I walked down the corridor led by a peon of 'Smilez' towards a cabin at the end. I was surprised to see the office empty despite it was a working day. That peon held opened the door of the cabin and I entered only to find Nandini...I mean Mrs. Saxena along with 4 elderly people. Two of them occupied the seat near the office table and other two on the couch. A big director's chair opposite the table was empty and she had occupied her seat just beside it on a normal office chair. Seeing me entering the cabin, all the 5 people stood up to greet me. I too greeted them with a smile clueless with the idea that who they were. 

"Good morning Mr. Malhotra." She greeted me while I walked towards them. 

"Good morning." I replied humbly and she came around the table to stand in front of me.

"Before we move any forward, I wanted you to meet few important people of this company." She said and I nodded my head in agreement.

"He's Mr. Pratap, head of marketing department; Mr. Singh, he leads the finance department; Mr. Sabarwal, he has all the production charge in hand and lastly he's Mr. Verma, our admin head. These 4 are the four pillars of this company. Dad ke saath 35 years phele in logo ne is company ko dad ke vision se change karke ek living dream banane mein help ki" She finished introducing me with those 4 people and I shook hands with them.

I sat on a chair opposite the table that Mr. Pratap offered me and he himself moved towards the couch. Mrs. Malhotra moved towards her chair and as soon as we were seated, Mr. Singh was the first one to speak, "Mr. Malhotra, Nandini told us about the offer but before that, we want to discuss somethings with you. Hope you don't mind."

"No...no.. not at all. Please go ahead." I replied looking towards all of them.

"Mr. Malhotra, at this stage of our company, why are you actually doing this?" Mr. Sabarwal asked, and all looked up to me for the answer.

"Some actions don't need a reason Mr. Sabarwal, we just want to do it, and I want to do this." I replied with confidence and all 4 exchanged looks while Mrs. Saxena looked at me as if trying to find the actual meaning hidden behind my words.

"I hope you know what you are doing. It's just not business, you have many people behind you to take care. NGO people are relying on you. Are you really sure Mr. Malhotra?" Mr. Verma asked this time and I looked at all 5 of them carefully and replied looking at Mrs. Saxena, "As I said earlier, I know what I am doing."

A minute of silence prevailed in the cabin which was broken by Mrs. Saxena, "It's nice to hear that you are sure with your vision and ideas. But we too are responsible towards few things and we need you to know about few things." She waited for my approval and my nodded my head.

"Mr. Malhotra, before we proceed to make anything official, we want to tell you the exact position of our company." Mr. Singh said and then continued further. "whatever happened one month back, it has left a great impact on our company. Investors and financiers have backed off suspecting that our business would crumble down. We are under huge financial crisis and still have no clue to get through it."   

I was already aware of this so wasn't really shocked. "I'm aware of this unfortunate fact Mr. Singh. I assure that things will be under control. Not only for me and NGO, but also for this company." I assured that I'm not here to back off under any circumstances.

"Ok then, I suggest when the things are sorted, we should go ahead with the paperwork." Mrs. Saxena suggested and all 4 agreed to it, when suddenly I remembered something.

 "I just wanted to ask one thing. While I was coming I saw nearly the whole office empty. Today's not any holiday so why the staff is not there?" I asked being a little curious with what I witnessed. I noticed 5 of them exchanging looks nervously.

"Nothing is same like before Mr. Malhotra. That one incident has changed everything." Mrs. Saxena said lowly in a painful tone and got up to move towards a picture hanging on the wall behind the office chair, of Harshad and his father. She kept on staring that picture a while and spoke again, lowly but audible enough to reach our ears.

"Harshad apne saath sab kuch le gaya. Everything. Our happiness died the day, Harshad DIED. And after that everything changed." She stated in a cracking voice which was clear enough to state she was crying.

I just wanted to jump off the window in front of me but I knew my punishment was not so easy. I heard her taking a long breath and turned towards us.

"Dad got a severe heart stroke when he saw Harshad for the last time. He slipped into coma but luckily was back after two days. He wasn't and still isn't any condition to say something. This news spread like the fire of the jungle. Just one day and everything was upside down. Media got a scoop for their headlines and spread the news stating the closure of the company is near. Everyone wanted to secure their future and so got themselves into better and more secure jobs." She ended up with a sarcastic chuckle and I was not sure how to react and what else was there to come up and make me feel more pathetic.

"They can't be blamed. Everyone needs a secure future which we failed to give. At present only these 4 people and the peon who guided you till here are the employees of this company." She continued and with that Mr. Verma went near and placed his fatherly hand on her head as a blessing. She responded to him and other 3 with a smile and they too smiled back.

"We shall take your leave now. Papers will be ready soon." Mr. Verna said and they all left the cabin.

"Thank you Mr. Malhotra for whatever you are doing." She spoke as soon we were left alone but how to tell her that she shouldn't be thanking me in any situation. Nothing was compared to what I did.

"Please Mrs. Saxena, please don't thank me. This is the least I can do for Harshad." I replied and she smiled faintly.

"Mr. Malhotra, I know this is not the correct time but still it would be nice if you would come over for a dinner tonight." She invited me but I was not deserving all this.

"Please, it's ok. You don't need to bother." I tried to politely turn down the invitation but she insisted again,"aap Harshad ke dost hain, so at least we can do this much. And anyway it's just a dinner." and this time I could not deny.

"Ok" I expected her invitation and she with a light smile replied, "ok then, see you at 8."

................

"Welcome Mr. Malhotra." I was there at 8 pm at Harshad's house and was welcomed by Mrs. Saxena.

"You can call me Manik." I said while entering and she gestured me towards the couch where the same pictures caught my attention which I saw yesterday.

"These pictures are really beautiful." I could not stop myself from appreciating the beauty of those pictures.

She smiled looking at them and spoke still gazing them, "bas ab yahin hain, jo bhi hai." And I was again reminded of my cruelty.

"Ohh,so our guest has arrived." I heard a voice and looked around to find a lady descending the stairs who smiled at us and I had no other option left to smile back.

..........

Things are really messed up for a person to think and write. Hope you a will understand. Apologies.