Page 23 of Red Flags and Rishtas
She proceeded to introduce me to her date, whose name I instantly categorised as unimportant and therefore didn’t care to retain. I was going to meet a shit ton of people tonight. It would be impossible to remember all of their names, so I had to make sure I had space for the important ones. I spotted Jerryin the crowd, the manager I’d met during my previous visit, and excused myself to go say hi.
The smaller influencers arrived early, some even before 7:00 p.m. I spent a few minutes with each of them, showing them around while I had the time. My experience told me it was the micro-influencers who proved to be the most beneficial. They hadn’t been to too many events and were just happy to be included. They would go home and post a ton of pictures, always remembering to use our hashtag and tag our profile out of their eagerness to be reposted and credited. Bigger fish, like Kiara, turned up late and threw tantrums.
By 8:00 p.m., the party was in full swing, and I could finally steal a few minutes to go chat with Vrinda. She was standing by one of the cocktail tables near the DJ console.
‘I’m sorry … sorry. How’re you doing?’ I asked, wrapping one arm around her waist.
Her crystal heels gave her a boost that her already tall frame didn’t quite need, and I fit in snugly against her shoulder.
‘Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m happily getting drunk,’ she said, waving a hand at me. My best friend had the enviable quality of looking comfortable at parties where she didn’t know a single person. Her confidence inevitably drew others to her.
I stayed by her side for a while, giving her backstories about all the people from work. She made me down her drink, instructing me to have a bit of fun before the night was over.
‘I’ll find my way back to you,’ I said and blew her a kiss as I walked away to scan the room and play social kitten.
I spotted Aadar instantly. He was leaning against the bar, talking to a woman I didn’t recognise. He caught me looking at him before I could glance away and raised his glass in my direction.
I scoffed.Who did he think he was, Jay Gatsby?
I didn’t bother walking up to the bar to greet him. There were more important things that needed to be dealt with, like the swarm of interns who had crowded around a stand-up comedian to take a selfie. I glared at them after the guy walked away.
‘Take photos of the guests, not with them,’ I said, shaking my head at the four twenty-somethings in front of me.
They mumbled their apologies and shuffled away, giggling quietly and looking through their phone galleries to inspect if the photos had come out all right.
By 9:00 p.m., Pooja had traded her business avatar for a social, Saturday night one. She found me next to Alex, who was busy snapping passable photos as quickly as possible to keep the corridor from getting too cramped.
‘Come here, I want to introduce you to someone,’ she said, handing me a glass of red wine.
She led me to the front of the room where an American man was speaking to Hina. He was older, in his fifties perhaps, but well-groomed and fit.
‘David, hey,’ Pooja said as we joined them at their cocktail table, ‘this is Ananya from my team.’
She then looked at me and said, ‘This is David Miller from International.’
I took a pause before offering him my hand, uncertain about the proper way to greet a superior in a setting like this. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
‘The pleasure’s mine. You’ve done a wonderful job tonight. And the food is exquisite,’ he said, gesturing towards the charcuterie plate on the table.
His black-rimmed spectacles intensified the shadows in his eyes, so he looked like he was being stern even when he smiled.
‘Thank you. And I’ll convey your compliments to the chef,’ I said, and he nodded.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Pooja exhaling a subtle release of tension. I realised that this was the first time she was introducing me to a higher-up from the company outside of work hours. Did this mean I was joining the ranks?
‘I love the Best Man idea, by the way. It could really be something if the execution is tasteful,’ he said after a minute.
‘We won’t let you down,’ I said, stealing a glance in my boss’s direction.
‘To fresh ideas,’ she said, raising her wine glass in my direction. ‘May we never run out of them.’
A little while later, Rajat appeared at our side, looking frantic. Pooja and I left David in the care of Hina and her unnamed date and followed him to the corner in front of the washrooms.
‘What is it?’ I asked, failing to mask the anxiety in my voice.
‘It’s Kiara,’ he said, tugging at the sleeves of his oversized blazer nervously.
‘Oh, she’s here? Great,’ Pooja said, taking another sip of her wine.
