Not Likely

Drunken Shenanigans

Trigger Warning: Topics of abuse, violence in this chapter. FYI. 

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"Are you still angry with me?" I asked cautiously.

He considered the question as he took a sip from his glass before he turned to look at me again. "Yes", he finally replied. "But not....for reasons you think."

"What do you think I am thinking?"

He sighed and said, "Why don't you tell me how you're feeling and I will explain myself? I don't want to assume anything, I think that's the problem with us. We seem to function under the belief that the other doesn't feel the same way, so it makes us defensive."

"Fair enough." I took a deep breath and looked at him in the eye. "What you did this weekend was unbelievably shitty- especially since it was my sister's wedding. You left abruptly, and even though you knew that everyone heard the interview and most of them heard us fighting- you left me in the fray. That was super uncool."

He nodded slowly, before he scooted closer to me, his hand reaching forward to touch mine hesitantly. "I am sorry about that. But that should tell you how much things went to shit after that interview...half of my time here went in consoling angry board members, yelling at the press, getting yelled at by other people because of...what you said..."

"Was any of what I said wrong?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"This isn't about whether you said the right thing or not- its about the circumstance. Do you know that the transfer of power almost always comes with additional scrutiny? Share prices tend to fluctuate and one toe out of the line can make things go very wrong for a lot of people- this isn't about news to them, this is about life savings and livelihoods that take a hit."

"I saw the news", I said unwillingly. "Is it okay now?"

"I don't know. My dad basically threw me out of the office and said he will handle it. He said I brought a lot of unwanted negativity into the office and that made things worse for him."

I ignored the stab of anger I felt at the dispassionate response of Mr Razdan (OG). First of all, here's your son, feeling all kinds of blue, trying to fix things in YOUR company, rather than stay and patch it up with his girlfriend. Instead of being all 'Hey, man, good on you- you're a nice son' you go 'Get out bro, you're bumming me out'? What kind of- insane person- does that?

I always liked the ultimate boss. He never had that calculating approach- or atleast, he never showed it out loud to us- but now? This response made me wonder if he was just a well-adjusted robot here to conquer the emotional human civilization.

"And more importantly- I told you to keep calm. I told you I understand, and I will fix it", he said, bringing me back to the topic. "Why can you not accept that I am on your team?"

"Because you've always tethered in the grey area with that, except for with my parents," I said irritably. "A simple show of solidarity even during the conference would've put me at ease- would have even changed the news rhetoric from 'Arrogant shrew makes it all about her' to 'Hey, look at that, that's a solid couple who can lead a solid business'. Your stony visage did little to help me or yourself."

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "There's...this is what I meant...when I said that I have- I don't- Dhriti, I-"

"What?" I asked, befuddled by his verbal constipation.

"This...our problems...will never be about right or wrong- because I know you're right and I personally agree with you. But....I-the bigger issue here is.."