Love Digger's husband Ch 33 6/5 - THD 2 LNK - Page 77

Chap 29 :

Geet:

She saw Maan prowling around the gallery with his hawk eye taking in the happenings of Dev talking to their potential client Mrs Bottlewala. Geet could only gather that it was not going well. Mrs Gauri Bottlewala was not someone who would get swayed by charm or a well meaning pitch. She remained adamant and ended up discussing with Meera only about the paintings. Dev was practically stalling around for airtime but didn't seem to be getting any.

Meera on the other hand talked about the only thing she was good at besides money, paintings. She was trying to explain in brief animated tones as to the importance of Tanjore paintings in the development of artisans in some medieval time period. Gauri couldn't care less about the history. All she cared about was whether the paintings matched the linen of her plush drawing room.

Maan came and stood by Geet and they began in hushed tweets.

Geet "Is this supposed to be how it goes all the time? Do we hook parties at these waylaid fairs like some sort of pimps?"

She amused Maan a great deal. She could tell. But being amusing was a short lived profession and lacked depth. He was a smart man who saw through her designs to appear like an esoteric devils advocate who breached law just to see if it caused any ripples.

Maan "Not all the time. But an old prostitute needs more pimping now, doesn't she?"

She giggled.

Maan "There is this new company on the block called AR enterprises. Gauri is thinking of going with them with a project for her fashion boutique. But this fashion paradise would come up on a prime land which we want to annex for a mall beside it. We are trying to convince her that it is in her best interests to not do as per her plan. The usual channels that we use have not worked. So we are trying the direct method."

Geet "Sounds very intelligent. I cannot pretend to understand it though."

Maan "It is not rocket science, just common sense."

Geet "Rocket science would be easier for me I think."

Maan laughed slightly.

Geet "It is the people who baffle me with their unpredictability. But once they stop being unpredictable they become boring for me. Am I normal?"

Maan "Nope and that is what I like about you. You don't mind being alone in a room full of people. Remind me not to get stereotyped with you ok?"

Geet realized now they were in a cozy dark corner of the room which had paintings resting by the wall ready to take over an empty spot to be spotted anywhere around. She could feel the restlessness in those brown covers and the paintings itching to come out but the ones outside were not good enough to leave the building.

Geet "I feel like these paintings which are standing by the side because the ones in the hallway are deemed more beautiful and had to be given a chance first. Why don't they just chuck a few paintings on the wall and put a few reserve ones up? It will mean a change of scene while creating an illusion that a few of those drawing boards were actually sold."

Maan "I have no idea how art galleries work."

Geet "You know how these radioactive substances have a half life? The time in which the radioactivity from it becomes half as potent. Just like that each painting as long as it is on display becomes less valuable because it loses the punch of the first impression."

Maan "Museums have the same paintings on display at the same place all the time. I think it has something to do with security. Geet, all these paintings are already online and it is not the 'first' impression. I am sure art galleries know better about how to sell their own paintings."

Geet "But museums don't sell things now, do they? They just display them."

Maan "Good work does not need cheap marketing gimmicks. It speaks for itself. We can discuss this all day and not get done. However I think we need to swoop in and talk to Mrs Gauri."

Maan "Hello Gauri, how are you doing?"

Gauri smiled "Ah look at you Maan doing so well for yourself."

Maan "I could be better if you help us. I am going to be honest and say we need that land for the mall next to it."

Gauri "Oh but I have already promised AR. There is no way I can back out now."

Maan "Have you signed them on yet?"

Dev "Look Gauri.."

Gauri "Do not tell me to look here and there Dev. I have been around longer than you. AR is mainly a fashion house and it is my opinion and decision that they can do better in my case. What is this nonsense about talking to me in this place? You could have asked for a meeting in my office and I would have gladly entertained you."

Maan was smiling "You are a smart lady. So you figured out that we are here to talk to you."

Gauri "Of course I know it. It is so obvious and you have the entire office here. I am sure it is not to buy paintings for your office."

Maan "If it were so I would have invited you to our home and have Daadi talk to you. But I am not doing that. We are talking to you here for a reason."

Gauri seemed intrigued "And what is that reason?"

Maan nodded "Now you see this gallery was built by us."

Gauri arched her brows "It is a fantastic design. But I don't see your name up front!"

Maan "We never put our name on a building. For us it is the customer's brand that matters and the only thing that matters. You will not find our 'signature' style in any of the buildings. We adapt to our clients and do not use the buildings they build with their hard earned money as a way to publicize our company name. We believe our work speaks for itself and people who are genuinely interested in knowing would enquire after the builder and come after us."

Gauri sighed with a smile.

Maan "Now I have nothing against AR. I am sure they can do good work if given a chance. But trust me, you will want a hard core builder not a fashion aficionado."

Gauri was now frowning in uncertainty "So you are telling me my decision to go with them is wrong? Even though you are the competition I trust your word Maan."

If Geet didn't know him better she wouldn't have noticed the imperceptible exhalation to release the pent up tension.

