Against All Odds

by Aarti V Raman

  “What situation?”

  He rolled his eyes and she stopped being a smartass. “I was thinking, I don’t have to go back to California right away with the guys. They could work on the details of the funding out without my presence for a few more days.”

  Bharat wondered at the enormity of what he was proposing. To give up control of Caliban now, to allow someone else to decide the tranche amounts for funding, the milestones required to unlock the next tranche. He wondered if he wasn’t straight up acting crazy.

  ~~~~~

  “And then what?” Sophia asked softly. “What happens after a few more days?”

  What Bharat had just asked sounded like heaven. And she wanted it too, to spend more time with him. In bed and out of it. Know his secrets, tell him hers. Experience more of whatever this was.

  But, her conscience had woken up and now she was unable to help herself. Unable to escape the mammoth boulder of guilt and familial obligation. Sheer desperation was making it hard for her to breathe.

  Bharat shrugged. “We could figure it out. Together. Can your cruise liner gig get you to the Bay Area next week?”

  “No! In four months, maybe. If I could ask for a transfer and there was an opening on the North American Transatlantic line. And it was the right weather and…”

  “So, bad idea.” He cut her off mid-sentence.

  “Really bad.” She turned on her side and he put his arms around her. Dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

  “There are casinos in California. Vegas!” Bharat’s eyes lit up. “It’s right next to California. They’d hire you in a second.” Dropped another kiss on the side of her neck.

  Sophia moved closer to him, even though a chill was spreading through her. Now that she was finally thinking. “I do have a US passport.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded, her hair tickling his nose, his face. “Yeah. My parents split their time between the US and India. I was born in Jersey. Dada too.”

  “That’s great, then. You won’t have any problems applying for a permit to the Nevada Gaming Commission. I don’t mind moving base to Vegas or Reno or whatever. And…”

  “And?” She turned to face him. Tears shimmered in eyes that had just held radiance enough to rival the sun. “And we live happily ever after?”

  “I thought,” he said carefully, his eyes extremely quiet. “We already were.”

  “And what about my family?” Sophia demanded recklessly. She took the bravest chance ever and told him the truth. “My dada wants to kill you. He really is out for blood. And he is not going to be okay with his sister living with his arch nemesis or whatever.”

  Bharat turned away from her, pillowed his head on his arms and stared at the ceiling. “First, I am not anyone’s arch nemesis. And I’d be happy to clarify that with your brother any time he wants. Secondly, it’s not up to him to decide if he is okay with it or not. You and I have to be. And thirdly.”

  He turned to look at her, the same expression on his face when he’d pitched Caliban to investors at Greenhound. “What makes you think we are going to be living with each other?”

  A chill spread from her limbs again that had nothing to do with the fact that she was naked under the sheets. And the AC was on at full blast.

  “I am sorry, I just assumed that…” Sophia knew she sounded formal and awkward and that her throat was dry as dessert.

  “You assumed wrong.”

  “Clearly.” She sat up suddenly, tucking the sheets under her arms. Gave him a smile. “I think we should check out the rest of the booths at ConCon. I mean. What else do they got?”

  “Stuff that will blow your mind. But, Sophia.” Bharat sat up too. “You should know something.”

  He took her very cold and clammy hands in his. They were swallowed, finger to palm. He was so much bigger than her that he could hurt by touching her the wrong way. Yet, his words hurt more, she discovered. They hurt like an actual burn wound.

  Sophia continued smiling, even though she knew he knew it didn’t reach her eyes. Suddenly, she felt very naked. It was bizarre and uncomfortable. “What?”

  “I wasn’t talking about living with you. Before. When I suggested you move to America.”

  Her gaze slid away from the intensity of his. She really felt naked now. And uncovered. “I understand that.”

  She tried to tug her hands away but he wouldn’t let go. He tightened his hold until she was forced to look at him.

  “I was talking about marrying you.”

  Her hands went lax in his hands and the sheets dropped down to pool at her waist.

  Chapter Nineteen

  In the end, they did end up going back to ConCon. The mood was subdued, almost somber, but Sophia had had prior experience in brushing feelings under the carpet so she made small talk and asked scientific questions regarding mini-drones and their practical applications in the marketplace.

