Hell Amazing People,
I am here with a smaller update continuing the earlier chapter. I am struggling hard with time these days, so I apologise for delayed updates. please forgive me for the errors.
Thank you very much in advance..
Love
-SunShine
CHAPTER 13
A MONTH LATER (2 weeks post ‘Craze Clear’ launch)
ADITYA’S STUDIO APARTMENT
8.30 PM
“So good to have you here lil sister” Aditya gave Menaka a long hug as she stood at the door. He walked behind her and pushed her slightly to get her inside the house .
“Nice apartment bhai, but kab tak ye studio apartment mein rehte rahoge? Buy a proper house with a bedroom at least. Ye kya hai sab ek hi area mein hai” Menaka looked around the house while she spoke with Aditya.
“I like it here; works for me. I love this place” said Aditya expanding his arms on the sides.
“Anyway I am thirsty” she walked towards a corner of the house that looked like a kitchen area. She looked around and said “Pani kidhar hai?”
Aditya followed her to the kitchen “Water? I have something special” He opened his refrigerator and got two cans out of it. He opened both the cans and offered one to Menaka.
“Clear Craze” Menaka chuckled when she looked at a funny looking can. “You got an entire box” she smiled looking at the carton that laid open next to the microwave on his kitchen counter
“I had to, after all it's a new launch by Turkey Hills, or should we say THE RISHABH BAJAJ” Aditya raised his can for a toast.
“I got to say this is the worst tasting drink ever. I mean what were they even thinking while launching such a disaster in the market. It’s so bitter, tastes like medicine. People must buy it for the sake of a sugar free tag, if they decide to do so. Best part is they already have a diet cola” he paused and whispered in Menaka’s ear “trade secret, option that’s one of my favourites. I can give it to you in writing, it’ll soon be off shelves” he broke into a loud laughter.
“I never thought, Rishabh out of everyone out there will launch a product like this, that too in such a rush” Aditya stopped as he looked at Menaka, who was just staring at her can with a fading smile. “What happened to you, Menaka? not liking the drink?” he said in a teasing tone and winked at her.
“Nothing, I am just thinking why would Rishabh do this. I mean we both know how sharp he is when it comes to business. Though Fizz has done better than expected in the past 2 months. Still I am not able to stop myself from thinking why Clear Craze? A company that rules the Beverage industry, decided to imitate its competitor and this is what they launch. I mean they have the best of infrastructure and manpower and all they come up with is ... a horrible tasting drink” said Menaka keeping the can on the kitchen top and took out a water bottle from the refrigerator.
“You are overthinking Menaka” Aditya kept his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
Menaka turned around to face him. “I am not Bhai. Don’t you remember what he did when he was in his 1st year of MBA, he came up with the most amazing idea ever for his project, and..” Menaka stopped mid way as she saw Aditya turn his head away to hide his discomfort.
“I am sorry, I didn’t intend to dig up the past." Aditya slowly walked towards the couch and Menaka followed her continuing the conversation "What I am trying to say is that somehow I don’t think he did this in a hurry, or without a thought process. I am good at reading business moves, but Rishabh, he is way beyond my comprehension. I spent a lot of time as his team mate and I know how capable he is of twisting situations to his favour. This time I am truly clueless and I am worried if we are waiting for a surprise...” Menaka and Aditya both settled down on the couch..
“I don’t think so. Have you seen the reviews and sales reports and news floating in the market? This is a terrible mistake, a ‘desperate move’ is what they all are calling it. Polaris is keeping a track of its trends, so far it's a huge failure. So don’t think too much, let's celebrate our sweet success with this bitter drink” Aditya fell back on the couch and took a sip from the can.
“I hope so Aditya, because this time it’s not just me but my company’s reputation and revenues are also at a stake. We have worked on this project for more than 18 months before the launch, and a huge amount of time and money has gone into it. Ek wahi hai jiske sath itna time spend karne ka baad bhi aaj tak main kabhi pad nahi payi. Wo kab kya decision le leta hai, kabhi pata nahi chalta fir chahe professional ho ya personal” said Menaka.
"I met him" said Aditya and stared at Clear Craze can that he kept on the coffee table. None of them spoke a word.
