Chapter 35 Deepak

Chapter 35 Deepak

DEEPAK: I need help.

SANA: Look, we're still not best friends yet, so every request is going to be reviewed with scrutiny.

DEEPAK: I want to make my marriage with Veera legal.

SANA: Fine. Favor granted.

Love was the one emotion that made Deepak feel exposed.

Unsure.

Insecure.

The sensation was exhilarating, but at the same time he felt like he was punted into New Jersey traffic.

He loved Veera Mathur Datta, and she loved him back. They were tied together for seven lifetimes, even though he was still

afraid that the lives they'd wanted, his career and her work, were standing in the way of their happiness.

But Veera's plan gave him hope, and when he committed one hundred percent of his feelings, emotions, and trust in the woman

who was meant for him, he could finally see that they might have a future clear of Himalayan-size hurdles.

To keep his mind occupied and to stop from worrying, he threw himself back into his routine. On Monday, he'd finished the financial reports for the quarter four meeting before breakfast. He'd negotiated a contract for programming in Asia Pac that morning over his first cup of coffee, and he'd approved invoices and sponsorship proposals by his second.

His leadership team who had taken the bulk of the work off his plate over the last few months, specifically since his trip

to Goa, were all given early quarter four bonuses that would be gifted prior to the Holiday Gala.

Kim was also promoted and given two headcounts as a support staff because she deserved the opportunity to grow and expand

her skill set.

It would take him some time to stop leaning on her as his sole point of contact, but he knew his assistant would make the

transition easy for him.

"Kim?" he called from his office. "Let me know when Mrs. Mathur is here."

"She's here," a voice said from the doorway.

Deepak looked up to see an older woman in an oversize white collared shirt, a floral oversize cardigan, and a musical assortment

of jewelry on her hands and wrists. Her eyes were exactly like Veera's and she had glossy, styled hair in the same shade of

black.

Namrata Mathur was, without a doubt, beautiful, even though she was married to a heartless bastard.

"Auntie," he said, as he came around the desk to greet her.

"Muma," she said warmly. "You are, after all, my son-in-law now."

Funny , he thought. She hadn't done a single thing, participated in one tradition, event, or celebration to welcome her daughter and Deepak as a couple into her life. Sure, she'd attended the reception and visited their house when the aunties had driven out to teach Veera how to cook, but she'd done nothing else to share her excitement in the way that Veera thought she would.

He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Muma then. Come in, have a seat."

She looked over her shoulder to see Kim quietly close the office door behind her. "Aren't we waiting for my daughters? For

Malkit?"

Deepak winced. He'd lied to his mother-in-law, but under the circumstances, he hoped that she'd forgive him. "I'm sorry, but

it's actually going to just be us."

Her smile faded, and he saw the marks of disappointment. "Oh," she said. "So, we're not going to have a family meeting? A

TV intervention?"

The fact that she thought an intervention was possible was so out of the realm of understanding for him. She'd been married

to Malkit for so long. Didn't she know what he was like? Didn't she see the way that he had treated her daughters?

"Why don't we take a seat?" he said gently, then led her to one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

"Is everything okay with Veera then?" She sat and crossed one foot behind her ankle, placed her bag on top of his desk next

to his computer monitor, and folded her hands in her lap.

"Not really," Deepak said, as he sat across from her. He leaned forward, forearms braced on his knees. He was sweating. God,

why was he sweating so much talking to this woman?

He knew that what he was going to say would break her heart, and he couldn't stand hurting one of the most important people

in Veera's life.

"Auntie," he said gently.

"Muma," she repeated.

"Muma," he said, the word sounding thick in his mouth. Awkward. "Did you know what happened when Veera and Sana's father decided to sell the company and merge with Illyria Media Group?"

Namrata Mathur was usually a sharp, intelligent woman with wit. That's what his mother had said about her in the past, and

that's what he'd witnessed with his own eyes at cocktail parties and in conversations she had with her daughter. But there

was something about her fragility in the moment that made him want to apologize for even asking the question.

