8 Hours (Numbers) by Upendra Namburi

Author:Upendra Namburi [Namburi, Upendra]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Westland Publications Ltd
Published: 2017-10-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

Rajyavardhan looked at his watch and wondered if he should call Peter. He was glad that Peter hadn’t called him back on the revised terms. He needed some more time to play this out.

His conversation with Abhimanyu reiterated the fact that the Reddy family wouldn’t be in penury either. They had shored up sufficiently to continue living lavish lives and all this would have been for nothing. The futility of it all sickened him.

He was consumed by a mix of rage and helplessness. He wanted his father to die immediately, and not have to see his son having failed him on the one thing that he had ever asked of him.

He visualized shooting Jagannath and Madhusudhan. He would pause between each shot, look into his victim’s eyes as he shot them on each of their legs and arms, followed by the chest and groin. He would then draw out his ancestral sword and severe their heads.

His emotions had been conditioned to be subdued at all occasions and times. It had been a suffocating existence. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and took a deep breath.

He opened the door when he heard a gentle knock on it.

Peter walked into Rajyavardhan’s suite as the latter remained at the door.

‘Alone?’

‘You are alone, too, Peter.’

‘I’ve always preferred it this way.’

Peter removed his jacket, placed it on the sofa and then seated himself beside it. Rajyavardhan closed the door and sat down opposite him.

‘You wanted to discuss. . .?’

‘We need to sort out some aspects.’

‘You have seen the time on your expensive watch, I trust?’

Peter replied. ‘This deal is more than these few missed minutes. Let’s cut to the chase. Why the new terms?’

‘I thought Piers undervalued our contribution, Peter. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you.’

‘Just unpleasantness. It’s not even about the contract. It’s about the handshake. What’s really going on? We have come too long a way for this.’

‘I’ve always respected you, and if we are doing business with Piers, it is because of you, Peter.’

‘You and I have been courting for a while, and we know each other too well. Then what is it, Raj? I’ll take care of the rest at head office. Please dish it out as it is.’

‘That’s quite a speech, Peter.’

‘I have the time for you and let this take as long as it requires.’ Peter removed the cufflinks from his sleeves and placed them on the table in front of him as he rolled up his sleeves.

‘Sterling silver?’

‘Yes. A family goldsmith who has been making them for my family, for generations.’

Rajyavardhan picked them up and tossed them around with his fingers.

‘I never figured you to be a sentimentalist.’

‘Then there are things we may discover about each other.’

‘Are you still in love with Aratrika?’

‘I may be, but this is not something you have not known.’

‘A romantic, after all.’

‘A capitalist first.’

‘Do not be disturbed by the timing. Look at this objectively and you will see where I am coming from, Peter. This deal needs to make sense for me.

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