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It was 5 P.M. The day of the meeting with the client had finally come. Amit had meticulously prepared himself, jotting down all the legal issues and obstacles that he had spotted so far. It was a responsibility he took seriously. He didn’t want to do anything to disappoint his bosses especially Mr. Ram Kapoor. The meeting was being held in the Conference Room 1102 of Singhania & Co.
Mr. Naveen Jain was representing the client. The merchant bankers to the proposed IPO were also there and Amit and Smriti were representing the legal advisors. Amit opened his notepad so that he was ready for discussing the issues. Suddenly his BlackBerry beeped. He unlocked to find a BBM Message.
“U left already? R u well?” wrote Naina.
Amit smiled involuntarily. Then he wrote back, “I’m actually here, in Con Room 1102. :)”
“Oh Great :) :) :),” Naina wrote back.
Smriti noticed that Amit was looking extremely engrossed with his BlackBerry. She knew instinctively that it must be Naina on the other side. It was time to show who was the boss.
Smriti cleared her throat to speak:
“Amit, I need you to attend to something very urgent. We have received a copy of some more cases where the company is being sued. I need you to have a look at those cases right away.”
This puzzled Amit.
“But I was entrusted with the task of attending this meeting by Mr. Ram Kapoor,” protested Amit.
“I know that but now the plans have changed. We don’t have much time so I suggest you start looking at the new files while I handle this meeting,” said Smriti rather firmly.
“But Smriti, I have been doing this due diligence for quite some time, and there are some issues that only I am aware of,” persisted Amit.
“I know that,” said Smriti looking in the other direction and letting out an intriguing sigh.
“Please go Amit. I’ll handle it.”
“Will you be able to handle all of those points? Are you sure?” asked Amit.
“I SAID GO!” said Smriti almost screaming at him.
Amit got up from his seat. He wanted to say something but noticed that Smriti had already attracted quite a lot of attention. Everyone’s eyes were at them. He didn’t want to give any impression that the legal advisors didn’t get along well or were simply bad team players. Had he argued back, both of them would have become a laughing stock. So Amit quietly picked up his laptop and left the conference room.
Naina was sitting in her cubicle looking for some designer bags on some e-commerce site. She saw Amit coming back and grabbing a chair to sit down. He covered his face with his hands. She knew that Smriti must have done something to him.
“Hey, that’s a nice tweed you are wearing,” said Naina.
Amit looked at her and smiled “Oh thank you.”
“Where did you buy it?” said Naina.
“I ordered it online. It was on sale,” said Amit.
“You buy things cheap?” said Naina wrinkling her nose in disgust. Amit was surprised that she was finding this information weird.
“Why not? I want value for money. How about you?” asked Amit.
“I never buy things on sale. I believe that things go on sale only when they are defective or of the wrong size or of the last season. Something is always wrong with such stuff; that’s why they are discounted. For me, I always go for the latest in-season things even if those be somewhat expensive,” said Naina with a smile.
“Really? That may be true in some cases, but somehow I have been able to find things that are timeless and still at a great price. How much can a classic tweed jacket change every season after all?” Amit was strangely finding it difficult to justify his apparently miserly behaviour.
“Ah, I think it’s a man’s thing to look for bargains all the while,” said Naina getting up.
Amit saw Naina shutting down her laptop, switching off her desk lights, and getting ready to leave. She wore a dark blue overcoat over her white shirt and navy blue corporate trousers. He thought she was looking great.
“Anyways, it’s good to know that you like saving money. You will be rich very soon. As for me, I love blowing up all my money. Oh, by the way, Arshad’s on leave today. So I’m calling it off. Why don’t you join me?” Naina remarked.
“Where are you going?” Amit asked.
“Aqua,” Naina said.
“What’s that?” Amit asked.
“It’s a bar in Connaught Place with live music and a really energetic DJ. It’s very near to the office. My boyfriend, you know, Sameer will be joining me with a couple of friends. Why don’t you come?” Naina asked.
Amit froze at the thought. He hated DJs and loud music and the unruly crowd. He knew if he went to that bar, he will be drained out of all energy and will just become dog-tired and snappy. As it is, he had an extremely tiring and stressful day. Now he couldn’t afford to exhaust himself further.
