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"What the.." the remainder of the sentence froze on Khushi Gupta's mouth. She stared wide-eyed as the power point presentation on the LCD screen was replaced by a live video feed. A live video of a bunch of hooded crusaders entering her secure animal facility. She watched horror-struck as thousands upon thousands of mice ran out of their cages. The masked crusaders high-fived each other and grinned widely behind their ski masks as they released more animals from their cages. Then, the grainy video moved to another room. Three more people released huge, expensive lab rats from their cages in this room. Khushi watched silently as years of research were destroyed in one single, fell swoop. One act of vigilantism. She tamped down the rage within her with some effort, and reached for her phone.
"Aman, call the police. We have a breach of security in the animal facility," her voice was calm, but those who knew her knew she was hopping mad. She turned her attention back to the live feed. Every animal in her facility, except those in quarantine had been released. The crusaders were now putting up posters on the walls of her now empty animal rooms.
"Animal testing is cruel"
"Curing Cancer in mice doesn't cure cancer in humans"
"It's not the animals who need their heads examined"
"Animal testing breaks hearts"
"No one wants to be caged. We're all born free," said a giant poster that featured a thoroughly shirtless famous actor who was as buff as he was vain. His well-oiled hairless chest was splayed prominently over the poster as he held a tiny, albino mouse couched protectively on it.
"At least they're pretty!" quipped Payal, grinning lazily. She slouched back in her plush, leather chair and took stock of her sister. In her estimate, Khushi was about 2 minutes away from exploding. Khushi didn't acknowledge her sister. She turned to the clients sitting around the seminar room, watching the heedless carnage of years of tireless work, open-mouthed.
"I am very sorry. This was completely unexpected, I really don't know what to.." before she could complete the sentence, the door flew open. Security guards tried in vain to hold on to 4 grappling vigilantes. All of them wore jeans and PETA T-shirts. Their ski masks were in place, thus leaving only their eyes visible.
"What is going on here?" yelled Khushi. "What do I pay my security staff for?" she screamed at the guards who were still struggling to hold the protestors back. One of the protestors broke free and walked up to her.
"The animal testing you perform is cruel and inhuman. We're just here to tell you, that today was a mere warning. We will protest and release every animal at your plants all over the country if you don't stop performing animal testing ASAP." The voice that spoke these words was boyish, unlike the words themselves, which were stern and final.
"Hear, hear," said his 3 companions in response to his words. Khushi made a motion to the security guards to leave him be, as they lunged towards him again. She walked up to the crusader and pulled his ski mask off. Tousled hair that stood up like a Mohawk framed a young, boyish face. Brown eyes stared back at her surprised at the speed with which she had whipped his mask off. His lips were curled into a disdainful smile. His stance was filled with a tension that he couldn't quite hide, though he wanted quite desperately to look unaffected. His blue tee shirt said "Save our animals" and hung loosely halfway down his thighs. He was tall, past 6 feet tall. He towered way over her 5 feet 3 inches in heels. Yet, as he met her eyes, the anger in them forced him to look away.
"Security, hand the other 3 over to the Police please. I will file the complaint myself. They've trespassed, and destroyed property and equipment. I would like to talk to this one myself before I let him go," said Khushi, in a steely tone, that Payal recognized and privately called her "General Gupta" tone.
"We'll all go together. You can't keep him away from us," said a voice defiantly. It was a shrieky, high-pitched tone and Khushi smiled as she walked towards the owner and whipped ski mask off in one swift motion. Masses of black hair fell out of the mask that had also acted as a hairnet. Black eyes shimmered with anger and tears, as Khushi had pulled off not just the mask, but also a good chunk of the wearer's hair with it.
"Your girlfriend?" Khushi asked the boy unpleasantly. He said nothing but smiled at his black-haired friend. "I'll be fine Lavs, go ahead. And call JayP, he'll take care of everything with the Police."
"Listen to your boyfriend, Lavs", said Khushi, emphasizing the girl's name as if to say, 'What adult calls themselves Lavs?' She motioned to the security guards to take the other intruders away. Reinforcement guards had also arrived, making their job easier. The 3 crusaders went quietly with them.
Khushi apologized to her clients for the intrusion. After assuring them she would get back to them after sorting out what she called "minor problems" she headed out of the conference room, her crusader in tow. She had security put him into a smaller conference room. She had them keep an eye on him, while she went up to her office to think. She needed a plan. And she wanted to unnerve him. What better way to do that than isolate him for a few hours?
Khushi was standing at her window, pondering her strategy when the door flew open.
"Jeeji! What have you done with the chap that made the speech? His friends are out on bail and asking for him," said Payal in her usual, hurried breezy tone.
"How long has it been P?" asked Khushi, startled.
"4 hours Jeeji!" said Payal exasperatedly.
"Don't call me Jeeji in the office. I've told you a million times P!" said Khushi irritably.
