‘Don’t worry about me—I’m all set for tomorrow,’ Vijay said. ‘It’s you I’m worried about right now. It’s ridiculous that Shiv let something like this happen. Everyone knows that Vile Varun is a freeloading parasite. It’s obvious he’s trying to take the credit away from you for the success of your launch.’

‘It’s not just Varun this time, Tau,’ I sighed. ‘Shiv clearly said that he had spoken to others in my team, and that they were uncomfortable with the way I handled the project.’

‘Who’s “they”?’ Debbie asked with a perplexed expression and I shrugged my shoulders. That question had been haunting me since the meeting in Shiv’s office but every time I forced myself to think about it my mind drew a blank. Neil, Suketu and Shubhra had never had a problem with my involvement in the creative work on the contrary, they had encouraged me from the word go. They definitely did not think I had fallen behind in terms of providing direction to the team either. We had worked closely together and we were close enough now for them to bring it up directly with me if there had been any problems with the way things were going. That left only one person who could possibly have had a problem with me.

‘Do you think Yudi may have had anything to do with this?’ Vijay asked, frowning. ‘Although I would find that hard to believe, you know. He’s just not that type of guy. What do you think, Megha? Do you think it was Yudi who may have expressed his discomfort to Shiv about your involvement in creative work and the way you handled the project?’

I took a deep breath and looked at Vijay. ‘Yudi did have a problem with my involvement in the creative work, Tau. He had brought it up at the outset of the project and he’d been upfront about it with me. But as the work progressed I think he got used to my involvement. I don’t think he’s the one who’s spoken to Shiv. You’re right, he’s not that kind of guy.’

‘But who could it be then?’ Vijay was still frowning. ‘Are you sure it can’t have been Yudi? He does have something to gain from all this, you know. With you out of the picture, the credit for the Bright Biscuits film can go squarely to Yudi. Neil and Shubhra are too new and inexperienced in the agency to count and Suketu is a servicing guy. The only person who has a strong motive is Yudi.’

‘No,’ I said, my voice ringing with conviction, ‘I’m sure, Tau. Yudi would never do something like that.’ I stopped and took a deep breath again, a little surprised at the intensity with which I had spoken. I was sure. Maybe Yudi didn’t like me and maybe we weren’t friends any more but I could swear it wasn’t him. He could make my life hell with direct confrontations but there was no way he would snitch behind my back. That just wasn’t him. Sure, he could be brutally direct, but he was also honest and straightforward. He just didn’t fit the image of the conniving office politician who would do anything to take credit away from me and claim it as his own.