A wide grin erupted on Professor McElroy"s face. He couldn"t believe that the people from The Silver House had come to recruit him so soon. This was like a dream come true. There were b.u.t.terflies in his chest as he took a small intake of breath. He literally jumped from his chair and ran to Neal. In a light voice he said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Perry." He shook Neal"s hands intensely. "It is such a pleasure to have you here." His excitement was over the top. McElroy could almost imagine the expensive cars, huge bungalow, traveling to exotic locations and a high package when he looked eye-to-eye at Neal. "Please sit here," he said, pulling out a chair for him. Neal narrowed his eyes. He scoffed and then sat on the chair offered to him.
The two henchmen kept standing even though the professor asked them to sit. Their poker faces were frightening, so he avoided their stare.
McElroy sat in his chair, folded his arms on the desk and leaned forward. "What can I do for you?" he asked very politely, trying to subside his fervour. "I was expecting you to contact me sooner, but I didn"t know that someone from The Silver House would come. This is certainly very rewarding. I feel so honored."
Neal tilted his head and watched him with scorn. He crossed his legs. Removing an invisible speck of dirt from his coat, Neal asked directly, "Did you write that report about our Company, The Mink Corporation?"
"Yes," Professor replied. "I wrote it and came to the conclusion that your company might go down. I have a lot of data that supports my theory."
"Really?" asked Neal, nodding his head and narrowing his eyes. "We believe you wrote this report a year back."
"True, true!" McElroy beamed with happiness. "I wrote it when you people had just floated your first public shares."
"Ah!" Neal bit his lower lip. "So you confirm that it was you who had written it?"
"Of course yes, I confirm it. I had spent five sleepless nights in understanding those figures to reach the conclusion," McElroy spoke with verve.
A muscle feathered in Neal"s jaw.This was the confirmation he was looking for before acting. He looked at the two poker-faced men. They nodded and walked to the back of the professor"s chair. Professor looked at them with a frown. Men number one held the curtain and drew it. Men number two closed the window.
Ignoring them McElroy said eagerly, "I know why you have come here."
Neal raised an eyebrow and asked, "And why is that?"
"Because you need a consultant who would help you out of the dire situation. I have already predicted that the Company is going to go down. If you want it to sustain for long, you should hire me as your consultant and then I am going to help you out."
Neal was irritated listening to his constant blabbering. "Shut up!" he yelled. "How dare you even think of writing this kind of a negative report for us? If you were keeping a tab on our company, do you know that we are about to float our rights issue?"
"Oh! Yes! I know that too. That"s why I timed the whole thing. You should hire me and I will tell you all the amendments that you need to do," McElroy said with wide eyes that were showing greed and negotiation about his job rather than an eagerness to help them out.
By now angered to the hilt, Neal closed his fists tightly. He got up and thumped the table with his hand.
The Professor jumped back straight. "What"s wrong?" he asked with a startle.
"So you also know that we are floating our rights share and yet you published that research only to get a job in our Company?" Neal"s face reddened with anger. "You are certainly a malicious man. Our Company is not going down!"
Suddenly from behind a man held Professor"s collar and another one punched him hard on his arm. McElroy winced in pain. "Are you mad? What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" he yelled. He couldn"t understand the head or tail of this sudden attack.
"You will be punished for this brazenness," Neal replied.
Another punch landed on his arm.
"Stop!" he got up and tried to run away from there. But the Man number two held him and stopped him. The other one came and slammed a fist into his face. He fell in the front as blood pooled in his mouth. Man number two held his again and this time he punched him hard on his back. McElroy was aghast. He held his hand in front indicating them to stop their attack so that he could catch his breath. His breathing was ragged. He got up and stood in front of Man number one. For a brief second, they looked at each other with narrowed eyes and then Man number two tried to him but the professor dodged him and in the next second slammed his head into him. The two of them stumbled back with stars in their eyes.
"Why are you doing this?" asked McElroy. In his entire life he had never ever received this kind of treatment. In fact the companies had offered him huge amounts of money. He had used students" reports all the time.
"Withdraw the published paper," came Neal"s cold voice.
Man number one cracked his knuckles and said, "Else we are going to make a pulp out of you."
Professor became dizzy. Even if he withdrew the report, these men won"t leave him because he had claimed that he had written it. They would make his life h.e.l.l. The Silver House was just too powerful to be dealt with. So without wasting time he said, "Look, I am sorry but I was telling you the lie. I haven"t written it. It was written by a student last year." His face was slack with fear. He had to get out of it.
Both men punched him hard – one on the stomach and the other on his back. Dhis.h.!.+ Thud!
"Ahhhhh! Spare me!" the professor pleaded. "I swear that was a student who wrote it. I can call her and verify it for you."
A contemptuous smile spread on Neal"s face, "You sly fox. Fine, call her." he folded his hands across his chest and waited to see the drama.
Professor McElroy immediately picked up his phone. He dialed Dawn"s number. She picked the call on the last ring. "Good afternoon, Sir," she said in an uneven voice.
"Dawn, the report that you had written – I want you to claim it. I want that your name go beneath it. So come to my office quickly. We will call the Journal"s office now."
There was a short pause as everyone waited for her to answer. Then a soft voice came, "No Professor. How can I claim it? You wrote that. You were the one who diligently researched for it. I am sorry but I can"t give you any s.e.xual favors for adding my name to that."
"What?" McElroy shouted. "You stupid girl. When did I ask you for s.e.xual favors? You protested that day in my office and so I am giving you a chance to become famous. Come and accept it."
"No, no. Sir, please I don"t want you to fail me in my exam. I haven"t contributed one bit. I am not the type of the girl who would stoop so low. Goodbye." The phone disconnected.
McElroy"s face was pale as a ghost.
Neal watched the professor with a tight jaw. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You sc.u.m! You are s.h.i.+fting the blame to an innocent student." He detested such disloyal men. He looked at the two men. They nodded.
After fifteen minutes, when the three of them came out, the two men hid their red and bloodied fists in their pockets.
Inside, the professor was gagged and tied to his broken chair. He couldn"t move an inch. He was all black and blue. The gla.s.ses had cracked. His mind was numb and all he remembered was a song by Ed Sheeran-
"I am in love with the shape of you"
He couldn"t remember lyrics after that.
---
That afternoon Dawn had planned on meeting the professor. As she neared the office, because of her heightened sense of hearing, she heard people talking in his office. She lingered outside at a distance very quietly. To her surprise, they were talking about her research paper and then a sudden fight erupted. When she heard that the Professor wanted to call her, she ran away as far as possible and then picked the call. Smartly, she saved herself.
The professor was caught in his own conspiracy.