I watched them banter back and forth pleasantly for a few more minutes, my blood pressure rising a few notches in the process. Had Yudi come all the way home to discuss Almora’s famous aam ka achaar with my mom? Maybe I should just leave them to it then. I was about to say as much in the most icy tone I could muster when Mom bustled out as suddenly as she had come in and left the two of us alone.

Yudi levelled his icy stare at me again, the polite smile he had reserved for Mom vanishing into oblivion. I glared back at him.

‘So how are you, Megha?’ he asked, finally breaking the cold war our eyes were valiantly engaged in.

‘What do you mean?’ I snapped.

‘I heard what happened in office yesterday,’ Yudi said, his eyes continuing to bore into mine unblinkingly.

‘And is this your way of expressing your sympathy?’ I sneered. ‘How kind! Well, maybe I should thank you then!’

‘You don’t need any sympathy,’ Yudi sneered back. ‘But you sure could do with some good sense knocked into your fat head.’

I gritted my teeth. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re excused,’ said Yudi airily. ‘And now perhaps you could care to tell me why you’re sitting here, wallowing in self-pity, when you should be at the conference showcasing your launch?’

‘What?’ I gaped at Yudi. ‘I don’t know what you—what are you saying, Yudi?’

‘You know very well what I’m saying, Megha.’ Yudi leaned forward, a note of urgency suddenly entering his voice. ‘What the hell is wrong with you anyway? Where’s the feisty, hot-headed Megha? The one who likes to call all the shots? Or is that just a facade you like to project when it suits you? After months of working your butt off on Bright Biscuits and fighting tooth and nail with anyone who tried to get in your way—yours truly included—all it took was some slimy loser to come and take the baton away from you just when you were reaching the finishing line. Is this what you worked so hard for? So that Varun could coolly walk away with the honours at one of the most prestigious forums within GF while you sit at home weeping?’

‘Shut up, Yudi!’ I yelped, more anguished than angry. I opened my mouth to say more but shut it again as the impact of what Yudi had just said slowly hit me. He was right. I was behaving like a tragedy queen from some corny Bollywood movie. Bright Biscuits had been my project, my launch and like I’d told Shiv—my baby. I should’ve been the one up on stage presenting today, not Varun. And I had let it go just like that without even attempting to put up a fight. What a loser I was!

I looked at Yudi and sighed. ‘You’re right, Yudi. I’m an idiot.’

‘I’m glad we see eye-to-eye on some things at least’, Yudi said, narrowing his eyes. ‘So what’re you going to do about it now, Megha?’