Maan "I would never advice you to go against your instincts if it is not for a good reason. I am not a salesman as you know. I am an architect myself and so I wouldn't give you the usual brouhaha of power point presentations. I will talk technical and I will give you the numbers that you need to make the decision."

Gauri "Continue."

Maan "You are wanting to build a fashion boutique next to the corner of a major intersection. My sources in the local civic body tell me that the road is going to be made into a one-way very soon. With this your traffic will reduce by not just half mind you, we are talking about losing first time customers and also conversion of the first timers into many timers. Nobody enjoys moving in jam packed circles to get to a clothing store. You will lose big time in that location, Gauri. The numbers speak for themselves."

Gauri "So you are suggesting I move to the mall next door?"

Maan nodded "I am speaking to the mall owner to give you prime space facing the road. There would be mannequins on display as soon as people enter the mall directing them to your store. The mall has a movie theater and hence traffic for your store is guaranteed. For the money you are willing to pay you will be getting prime mall real estate for a five year lease period with automatic renewal at the same rate for three more years. After that it is up to you to renew the contract. You will be getting partial net mall revenue for the ownership title you hold for your land of course."

Gauri's teeth and lips were biting each other in a bid to conclude the tug of war in her head.

Maan "It is up to you to decide. We would never use our personal equation to sway your decision. I am an architect who knows my craft. I may sell but I also know how to build what I sell. That should tell you something."

Gauri stared at Maan and in one split second the decision of crores worth was made "Ok I have not signed the dotted line yet with AR. I have decided to go with you. Maan, thanks for this. I don't know what I was thinking. I suppose I was sentimental about my ancestral land and wanted it to be something you know. You understand that right?"

Maan smiled "The land is still yours Gauri and it is something in another place."

Gauri laughed "You always make me laugh. Anyway drop by home sometime. Send somebody over to my office who knows stuff alright. Just in case I have more questions."

Maan "Meera will accompany you right now. She has all the papers drawn up. We come prepared. We want you Gauri."

Gauri was smiling away to glory.

They were now travelling in Maan's car back and as usual Geet was the only one who ended up with him. He was smiling this time though and that made her feel good.

Geet "Maan is it true that we built that art gallery?"

Maan looked ahead in all seriousness "Do you think I am a liar Geet?"

She gulped "No no! I did not mean it like that. I just…."

Maan ruefully smiled "There is no need to get so worked up about it. It is a fair question. I don't like lying and I hate liars. To forge any sort of relationship with anyone the first and foremost thing needed is honesty. I thought you believed in the same thing too. Probably I was wrong."

She was frowning and folding her palms together "Maan I did not want to accuse you of lying. I just thought it was a bit…"

Maan "Orchestrated? Yes I had orchestrated the show and gotten Gauri invited to it. That is because I wanted to show her we do work according to the client tastes."

Geet sat a little defeated "Anyway who am I that you are giving such big justifications. I am a nobody. If Gauri accuses you and your brother of lying and cheap gimmicks you smile at her. But I say one sentence and suddenly I am either cheap or dishonest."

Her eyes were moist and she saw a tissue under her nose. She pushed his hand away and grabbed the tissue from the dashboard.

Maan "Hey would you mind if we stop by the company guesthouse on the way? I need to 'freshen' up what with the cold stale AC air and all."

Damn it. She found herself smiling at that statement. Of course she did not mind. She needed some freshening up too. Soon they were pulling into the garage of a big apartment complex and were on their way to the eleventh floor.

She looked around and found the apartment having a couple of tastefully decorated bedrooms.

Maan "The restroom is attached to the rooms. Freshen up and come back here."

He was sitting on the sofa nursing a cool lime soda in his hand. One more was sizzling with bubbles on the table. She sat on the singleton sofa with the balcony inviting a welcoming fresh thin breeze. Her fingers were trying to start the conversation around the rim of the glass.

Maan "Sorry for going off on you like that. I did not mean to."

She nodded with a smile at the simple down to earth man. Which successful person like him would apologize to a lowly earthling like her?

Geet "Maan you must stop being so sweet. You will become diabetic."

Maan smirked "Anyway the thing is I needed to talk to you about something. It is important. Although I could have spoken to you in office, I thought it would be better to talk here since this is kind of personal for me."

Geet's antenna was up now "Personal?"

Maan seemed to be searching for the right words to start and happened to think they were in the suitcase beside him. He opened its hatch and fetched a thin folder of important looking documents.

Geet "What is that?"

Maan "It is a contract for a very important assignment."

Geet gave a questioning glance. Assignment?

Maan assumed a business tone "Geet remember how I was saying I want to promise you something bigger? Well this is it. This is the best opportunity that you can have and use to even get back to college next year if you so choose."

Geet stared at him perplexed.

Maan "Of course when I said that I had no idea this was what it was going to end up as. I was still in thinking stages at that point. When you spoke to me about being a writer and asked me what you ought to be doing, it stuck me."

She did not want to anticipate anything but she could not help dread the happiness that was going to befall her.

Maan "I have a couple of questions before that though. What are you writing now? Is it something you are still willing to pursue. What I am about to propose might take up all of your writing juices."

Geet just shook her head "Just tell me what it is. I will drop everything else and bring my life to a standstill."

