‘Oh no, Megha, actually he won’t. I hope that’s all right with you? I should have informed you earlier. The thing is, since Yudi will be working on this project in the capacity of a creative consultant; I didn’t think it was necessary to include him in all the meetings. We can bring him in only for key sessions where decisions on the creative work are required.’

‘Sure, Suketu, that’s fine with me.’ I was secretly relieved. Memories of the weird dream I had had a few nights ago were still uncomfortably fresh in my mind and I was in no hurry to meet Yudi. To add to my cup of joy, Varun had also opted out of the brainstorming session I had planned for the day, which was all I needed to be at my productive best.

We plunged into the session and as the day progressed I found myself increasingly warming up to Neil and Shubhra. Not only did we get along famously, but working with them was thoroughly enjoyable and invigorating as well. While I had in mind several suggestions about the creative aspects of this project, I was a little apprehensive about sharing them with the creative team. As an assistant brand manager, my job was fundamentally to provide direction and strategic input as far as the creative work was concerned. I was not really supposed to get into the nitty-gritty of its development, but I had increasingly found myself drawn towards the creative aspects of all the projects I had worked on ever since I had joined GF. It was probably a stroke of divine providence that Bright Biscuits, the first project I was handling independently, had come my way along with a new creative team who seemed pretty flexible. Luckily, I found Neil and Shubhra welcoming and open-minded when it came to my inputs on what was really their area of expertise. Moreover, Suketu was being extremely encouraging and supportive as well. He nodded appreciatively now as I shared a creative concept and smiled at me, saying, ‘Awesome stuff, Megha. You have a real flair for creative development. I really appreciate your taking such an interest in the creative aspects of this project.’

‘Thanks, Suketu! I hope you don’t think I’m going beyond the brief, you know! I mean, I’m not really a creative person, but I had so many ideas on this project I just had to share them with you.’

‘I think it’s great too, Megha,’ Shubhra chimed in, smiling warmly at me. ‘I mean, Neil and I are so new at Blue Strawberry, this is our first big project and we were like, so nervous before we started! But Suketu believed in us, and then we met you and you’ve been so supportive too. I agree with Suketu. You have a flair for creative work and it’s great that you have so many suggestions. Keep them coming, I say!’

‘Thanks, guys! Thank you for being so open minded. I…’ The soulful strains of ‘Tum Mile’ rang out, interrupting me, and I grabbed my cellphone to silence it. It was the Momster! What could it possibly be that she was calling me bang in the middle of a working day?