PHOENIX - The Rebirth Of Hope

Chapter 6 : After 3 Years

Samarth moved through the corridors of the building. He turned left and came to stop at a door two blocks away. He opened the door and stepped inside the office. It was the Manager's main office. In less than three years Samarth had somehow become one of the Manager's most trusted and responsible employees with his hard work.

Samarth knocked on the door and was told to come in. He found himself in a room as white as the whole building. Mostly everything was white from a white painted mahogany desk to the rich pristine rugs. There were some glass corners attached to the walls with some trophies and other confidential files, a white cup used as a pen stand as well as a locket, its chain dangling down.

The desk was mostly empty with only a laptop and some paper kept at the corners, neatly arranged in a stack.

The white walls surrounded them. Opposite the main door was a glass wall. It showed the city and had a beautiful way of capturing the sunset and sunrise.

As Samarth entered, the Manager was standing in front of the glass looking outside at all the tiny people and cars clogging the roads.

"Sir?" Samarth said, shuffling from feet to feet.

The Manager finally turned with a small sigh that didn't escape Samarth. The Manager had grown older and every inch of his hair was white and every inch of his face was covered in wrinkles.

"Sir, we can do this some other day if—"

"I am shutting down the company."

Silence. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath. Samarth's eyes bulged out of its socket.

"What?" He almost yelled then righted himself. "Sir, I mean...I don't think I understand you."

He waited. "Samarth" The Manager fully rotated towards Samarth but did not meet his eyes.

The CP leaned against the wall as if he couldn't stand straight.

"We have lost the competition and with it the customers. We are getting less and less demand for products. They have gone out of fashion. Oh no, not the product but the way we make them-the quality, design...they are all outdated. With lesser rates and no increase in the profits, I am unable to pay the salaries to the employees. With the change in circumstances, the infrastructure of the company can't be sustained. With the mitigation in funds, paying for the modern machinery is out of the topic as there is no hope for keeping up with the old rusty ones. People like things that have their uses, yes, as well as distinctive smells, textures, designs, and tastes. Interest in our products which are, yes, fashionable but oddly old and just save the purpose have been reduced. Also now I can't recruit employees.

Also, I have grown old even if I don't want to admit it. I have decided that I am shutting down this company. No more acting a puppy for the media, no more trying to find a way around the problem, I am just letting go. Tomorrow I will make the announcement and order the shutting down of the company. Then I will leave for my village, spend the rest of my life living far away from pestilential problems of this damned company." He finally concluded.

There was a long silence in which the only thing heard was the sound of their harsh breathing.

"Sir, you won't change your mind?" Samarth asked.

"No"

"Then I have a proposal to ask of you," Samarth asked determinedly. He knew he would be crazy to ask such a thing and probably was dooming himself but still undeterred he asked. "It is not by my selfishness but if you are already going to shut down the company, then instead can I take over it?"

The Manager looked at Samarth as if he was crazy. Exactly the reaction he had expected.

"I don't know what you want to achieve from it, Samarth. There is nothing you will get out of it."

"Sir, I know but I would still want to give it a try. All my life I have been trying to find what my part was in the country and the world. And no, I am not only doing this for myself. What about all those people who are currently working in your company. The next day when they find out that they are back to where they once started a long time ago, won't they be devastated? I am aware that your decision was taken in a desperate situation but we must think about their welfare too if we are discussing this because I once knew how that felt. I just want to give this a try. I will not disappoint you, I promise."

"It isn't about me, young man. Whether you take over the company or not, I will still be packing my bags and leaving this wretched place." Then he took a long sigh and then sat down in his chair, staring out of the glass while Samarth waited.

Finally, the Manager turned and said with a twinkle in his eyes and a small smile.

"Very well. Congratulations, Samarth, you have just been promoted to the manager of Richard's Industry.