Maan smiled again "You cannot bring your life to a standstill for this I am afraid. This is sort of 'active' writing."

Geet sipped the soda in an attempt to quell her stomach that was about to double over.

Maan "You saw today the power of using ones past laurels in a bid to further ones cause. It is orchestration and build up to some extent. But it is also making the potential party feel that they would get their money's worth by proof and positive reinforcement. Not just by using cheap marketing gimmicks. Are you understanding that part?"

She nodded slightly.

Maan "So I am planning something similar for the future of our company. You see my brother is quite new and struggles with people who are wary of young Turks. For them the proof is in grey hair preferably in the pudding."

Geet "Ok…"

Maan "In our fickle profession reputation of a person precedes them. So we have to build that reputation by clever means. Build an aura around the person such that even before the clients meet my brother they are half wanting to give him the chance. Once that is done all he has to do is to use a little charm and smile to get things done."

Geet "How do we build this reputation exactly? Do we blow a trumpet before he enters and announce his achievements like they did for medieval kings?"

Maan smiled "Exactly. Yes."

Geet's mouth was hanging open.

Maan "To put in simple words, I want you to write Dev Khurana's biography."

She almost dropped the glass in her hand.

Maan "This contract states that whatever information you find out about him - personal or otherwise related to KC would be strictly confidential and used only for writing in the book. This book will then be edited by me for content mainly. Once we are done with that let us find a publisher who would be willing to publish it."

She slapped herself in a bid to stay sane and not go into abject delirium.

Geet was shaking her head "But why me? You can hire top notch writers who are crafty and clever for this. They…"

Maan was shaking his head to an equal rhythm "No, top notch writers will look down on him. They will know that he was born with a silver spoon and all his trials and tribulations for them would look trivial. Even if they mean well, a weird kind of sarcasm and tone will creep in and make him look small. They will use big words, overstate, oversell and make him look like a megalomaniac. Because the simple fact is there is nothing big or praiseworthy in what he has achieved.

I want a young energetic voice with a fresh peppiness to tell people what a great boss and what a great person he is to work for. How he has overcome the problems a person of his age would be having while filling in big shoes. It will then be an honest humble account and an entertaining read. The fact that you are not exactly a big fan of his right now will only add to that. You will lead the reader into your own path of Dev discovery."

She did not know why but there were involuntary tears of joy flowing down her face. She wanted to make sense of it all but nothing was registering.

"Why me", she asked pleadingly her voice scarcely above a hoarse whisper. She could feel herself being sucked into a vacuum and her ears seething into flames because of that.

Maan "I just told you why. I need a person I can trust. I have confidence in your talent and capabilities. I know you have good command over language and have all elements required for writing like humor, wit, sarcasm, a sense of detachment whilst making the person look good even if they are stereotypes in real life. I so want to meet Mahesh Babu after I read your article on him. I want that same effect for Dev Khurana too. I want people to wait in line to see him."

She was weeping like a hyena and gasping for air. Suddenly the repletion of oxygen at that height was making her dizzy.

Maan "Geet take it easy. This is only the beginning. We are not there yet. Once you write about him and KC under him, we need to find someone willing to publish it. I don't know if Arif will agree to publish your work. As you said he has no confidence in your work plus his brand will come under question. Biographies are usually done for well known people. Here we want the vice versa effect. I don't know if we can rely on him. We need to make this good enough to be pulp fiction so it can sell on its merit. So we have a long way to go.

If it does not work with you I will need to hire somebody else. But I think since you are his secretary and work closely with him you have the best vantage point. But I don't want you to take it personally if it does not come into print. Will you promise me that? I have to look out for my brother and company's best interests."

She didn't know what had transported her to his side. But she was nestling her head on his broad shoulders again.

Maan "Geet, don't let me down, alright. If this works it is great. But if doesn't we will think of something else. You must not get disheartened. So brace yourself for the worst. As far as telling my brother about this is concerned, it is your choice when you want to do it. I want you to observe his natural behavior for sometime and then write your views on it. Then you can tell him when you have a fair idea of the kind of person he is."

Geet "Maan…"

Maan "I am warning you though. Do not get your hopes up about this. It is my brothers reputation on the line. Just put in your best and we will see what can be done. If you have it then you will get to strut it."

She rested on him for a few moments with her eyes closed. He did not disturb her calming reverie. After a semblance of normal breathing had returned she opened her eyes.

Geet "Maan can I ask you a personal question?"

Maan "Hmm.."

Geet "What if this book fails? What if people don't take my take on it seriously? Worst thing is if any client were to read it. What would happen if I mess things up!"

Maan "First of all I am going to read it before showing it to anyone and I am a tough man. Second the tougher Dev has to like it and approve it. Third come on how bad can a true account of a person's life be? Nothing bad or catastrophic has happened since he took over. It has all been smooth sailing. Fourth we have to find a publisher and believe me they are the toughest."

Geet breathed a bit easily.

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Still unsure with the Dev-Maan equation here. Is he a mentor or a guardian somehow for Dev?

Generally brothers are very competitive. Here the relation seems more protective than that.