Page 2 of Playing By her Rules

Only one woman seemed comfortable in this atrocious weather. Jiya discreetly observed her boss’s daughter and the new CEO of Mehta Finance, Kanika Mehta. Dressed from top to toe in designer winter wear, the woman looked like she’d walked straight out of Gucci’s winter catalog. Kanika had no remorse that the entire management team in front of her was literally freezing their asses off while she continued to pace in front of them, highlighting, in her typically smug manner, all the wrongs they all had done in the past and how she’d be changing everything in the near future.

Jiya shivered and pulled her beanie further down her ears. It was quite apparent that Kanika had zero financial knowledge and no inkling of how to manage money, or even to run a business, for that matter. However, being the owner’s daughter gave her a sense of entitlement and the right to do and say as she pleased. Hence, the late evening outdoor session of the management conference.

Another shiver worked down Jiya’s spine. Damn it, it was too cold, and even though Jiya was well covered, the weather was unsuitable for someone to remain outdoors for long. And they’d been outside in this open-air set up for the past half an hour already.

Jiya stood. She was irritated, annoyed, and, quite frankly, done with everything.

“I quit.” Jiya’s loud voice interrupted Kanika’s continuing list of complaints.

Stunned silence met Jiya’s announcement. Her colleagues stared at her in a mixture of envy and shock. Envy because so many of the faces here wished they had the guts to quit too. Shock because she was one of the leading financial managers of Mehta Finance and she ran their Mumbai branch. She was the one all their clients in Mumbai trusted their money with. She’d invested millions for the rich and the famous in Mumbai through this firm, and now, out of the blue, she was announcing that she was quitting.

“Jiya!” Her employer and Kanika’s father, Vinay Mehta, gasped. “What is wrong with you? You can’t just quit, and announcing it like this is unacceptable. Besides, I’m sure whatever your grievances are, we can work them out. Kanika has just taken over from me; she needs your guidance.”

The day Mr. Mehta’s haughty daughter would need guidance from anyone would be the day the sun rose from the west. But that was something Vinay Mehta would never acknowledge, nor would she tell him that. He’d been a good boss and was a decent man. His only issue was that he was blinded by love for his only child. Jiya had enjoyed working with him and had learnt a lot from him.

While studying for her master’s degree, she’d joined a financial firm in New York. She’d worked with them for two years before moving to Mumbai. Vinay Mehta had seen her credentials and had hired her immediately more than two years ago.

In a short frame of time, he’d allowed her to manage the Mumbai branch of his office while he continued to work from Delhi. Having proved herself, Jiya had quickly become a part of Mehta Finance’s top management.

All had been well until six months ago when her boss had introduced his daughter to Jiya. Thereafter, everything had gone south. Kanika had instantly disliked Jiya and was constantly trying to compete with her. She’d hated the fact that Jiya was connected to the Sehgals, India’s foremost business family, and had several times taunted Jiya on her closeness to them. Jiya’s elder sister Raashi was married to one of the Sehgal heirs, Sameer Sehgal. And that’s all Kanika could ever see. She never saw that Raashi was a successful restaurateur on her own. She never appreciated that Jiya was trying to carve a niche for herself away from the influence of her sister’s family.

The battle lines between them had been drawn right from the beginning, and things had gotten worse in the last few weeks. The two of them couldn’t get along on anything.

Kanika raised her chin a notch. “Actually, Dad, I don’t need any help from Jiya. She can leave whenever she wants.” The woman ran a critical gaze down Jiya’s form, flitting over Jiya’s camel-colored overcoat, the blue scarf tied around her neck, and finally lingering on Jiya’s DIOR boots. “It’s not like Jiya needs the money we are paying her.”

Anger, swift and sharp, rose through Jiya. For days, this woman had tried to pick on her but failed. She had tried to find faults in all of Jiya’s financial evaluations and failed again. It wasn’t Jiya’s fault that her elder sister had made their family restaurant business a super success, and it wasn’t Jiya’s fault that Raashi insisted on putting one-half of the profits of said business in Jiya’s account.

The fact was that Jiya was bloody good at finance, and whatever success Mehta Finance had seen was also in part because of her careful financial planning and investing. Yet, this woman never accepted or respected the hard work Jiya had put in. Kanika knew Jiya’s family was well-off, and hence her entire bone of contention with Jiya was that Jiya was rich.

“You’re right,” Jiya replied. “I really don’t need the money you are paying me. However, I am very good with numbers and love my job. What I do not condone is the way you treat me and everyone else around me. Hence, I wish you all the best, but I’m done here.”

Several gasps followed her outburst.

“How dare you?” Kanika’s face turned red. She faced her father. “Dad, how can she speak to me like that?”

Jiya turned to Vinay Mehta. “Apologies, Sir. But I only speak the truth. Your daughter has no experience in finance, and this company will go down the drain if you leave it to her.”

More gasps from the team followed her words. Jiya was aware they all had been victim to Kanika’s viperous tongue at some point, but none had dared to voice these words aloud so far.

“Get out,” Kanika exploded.

“Gladly and with pleasure.”

Jiya gave a nod to her old boss and a happy wave to the rest of the team. Her heart felt light now that she’d finally taken the decision that had been haunting her for a while now.

She reached her hotel, relieved to be out from the blistering cold and went straight to her floor. Her steps faltered as she opened the door to her room, and the reality of what she had done hit her.

Shit.

She was out of a job. And she’d have to tell her sister. She reached for her phone to call Raashi but then gave up. Some things were better dealt with in person. Besides, one thing was for sure. Raashi would throw a ginormous fit that she’d quit her job…just like that.

Jiya firmed her resolve. She was out of a job, but she would find another one. She had to.

Packing her bags, she booked the next flight out to Mumbai. It was a connecting flight with a small layover, but it was worth it if she got to reach home early. She just hoped that this decision today was not the end of her fairy tale. After all, didn’t fairy tales always teach you that when one door closed, another opened?

2

“Ican’t promise that I’ll be able to make it in time for Aisha’s birthday,” Rohan Bali told his twin as he headed toward the first-class lounge at Heathrow Airport in London.

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