Interlude 6: For Old Times' Sake
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The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
That's what Ishaani Parekh felt when she sat in her cabin that morning. The blazing sun made its way with splendor onto the table where the portfolio of their company now sat with the latest updates being categorized and compiled by Puneet and Rishi. Both the men sat in silence as they carried out their boss' order, still slightly disbelieving of the fact that the highly reputed Mr. RV was about to sign a deal with their company. Their surprise came not because they believed that their boss was incompetent (quite the latter), but it was the lengths to which their boss had gone to acquire the deal (or rather the attention of the mysterious Mr. RV) that had surprised the two men.
After silently working for exactly twenty-three minutes according to Miss Parekh's standards, the two of them handed over the completed file to her that she evaluated steadily for another fifteen minutes, occasionally pointing out an error here and there. After finally nodding her head with due consideration, she handed the file back over to Rishi and spoke authoritatively.
"Good, very good job, the two of you. Now that the file is almost prepared with precarious effort, I think that you will be able to present the necessary data in tomorrow's AGM quite efficiently." Rishi nodded his head diligently. Miss Parekh continued.
"Mr. Puneet, you will raise the items from 01-08 on our agenda list, with the sole exception of 03, which will be Mr. Rishi's territory. Understood?" Puneet nodded his head solemnly and Ishaani managed a wry smile.
"Good, the two of you can leave then. Please rectify the errors and bring it for re-evaluation by four."
"Alright, ma'am."
Rishi and Puneet left her cabin without any further word, but with a pleased smile on their features. Ishaani rested her head back upon the headrest of her chair, sighing. She could already feel the sleep getting to her that had refused to come to her last night with the bout of revelations that had bamboozled her. Her wound remained in a neat bandage that was hidden effortlessly by the white frill blouse she wore with a knee-length black skirt, the stockings finding its way once again.
She did not know whether she had fallen asleep or no when she heard a distinct door knock. Quickly snapping out from the slumber spell, she shook her head thrice to make herself more alert before she spoke softly.
"Come in." Puneet's head peeked through the door before he entered the cabin, suddenly looking flustered and disheveled.
"What's wrong, Mr. Puneet? I hope everything is alright."
"I don't know, ma'am," muttered Puneet nervously, while he looked like his knees would give way any moment.
"What do you mean?" asked Miss Parekh sharply, her sleep suddenly as far away from her as the previous night.
"Your 10 o' clock appointment is here," replied Puneet nervously. She looked at him, bewildered.
"So send the party in," said Miss Parekh in a matter-of-fact tone. Puneet only chose to shuffle his feet nervously.
"Uh..."
"Will you please tell me what's the matter?" barked Miss Parekh irritably. Puneet's gaze faltered, now choosing to keep them upon his well-polished brown shoes. Before he could speak anything, however, Rishi re-entered the room as a saving grace without any express permission. Miss Parekh noticed it but decided to remain silent for the moment. Rishi took forth the answer in a slightly breathless voice.
"It seems that the new receptionist, Ms. Lazrado, had no proper idea when fixing your 10AM appointment as to who she was giving it to, and..."
"Just get to the point," she grumbled, now clearly annoyed with the riddles that were being played. She continued in a vexed tone. "Who is it?"
"It's well... it's your-" stammered Puneet, unable to find the correct words, but Rishi piped in once again.
"It's Chirag Mehta from Mehta and Sons Co." Miss Parekh stared at the two men blankly before she spoke in a blank voice. The two men stared at her agog.
"Let him in."
"But-"
"I said, let him in," spoke Miss Parekh coldly, cutting through Rishi's protest. "And before the two of you leave, I need to give you some instructions regarding our beloved guest as well."
A man in his thirties entered the room with a haggard look upon his face. He had the air of a man who once possessed the charm to blow any woman who crossed his way off her feet, but was now only the hollow version of his past self. His face looked weather-beaten like he'd been a part of a war, while his characteristic charcoal coloured eyes had bags under them. His cheeks had a sunken look around them and she did not fail to notice that he hadn't shaved for quite some time, giving him a haphazard stubble.
She only cocked her eyebrow in his direction when he took a seat at her table without her consent and flung his portfolio across the table absent-mindedly.
"Tell me, Mr. Mehta. What brings you here today?" asked Miss Parekh placidly, while Chirag gave her a troubled look.
