Leap of Faith

The Mysterious Past

As soon as I arrived in the hotel room, I crashed on the freshly scented bed. I flipped through my texts to see if Shweta or Aayan texted me. I found none. Suddenly the four walls of the five-star suite started to collapse on me. I was alone, all alone. He did not bother to call, text, or even mail after our last conversation in his office. I was feeling uneasy thinking about the news about Vikram and me. What would he think of me? Would he believe the crap the media was selling? I did not even explain it to him. How could I? I was the one who ended everything.

I felt a sudden knot in the pit of the stomach. Tears streamed down my eyes as I sobbed for minutes. I missed him like it was the air I breathe. I missed his touch, his eyes, and his velvet smooth voice. The kiss that would make every inch of me alive and needy. I took the soft pillow and hugged it, imagining his embrace.

I stood up instantly realizing I had no right to think about him any longer. I had broken up with him. For my own good! I have been extremely selfish with that decision. It was all my own insecurities, my shortcomings. I was not going to risk my heart to such impossible romance.

I shook my head to let the thought go and proceeded for a long shower.

***

The next morning I got ready on time with renewed vigour. I wore my khaki trousers and loose cream shirt with a brown blazer as the air was much colder than Mumbai.

I was amazed at the size of the plant. The scale at which production happened was massive. I was absorbing every word coming out of Harshit's mouth. I loved every bit of the advanced engineering training. After lunch with the plant manager, I explored the factory on my own. I wanted to check out the library beside the manager's office. It seemed like a small museum displaying SpeedEx's history through pictures Part of me was hoping I could see the young Aayan in those photographs.

I entered the vast rectangular room. The air too smelled different in here. It took me to the time when SpeedEx had just started. The floor to ceiling windows had a view of the expansive manicured garden. There was a small sitting area in the centre of the room with two L-shaped sofas and a round coffee table. There was a huge bookshelf with glass doors along one wall of the room. The books looked old and vintage.

I started from the wall on the left side of the room that held pictures of the earliest SpeedEx factories. The first photo was probably from the inauguration of the first SpeedEx factory, where I was currently standing. I could see Aayan's dad, mom, and little Aayan, who looked adorable.

Rishabh Mukherjee was in the center, cutting the ribbon at the gate of the factory. He was a large man with a heavy mustache. To his side, I saw a girl in a red frock with a matching bow in her hair. That had to be Alina. She was standing in front of her mother, who looked equally polished and elegant.

I sense more than saw Harshit coming to stand next to me.

"Nice photographs, right?"

I nodded.

"This is of the inauguration of this factory. This is Mr Kar and his family," he said as he pointed them out to me. "And this is Mr Rishabh Mukherjee, our partner at that time, and this is his family."

"Who is this boy?" I pointed to the extreme right of the photo to a teenager who was looking rather grim.

"Oh, that is Mr Vikram Kar."

"Mr Akash Kar's nephew and a shareholder of the company," I sighed. Harshit and I refrained from acknowledging his current role in my life.

"Yes, but he was always wishing for more," Harshit said grimly.

"What do you mean?"

"He has always wished to be more like a co-owner of SpeedEx, but he couldn't."

"Why would he want it now? He has his own company."

"That I wouldn't know. He has always shown interest in SpeedEx. Besides, his company is going through a lot of turbulence lately."

"Is it?"

"Oh yes. One of their major shareholders has not been doing well since last year and they want to sell their shares. But that can't be done without incurring a huge loss."

"Hmm..." I couldn't think of anything else to say in response and we quietly moved to the other photographs.

The next one was a group picture of the Kar and Mukherjee families against the background of a great palace. The date was before the inauguration of the factory. The plaque under the photo read: The first step towards a bright future of SpeedEx was taken when the deal between Mukherjee Enterprises and SpeedEx was signed, on this day.

"Is this the Mukherjee Mansion?"

Harshit nodded.

"But I don't see Vikram here."

"I believe that they had some family issues at that time, Mr Kar and his brother."

"Family issues?"

"Well yeah, the two brothers never got along. Mr Kar's brother was eight years older than him. So naturally, he was the first one to work under their father in their textile company," he explained. I had come to believe that I knew quite a bit about the company's and the family's history. But it looked like there were more revelations in order.

"So what happened then?"

"Well when Mr Kar came back from Cambridge University after his business administration studies, he joined his brother to work and train under their father. He always had an edge over his brother in terms of intelligence, educational background, and an innovative approach. Eventually, the company began to do well in terms of finances and the family expanded their factory base, their market base, and exports too. As a result, their father naturally thought that his young son was better suited to take over the reins of the business. He was staying ill frequently and, sooner or later, he had to make that decision. Mr Akash Kar had all the qualities that the senior Mr Kar was looking for."

"What was he suffering from?"

"He was a heart patient. It is a family thing. Mr Akash Kar died of a heart attack."

Oh, yes! I remembered the article I read about the Aayan's father. It was most unexpected, they commented.

"So how did Mr Kar's brother take it?" I queried.

"He didn't take it well, obviously. He believed that he was more capable of running the company in the long run, but their father left all the important decisions with Mr Kar as his illness progressed. Though the overall running of the company was still with Mr Vijay Kar."

"What happened after that?"

"As soon as their father died, Mr. Vijay Kar took over the ownership. This caused the company to suffer major losses for two consecutive years. Frustrated,  Akash Sir left the company and started SpeedEx with the help of Mr Mukherjee. The rest is history." He concluded with a gleam of pride in his eyes. It was very rare to feel such loyalty towards a company where someone works. I had a feeling though that the story did not end there.

"So does Mr. Vikram Kar now own the textile company?"

"He doesn't," he paused. "Kar Textiles never recovered from its losses. The company had to be sold within the next three years. That's why Mr Vijay committed suicide because he couldn't cope with the loss."