  Bharat was only too happy to answer them. He could not believe how badly he had bungled that.

  Who proposes marriage three days after meeting someone? Who? Crazy, unbalanced people, that’s who.

  No wonder she was acting all weird. So, he kept his roiling, embarrassed feelings to himself and explained depth perception ratios in mini drones like nothing important, earth-shifting had happened between them.

  He had asked her to marry him.

  She hadn’t answered.

  In the VC pitching world, a non-answer was as good as a no. This much Bharat knew. And besides, there was the small matter of her brother, Nakul Kulashreshtha, who apparently hated him and wanted him dead. Like, actually dead.

  He’d done a little digging on the guy while she had taken her second shower, alone. And what he had found had impressed him.

  And depressed him.

  Nakul was as bright as Sophia had told him. He’d graduated top of his class at Penn State. And he’d been heading for an internship with a big Wall Street firm, not Goldman and Bear Stearns, but someone actually decent and he’d dropped everything to come and haul his father’s company out of the black hole it was in. Even now.

  Bharat winced as he saw the figures of destruction, not astronomical, five crores in Indian rupees was actually not that much money, if you thought about it. But, then you add up capital value and interest rate and the number became much larger.

  Plus, no one was willing to work with Kulashreshtha Holdings after the very public dismantling of their first and only investment – JoyXS. This was destructive.

  From what he’d read in media reports, the brother had sold the family home in Lutyens’ Delhi and paid off half the principle sum to creditors. And the rest of the loan was still dangling over the company’s and Nakul’s head as he tried to work within the constraints of future commodities in wheat and cotton.

  The weather had only cooperated in the last two years and they were close to declaring bankruptcy every year. But every year, Nakul managed to pull off one single deal that kept their head above water. He was quoted as being wise and shrewd and someone who had a calculator for a heart.

  In all his pictures, he looked angry. Annoyed. Tired. Like someone who was this close to giving up.

  And he had Sophia’s eyes.

  Yes, Bharat was impressed. And depressed. Unknowingly, unwittingly he’d set in motion, events that had led to this sad state of affairs for a man he didn’t even know. The man who was brother to the woman he’d proposed marriage to not five minutes after she’d told him her brother was out for his blood.

  The irony of it all was inescapable. A fucking joke. Except, the joke was on him.

  So, he explained the exact velocity parameters of mini drones and didn’t pressure her any further.

  Sophia didn’t deserve to be put in a spot like that. And he didn’t want her to have to choose between him and her family. Not that there was any guarantee she would choose him.

  She’d told him she might be in love with him.

  Yeah, but that meant …what?

  Bharat was
afraid to ask, so they strolled down AR alley and she was treated to a performance of taking her pet out for a walk from the comfort of her living room. It was a new program called HousePets and the company had just been funded.

  He stuck his hands in his pockets as he watched her drop down to her knees and ruffle the fur of the golden lab she’d chosen as her pet – Gutli – and smile at it, for real.

  All her smiles had been automatic since he’d told her he wanted to marry her. It was kind of romantic he knew the kind of smile she had, but it added to his depression too.

  Bharat always had a plan.

  Even in the last few years when he’d had to rebuild everything from scratch, while battling addiction and sobriety, he’d had a plan. A goal. An end game. Part of it was hanging out with Shiv Naren Pal, ex-hacker extraordinaire and seeing him become a better man. Part of it was Caliban and the validation he’d gotten from being the guy to have cracked Generic AI. But the most important part of it was knowing that he mattered.

  His creation mattered.

  His life mattered. That he wasn’t some nothing boy from an orphanage in Chennai no one had ever wanted. Not the Mother Superior or rich, privileged Americans.

  Now, with Sophia, he didn’t know whether he mattered.

  And he didn’t know how to ask her. Not without sounding like a pushy, arrogant, simultaneously pathetic asshole. The asshole he’d been when he’d run JoyXS. So, he shut up and watched her pet the dog, the dog he wanted to have with her and wished for things he didn’t know were possible.

