Lifeline

Chapter 5

"How did you know that?", I whispered in a dead voice.

"Oh, I have my ways Ms. Verma. I go to great lengths to get my work done.", he said with a smug look.

"No no mister, you wouldn't want to do that. Blackmail doesn't work here.", Sebastian warned, almost ready to punch.

"Hold down Seb. You have a deal,
Mr. Parihar. Let's get our papers ready. Same time, tomorrow then?", I asked shaking his hand.

"Sure, see you tomorrow Ms. Verma.", he said pleased with himself and left my office.

"What are you doing Sameera? Why are you giving in to his demands? If money is the matter, then your parents can give you more than you will ask for.", Seb said incredulously.

"But it's not my money Seb. This was our dream. Mine and Dhruv's. I can't use their money for this. ", I fired back.

"But he seems dangerous Sameera. Why is a top class company's CEO desperate for a small merger? And why did he do a background check on you when you weren't even here? I am not getting any good vibes from him.", Veronica voiced her fears.

"Exactly, that is why I am going to give him what he wants. After all, you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer.", I said with a smirk.

Amaya took me in a hug.

"I am sorry to put you in this mess. I know you will leave no stone unturned to achieve your dream. Although I can see the old Sameera coming back, I am scared. I don't want you in trouble's way.", she said in a soft voice.

"I know. Well, you asked for it . Now accept both pros and cons with open arms my child.", I raised my hand in a blessing manner.

They laughed.

"I need to go meet the shrink now. You carry on with it then. I will meet you at the house.", she said squeezing my shoulder.

"Wait up. We are coming too", Seb and Veronica said their good-byes and left.

I lifted the intercom.

"Just a favour Matthew, I need a file on
Mr. Arjun Parihar. Everything that you can find on him. "

My office it not like any CEO's office. But I like it this way, small and cosy. There is a small table in the centre, two cushioned chairs lying in a corner and a glass wall which overlooks the central park. I settled in my chair and stared at the traffic for a while.

Then, I went on to check the previous year files. They were right. We are in no way a self-sufficient company. I called Peter into my cabin and asked him to arrange an emergency meeting with the department heads.

To their credit, they were all ashamed.

"I need a fool-proof plan within the next 24 hours. I don't know what you are going to do. But I need an optimum strategy of what we are going to do from each department head.", I said and dismissed them.

After a while, someone knocked on the door. Matthew peeked in.

"I have your file Sameera.", he said with amusement.

"Thank you Matthew. Here, give it to me.", I took the file from him. Let's see what your story is Mr. Arjun Parihar.

"You both seem to have a lot in common Sameera. You both are from the same city. You both did graduation here in Newyork, though from different universities. He also set up a business with no experience in it, but two years after you. The only thing is that we couldn't track where he was for two years after his graduation. ", he said.