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"Hello?" I panted as I took quick steps into the building.
"Where are you, Geet?" Vyan asked exasperatedly. "We're waiting."
"I know. I'm just on my way up. See you in five minutes." I got into the empty lift and pressed the button for the eighth floor.
Our work with ARK was officially beginning today at the ARK office. I was late just because I missed the bus and I could not find a taxi soon enough. Vyan had called thrice on my way here since Mr. Smith was apparently wanting us to be present when Mr. Khurana arrived. I had discovered Maan was already in the office. Vyan had told me Maan had once come for the meeting and then left due to my absence. I looked at my watch. I was only fifteen minutes late but it seemed like a big deal already. The lift paused at the fourth floor and the doors dinged open, allowing two people to enter. I raised my eyes to see the tall, broad frame of Maan step in followed by a seemingly nervous bespectacled young man.
I shifted to a corner to make room even as Maan looked at his watch and then at me. "You're late."
"I know. Sorry." His curt voice only elicited the same curtness from me.
"Sir, this evening, Mr. and Mrs. Rai are wanting to meet you." The man who had entered the lift with Maan spoke up. "Should I set the meeting?"
Maan turned a page of the file he was holding in his hand and replied to the man without looking up. "No, I'm not free today. Besides, I'm just here for a meeting which was delayed for some reason, and then I'm leaving."
He had not looked up or taken my name but I could sense that his words were meant for me as much as for this guy. I also understood that the reason he was talking about was me and he was not happy about it. His tone of voice bothered me a bit and I frowned slightly as Maan started giving some instructions to the man. The lift dinged and the doors opened to the eighth floor where I immediately saw Vyan waiting in the lobby.
I kept staring at Maan's back as he stepped out of the lift and made a beeline to his cabin which was just past the lobby. When he disappeared, I questioned myself about why I was even bothering about his attitude. Deciding against feeling bad about it, I shook my head and let go of the frown as I stepped out too. The man who had come with Maan stayed in the lift as the doors dinged close.
"Thank goodness, you're here!" Vyan came forward in two long steps. "Khurana is not too pleased with the delay."
"I found that out." I whispered to him as I jerked a thumb towards the direction Maan had went to. "Let's go."
I walked with Vyan to a room where Mr. Smith was present along with Jess, who had her head bent over some papers.
"Ms. Handa!" Smith exclaimed and asked us to sit while he informed his boss about my arrival.
Vyan and I had only had to wait for about five minutes before Maan entered the room in all his authority.
Unlike the conference room we had been taken to on our last visit, this room had a huge, rectangular glass-topped table with one seat at the head and two seats opposite to it. Maan took his place and looked straight at us. "So."
With his one word, I noticed a visible change in the postures of Smith as well as Jess. Their backs erected and they inconspicuously moved aside so as to make themselves unnoticeable in the room.
"Show me the plan." Maan extended his hand for the file I was holding, which I passed to him without a word. He started sifting through the pages of plans and graphical images of the rooms we had been assigned to design.
He had not turned the fifth page when he began to raise objections. "I do not like such light colours to be painted in the main hall... Why is the conference room planned on such dark colours? What about the lights in my cabin? They're not enough according to the space."
Vyan and I had to patiently address all his concerns.
"Mr. Khurana, this main hall is of an average size. According to the information Mr. Smith provided us, there will be about fifteen to twenty cubicles placed in this hall so it needs to have colours which give an open look to the room so it does not appear congested."
Maan listened in silence as Vyan answered his first query.
"But I do not appreciate my staff lagging in their work, and light colours in a room tend to have that effect -"
"That is exactly why," I interrupted him, "we have mentioned here in the file that this front wall can be painted in a dark shade too, as a contrast, you know." I put my finger to the place in the file I was referring to. "Besides, this room does not have a window as well, which means that if the room is not painted in lighter shades, with the exception of the front wall, chances of your staff slackening in their work due to claustrophobia are higher than chances of them relaxing due to lighter shades."
"We can always light up the room with extra lights to fight their claustrophobia." Maan suggested after I finished talking.
"We can, but do not be mistaken that it can be a complete solution to this problem. Lights are only as effective as the colour of the walls."
"Hmm." He pressed his lips together and looked into the file before raising his eyes back to me. "What about the conference room?"
"That room needs to have dark walls for the sole reason of it being a conference room." Maan raised an eyebrow as I continued. "For the presentations and projections to be crisp, the rest of the room needs to be faded into darkness, hence the dark shades are preferred."
"My cabin?" Maan interlaced his fingers.
"It has to be a combination of light and dark."
"Any specific reason about that?"
"It has to be a representation of the personality of its owner, don't you agree?"
At my words, I saw Maan's lips curl slightly upwards. "Light and dark, huh?" There was a very apparent ease in his manner. He seemed to have gotten over the bad mood he was in earlier.
"What solution do you have for the insufficient lighting?"
"I think we can alter it to the way you like it." I smiled formally while Maan blinked and leaned back against his seat, toying with the paperweight on his table.
