Reading & YT History
Part 108
Monday at work was manic as usual, she juggled meetings with her team and Excelsior, made two trips,
one to the Gurgaon workshop and one to the showroom all by 8 PM
She was driving home when Srikanth called, she was exhausted after the longest day, he sounded bummed as well
"Kya hua?" she asked
"Umm do u have a few minutes?" he asked dejected
"Oh sure" she said kindly
"hey, our proposal got rejected, we begin from step one ALL over again tomorrow" he said... She felt TERRIBLE...
"Ayyyo" "Epdi? HOW?" You told me you guys had all your ducks lined in a row, the numbers looked great from as far as I saw them" she reviewed them casually because of her CPA background
"What was the funding company's name again?" she asked "Argent Graines" Sree said "Its French for Silver Seeds"
The word French sent her heart plunging in a huge splatter on the sidewalk like a water balloon
"We gave them 5 year projections, one investor wanted the CAGR for 7 years, two were particularly tough on us, one Indian guy and one French guy called Duff"
"Who is the Indian?" she asked
There was so much traffic and honking at the Sultanpuri intersection, due to a major traffic jam, she didnt hear it"...
Sree would have said "Dont know.. we dealt with a liaison that accidentally mentioned Duff's name"
They talked about market size and future product ideas and opportunities for the SmartGro to expand into other geographies
She didnt talk anything personal, just listened, listened and agreed... when she hung up on him she was almost parking by D II...
"U know what? U shud continue as if this NEVER happened" she cheered him up
"Good to talk with u Ishita, u always stay upbeat, an extrovert inside and out a optimist inside and out" he gushed
OH WELL I AM AN OPTIMIST ONLY WHEN IT COMES TO OTHER PEOPLE NOT TO MYSELF... NOPE
"We are meant to be friends" she told him that morning in Munirka the morning after 26th Jan.. when she had accidentally stayed over at Akka's
His flight was delayed and he had come by to take her to breakfast at Munirka, to Udupi's "Lets do this... we both will look elsewhere and regroup if we are unmarried for 6 months?" he offered She squirmed... "Umm.. I dont think thats a good idea Sree"
"Name things you like and dont like about me" he asked A DATA GUY...
"Smart, educated, extrovert, kind, IYER, ambitious, articulate" she said slowly thinking
LIKEWISE" he said, "Every adjective"
"see? we are JUST ALIKE" he gushed
"Different gender" she said the FIRST distinction that came to mind
He reached for her hand clasped it and said "Thats the best one to have" he said meaningfully
AYYYO DONT... DONT... DONT... WHILE HE IS IN BED WITH MARLIESE WAKING UP TO MORNING SEX I AM FENDING OFF SREE'S HAND HOLDING ATTEMPTS?
NIIICE II, GOOD DI... BE "FAITHFUL" PAAVAM R&B...
AYYO "We have the BEST difference Ishita" he said huskily, as if he were AROUSED
AYYYO NO... She pulled her hand out attempting to push her steaming idlis... she was red as her tomato chutney
"I KNOW WE WILL BE GOOD IN BED" Sree said bluntly... GOOD GRIEF... HOW DO U KNOW THAT... U DONT... I WILL ONLY BE GOOD IN BED WITH ONE GUY "HE" IS GOOD IN BED WITH "EVERYBODY" THOUGH... "Sree stop" she stopped him... "I dont think its an appropriate conversation for a Udupi" she giggled hot and bothered "Lets talk about what we dont like about each other... he changed the topic agreeably
"I dont want to move to the Bay Area" she said
"I dont care about living in Blore or Delhi" he said simply
"I am not too maternal, I may not have kids" she said
"I want atleast one, two would be great" Sree said
"I would never quit my job. I hope to be Director in under 7" she said
"I wont say such things strongly..." he said firmly... "If a Post Doc op arises or a teaching gig arises, I might move on" he said
"I dont cook much or do housework much, so India is ideal, I cannot afford help in the Bay Area" she said
"I like to have a sparkling clean house I clean over the weekends, EVERY WEEKEND"
THERE ARE BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND CLOTHES EVERYWHERE IN HIS LIVING ROOM UPSTAIRS... THERE ARE GADGETS AND CABLES AND CORDS... MULTIPLE JACKETS, AND HOODIES
RANDOM TOOLS... LIKE HE IS A CARPENTER OR A ELECTRICIAN THERE ARE A MILLION BOOKS..
"Do u love to read?" she asked softly
"NOT MUCH... I live in the NOW... I dont live in an imaginary world" he said smiling as if that was the best thing
" do u love to travel?" she asked
I DONT GET TIME... I WORK 90 HOURS A WEEK SOMETIMES" he said
"U get time to clean ur house" she giggled
"Ya a clean organized house is important... I wud stay up cleaning" he said
"Not reading? hmmm" she finsihed softly...
"Wherever I am, if I have a book with me, I have a place I can go and be happy" JK Rowling's quote came to her mind...
There was no use in letting him get his hopes high
It wont be R&B it wont be Sree
Who it will be only Amma Appa knew
She went up, dead tired, Amma gave her idlis for dinner she ate on the couch with her ipad...
She searched for the Deekshithar Kriti on YouTube, sung by Sudha Raghunathan... she had sung it yesterday and wasnt too happy with it
Appa was still being cold or a lil aloof with her, Amma didnt say WHY but Ii knew. He didnt sit down and ask about her day or anything...like he would...
She looked at him sadly... he was her best friend, and now her friend was gone because she had said No to Sreekanth...
She scrolled through her YT History, on the right it had "You may like"
"How angel investors work" "Top Venture Capital companies in India" "Venture Capital 101" She was startled for a second... she scrolled through it all
and then went back to her History and scrolled for the Kriti videos
And found a reference to Argent Graines... She clicked on the "unprotected" image/video It was a Corporate video of Argent Graines... the CEO talked about ventures funded... ALL in French with a English voice over
and hand shakes and aerial shots of cities across the world, smiling families, farm, produce and fast cars... and some world busines seminar that showed the investors all 7 of them...
AND IN THERE STOOD RAMAN AKA R&B BHALLA, dapper in a black suit and green silk tie... the ONLY Indian in the group, of 4 French Two Thai guys She looked at the "date viewed" it was that Saturday when Periappa was gone for his tests and R&B asked to borrow her iPad
R&B was a investor/co-owner/partner of Argent Graines SARL ( A French limited liability company code)
R&B had deliberately sabotaged Sree's venture? The YT video replayed in a loop as she sat and stared at it...
Edited by Nisha0604 - 7 years ago
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