Finding a spare folding chair resting against the wall, Rishi unfolded it and gestured to Anjali to sit down. She looked rather fragile, and he didn’t want her passing out or something. But she ignored him and continued to stare at the floor as if fascinated by the pattern on the tiles.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, folks. I realize this is a bit of a surprise, but believe me, what the store needs at this time is shock therapy.”
Mohan Kapadia was the first to respond. He combed his fingers through his hair. “I’m not sure about this expansion idea, Rishi.”
“I’ll explain in a moment, Uncle,” Rishi assured him. It wasn’t a promising sign that the two women continued to maintain their silence. From what he’d gathered during the last couple of hours and from Jeevan-kaka’s description of the family, it was Usha who more or less ruled the roost. Anjali was the creative mind and the visionary behind the business. He’d managed to antagonize the two main players.
It was probably a mistake on his part to present his ideas with such haste. A little more tact would have helped as well. Unfortunately, being used to direct and tough business negotiations most of the time, he wasn’t prepared for this kind of delicate, dance-around-the-issue type of situation.
Perhaps he should have waited a little, prepared them to some degree and introduced his plan bit by bit. Instead, he’d delivered it in one quick stroke. But it wasn’t all his fault, damn it. Miss Kapadia, with her pretty eyes and the distrust and sadness alternating in them, had made him lose his sense of balance.
And he very rarely lost his sense of balance.
Usha turned her head and fixed her gaze on her brother-in-law. “Jeevan-bhai, I agree with Mohan and Anju. I can’t imagine how expanding a failing business is going to help. We’ll only end up deeper in debt.”
Jeevan Kapadia raised an imperious hand and motioned for the three of them to calm down. “Why are you jumping to conclusions? At least listen to Rishi first.”
Rishi sighed. Jeevan-kaka, despite his brilliant mind, had little sense of timing or diplomacy. Once he latched on to an idea, he ran at top speed with no thought for caution—like those bulls Miss Kapadia had alluded to. But then, he was in no position to judge Jeevan-kaka when he himself had behaved in exactly that fashion.
It was time for damage control.
“This is what I propose,” he started. “We approach the person who owns the wholesale grocery shop next door. From the looks of the storefront, it’s not a thriving business. I want to find out if he’s willing to sell his space to us. Jeevan-kaka tells me you currently own half of the building. If we can buy that man out, then we can join the two halves, essentially doubling its size and at the same time owning a larger, more desirable property.”
Mohan shook his head. “The township zoning department may not allow that kind of restructuring of what was originally a duplex home—two houses joined by a wall.”
“I’ll look into it. All we may have to do is apply for a permit to fuse the two parts. As it stands, it’s a single building made into two stores with a firewall in between.”
“That will be very expensive,” cautioned Usha.
“Don’t worry about funding, Auntie. That’s our problem—mine and Jeevan-kaka’s,” replied Rishi gently. “The advantage of owning both portions of the building is that we can refurbish both as one, modernize it, and make it attractive.”
Usha didn’t respond, but continued to frown.
“That run-down store next door is single-handedly decreasing the value of your property as well as your sales volume,” said Rishi, putting on his most convincing voice. “It’s common knowledge that an unsightly property brings down the value of everything around it. The very appearance of that store prevents customers from coming to yours.”
“We’re aware of that,” said Usha, telling Rishi that she was sensitive about the aesthetics of her business. “We’ve tried several times to get Mr. Tejmal to clean up his storefront, but he just doesn’t seem to care. So we’re stuck with him.”
“That’s why we need to buy him out. Then you can have a corner building with its own large parking lot and separate entrances from two different streets,” he explained. “Obviously parking is at a premium in this neighborhood. This will be perfect to house a trendy boutique with no ugly elements on either side to spoil its exclusive look.”
Mohan chewed his lower lip. “Sounds good in theory, but…”
“Go ahead, Uncle.” Rishi shifted and gave him a questioning look. “Tell us what’s on your mind.”
“Tejmal will not sell, Rishi. He has owned that store for years. He bought it when real estate here was cheap because the neighborhood was not very desirable. In fact, when I bought my half some years ago, Tejmal’s portion had already doubled in value. Now it’s worth even more. Why would he want to sell a hot property?”
“Precisely because it is hot property, Uncle. Real estate here peaked a while ago, then reached a plateau, and is now in decline. It’s the perfect time for him to sell.”
“How do you know all this?” Anjali spoke for the first time in several minutes, surprising Rishi. But she still looked somewhat dazed.
He turned his attention to her. “Research.”
Usha shook her head. “Still, Tejmal may not want to sell. That store is his life.”
A disdainful roar of laughter came from Jeevan. “Have you seen that man’s display window? It is full of dust and cobwebs—and one pane is cracked. Like Rishi says, it is making your classy store look cheap. He is ruining the quality of the entire neighborhood.” He pulled a face. “If he does not sell that place, or at least refurbish it, he is dead, I’m telling you.”
Anjali turned to her uncle, looking horrified. “You can’t mean that!”
“Why are you looking so shocked, Anju? I’m just stating a fact.”
“You’re not going to…threaten Mr. Tejmal’s life or…something, are you?”
In reply she got a blank look from Jeevan. “Why would I do that?”
Rishi suppressed his urge to laugh. Was this woman serious? Did she really think her uncle had the potential to terrorize or put a contract out on some harmless old shopkeeper? Jeevan was notorious for his strong-arm business tactics, but they didn’t extend to such outlandish practices. He winked at Jeevan. “I think Miss Kapadia’s been seeing too many Hindi movies.”
“That’s not true!” Anjali protested. “Jeevan-kaka can be…well, I was only wondering if…Never mind.” This time she did collapse onto the chair Rishi had pulled up earlier and her hands descended in her lap in a limp, hopeless gesture. “I’m tired of this whole affair.”
She did look tired, Rishi noticed. More than tired, she looked dejected. He felt a strong pang of sympathy for her, but the disciplined businessman in him dispelled the emotion. She appeared to be a woman who was obviously used to having her own way. Well, it was about time she learned a lesson or two.
Life was not always neat and uncomplicated. And it didn’t come in pure shades of black and white either. Owning and running a business definitely involved innumerable shades of gray—and the sooner she learned that, the better. Time for the fairy princess to emerge from her sheltered castle, he told himself.
But his gentler feelings of compassion still clouded the pragmatic ones.
Since there were no more chairs left, he shifted again and leaned against the wall. It was crowded with tacked-on lists of phone numbers, store ads, pizza shop coupons, and pictures of Indian outfits. This tiny office appeared to be Mohan’s domain, very different from the neat and organized shop floor run by the two women.
He