Konkan coffee
"Please sit" he said not letting go of her hand
She nodded and breathed audibly confused
He let go of her hand ashamed after a few seconds
He pulled a chair out from under the desk, it stumbled out, stubbing his navy Sperry boat shoe
A GQ magazine lay open on his desk over a keyboard.
His tan khakhi was folded just over his ankle
His white shirt untucked and loose
"Trisha Shanbag" she said again
"I am happy to meet you Ms Shanbag" he said aloud
Quickly walking back to his desk and sitting down, shutting the periodiacl and putting it away
"I met with Mr Chandra outside" she said nervously
"Oh?" he nodded
"Its about the conversion of an existing restaurant?" she said hesitantly
He looked on blankly...
She placed the silver folder, now bulging with 100s of loose catalogs and brichures on his desk
She shoved her glasses back on her nose
He was listening in complete attention
"We have a restaurant in Karnataka. Near Mangalore actually" she said and paused
She was breathless and nervous
He nodded confused
"Would you like some water?" he asked politely
He walked over to the frig in the corner and grabbed two water bottles
Opened hers and handed it to her
She smiled and took it
"Actually Mr Chandra knows everything" she said gulping it down thirstily
That irked him for no reason
"He does?" he asked
"Yes, I told him all about it I have met him today. I have also spoken to Mr Deshmukh in operations and Mr Lalvani in franchise financing" she said without taking a breath
"thats good" he said slowly
"Mr Chandra knows all the information" she repeated
He didnt ack her this time
She looked visibly self conscious as some unspoken wave transmitted between both, zipp... zappp...
"Our restaurant is on Ullal coast" she said sadly
He nodded
"Is this the Indo chinese?" he asked suddenly sitting up
She nodded
"Yeh & Yang" she said proudly
There was no reaction on his face
"Its a popular tourist destinaton" he said instead, in order to make her feel good
She nodded
"Very popular" she agreed
"Would you like some coffee?" he asked
"No... definitely no." she said with certainty
"Offering coffee to a Konkan female takes some courage" he laughed
She looked at his crinkling eyes and turned red... again a bit self conscious
"Oh no... Mr Chandra served coffee and cookies" she said
"Was it from Konkan?" he asked piercingly veering from business
She looked confused first and then shocked, unable to get the drift
"Oh no... no.. it was not" she smiled warmly
"Hmm" he felt strangely relieved
"It was nescafe" she said
