SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 2

The disclaimer only made Manisha feel more queasy. Her stomach was starting to feel heavy with the anxiety that was slowly settling at the bottom of it, and she didn't trust her voice to stay steady so she nodded in response instead, waiting restlessly for him to continue.

M/D:-"You know about Golden, right?" Her father asked.

She hadn't been expecting that turn in the conversation. Nevertheless, she nodded. Unlike her father, she is not a business expert even in the slightest, but she had definitely heard of Golden, the company that had burst onto the scene
and grown exponentially over the last decade to become one of the biggest tea and soft drink manufacturers in the country. They might have technically been her family business' biggest competitors and she should've probably felt guilty about it, but her fridge was always stocked with their mango and passionfruit iced tea at all times because it was her undisputed favourite.

M/D:-"We're currently in discussion with them about a big collaborative deal, probably the biggest
in JDB's history," her father continued, and she slowly nodded once more, not entirely sure what any of this had to do with her.

Again, she is no business expert, but she knew that Golden coming together with her family's JDB brand would probably shake up the food and beverage world.
Her father hesitated, pausing for a few seconds before he reluctantly spoke again,

M/D:-"You're probably wondering how and why any of this involves you,"

Her father was the Chairman of JDB, and he had taken the title from her grandfather when he'd passed away a few years ago. Manisha is her father's only heir, but it was her aunt's son
- her cousin and current CEO of JDB, Rohit singh - who had been taught the ropes of the business and would ultimately take the reigns and lead the company in the future. Manisha and her family were perfectly okay with that because her parents had given her the freedom to choose whether she wanted to get involved with the family business or not, and she had
politely declined. Besides, she didn't think there was anybody better than Rohit to succeed her father when the time came.

M/D:-"Golden has one condition for the contract to go ahead though,"

She stopped playing with the food on her plate and looked up at him, having a horrible gut feeling about what was going to be said next.

Mani:-"What...what condition?"
Her father didn't know how to broach the subject but he'd already beat around the bush as much as he possibly could have, so he just went for it.

M/D:-"The founder and Chairman of Golden, Akash malhan...as part of the deal, he wants you to
marry his son."

Manisha blinked. And then she blinked again as her brain tried to process the revelation.

"Marry...his son?" Manisha repeated slowly, her eyebrows rising and her eyes growing a
fraction wider than before as the implications of her father's words properly set in, "Why? Is he really that insecure about the agreement or something?"

Her mother put her cutlery down again, a little more gently this time, "You don't have to go through with it, beta. I think it's absolutely ridiculous and I was against your father even telling you this,"

If looks could kill, her father would've been six feet under the ground from the angry glare her mother was directing at him.
Her father looked down at the tablecloth, no longer able to meet her gaze, "I can't believe I've even said it," he sighed for the umpteenth time that evening, regret dripping from his voice as he rubbed his temples.

Manisha twirled her fork around in her pasta, appetite completely gone and unlikely to return,

Mani:-"And I'm assuming the deal will get called off if I disagree?"
She honestly didn't know what to think or what to say. She didn't know how she was
supposed to react to this or how she was supposed to respond.

Her father's lack of response confirmed that her guess was correct.
Her mother's expression softened as she turned back to face her,

M/M:-manu, that's not for you to worry about,"
Her father wanted his company to prosper and he'd temporarily been blinded by his desire to revive the company and make it as successful as it used to be...but now, in this moment, he
realised that she was and always would be so much more important to him. She is his
one and only daughter, the apple of his eye, and he instantly felt immense guilt consume him for throwing her into such a dilemma without any warning; and more so for even considering akash malhan's proposal to cement the business deal and unite not only their businesses but their families as well.

He hadn't even properly met the boy in question, only having seen him
briefly on a couple of occasions, and he felt horrible for sitting here and asking so much of her, asking her for something that affects not only her present but her future and the rest of her life.

The stifling silence had returned and was hanging over the table like an oversaturated
raincloud. Manisha was tracing patterns on the golden tablecloth, biting her bottom lip as she tried to make sense of it all.

Her mother could clearly see on her face that she was actually thinking about it and that Manisha was actually considering the idea and it made her heart wrench, "beta, you don't -
"

Mani:-"I want to meet him first,"
Her heartbeat was roaring in her ears and she wondered where the courage and resolve to say all of this was coming from. Like yeah, she is a pretty rational person. She tended to be level-headed and open-minded, but she is surprising even herself with how calmly she is responding to this.

She looked at her father, "I want to meet this guy I'm supposed to marry,"

M/M:-"You're not supposed to marry him!" Her mother protested, absolutely outraged.
She smiled, reaching for both her parents' hands and squeezing them gently,

Mani:-"Whatever it is, I want to meet him first,"

Despite the situation, she laughed when her mother looked like she was going to violently object again, "I'm fine, really," she said, admittedly more to herself than to her parents,

Mani:-"You don't need to feel bad about anything," she added softly when her father looked at her like his world was falling apart.

Her father closed his eyes and swallowed, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry manu, I just..."

he trailed off, once again struggling to find the right words because there was nothing right about this cliff that he'd placed her on.

There was nothing right about what he had said to her. There was nothing right about her reassuring him instead of him reassuring her.

Mani:-"It's okay Dad, really, I understand," she said with a comforting smile.
And she really did understand. She understood exactly what this would mean for JDB, for its profits and for its success.
She just didn't understand what this would mean for her.