"Woh aag ka lagna baaki hai janab, ab toh do ruthon ko manana hai janab"
~ Author ~
One Month Later
Mumbai, India
It was a time for decisions. So many things had changed since Meher's accident. There was a raging storm in the country after the revelation of the perpetrator of New Year Serial Murders. Companies were holding out their board meetings, investors were pulling out, and it was a mess because every single company who were related to them in some way were facing the consequences.
It was a tough time for the Marigold Group.
A board meeting was held by the AV Group as well, discussing their future with the Marigold Group. Meher, who had almost recovered from her injuries, sat in the furthest corner of the room, listening to the arguments between the board members.
Kabir too was silent during the entire exchange. According to him, the board was going dramatic as if the Marigold was going bankrupt. Though it's a difficult situation, there won't be a situation of bankruptcy for at least the next few generations.
Kabir looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. He was supposed to meet with Anika Tyagi and Naresh Agarwal regarding the future of their investments and business ties.
No, he wasn't going to pull out of their partnership. The Agarwals— though their family might be twisted, had a strong sense of responsibility towards their hotel. It was indeed the best. Though the trust might have shaken, it was also restored in some way due to a certain Agarwal.
"I don't agree with this," one of the board members said, "don't you see the fall in the shares of the Marigold group?"
A sigh from one side of the room drew everyone's attention. It was Kabir. Meher looked at him too, he looked clearly very annoyed by the situation.
"You have anything to say, Kabir?" Vikas asks him, feeling that he might want to add something relevant. Meher straightened herself and turned her chair towards the crowd. She was suddenly very interested in what he had to say.
"A fool will decide to back out from the partnership," he said, casually leaning back on his chair.
Mr. Ranavat, one of the board members who were in favour of cutting ties with the Marigold Group was utterly astonished by Kabir's answer. "And why is that?"
"I don't think you watch the news, Mr. Ranavat," he tsked, making Meher scoff at his antics. "The shares prices of the company have dropped significantly, but now if you look recently, it is gaining momentum. They have a strong backing and have been in this business before anyone of us. Don't you think we will be calling for war by pulling out from this partnership?"
Mr. Ranavat looked utterly unsatisfied with his answer. In fact, he was enraged. "Their family is associated with a serial killer," the air tensed suddenly as the words flew out of his mouth. Though everyone knew what had happened, none of them had dared to speak about it.
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.
It was very hard to lie.
She opened the tap and splashed water on her face, over and over again. Taking out a few tissues from the tissue box, she wiped her face clean and threw the used tissue in the dustbin.
Meher looked at her image again. You need to get yourself together, something that her mind constantly reminded her, she needed to keep going.
So she did what was required. Kept her face up and strutted out of the washroom to get back to her work.
* * *
Kabir loosened his tie the moment he got back to his cabin. He slumped on the couch and took a deep breath. The events from the day had gotten him tired.
Anika Tyagi was a shrewd personality. The meeting with the Agarwals went terribly and in the end, he ended up negotiating according to their terms. She had more experience, hence she held an upper hand over him every time he made a point.
Someone once said beggars can't be choosers. Sadly, the Agarwals weren't beggars. They held equal status as them and that's what made things difficult. Even after a huge blow, their mountain sized ego hadn't toned down yet.
They better make the investment worth it otherwise he would come after them.
"What's my schedule for the rest of the day?" His question was directed to his secretary, who immediately opened the iPad and started looking for the pending work.
"You need to decide the budget for the Prayagraj Court project. They want to start immediately after the budget is sanctioned by you and the board," Aanchal said, scrolling down on the screen looking for more work. "The incentives for the automobile sector have to be decided and," she paused looking for more information, "last but not the least, you have an interview scheduled with our PR team. You're going to feature on the cover of our fashion magazine this month, Bedazzled."
Kabir's ears perked at the last task. "Who's doing the interview?"
"Rysa Khatri, she's our top journalist and the finest in the AV Media," Aanchal informed.
"Scrap her, I want to be interviewed by Meher Mathur."
"But Sir, Meher Ma'am is under training," she, displeased at her boss's change of plans, tried to reason.
"So?" He gave her a pointed look. Aanchal wanted to protest but his warning look made her do otherwise. "I will relay the message," she quietly left the room and as she came out, she covered her mouth with her hand and screamed, venting out her frustration with her boss.
"Woah, is that anger?" Aryan's amused voice startled Aanchal which made her drop the iPad. Aryan rolled his lips inwards to stifle a laugh that was bubbling up his throat. He walked over to her and bent down to pick up the iPad.
Aanchal snatched the iPad from his hand and ran past him, tripping twice. Aryan couldn't stop but laugh at her antics and then went to his brother.
