Unsaid, Undone.

-THE AFTERSHOCKS-

The fragrance of fresh kebabs and other delicious finger foods filled the air. Mihir gazed at his non-alcoholic beverage aimlessly, the virgin mojito was much too sweet for his tongue; but he allowed himself a sip every couple of seconds. It was calming his nerves; surprisingly.

After the official announcements of the Conference had ended, all guests had been ushered into a classy banquet hall in the same five star property that was hosting the event. Here too, a big group of media folks gathered around Mr. Mukherjee and Mr. Jaiswal. The men stood side by side, a glass of scotch in hand and a practiced, professional smile on their faces as they answered all questions posed their way.

Mihir had bumped into Mr. Jaiswal in the men's room about fifty minutes before. The man had been taking a pill of sorts, looking flushed like a bright red tomato. Mihir had almost walked away; trying his best to mind his own business; but the trembling palms of a man almost the age of his Father had made him stop.

"BP tablets." Mr. Jaiswal had explained through a sweating and trembling fit.

Mihir knew better than to ask anything more personal.

"Can I get you something, Sir?" he'd queried instead.

Mr. Jaiswal had looked here and there. "Guide me to that seat there son, will you?"

Son.

"Sure."

He'd given the old man a hand, and helped him sit on the plush sofa inside the men's room. His manners had made him linger an extra moment as the man had taken his required tablet. About five to seven minutes later, the colour on his face had returned and his breathing had grown steadier.

"Say, which company are you representing young man?"

"I'm from SENSES, Sir."

Mr. Jaiswal had smiled. "Ganguly! I know him personally. He's here too?"

It had annoyed Mihir to think that this man had invested into an industry that had been ruled by the Gangulys' not more than a year ago; and had the nerve to ask a question such as that one. How could there be a Designers' Convention in India without either one of the Gangulys' being present? Mr. and Mrs. Ganguly had more knowledge on the subject of home décor business than any other company in the country!

Cocky, conceited ass! He'd muttered in his head.

"Yes, Sir."

Mr. Jaiswal's phone had pinged then, which he'd received immediately; resorting to ignore Mihir's presence.

What a typical rich prick! Use someone like toilet paper.

I wonder if his son is this despicable too.

Mihir had started to make a move; not wanting to be anywhere near the man. He'd almost left the washroom when he'd caught onto words that had made him stop.

"What do you mean he's GONE, Steve? I told you explicitly that I want him back here. I just announced the merger today for Heaven's sake!"

Silence had filled the air. Against the bathroom mirror, Mihir had watched Mr. Jaiswal's reflection take ragged breaths again, his face turning red.

"Listen to me Steve, and you listen to me carefully. You tell-" He'd paused, storming up to the bathroom stalls. He'd checked every single one of them before lashing into the phone, "- You tell Vedant to stop acting like he can do anything he wants! I told you two to be DISCRETE. You hear me?"

Mihir had felt his heartbeat quicken at the entire scene before him. What on Earth was happening?

"That is MY problem, NOT yours. I will drag Mukherjee's daughter into this if I must but I will not let his...his DALLIANCE mess up my merger!"

For someone with a heart so weak, he sure knew how to intimidate someone with his voice.

How he'd wished he could hear further, but Mr. Jaiswal had hung up on the phone by then. Mihir had had no choice but to leave the washroom immediately. The last thing he needed was to be caught eavesdropping on the star of the evening's telephonic conversation.

So...the billionaire industrialist and his son were not on good terms; the old man's popping BP tablets like tick-tack had a lot to do with his MIA son.

And somewhere, somehow, Adrija fit into everything.

Now the question was, if she knew about it or not.

***

Early the next morning, Aditi was standing before the kitchen stove; feeling strong enough to attempt making her first cup of tea since after the delivery. Normal deliveries allowed quicker healing of the body, but hers had been a slightly more complicated pregnancy than others.

Three months into it, she'd tripped on her way down a flight of stairs. She'd avoided a miscarriage by a whisker; but the complications had followed. They began with a shooting pain down her back, a throb in the waist and a general weakness.

By the time her baby bump had started to show, Aditi was barely ever in the state of walking freely; and nausea had become very normal for all her days.

Today was different though, for the first time in months, she was feeling comfortable again. The hot water began to bubble before her eyes, as she raised her arm to retrieve the box of her favourite tea leaves. In the months that she'd been indisposed, both Dev and her in-laws had tried their best to get her everything they could; including the tea she found most relaxing; but none of it tasted good to her. That was a problem she suffered; her tea just had to be her way.

A couple of seconds later, she felt a presence behind her. Dev pressed his lips on the top of her head, his arms wrapping around her waist from the back.

"I've missed this sight." He whispered, breathing against her hair.

Aditi touched his palms wrapped around her waist with a smile, "Good Morning."

He let out a yawn, "Morning."

And just like that, he was walking off towards the newspaper. Aditi continued focussing on the tea, pouring it into two cups.

"Aditi!" Dev called out suddenly, a weird anxiety in his voice.

"What happened?" she asked, eying the tray doubtfully.

He was already standing before her, his eyes trained on hers. "Look at this."

It was the newspaper headline-

YOGESH SHAH'S HOME N HEARTH FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY, TO CLOSE 46 OUTLETS

The news came as a shocker. It felt like yesterday when Aditi had just joined SENSES, when Home N Hearth and SENSES had fought for the top rank in the list of designing firms of the country year after year after year. And now?

Now there was an unexpectedly high budget merger that was interfering with the share prices of other firms in the market and SENSES' biggest rival was getting liquidated! Would SENSES be next? And...and selfishly enough, could CUPS AND CARPETS be on the list too?