"How long have you been in the designing industry, Ms. Handa?"
I leaned against my seat too. "Almost five years."
He smiled slightly, which, for some odd reason, made me let out a small smile too.
"So Mr. Khurana," Vyan spoke after a long time, making us both look at him, "are your concerns satisfied? Or do you have any more questions? I am sure we can work out any glitches togeth-"
"No, Mr. Raheja." Maan, in a calm voice, cut him off before he could complete. "Geet knows her work very well, I must say. She has satisfied me."
I saw Vyan's gaze flicker to me for a second before looking back at Maan. I did not miss the differentiated way Maan had addressed Vyan and me. It made me realise I had gone with the flow of conversation with Maan and somehow neglected Vyan, which was not right. "Actually, Mr. Khurana, these designs have a lot of thought and effort from Mr. Raheja. It is the result of our partnership that you're satisfied."
I passed a smile to Vyan, who returned it as Maan's cell phone rang. "Of course!" He answered me airily before excusing himself and walking to the far corner of the room where there was a large window overlooking the front of the building.
"Why was he being so difficult?" Vyan whispered to me as Maan talked over his phone.
"He was unhappy about the meeting being postponed due to me which resulted in wasting his precious time." I shrugged.
"It's good you're his friend and you know him, or we might not have been able to pacify him at all."
"Uhh.." I did not know what to say. Of course, I did not know Maan as well as Vyan thought I did... or did I?
"Mr. Raheja, Ms. Handa." Maan walked back to us. "I will take your leave now. Vyan and I stood up and shook hands with him. "It's been a pleasure," he exclaimed as he took my hand, "and I look forward to working with you."
"Thank God!" Vyan said once we were in the lift on our way out after Maan had left. "For once, I had thought we lost this deal."
"Nonsense." I brushed his fear away. "He wouldn't call off the deal just because of a delay of fifteen minutes."
"No, really, Geet. When he was informed of the delay, I saw him scold Smith in a way that scared the poor guy. He even shouted at his secretary, uhh, what was her name?"
"Jess." I offered carelessly. "So?"
"And the whole office was so silent afterwards that I'm sure you would hear a pin drop."
"Really?"
"Yes." He said as we stepped out of the lift and began walking towards the parking lot. "He is your friend and I don't mean to offend you but seriously, the guy thinks he owns the world."
"He sure does own two of the most successful businesses in the city." I reminded him as we sat in his car. We were heading to the office together.
As Vyan drove through the streets, I looked out the window. After today's meeting, one thing was confirmed. Maan may be a difficult businessman, an arrogant man or a hot-tempered boss, but he was not illogical when it came to his work. Working with him might not be as hard as I had thought it to be.
"What are you doing tomorrow evening?" We had just stopped at the signal as Vyan spoke.
"No plans so far. Why?"
"I was wondering if you remember your promise of coming to meet my family?"
"Sure, I do." It occurred to me then. "You want me to meet them tomorrow evening?"
Vyan nodded.
"On a weekday?"
"Actually, my sister is going to be there tomorrow so I thought I'll just grab the chance." He grinned. "What say?"
"Umm... Okay."
That evening, I was on call with Raya and we talked about how our day went.
"Really? Maan and so hot-tempered?" Raya stated incredulously. "It is hard for me to believe. He must have been upset over something already. Vyan told you about his tantrums?"
"Yes. I didn't see him act like that. In fact, if Vyan hadn't been so wide-eyed and relieved while telling me all this, I wouldn't have believed this about Maan."
I chuckled along with Raya. "You know, Di, Raunaq bought me new high heels, and they're awesome! You have to see them!"
In a blink, Raya turned all excited about her shoes. "Send a picture and I'll see them."
"No, no, no! You have to come and see them!" I laughed slightly.
"Chhoti, you want me to come over to your place to see a pair of "shoes"? Seriously?"
"Don't be so mean, Di!" Her voice sounded like she was pouting. "They're such a lovely gift and you're calling them "just" a pair of shoes. Ouch."
I laughed. My Chhoti, always melodramatic! "Alright! I'll come by soon."
"When?" She was all excited again. "Today? Tomorrow? After work?"
"The day after tomorrow, okay?"
"Why not today? Or tomorrow?"
I exhaled. "Chhoti, I just got home, tired and I really don't want to get out of the house now."
"Fine." She sulked. "Why not tomorrow?"
"I promised Vyan I will go with him to meet his family tomorrow evening."
"You what?" She asked in shock and I repeated it.
"Why?"
"He said his family wanted to meet his new partner." I gave the explanation Vyan had given to me.
"Are you sure it's not more than that?" She asked suspiciously.
"Of course not." I answered without taking a second to think.
"Hmm..." I heard Raunaq call for Raya from behind her. "Di, Raunaq's calling. I'll talk to you later."
When Raya cut the call, I was left to ponder over her question. "There's nothing more to this meeting," I assured myself. "Is there?"
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