Corporate Affairs! #wattys2016

The First day

Ankit felt the chair. He moved his hands on the beautiful smooth mahogany wood. He sighed. He was always in awe of this seat. His father used to sit on it. Now the time has come for him to ascend to this position. He slowly walked around the massive table in front of the seat. It was a beautiful piece of furniture. The gold and silver plates on the table top made it look so royal. His hands naturally moved across the furniture. He liked it. He always liked it. Now after his father's demise, he was the only one left to run this company. Ankit had a nagging doubt in his head on whether he was ready or not. He was barely 25 years old. Was he capable enough? Well he would soon know. His father had always believed in him and his abilities.

The door to the room opened. Two men entered the room. Both dressed impeccably and immaculately.

"Welcome sir, Welcome! This is indeed a proud moment for us. We have been waiting for you for some time now. How do you like your new office sir?" He talked with a perfect smooth voice. The bow tie on his collar looked perfect with his blue suit. Mr. Siddique was tall, lean and non assuming. Ankit knew him. He was the principle secretary to his Father. The potential knowledge bank to this company. Ankit considered him as just a high paid butler. With him was Mr. Singhania. With such a royal name you would expect a man to be tall with big broad shoulders. Instead you would be greeted with a short stout man and a double chin. His hands made a noise with his sides as he walked.

Ankit smiled. "It looks fantastic."

"Your father had taste and he had an excellent eye for exquisite furniture. This office room was personally designed by him." Mr. Siddique said.

"Its magnificent." Ankit said as he moved to sit on his father's chair.

"My dear sir, it suits you perfectly. Its almost as if we are looking at Senior Mr. Shrivastav. Isn't it Singhania?"Mr.Siddique said as he nudged Mr.Singhania.

Mr.Singhania nodded his head. It looked more like a bobble head nodding his head.

"Sir you look amazing. Its an honour to be working under you." Mr. Singhania said.

"Sir, I apologise to you but we have a very important issue to discuss with you. And we would value your opinion and your valuable suggestion to it." Mr. Siddique said as he sat on the chair in front of the massive mahogany table. He put the files on the desk and straightened his bow tie. Mr. Singhania sat beside him. Ankit could only see the head of Mr. Singhania from where he was sitting.

Straight down to business, Ankit thought. Not a remorse for his fathers death two months ago. Well some people move on faster than others, he thought.

"Sir, have you seen our shares? They are falling and if they are not stopped, our total valuation would decrease. It has been like this since the death of...., I beg your pardon sir, may we offer our deepest condolences again." Mr. Siddique said.

"No no, its fine. Go on. I know about the shares. Please continue." Ankit said.

"Yes sir. It has been on a steady downward spiral. We have to stop the slide before it assumes the size of an avalanche. Also, the stock prices of our main competitor, Significo Industries, are rising. We should stop that."

"I am sorry. How can we stop the stock price rise of our competitor?"

Mr. Siddique smiled and casually jerked his head in an all knowing manner.

"Sir, It is my humble opinion that we put a spy in that company who could siphon off all the valuable information from them to us. That would help us in keeping one or two steps ahead of them. Also, we can sabotage some of their efforts in taking the number one position in the market."

"What? A spy? In their company? This is not war Siddique. This is business." Ankit said. His voice had risen. The very thought of putting a spy had made him cringe.

Mr. Siddique smiled again. "But sir, business is war." He slowly slammed both his hands on the table.

"We are at war sir. I know how this sounds to you but I assure you that this would be the right decision. We need to act now and swiftly. I completely have faith in you sir in taking the right decision as your father had taken all these years."

"You are saying that we put a spy?" Ankit repeated. Mr. Siddique nodded, "But how?"

"Aah sir, I was sure you would take the right decision..."

"Siddique, I haven't taken any decision. I wanted to know how?"

Mr.Siddique smiled. "Sir, I have a particular person in my mind. He works for us. Absolutely brilliant chap and a very bright individual."

"What would he do?"

"Well, he resigns for this company then joins Significo. Infiltrate the company. Make friends there. Get valuable info and pass it on to us."

Ankit winced. He didn't like the idea at all. Was this business?

"I have the guy. He is waiting outside. Shall I call him?"

"What? You have the guy?" Ankit uttered in disbelief.

"Sir, I always come prepared."

Shortly a man entered. He was thin to the bone. The clothes that he wore made him look like a dress hangar. But he walked as if he was the most confident person in the whole world. He came in and directly touched Ankit's feet and, much to his disapproval. Ankit literally jumped out of his seat.

"Sir, give me strength and wisdom. I shall succeed in this mission and bring glory to our company." He said.

"His name is Sanjay. You see sir, he is the best. Sanjay, sir has given permission to go ahead for this mission. May the gods be with you." Mr Siddique said as he smiled.

"I most certainly have not. I did not give any permission at all. What nonsense is this?" Ankit shrieked.

"Sir, if you could please calm down. May I assure you that this is most certainly the right decision to take. I have weighed in other options and I found this one the most viable."

Mr. Siddique then made a gesture by his hand indicating Sanjay to leave. Mr. Siddique then got up and along with him Mr. Singhania got up too.

"Well sir, I thank you a lot for your most valuable time. And I assure you again that this was the right thing to do." With that he walked out of the room, leaving Ankit in complete shock. His mouth was open and his feet were raised on the chair.

What the hell just happened, he thought.

Please check the Next Chapter!!! :)