Fear & Love

Six

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After his lunch with Gitanjali, Anand went back to his office. He had a meeting in exactly eight minutes. He asked his secretary Preeti whether everything was ready in the meeting room to which she said yes. Anand started walking towards the meeting room very quickly. Anand was a person who liked punctuality. He couldn't stand people who doesn't value time. Time is important and as the famous quote goes, it is indeed money. When he opened the meeting door room, everyone was already sitting and waiting for him. He saw one seat empty and looked at Prakash,his other secretary. Prakash had a look of panic, he was sure someone was going to be having a bad day, either him or the person who is late.

"Sir, he is the one from TBC companies. He is a new fellow who recently joined them. He will be here soon."

Anand looked at his watch. "Three minutes. Three minutes and if he is not here, show him out. Tell Preeti to show him out once he comes."

The meeting started and thirty minutes into it, he started hearing commotion outside. He was listening to the speaker but it got too much and he signalled Prashant to look into it. Prashant came back and told him of the TBC employee who was late standing outside and demanding entry to the meeting. Anand told Prakash to let him enter.

When the employee came, he greeted Anand and started with his numerous excuses of traffic.

"You know there are maps where you can check for traffic before leaving. Also, this is a normally busy road so you could have left early." Anand said calmly.

"Yes Sir, I understand but please let this one time go." The employee was almost begging now.

Anand gave him a glare. He hated lame excuses. "You know, you are not fit to sit amongst these people. You can go back to your company and tell them to send someone who atleast knows to come on time. You may leave."

There was a pin drop silence in the room. No one dared to give other a look of 'what's happening'. Some senior members had already witnessed it once or twice before and they knew how strict Anand can be. They knew of his intolerance towards people wasting time in meetings. The recently joined members now understood why their seniors insisted to be always on time especially when Anand heads the meetings. It is better to come early rather than being late and humiliated.

"Sir, please."

"I said, you may leave. I don't like repeating stuff. You have already wasted ten minutes. Show yourself out. Now."

Prakash had to escort the employee out. If he pisses Anand more, who knows how much more poison Anand might spew at him. Prakash assured the employee that he would get the minutes of the meeting. Finally, the traumatic meeting was over. Anand went back to his cabin. An hour later, Prakash informed him of Rajeev's arrival. Rajeev entered Anand's cabin.

"Do you have everything correct?" Anand asked to the man who was standing in front of him.

"Yes Sir. This time, all confirmed." Rajeev said, not meeting Anand's eyes. He had almost lost his job last time when he gave unconfirmed  information to Anand. Although, what he said was true, it was still not from a valid source.

Anand just gave him a nod which was an indicator for him to go on about the subject. Rajeev kept the file which had all the basic information like DOB, blood group, occupation and earnings.

"The exciting news for her in upcoming months is the recognition award she is going to get for helping the education of under privileged kids. It is going to be done by the Mayor of the city, which also means media coverage."

Anand loosened his tie, getting more comfortable in his seat.

"Any romantic relationship?"

"None, Sir." Rajeev replied in monotone.

Anand had asked Rajeev, a private investigator to get information on Gitanjali. He knew the marriage topic was going to come sooner. He had to know all things about Gitanjali.
After all, he was not going to marry a random girl. In today's world, you never know what are people's intentions. Even though, he knew his grandfather would always make good choices, Anand had to assure himself. One can easily fall into a trap of looks and few minutes of good talks.

Rajeev was a man in his early fourties who worked for Anand as a private investigator. Whenever Anand wanted information on some people in professional field or before signing a deal with a company, a call would go to Rajeev to dig up the ancestors of the subject. This was a rare occasion where he used Rajeev for his personal work.

Anand was going to dismiss Rajeev but he could tell Rajeev had something to say. He gestured for Rajeev to go ahead.

"Sir, she is a nice girl. Good for your reputation. Good for you." Rajeev hesitated to say more and took a leave. Anand was smart enough to understand his few words.

Anand half - smiled thinking about Gitanjali. He had not given this a thought before but she was definitely good for his reputation, more than he had liked to admit. It was good to have a partner who is admired by the society for the kindness they possessed. It was just last week that Rajeev gave him information about Gitanjali but due to some invalid source, he asked Rajeev to redo this project. And when Gitanjali called him the first time, he gave it a thought, what better than to meet the person and be the judge himself? The information will just be a plus. 

Anand had a streak of judging a person's character well. Being from a family, where he had to meet or come in contact with atleast fifty new people every day and to go on an become a businessman himself, he had his fair share of experiences and could catch hold of a person and the intent of their actions. When he met Gitanjali, he was mesmerised and shocked. She still had that kind aura around her, a warmth to her being intact in this harsh world. But what made him chuckle was the naivety. She was as naive as they come. But, it was a win - win situation for him. He was not going to let this opportunity go. She was a good woman. And as Rajeev said, she was good for him, good for his reputation. And good would just do, for now.

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