Page 24 of Red Flags and Rishtas
The three of us turned our heads to look at the booth where the car was parked. A buzz was forming around it. She was perched on the bonnet, her long legs stretching out seductively as she posed.
‘Yeah. Um, she is, but she won’t shoot at the bar,’ he said.
‘What? Why?’ I asked.
‘She says she’s on an alcohol cleanse … and uh, she won’t endorse a product she doesn’t consume,’ he said.
I let out a puff of air. Was I to believe that she was going to be sober for the entire night?
‘Who needs alcohol when you can just …’ Pooja said as she touched her nose and winked at me.
When neither of us said anything more, Rajat ran back to the influencer he was in charge of.
‘Um, Pooja,’ I began, wondering why she hadn’t started screaming at me yet.
‘Yeah?’
‘The Stellar Spirits guys are expecting her as a promoter,’ I said.
‘Of course they are. But as long as we didn’t promise them anyth—’
I cut her off. ‘I kinda did,’ I said, then added after a pause, ‘On email.’
The wine-induced softness that had made its way to her face swiftly disappeared.
‘What?’ she whisper-screamed.
I tried my best to explain the special circumstances under which I’d broken this cardinal rule, but obviously, I couldn’t give her anything more.
‘You have to fix this, Ananya,’ she said, her voice cold.
‘I know, yes. I will,’ I said, glancing at Kiara, who was now socialising with some of the other influencers.
‘No, not her. She won’t do it,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Make good with the Stellar Spirits rep. Get him drunk, make sure he has one hell of a night. If he doesn’t make a big deal out of this, neither will his team.’
I nodded at her, assuring her that I’d fix it. She didn’t look convinced, but she left me to deal with it on my own. I filtered the crowd with my eyes, searching for the one person I’d hoped to avoid tonight. The idea of ‘making good’ with him, whatever that meant, made me want to throw up. But unless I wanted to kiss my promotion goodbye, I’d have to do exactly that.
I spotted him walking away from the bar, two drinks in his hand. He was making his way towards the rear end of the room. I followed him, soldiering through the ever-growing crowd of the party. Ryan hindered my pursuit when he crashed into me in front of the car booth.
‘Watch it,’ he said, then changed his tone when he looked up. ‘Oh, it’s you.’
He filled me in about the latest crisis he was dealing with. I patted his arm, telling him I had to go deal with mine.
My pit stop with Ryan had given Aadar a longer head start, and when I finally emerged from the crowd, I found him smiling at the person I’d forgotten I’d brought with me to the party.
I turned around immediately, burying myself in the mass of people once again. I retrieved my phone from my trousers and called Vrinda, hoping she’d pick up. She did, on the second ring.
‘Dude, come to the washroom. Right. Now.’ I had to almost shout to be heard over the chatter.
I only moved away when I saw her excusing herself from the table. Once we were inside the washroom, I checked the cubicles to ensure we were alone.
‘Annie … you didn’t tell me he was cute!’ she squealed, clutching my arms.
‘V, this is serious. Why the hell were you talking to him?’ I asked.
She turned towards the mirror, a tiny frown forming on her face as she said, ‘He came over to talk to me. Just now.’
‘What did he say?’ I asked, ignoring the fact that she sounded a little cross.
