Abhi quickly left the cafe after saying goodbye to Pragya and giving Roshni a nasty glance, he quickly got into the first taxi he could find asking the driver to drop him bye The Khurana Builders.
He would be lying if he said that he was not nervous, never in his life has he been interviewed for a job before, it was not difficult for someone like him to find work anywhere because his dad owned the biggest company in the country and the fact that his qualifications as Karan Sinha were below average didn’t help at all, with only a high school diploma were on earth was he going to find a job, at the age of 29 the only thing that Karan had achieved was managing his own stationary shop which was destroyed by floods and now he is only depending on his brother who is a mechanic working in his own garage, his mother is a devoted house wife, while his dad is a carpenter but due to old age he had to stop working.
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WITH THE MEHRAS…
Priya couldn’t help but worry about her son’s well-being, she had not heard from Abhi since he left, the only person he was communicating with was Rachna, and Rachna being Rachna wouldn’t tell them how he was doing in detail.
“Mom, why do you look so worried? ” Aliyah asked, she was leaving to meet up with her fiance when she saw her mother looking so stressed out.
“I can’t believe you are asking me that. ” Priya fumed in rage, how would she ask her such a stupid question.
“I am only asking you because you look so stressed ever since Abhi left. ”
“Exactly, what is a mother supposed to do when she knows nothing about her son’s whereabouts, I don’t know anything about his living conditions, does he eat his food on time? Your brother knows nothing about cooking, I am not even sure if my baby has eaten anything and is the place he is currently staying at clean and hygienic? You know Abhi is so scared of roaches and rats, what if the place he is staying at is full of cockroaches and rats, oh Lord, I am not sure if he even sleeps. ” Aliyah roooed her eyes at her mother, here she was worried about a man who would probably have Five kids by now if he was born, raised and lived in the village, the guy is almost thirty.
“Mom calm down, you heard Rachna, Abhi is fine, there is no need to worry about him. ” She held her mother by the shoulders it was a gesture that was supposed to comfort her, but not with Priya, the only thing that would worry her less is if her son, was where she could see him.
“I will not stop worrying until I see his face or I hear his sweet voice. ”
“The first time I heard about Rachna’s plan, I was completely against it, but seeing you, I believe she did the right thing. ”
“How can you say that, don’t you care about your own brother? ”
“I seriously do mom. ” Aliaya was slowly losing her cool, her mother’s behavior was getting on her nerves, she was tired of all this drama, everyone in the house was okay with it but her. “Abhi is a grown man, I know some people who have five kids at his age, mom you have to stop babying him, his not wearing diapers anymore, now if you want to keep stressing yourself then that’s fine with me, I don’t want you rubbing off some of that stress on me, I have to meet up with Arjun, for cake tasting, maybe you have forgotten because you are too busy worrying about you “baby”, I will be getting married in four months time. Goodbye. ” The bitterness and hurt couldn’t be hidden in Aliyah’s voice what she said left Priya feeling guilty, since her children were little, she has always worried more about Abhi reason being, Abhi was found with a brain tumor at the age of 9 and the doctor didn’t know if he could live to see another day, Priya was so worried she thought that she will lose her only son, since then, any small thing that concerns Abhi worried her so much, she loves both her children equally, but she just couldn’t forget what happened 20 years ago, she is very thankful for Ram because he was always there for their daughter when she was unavailable. Now she promised that she will make sure Aliyah does not miss her mother on the most important day of her life.
A
liyah didn’t mean to hurt her mother with her words, but sometimes she just felt that her mother had always loved her brother more than she loved her, yes she is aware of Abhi’s former illness and she knows that, that is why her mother acts like she does when it comes to Abhi, but it still hurt her, it was no lie that she has always felt she was invisible to her mother.
“Are you okay aunt? Why are you crying? ” Disha asked Priya, as she came down with her husband.
“I miss Abhi that’s all. ” Wiping a few tears away, Priya tried to smile while answering Disha’s question.
“Are you sure you are missing him? Or maybe you are worried? ” Knowing his aunt, Purab was positive she was worrying.