Finally Menaka spoke and broke the deafening silence in the room. "when? Where did you meet him?". Menaka moved ahead in her place and looked at Aditya to say something, while he sat blankly staring at the can. She kept her hand on his knee to bring him out if the world he was lost in.
"On Versova Beach, a few months back.. after I met you at the cafe for the Fizz launch discussion.”
"How is he? Same?" Menaka's eyes almost teared up thinking of him.
"Same.. face se shayad.. but wo insaan jise main mila woh koi aur tha.. cold, quite, devoid of emotions, restless eyes as if searching for something, unhi pathharon jaisa, jinke beech baitha tha.. one thing that didn't change was his love for ocean, waves… by the way, he smokes. One thing I never thought I'd ever see him do." Aditya picked up the can and gulped it in one go as if the bitter content gave him some relief.
Menaka slowly pulled her hand from Aditya and again settled back resting her head on the back rest, stared at the ceiling. She straightened her back in a sudden movement and asked “Ku… Kukki.. Did you see her too? How is she?” Menaka came down on her knees and sat in front of her brother, looking deep into his eyes for an answer.
“I did not see her with him that day; he was alone there” said Aditya, holding her hands in his. He kissed her hands and said “You know what, I need to take my sister out for dinner. We met after a long time, we deserve it” Aditya said to cheer up Menaka who looked worried.
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2 WEEKS LATER (4 weeks post ‘Craze Clear’ launch)
BI HQ, NARIMAN POINT
Rishabh’s Cabin, 10.00 AM
Nidhi rushed into Rishabh’s cabin without even caring for his permission, and stopped at his table as if she had been chased. She looked petrified and gasped for breath “Sir…” her throat ran dry.
Rishabh got up from his chair and quickly came to her side offering her a glass of water. “Ms. Nayak, are you alright? What’s wrong with you?” He bent down a bit to see if she was feeling any better.
Nidhi drank the whole thing in one big swallow and Rishabh took glass from hand and kept it on the table.
“Better?” Rishabh asked now worried for her.
“Yes, Sir. Tha.. Thank you so m.. much” Rishabh made her sit on a chair as she was still breathing hard. He went back to his place as soon as she gestured that she was fine.
“What’s the matter? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost in the office?” Rishabh asked focusing back to his work.
“Sir, sales reports have come for last week and they are..”
“Terrible” Rishabh completed the sentence for her calmly, with no change in his expressions or even his body language.
Nidhi looked at him with wide eyes blinking to see if she was dreaming.
“To aap is liye bhaag rahi thi Ms. Nayak?” Rishabh shook his head in disbelief.
“But Sir, I thought you must know,” she said with confusion written all over her face.
“I understand, but you don’t have to scare me and the entire office for that, do you? I am not ready for any kind of employee harassment case against me. I have enough on my plate to deal with” said Rishabh trying hard to hide his smile.
“I am so sorry. By the way Sir, some of the places distributors feel the sales are down, because we are selling a clear drink in a can. Why don’t we use clear bottles for buyers to see a clear beverage clearly?”
“That’s a good idea, but that’s not what we..” a knock on his door, interrupted him.
Both Mr. Mehra and Ravi entered the cabin and took seats.
“Ms. Nayak was just suggesting to me that if we sold our product in a see through packaging it might better our sales as customers will be less confused” said Rishabh looking at Nidhi and then at both Mr. Mehra and Ravi.
“That would have been a great idea Sir, only if..”
“Only if What??” asked Nidhi not able to understand why everyone other than her in the room had a smile, for the bad performance of a recently launched product.
“If we wanted it to do better” said Rishabh and he slid the newspaper and pointed towards an article. Some lines highlighted in red. “Read the highlighted parts”
“Clear Craze a CLEAR beverage packaged in OPAQUE cans? What’s the point? It claims to be sugar free but tastes nothing less than medicine. It’s bitter.. Why a can? Is there something fishy about these clear drinks? What are they selling to us in the name of health drinks? Both Fizz Crystal and Clear Craze entered the market recently targeting the audience that’s looking for low calorie options.. Are they really what they are?”
Nidhi finished reading and she was left shocked “But.. Fizz is not a.. How come they are ..?”
“Exactly Ms. Nayak. You got the idea, so please next time you get a drop in sales, instead of running to my office, take your own sweet time” Rishabh moved back in his chair and turned it to side to get up.
