After my return from Delhi, I’d got busy with the finishing touches on the film and the impending Bright Biscuits launch, and so had begun to see less and less of Yudi. As we finished the film, which was the main chunk of the creative work, the involvement of the creative team started slowly reducing and Yudi turned up for even fewer meetings than before. I had hoped desperately that he would come this morning for the viewing of the film, and had been bitterly disappointed when he hadn’t turned up.

I probably deserved it for behaving like a total fool and spending endless hours pining for the guy when he probably didn’t even like me. All he had done was flirt around a bit, which he presumably did with all women, and taken me out for dinner out of politeness because we’d been out on work together. Besides, he had said himself when we’d gone out that he could ‘eat vegetarian food and not listen to his type of music for one evening’. That statement was probably a metaphor for his relationship with me—a pain-in-the-neck, smart-ass client, whom he had to tolerate for one evening.

I was wallowing in the depths of depression by the time the dinner ended and the sight of Yudi protectively escorting Priyanka—who had managed to get quite drunk with her customary speed and efficiency—was making my head spin. The GF group was gathered just outside the restaurant as Puru ensured everyone had a safe way of getting back home. I accepted a ride back with Neil, who was relatively sober and whose place was close to my own. I saw Yudi looking around a bit as I got into Neil’s car and I thought I heard him ask someone where I was. His claustrophobic chivalry was the last thing I needed, I thought to myself, as Neil got into the driver’s seat. He could keep that by the bucketfuls for that snake Priyanka.

‘Dude, step on it, will ya?’ I said, turning to Neil who looked only too happy to oblige. I slammed the door shut in Yudi’s face just as he reached the car, keeping my own face turned away pointedly, and watching him in the rearview mirror instead. I kept watching as Neil revved up the car and we zoomed away into the night, the dark look on Yudi’s face becoming a little speck in the distance and, finally, melting away into nothingness.

Eleven

‘SSWC,’ Vijay said confidently as he added a few more exclamation marks to the ‘WE WILL WIN!!! GO GF GO!!!’ slide and turned the font a bright purple. I cringed. I was taking Vijay through my final presentation for the sales conference the day after and he was adding his dhamaka effects as promised. It was 11 p.m. but the office was buzzing with people working on their presentations. The days leading up to the Annual Sales Conference were times of high stress and intensive PPT-making. Nobody in the office had slept the entire week. You could cut through the buzz in the air with a knife as people manically peered at their laptops, coffee flowing through their veins to help them stay focused.