CHECKMATE

Chapter 3

The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he stared at the beautiful pink city from the tinted nineteenth floor glass window of the twenty-two story tower. Despite the fatigue in his grey eyes he stood tall and compelling. His seven foot body an erect stature and his hands behind his back.

"Wouldn't it be better to quit?" His deep voice laced with burden broke the peaceful silence in his cabin.
"If you don't take care of the Rathore Enterprises, who will?" Asked a quiet voice from behind him.

The man creaked his neck and looked into the cat eyed man with curly hair who was almost as tall as the older man.

"Sir, as your advisor I can only advice you not to quit."
"How much should this old man go through, Jay?" He chuckled. "I am in my 60's and I deserve a decent retirement."

Jay shook his head with a sigh. Vikram Rathore had gone through a lot, had seen beyond his age and had been handling the business, though not on his name since fifteen years after the death of his father Pritviraj Rathore the founder of Rathore Enterprises.

"I don't understand why I am doing this for my incompetent nephews." Spat Vikram in rage. "Both Darshit and Jaswanth are of no use."

"But sir,  you must agree to one thing," began Jay, "your nephew Jaswanth has doubled the stocks, there are more shareholders  and the business is at it's peak. With Darshit around the stocks and the business weren't doing all that great."

"I know," sighed Vikram, "if not for the vow I had made, the business would have belonged to my son, probably."

Jay popped a questioning brow. Had the old man forgotten that he was impotent?

As if understanding the look on his trusted advisor's face, Vikram groaned, "Yes, yes I know I am impotent. If not for those anti- deprissants after my mother's death, I wouldn't have been in this condition."

"It was also the vow sir," added Jay, "it was, I believe taken in haste."
"No," replied Vikram shaking his head. "It was a decision taken in the heat of overwhelming emotions. My ailing father made me vow to give the business to my step-mother and I agreed."

"But sir frankly, Darshit is not even Gayatri ma'am and Pritviraj sir's blood? The vow stands invalid!" Exclaimed Jay.

"The ways of the aristrocrat only serve to confuse and create an illusion that the world may praise." Sighed Vikram. "The vow stands valid, because Darshit was a Rathore."

Malhotra actually, thought Jay with a shrug.

He didn't want to ask any more embarrassing questions to the old man, least he begins lamenting on his decisions.

Vikram sighed and shut his heavy eyes, sleep seemed to claim him immediately, but he opened his drooping eyelids saying, "I hadn't given the business to Vinayak because he's just a boy. I gave a part of the shares to the dowager Meenakshi. "Isn't Jaswanth supposed to here by now? It's 9:30 and..."

"My deepest apologies," said Jaswanth aloud as he was being wheeled into Vikram's cabin.

The old man shook his head, the salt and pepper hair on his head ruffled when the blades of the air-conditioner faced him.

"Jaswanth, how are you going to take care of a business when you show up so late?" Asked Vikram in rage. He believed in punctuality and his own nephews couldn't follow this rule, let aside the employees.

Jaswanth didn't reply, he was used to this since he was late nearly every day. Was it his fault that he needed help with everything? He loathed his body right since he was a child. The best of doctors could do nothing other than amputate his gangrene ridden legs. He never understood why his uncle Vikram lived Darshit more than him.

Signaling his assistant to wheel him out he left, leaving the two aged men in the cabin.

"Let time tell who will take over the business, the first born of Meenakshi or the first born of Kalyani." Replied Vikram
"Won't it be easier to just split the business? The management of the two companies can then be done by both Darshit and Jaswanth's son's!" Exclaimed Jay.
"Split!" laughed the old man, "that must be decided by the CEO of the company and not me!"

That was an extremely lame excuse by a man who could instill his decisions on anyone. Why then was he waiting for Jaswanth to do something?

"Though I have a stronghold on the company, I can't keep imposing my decisions on Jaswanth. He is a father of three and the CEO of the company, he shall take the decision." Sighed Vikram.

Then there shall never be a split, thought Jay. Jaswanth is too ambitious and selfish to want a split in the business.

~

Pratap sighed as he poured over his book trying hard to study under the fluorescent white light. He shut his straining eyes for a moment and sleep began to claim him immediately. Forcing his eyes open, he continued to study until his brains could take it no more.

Shutting his eyes, he drifted into an uncomfortable slumber on his chair. He tossed and turned trying to sleep. Cold sweat ran down his forehead and he felt a gentle touch that startled him from his sleep.

Looking up he saw his mother smiling at him. For a moment he thought that it was a ghost only because of her long mane cascading down her shoulders to her waist.

"Maa, are you alright?" He asked standing up and placing his palm on her warm forehead. "Do you still have fever? I'll take you..."
"No," she smiled cupping his face, "I'm fine. In fact it's my son who is having sleepless nights."

Pratap sat down on his creaking bed and covered his tired face with his palms mumbling, "No, I'm fine..."

"No your not," she replied sitting beside him. "What's the problem?"

"Maa," he began looking into her dark eyes, "everytime I think of being a lawyer Anirudh's face comes in front of my eyes. He took his life just because Paresh Soni is so hell bent in making Indrajit the best lawyer in the world. How am I going to become a good lawyer if such is the case?"

Adhira smiled at her son and placed her warm palm on his cheek saying, "Pratap always remember one thing, your competition is with yourself and not with Indrajit. Your competition is to prove that anyone from any part of society can do anything they wish to. You have to be that lawyer who fights for those people who have nothing. Having money isn't bad but keeping it only for you and for your selfish interest is wrong." Saying this she left the tiny room.

Pratap lied down and mulled about what his mother had said to him. He looked around his tiny aboard, a studio flat with an open kitchen and an attached hall, with a separate toilet and a further corner almost like a barn but made into a small room for him.

"I have to go beyond this," he said quietly to himself and turned off the light allowing the darkness and his tiredness to merge into a replenishing sleep.