If God Was A Banker (8 page)

'All of you are the same. You will also leave me. I know. I just know it.' Sundeep was wailing like a child who had lost his favourite toy.

She hugged him even tighter, trying to console him. 'Do not worry, Sundeep. I will take care of you. I will always stand by you. I will never let you feel her absence in your life. I love you, Sundeep. I love you.' She wanted to make him feel good.

For a minute there was silence. Sundeep's wailing stopped. He didn't know how to react. He didn't look at her. He was scared. Kalpana spurning him for Swami had offended his male ego. He had never faced failure in his life, but the first big desire in his personal life had just ended in a catastrophe. He wanted to prove to Kalpana that he could live without her. Natasha provided this perfect opportunity for him. All these thoughts zoomed through his mind in an instant. What a creep he was!

He turned his face upwards and looked into Natasha's eyes. All this while, his face was snug against her breasts. Her eyes couldn't hide the fact that she was madly in love with him and wanted him desperately.

Her face was right above his, their lips separated only by a few inches. Sundeep took the initiative. Natasha closed her eyes in anticipation. Sundeep kissed her on her lips. Natasha hugged him even more tightly, but didn't open her eyes. Sundeep didn't stop. He was a devil. He had been spurned and had found a girlfriend almost on the rebound and he was going to make the most of it. Sundeep's roving hands were all over Natasha. One hand started to unbutton her blouse while the other raced up her velvet thighs.

When his hand reached the heaven between her legs, she suddenly opened her eyes and stood up. 'No, Sundeep. Not here.'

'Why? There's no one in office.' Sundeep knew that the chances of anyone being in office at 11.00 p.m. was remote.

'No, Sundeep. Not here. It's not right,' she said and ran straight to the rest room.

'Come back. I said come back.' Sundeep ran after her.

She stood in front of the rest room mirror, staring at herself and her clothes, which were in disarray.

'What am I doing? I have waited for this for three months, and now when it's going to happen, why am I scared of it?'

Sundeep was inside in less than three seconds. He hugged her from behind, and kissed her on the back of her neck. Involuntarily her eyes closed. She wasn't able to resist anymore. Sundeep moved in for the kill. His hands moved to fondle her breasts. Natasha couldn't control herself and neither could Sundeep. 'Make love to me,' Natasha demanded as they got down to the floor.

Suddenly the door opened and Aditya walked in. 'What's going on?' he thundered as he walked into the loo. The moment he saw them on the floor, he quickly covered his eyes.

'Oh my God! Looks like I walked in at the wrong time. Keep at it! Just watch out for the security cameras.' And he walked out with a chuckle.

Aditya had gone down to the parking lot and then realised that he had forgotten his car keys in his office. On his way out after collecting the keys from his desk, he had heard some strange noises from the ladies toilet. Thinking that someone was in distress, he had just looked in to see if everything was fine. He was in for a shock when he peeped inside. But he had pulled himself up quickly and had left the room, trying not to embarrass the two lovers.

But Natasha was extremely embarrassed. 'Tomorrow the whole office would know about it. Well, maybe not. After all, Aditya is a gentleman. He will not make life uncomfortable for me.'

The passion suddenly evaporated. The mood was gone. Both of them got up, wore their clothes, and stepped out of the women's rest room. They walked down to the parking. No one spoke. Sundeep knew that this was not his day. He had lost out twice. With Natasha, he knew, he would get many opportunities. Kalpana was gone for good.

'W
hy did things have to reach this stage?' thought Sundeep as Louisa brought in his sandwich. She had also got him a cup of black coffee. She knew that he would ask for it.

He had a great career. Both he and Swami had a fabulous run at New York International Bank. They had been recognised for the success of the India retail business. Huge bonuses and stock options had come their way.

Both of them had big, well-paying jobs. Both of them had good, happy families. Then why did this happen?

He had himself to blame for this. Everything he could aspire for was within his reach: money, power, fame, career... Everything was going fine until Suneel Dutt arrived on the scene.

T
he next twelve months were very hectic. NYB's aggressive foray into retail business was spearheaded successfully by Swami and Sundeep. International recognition came their way. With Aditya, both of them won global accolades for having built their success story on limited resources.

