5 year later.....

Mumbai..

Malhotra Empire....

it was midnight....most of the Mumbai was asleep.....the minimal cars still on the roads were on their way to their homes....their safe haven....eager to reach their family....and into the arms of their loved ones......but on the 88th floor of a huge glass building light was flickering signifying the presence of a person sitting on his comfy chair hunched over a file of numbers and graphs....

the person in the chair had an aristocratic air surrounding him which made him resemble the kings of the medieval period...although he looked like an arrogant person he was more down to earth.....he believed in treating a person on the basis of their talent and not their social standing...maybe that was why he was able to bring Malhotra empire to the top of the pyramid and also be recognized as the youngest business tycoon to achieve such great heights......

but who would have known that the man who treated each and every employ generously....who respected talent was bone-deep arrogant in the past......the person who found happiness in music turned into a workaholic......the one who was once called a monster turned into someone who the younger generation looked up to.....

time is really something.....it eventually shows us our place in this world.....manik malhotra was now in a position many people die to reach.....but is he happy......? well.....

if happiness is having numerous zeroes added into your bank account every single day......then yes he is happy.....if happiness is having paparazzi following him 24/7 just to get a glimpse of him then yes he is happy.....if happiness is having numerous mansions and properties all around the world then yes he is very happy.....if happiness is having to receive praise and envy from millions of people then he must be a very happy person.....

but......

that's not true.....because he isn't happy....yes he has a back account which keeps on accumulating money every single day but there isn't any person he could spend the money on......yes he has paparazzi following him 24/7 but they are not here for the real manik....they only want to know about the business tycoon manik malhotra........yes he has numerous mansions all around the world but not one of them is his home....yes he receives praise and envy from millions of people but there is no one by his side  who is proud of him....who is proud of the person he has become......and so he isnt really happy.......

  although he is standing on the top he is not at peace because there is no one by his side........

that is Manik.....an empty shell of a once happy person...

a knock on the door disturbed manik....he kept the file aside and asked the person to enter.....seeing who the person was manik was not at all surprised as he was used to it by now.........

" is there anything you need to say maddy....." manik spoke removing his reading glasses.......

" manik yaar.....tu ab tak yaha hai....i went to your house and kaka ne bolo you still dint return......seriously manik......you haven't gone home since 2 days.......i know you have an important deal coming but that doesn't mean tu sona bhool jayega......i really wonder how is your body still able to function normally....yaar please meri baat sun.....go and take some rest.....the deal will definitely be yours....since you have been working hard from a month....." maddy spoke worriedly.....

manik pressed his forehead feeling a headache coming....he was already at his limit and now his friend's words were only making his head ache worse....how he wished to fire maddy for making his head ache but he knew his friend was only worried for him so he took a deep breath and spoke " maddy calm down.....i am fine....i just wanted to go through the data once more that's it......dont worry i will be resting when i reach home......and will be coming to office late tomorrow morning....so everything is fine.....stop worrying.......okay...."

listening to him maddy shook his head but complied as he knew saying anything more will be overstepping his boundaries......these five years he had been a good friend of manik but there were still some parts of his life that were unknown to him....he tried to ask him a few times but it only made manik more aloof towards him so he stopped asking.....he was satisfied enough with how manik treated him now so he dared not wish for more.................manik asked " but why did you go to Malhotra mansion......is something wrong.....? "

maddy shook his head and opened his mouth to speak something but he was not able to voice it out....he swallowed his saliva and stuttered " nothing....i just....wanted...to......to remind you of tomorrow's deal.....that's it.."

manik narrowed his eyes and asked " are you sure....? "

maddy looked at him and spoke " yes....of course....."

though he knew that maddy was hiding something from him he let it go for the time being....he nodded at maddy and made his way to malhotra mansion.......

the next day.....

the deal was signed successfully.....the only thing left was to meet with the CEO of the company and officially begin their collaboration......it was odd for the CEO to be not present for the deal signing but he was informed that the CEO had urgent matter which needed his presence so he was not able to come.....well he didn't dwell much into this matter as he was the least bit interested in the mystery behind the absence of a 40 above year-pot-bellied CEO.......

manik was seated in his cabin basking in the satisfaction of signing another deal...thus adding another golden feather to his hat....he called maddy into his cabin......

maddy entered the cabin in his professional attire.....his whole demeanor was respectful unlike the carefree person yesterday night " you called me boss....."

" did you transfer the money to the orphanage......? " he asked in his cold tone........

" yes boss....i have personally transferred the money.....and like you asked i have not revealed your identity.......rest assured......" he spoke.....

manik nodded at him and leaned against his chair and closed his eyes.....

manik malhotra donating money to orphanages.....weird isn't it......? but this is what he had been doing every month without fail for the past five years.......he wanted to redeem himself.......but the person he wanted to mend things with was no more......so he decided to redeem himself by donating to orphanages and NGO......he opened numerous orphanages and named them shining star....he named it shining star as he wanted these orphanages to shine for the children who has nothing left with them just like how his shining star shined for him.........

nandini........5 years and still the love he once had for her has not faded in fact he fell even deeper for her...he loved her with such an intensity which he himself never thought will be possible......if only she was here......he swore to god if he finds her again he would never leave her .......not even for a second....

his thought process was broken by an awkward cough from maddy......manik frowned and spoke " you are still here......."

" wo....." maddy spoke trying to come up with words.....

" maddy you better speak up or else......." manik threated with a hint of annoyance in his eye....maddy fisted his hands  and spoke " wo....fab5 got an album deal with muse lables in australia.......so i was thinking if you would also come........it will be like a mini-vacation as we have all been busy with the deals and need a little rest......so......."

it had took a great amount of courage for maddy to finish saying this as he knew that manik detested fab5 to his bones.....and he usually avoided knowing about them.......but he wanted manik to have a vacation as he can see that manik is a lot stressed these days so he asked him to come along with them.........

manik knew that maddy wanted him to accompany him so that he can have a good rest......but in the company of those losers he highly doubted if he would be able to rest....but he dint want to leave maddy with those cunning people.......maddy was the new lead singer of fab5......it was a known fact that fab5 was going downhill.....the number of deals they signed in these 5 years can be counted on one hand.....it was only after maddy joined them that they got a large offer.....maddy knew about fab5's past so he was strictly professional with them.....he was fine with doing albums as long as they stay in their limits.....

manik sighed and spoke " ok.....i will be coming with you....."

a huge grin covered maddy's face as he heard manik agree.....he controlled his excitement and said " since you agreed.....i will go and book the tickets for tomorrow's flight.....and then we will be leaving for Australia........."

maddy was happy as he thought now his boss will be able to get a nice long vacation and give his body the much need rest along with having some fun........but little did he know that manik agreed because he will be meeting the CEO of the company he signed the deal with in australia.....he was planning on going a week later but since maddy requested so why not go along with him and in that way he would get a chance to see the site and make a report...

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okayyy...so guys please tell how is the story progressing......?

next update will have the entry of our mafia queen......so wait for it.......

and please do vote comment and follow me......please........

btw how is the new manik........?