TWISTED ENCOUNTERS

Chapter 5 : Carrying a Family Name

Akshat's POV

"Mukesh, get rid of Ganesan. Handle it as soon as possible."

"We are working on it."

"Fire him from the company. He is of no use to us now."

"Don't worry bapuji, it will be done."

When I entered, I heard dada ji and Papa talk to each other. These are some usual morning conversations they have at Chauhan Vila almost every other day.

"What will be done Papa?" I asked him directly and sat down to have my breakfast.

"Mr. Ganesan has to leave JCPL. Akshat you must talk to Mr. Singh about this."

"Why would I talk to Mr. Singh? Are you asking me to help you finish your dirty works like dada ji used to ask you?"

"Akshat, behave yourself. You are talking about your grandfather. Businesses are handled this way only. Start becoming serious in your life." Papa was trying to pacify the situation but in vain.

"Do you even hear yourself when you talk? What kind of seriousness are you expecting from me? And with that, should I become brutal and vicious like dada ji and you? I don't want to be serious if I have to become like you all!"

"Akshat!" dada ji yelled at me and banged the table with his palm.

"Truth always hurts dada ji. Did you cover up Abhilekh bhaiyas case too like this? It was your mistake; it was you who fired that man and look how he took out his revenge on you! What did Abhilekh bhaiya do to deserve this?" I yelled back at him.

"Take this boy away from sight. Take him away." Dada ji made a hand gesture to get away from him.

"Anyways, I've lost my appetite." I stood up and walked out.

I felt suffocated.

I miss Abhilekh bhaiya. I miss his presence. I've seen how Mummy cries on bhaiyas death anniversary each year. To the outside world, Chauhan's are powerful, rich, ideal people who carry out charity work for the community and a perfect family to look up to.

Damn world, the reality is just the opposite of what you see. I wish I could scream and say this to every person I come across.

I didn't realize when I reached office. I was waiting for the lift in the building ground floor, when I saw Anshu. She was approaching towards the lift.

She saw me too.

I saw her walking faster than her normal pace. It was amusing and suddenly all the anger from the morning just faded away.

"Ms. Anshu, good morning!"

"Good morning sir." she said looking at me.

"So how was your first day? All okay?"

"It was good sir."

"If you have any doubts you can approach Mr. Singh or even directly to me."

"Sure sir."

There was a brief silence in the lift for a while. At that moment she spoke again, "Sir, I guess one of the things that you said that day was a lie."

I looked at her. "What? I lied?"

"On the day of the interview, you lied to me that the staffs have tough time at JCPL because of the boss. I know you said it as joke, because having you as my superior, it cannot be true at all." She smiled at me like a small child after saying that.