She had sadness in her eyes. Like she'd sacrificed family for money and greed, and she knew that she'd never be able to regain

what she once had.

"Malkit did what he thought was best," she said simply. "I know the girls aren't happy with that decision, but he supported

them, gave them an education and a job."

"Then he fired them," Deepak said. "Told them they'd never be good enough."

She flinched, her knuckles whitening as she gripped her hands together. "They argued, but fights like that happen, beta. It

was something said in the heat of the moment. He doesn't really mean it."

"If he doesn't," Deepak said slowly, "then why is he trying to pit Sana and Veera against each other? That's malicious, Muma."

Her eyes went wide. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't really get involved in business."

This time, Deepak reached out and placed a hand over hers. "You're a member of the board because Mathur Financial Group belonged

to both you and your husband. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to be involved. And if you don't support

Veera, you're going to lose her, too."

"Veera wouldn't—"

"Yes," Deepak said firmly. "She remembers everything about the people she loves, from what they've said to her to what they've

done. She's always been generous, but Veera has limits. You know this now that she no longer talks to her father."

Her face was as expressive as her daughter's. He watched her lower lip tremble. Her eyes went glassy, and she began to squeeze

his hand as if she needed his strength.

She took a deep breath, and then let go.

"What did Malkit do now?" she said, her voice harder.

Deepak smiled. "It's quite a story, but you promise you won't tell him?"

"For my daughters, I'll carry this conversation to my next life."

Deepak walked to the bar two blocks over from Illyria Media Group. The establishment with a wineglass decal in the window

was an unassuming popular spot because of its convenience between a towering finance conglomerate and a luxury hotel. He ducked

under the canopy, out of the brisk wind, and stepped inside. There was a bar top to the left side of the narrow space, and

a few high-top tables in the back. It took him seconds to spot the woman he was meeting.

Sana sat at one of the high-top tables, her tablet propped up in front of her and a wineglass the size of a small globe in

one hand.

"Hey," he said, as he approached the table. "You're drinking wine?"

Sana nodded. "Olivia thinks I need to expand my palate so I'm trying this out. Want some?"

"If that's a Chateau Lafite Rothschild that Olivia prefers to drink, then no. Not to my taste." He motioned to the bartender and asked for his usual whiskey order.

The bartender filled a tumbler one third of the way full with deep amber liquid from a bottle on the top shelf and slid it

into his hand just as Sana closed her tablet.

"My father called me this morning," she said and leaned back in her chair, her pose relaxed and tense all at once. "He wanted

to know if we could reschedule the meeting I'd canceled yesterday. I think he was fishing."

"What did you tell him?" Deepak asked.

"All the things we had rehearsed. I told him that I found some new dirt on you which is why I couldn't make it to finish the

draft on our press release. I was double checking that my facts were straight."

"Nice save," Deepak said.

He held up his whiskey glass to tap against her rim. She looked at his outstretched hand, then with a smile, she complied.

"Veera does that, too," she said.

"I picked up the habit from her. I feel like I'm going to have bad luck if I don't now."

Sana nodded, her smile pensive. "Is Mom on board then?"

Deepak thought back to the conversation that he had with Namrata Mathur. She was horrified at the detail in which Malkit Mathur

had tried to screw over his own daughters.

"He doesn't hate them," she'd said, patting Deepak's arm. "He wants what's best for them. He thinks that they should settle

down and have families, that's all."

Deepak took another sip of his whiskey, feeling the comfortable burn as it traveled down his throat. "Let's just say that she'll support us as long as she doesn't have to do anything directly to hurt her husband. She insists that Malkit is determined to love you in his own way, but he can't see how the way he wants to love you is hurting you, too. I told her that he's just threatened by his daughters' success. It's the twenty-first century, and if he can't see how lucky he is to have you both, then it's his fault."

Sana gave him a half smile. She stared into her wineglass, as if she were looking for all of her answers in the merlot. "If

Mom follows our plan and she votes for you," Sana said slowly, "then you'll have a chance to win. There is your father, Narinder,

Olivia, Margaret, and Charles from Mathur Financial."

