• Published : 28 Jun, 2016
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Ankit felt the chair. He moved his hands on the beautiful smooth mahogany wood. He sighed. He was always in awe of this seat. His father used to sit on it. Now the time has come for him to ascend to this position. He slowly walked around the massive table in front of the seat. It was a beautiful piece of furniture. The gold and silver plates on the table top made it look so royal. His hands naturally moved across the furniture. He liked it. He always liked it. Now after his father’s demise, he was the only one left to run this company. Ankit had a nagging doubt in his head on whether he was ready or not. He was barely 25 years old. Was he capable enough? Well he would soon know. His father had always believed in him and his abilities.

The door to the room opened. Two men entered the room, both dressed impeccably and immaculately.

“Welcome sir, welcome! This is indeed a proud moment for us. We have been waiting for you for some time now. How do you like your new office sir?” He talked with a perfect smooth voice. The bow tie on his collar looked perfect with his blue suit. Mr. Siddique was tall, lean and non-assuming. Ankit knew him. He was the principle secretary to his Father. He was the potential knowledge bank to this company. Ankit considered him as just a high paid butler. With him was Mr. Singhania. With such a royal name you would expect the man to be tall with big broad shoulders. Instead you are greeted by a short stout man with a double chin. His hands made a noise as they rubbed on his sides when he walked.

Ankit smiled. “It looks fantastic.”

“Your father had taste and he had an excellent eye for exquisite furniture. This office room was personally designed by him,” Mr. Siddique said.

“It’s magnificent,” Ankit said as he moved to sit on his father’s chair.

“My dear sir, it suits you perfectly. It’s almost as if we are looking at Senior Mr. Shrivastav. Isn’t it Singhania?” Mr.Siddique said as he nudged Mr.Singhania.

Mr.Singhania nodded his head. It looked more like a bobble head nodding his head.

“Sir you look amazing. It’s an honour to be working under you,” Mr. Singhania said.

“Sir, I apologise to you but we have a very important issue to discuss with you. And we would value your opinion and your valuable suggestion to it,” Mr. Siddique said as he sat on the chair in front of the massive mahogany table. He put the files on the desk and straightened his bow tie. Mr. Singhania sat beside him. Ankit could only Mr. Singhania's head from where he was sitting.

Straight down to business, Ankit thought. Not a remorse for his father’s death that happened just two months ago. Well some people move on faster than others, he thought.

“Sir, have you seen our shares? They are falling and if they are not stopped, our total valuation will decrease. It has been like this since the death of…., I beg your pardon sir, may we offer our deepest condolences again,” Mr. Siddique said.

“No, no, it’s fine, go on. I know about the shares. Please continue,” Ankit said.

“Yes sir. It has been on a steady downward spiral. We have to stop the slide before it assumes the size of an avalanche. Also, the stock prices of our main competitor, Significo Industries, are rising. We should stop that.”

“I am sorry, but how can we stop the rise of our competitor’s stock price?”

Mr. Siddique smiled and casually jerked his head in an all knowing manner.

“Sir, it is my humble opinion that we put a spy in that company who could siphon off all the valuable information from them to us. That would help in keeping us one or two steps ahead of them. Also, we can sabotage their efforts in taking the number one position in the market.”

“What? A spy? In their company? This is not war Siddique. This is business,” Ankit said. His voice had risen. The very thought of putting a spy had made him cringe.

Mr. Siddique smiled again. “But sir, business is war,” he said slowly, slamming both his hands on the table.

“We are at war sir. I know how this sounds to you but I assure you that this would be the right decision. We need to act swiftly. I have complete faith in you taking the right decision sir, as your father had taken for all these years.”

“You are saying that we should put a spy?” Ankit repeated. Mr. Siddique nodded, “But how?”

“Aah sir, I knew you would take the right decision…”

“Siddique, I haven’t taken any decision. I wanted to know how?”

Mr.Siddique smiled. “Sir, I have a particular person in my mind. He works for us, absolutely brilliant chap and a very bright individual.”

“What would he do?”

“Well, he will resign from this company then join Significo to infiltrate the company, while making friends there to get valuable information to pass it on to us.”

Ankit winced. He didn’t like the idea at all. Was this business?

“I have the guy. He is waiting outside. Shall I call him?”

“What? You have the guy?” Ankit uttered in disbelief.

“Sir, I always come prepared.”

Shortly a man entered. He was thin to the bone. The clothes that he wore made him look like a dress hangar. But he walked as if he was the most confident person in the whole world. He came in and directly touched Ankit’s feet, much to his disapproval. Ankit literally jumped out of his seat.

“Sir, give me strength and wisdom. I shall succeed in this mission and bring glory to our company,” he said.

“His name is Sanjay. You see sir, he is the best. Sanjay, sir has given permission to go ahead for this mission. May the gods be with you,” Mr Siddique said as he smiled.

“I most certainly have not. I did not give any permission at all. What nonsense is this?” Ankit shrieked.

“Sir, if you could please calm down. Let me assure you that this is most certainly the right decision to take. I have weighed in other options and I found this one the most viable.”

Mr. Siddique then made a gesture by his hand indicating Sanjay to leave. Mr. Siddique then got up and along with him Mr. Singhania got up too.

“Well sir, I thank you a lot for your most valuable time. And I assure you again that this was the right thing to do.” With that he walked out of the room, leaving Ankit in complete shock. His mouth was open and his feet were raised on the chair.

What the hell just happened, he thought.

 

About the Author

Arindam Banerje

Member Since: 19 Feb, 2016

Photographer, Daydreamer, Lazy with an Amoeba sized brain in my Skull! My Atlas vertebrae is perhaps the least loaded hinge point!!...

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