"Babe, I-"
"Mr. Mehta," interjected Miss Parekh with a stony expression. "May I remind you that you are consulting me during my professional hours, so the least I can expect from you is common courtesy."
"Alright, Ishaani," said Chirag, disgruntled at being cut off so abruptly. He spoke further. "I... Well... You know about the recent... The portfolio..."
"Mr. Mehta, I will give you ten minutes of my professional time to consult you with whatever it is that you want to talk to me about, and five extra minutes for trash talking, because no conversation of ours ends without it. And you've already lost two minutes of your time, so if you may speak more clearly, I'd get away with you quicker."
Realizing that he could no longer get her to communicate in any other tone or soften her up even in the slightest, he dropped all pretense. He now continued in a sharp tone, his voice his carrying the haughtiness that his position once held in the market.
"Alright then, Ms. Parekh," he spat out disdainfully. "I want to sign a contract with your company." Ishaani cocked up her eyebrow in slight surprise.
"For which project?" asked Miss Parekh, her tone now placid.
"Mehta and Sons Co. want to enter into a merger with you for the 580 crore diamond consignment due to London," replied Chirag with a great effort to keep the sneer out from his voice. She returned a dispassionate look, pushing Chirag a little more off the edge.
"Why do you consider yourself to be suitable for the position?"
"If I don't get the consignment, my company will go bankrupt," spoke Chirag with a fear in his voice that Miss Parekh detected for the first time since they got into the conversation. "And you know that our company is the eighth best in Mumbai when it comes to diamonds," added Chirag as a last resort, hoping that it would somehow convince her of the company's austere importance.
"Eighth best, not second," remarked Miss Parekh spitefully, enjoying the sight of Chirag writhing beneath her own scathing gaze. She continued. "Either way, your own company's bankruptcy isn't any of my concern. I don't run this company for social service, you see. Its business that I do," she ended smartly, leaving Chirag momentarily dumbfounded.
"But-"
"Nothing more, Mr. Mehta," spoke Ishaani with certitude. "And for an added bit of information, the contract is to be signed with a foreign company within a few days. I've rejected all the other applications, as you must know after the letter your company must have received three days ago."
"But I-" interjected Chirag hopelessly as Ishaani cut him once again, pretending as though the former hadn't spoken in the first place.
"Your ten minutes are up. Unless you need to talk regarding any other project, find yourself another appointment on my list. You may leave," said Miss Parekh dismissively and Chirag sprang up from the chair that went crashing upon the floor.
"How dare you, you co-"
"Cold, manipulative bitch?" she completed in a bemused tone. Chirag looked at a loss for words as she continued. "Yes, I think that I can dare a lot being the queen here, you see."
"I'm bloody Chirag Mehta, CEO of Mehta and Sons!" yelled Chirag, hoping to make a point. She gave him a disinterested look. "You can't get me to leave like that!"
"Please don't embarrass yourself," retorted Miss Parekh as she gracefully left her seat, taking support of her desk, standing up with her hands upon them. She continued in an authoritative tone. "Mehta and Sons is a company on the brink of bankruptcy, and of no goodwill in the market as well."
Chirag bridged all the gap that he could with the desk obstructing his way, bringing his face dangerously close to hers as his charcoal eyes suddenly turned demented.
"The assets I possess-"
"I don't care about the obsolete assets that either you or your company possess, Mr. Mehta, so you can get yourself out right now," whispered back Miss Parekh, standing her ground. Chirag smirked at her evilly, before spitting the next array of words in sheer contempt.
"I'm supposed to be your husband!"
"Were," corrected Miss Parekh acidly. "All you are now is a desperate man trying to save his company that he built upon the foundation of another company that he effortlessly bankrupted. And yes, that company was my father's," she added, loathing evident in her voice.
"Oh, so this is about revenge now, isn't it?" asked Chirag as he finally created a respectable amount of distance between them once again, a mock smile upon his wasted features.
"Karma's justice, to be more precise," she retorted with abhorrence. Chirag gave her a look of utmost hostility.
"Ishaani Parekh, I swear upon the Lord that I will make you suffer for what you-"
"Really?" smirked Miss Parekh boldly although she felt a wave of nausea hit her. "I thought that God had put me through the worst suffering when I was married to you. I don't think you could do any better, or worse, for that matter." Chirag glared at her angrily before showing her an obscene gesture.
