The Leader_A Mumbai Mafia Romance, page 2
“Sure.” She stepped toward the chairs and sat down feeling a sense of nervousness creep up her spine. He sat in the chair that was less than a few feet from her, his manner very casual.
“Komal, thank you for everything.” He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.
“You are welcome. I did what anyone would have done.”
He smiled, gently shaking his head. “And yet, you were the only one who accompanied me in the ambulance. Thank you.”
She was surprised the man was showing so much gratitude for just accompanying him to the hospital. She hopped into the ambulance because the ambulance was going to take him to the government hospital that was too far away instead of the nearest private hospital because he was involved in an accident, that he caused, and the private hospitals shy away from the liability.
“You are welcome. Hope you are feeling better.” She smiled, her eyes falling onto his arm that was still in a cast and then wandered to the bandage on his temple.
“Much better. I have a few more—"
His words were interrupted by a male voice calling out to Komal. She turned to look at the young man approaching them.
“You are here? I was waiting for you to get coffee.”
Vishwa looked at the young man who seemed to be in his late twenties approach them.
“Hi, Tarun.” Komal’s voice was soft.
Vishwa noticed the immediate shift in her manner. She was uncomfortable around this man.
“Komal, let’s go get coffee,” Tarun urged.
“You go ahead, Tarun. My friend just got here, and we are going for coffee soon.”
The man looked disappointed and looked at Vishwa, annoyed.
Vishwa stood up and held out his hand to him. “I’m Vishwa.”
“I’m Tarun, and I am the managing director of Seth Securities.”
Vishwa shook hands and realized why Komal was uncomfortable around him. The man was her employer, and based on the man’s behavior, it felt like he had a special interest in Komal. The way Tarun’s eyes were locked in on her face made something tick inside Vishwa. He did not like the way the man looked at her.
“Tarun, it was good to meet you. Komal, ready for coffee?”
Komal nodded, and Tarun looked unhappy. “You always have some excuse. It is either a case or those women colleagues of yours who cannot leave you alone and now a friend.”
“Tarun…” Komal started to say, but the man turned on his heels and left. Vishwa wanted to reach out and turn him around and tell him not to behave that way, with her but he dug his fingers into his palm and stopped himself.
“I need to go now,” Komal said, her voice wavering.
“I thought you were having coffee with your friend,” he said with a smile.
She smiled. “You are not my friend, Mr. Sengupta.”
“Very true, Mrs. Sengupta,” he teased, and she smiled.
“Tarun is the owner’s son, and I try to keep some distance from him.”
“Okay… why the distance from me? Have coffee with me.” He noticed his voice wavered, a novel occurrence.
She smiled. “I don’t have coffee with strangers. Hope you feel better soon.”
“How can I ever repay you for everything you did if you won’t even let me buy you coffee?” Vishwa asked.
“I wasn’t expecting anything back from you when I took you to the hospital. I saw that out- of-control SUV come at us at the wedding, and you crashing into that vehicle saved a lot of lives at the wedding… I happened to see that, but no one else did.” Her voice was firm.
“I don’t like feeling indebted.”
“You are not, Mr. Vishwa. This is what I told your friend when he offered me a check at the hospital.”
Vishwa looked at her as she waited for him to respond, and when he didn’t say anything, she gave him a goodbye smile and walked away from him. He watched her walk away, a plan formulating in his mind.
*****
A week later…
Komal, as usual, was one of the first ones to arrive at the office. She settled in, and thirty minutes later, there was a lot of commotion which was unusual for that hour. She ignored it as someone coming into the office early to finish a task, but the purposeful footsteps that seemed to be headed her way implied otherwise.
She looked up from her computer, and her eyes clashed with deep brown eyes that sparkled.
“Good morning,” Vishwa said with a smile.
“Good… morning…” Her voice trailed off wondering what Vishwa was doing at her desk and how he made it past security and the doors that needed special access.
“Are you always here before everyone else?” He sounded casual and unaffected by her surprised look as he settled into a nearby chair.
“Mr. Sengupta, how did you get in, and why are you here?”
“Komal, the name is Vishwa, and I am here because I work here.”
“Oh… when did you start?”
“Today… I start work today.” He smiled making her suspect something was off.
“Whose team are you on?”
“I’m not sure yet. Nanda will tell me when he gets here.” His tone was casual, but his eyes held something deeper.
“Nanda… your friend?” She scrunched her nose.
“Yes, my friend and now my boss… your boss, too.”
“Mr. Seth…”
“Seth Securities is now Nanda Securities. Nanda has been looking to get into the security business for a long time and made Mr. Seth an offer he couldn’t decline. I pulled in a favor and asked him for a job.”
“Oh…”
He leaned closer to her, his muskiness filling her nostrils. His voice was a whisper, “Don’t tell anyone about the deal.”
She shook her head slowly and watched him stand up. “Good to see you. I’ll see you later today… for coffee?”
“I don’t know. I may have a meeting in the afternoon.