“Okay fine, yes I am worried. ”
“Didn’t I tell you that there is nothing to worry about, Abhi is doing fine. ” Rachna who was eavesdropping on their conversation spoke.
“And how would you know that? ” Priya asked Rachna clearly annoyed, after all somehow it was her fault Abhi went to some unknown place.
“I just spoke to him. ” Rachna replied raising her phone.
“What?? ” Priya was beyond angry. “And you never bothered to let me know? All I want to do is hear my son’s voice. Is that too much to ask? ” Okay now she was about to have an emotional breakdown.
“With all due respect aunt, but if I let you speak to him, the only thing you would have heard is him complaining and then you would have started crying saying that he should come home, then Abhi would not have thought twice, he would immediately take the train, bus, any form of transport just to get back home because momma cried on the phone. ” Well Rachna could be respectful and sarcastic at the same time, but don’t blame her, it is just a national gift she happens to possess, she sounds sarcastic even when she doesn’t want to be.
“Don’t exaggerate Rachna. ” Priya scoffed, while Purab and Disha were looking between Rachna and Priya, they hadn’t noticed that they had a little audience – every family member, including the house helps and the gardener.
“I personally think Rachna is right, that’s what would have happened, we all know here that Abhi is a professional when it comes to complaining. ” Indu said while waving her hand in the air.
“Irue, and it is a fact that when it comes to Abhi your eyes can’t stop tears from falling, it’s just like the Victoria Falls, the water never runs dry, just like your eyes, looking at you I can tell that you were crying. ” Deljeet added, she sure dis have a sharp tongue.
“Ish grandma, that was so rude. ” Disha wouldn’t want to be told that, any day of the week.
“I know the truth hurts. ” Deljeet brushed it off like it meant nothing.
“Aunt, I know that you are extremely worried about Abhi, but he needs to do this alone, Abhi might be smart when it comes to business but when it comes to judging people we all know that that’s an F, listen aunt, this world is full of two faced people, greedy people, people who wear fake smiles on there faces just because they want something from you, and Abhi is surrounded by those types of people, people who love him for what he has and not who he is. ” Rachna explained to her aunt in hopes that she would understand, her son was known for choosing all the wrong people, more than him finding the right girl in his life, Rachna hoped that this experience will teach him how to judge peace correctly, after all it is true that only a few people want to befriend a poor man and everyone is a rich man’s friend, she hoped that with this experience his eyes will be open to the real truth.
“And how will faking his identity help him in finding genuine people? ” Priya asked.
“You can only know how humble someone is when they become rich, and you can only know the people who love you unconditionally when you lose everything. Abhi has gone down South as Karan Sinha, the oldest son of Venod and Gayatri Sinha, he runs a stationary shop which was destroyed by floods so he is currently depending on his young brother for everything, his father is a carpenter but due to old age he is unable to do his job, his mother is a devoted house wife, has three siblings, two brothers and one sister, his young brother works as a mechanic in his own garage, his youngest brother also helps his other brother with the garage, his young sister thought it was unnecessary to complete school so she dropped out of school in the ninth grade and is now married to a rickshaw driver. ”
“Who are you? ” Akash couldn’t believe his wife could make a story very easily.
“Your wife. ” She shrugged. “Why are you asking me stupid questions? ”
“You had this all planed didn’t you? ”
“Yep. ” Rachna answered with a smirk.
“Rachna? ”
“Yes uncle. ”
“If Abhi only runs a stationary shop, then what are his qualifications like? ” Ram asked, even though he supported Rachna in all this, that doesn’t mean he does not care about his son.
“Oh that, well he only has a high school diploma, which is not very colourful. ”
“What do you mean not very colourful? ” He knew what she meant, but he had to ask, for clarity’s sake.
“Out of nine subjects, he only passed in three, failed terribly in the other six. ”
“And you asked me to block his back account? ”
“Yes. Don’t worry, he will find a job. ” Rachna answered like it wasn’t a big deal.
