With flaming cheeks I stood up and fumbled to get my laptop open. As I raced through the presentation, wishing with all my heart that the earth would open up and swallow me, I was acutely aware of Yudi’s mocking presence, his eyes boring into mine whenever I accidently glanced at him. I was only too relieved when the presentation was over and I could finally sit down. But the meeting was far from over. After Varun’s insufferable strategy spiel, Shiv took over and we got into some heavy-duty discussions on the future course of action. I found myself warming up to the new creative team: Neil and Shubhra. They seemed young and peppy and were wildly enthusiastic about Bright Biscuits. For a team that worked closely together, they also couldn’t have been more different, both in looks and behaviour. While Shubhra was serious and bespectacled and spoke in measured, polite tones, Neil looked like a wild, naughty little boy who was just playing at being a grown-up. He had an excited, effusive style of speaking and was also, I noted with a touch of amusement, given to liberally peppering his sentences with profanities. He uttered one such now, while excitedly describing his vision for Bright Biscuits, and I noticed Shiv, the ever-perfect gentleman, squirming in his seat. Yudi also seemed to be taking a keen interest in the discussion, I noted a little indignantly. I still had absolutely no clue as to what he was doing here, though. For someone who worked on Dinky Chips, he had no business being there in the first place. I mean, the whole reason we had got a new creative team was because the old team had been overloaded with work across too many brands. I resolved to get to the bottom of this Yudi business as fast as possible, and tried to focus on what was being discussed.

A few hours later I staggered out of the meeting room, armed with fresh timelines and a plan of action for the project. We were going to be working on killer timelines! It had been agreed in the meeting that we would regroup ten days later with the first draft of the creative campaign idea and, if it was approved by all, it would be taken forward into market research for further testing. In spite of the pressure, the new creative team’s enthusiasm had rubbed off on me and I was eager to sink my teeth into some work. I even had a few creative ideas of my own and I was eager to bounce them off Neil and Shubhra when the opportune moment presented itself. Wanting to mull over my thoughts a little longer, I decided to grab a cup of tea and some fresh air before getting back to my desk. Vile Varun was thumping the vending machine when I got to the coffee point. I decided to make some polite conversation to soothe ruffled feathers after yesterday’s little showdown as well as to find out what Yudi had been doing in our meeting.