Chapter 31: chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-OneMaya tightened her grip on her journal and faced the Ice Bitch across the table. “I’m not sure I see the problem,” she said, aiming for a conciliatory tone. “As you can see, we’re looking to shoot the flash mob in a spot-“Malvika held a hand up, palm out stopping Maya in mid-sentence. “You lost me at flash mob. It’s just so passé.” Maya sighed. She leaned back in the extremely uncomfortable but fashionable chair in front of Malvika’s desk and looked at the woman.“Could we find a way to work together without constantly butting heads?” she asked, trying a friendly smile. “It’s going to make the next few weeks very uncomfortable if we don’t.” Malvika leaned back in her own, extremely comfortable chair, a pen spinning between her fingers. “I don’t need a small time consultant to patronise me. We’re not going to be friends. You’re here to do a job of work. I suggest you do it, finish, and leave.” She turned away from Maya and to her computer screen, dismissing her from the room. Maya stood slowly, her ankle length midnight blue skirt falling in soft folds around her feet. She wished she’d opted for pants or leggings today. She hadn’t quite anticipated the amount of time she’d be spending going up and down the stairs. She hated having to hike the skirt up to walk, leading to chances of people getting a glimpse of her mangled leg. She walked down the corridor slowly, her laptop and journal in her arms and wondered how she could get Malvika to see reason on the flash mob. It would take the campaign to a whole new level, especially with the message and choreography Kanak and she had in mind. She stopped suddenly, her gaze caught on a conference room on the right where a meeting was in full flow. Yash stood at the front of the room, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, a day’s worth of stubble on his strong jaw, his hands shoved into his pants pockets. As she watched he took his glasses off and set them down on the table. He leaned forward, his hands fisted on the files in front of him and continued to talk, his gaze boring through the people seated in front of him. An uncomfortable flash of heat swept through Maya as she stood there clutching her laptop and journal like they were a chastity belt and the only thing standing between her and the object of her most lurid fantasies. Said fantasy was currently putting his glasses back on and pushing them up his nose with one long finger. Maya’s lips parted and an involuntary gasp escaped her. She fanned herself with one hand and took a hasty step back banging into the foot operated hand sanitiser stand behind her. It fell to the floor with a large clatter, drawing the eye of everyone in the conference room.Busted! Red faced with embarrassment, Maya knelt to pick the stand up only to have it spritz a spray of sanitiser directly into her face. She shrieked and landed on her bum, her palms pressed to her burning eyes. Strong hands, several of them reached for her and helped her to her feet. Maya dropped her hands and squinted at her rescuers. A couple of the guys from the conference room seemed to have rushed to help her. She looked over and saw Yash watching her, his hands in his pockets again, that aloof, impassive look on his face. Flushing an even brighter red, if that was even possible, Maya thanked the guys who helped her, blinking rapidly in a vain bid to alleviate the stinging in her eyes. Grabbing the laptop and journal from where they had fallen, Maya limped away from there as fast as she could go. She made her way to the tiny cubicle that had been assigned to her for the duration of the project and sank down on the chair, dropping her head into her hands. What the hell had gotten into her? She was standing around in a client’s office and ogling a man like he was a piece of meat. When had she become this person? “Hey.” Kanak dropped into the seat beside her. “How did the meeting go?” Maya peeped out at her over the tops of her fingers. “Terrible. She shot the flash mob down.” “Of course she did,” Kanak muttered. “That witch wouldn’t know a good idea if it bit her on the nose.” Maya shoved the sanitiser incident to the back of her mind and doodled on a clean page in her journal. The bare threads of a Plan B floated through her brain and she worked to bring it together into a viable campaign.“I have an idea,” she said, finally, when she’d managed to put it all together. “Shoot.” Kanak snapped gum in her mouth and watched her. “Malvika’s issue with the flash mob is primarily the location and the cost involved in hiring the dancers.”“Hmm.” Kanak frowned. “Does she think people are going to do this for free?” “What if they did?” Maya asked. “You’re thinking sponsors?” Kanak looked perplexed. “Who would want to sponsor a mid-range cologne advertisement?” “I’m thinking volunteers,” Maya grinned. Kanak didn’t say anything for a moment and then she leaned forward. “Come again?”“Volunteers whom we can teach and choreograph. More importantly, you can. Dance is your thing.”“And where are we going to get these magical unicorns or so-called flash mob volunteers?”“Here.” Maya spread her arms out. “From this office.”Kanak stared at her disbelievingly and then slowly, very slowly, started to laugh. “Here?” she gurgled. “From this bunch of starched collars and buttoned up prunes?” Maya started to laugh too. Kanak had a point. This lot didn’t know the meaning of fun but then again, surely there were a few good fruit in the bunch of rotten, anti-fun basket of apples. “We can make this happen, Kan-Kan.” “We can make anything happen, Maya Papaya.” Kanak smiled. “But this is going to be a true test of that claim.” “Well.” Maya pretended to roll up her non-existent sleeves. “It’s a good thing I love a challenge.”