I looked around and my heart sank suddenly as I spotted Yudi in a corner, partially obscured behind some potted greens. He was in the middle of an intense discussion with Priyanka who was looking at him devotedly, her hands clasped in front of her. My mind whizzed back to the thousands of times I had seen Yudi and Priyanka together— at work, in Goa, at the restaurant where I’d met Gautam. They were definitely a couple from the looks of it and if not, they had to be interested in each other given the amount of time they spent together. Maybe Yudi had turned his cell off so they could be alone, I realized, as I remembered the ‘not reachable’ message on his cellphone. Maybe they wanted to celebrate Priyanka’s success in private and here I was all set to crash the party. Well, there was no going back now—I had no time to lose if that stimulus material was going to make the flight with Yudi. I took a deep breath and approached their table, suddenly feeling terribly self-conscious and acutely aware of my slightly dishevelled appearance. Priyanka could make me feel like a country bumpkin in severe need of a makeover on the best of days, and today was not one of my good days. The recent work overload had taken its toll and I was looking like a dehydrated raccoon with dark circles occupying prime space on my tired face. I had rushed to work that day in my raggedy old jeans and a faded tee, taking advantage of GF’s Friday dressing policy, because I was much more comfortable working in them than the formal workwear I normally donned.

‘Umm… Yudi?’ I said nervously, walking up to the table. ‘Can I talk to you for a minute, please?’

I noticed the look of annoyed impatience on Priyanka’s face as Yudi paused midway through what he was saying and swung around to face me with slightly narrowed eyes. I saw a strange, unfathomable look flash across his face for an instant as he set his eyes on me but it was gone almost immediately as he rose and came towards me, effectively blocking out Priyanka’s face with his broad-shouldered frame.

‘What’s wrong, Megha?’ Yudi asked kindly, without a trace of the icy stares he’d been reserving for me of late and I suddenly felt tears welling up at the base of my throat.

‘I’m sorry I disturbed you. I wouldn’t have normally, but it’s an emergency,’ I choked out, feeling incredibly stupid and unable to meet Yudi’s gaze for some reason.

‘You’re not disturbing me, Megha,’ Yudi said before I could continue and I looked up to see him staring at me intently, a slight frown on his face. ‘What’s the emergency?’

‘You know the research, right? On Bright Biscuits? The script research that we are doing in Delhi?’ I took a deep breath and looked at him.

He nodded, ‘I know. I’m going to Delhi to attend research on Dinky Chips and I plan to attend some bit of the research on Bright Biscuits too. Is there some problem with the research?’