Every Flame

19 | gamble

Kabir clicked his tongue, clearly unhappy with the response. "Well, in that case, a very capable CBI officer belonging to that very family ended up catching the perpetrator."

"If we are diving into the emotional aspect of it, I don't think it is easy to choose truth over family. Also, the loss is inevitable if we pull out from this partnership," Meher chimed in, supporting Kabir.

Mr. Ranavat scoffed at her. "What gives you the right to speak about business when you have little to zero experience? Studying in an Ivy League and sitting in a board meeting just because you own some shares that have been given to you on a golden platter doesn't make you a business expert."

Kabir was not expecting the meeting to go in this direction. Well, in every corporate space, there was that one person who had the potential to ruin a thing. But Mr. Ranavat was kind of a frustrated old man who didn't really have a position of power and hence tried to pull people down with his antics.

Meher rolled her eyes at his antics. "I know I am a product of nepotism, thank you very much for the reminder, Mr. Ranavat. About my capabilities, too bad I don't believe in smacking my degrees on someone's face. My work will speak for itself."

"Meher!" Vikas chided her, his eyes growing bigger. Meher shrugged, pushing the chair back and got up. She collected her things from the table and proudly made her way towards the door. Before she stepped out, she looked back at her father. "He was asking for it," the door closed behind her and an awkward silence fell inside the boardroom.

Akash cleared his throat as he turned to Mr. Ranavat. "We really apologise from her side," he said, not even meaning a single word. "You know how kids are these days."

Kabir tried to hide his smile as he watched his father's insincere apology. Some people don't deserve respect, they should be simply used for their benefit.

Mr. Ranavat, in a fit of rage, stormed out of the board room. Another beat of silence fell, this time more comfortable. Slowly, everyone sauntered out of the board room, leaving Akash, Vikas and Kabir behind. Vikas walked up to Kabir and gives him a fatherly pat on his shoulder. "You and Meher would make a good team." Kabir, looking at him, was perplexed as to what made Vikas deduce that from this entire ordeal.

"Yes," Akash chimed in, agreeing with his best friend. "That was one great camaraderie." Kabir didn't say anything and he made his way out of the boardroom.

Akash sighed. Vikas walked over to him and patted his shoulder, comforting him.

Some things were still left to be settled.

*   *   *

Meher walked inside the washroom, panting as she was agitated over what had happened in the boardroom. No one had the right to speak to her in that way and she was glad that she put him in place, whatever his age was, she didn't give a damn.

He totally deserved it.

Nowadays, people valued wasting their money on weird things rather than appreciating natural talent.

Meher stood in the mirror, watching herself. Her hair was tucked in a loose bun, with strands coming out from the sides. Since today was a Friday, she was dressed in a casual formal as she was getting prepared for the weekend.

But the thing that caught her eye was her own face. Beneath that makeup, there was a tired face, bags under her eyes with worry lines on her forehead which only reminded her of the work pressure.

After spending two weeks in the hospital, she was discharged and stayed at home for a week. She just started to go to the office earlier this week and things had already been hectic. Just being the daughter of Vikas Mathur didn't help, her boss wasn't fond of favouring her. He had made it clear— till the time she was working under him, she would be treated like any other office employee, which meant gadha mazduri. And not only that, she and Kabir had started hanging out more, to give a little tease to the public and as well to their family.