The shark and the saint

17. Stressed out

If Rishabh was going to work, he would have dropped Prerna home himself. He wasn't going to work; he had a lunch meeting. If he had told his guest who was meeting him, he would never have come, which is why Shekhar was surprised out of his seat when he saw Mr. Bajaj coming to his table.

"Aap yahaan?" Shekhar asked, not sure what was going on.

"Lunch ke liye aya hoon. Mind if I join you?" Rishabh asked only to be polite, and took the other seat.

Shekhar was agitated and sat back in his seat. "Bus yahi hai na aap ka kaam? Bina puchhe chizein le lena? Chizein kya, aap to insaan bhi le lete hain."

Rishabh looked up through his brows, not sure if Mr. Sharma was talking about his own sister. He had offered Ms. Sharma a deal, and she had taken it. He didn't force her, well, so to say.

Shekhar got up to leave, but Rishabh blocked his way by holding a file up. "Yeh mere last six months ke business transactions hain."

"Main kya karun iska?" Shekhar asked.

"Get the answers to your questions. Aap ke attitude se lagta hai aap sirf meri baaton pe yaqeen nahi karne waale."

Shekhar took the file and sat back in his seat. Rishabh ordered himself a meal as if he was just here for a simple lunch. Shekhar, who's work allowed him to understand the business reports, read through each page. There was no mention of BG buying out the company where he worked.

"Toh aap ne Rx nahi khareedi?" Shekhar asked, now a bit calmed.

"Rx kisi ne bhi nahi buy ki, Mr. Sharma. The company's not in the market."

"Shekhar," Mr. Sharma allowed him to say.

Rishabh smiled in acknowledgment and continued. "Aap ki company nahi biki, lekin aap ki company mein se koi office holder bikka hai."

"Meaning, jisne mujhe lay off kiya, usne sirf mujhe hi lay off kiya," Shekhar was trying to put the pieces together. "Lekin unhon ne aapki company kyun use ki? Aur mujhe target kyun kiya?"

"Jis ne bhi yeh kiya hai, they know hamara kya relationship hai. Aapke aur mere beech mein discord create karna chah rahe hain."

Shekhar scoffed. "Mera aapse khafa hona aapko kyun affect kare ga? Aap toh..."

"I'm your brother in law," Rishabh didn't let him finish. "Marriage ki reason jo bhi ho, lekin main nahi chahta ke mere is decision se kisi aur ko problems hon."

"Yeh shaadi aap ke liye aik business deal hai," Shekhar said aloud.

"Prerna ka meri beti ke life mein hona, uske liye beneficial hai. There's no more or less reason for Ms. Sharma to be in my house. Woh Kukki ke liye ayi hain, aur jabh Kukki theek ho jaye gi..."

"Toh aap ki business deal complete ho jaye gi," Shekhar finished.

Both of them were sitting quietly, contemplating what the end of this business deal looked like. That's when other diners walked by their table, but stopped.

"Mr. Bajaj!" The man recognized, and Mr. Bajaj got up to greet him.

"Mr. Roy. Kaise hain aap?"

"Good, all good. Aap toh kabhi nazar hi nahi aate aaj kal. Aaj lunch pe kaise?"

Rishabh smiled, and turned to Shekhar. "Mr. Sharma, this is..."

"Kamal Roy, president of Rx," Shekhar stood up to shake hands with the president of his company.

Mr. Roy politely shook hands, but had a confused look on his face. "Mr. Roy, this is my brother in law, Shekhar Sharma," Rishabh introduced.

Mr. Roy's eyes lit up. "Oh! Aap, mere hi kisi offices mein kaam karte hain na? I've seen you before."