"Hey!" Kabir's tired voice greeted him as he entered. Aryan smiled at him and gave him a wave before he sat beside him on the couch.
"I need to buy a ring for Meher," Aryan had just taken a breather only to whip his head towards his elder brother in shock.
"Bhai!" He almost screamed, mentally face palming over his brother's suddenness.
"What?" Kabir shrugged nonchalantly, not a cent bothered about his brother's exaggerated reaction.
"Itni jaldi?!" Aryan had no idea that they were planning to get married this soon. He had thought that maybe, just maybe the thought of this marriage would dissolve and he wouldn't have to draft the contract.
"You better draft the contract and send us at the earliest," Kabir added and Aryan felt like it was a defeat. Marriage should be out of love and not by a deal.
Both Meher and Kabir were dear to him. Watching them ruin their lives just like that bothered him to death. Kabir had a rough idea of why Aryan was stalling the time to draft the contract.
He was not going to change his mind. So did Meher.
"What will be the story?" Aryan finally gave in, tired of trying to protest as he knew nothing good was going to come out of it.
Kabir tipped his chin with his finger as he leaned back, thinking over. "Meher and I came up with two ideas— one is that we were already dating each other while she was in the US and it has been like a little less than six months and the second is, arranged marriage."
Aryan, befuddled by his words, wanted him to elaborate. He nudged his knee, asking him to go on.
"Meher isn't really keen on lying to our parents about the fake love story," Kabir said as he recalled a conversation he had with Meher over this issue. "We think we can say that for a long time, we wanted to settle down since we felt like it was time to get married. So when I asked her for marriage, we found each other having the same thoughts. She took her time to think about it and we met a few times before she made her decision."
"You guys have really thought this through," Aryan was not really hoping that they were that serious about marrying each other since they were always at loggerheads. Although, he did agree that narrating a fake love story would raise some eyebrows, especially of his twin. Arya always knew a little more than him because she and Meher were more close. Also, Arya knew that Meher and Kabir did not get along.
"As I said, we are not backing out," he said with finality.
"But you don't love Meher,"
"You cannot always have what you want, Aryan," Aryan's words were a bitter reminder of the harsh reality, he was living a life without love. He had never wished for that. "What Meher and I are doing feels right because it's been a while since we have desperately wanted something. Maybe this will help us breathe."
Aryan realised that Kabir knew. He knew about Meher's past and that's the reason why he was so keen on marrying her and not anyone else.
Because marrying Meher wouldn't bring expectations. Kabir Raizada did not have to break someone's heart. This moved Aryan's heart for a tiny moment. Maybe, he could try to be supportive of the two.
"Still, there must be something that made you want to marry her," Aryan, even though he understood the insinuation behind Kabir's words, did not ask him to elaborate. He knew that his brother was smarter and knew better than him.
"One thing that Meher and I have in common is the passion that we hold towards the company, it's the trust that I have in her that wouldn't defeat me in the quest to get that position." In personal life, he had no trust in Meher. She had fucked that up for them. But professionally, it was the complete opposite.
Aryan tsked, still not very pleased by the explanation. He was a lawyer and he should have no emotional connection with his clients but this was his brother and his best friend. He could not just sit and watch them make fun of a relationship that was supposed to be so pious.
"Okay," he said, getting up. Kabir watched him with a little unease, he was almost sure that Aryan had something on his mind.
"You do you and I will do what would be the best for you both," the corner of his mouth tilted upwards, something was cooking up in his wicked brain.
"I don't understand," the uneasiness grew as Kabir felt his Aryan's silence bothersome.
"This means that I will draft the contract up for you and I will make sure that you and Meher fall head over heels for each other," Aryan said with a proud smile which made Kabir scoff at his mid year resolution.
"In your dreams," he mocked. "How are you going to do that? Send us on honeymoon or get us stranded in the middle of nowhere? You won't be successful. You cannot be any more discreet about your plans."
Aryan smirked, mentally laughing at his brother's petty attempt to fight. "Sorry to break your bubble, Bhai but being discreet is my talent. I will do it and you won't even know it." He leaned over, his face on the level with Kabir.
"The challenge is on."
Took me ages to complete this one. Between assignments, travelling and exams, I had so much trouble writing this one up. Anywhoo, Aryan is going to play the love matchmaker for Kabir and Meher. Isn't that cool?
How did you find this chapter?
This is a slow burn I believe you've understood by now. So many times you might be frustrated why things are not happening between the two but hey! The marriage is happening really veryyy soon so more to come!
Please let me know your views on this chapter.
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With Love,
Akii.