“Ok, let me know if you are free.” He flashed her a smile before turning away and walking to the other end of the open area and into an office with glass walls. She stared blankly at the expanse of his wide chest as he walked away from her unable to process what he had told her about Mr. Seth selling the security company and not a single person finding out about it. Komal lowered her eyes back to the computer screen, her mind full of questions.
An hour passed, and she could still hear him on the phone behind closed doors, and when people started pouring in, one after the other, everyone found out about the acquisition, and she could hear nervous murmuring around her.
She tuned out the hushed conversations until a sudden silence fell over the entire floor. The owner and the chairman of the security company walked in slowly and stopped midpoint in the open work area.
“Good morning, everyone. As of today, Seth Securities is being re-branded as Nanda Securities, and Mr. Goutham Nanda will be the Chairman of the company. Mr. Nanda has promised not to change any of the structure or divisions and has promised to create more opportunities for you. More opportunities by merging with a private investigation company based in Las Vegas which is partly owned by Mr. Nanda. I thank you all for your dedication and hard work and urge you to keep up the reputation of our company now known as Nanda Securities.”
Komal looked at the man who was their new head as he smiled at everyone as people applauded, but her eyes wandered to the man standing behind their new boss. Vishwa was a good half a foot taller than everyone who stood in front of him. Mr. Nanda started addressing the group that was gathered, but she was distracted by the command in Vishwa’s expression and stance.
It wasn’t just Vishwa’s rugged structure that made him stand out in the group of men, but the way he looked at everyone who was gathered and listening to Mr. Nanda address them. She saw the confidence in Vishwa that none of the other men standing around him had—his chin held high, his lips pursed together, and there was an intensity in his deep eyes.
Her eyes were on him, studying his expression, his chiseled features, and so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize he was staring right back at her. She broke their gaze when he gave her a slight smile. She smiled back feeling embarrassed that she was caught studying him.
After the brief meeting, everyone went back to their usual tasks, and the only change was that Vishwa settled into the space that was once Tarun’s office. Every time she looked up, she saw him through the glass walls as he spoke on the phone pacing the length of the office.
Nanda was in what was Mr. Seth’s old office in a meeting with Mr. Seth when Tarun stormed into the office. He had been away for the past few days on vacation, and he looked unhappy. He barged into the office where his father and Mr. Nanda were talking and started yelling at both men.
The open-floor-office setup gave full access for everyone to view everything going on in the two offices even if they couldn’t hear what was being said. Tarun seemed outraged as he yelled at the top of his voice waving his hands in the air. Komal watched as Vishwa ended the call he was on and purposefully walked into the office next door.
She could see the silence fall into the room as soon as Tarun saw Vishwa step into the office. Vishwa looked at Tarun in silence, his hand dug deep into his dress pants pocket. After a long staring war, Vishwa sat in the chair next to Mr. Seth and gestured Tarun to take a seat.
Tarun refused to sit down and glared at the man who entered his father’s old office. She looked at the men exchange heated glares, and unexpectedly, Tarun turned to look in her direction and caught her, along with her colleagues, staring into the office rooms.
All heads dipped below the cubicle walls when Tarun kept looking in her direction, and she stared back trying to understand why Tarun was looking at her. She felt the blood leave her face when she realized she had introduced Vishwa as her friend a week ago, and he was the one now commanding Tarun.
Shit!!
Chapter 3
Komal got up from her desk unable to deal with the angry stares the men were giving each other as they spoke behind the glass walls of the office. She walked away from the office area toward the decent-size break room on the same floor as people continued to murmur their versions of the conversations that could be happening inside the offices.
For that time of the day, it was empty, and she sat at one of the corner tables and took a deep breath. Everything around her seemed to be moving at sonic speed, and she felt helpless. An odd feeling settled in her when she realized there were too many things happening around her that somehow felt related to her but couldn’t figure out how or why.
Komal sat in the small break room enjoying the solitude and didn’t realize it had been almost thirty minutes since she left her desk. She stood up and walked over to the water fountain for a drink of water. She was gulping down the water enjoying the cold liquid flow down her throat when she heard footsteps behind her.
She turned around to find Tarun standing only a few feet from her, and he still looked upset.
“Hello, Tarun.” Her tone was calm.
“What is going on?” He took an intimidating step toward her, but she held her ground.
“Tarun. I know about as much as everyone else knows.”
When he looked at her in silence, she stepped away and started to leave. She stopped just before the doorway when she heard her name.
“Why is he here?” He gritted.
She turned to look at him. “Who?”
“What is your friend doing here, and why is he calling the shots?”
She looked at him in silence trying to formulate a reasonable response, and the silence seemed to aggravate him. He huffed and took a step closer and stopped short searing her with his glare.
Komal’s breath hitched in surprise when she felt movement behind her. A moment later, a tall figure walked and stood in front her, his broad back blocking Tarun out of her view.
“Mr. Seth, you were supposed to leave the premises. Let me remind you, this area is only for employees.”
“What do you want? This was supposed to be my company, and how did you magically buy my company?”
“This was your father’s company and now, Nanda owns the company.” Vishwa’s voice was cold.
