Chapter 9

There was a resigned silence in the room and Aryan felt compelled to look at Vikram.

"What I am saying might sound harsh to you, but it's perfectly valid to me Mr Mathur." He felt compelled to add the explanation.

"I understand, as you say I am nothing but the third person in that context. And I would never impose myself on anyone in this matter. As I said, it is entirely up to you." Vikram reiterated.

Aryan still looked very much uncomfortable and ready to bolt out of the room at the first given opportunity.

Vikram chose to calm the fears of the protective and anguish ridden Raj Singh first.

"Raj Ji I totally understand how difficult this must be for you too. When I asked my wife to become the Acting CEO of this company, I had not foreseen what just happened. And since I created this mess, I thought I must be the one to fix it as well, and straight away arranged this meeting between us. In fact, Chandni doesn't even know that I am here and talking to you both about this. But Sir, you are elder to me. As the previous owner of the organisation, with such vast experience, you might have come across many conflict ridden situations like this. Please advise me on this. Apart from these two burying their past and trying to work together, what other alternatives have we got, and where do we go from here? I am all ears."

Raj Singh took his time to answer him but when he spoke, he was much calmer.

"Vikram Ji, please don't take my advice in the wrong spirit, but it would be better if we find a permanent CEO for Synergy as soon as we can. I mean, we have to be more aggressive in our efforts to find a suitable CEO for this company. Perhaps we should advertise in all Media rather than limit ourselves to the traditional recruiting agency process, and try through our known networks as well. Till that time, I am sure Aryan will do his best, to maintain a professional relationship with Chandni. He gave me his word on this, and I know Aryan very well. Once he gives his word, he will honour it no matter what. Contrary to what people think of him, his ethical and professional standards are nothing less than ideal, and once he commits to something, he will see it through the end, sometimes even at a terrible cost to himself."

Vikram understood that Raj Singh was trying to dispel any doubts and prejudices that he still had about Aryan's character, owing to his past relationship with Chandni or his present reputation in the office. And he proceeded to dispel the elderly gentleman’s fears straight away.

"Absolutely, I will double my efforts in the talent hunt. But I always believe that finding the right person is most essential, hence the delay." Vikram assured him, and went on “Raj Ji! I have always wanted to meet Aryan ever since I heard so much about him from a worldly and experienced man like you, as to how he was the brains behind most of the recent products in Synergy. I respect the intellect in a man than his personality or reputation. In fact, from what I heard of Aryan from other sources, I am just glad that he hasn't thrown a punch at me or shouted at me so far." Vikram chuckled, as he observed Aryan keenly.

"And from what I heard of you, you should have pointed your gun at me by now for my behaviour yesterday. You must know this better than anyone by now...Reputation is nothing but talk." Aryan was quick to retort.

Vikram laughed loudly at Aryan's frank analysis.

"So right you are Aryan! Reputation is nothing but talk. That is why no matter what people tell me, I don't form any opinion on someone, unless I personally meet them. And once I have them in my sight and like them, they find it really hard to get rid of me. So, I am afraid you are stuck with me right now! Hey!! where's my gun by the way!!" He looked around and under the table.

Vikram's mock acting helped reduce the thick tension in the room a little.

Raj Singh was watching the interaction between Vikram and Aryan with a keen eye and wondered when he had seen Aryan react so spontaneously to a stranger before. The Aryan he knew always had his walls up against anyone, except with family members like him and few very close friends. He was casually friendly and got along with everyone, but no one could say what exactly was going on in Aryan's mind. He always preferred to keep his true personality to himself.

It looked like Vikram was able to break in to those walls and get Aryan react and talk to him the way he does naturally, without inhibitions.

"Aryan! You will not hear from me or see me much after today, because I don't micro manage my companies. I chose the best qualified people and trust them to do their job properly. So, before you get tempted either to run away, or shoo me away from here..."

"Oh no... nothing like that Mr Mathur." Aryan said guiltily, as they were exactly the thoughts that were going on in his mind.

"Call me Vikram, Aryan... whenever you are ready." Vikram asked softly.

Instead of refusing his request bluntly, Aryan tried to explain his position more subtly.

"I truly wish we had met in different circumstances or were connected to each other in a purely professional manner. I am generally not this grumpy or rude to anyone, trust me. All I am interested in, is to see Synergy grow more under your leadership. My Kaka wants to put his boots up, much against everyone's wishes here and he has locked me into this company forever so cleverly. I know that I am good at what I do, but marketing them, pitching them to the Army with your contacts and influence is your forte, and I am sure we will see a great improvement in our sales figures. Now if there is nothing else for me to discuss here, I have to finish the prototype I am working on, so that I can finish it in time for the tender submission." Aryan said calmly, hoping he will be excused from there without hurting anyone's feelings.

