I then started to talk to him about ANR Sir. I said, “ANR Sir seems like such a nice boss. He got us a bouquet on his first visit. Is he the same at the office also? He's very charming and handsome. The ladies in your office must love him.”
Guru kept quiet and only responded with a Hmm or a head nod. He was not even eating properly. So, I insisted that he tell me what was bothering him. He finally caved in.
Guru: When you went to the kitchen to make tea, ANR Sir told me that I had made a blunder on one of the projects I was in charge of. Instead of quoting an amount of Rs. 5 lakhs, I quoted Rs. 50 lakhs. This has resulted in the company losing Rs. 45 lakhs.
Me: What now?
Guru: ANR Sir told me he didn't want the whole office to know, so he invited himself to my house to tell me. He said that he could not hide this for long. I need to compensate the company for the loss at the earliest. Or else, I will be suspended without pay, and the money will be recovered legally from me.
Me: (In shock) Guru! But we don't have that much money. We have an outstanding home loan. Our car is on EMI. We have no other source of income. What are we going to do?
Guru: I told ANR Sir all this. Do you think I didn't? But he said that if I could not compensate, I would be fired, and legal action for negligence would be initiated against me. I don't know what to do, Dhwani.
Me: (worried) Guru, no. Don't say that. We have a good life here. We can't lose it. What will we do? We can't go back to chennai. What will our family, relatives and friends say? There must be some other way.
Guru: It's 54 lakhs, Dhwani. There is no way I can raise so much money ever, let alone in such a short duration. I told ANR Sir all this. He said there was one way to make all of this disappear.
Me: (Feeling huge relief) Oh. That's so kind of him. I knew he was a good man. What did he say? How can we get out of this trouble?
Guru looked up at me and hesitated.
Me: (shouting) Tell me what the way is! Whatever it is, you do it. Let's get out of this trouble.
Guru: It's nothing to do with me.
Me: (Confused) What do you mean?
Guru hesitated once again. I gave him a stern look.
Guru: ANR Sir said he could make it all go away if we cooperated.
Me: (still confused) Cooperated how?
Guru: He said that you're very beautiful, and he was lonely being away from his wife. So if you cooperated and I agreed, he would somehow manage the 54 lakh discrepancy and ensure I don't lose my job.
I took a few seconds to understand what he meant. And then it dawned upon me. I was shocked and taken aback. I was brought up in a very conservative household. I have been with only one man, and it was with Guru, my husband. That too after marriage.
I didn't know what to say. I just sat there in silence, too stunned to speak.
Guru: (breaking the silence) ANR Sir said he saw you and was blown away by your beauty. He gave me until Monday to decide how I would go about this. Either agree to his offer or compensate for the monetary loss to the company.
There was silence once again.
Me: I have never been with any other man other than you. I am your wife. I am married to you. I love you.
Guru: (stopping me) I know Dhwani. I know. Don't worry. I will figure something out.
He then started mumbling.
Guru: If we sell the house and the car, we will get 30-35 lakhs. I will ask dad to mortgage our house in chennai, giving us another 15-20 lakhs. That should be enough to raise the 54 lakhs. If not, we will also mortgage some of your jewellery for the remaining amount.
Guru: (continuing) we will have to leave pune and shift back to chennai. Both of us will have to look for other jobs. We still have to pay back the house loan and the car EMIs to the ban NS, but we will consider that later.
The full scope of the situation hit me just then. I looked at Guru.
Guru; I am sorry, Dhwani. I know it's my fault. I know I have jeopardised our lives. But what else can I do?
Me: Which is what I was coming to? If we return to chennai, we can say goodbye to our future. We will have no option but to suffer for the rest of our lives. But there is a way we can avoid all this.
Guru: (Stunned) You mean ANR Sir's condition?
Me: (nodding my head in agreement) Only if you're comfortable and agree. But please know this. I love you and would only do it for our safe and secure future.
There was silence once again. After a few more minutes spent discussing, we decided that it was the best scenario for us to agree to ANR Sir's condition. Guru promised me he would never put us in such a situation again.
The next day Guru went to the office to talk to ANR Sir. I was impatiently waiting for news of any development. Finally, in the afternoon, Guru messaged, saying, “Spoke to Sir. He promised he would take care of the issue.” I took a sigh of relief.
Guru came home that evening, visibly and considerably more happy and relieved. It seemed like a huge mountain was lifted off of our shoulders. He said that ANR Sir would come home the next day.
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