(May 1)

***{Magnolia Head Office, New Delhi}***

Khushi's heels clacked on the cool marble floor as she walked to her corner office from the elevator. A trail of greetings erupted- "Good morning." "Good morning Ma'am." She gave a slight nod of her head in response, not looking at the horde of employees as she treaded ahead.

"Good morning Ma'am," she heard her personal secretary's voice.

"'Morning, Lavanya," she greeted in return.

Lavanya followed Khushi and entered her office. Khushi sat at her chair and Lavanya stood alert across the table.

Knowing her boss's temperament, Lavanya opened with the good news, "I got a reservation at LaAmbroisie for you and your cousin, at 2pm today."

LaAmbroisie was a chain of Michellin star fine-dining French restaurant recently opened in Delhi. The reservation for it was to be done weeks in advance since it was the current hottest spot in town.

This earned Lavanya a quick glance from Khushi. "LaAmbroisie? I asked you to book a table anywhere. Why the fancy one?" Clearly Lavanya was trying to soften out a blow.

Lavanya had been her longest secretary yet and a friend. Out of the 3 years that she was CEO, Lavyanva had been with her for all of them.

"Well..." Lavanya trailed, "Your 9am meeting with the PR from Channel 18 has been cancelled."

"Cancelled?" she asked, well aware of who had cancelled it.

"Umm... Sheetal Ma'am personally cancelled the meeting." Lavanya informed her.

Khushi stopped reading the briefs that Lavanya had meticulously arranged on her table last night. She pressed her back on the leather chair and sighed, "What is Sheetal up to now?"

Khushi's rivalry with Sheetal went back a long way- 12 years to be precise. Sheetal Kapoor was the MD of the Kapoor group of companies, which dealt in all sorts of businesses. Magnolia, a children's toy manufacturer was a small part of the massive Kapoor group. And Khushi was its CEO.

"She is cooking something," Lavanya told her, "I overheard her PA setting up a meeting with the company lawyers and then with her accountants too."

Lavanya's information gathering skill impressed Khushi. She thanked her and set her off. Walking over to the huge glass windows, Khushi took in the view ahead- the city skyline and the morning sun shining brightly, and reflected.

Khushi's first job out of college was in Magnolia. She had interned here, every summer for 3 years of her undergrad and 2 years during her MBA- A total of being associated with the firm for 12 long years.

Sheetal's late father, Sunil was Khushi's mentor and father figure. The man had vision; he knew how to convert those visions into tangible assets yet he had a heart of gold. He was a businessman and a philanthropist.

Khushi first met him when he came to her college for a function as a chief guest. His speech, his determination, the way he talked about his companies- moved her. She applied for her first internship to Kapoor Industries and was offered one in the then upcoming and small toy company- Magnolia (one of the many Sunil Kapoor owned).

Slowly by the dint of her hard work and acumen, she made herself visible to Sunil. As she graduated from MBA school, 5 years later, he straightaway offered her a job- that of a manager in Magnolia. From manager, she made her way up, taking the firm along on the ascend. That was 7 years back. She and the company had never looked back.

When she began at Magnolia, they were hardly a dozen people. Now they had close to 100. It was still less in size as compared to the other companies in Kapoor Group but it was her baby. She had toiled hard to make it grow. And Sunil had seen this. He admired her dedication to a firm, which had been on the backburner ever since it's conception. He knew how hard she worked to take an underdog, an underperformer and carve a name for it among the competitors.

5 months ago, before he passed away, in a move that stunned Khushi, Sunil made an addendum to the company article. All his companies would go to his only child, Sheetal but in case of Magnolia, even though Sheetal will be the owner, the management control would be divided between the CEO (Khushi) and the MD (Sheetal). This meant that most of the management decision would require both their agreement.

Sheetal, who was now the owner of all his business empire, had started despising Khushi then and there. She was like a dog with a bone- once she harbored ill feelings for someone, she wouldn't let it go. Since Khushi had equal powers in Magnolia, Sheetal, try as hard as she may, couldn't fire her.

Over the past 5 months, since Sunil's death, Sheetal had approached the board of directors to back her decision. Fortunately for Khushi, the directors valued results and Khushi had been always able to deliver.

Today, Sheetal had cancelled an important meeting with a potential advertisement source. And as per the information from Lavanya, she was in talks with the company lawyers.

Khushi pinched the bridge of her nose- Sheetal was up to something and she was sure it would be something fatal.

