kuch keh raha hai dil aao.

From between the clothes she had hung out to dry, Mantu appeared, holding his ears and mouthing sorry but she ignored him and walked by. She took the clothes and dumped them on the charpaayi as she started to fold them. Mantu's arms crept up along her waist from behind as he hugged her and she struggled in his arms.

Jaagi si aankhon ko de do na palkon ki chadar zara

Rukhe se honton ko de do na saanson ki rahat zara

Tanha ki raaton ko de do na khwabon ki sauhbat zara

Khwashein ye kahein de do na apni si ulfat zara

She freed herself from his grasp and started to walk away but he caught her hand.

Ranjishein bhoolkar chale aao, arziyan de raha hai dil aao..

She wrestled her hand free and grabbed a grocery bag as she headed out the door. As she bargained with the vegetable vendor, a bar of chocolate appeared in front of her, followed by Mantu who was now singing for her, much to the amusement of the people in the market.

Bin tere zindagi yun hi bewajah bemaani lage

Amaya took the chocolate and walked away without acknowledging Mantu.

Bin tere zindagi jaise adhuri kahani lage

Mantu brought her a teddy bear next.

Bin tere bastiyan kyun dil ki sooni viraani lage

Bin tere zindagi kyun khud hi khud se begaani lage

She crinkled her nose at him in disapproval and walked away. At the door to their house, he stopped her with a bouquet of red roses.

Marziyaan mod kar chale aao, arziyan de raha hai dil aao.

Aahatein kuch nayi si jaagi hain, nausiki ek nayi hai sun jaao.

She took the bouquet from him and he held his ears as he started to squat. She caught his hand and stopped him before hugging him. "I am sorry Amaya," he whispered into her hair. "I forgave you when you first said sorry," Amaya giggled. "What? Then why did you make me do all this?" he asked, pulling away from the hug. "Just so. I wanted to know what you would do to appease me," Amaya said smiling mischievously. "Anything," he replied sincerely, "I would do anything to appease you Amaya. Because I'd die without you." Amaya immediately covered his mouth with her hand, "Don't ever talk about dying again." "Then promise me you'll never not talk to me again?" he asked. "I promise," she said, placing her hand in his as he leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"Uh huh."

Amaya and Mantu sprang apart at the interruption. It was Uma. Mantu's eyes darkened with suppressed anger as he saw her. Amaya sensed it, so she squeezed his hand reassuringly. Mantu looked at her and she nodded her head slightly. Without another word, Mantu went back into the house. Amaya turned to Uma with a smile. "Did you have some work Uma?"

"I am sorry. I just came to give you this. Barfi miyaan sent it," Uma said as she handed a package to Amaya. Amaya opened it and saw that it was the bridal lehenga choli for the showstopper in her fashion show. "Oh wow! Its ready! That's amazing. I wish the model were here so we could try it on her and see. We'll just have to cross our fingers and hope it fits her well for now. Knowing Barfi miyaan, I am sure he has stitched it to precision but I'm still nervous. Thank you so much Uma," Amaya squealed in delight.

"Okay. I'll take your leave now," Uma said as she turned to leave. "Won't you come in Uma? Have some tea," Amaya said. "No. Its okay. I've got some other work too," Uma said as she left in a hurry.

She couldn't even see where she was going, she was that blinded by her rage. The only reason she had agreed to deliver the lehenga to Amaya at Barfi Miyaan's behest was that she could maybe see Mantu. It had been days, weeks, months since she had seen him or spoken to him and in all the years they had known each other, it had never happened so. And she had seen Mantu alright, but with his arms around that chudail, kissing her on her forehead. Just thinking of that image made bile rise in her throat and made her sick. She was so angry, she felt her head would split. No, the more time they spent together, the more difficult it would be to separate them. Thankfully, the Tourism Festival was starting in two days. Just a few more days and she would make sure Mantu would not want to hear Amaya's name, much less take her in his arms and kiss her.

***