Swami and Kalpana got married in a small ceremony in Woodlands hotel in Chennai. Kalpana's parents wanted an extravagant wedding, but Swami insisted that it had to be a simple affair. He was worried that the extravagance might put off his middle class relatives. Kalpana's parents were happy to oblige. Aditya attended the wedding along with Sundeep and Natasha. Even Ramu Kaka had accompanied them. Swami was his favourite.

Swami and Kalpana had chosen Kodaikanal, a small pristine hill station in the hills south of Chennai, for their honeymoon. Swami couldn't afford anything more extravagant and Kalpana was quite happy to go to Kodai.

But, on their second night together, Swami was being apologetic about being unable to take Kalpana to an exotic foreign locale. 'How does it matter? I would be disappointed if you had any sightseeing plans on our honeymoon?' Kalpana was trying to be at her seductive best and smiled at Swami as she switched off the lights.

S
wami and Sundeep become hot commodities in the global community of NYB. Aditya had ensured that they get the required recognition and visibility internationally. They kept getting invites for various seminars and conferences across the globe. 'Retail Financing in Emerging Markets.' Swami could now deliver a lecture on this topic even in his sleep.

At the Annual Retail Banking Conference, a conference for the Country CEOs, Swami and Sundeep were special invitees. The global chairman of NYB presented both of them with a
Rising Star
award. They had finally arrived.

Barring the Sundeep-Kalpana hiccup, life had been very kind to all of them.

Sundeep and Natasha got engaged and married after six months. Probably the guilt of getting caught in the loo pushed them into marriage so soon.

The initial success in the automobile loans business gave NYB confidence in its ability to deliver in retail business. Credit cards was next in line. Aditya had set a precedent with the businesses that he had begun. The group started expecting such high results from India in almost all the businesses. Aditya had become a rock star head of business.

One day, Sundeep got a call from Aditya. 'What are you doing, my friend?' Sundeep knew that Aditya spoke like this only if something was troubling him. 'Nothing, Aditya. Just closing things for the day. Lots of pending work.'

'Why don't we go for a drink on the way out? Just you, me and Swami.'

'Sure, Aditya. Anything you want us to come prepared with?' Sundeep wanted to be sure.

'No, Sundeep. We haven't gone out in a while. That's all. Will you be able to make it?'

'Sure, Aditya.'

'Will you inform Swami? He is not at his desk right now.' Then he hung up.

The three of them left office at 7.45 p.m. and headed to the
Rain Tree
bar at the Taj, next to their office building. They were the only ones in the bar. It was too early and a weekday too. Aditya ordered a screwdriver for himself, whisky with soda for Sundeep, and a Thumbs Up for Swami.

'Why has he asked us out?' Both were wondering at the same time.

'Guys, both of you have been very close to me. I look upon you not as employees of NYB, but as my own younger brothers. You have in a short while become a part of my world. I didn't want you to hear this from someone else. That's why I have called you here.'

Both Swami and Sundeep were fearing the worst. Was Aditya being called back to New York?

'I am quitting NYB,' Aditya dropped his bombshell.

'What?' the two of them exclaimed in unison. 'You can't be serious,' Swami went on. 'Is something wrong, Aditya?'

'No.'

'Then why, Aditya? Where is the need? Everything is going on so well.'

In private, Aditya had harnessed a dream for over a decade. A dream of running his own company and turning it into a successful venture. He didn't want to continue working for someone else for long. He had always wanted to be his own boss. Aditya took pains to explain to them his dream, his aspiration, and his desire to create something from a scratch. But the two of them were in no mood to relent. They would have nothing of it.

Both Swami and Sundeep felt they would be orphaned by his exit. Aditya had protected them all along and they could focus on the task given to them. But now, with Aditya going, they were also wondering what would happen to them.

By the time they left the bar, Aditya was literally in tears. He had no answers to Swami's and Sundeep's questions. The fact was that he wanted to quit and start a new business when his confidence and market reputation were on a high. And given his recent achievements at NYB, this was the best possible time for him to quit.