“Ravi, how's Fizz doing?”
“As expected, Dipping, Sir.. I am sure there’d be chaos in THRIVE’s board rooms very soon” said Mr. Mehra who had been quite all this while.
“So in POLARIS. Aditya, you don’t have much time left in Polaris. You better pack up” thought Rishabh as he walked towards the glass wall.
“What next Sir?” asked Ravi.
“Go for the kill, when the time is right which isn’t too far. A month or two at the max and I want it all to end. Keep an eye on the distributors and sellers, when the time comes buy as much as space as possible”
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1 MONTH LATER (2 MONTHS POST CLEAR CRAZE LAUNCH)
BI HQ
10.00 PM
“We are buying the space, buy more” said one of the members of the team that had almost shifted it’s base from BICP and Bangalore office to Nariman Point..
“Yeah, I am telling you to keep the stocks ready, keep everything on standby. As soon as marketing gives you a go ahead.. Wait .. wait a minute, I think I have a new update” Ravi rushed to Arun and gave him a sheet of paper and went back to his place. Arun got back on his phone call “I am back with the new update, you’ll get an email in the next 5 mins, follow and release the new stock of our previous products as mentioned in the list to respective cities.. It should be on it’s way in the next 2 hours” Arun, from the Supply Management team, hung up the phone and turned to his laptop to send the email.
23rd floor of BI had seen several eventful days and nights in the past 1 week.
Rishabh’s Cabin
Several mugs of coffee laid empty on his table with his cigar still breathing it’s last breath in the ashtray, along with other dead ones. Rishabh at time sat on his couch, or paced around the room with his hands resting on his hips. Everytime he heard a ping on his laptop he’d go and check the update and again go back to pacing across the room. He made several calls home to check on Kukki and spoke to her as well.
Mr. Mehra, who was talking to Nidhi, who came to him with a few documents noticed him sitting on the couch with his head hung down and his fingers intertwined at the back of his neck slightly away from everyone else’s sight. He quickly finished his conversation with Nidhi and went on to check on him.
He knocked and entered the room. “Sir” asked Mr. Mehra.
“Hmmm” replied Rishabh without lifting his head up.
“Aap theek hain?” he asked worried for him.
“Yeah, I am” said Rishabh in a low voice and lifted his head up to look at Mr. Mehra. His eyes were red and lack of sleep in the past couple of months evident on his face.
“Aap theek nahi lag rahe hain, Sir. Let me call the driver, aap please ab ghar jakar rest kijiye, else you might fall sick” Mr. Mehra took his phone out from his pocket to make a call, but Rishabh asked him not to as he wanted to wait till the other staff that had come from BICP.
“Sir, everyone will leave in the next 30 mins or so, they are almost done for the day. They all are staying in a hotel two blocks away, but aap ko thoda dur jana hai. So you should leave now” Mr. Mehra tried his best to convince, but Rishabh did not agree and lit another cigar.
Failing to convince his boss, Mr. Mehra silently messaged Nidhi to ask everyone to wrap up quickly. Aware of how stubborn Rishabh was when it came to work, Nidhi was quick enough to follow the instructions and made sure everyone finished asap. Soon everyone wrapped up and Rishabh had one final meeting with the staff to make sure everything went by as per plan and finally left for home. Mr. Mehra decided to accompany him and agreed to spend the night at Rishabh’s insistence.
Mr. Mehra took the passenger seat and Rishabh sat in the back seat looking outside at nothing lost in his thought. ‘Easy part is over, now comes the harder part of it.. I warned you, but.. I never wanted things to happen this way, but you left me with no choice.. You should have never come in my way... but I am glad you did.. A few long pending things need closure and it’s only YOU ADITYA, who can..’ He could barely keep his eyes open and without him knowing quietly drifted into sleep in his 15 mins short ride to Altamount Towers.
Part 13- Page 106 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152649757
Link to other stories-
EPIPHANY https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152039413
THE MIRROR https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152168455
Edited by Sunn_shine - 3 years ago
I had wanted her to loose the baby because of Anurag and that is what happened!! 
.. you wanted it to happen coz of Anurag so indirectly he is.. but was he even there that night ... even I don't know that yet
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BajajKukki bond is love. 
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