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***{LaAmbroisie Restaurant}***

"You seem distracted," Payal commented taking a sip of her Long Island Iced Tea.

Khushi shook her head, "It's nothing. Just work."

"What is Sheetal doing now to make your life harder?"

Khushi smiled at her elder sister. Payal was her cousin whose family had taken Khushi in after she lost both her parents in a car accident, when she was 8. Over the years, Payal and Khushi had become thick as thieves. Payal's parents and Khushi's maternal aunt and uncle, Garima and Shashi had never differentiated between the two girls.

"How can you tell it's her?" Khushi asked, smiling at her elder sister.

Payal crossed her arm over her chest, "For years you have been saying how much you love your job. Despite the long working hours and some real sh*tty days, you don't let it dampen your mood. But ever since Sheetal took over, you look like you go to war everyday."

"I don't understand," Khushi shrugged, "Magnolia is just a small company. It shouldn't even matter to Sheetal. She has all the big ones. She spends most of her time in New York anyway. How could she want to destroy something her father envisioned? How could she not respect his hard work?"

"Because she is a spoilt brat," Payal replied, "She thinks her dad took away one of her toys and gave it to you."

"But I built this company," Khushi responded, "Sunil Sir knew this. He saw what I had done- how I've built Magnolia from scratch. He knew Sheetal wouldn't value it like he or I would."

"Why don't you quit? You know there are a dozen firms in Delhi alone who'd scoop you up with a hefty signing bonus," Payal suggested.

"You know I won't. It's not the money. Magnolia is my life," Khushi sighed, "I wish somehow I could buy Magnolia from her and become the sole decision-maker. That way I wouldn't have to deal with the sword hanging over me, everyday. But I can't conjure up that kind of money. Even if I did, she would never sell it to me. And now, I think something's brewing in her head..."

"You, little sister," Payal said putting her hand on Khushi's, "are a fighter. And you are strong. You'll figure something out. But you need to focus on your personal life too."

Payal's comment earned her a curious glance from Khushi.

"When was the last time you went out? On a date?" Payal asked.

Khushi shrugged her shoulder; "My dating life is the least of my concern at the moment."

"You should give it some priority," the elder cousin reasoned, "Your work is important to you but you need someone to share your life too. As we move forward, our challenges grow. It helps when you have someone to walk with you."

"Wiser words have never been spoken," Khushi grinned, taking a sip of her lemonade. "Okay, I'll make time for it."

Payal raised her eyebrow, "I told you about my former classmate, Mohit, a month back. He called you once but you never called back."

"Oh!" Khushi uttered when she recalled the guy her sister was referring to.

"Yeah," Payal responded, "Mohit is still interested you know. He asked me about you. Give him a call. Go on a date. Who knows maybe he'll be the one."

"I doubt that," Khushi replied. On getting a glare from Payal, she added, "Okay! I'll contact him. Though shouldn't you also take your own advice?" she countered.

Payal quirked an eyebrow.

Khushi explained with a smile, "You want me to date but aren't you single too? Or are all the dating advice for me?"

Payal cleared her throat, "This is not about me."

There was something sketchy about the way she answered. Khushi, being intuitive and very familiar with her sister's mannerisms, caught on, "Hold on! Are you hiding something from me? Is there someone?"

When Payal didn't answer, Khushi clasped her hand at her mouth, "O my God! Here you are going on and on about some Mohit and you are hiding your boyfriend from me?"

"Okay!" Payal raised her hand in defeat, "Something... is happening but I am not telling you anything. For now. I just need sometime to figure things out."

On any other day, Khushi would have pursued. Today, other events clouded her thoughts, "All right," she replied, "But you'll have to tell me everything, all the details later."

"Done." Payal looked at her wristwatch, "My flight to Lucknow leaves in 3 hours."

"You should get going. The traffic in Delhi is unpredictable," Khushi gestured at the waiter for the bill. "Give my love to uncle and aunt and tell them I'll try to come home for Diwali."

"You have been saying that for the past 6 years. Mom will kill you if you don't take leave this year and I miss you too. You only met me because I came to Delhi for work," Payal complained.

"I'll definitely do better next time," Khushi promised.

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A few tables away in the same restaurant, unknown to Khushi, two former college-mates were engaged in a discussion, which would directly affect her.

"So you've gone through the fine print. What do you think?" Sheetal asked the man sitting across from her.

Arnav Singh Raizada gave a last glance to the file labeled "Magnolia" in front of him. "You know what I think. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't interested."

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