"You whor-"
"You've said it already," cut through Miss Parekh, disinterested. "And you've got exactly thirty seconds to leave my cabin," she added resolutely, pushing away the revulsion that she could no longer help feeling.
"Or what, huh?! Or what?" he spat at her disdainfully, not bothering to show any more courtesy.
Miss Parekh smiled at him sardonically as she pressed a buzzer on her desk. Ten seconds later, two security guards entered the room and caught Chirag by his arms, shoving him across the door. Chirag put up a good fight before he swore loudly. He made an obscene gesture at her once again, who in turn didn't bother looking amused.
Puneet and Rishi entered the room looking pale and shaken up just as the guards dragged Chirag out from the room. He abused and yelled at the top of his lungs about a revenge that had died down his lips the moment Ishaani had given him the basilisk stare. Making the guards dispose of him outside the office with as little courtesy as possible, Puneet and Rishi returned back to Miss Parekh's cabin five minutes later, quickly shutting the door behind them. The two men turned to look at her with newfound respect in their eyes as she took her seat back.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she added tiredly, holding her temple in pain.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know-"
"What's done is done, Mr. Rishi. No point crying upon spilt milk," said Miss Parekh blankly, drinking some water from the glass on her desk.
"Ma'am, if you don't mind, can I tell you something?" asked Puneet fearfully after the elapsing of a few minutes. She nodded her head, noticing from the other window overlooking the corridor that all the employees had gone back to work with new gossip content that would make lunchtime worthwhile.
"You're amazing," remarked Puneet in reverence, while Miss Parekh gave him a small smile. "You're simply amazing," he added again.
"Flattering as might be, Mr. Puneet, I still expect the file to be at my table by four," she replied lightly, although a silent understanding passed between the three of them in that moment.
"You got that," assured Puneet confidently, Rishi nodding his head alongside. Miss Parekh made to stand up when she lost balance and fell down, her headache reaching a new peak.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache," replied Miss Parekh in a low voice while both the men looked worried.
"Ma'am, you can go home. All the work is under control over here and you don't have any scheduled meetings for today," said Rishi assertively, Miss Parekh giving him a non-committal shrug of her shoulder. On any other day, she would have point-blank refused to leave the office and head back home as early as 10:30 in the morning, but somehow, she didn't have the will to put up a fight at that moment.
"Alright. Send the file across to my place at four in the evening then."
At four, Ishaani remained seated on her bed, smiling to herself as she turned the next page of the diary. Four hours of sleep and an aspirin had worked her wonders, and she felt rejuvenated and fresh. Ishaani sighed to herself contentedly, her sigh cut through halfway when one of the helpers knocked at the door. On beckoning her in, she saw Puneet in tow behind with a blue file in hand. She bookmarked the page and shut the diary, her mind already waiting to read the next entry as soon as Puneet left.
"How are you feeling now, ma'am?"
"Perfectly fine now," replied Ishaani graciously. "Is everything ready for tomorrow's AGM?"
"Yes." Ishaani nodded her head in approval as she quickly went through the file and looked impressed. Puneet bid her good day and was about to leave when Ishaani remembered about Ranveer's arrival.
"Puneet, when is Mr. RV due in Mumbai?"
"His flight is scheduled to land at 7:30PM in Mumbai," replied Puneet instantly. "But apparently his secretary gave me a call this morning to tell me that Mr. RV has made a detour with his partner to visit his native place so we shouldn't be expecting him around here till before another four days. His secretary, Mr. David, will be joining them directly on the 8th."
"Alright," said Ishaani slowly. Considering the craziest thing she was about to do in years, she spoke quickly. "Drop his secretary a message for Mr. RV saying that he's invited to dinner over here along with Mr. Finch and the secretary himself until the remainder of their stay."
Puneet stared at Ishaani agog for several moments, trying to make sure whether what he'd just heard was true.
"And what reason must I give him in case he asks why?" asked Puneet awkwardly. Ishaani gave the question a good thought before a simple smile made its way upon her lips.
"For old times' sake."
Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D
Next chapter:
Epistle 21
Edited by LadyMeringue - 8 years ago
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