"Please go. I won't hold you back anymore. Actually, I just remembered. I know someone, a close friend of mine in the Army who will be overseeing the purchase of those gadgets that we have submitted a tender for last week. I want you to meet him. I will check with him when he will be in Mumbai next, and arrange the meeting. Are you Okay with that? It is up to you to show him how our model is technically better than our competitors."

"Of course, Sir. Just tell me when and where, and I will be very happy to meet your friend. I will make a presentation ready as well." Aryan replied enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit. Raj Singh ji, I know you want to stay away from all this and live peacefully, but I want to trouble you too to join Aryan in that meeting. Because we will be dealing with this guy for many of our future products we are going to pitch to the Army, and I want to make the best impression possible. What do you say?" Vikram's asked hopefully, buoyed by the enthusiasm shown by Aryan.

"When it comes to improving Synergy business interests, you can always count me in." Raj Singh said sincerely.

Vikram’s face broke into a relieved smile.

"Now I am going to ask both of you to come to another place for another occasion, which may not be as agreeable to you as this meeting, but I am still going to request it anyway. As you know, we have bought a new home. We are giving a housewarming party next week and I am inviting all the employees of Synergy along with the employees from my other firms in Mumbai to attend and bless our home. I would be really happy if both of you can come too, Raj ji."

Aryan opened his mouth, ready with a quick retort, but Vikram forestalled him.

"Don't say No straight away Aryan. Think about it. There's still a lot of time. Now it time for me to go for another meeting, but I will just say this before I leave. It's always good to leave the past where it belongs, behind us. If we continue to hold on to it, it will ruin our present and future. That's all. Now Gentlemen, I will take my leave, before you really feel tempted to throw me out of this building."

Vikram chuckled at his own joke and left the board room, leaving two very confused and frustrated men, who could not openly refuse or accept his invitation.

***  

By late evening, after all the employees left for the day, Aryan felt at peace finally. The emotional upheaval and the dramatic events took his toll on him and he could barely concentrate on the work he was doing. The model he was working was half way but he wasn't happy with his work at all.

So he started from scratch all over again and worked continuously for the next few hours, his mind and heart fully immersed in his work and before he realised, it was past midnight. As always, he found his work to be his solace.

He made himself another coffee and gave the last finishing touches, before sending the model off to the 3D printer for printing. As he knew it will take almost 2 hours for the print job to finish, he started working on the presentation file that was to be submitted along with it. He was still working on the presentation, before the exhaustion of the long day and night took over and he fell asleep at his desk.

By the time he woke up, it was past 6 am in the morning and his body was stiff with pain from the long hours of work and the uncomfortable position he slept in. He decided to go to the gym in the next block to shake off the lethargy and stiffness.

*****

Chandni arrived nervously at the Synergy Inc. Office. Rashid Chacha dropped her off in front of the building and her eyes quickly scanned for Aryan's car, even though she knew he probably would have left it in the underground parking lot. She felt slightly better after she saw the friendly face of Namrata approaching from the other end. They greeted each other warmly before Namrata said in a gasp.

"Oh Shit!! I forgot my phone in the Car. Mrs Mathur, you please carry on, I will just go, quickly grab the Phone and come later." Namrata said as she hurried back towards her car.

Chandni nodded with a smile and proceeded to the lift. Synergy Inc. was on the 15th floor. Chandni wasn't claustrophobic, but she hated the idea of being stuck in the lift with so many people waiting at the lift. Two lifts came and went and now Chandni was waiting all alone.

She smiled with relief as she entered the third lift and found it to be empty.

She pressed the number 15 and looked at herself in the mirror nervously. Just as the door was about to close, she heard running feet approaching the lift and the doors opened again.

As she turned around, she came face to face with Aryan, looking sweaty and pumped up in a sleeveless T Shirt and Shorts, the gym bag hanging on his broad and rippled shoulders. He looked equally surprised to find her there.

The lift doors closed slowly.

****

A/N

Hello readers,

That lengthy and open talk between Vikram and Aryan was much needed, am I right?

How are you finding the speed or the narrative of Love that lasts so far?  Please share your thoughts and dont forget to vote and rate this book.

Cheers