Chapter 15: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha, Part 2

It was late evening, but Sameer was still in the office. Outside in the cubicles, Ashok held court and their voices filtered through the open door. Ashok was the office boy who had been with Stonewell forever. Sometimes it was what he said. But most of the time, it was how he said it that was amusing. Ashok always spoke English in the office. It didn't matter if others understood his brand of English or not.

"Toh Ashok ji, kuch sunaye about the old days," said Abhimanyu, the gossip prince.

"What you want to listening Abhimanyu sahib? Mister Ashok knowing too many stories. Explaining please." Ashok responded.

"Tell us about Ketan sir."

"Or Sameer sir." This was Kartik.

The weasel.

"Ketan sir and Sameer sir, the oldest people in the office. Not as old as Mister Ashok, of course. Mister Ashok, the oldest. Fifteen years."

He continued, "Kartik sahib, Ketan sir sit where you sit now. But he work very much. Always working. Working and working. Even sleeping at office in the night. But he rising and rising in the company. Ketan sir, a star."

"And Sameer sir?" Kartik asked. He was looking to get a cheap laugh at Sameer's expense.

"Sameer sir working too but no star. Assistant Controller still. Sameer sir, fixed. Like a fixed asset," he continued. "Not move anywhere. Others gone, become big."

"Fixed asset with a book value of zero," Kartik said.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The air conditioning in the building had been switched off as Ashok was talking and Sameer heard Kartik with complete clarity. It stung him. Not because one of his assistants had poked fun at him. That he had gotten used to. It stung him because it was true. He was a fixed asset with zero value.

He should talk to Anand again; send his CV to a few head hunters. He had drifted along for too long. This was becoming a defining feature of his life, this drifting, this apparent lack of control over his own affairs.

He looked again at the quarterly unaudited results of the company. The figures that Kartik had prepared for him did not reconcile with the GL numbers. Besides, both the sales and the expenditure figures were significantly higher than the last quarter.

"Kartik, can you please come in," he called him over the office phone, not wanting to go out to where they sat.

"These quarterly figures they don't reconcile with the GL," he said, as soon as Kartik was in the room.

"Ketan asked us to add Bio-chem numbers to Stonewell's for the quarterly results."

"How can we do that?" He looked at Kartik's elephant ears, ignoring the smirking face in-between.

"Biochem is a Stonewell subsidiary—"

"I know. But it wasn't one on March 31 which is the reporting period for the quarterlies. The majority stake was acquired in May."

"Ketan's orders." There was a challengein Kartik's voice. Like he was daring Sameer to defy Ketan.

"I need to talk to Ketan then. Or Nitin."

"They're both away. Ketan left for London in the morning and Nitin is in Singapore for training. Ketan wants these presented to the Finance Committee of the Board tomorrow. He left specific instructions to get them signed today. Last week, he tried to reach you in the Hyderabad plant, but they said you hadn't come in."

Must have been on the day he had called sick and spent the entire day with Ritu. Do these guys suspect something? "I'll talk to Ketan before I sign off on these."

"You are the boss." Kartik shrugged as he slunk out of Sameer's room.

Sameer looked at his watch. Two in the afternoon in London. He called the London office and asked for Ketan. Ketan was in a senior management meeting and would be available only at 6.30 p.m. their time. That meant 11 p.m. India time. He tried calling Nitin but his cell was switched off.

He put the reports aside and checked his mail. But his mind was still on the quarterlies.

Why should he care? He would have to cool his heels till midnight to talk to Ketan. These were provisional reports. The final reports will go through Nitin and Ketan. Let them check their accuracy and sign off on them. They could all go to hell for all he cared. He wanted to get out of there. Out of that cursed office, that blasted company. He picked up the reports and signed off at the bottom and attached an explanatory note addressed to Ketan, Srini - the CEO and the Board. He shut off his computer, picked up his car keys and walked out.

He passed by Kartik and handed him the signed reports. Kartik's triumphant smile was the last thing he saw as he exited the office.