  ~~~~~

  Bharat got the call from Henry right when they were about to head down to a small restaurant for lunch.

  “Where,” Henry said with forced patience. “The fuck are you?”

  Bharat smiled at Sophia who was checking out a shoe shop on the Harbor. She had a thing for shoes he’d discovered. The first innately female thing about her.

  “I’m just about to have lunch. What’s the problem?” He pitched his voice deliberately low.

  “The problem, Bharat, is that you ran out after that goddamned meeting yesterday as if your ass was on fire. Turned off your damn phone and forgot that you were running a company. That is the problem.” Henry was still very calm.

  Bharat knew he was this close to blowing his top off. “I’m sorry, Henry”

  “Are you with her?”

  “Henry, I can explain.”

  “Are you with Sophia Kulashreshtha?”

  He paused for a beat. “Yes.”

  “Do you even care she almost cost you the term sheet yesterday? With her insane notions of doing right in the world and that crack about governments being unable to afford universal basic income. Christ, I hope she is a good lay, Bharat because she is going to…”

  Bharat snapped out, “Stop talking, Henry. Please.”

  “Fuck.” Henry breathed.

  Bharat ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Sophia, whose nose was pressed to the glass window of the shoe store.

  “Look, we have another meeting with them at three,” Henry said. “It’s one thirty now. Will you be able to make it? Or have you swapped drugs and alcohol for sex addiction now?”

  Bharat’s gut burned. “God, Henry. It’s not like that.”

  “I don’t know anything anymore, Bharat. One week ago you were the most dangerous and talented guy in the Valley with bleeding edge tech destined to make us all billionaires, many times over, at the very least. Now, I don’t know what the fuck you are.”

  Bharat closed his eyes as the accusation hit home. “I am sorry. I’ll come to the meeting. I’ll come now.”

  “Are you bringing her?”

  He didn’t answer. There was nothing he could say that could justify his extremely lax behavior and he knew it. “I think I might be in love with her, you know,” he said softly.

