Page 26 of Made in Mumbai

“Umm… are we ready, Aarya?”

“Just done. Let’s go!”

“Rustom bhai, come on.”

“Me? Why? You both have to go…”

“You and Aarya worked on this, I was just hanging around. You both present it.”

Maya led the men up the two floors and to the infamous terrace. For a change, the glass house doors were open and Sia was laughing like an overeager hyena. She stopped the moment they darkened the door.

“Oh, hey you guys, come in.”

Maya glanced at Gautam for permission, because she was quickly discovering that Sia loved to insert herself into positions of authority where she didn’t hold any. Especially, where Gautam’s realm was concerned.

“Come, sit,” he offered. But this time, instead of lounging behind his desk, he rounded it and offered them the couch and its surrounding seating. He himself took an armchair, while Sia rolled her current chair to the circle. It felt cosy, very comfortable as Aarya and Rustom laid out their iPads, the binder of mock-up fabrics and inspo pieces from Amber Raisingh’s office.

“Are you ready?” Aarya rubbed his hands together.

“Whenever you are,” Gautam intoned.

“Right, here goes nothing,” Aarya winked at her and began his presentation. Technically, he did not need Gautam’s approval. He had Amber’s blessing on the fabrics. But he did need Gautam’s mills, his contacts and his expertise in sourcing the best quality fabrics or producing them exactly how they had been envisioned. Customisation, at dirt cheap rates, was Gautam’s USP. Maya sat quietly through the talk, listening as Aarya led the show, and Rustom shone at regular intervals.

“And how did you contribute in all this, Maya?” Sia asked.

“I hung around and helped whenever they needed something.”

“Bullshit. She was the muse,” Aarya barred his teeth cheekily at her. Maya shook her head. “Fine, jokes aside. I don’t like dissecting contributions in a creative project. It is cheap and demeaning to all parties involved. I will only say this, that without Maya, Rustom and I wouldn’t be able to come on the same page even if hell froze over. She was incredible in making Rustom’s old-school design acumen combine with the vision of Amber Raisingh. She has such solid knowledge of fabric science and has seamlessly slipped everything into our collaboration. If you’d still like me to dissect further, I can write up a nice flow chart and send you.”

Maya felt her chest warm, more than a little bit. She even felt red rise up her neck and into her cheeks. But she kept it cool. That is, until Gautam spoke up.

“All the base fabrics you mentioned are already under production at one of our, or our partners’ mills. Except the Mysore Silk. I have a contact in Coorg who produces it, but we haven’t sourced from him yet. So, we will need to visit personally first, then customise.”

“You and I can fly out this weekend itself,” Sia offered. “I will have the tickets booked…”

“No, you stay back. You were just saying that you have a Yoga retreat.”

“It’s ok, I can cancel…”

“Aarya and Rustom will come along.”

“I can’t come on such short notice,” Rustom rumbled.

“Why not?”

“My family needs to be managed.”

“Right.”

“Maya can come along then,” Aarya suggested. “She knows everything that Rustom does.”

Maya perked up at the idea of a Coorg trip, even if for work. But the next moment her excitement deflated. Because Gautam looked like he had swallowed a fly.

Silence. Then, he gave a curt nod.

“Awesome. This means we are flying to Coorg, and our Friday is over earlier than we thought!” Aarya sprung to his feet. “Thank you, Mr. Kumar. I’ll be out of your hair now.”

They all got to their feet and began to move.

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