Safi was right, I did handle it pretty well. Despite being late, three months of homework had one right thing rolling off my tongue after another. I noticed Veer gasp at one point when I mentioned the expected growth rate of 4% when our competitors could at best shoot for 2%,
"What's your secret?" The director had asked.
Veer was on fire herself. "Well, that's what we do at VIC. If we cannot render the competition obsolete we don't play. Go hard or go home, right?"
I couldn't believe she'd gotten away with that bravado.
"It's only a problem if you can't back it up."
She'd mentored me for over 4 years but the last six months have been some of the finest work we'd done together and while this was huge for Veer, she wasn't getting the spotlight alone.
"Is it just me or did that go 200% better than what I'd expected?"
Veer's in her usual black blazer, white shirt, and black trousers staring pensively out the second-floor glass panel in the hallway. She's a decade older than me, single, and is cutthroat when it comes to her career. She has the reputation of icing people out if they don't give their best and it's sort of a compliment in itself that I've lasted 4 years with her.
"Good work," she sounds more serious than usual.
"All good?"
I'd expected her to be over the moon. This meeting has been the only thing on her mind for months.
"Yeah, it's just—" She pauses and smiles through pursed lips as if she couldn't trust her luck. "This changes everything."
Despite her tantrums and nitpicking as a superior, I'm truly happy for her because the whole workplace knows she'd earned it.
"Congratulations, Veer." Tanveer's her full name but Veer is what people close to her call her. I still can't believe I'm one of them.
I whip out my phone as soon as she takes her leave and there's another message on Tumble. It's a response from the guy I'm meeting tonight.
The text reads, "Not a brother but I have a friend I could ask?" Which makes me realize that I actually asked him to bring his brother. Why didn't I think he could bring a friend? Spending too much time with Safi is making me turn to the crazy side like her.
"That works."
I call the little devil and inform her of this development.
"Will the red Zara dress be too much?"
That was such an unlike Safi thing to say. She's not one to go overboard for dates.
"Bringing out the big guns so early?"
The phone call is interrupted by a colleague of mine who had also been working on the current deal alongside Veer and I.
"I'll talk to you later," I tell Safi and before I can hang up she mumbles her disapproval by groaning and making what could only be considered dead animal sounds. When I finally do hang up there's a string of angry text messages steaming in while I speak with Raunak.
Her words are barely audible when she tells me that "the director wants to see you."
Too many unusual things for one day. Prayank Shah, one of the directors of VIC and the people who built this company from the ground up, never speaks with employees directly. Conversations with him are always mediated by HR so this is a first.
"Did he say what he wanted to talk about?"
The answer is clearly spelled out by her apprehension. When she speaks, it comes out even more faint than usual.
"I can't hear you, Raunak,"
It's the burgeoning anxiety numbing my senses but there's a knot in my stomach tightening each second she delays her response.
"It's about your position at VIC," is all she says and skitters away faster than an antelope.
I'm sweaty palms and nerves on edge by the time I reach Prayank's office and Raunak's cryptic message did not help my case either.
He's in his late fifties but looks impeccable for his age. It's a running joke that he exclusively eats celery and drinks cold-pressed spinach juice to stay fit.
If not the size of his chair or the expensive furniture, the dim lighting in his cabin-in-the-woods-inspired office is enough to take someone's breath away. I'm already half out of breath when I walk in and wonder if all the wind would be knocked out of me before we get to talking.
"Ms. Shreyas, take a seat."
If Safi had asked whether I would make it to the date tonight I'd have said a resounding yes until I came into Prayank Shah's office. I texted her before coming in. She didn't reply.
"Good afternoon, Sir."
My voice falters and he tells me he just wants to appreciate the work we did today to put me at ease and it has the desired effect.
"I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch either. I have more meetings so I wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible. Just wanted to tell you in person that your hard work for VIC is not going unnoticed and this is not coming from me alone. I think I can safely say that the rest of the directors share the same sentiment. I spoke with Tanveer before you and we decided to give both of you a well-deserved raise."
I let out the breath I was holding and hoped that an awkward nod of my head would suffice as a response because I was speechless. I knew this was coming sooner or later but it came rather early. Veer was right in pushing me these past few months, she kept betting her all on this deal even though I had my doubts.
"I am glad I could contribute to the best of my ability. I am personally happy with how things went. Although the odds were always in our favor there were definitive things that could've swayed the course of this deal. Tanveer, of course, is an excellent mentor as well. I'm just happy things went as well as they did."
Prayank looks genuinely pleased and my insides summersault with joy at finally getting to this point in my career.
There's only one place to take all this excitement.
By the time I reach home, Safi is already waiting with an open bottle of wine to greet me. Seeing that she's flushed already, I guess she began the celebration without me.
"So the Zara dress it is." It is a compliment regardless of whether it's too much for a first date. "Don't know if he's lucky or in for a ride."
I take the glass away from her and gulp down the half-filled glass. "I've texted my date and he's picking us up in his car in thirty minutes."
Safi looks stunning and morose at the same time. Now if her date has the emotional intelligence of a chimpanzee, he wouldn't notice at all. I almost bite my tongue on his name but right now is one of those moments that it's necessary to lay down the facts.
"Get over Adarsh, Safi. I bet he's doing the same."
Now that I've cursed our evening by mentioning one of our exes, what could possibly go wrong?
My phone buzzes almost like a reminder. The boys are here.
I smack Safi's cheeks lightly which only makes her skin more pink. You never know, the guy could be into it.
We step down in high heels, looking classy and Safi's spirits finally lift when I crack a joke I'd heard on reels that morning.
"I mean he could be taller than Adarsh, right?" Safi jests.
My date is holding the passenger door open when I arrive which instantly makes my heart skip a beat. I did not know that after all that heartbreak it could still do that.
I'm giddy with anticipation but before I can get in, Safi's date for the nights steps out and she freezes.