  Henry didn’t say anything for a second. Then, “FUCK!”

  ~~~~~

  The three pm meeting with Greenhound Capital went as predicted. They were offered a term sheet for a valuation that was two times less than what they were expecting. But the point cap table made up for it.

  Harrison and team ended the meeting in exactly seventeen minutes, leaving the other four to talk things over.

  “Get back to us soon, guys,” was all he said before shaking hands with Bharat with the most speculative look in his eyes.

  “Eight points for twenty million at a first-time valuation of a hundred million. That’s decent. Considering the deal Donald signed with Toyota today morning,” Henry commented as they settled at a table in one of the cafes that dotted the Aria.

  “We got the Toyota deal?” Bharat grinned.

  Donald shrugged modestly. “They hemmed and hawed at the customer service aspect of it. But we got them in the end. They want a customized working model within two months. First to deploy in Japan. Then the rest of the world in three phases. I’ve emailed your team the highlights.”

  “That’s awesome, Donald. I don’t know what to say.” Bharat high-fived the other man, feeling so much better about being Bharat Shrinivasan than he had all morning.

  “You can tell me if you can get me a customized working model for Caliban within two months.”

  “Fuck yes. We may need to hire a dev ops team, probably twelve people max. I want to keep costs low right now but I think we can make it. What are their specs?”

  “Wait,” Thierron held up a hand and took a sip of his excellent cappuccino. “All of this is conditional upon you delivering what we have promised. Both to Greenhound and our clients. Toyota is going to be followed by Michelin. We should also be looking at other verticals in six months.”

  “I…” Bharat played around with the glass of chilled lemon water. It was in a crystal tumbler. The Aria was fancy like that. “I was thinking we could put a pause on exploring other verticals and just stick to the tyre manufacturing.”

  Henry, already in a bad mood, frowned. Skewered him with a laser glare while he took a big gulp of his stiff drink. He’d needed whiskey to keep himself from exploding over the young, misguided idiot. “What are you talking about?”

  Bharat raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. “I am just saying. Maybe we should put the skids on Caliban till we can figure out if we can do some good with the tech. Maybe use it for agritech. I hear tractor combines are making a big comeback.” He tacked on a grin at the end to take the incredulity out of it.

  “Use it for…” Henry took a deep breath while Donald shook his head. Thierron gazed heavenward. “What are you talking about, desi boy?”

  “I’m talking about…don’t call me that, Henry.” Bharat knew he sounded petulant the second the words slipped out.

  Henry raised one supercilious brow and said, “I would stop calling you that if you stopped acting like one. Chasing after a woman on a boat. Abandoning business meetings. Talking about changing the product right when you are getting funded. What has gotten into you, Bharat?” ‘

  Bharat opened his mouth.

  Donald cut him off. “This is her talking, right? This agricultural technology tractor combine nonsense is because she said something about millions of people losing their jobs last night. I seriously hope the sex is mind-blowing, pal.”

  “Can we stop discussing my sex life and can we please not refer to Sophia ever again?” Bharat managed to grit out, with a semblance of dignity.

  “Why not? Have you broken up with her?” This was from Thierron.

  Bharat’s eyes flashed and his hands clenched into ham-sized fists before he could help it. He took three deep breaths before he spoke. “I haven’t broken up with her. I have no intentions of breaking up with her. She has got nothing to do with what I want to do with Caliban.”

  Henry chuckled. It was an affectionate sound. “She has everything to do with what you want to do with Caliban. But leaving aside the billions we are going to lose in potential sales when we pivot to agritech, I’ve got to ask, how is her brother taking it?”

  Bharat’
s stomach felt lined with lead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took a sip of the chilled lemon water. For the first time in years, he wished it were vodka.

  “You have a brain the size of a planet. You know exactly what I am talking about, Bharat,” Henry said bluntly. “Nakul. Sophia’s brother. Has she mentioned how that guy is barely holding the family investment firm together, if a hole in a strip mall in Delhi can be called an investment firm? How he was once quoted as saying he wished Bharat Shankar Shrinivasan had not trapped his father in a deal meant for the devil? Do you know what I am talking about now?”

  Bharat drank some more of the water. It didn’t help with the churning in his gut. “I haven’t read anything written about me in the press in six years and you know it. Stop dicking around and ask me what you want to ask me.”

  “How exactly are you planning on taking on the bloodthirsty brother and what exactly is Sophia’s role in all of this?” Henry demanded.

  Bharat sighed. “This was supposed to be my moment, you know,” he murmured. “Caliban. ConCon. Being courted by every name in the Valley and the rest of the world. It’s what I always wanted. I wanted to matter.”

  “You do, Bharat,” Donald said quietly. “So do not give it up for a woman.”

  “I am not, Max,” he shot back. “I can’t believe I still need to keep having the same conversation with you guys every single time I supposedly screw up. But I haven’t. I haven’t screwed up. I just want to see if my bleeding edge, wonderful technology can actually create jobs instead of putting people out of work. Is that so wrong?”

  Bharat was defensive and naïve and optimistic and quite possibly delusional. But he couldn’t help himself. Sure, Sophia had brought up an idealistic, non-business related point yesterday. But that didn’t mean she was entirely wrong, even though they hadn’t talked about it at all.

  It also didn’t mean he was whipped.

  “No.” Thierron shook his head. “But it does worry me that you’re thinking of wanting to save the world instead of changing it without discussing it with the three of us.”