“With those pathetic results, where will he find a job? ” Purab asked he was upset, and you could tell, just by hearing his voice. “Are you insane, you know that Abhi cann- ”
“ENOUGH!! ” Rachna yelled frustrated. “I have had enough of all of you telling me that Abhi cannot survive, well unlike you, I believe in him, I believe that he will survive this and achieve his goal. ”
Taking in deep breaths Akash walked toward his wife. “So baby, what you are telling me is that, you sent Abhi in the middle of nowhere just so he doesn’t marry the girl grandma chooses for him? ” Akash asked his wife calmly, he knew not to anger her, when she was already angry, after all they have known each other since, she was in third grade and he was in sixth grade, so technically they have been together all their life, all they had to do was make it official by Akash putting a ring on he finger.
“This is not about that, I want Abhi to experience life, I want him to be able to tell what’s right from wrong, I want him to be able to make the right decisions without you, Purab, Granny, Aunt, Uncle, Aliyah, Disha and I having a say in it, I want him to be confident in himself and to not make the same mistake he made, with Neetu, you saw how broken he was, the girl stole all his money and left just like that never to be seen again, we warned him at least some of us tried to talk to him, but his failure to see what’s right from wrong and the wrong influence from his sister brought him so much pain, it a surprise he still has hope that there is love somewhere out there, but it’s a pity that he feels that there is no love for him. I care about him, he is more than a brother to me, and I believe with his family’s support, he will make it. ”
Everyone was shocked that Rachna knew so much about Abhi, with there Tom and Jerry relationship where what they did most of them time is argue, no one thought that she of all people would know Abhi inside and out, Grandma on the other hand felt happy to have a granddaughter in law like Rachna, yes she may seem rude and snap at people most of them time, but beyond that rudeness was a heart made of gold.
“As the oldest member in this house, I agree with Rachna, no one will call Abhi and tell him to come home, he will continue to stay where he currently is living for the next six months. ”
“Actually grandma two weeks have passed, so that makes it five months two weeks. ”
“Yes, Abhi will get back home after five months. ” Deljeet agreed.
“Does that mean that you will stop searching for a girl for him to marry? ” Disha asked.
“No, I will only stop when he finds one, and she has to impress me, that was the deal. ”
“But mom, at least we should be allowed to send him money every month. ” Priya suggested.
“No Priya, that will distract him, and it might blow his cover. ” Ram disagreed with his wife.
“If this would make you feel better, I have a friend over there and he will be watching Abhi, today Yash gave me a call saying that Abhi went for a job interview. He will tell me if anything goes wrong. ”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you Rachna, I do but you can’t stop a mom from worrying. ”
“Nt’s okay aunt, I understand very well. ”
“Now that everything has been settled, I am starving. ” Purab always hungry.
“Is there a time when you are not hungry? Some times I begin to wonder who is pregnant between us two, whether it’s me or you? ”Disha snapped at Purab and went to the kitchen to get herself a snack, living him wondering what he did wrong.
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KHURANA BUILDERS…
Abhi was happy that he reached his destination safe and sound, he looked around at his surroundings and he was impressed, particularly by the building in front of him, you could easily tell that it was a building company just by looking at how beautifully built the building was, it might not have been as big as his father’s business place back home, but it sure was a beauty.
Without wasting much time Abhi quickly entered the building, only to be welcomed by a receptionist who was clearly not doing her job, it looked like she was busy gossiping with whoever she was talking to on the Phone ‘If she were working in my company, she wouldn’t have a job, so incompetent. ’ Abhi thought.
He silently waited for her to finish her conversation, but it was crystal clear that it was a never ending conversation, frustrated with her behavior he quickly pulled the phone from her ear and placed in down, she was clearly angry by his behavior but she knew better not to start an argument because if the big boss heard anything she definitely wouldn’t find a job any where, so she tried to be polite as she possibly could.
“How may I help you? ” She asked while chewing a gum.
“I am here to see Siddharth Khurana. ”
“Do you have an appointment. ” she asked in a bored tone.
“No, but I heard that there is job he is offering, call him if you want. ”
“Look, Mr…. ”
“Karan, Karan Sinha. ”
“Whatever, I don’t care. ” She dramatically waved her hands in the air. “This is not some public toilet where you can come in and go out as you please. ”
“I am well aware of that, but thanks for the reminder. ”
“It’s good to know, as you can see Siddharth is- ”Before she could finish a woman’s voice interrupted her from the door.