“You think I’m stupid not to see who is behind this and why?” Tarun growled.
“Why?” Komal heard amusement in Vishwa’s voice.
“I don’t have time to talk to you, I need to talk to Komal,” Tarun’s voice blared in the empty break room.
Vishwa turned and lowered his eyes to hers for a moment and turned away to look at Tarun. “I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”
“Who are you to speak for her?” Tarun barked.
“I’m her fiancée,” Vishwa bluntly stated. Komal let out an inaudible gasp at his blatant lie but couldn’t get herself to react before Tarun stormed out of the room without another look at her.
“What was that? Why did you say you were my fiancée?” she growled as he turned to look at her.
“You are welcome!”
“Please stop this nonsense.” She was annoyed by the overwhelming sequence of events.
“Komal…” he started to say and stopped when she shot darts with her eyes.
She took a deep breath. “Mr. Vishwa, I don’t know what your agenda is here but do not interfere with my work. I didn’t need to be rescued.”
Komal paused expecting him to say something, and when he just looked at her in silence, she turned and left feeling his glare on her back. She went back to the office area which was now beaming with energy. It was as if a switch was flipped, and smiles played on her colleagues’ faces wondering what was causing the commotion.
She leaned over the cubicle wall and whispered to her neighbor, a senior investigator who looked cheerful. “Mr. Bitla, what is going on?”
“Check your email. You will know.” He smiled.
She scrunched her nose and looked at her inbox and an email entitled, ‘Nanda Securities’ caught her eye. She clicked on it with a sense of nervousness growing. The email opened a document with the title ‘Nanda Securities – Employee Benefits.’
She read the list of benefits the new organization was offering to all their employees and blinked unable to believe her eyes. The first benefit that caught her eye was the primary education benefit for employee’s children and the employee health benefits.
“Zoya,” she said under her breath, overwhelmed with happiness. The list of employee benefits felt like they were made for her. She let out a happy gasp when she saw the commute benefits and the overtime pay and the benefits of staying longer. The combination of her new benefits and her work hours, she wouldn’t have to cook another meal for herself allowing her to save up to pay for her own apartment.
She let out a happy squeal when she opened the other attachment. She was getting a twenty percent salary increase and a bonus for every case that is closed within a certain designated timeframe.
“Now you know why everyone is so happy?” Mr. Bitla snorted over the cubicle wall.
“This is unbelievable.” She slapped a hand over her mouth in disbelief.
“Some of us will even have the opportunity to work on a case abroad.” The man in the cubicle next to her said cheerfully. She didn’t care for any other benefits, only the ones that would get Zoya out of her current school and into a good school and a way for her to save to buy her own house where she can feel—safe. Hopefully, a place where she can sleep without having flashes of her past.
She took a deep breath and closed the email, so she could document her investigative report, finding it extremely hard to contain her excitement about leveraging the new benefits.
“Komal, sorry to disturb you. I am going home now. Can you send me the report as soon as you are done?” Her supervisor, Anu, smiled.
Komal couldn’t hide her concern as she looked at the time. It was only three-thirty in the afternoon, and Anu never left before five. “So early? Is everything okay at home?”
“Yes. Everything is great. As per the new policies, we are all allowed to go home early to spend time with family and connect remotely from home to finish our work.”
“What?” Komal looked at her in disbelief.
“Yes, we are allowed to take our laptops home as long as we sign a release and take responsibility for the computer.” Anu smiled.
“This is unbelievable.” Komal shook her head.
“Yes. This is how the benefits are in the company in the United States, and we get the same benefits, too.” Anu looked happy.
“Yeah, this is good. Will the company make money like this?” Komal said sounding skeptical.
“Nanda Securities is part of a bigger company now.”
“Good!”
“Okay, send me that report as soon as you are done. Have a good evening.”
“Have fun with your children.”
“It will be a good surprise for them. I will go to the bus depot to pick them up,” Anu said cheerfully.
“Enjoy.”
“Yeah, and I need to fill out the forms for the education sponsorship for my children’s school.”
“Yes, I need to apply for the sponsorship for Zoya, too.”
Anu hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, “The education program is for employee’s children only.”
“What? Please, Anu, I need it for Zoya.”
“I am sorry, Komal. Mr. Bhaskar asked for his sister’s daughter who lives with them, and the request was denied.” Anu sat in the chair next to Komal’s cubicle and leaned closer. “Zoya is a special case, you should ask Mr. Nanda.”
“Okay, I will ask him,” Komal said and waved to Anu as she left.
An hour later, the entire office was empty. Most of the employees availed the opportunity of working from home and left early. Komal didn’t have anyone to go home to and decided to stick to her schedule. The only people left in the office by the time it was six-thirty were Mr. Nanda, Mr. Vishwa, and Komal, and a handful of people who were wrapping the final details of their reports.
Komal was at her desk debating if she should take the opportunity to talk to the new chairman about the education scholarship for Zoya. Something told her she should wait, but she would have a miserable night if she didn’t ask and get an answer.