"And don't call me P. I feel like my bladder's full every time you say that!" retorted Payal huffily. Khushi flashed her a small smile, and Payal took that as permission to hug her Jeeji. "Don't be such a Fussy!" said Payal, reverting to her sister's childhood nickname.
"Go home. I'll see you there," said Khushi.
"Don't destroy the poor bas***d that's stuck in that room waiting for his sentence Fussy!" said Payal, skipping out of the room. Khushi didn't bother answering her sister's plea. She strode out of the room a minute after her sister left, heading to the conference room where he was captive.
The click-click-click of her high heels on the floor alerted him to her approach. He sat up straight in the chair, not wanting to look tired or scared in her presence. Truth to be told, he was a little bit of both. She flung the door open loudly and he started a little. She smiled grimly. He was rattled and she knew it. She perched herself on the chair opposite him and crossed her legs. He stared at her stocking encased legs and the deep purple Manolo Blahnik pumps on her feet. They were 2 shades darker than the silk blouse she wore over the black pencil skirt that hit just above her knee. Her hair was up in a tight bun. She wore pearl studs in her ears and a matching strand of pearls around her neck. Her eyes were grey and startlingly light. They stared at him now, her gaze making him uncomfortably hot.
"What is your name?" she asked finally, breaking a silence that had lasted a full 3 minutes.
"How does it matter?" he said defiantly.
"It doesn't. But I'd like to know the name of the person who destroyed 5 years of work and set us back at least 3 anti-cancer drugs that were pretty close to going to clinical trials," she replied calmly.
"Like any of the research you do on animals ever works on human beings," he said scornfully.
"Heard of Gleevec?," she asked, raising one eyebrow.
"No."
"Figures. Ignorance, of course is bliss. Gleevec, also known as Imatinib is one of the most famous success stories in cancer chemotherapy in recent years. It's approved to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia. If you want to know what that is, watch that soap on Star Plus, where one sister has cancer. That's the one. It has single handedly improved cure rates for CML the world over. Would not have been possible with out the help of mice, though why I am bothering to explain this to you, I don't know."
"And is there no other way but to subject innocent animals to your painful tests to find cures for diseases?" he asked.
"You know a better way? Scientists have been grappling with these problems for years. You want to solve the world's animal ethics issues at one go? Go right ahead. I'm with you. I love animals as much as anyone else. Find me a better way and I'll adopt it."
"That's not my job," he said sulkily.
"No. Your job is to vandalize and destroy other people's property. Destroy years of painstaking research. Set us back by years of time and millions of dollars. That's what you have done today, you fool!" she said, now getting worked up.
"So, send me to jail. Why have you kept me here?" he asked.
"Because I need to teach you a lesson. You and your vigilante buddies who think it's so easy to let animals out of cages. Do you know what happened to the animals you released, by the way?" she spat angrily. "The ones that made it out alive of the facility are probably dead by now because they've never lived in the wild. These mice were born and bred in the lab. They have no survival skills to help them make it in the wild." He didn't respond to this speech, except to look away disdainfully.
She walked up to him and placed her hands on the handles of the chair he was sitting on and leaned in close. He could smell the spicy, edgy Caron Poivre she favored for daily wear. "What is your name?" she asked again, very softly.
"Arnav," he replied this time.
"Arnav who has no last name?" she asked. His eyes flashed anger for a brief second before he responded calmly. "Arnav Singh Raizada," he said.
"OK, Arnav Singh Raizada. You can go home tomorrow morning. Until then, enjoy the hospitality of my security staff," said Khushi, leaning back and standing up.
"What do you mean go home tomorrow? You have no business holding me here against my will. Hand me over to the police now!" he said angrily.
"But I don't want to. I want to keep you here tonight. You see, on my way here, I bumped into your friends. They told me a nice little story. Apparently it's your sister's wedding anniversary today and there is a party at home. The least I can do in return for you causing me to lose millions of dollars is cause you to miss one lousy party. Enjoy, Mr.Raizada!" she said, turning on her heel.
"Please!" he said. She turned back to look at him. He looked extremely angry.
"Say that again," she said softly.
"Please let me go. My Di will be waiting for me tonight. It's important that I be there."
"If you apologize, I might think about it," she said, thrusting her hands into the pockets of her skirt.
"I. I..I'm sorry," he spat out finally, not sounding sorry at all.
"Too bad you didn't mean it. Enjoy your evening Mr.Raizada. Ciao," she said, walking out of the room. The guards locked it behind her and she heard him fling a chair across the room in anger.
"Let him go at 8am tomorrow morning. Not before then," she told the guards. "I don't care if he breaks the room down."
Khushi Gupta walked out of the 12 storey building that comprised Gupta Laboratories, and into her waiting Mercedes. "Ghar chalo Raju Chacha," she said, closing her eyes and leaning back. 2 tears trickled down her cheeks. One act of vandalism had practically destroyed everything she had worked for.
So, any thoughts? Do you like the concept? Let me know. Like Arnavji, I'm waiting. *crooked smile*
Cheers!
Maxine
All updates after chapter 10 are on my blog. For details, please see this.
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