The meeting ©

The office was abuzz when I returned from my jaunt to the hills.
“Ashutosh”, boomed my manager, “you should have been here yesterday. Well done, though”
Or maybe not gone at all, or taken the work with me, I mouthed silently, wondering about the praise.
But this time it was not the end of the quarter rush that my well-trained creatives team could so perfectly deal with even without me.
It was serious. And exciting. An account with Atlantis did not come every day.
“Their partner is remarkably temperamental” Sweta my twenty something secretary gushed. “and you know sir, he asked for you to handle this, all my himself”
She beamed, my stock with her had apparently risen several notches.
Maybe, she could be persuaded to work overtime, I idly wondered and then my cell-phone beeped.
“Darling I will be late today” Malati’s shrill accents brought me back to happily-married-if-somewhat-bored reality. “Am meeting Anjana for dinner, why don’t you go out.”
Well, it was turning out to be some day, maybe I should take more holidays to the Hills… Ooty, Simla, Naini tal…

“Sir” Sweta broke through my reverie. This was funny. Ever since Anjana’s revelation, the rest of life had started to seem very unreal. “Mr Kapur, “
“From Atlantis”, she hissed. And then simpered at the person behind her.

It was him.

He smiled. His eyes crinkled just like they used to. In fact, except for some distinguished grey at the temples, and a few very attractive lines, he was the same. Or shall I say, he had grown into a very handsome man. And as well-dressed as ever. I got up from my chair, clumsily toppling over a file tray.
Sweta bustled in, bending and sorting papers, arranging and keeping.
“Ms Nair, my secretary”
He held her hand a trifle longer than he should have, letting her face get a delightful shade of rose.
“Some coffee, Mr Joshi likes his without sugar, what about you sir?”
“Black and no sugar, it will be sweet enough for me”
A giggle and she breathlessly beamed out.


“Rahul, after all these years, you know what I just recently met up with Anjana as well”
“Anjana who” he was amazingly nonchalant.
“Anjana of junior college, before you went to Delhi. How come we never heard of you since then”
“Oh, that’s so long ago” he laughed. “We had to leave for Delhi very suddenly. My mother suddenly collapsed. This was before the exams.”
“Anjana’s father…”
“What about him? Rajat Bhai and I took her to the hospital, but it was too late. An aneurysm, they said. And of course I could not take the exams. Not that year. So I took the Delhi board exams the next year.. “
“I wondered where you were”
“It was just too traumatic, I was her favorite child. Somehow nothing seemed to make any sense at all after her. And by the time things began to matter, life had moved on a lot. Papa joined his cousin’s business, an export house, and we all got exported to the US eventually.” He laughed. “Then engineering, B-school .and here I am”
“Atlantis?”
“We are Atlantis, a family concern. Papa is the semi-recluse-director and Rajat Bhai and I the parteners. Aah here comes the pretty lady with the coffee”

Sweta stayed to pour. In my two years of working with her, this as probably the first time she had displayed this graciousness!

“Ranjan Seth sent this file for The Account” I could hear the capitals.

“So what is your take on our business” Rahul asked.

“I think…” I started..
“I know what you think Ashu, Ms Nair, your boss and I go back so many years. You tell me what you think”

“Well sir, even though the Atlantis brand name is well known right through the length and the breadth of the US, in India, you are just another foreign brand. You will sell. But you will not be viewed as the “Personal lost treasure” that you go by there.”
Most astute, even I was impressed.
“So we run a campaign suited to tune the Indian consumer to Atlantis. “Aapka khazaana” I am thinking” I took over just as smoothly.

“Sit Ms Nair, we need you, “ he waved expansively making himself more at home in my cubicle than I ever will be. “Or maybe you know an empty conference room that will accommodate us”

She responded with alacrity. And a little later motioned us to follow. And somehow I could not help but notice how she walked. Heels clicking on the polished marble, just a little out of breath, pink chiffon dupatta, a trifle askew, and a swaying delightful rounded derriere….
I tried to listen to Rahul, animatedly outlining his ideas.

There was certainly something very charming to women about him, I felt, noticing just how he had looked directly at her, his hand over the door, as he opened it in one sweeping motion and then ushered her in, pulling out a chair for her.

“Call the rest of your creatives team” And I found myself buzzing my boys in.

We were a chair short I noticed after our portly creative artist had sat down.
Rahul got up with a sweep. “I prefer to talk standing. Keeps me on my feet. Ms Nair, I insist. Could never see a pretty lady stand...”

And he carried on the rest of the meeting pacing through the narrow room, arguing us to agree to his point of view, pausing now and then to place a hand on her chair.
I felt uncharacteristically annoyed. My secretary, I could never… and she just seemed to glow in that male attention.

Over lunch, at the Thai place, arranged by the-today-super-efficient Sweta, (“Great I love Thai, how did you know”, was what he said), I could have been a mere prop.
I glowered inwardly as I watched them animatedly discuss the weird sounding, even stranger-tasting fare. She was clearly very taken by him. Mouth slightly parted she listened to him describe dry business deals as though they were feats of untold valor. She played with her pendant, most distractingly.

I had always known her “rather attractive” but this girl was someone else. Anyway, our relationship had always been one of boss and secretary. I put down the guidelines, she complied, the organization paid us. Of course sometimes, in a purely detached sort of a way, I noticed where her neckline began and saw her bending down picking up papers, but a man is a man after all. It was, shall I put it, a purely academic view of aesthetics. And I did love my wife very much.

After lunch we had another pow wow. They cozily settled into the only double chair in the little conference room. He let her make the presentation on his laptop, close by pointing, closely helping her out. “Call me Rahul” after a “sir” too many.

Ashutosh from her would sound so stuffy, I mused. It was a sore trial thinking only about the work and not the drama unfolding in front of me.

Rahul at work again I jealously thought. And remembered the fast shiny bike. The “cool” that went with it, back in college. Whoever stood a chance! Not me certainly.

Around six o’clock he straightened up .“This calls for champagne, this new deal” he said conjuring a bottle and tall fluted glasses from his black briefcase”

“Do you carry it around with you” she gushed
“Only if the first person I speak to in the organization has as lovely a voice as yours”
More blushes. I felt myself burning.

“To success, to us” I follow suit.

Then a little later

“A very attractive young lady you have over here”, he said raising a glass. This was crossing the line certainly. “And a most competent Personal Assistant. I envy you her. Ms Nair, I congratulate you.” Sweta beamed all the more, fiddling with her nails. “Its all because of Ashutosh sir here”

“We need to work on the presentation for tomorrow. Let us go over the details tonight over dinner. Chinese do for you?” I find myself speaking to Sweta.

This time I will not let him even try to take away what belongs to me.