“It’s Mr Khurana to you, sir I apologize for her rude behavior, guess I have to talk to my son about you. ” The woman unknown to Abhi spoke, even though she was wearing a simple outfit, you could still tell that she was rich, he judged that by the diamond ring on her finger.
“Mrs Khurana. ” That’s all the receptionist could say, fear evident on her pretty face.
“You are fired, I will not condone such rude behavior in my husband’s company, you are giving it a bad name, just because you and Tanu grew up together and are close friends, doesn’t mean that you can do as you please and don’t think that I am not aware of the fact that you never do anything but spend most of the day, browsing using free internet, I only gave you a chance because you are the daughter to a very good friend of mine and you and my daughter are best friends, but I have had enough of your behavior, don’t worry I have already spoken to your mother and she respects my decisions, now pack your things and get lost, I don’t want to see you here again. ” Feeling embarrassed, she quickly got her bag and rushed out, Abhi felt sorry for her, he wouldn’t want to be fired in such a manner.
“I am sorry about, that. ” Simram apologized.
“It’s okay, you are not supposed to apologize you did nothing wrong. ”
“Okay, now what can I do for you. ” She asked giving him a warm smile.
“I am here to see Siddharth Khurana. “
“Come with me. ” Simran lead Abhi to Sid’s office as he quietly followed her behind.
RAJ KHURANA’S OFFICE…
The arguments between Sid and Raj never seemed to end, sometimes you would wonder if they were father and son or two best buddies, the only people who seemed to stop the two from arguing were Simran, Naina or Pragya, these were the only people that they seemed to listen to when their unending arguments started.
“How can you run this company if you fail to do the easiest things? I simply asked you to find me a personal assistant and you failed at that, are you sure you did not cheat in any way so you can pass your exams? ” Little did Raj know that finding him am assistant who was qualified in his own terms was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack, and the chances of finding it were below zero percent.
“Firstly I passed my exams fair and square and secondly I have already found three PA’s for you but you just had to fire them. ” Sid said as he passed his hand through his hair, clearly stressed out, he wouldn’t be shocked if he started growing a few grey hairs and he only had one man to blame if that were to happen – His father.
“Well because they were all useless. ”
“Dad, you know that those people were more than qualified to be your PA, I hired the best, they were highly qualified not forgetting experienced as well. ”
“But they just couldn’t make a simple cup of coffee. ” That was Raj’s definition of a qualified assistance, make him a good cup of coffee.
“This is all about coffee, okay, then why don’t you just hire your wife or mother? ” Sid retorted sarcastically.
“Not only that, they were useless when it came to carrying any form of materials, the other one tripped and fail on me. ” Raj remembered the incident when he was leaving for a meeting with some investors, his assistant just right behind him carrying some files, when she suddenly fell on him, pushing him forward causing him to fall and she landed on his back, the most humiliating part is that they had quiet an audience, he fired her right there and then, till now he didn’t understand how someone managed to trip like that, flinching at the thought he decided it’s best he forgot about it.
“Listen old man. ” He raised his pointer finger at his dad. “I am so tired of your tantrums, I will find a PA for you, but this is the last time I am doing this. ”
“And make sure he or she is capable of doing their job right, because if they appear to be useless, I will just fire them. ”
“And be proven as a bad boss.”
“Well it’s because my son, is so useless he can’t do something as simple as to chose a PA, I don’t know the decisions you will make when you finally become CEO, I can already see my company falling. ” Okay, this was now getting intense, they were in each other’s face, literally.
“Where is you wife I called her about an hour ago. ” Sid knew that only his mother could settle this, out of all people in the world, Raj feared his mother and wife.
“Ooh, baby waiting for mommy. ” Raj teased him rubbing his eyes like a baby would do.
“Now stop making fun of my child. ” The Lord had answered Sid’s prayer as Simran entered the office. “Sid someone is waiting for you I lead him to your office. ”
“Thanks mom, please take care if this big teddy of yours. ” He pointed at his dad.
“Don’t forget I am still your father. ” Raj reminded him.