Deepak froze. "Charles was a no a few months ago."

"I just spoke to him," Sana said. "He didn't know my father was trying to game the system. Charles is a rule follower. Doesn't

even jaywalk."

Deepak felt a small sigh of relief. "That's it then. I'll get the CEO ticket."

"You will," Sana said quietly. She leaned back in her seat. "And Veera is starting a company. She was always the brains behind

the operation. I was really just the closer. But if we're being honest, she could do that job, too. She just preferred not

to."

"She's going to become a CEO after all," Deepak said with a smile. "And she'll be incredible at it. Now she can pick and choose

what kind of work she wants to focus on, too."

Sana nodded as she continued to tilt the wineglass side to side, watching the way that it rolled back and forth. Deepak had

to work to hide his smirk behind his whiskey tumbler.

She pouted just like Veera.

"Hey, after the board meeting, are you going back to England? Veera said you had some interest from a start-up out in Oxford

to consult."

Sana glanced at him, then back at her glass. "It depends on the second phase of Olivia's makeup launch, but I think that's

the plan."

"Is that what you've always wanted, too? To consult with flexibility?"

Sana shrugged. "I honestly don't know if that's the direction I want to go anymore. Maybe I'll ask Veera if she needs some

help. I just don't want to be stateside forever. I enjoy traveling."

Deepak pursed his lips to keep from smiling. "You know what? I heard there was a job opening recently. President of Global

Operations. A huge part of it is finance, but there is a lot of travel required."

Sana's head jerked up. "What's the pay?"

"You'd have to name your price," Deepak said.

"Bullshit," she scoffed. "There isn't a single company that is going to look at me and tell me to name my salary. I'm in my

early thirties, and I'm a queer woman of color in finance. Outside of the South Asian business universe, I'm up against even

more nepotism and dude-bros."

"Fine," Deepak said. He lifted one hip to remove his phone and typed a number in the text box before he sent it to Sana. They

both heard the ping at the same time.

Sana glanced at her screen, and her eyes bulged. She barely managed to set the wineglass on the table without spilling the

liquid over her tablet. "What the hell is this?"

"It's your offer," Deepak said. "And it's at the top of the pay scale, so if you want more, it would require board approval."

Sana's brow furrowed. "Deepak, I don't understand."

"You don't want to be CEO," he said gently. "And frankly, you haven't run a business of the same size and scale as Illyria Media Group, so you're not qualified for the position. You also don't know the media space, which is seventy-five percent of Illyria's business and what most of the leadership manages. But you know how to make money almost as well as my wife. And you're family. The CFO position won't give you the travel you crave, but our global division is suffering, and we need to put leadership on the ground."

Sana's mouth fell open, and in a rare moment of affection, she slipped out of her chair, rounded the table, and wrapped her

arms around his neck for an embrace.

He held her in a bear hug, lifting her boots off the floor to the musical sound of her twin laugh. It was like Veera's but

different. He pressed a brotherly kiss to her cheek before he set her down. "See? I'm not such a bad guy," he said.

"No," Sana said, as she returned to her seat. She was grinning at him, her cheeks flushed. "I guess you're not. Is that why

you wanted to meet me for a drink? To offer me a job?"

"Partially," Deepak said. He finished his whiskey and put the empty glass on the table in front of him. "But I wasn't kidding

about what I had texted you last night. I want to legally marry my wife. I ordered the marriage certificate, but we just need

to sign it and file it with an officiant. We'd really like that officiant to be someone we trust. They can just get a license

online."

Sana grinned. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I'll be your officiant."

"And the job?"

"I'll work for you, too, brother-in-law. You have yourself a deal."

She held her hand out to shake and he met her firm grip over their glasses.

"Now are you going to give me a rundown on the team?" she asked. "The responsibilities? The benefits? What are your top three

priorities? What kind of budget am I working with?"

He laughed and was tempted to tease her by withholding all the answers she wanted. Just to see how irritated she'd get. He'd

never had a sister before, he realized. It wasn't half bad.