‘Hi guys!’ he said, smiling at both of us, ‘What’s up? The two of you looked really stressed in here, so I thought I’d come in and find out what’s going on.’

‘Oh I’m so glad you did, Shiv!’ squealed Varun in his suave, impress-the-boss voice, ‘I was just discussing the repercussions of today’s meeting with Megha, you know.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about the repercussions too much, Varun,’ replied Shiv, shooting me a sideways grin. ‘I’d been thinking about taking this creative team off Bright Biscuits for some time now. They’re clearly overloaded and it would be unfair to expect them to do justice to a project that is so time-consuming and challenging. I think we’ll see results once the new team is in place. And Megha, chin up. You’ve done a great job so far and I want to see more of that as we go forward. Okay? Varun, drop by my desk, will you? There’s some stuff I want to discuss with you for tomorrow’s meeting with the sales team.’ He opened the door for Varun who sidled out sulkily after one last glare in my direction.

I sighed and headed back to my desk, exhausted. My day had started early thanks to the meeting with the agency and it was almost 8 p.m. now. I also realized, belatedly, that in the mad rush of the day I’d ended up skipping both breakfast and lunch, and my stomach was now protesting this cavalier attitude towards it with violent growls. As I reached my desk I spotted Vijay wrapping up for the day at his workstation nearby.

‘Do you want to grab a coffee, Meg?’ he asked, catching sight of me. I nodded gratefully.

Fifteen minutes later, as I bit into a bun samosa, I told Vijay, ‘Perfect timing, Tau! I was starving! Also, if I’d hung around a little longer, Vile Varun would have come by again to exact revenge for my impertinence earlier today. God, I need a break from that guy! In fact I think I need a break from everything!’

Vijay regarded me thoughtfully. ‘You know you’ve been saying that a lot lately, Meg. Is it just a phase or are you seriously thinking of a change?’

I looked at him, carefully considering what he’d asked. ‘A new job, you mean? No way! I’m sure it’ll be more of the same. It’s like this everywhere, I think. And beyond a point you just stagnate.’

‘So what’s the plan then?’ Vijay grinned. ‘Do we see you settling down in matrimonial bliss soon? With a couple of Megha juniors in tow perhaps?’

‘No way!’ I grinned. ‘I’m leaving that stuff to you and Debbie!’

Debbie, short for Debaprita, was Vijay’s longtime girlfriend and a budding sports journalist. The two had got engaged recently and were planning to tie the knot soon.

‘It’s just that… You know, I don’t think there is a plan,’ I went on, taking a sip of my fresh lime soda. ‘I mean, life seemed so straightforward back in college. You graduate, do an MBA, get a job and then live happily ever after! Just like you were supposed to. Except that I’m not sure if this is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. I think I’m going through one of those quarter-life crises the media keeps talking about these days!’