The Big Showdown

Kabir Mittal was with one of his contractor's, Jim , as they wandered around the empty house he had recently purchased, inspecting it and taking notes of the things they intended to remove and save before they finally demolished the place.

Kabir had come to realize the good thing about these old Victorian houses, as dilapidated and run down as they were, that they had some nice features and fixtures still remaining that could be reused in other projects.

He liked to think it was his way doing his bit for recycling.

There were a few bits and pieces he would take from this house, including the old fire surrounds. Satisfied they had seen all he needed, he and Jim decided they had finished for the day. Kabir wanted to get away. He had a meeting to attend in a few hours time, and it would be over an hour's drive to get there.

Kabir was just closing the front door behind him, when he heard the female derisive tone,

"Well look, if it isn't the vultures moving in to pick at the bones of the carcass!"

Kabir turned and found himself staring into a pair of hostile hazel eyes, that narrowed at him. They were set in a pale oval face, which belonged to the slim young woman standing a few yards from him.

Her straight auburn hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail and she was dressed for the weather, in dark jeans and a short parka jacket in a green colour that almost matched her stormy eyes.

Her hands were shoved in the pockets of the jacket, and her stance almost challenging as she eyed him up and down.

Standing just a little bit behind her was another woman who was seemed a lot older, she had a mass of frizzy grey hair; but seemed more anxious and uneasy than her younger companion, as if she didn't really want to be there at all

Kabir found he was momentarily taken aback by their unexpected appearance, along with the fact the younger woman wasn't exactly addressing him in the most respectful tone.

Although she was probably setting out to be deliberately offensive, he realised much to his surprise, he wasn't in the least offended. Instead he was curious, and a little intrigued by the nerve she was displaying in approaching him in such a manner

So he responded by smiling at her somewhat placating, "I am sorry, I take it you are talking about us?" he then queried mildly,

It had the desired affect; she was now the one found she was thrown off guard by his easy response, she had somehow expected him to be more unpleasant to her

It made her shift out her own confronting stance, lowering her eyes from his face. She then momentarily glanced around at the older woman just standing behind her, as if now uncertain how to reply.

But now recovering swiftly, she turned back to him, her hazel eyes meeting his again.

"You are Kabir Mittal, the big property developer?" she asked, her tone still mocking, "I was beginning to think you didn't really exist except by name; you are almost impossible to reach, by phone or visits, unless you are tracked down, as we have finally manage to do now."

Kabir found himself taking a step towards her, and cocking his head to the side slightly, his brown eyes now scrutinizing the young woman with a slight surprise, as his eyebrows rose questioningly, "You have been trying to get a hold of me? Do I know you?"

"No, not exactly," she shifted uncertainly again before speaking further, "My name is Pooja Sharma, and this is my friend Mandira; she runs the women's Refuge. 'Haven,' where I also help out. You have bought the property, and intend to knock it down. We have been trying to get a meeting with you to explain the difficult situation that it has put us in"

"Ahh!" realisation hit Kabir, "Now I remember; of course, the women's refuge"

His brown eyes rested on Pooja again speculatively, "And you are the Pooja Sharma who has been pestering my office continuously these last few weeks?"

"So you have been getting our messages then?" Pooja enquired suddenly feeling more incensed at his casual admittance, "It would have been nice to have some sort of response, but I guess you don't deem us important enough to bother with"

"I will admit, I had more pressing concerns," Kabir replied smoothly, "But I would have eventually gotten around to meeting with you sometime"

Her hands were out of her pockets now, and closed into fists clutched at her side as she stepped forward, glaring at him, "And when exactly would that be? Whilst you are knocking the refuge down around our ears, leaving us with nowhere to go? Hoping we would just slink away, and let you get on with building your big fancy hotel?"

She had moved in closer to him, letting him see the wrath flashing in her hazel eyes,

"Well we are not going to make it that easy for you, and if you don't agree to meet and talk with us, I will go to every newspaper in town, and let them know the kind of heartless business man you are; leaving poor vulnerable woman and children who have no where else to go, out on the street. I don't think that is the kind of publicity you would want Mr. Mittal" she finished meaningfully

Pooja felt some satisfaction to see she had finally got his serious attention.

His brown eyes had narrowed, and his mouth had set in a grim line.

"I really don't like being threatened Miss Sharma." he informed her coldly

"And we don't like to be ignored," Pooja replied, "All we wanted is a meeting to explain our circumstances to you, so you would understand that we need more time; surely you owe us that much?" she then tried to reason with him

"My friend is right," the older woman, Mandira, now came up to him also, realising they had him where they wanted him. "You forced us into this confrontation by refusing to meet with us, we had no other choice. The least you can do now, is hear us out"

"Well this is not exactly convenient circumstances," Kabir replied, glancing at his watch, then looked up at his open surroundings, "And I don't really have the time. I have to be at an important meeting in a few hours." he now shot her a brief smile, "Why don't you just phone my office and I will try and arrange a meeting with you sometimes this week," he then suggested briskly as he turned to Jim, motioning with a nod of his head that he was ready to go, and started to move of towards his car

But suddenly he found his way blocked once more by Pooja standing in front of him, her mouth set in a determined line, whilst her hazel eyes boring into him, "Oh no, you are not going to fob us off with some vague promise of a meeting that might, or might not happen, we have had enough of that!"