“Oh, actually my cousin is coming from the United States. I need to go to the airport to pick him up. Sorry I will not be able to make it today,” apologised Amit thinking on his feet.
“You are not fobbing me off, aren’t you?” said Naina sensing that something was wrong.
Amit hesitated.
“Naina, excuse me today, but I won’t be able to join you,” he said.
“It’s alright. You can pick your cousin up and then come straight away to the bar. We’ll be partying late at night. I don’t mind if your cousin also joined in. Let him also have a feel of Delhi’s night life,” said Naina.
“Okay. I’ll try. But please don’t wait for us,” said Amit.
“Oh come on. Give it a try. We’ll be waiting for you. Bye,” said Naina chirpily and left.
Amit was feeling bad for having said no to Naina. He wanted a break very badly, but one that could refresh him. His idea of a night out was to be with himself. Have a very simple home-made light meal. Take Jeff for a walk. Listen to the crickets chirping in the background and try to spot the stars over Delhi’s hazy sky.
Amit was most comfortable being with nature. He knew that he was not a “fun loving” person, in the conventional sense of the term. He will feel out of place in any DJ bar. Lonely in a crowd.
But what about Naina?
Amit felt that she was better off without him. He didn’t want to disappoint her, with his pathetic disdain of crowds and loud music. He didn’t want to spoil her fun.
The only reason for him to join her could have been if he were dating her. But he knew that Naina already had a boyfriend and was somewhat committed. Casual romances then were not for Amit. Dating for him was a quest for a long term partner, someone with whom he could spend the rest of his life.
Heart of heart, Amit knew he wasn’t the right fit for Naina. She was way too outgoing and he was too home bound and boring for her.
***
The meeting concluded at 7 P.M. Smriti rushed to Mr. Ram Kapoor’s cabin to update him regarding the meeting.
“Sir, we managed to point out all the issues. The company official said that they were fine with all these issues being included in the Risk Factors chapter of the offer document.”
“That’s great news, Smriti. Did Amit participate in the meeting?” asked Kapoor.
He noticed a change in Smriti’s facial expression as if something was wrong. She seemed hesitant to speak.
“What happened? Was everything alright?” asked Kapoor again.
“Sir, I don’t know how to begin. I’m a little uncomfortable speaking about this,” said Smriti.
“Go on, feel free,” said Kapoor.
“Sir, as you know, the company had sent us some files that detail some more controversial cases against them,” said Smriti.
“Okay, so?” asked Kapoor.
“Sir, Amit said he needed to review those cases as they looked urgent,” said Smriti.
“But this meeting was the most important thing on Earth. How could he leave?” Mr. Kapoor was now finding it hard to hide his irritation.
“Sir, I told him that he could review those cases later. They weren’t so urgent but he insisted,” said Smriti.
“Oh come on, Smriti. Why didn’t you stop him?” asked Mr. Ram Kapoor.
“Sir, I tried but he won’t listen. I told him specifically that since he had reviewed a lot of stuff, I needed him in the meeting. I told him that I otherwise won’t be able to handle all those points on my own,” said Smriti.
“That’s a pity,” said a puzzled Kapoor.
“Anyway I realised what was wrong with him. He is very shy and introverted. Meetings scare him. He feared he might be grilled. So I took his notepad and went through all the points myself,” said Smriti.
Mr. Ram Kapoor was listening.
“He had written down his notes well, in long hand, so I didn’t actually have any problems picking up. I watched him being extremely nervous, so I told him that it was okay. I could attend the meeting and raise all those issues while he reviewed those files that he wanted to focus on. And Sir, I managed it,” said an exultant Smriti.
“Good job done, Smriti. It was a shame that Amit didn’t join. Anyways, have a nice evening,” said Kapoor.
Smriti got up and was about to leave, when Mr. Kapoor remembered,
“Oh by the way I spoke to Mr. Naveen Jain. We have a very important meeting with the company officials tomorrow morning at 10 A.M. at their office in Pitampura. I would also be joining in.”
She nodded and left for the day.