Two weeks passed. No one spoke about the discussion at the
Rain Tree.
They were hoping that if they ignored it, it would go away. That was not to be. When two uneventful weeks went by, Swami was sure that Aditya had canned the idea of leaving them.

On an afternoon like any other, Swami had come down to see Natasha after lunch, and they stepped out into the compound for a stroll. Suddenly they saw Aditya's Mercedes pull up into the driveway. Aditya got down from the left. Swami was surprised to see a tall gentleman step out from the right. He had never seen him earlier and was wondering who he was. Aditya and the new guy walked straight into the building and disappeared into the lift.

'Swami, did you see the guy with Aditya? Do you know who he is?'

'No. What about him?' Swami asked.

'I saw him for the first time this morning when he walked into Aditya's office. They have been closeted since. They stepped out for lunch a while ago. They are probably returning from there now.'

'Is there anything I must know?'

'I don't know, but Aditya has been asking for all your files and is showing it to him.' Though it was not right on Natasha's part to discuss this with Swami, but she felt obliged to do so. 'I thought you might know him. Don't know why, this time, Aditya didn't even introduce me to him.'

'Come, let's go. Let's try to find out,' said Swami and started walking briskly towards Aditya's room.

As he entered the floor, Aditya saw him and shouted, 'Hey, Swami! Come on in.' As Swami walked into his room, the other man there looked up and shook his hand.

'Hello, Swami. Good to see you. Have heard a lot about you from Aditya.' Swami looked perplexed because he didn't know who that guy was.

'Suneel, Swami will be one of your key guys going forward.' Swami frowned at Aditya's stress on 'your' and started wondering what was going on.

'Swami,' continued Aditya, 'Suneel is our new Country Head for Retail Banking. He is going to take over from me.'

'Oh! Good afternoon, sir. Glad to meet you. And now if you would excuse me, I gotta run.' Swami was curt and abrupt. It was clear that he didn't really like Suneel replacing Aditya.

When Swami left in haste, Suneel was visibly pissed. 'This bloke didn't seem too thrilled to meet me. That's kinda strange. Does he have a history here?' He wanted to know if Swami was a problem creator. Even before it began, the relationship had strained.

Aditya smiled and let it pass, because he understood Swami more than anyone else.

Back home, late in the evening. Swami confided in Kalpana and told her about his first meeting with Suneel Dutt, his future boss. Kalpana knew that Swami's reaction was not because of his dislike for Suneel, but his extreme devotion towards Aditya. Aditya was the one who gave him his career. Aditya was the one who gave him his stock options worth millions. He owed a lot to Aditya.

She tried to reason with him. 'Look, it's quite possible that Suneel is not such a bad guy. One does not choose one's boss.'

This reasoning didn't impress Swami, but he said nothing.

Sundeep's introduction to Suneel was quite different. The slick Sundeep managed his first meeting brilliantly, impressing Suneel and oozing positive energy. When he left, Suneel couldn't help wonder: 'What a guy!'

As far as first impressions were concerned, Sundeep had won, Swami had lost out. But with Suneel, Swami didn't want to win. No logical reason, but Swami simply didn't want to win. He just didn't want to be a 'Suneel guy.'

That evening Swami and Sundeep went out for a drink. Sundeep for his screwdriver and Swami for his Thumbs Up. Despite all the complications in their lives, they remained friends. More so because their families, that is, Kalpana and Natasha, got along really well and their relationship continued even after Kalpana had quit and Natasha got married.

'The guy is a creep,' began Swami. 'I can't stand him. He suffocates me.'

'He is still your boss, my friend, and when it comes to bosses, we seldom have a choice. When I had met Aditya for the first time, I had thought the same about him as well.' This was the same logic that Kalpana had thrown at him.

'I do not want to work with Suneel. After having worked with Aditya, I just can't.'

'We are at a stage where we cannot make these choices.'

'Why can't we join Aditya in his new venture?' the loyalist in Swami spoke.

'Because he is too small right now and cannot afford you guys.' They looked at each other, because neither had spoken. The answer irritated both of them.

'Who the fuck asked you!' they shouted and turned around. Aditya was standing there.