Kabir was doing his best to hide his impatience and irritation, at her dogged persistence, yet at the same time, he found himself almost admiring her audacity.

So now he heaved a sigh

"I really don't have time for all this, but if you are doubting I will keep my word, then let me reassure you, that is not the case,"

His brown eyes were scrutinizing her again, weighing her up, as he considered how to deal with her.

He was a business man after all, and he was used to dealing with awkward people at times. The fact that he managed it so well, proved his success

"Alright, you want a meeting? You will get your meeting," he finally spoke up decisively, "The only time I am free is tomorrow evening, so we can talk then, over dinner Miss. Sharma"

He had some satisfaction seeing the startled look on her face.

She had set out to do battle with him, hoping to back him into a corner. But he was up to the challenge, and he had decided he was going to fight back; only it would be on his terms. He wasn't going to let her have the fun of getting it all her own way.

The question now was, did she still want to take him on?

"H -Hang on, what do you mean dinner?" she then asked with a small frown of confusion.

"Exactly what I say," he replied easily, "You have only too clearly expressed the urgency of the problem, and now I am willing to listen... that is what you wanted?" his eyes widened expectantly

"Yes....but-" Pooja started to protest

"-Good" he then interrupted her in his brisk tone again, "Tomorrow night it is then, that is unless you have more pressing matters to deal with?" he eyed her enquiringly

"N-no," Pooja manage to stammered, suddenly feeling she was no longer in control of the situation.

This was not the way she had planned for this to turn out at all. Yes, she wanted to talk with him about the refuge. But she didn't want to have dinner with him.

Kabir ploughed on in a businesslike manner, "Splendid, then I will be in touch with you later this evening to sort out the finer details. I believe I have your phone number somewhere, I will get it from my secretary if need be"

His tactic had worked, she was so occupied trying to get her head around his offer, he found it quite easy to step aside and walk past her to his car. where Jim was patiently waiting on him.

"Wait!" she called after him, making him stop to look around at her as he was about to open his car door.

She was still eyeing him suspiciously, "How do I know you will keep your word? I mean this just might be your way of making a quick escape, and avoiding us again," she pointed out.

"I guess I am going to have to ask you to do the unimaginable, and trust me," Kabir replied dryly, "And if I don't keep my word, you have my blessing to go to the newspapers and tell them what a big bad property developer I am... Is that guarantee enough for you?" his brown eyes rested on her intently

Pooja was feeling as if the tables had suddenly been turned, and she was the one being mocked. She didn't like it, but there wasn't very much she could do, not if this was her only chance to put their case to him.

"I guess that will have to do," she finally relented stiffly.

"Good, now I really have to go; its been .. interesting meeting you Miss Sharma," he drawled wryly as he opened the car door, " and I am almost looking forward to tomorrow night"

With that he got into his car, slamming the door behind him as Jim also climbed into the passenger side, smirking as he did so.

The car then roared off, leaving the two women staring after it.

"Well that went ok... I think," Mandira finally spoke up, "At least we are getting the chance to meet with him, and put our side of the story to him at last. Hopefully he will give us the time we need, I am sure you can convince him when you meet him tomorrow night for dinner"

"Don't you mean when we meet him tomorrow night for dinner?" Pooja corrected her.

"Oh but I can't make it tomorrow night," Mandira replied ruefully, "I have already promised Geeta I will call in on her, and make sure she has settled in her new bed sit ok. She is still a bit nervy about being on her own, and I can't let her down. Besides which, I get the feeling Kabir Mittal's dinner offer was specifically aimed at you," she smiled

"I don't particularly want to have dinner with him, I would have preferred a more formal place, like his office or something," Pooja frowned she was still unsure why he had even suggested dinner in the first place, it didn't feel quite right to her.

"Well I wouldn't complain, it's not often any of us get a chance of a free meal whilst stating our case. My advice is make the most of it, and try and be reasonably pleasant to him, he might be more willing to listen to you, we might not get this chance again," Mandira advised stressing how important it was

"I will try," Pooja sighed, "But it won't be easy. He just better not think he can charm his way around me and get of the hook, because that is not going to happen"

"Which is why I trust you to pull this off," Mandira replied, "If anyone is going to make Kabir Mittal sit up and listen its going to be you, I think you can handle him fine on your own," she stated confidently

Pooja managed a small smiled, wishing she shared her friend's confidence