“It’s not like I chose for you to be my father, the Lord just gave me to you otherwise I would have chosen another man to father. Bye bye and mom please control your husband. ” Sid quickly left, before his dad could think of a comeback and he knew that if he didn’t leave, he would spend the whole day in his father’s office.
“Do you see how he speaks to me? ”
“It’s because you allow him to. ”
“He is lucky he is my son and that I love him. ” Raj said with a smile plastered on his face.
SID’S OFFICE…
Sid looked at Abhi who was quietly seated in the chair, Abhi did not even not even notice someone come in because he was busy admiring how neat Sid’s office was unlike his which had papers scattered everywhere, boxes of finished food which have not been thrown out, his office was a disaster so to say.
To gain Abhi’s attention, Sid cleared his throat, knowing he was not alone Abhi quickly stood up from the seat.
‘Is this the famous Siddharth Khurana? I thought he was older than this, he looks so young. ’ Abhi thought to himself.
“It’s okay you can stay seated. ”
“Thank you Sir. ” This was strange for Abhi, he was used to people calling him sir, not the opposite.
“Okay, what can I do for you? ”
“I came here in search of a job. ”
“Oh, that, I am sorry I forgot about that. ” ‘These people are weird, how can he forget something so important. ’ Abhi thought to himself.
“It’s okay it happens, I can see you are a very busy man. ”
“Thanks for understanding, okay so let’s get this over and done with. How did you know about this interview? ” Sid asked the first question.
“Um… A girl who works at the coffee shop told me about it, Her name is Pragya. ”
Sid pretended like he had no idea who Pragya was, he knew how much she hated the spotlight. “Okay, what is your name? ”
“My file is on your desk, you will find everything you need to know about me if you read it. ”
“Clearly I haven’t read your file to know your name. ” Sid asked a little annoyed, the reason was because he wanted to sleep.
“Karan Sinha. ”
Sid pauses and looked at Abhi for a while, it was like he remembered something and that made Abhi uncomfortable. “I must say, you do look so familiar, are you sure your name is Karan? ”
“Are you insinuating that I do not know my name? ” He never wanted to sound rude, but Abhi knew, he had to do something to hide his real identity and acting rude like what Sid said hurt him was all he could do and he did.
“No, I am just saying, you do look alike with someone famous, what’s his name again, Abhishek Mehra, only heir of Ram Mehra. ” Now this caused Abhi to panic, he knew that if someone recognised him it was all over, Sid being Sid, saw the panicked look on his eyes and he had a gut feeling that there was something not right.
“I do get that a lot, you do know that their some people who look so alike but they are no related. So people sometimes do think I am Abhi, but I am Karan, son of a carpenter and brother of ninth grade dropout. ”
“To much information. ” Sid raised his hands indicating that he should stop. “Okay on a serious not, how old are you? ”
“Twenty Nine. ”
“mmmh, okay, can you run? ”
“Uhm.. Yes? ” Abgi asked unsure of where this interview was going.
“Is your body real or made out of plastics? ”
“What sort of question is that? ” Yes he did find it a little offensive.
“I mean no offense, but what I am trying to ask is, do you work out, or are those abs fake? I mean did you take a plastic surgery? Or maybe are you on steroids? ”
“I am not a plastic bag, neither am I on steroids and yes, I do work out. ”
“Can read and write? ”
“Yes I can. What sort of interview is this? ”
“I am not done asking questions and for your information, I ask the questions, not you, am I clear? ”
“Yes sir. ”
“Okay, do you know how to use a computer? ”
“Yes I do. And I do know how to send emails. ” Abhi answered, not hiding his irritation.
“Fine then, you are hired. You can come in tomorrow at eight and you will be working for my father, good luck. ”
Sid immediately left his office leaving Abhi dumbstruck, he has never gone for a job interview but from what he remembered those were not the questions his father or Uncle asked job seekers, Sid never even bothered to ask him about his qualifications, ‘Anyway, this is just my good luck, at least the pay check is good from what I hear, better go back home and prepare for tomorrow, let me not waste my time thinking of Sid, looks like they like to do things differently. ’ Abhi couldn’t help but think.
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The end…
I am done for today, hope you have fun reading this, if you feel something is missing, don’t hesitate to tell me.