Chapter 28: chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-EightYash exhaled heavily. He stared, unseeingly, at the website for Social Butterfly. He hadn’t known Maya and Kanak had started their own firm. He hadn’t known they’d pitched for the business at his firm. He hadn’t known he was going to see her this morning. It had been a punch in the gut. She’d looked like an exotic butterfly in a barren field and it had taken all his self-control not to break out into a grin. Well, his self-control and Kanak’s death stare. That woman was lethal. He should disclose to HR that he knew Maya and Kanak. He should do it before he fired the incompetent jackasses on his own team. It had taken Social Butterfly three days to come up with a kick ass campaign that his own guys hadn’t managed in over a month. He should have just hired the girls to work full time with him before they’d set up the firm. But then, he hadn’t known they were this talented or that they were looking to work in Marketing and Strategy.He punched in the number of the HR head and called her and Malvika in for a meeting. The ladies walked in while he was in the middle of reading the latest focus group feedback on an adult diaper they were launching. “Please sit down.” He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. They sat, Malvika glaring at him even as Ruchi, the HR head smiled. “Malvika, what did you think of the Social Butterfly campaign?” he asked, intending to spike her guns before she could fire her opening salvo. “They were good,” she admitted, grudgingly. “Better than anything our team came up with in the last month?” he asked, his gaze on her tight face.She opened her mouth to defend her people and then shut it with a sigh. “Yes.” Ruchi looked from Yash to Malvika, wisely staying silent. “You should know that I know the founders of Social Butterfly,” he informed Ruchi. “I had no idea they were being called in to pitch for this campaign. I had no idea they’d even started this company.”“You don’t know a lot about people who you claim to know,” Malvika said, drily. Yash shrugged. “It is what it is. If we award them this campaign, it takes money out of the product’s marketing budget which would otherwise be allocated to the people employed by us.”“Yash, they failed on this one project,” Malvika protested. “They deserve another chance.”“They were lazy, uninspired and uninterested in their jobs,” Yash said, curtly. “Give me one good reason why they should be getting another chance.” Malvika stayed silent. Ruchi didn’t chime in either.“Speaking of which, Malvika, you didn’t shine this time either. Your team’s work is a reflection of your own.” She flinched, a dull flush climbing up her cheeks.  Ruchi cleared her throat. “Maybe we could review the cost benefit ratio before coming to any hasty judgements.” Yash nodded. “We’ll revisit this topic end of day tomorrow. Social Butterfly will be submitting their written proposal tomorrow as well,” he told Malvika. “I want it processed on priority so work can start on the campaign.”He looked at Ruchi. “Malvika can testify to the fact that their work deserves this order. My prior acquaintance with them in no way colours my judgement.” Malvika nodded and murmured something in agreement. Ruchi smiled and the two of them stood to take their leave. Yash dismissed them both with a curt nod and turned back to check his email. Right at the top of his inbox sat the proposal from Social Butterfly. An image of her in her long, wide, swishy skirt and cool cotton top flashed unbidden through his mind. His hand clenched around his pen, the urge to call her, reach out to her was overwhelming but he forced himself to focus on work.Almost like he had willed it his phone lit up with a message from her. I had no idea you worked there.All the muscles in his body unclenched at the sight of her message. Why did she still have this effect on him? All these years later and he reacted like a young, inexperienced boy with his first crush. Now you know.The three dots that signified her typing kept appearing and disappearing for a while. But nothing appeared on his screen.He put the phone down and opened up a marketing proposal someone on the product team had replied to. And then his phone rang. And her name flashed. To his eternal embarrassment, he squeaked with happiness before answering it with a gruff, “Hello.” “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?” Her soft voice seeped into him and curled around his heart, warmth invading it. “What is?” he asked. “Working together.” “I hate to burst your bubble,” he told her. “But I don’t waste my time working with consultants. My team will be working with you.” He could almost see her stiffening up from the deadly silence on the line. “Should we not accept the contract?” she asked, her voice flat and toneless.“It’s a good break for a new company, Maya,” he answered, his voice low. “Don’t lose it because you vaguely know someone who works here.”“Vaguely know?” Her voice had an edge to it. He forced a tone of boredom into his voice. “Was there anything else? Because otherwise I have work to get back to. Important work.” “I wanted to discuss work with you,” she snapped back. “Take it to Malvika,” he said. “She’s your point of contact.”And then he disconnected, before he said or did something he would regret. Like beg her to give him one more chance.