Chapter 27: chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven“Are you ready, Maya Papaya?” Kanak stood next to her in a smart black pantsuit. Beside her, Maya felt a little boho and underdressed in her flowing kalamkari skirt, cream top and red scarf. But, it was too late now to second guess her fashion choices so she squared her shoulders and followed Kanak into the conference room where they would be making their first ever pitch for their newly formed company, Social Butterfly. “Good morning.” The woman sitting at the head of the conference table gave them a chilly smile. She introduced them to the others at the table with an air of boredom before gesturing to the laptop and projector at the end of the room.“Please, let’s begin. I have another meeting immediately after this.”Maya and Kanak exchanged quick glances. Why had they been invited to pitch if these people weren’t even going to give them the courtesy of a decent hearing? Ignoring the distinctly frosty vibe in the conference room, Maya and Kanak set up for their presentation. Maya had just gotten the screen to present the right slide and straightened when the door creaked open at her back. Immediately, the Ice Bitch at the table started to smile, even though it was a rather constipated smile. Maya turned to see who the lucky recipient was and her eyes clashed with Yash’s own startled ones. For a split second, she saw his shock and then his eyes blanked out, his entire face smoothening into that impenetrable mask she was familiar with. Beside her, Kanak stiffened, her wary gaze going from Yash’s composed face to Maya’s blindsided one. Yash strode past them with a nod of acknowledgement before taking his seat beside the Ice Bitch. “Please proceed,” IB said, her tone indicating she didn’t have another second to waste on them.“I can do the presentation,” Kanak murmured to Maya.She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I’m good. It’s all good.” Blanking her mind out to his presence, she started to speak. She walked them through the vision, the ideation, the storyboard and the details that brought it all together. Once she was done, she sat down and let Kanak step up to talk about costs, revenue projections and the return on investment they could expect. Yash sat through it all with no expression on his face. The Ice Bitch looked bored. And their minions were shifting in their seats like they couldn’t wait to run out of the room.A pit of anxiety yawned open in Maya’s stomach as she scanned their expressions. This wasn’t going well. “Any questions?” Kanak asked, clearly getting the same impression as Maya. Nobody said anything. “We’d be happy to work on another concept if this one doesn’t work for you,” she offered. Still, nobody said anything. “How long did it take your team to come up with this concept?” Yash’s deep voice broke the awkward silence. Kanak looked at Maya and shrugged, unsure of where this was going. “Three days.” Yash raised an eyebrow and looked at the team gathered around the table, the expression on his face saying more than any words could. Oh. Maya was starting to cotton on to the real issue. No wonder Ice Bitch looked like she was sitting on a bed of nails. “I like it,” he said, abruptly. “Please send Malvika your estimate and work order so the finance team can weigh in on it.” Kanak nodded. Maya kept her glance carefully away from Ice Bitch and her angry minions. That left her with only one person to look at. The one person who looked everywhere but at her. He got to his feet and strode to the door without a backward glance. With one hand on the doorknob, he stopped.“Malvika, please schedule a team meeting for later today. I’d like a word with all of you.”Ouch. Maya tried not to wince. And on that ominous note, he was gone leaving Social Butterfly to the mercy of Ice Bitch and her pissed off rats. “We’ll send you the work order,” Kanak murmured, yanking on Maya’s sleeve to make her move from her seat.Maya stumbled to her feet, her weak ankle giving way a little. They mumbled their goodbyes and walked out before anybody could physically attack them.“Wow.” Kanak lifted her face up to the hot, muggy heat of a Mumbai afternoon. “That was intense.”“Yes,” Maya agreed.“That woman is going to make working here very difficult for us,” Kanak said, striding towards where they’d parked her car earlier that day. “Yes.”“I had no idea we were pitching because their internal team was failing in their roles,” she continued.Maya said nothing this time, her mind still on the image of Yash walking out of that room in his perfectly fitted navy blue pinstripe suit. His butt had looked…She cleared her throat, swiping at a trickle of sweat that slipped down from her temple. When had it gotten so bloody hot? It was still March for heaven’s sake!“Someone is going to get fired in that team meeting.” Kanak was still on a roll.“Yes.” Maya slid into the passenger seat of the car, sighing in relief as the full blast of the AC hit her in the face.“Are we going to talk about Yash?” Kanak turned sideways to look at Maya.Maya stared straight ahead, at the crowded pavement. “No.”