Ah! There had to be a caveat, Yash thought. He was almost sure that he’d have to give the check back to Maan once the condition was spelled out.

“Kaisi shart?”

“Company ke operations aaj se hi main take-over kar loonga. Aur tum ab se factory mein nahin jaoge.”

“Par..”

“Mujhe ye check tumse wapas lene ki bhi zaroorat nahin hai. Ye cancel bhi ho sakta hai, abhi ke abhi.”

‘Bhari jawaani mein senile ho gaya hai lagta hai,’ Yash thought to himself, ‘Lekin main kyon pange loon isse. In sab se nikal jaana hi behtar hai.’

“Theek hai,” he said outwardly, “Lekin main aapko staff se introduce to karwa doon.”

“Uski zaroorat nahin hai. Main khud hi unse miloonga. Tum sirf apni supervisor ko phone kar ko bata do ki company takeover ho gayi hai aur tum ab uske boss nahin ho.”

Yash noticed that Maan seemed to know that his supervisor was a woman. The entire situation was freaking him out. He silently prayed to God to make his decision the right one. Was he really selling out his brother’s factory to this crazy guy?

“Mera naam batane ki aur introduction dene ki zaroorat nahin hai,” Maan added.

“Okay,” Yash decided to encash the check at the earliest, invest the money for his brother’s kids and get himself out of all this. India and Indian ways of business were not for him. He was happy with his role as an investment banker in New York.

—

“Lekin naya owner kaun hai Yash?” Geet asked over phone.

“Tumhari tarah hi koi sirfira hai. Woh nahin chahta ki main uska introduction staff ko doon. Woh khud tum logon se milega. Main naam bhi nahin bata sakta,” Yash informed her, “Aur haan. Main aaj shaam ko hi US wapas ja raha hoon. Tarnsfer ki legal formalities hoti rahengi. So, all the best!”

Geet could not fathom what was going on in her life. She had managed to gain the initial trust of the workers. She had figured out what was wrong and given Yash’ desperate situation, he was willing to give her a free hand, if she could run the business. And now suddenly a new owner, a new boss!

“Babaji! Meri madad kijiye,” she prayed and then went to the workers to tell them the news.

—

Geet sat in her cabin speculating what the deal with her new boss will be. She imagined the worst and got agitated. As she paced up and down the room, she felt a familiar touch on her shoulders, “Geet!”

She turned to see Maan there, “Aap?”

“Geet. Tum akeli nahin ho. Main hoon tumhare saath.”

Her eyes became moist and she moved her hands forward to touch him. But…

She found herself groping in the air. Nobody was there. She was alone. She was stunned. She was dreaming. Dreaming of him, his support, his love.

She shook herself out of the self-pity, “Bas kar Geet. Tu Hoshiyarpur se sab kuchh chhod kar kissi aur ke bharose to nahin aayi thi. Ab tujhe kya ho gaya hai?”

She sat down on the chair and said it out aloud, “Aapse maine bahut kuchh seekha hai Maan. Lekin ab ye ladai mujhe khud hi ladni hai.”

Just then Maan walked into the factory, but instead of going to the shop floor, headed directly upstairs to his cabin. He had an assistant with him to whom he gave some instructions.

The assistant, Ramesh, went to Geet’s cabin and knocked.

“Aa jaiye,” Geet said as she tried to come out of her gloomy mood.

“Good morning Ms. Geet. Main Ramesh, company ke naye owner ka assistant. Unhone aapke liye message bheja hai ki unhein company ki pichchhle 6 mahino ki sales reports chahiye aur jin orders ki supply pending hai unki list bhi.”

“Ji. Maine bhi kal se hi kaam shuru kiya hai. Mujhe thoda samay lagega ye sab reports banane mein. Main kal subah tak bhijwa doongi.”

“Unhone kaha hai ki unhein ye sab aaj 2 baje tak chahiye.”

Geet looked at the clock in the cabin. It was already 12 noon. In two hours!

“Lekin…” she started to object, but realized that he was just a messenger and there was no point talking to him about it, “Kya woh office mein hain? Main unse milna chahti hoon.”

“Woh abhi busy hain. Kissi se mil nahin sakte. Aap please do baje tak reports taiyaar rakhiyega. Main khud aa kar le jaunga. Main chalta hoon,” Ramesh left immediately.

Geet was flabbergasted.

“Babaji! Kya pahle hi kaafi uthal-puthal nahin ho gayi thi zindagi mein? Jo ab ek Mr. India boss aapne mere sar par daal diya hai. Janaab nazar nahin aayenge, bas orders diye jaayenge.”

She took a deep breath, “Koi gal nahin Geet. Tune Maan Singh Khurana ke saath kaam kiya hua hai. Ye kis khet ki mooli hai.”

And she ran to Gurcharan, “Chacha ji. Mujhe abhi ke abhi aapki madad chahiye. Warna meri naukri shuru hone se pahle hi khatam ho jayegi.”

“Shaant ho ja puttar. Aisa kya ho gaya?”

“Woh maine aapko naye owner ke baare mein bataya tha na, jiska hamein naam tak nahin maloon hai. Use 2 baje tak saari reports chahiye. Ye dekhiye list. Ab maine kal hi to kaam shuru kiya hai, aap hi bataiye itni jaldi sab kaise karoon?” Geet was speaking so fast that she started panting by the time she finished.

“Oye Chhotu. Paani la zara,” Gurcharan ordered the boy. He, then, handed the water to Geet and she gulped it down in one go.

Then Gurcharan smiled and told her, “Geet. Hum itne saalon se ye factory chala rahe hain. Gahbrane ki kya baat hai? Tu ja aur Romeo se mil le. Uske paas sab reports hongi. Aur agar kuchh nahin hogi to woh tujhe banane mein madad kar dega.”

“Achcha ji. Thank you very much.”

“Ab ismein thank you ki kya gal hai?”

Geet smiled and left to look for Romeo. ‘Romeo, ab ye kaise naam hai?’ she wondered, ‘Chaddo. Mujhe kissi ke naam se kya lena dena. Bas ye bala sar se utre.’

Geet hadn’t realized that Maan was stalking her while she was talking to Gurcharan and was also watching her talk to Romeo.

“Romeo ji. Dekhiye. Mujhe ye saari reports urgently chahiye. Ye sab ready hain kya? Ya abhi banani padengi?”

It was not at all difficult to observe that Romeo was a natural flirt and he was smitten with Geet. Even though Geet seemed oblivious to Romeo’s over charming manners and attempts to woo her, Maan’s blood boiled as Romeo touched Geet’s hand while taking the list of reports from her.

“Geet ji. Aap chinta kyon karti hain? Bas 15 minute mein saari reports aapke paas pahunch jayengi.”

“Thank you Romeo ji.”

“Are – aapke liye to hum channd-taare tod kar bhi la dein. Bas bataiye to sahi.”

Geet laughed at that remark taking it as a friendly joke. Maan forgot everything as he heard the ringing sound of her laughter. After all these days! But he came back to reality as he saw Geet walking towards the door. He had to hide himself from her. But he made a sub-conscious mental note to keep an eye on Romeo and to even get rid of him. Why was he bothered? He did not ask that question to himself.

—

To be continued