10. Rose and Thorn - Sandhya
“Sarathy sir!”
Sarathy, who was busy verifying a purchase letter looked at Subha.
“Are you busy sir?”
“Very good question! Can’t you see me sitting and relaxing?” asked Sarathy sarcastically.
“I am sorry sir, I didn’t mean to tease you” said Subha politely.
“I know Subha. But when we are inside Boss Consulting Services, we can only be busy!”
“Yes sir, I have realized that. But sir, can I ask you something?”
Subha’s voice sounded with hesitation.
“What do you want to ask?” asked Sarathy with curiosity.
“You are working here for a long time, right sir?”
“Yes, almost fifteen years”
“So, that means you have been here even before our current boss took over the management right?”
Sarathy sighed and said,
“Yes, when I joined the company Murthy was the boss”
“Is it? So, he stepped down to give opportunity to his son to run the business?”
Subha was doing her level best to collect all the information she was looking for from Sarathy without raising any suspicions.
“It is not very clear Subha” said Sarathy thoughtfully.
A look of incredulity crossed Subha’s eyes.
“Not clear?” she repeated Sarathy’s own words with emphasize.
“Yes, Murthy sir never gave us any hint that his son will be taking over the management. During those days we don’t even know much about his family”
“Really?”
“Yes, Murthy sir had multiple brands and this boss consulting was one of them. He used to visit here once in a while”
“OK, then what happened?”
“That is what is not very clear. Suddenly one day Baskar took the responsibility and from then on it has been just the same”
“I wonder why the succession happened so abruptly”
“I too still have that question. I don’t have a definite answer but there were a few gossips you know…”
Sarathy sounded as if he wanted to check if Subha really wanted to hear the gossips.
Subha understood that and hence replied,
“I am not a gossip girl Sarathy sir. But this seems to be very peculiar news. I hope you will not mistake me if I ask you about the rumors”
“No, not at all. I know about you Subha. It’s just that I don’t want you to think I am a gossiping type”
“No, no sir”
“Then I don’t have any hesitation in sharing it with you. See, those days, when Murthy sir used to visit us, his personal secretary also used to accompany him. His name was Madhan. And once he told me that Murthy sir’s daughter is engaged to marry a rich person”
“You mean Bavi?”
“I think so. Because as far as I know, Murthy sir has only one daughter”
“Did the marriage happen?”
“No idea! After a few weeks since I heard the engagement news, suddenly Baskar took over the company, Murthy sir sold all his other properties and he and his entire family shifted and got settled here.”
“O!”
“Yes, we were all curious to know about the details but Baskar’s attitude and behavior stopped us from even talking about it. So, even after multiple years, what happened then is still a mystery and all that we know is just this rumor”
“Poor Bavi! I wonder if she ended up in wheel chair only that time” said Subha with true pity.
“I pity her too. But I don’t know if that happened then or if she is like that from her childhood. Whatever be it, I think we should stop our chit-chat here. Boss might have already heard our mumbling, and he might stop by any moment to check on us.”
“Yes sir, you are correct. Let us not get into any trouble” said Subha and went back to her seat.
She opened Baskar’s dictation and started typing a letter but her mind was re-winding and playing whatever she heard from Sarathy.
She tried to make sense of what she heard.
Murthy was the boss. His family stayed elsewhere.
His daughter Bavi was engaged to someone.
And all of a sudden, entire family shifted to this semi-urban place and at the same time, Murthy sold out all his companies.
Also, out-of-blue Baskar becomes the boss.
Boss of Boss consulting services! The boss whom everyone loves to hate!
But why?
Why did that power transfer from dad to son happen so abruptly?
To be continued...
Next episode will be published as soon as the writer shares her next episode
English On-going stories - English Completed stories
{kunena_discuss:905}