Chapter 2-The Comeback

This is continuation of my first story(http://pratyutpannadasspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/01/chapter-1.html)

Time passed by, the gal had moved up in the corporate hierarchy.She was now a Project Manager.She now led a sophisticated life in some metro.She had a nice house and a wonderful new car.Everything in her life was  rosy.

But what about the boy, was he dead??

I had previously thought so  ,but i was wrong.It was just a rumour .Although he was diagnosed with leukaemia, he had survived, thanks to a benevolent gentleman,who paid for his treatment.But this "benevolent gentleman" was not really a gentleman ,he was involved in many illegal activities like betting,gambling,money laundering,arms dealing  etc. I have to call him “Gentleman” because our law states that “you are not a criminal until and unless you are proven guilty in a court of law”.Many times he had been tried but never ever any conclusive evidence had been found against him.But for the boy he was god.The boy helped him in his illegal business because he owed his life to that “Gentleman”.But illegal money brings with it many enemies who are always ready to harm you and if possible kill you.One night they were attacked by their rivals, All were dead except 5.The boy was one among the lucky 5 who had survived that night.The boy being educated  was the obvious choice to lead the gang.But he was left with few million dollars and some contacts.He had no men no organisation.He can no longer compete with his rivals.He had to look for greener pastures elsewhere. He saw a window of opportunity in Arab spring.Dictators in Tunisa and Egypt had been overthrown by populist revolution.Libya was little different,Gaddaffi tried violent means to crub the revolution.The Rebels couldn’t give it up so easily.It was heading for a civil war.Rebels needed arms and food to fight  Gaddaffi ,if  he supported their cause ,they upon winning ,will grant him exclusive  rights to Libyan oil wells.He met various rebel leaders and made deals with them.But the Rebels were too disorganised to challenge the might of Gaddaffi.He United the Rebels under a single banner called the “National Transitional Council” or in short NTC.He used his contacts to procure arms from european markets and smuggled into Libya.The war intensified with Financial assistance from various Gulf  Nations.But Rebels were steadily losing ground as Gaddaffi had more money and better organisation.He had already put all his money into this war.If  NTC lost it ,He will be back to his old life of poverty and suffering. He had to do something, the something that will redefine history.He made secret agreements with The French and The Germans. They agreed to help NTC ,but they won’t be involved in direct war.As per agreement NATO began airstrikes.The Rebels now equipped with superior weapons and training started to gain lost grounds.It was now becoming obvious that the Mighty Gaddaffi’s end was near.After two months of intense NATO bombing The Libyan Strongman was atlast captured and killed by Rebels.He and NTC were now victors.He was no longer “He” ,”he” had now assumed a name “Francis John”.NTC consisted of various dissimiliar tribes who were united by their hatred for Gaddaffi.But once Gaddaffi was gone they had nothing in common and were now challenging the very existence of NTC. Francis John again had to do his part.He murdered some of the Rebels who had become a threat to the ideologies of NTC.But he kept his promise with his allies in NATO.They were given what they were promised and he got more than what he deserved.

   Within 2yrs of  the revolution various companies like Francis Oil,Francis Energy,Francis Petrochemicals owned By Francis had sprung up .He was now not just a rich man ,But a rather influential man.He had powerful Friends in Paris,Berlin,Tripoli,Damascus,Baghdad,Delhi.Even some say he had friends in the US Senate. He was awarded honorary  french citizenship for his services during the war. The poor Indian was now The rich European. He diversified his business and started a holding company called Francis Money. He then acquired a lot of companies, the famous among them being the SABC(South African Broadcasting Corporation). The idea sounded a little strange to me because his business was concentrated mainly in North Africa, Europe, Arab world and South-East Asia. When People go for diversification, they rarely go for change is geographical location. I would not have been  surprised if He had bought Al Jazeera, Arab world's famous media brand.But rich people are little weird and think out of the box and ahead of their times,thats why they are rich.

          

                   While all this was happening, He still remembered Her, every day, every moment of his life. He tried to search Her but it was difficult to search a girl in this big world. He had no ideas about Her whereabouts. He searched Her in Orkut but She had not used it for years. He then tried Facebook but the damn privacy settings didn't allow him to view any details. He wondered why do girls have account in social networking sites if they don't want to socialize. I'm not sure whether it was a mere coincidence or a well laid out strategy but the fact is that the girl's client are SABC.

                           

                   One wise man once said "rich people are rich because they don't work for money, they make money work for them".

                   Even it seemed the God conspired to make them meet. They met at SABC's annual meeting party at The Taj Hotel. After 6 long years of separation, He finally saw Her. She was looking different, beautiful than ever. She was neither wearing any rings on Her ring finger nor She had put on Sindoor(a traditional red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the parting of their hair.). All this indicated that She was still single. While He was thinking how to talk to her, Her boss came and introduced both. Upon introduction the girl said, "Yes I know him, He is Francis John". He had hoped atleast She would recognize the true him. But how would she have recognised him.  He has changed a lot in appearance and taste, He no more wears  discounted garments from the departmental store. Now brands like Armani, Gucci and Rolex were sharing shelf space in His wardrobe. The girl introduced someone from the crowd, "meet my fiance". She proudly said, "He works for McKinsey firm and is an IIM-A allumni". In that very moment all his hopes were dashed. At first He thought to erase the very existence of "The fiance", nothing could have happened to him, his friends at Delhi could have ensured his immunity. But he saw happiness and joy in her eyes. He loved Her and wanted to see Her happy. So He walked away..