Page 54 of Red Flags and Rishtas
I didn’t. Working on a wedding, I’d realised, was the same as running around like a fashionable headless chicken. You had no idea where you were going or what was going to hit you midway, but you had to have your shimmer on.
‘Is it your wedding or theirs?’ my mom had asked me when she’d found me raiding her wardrobe for saris.
Now, dressed in a short, printed kurta I’d borrowed from her, I was making my way to the third-floor studio room that we’d converted into our meeting space. The twin beds had been pushed aside to make room for the centre table, and the blankets had been tucked away in the wardrobe. This was a place of business.
The newest intern, Bhargav, opened the door when I rang the bell. All four members of the social media team were present, to my pleasant surprise. I’d been chasing them for the past week, and I was glad my passive-aggressive emails had yielded something now, if not sooner.
‘Good to see you guys,’ I greeted them, pulling the office chair from the desk near the flat-screen television.
‘How’s it going? All set?’ asked Jinal, the social media manager.
I let out a low whistle. ‘Far from it, really.’
‘How can we help?’ she asked, her voice sympathetic.
The others in the room – Bhargav, the intern, and the two other young men I’d seen around the office but had never interacted with before – were all new additions to the team. Upuntil a few months ago, Jinal used to handle TMJ’s entire social media presence on her own, with the help of an ever-changing intern. But with our continuous growth in the digital space, it had become impossible for her one-woman army to win any battles, let alone wars.
‘It’d be great if you could get started on the pre-event deliverables. ASAP,’ I said, then added after a moment, ‘like, yesterday.’
Jinal laughed and said, ‘Your timelines are always crazy.’
I ran the team through the list of deliverables for the different sponsors, the most important one being the hotel. Lotus Royale was not only providing us with the venue for the various functions for the wedding, but they were also offering the family a hefty discount on all the rooms booked for the guests. Apart from that, they’d given us five free rooms for TMJ’s team from tomorrow until Sunday. We couldn’t have asked for a sweeter deal.
‘Are we sticking to the template – food, building exteriors and decoration shots – or should we have some fun with it?’ Jinal asked.
‘You can get creative with the content, but only after you have enough safe material. You know how these sponsors are … they don’t want to take risks,’ I explained.
I gave the four of them some time to go through the list and articulate their doubts. They claimed to not have any, which of course meant I’d get frantic phone calls at the last minute.
‘Let’s reconvene before the wedding day to discuss the remaining deliverables,’ I said, standing up.
I glanced at my phone as I walked out into the long, brightly lit corridor. It was almost 4:30 p.m., and I finally had some time to grab lunch. In the elevator, I pressed the button for the lower ground floor, where the hotel’s coffee shop was. It stopped on the first floor, and in walked Preet, our in-house stylist.
‘Oh my God, babe. Thank goodness I ran into you,’ he said, gripping me by the shoulders.
He was dressed in an embroidered black-and-silver blazer, tight black trousers and silver pointed-toe derby shoes.
‘Uh … what’s up?’
‘My intern … that idiot … he completely forgot to pick up some of the pieces for Deepti’s cover shoot,’ he said. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or alarmingly anxious.
‘But … isn’t the shoot the day after tomorrow?’ I asked as the elevator doors opened on my floor and we stepped out.
‘Yes, love. But the bride needs to try them ontodayso we can send the clothes back for alterations.’ The words continued to tumble out of him.
‘Well, shit. Send someone?’ I offered, fully aware of where this conversation was heading.
‘I totally would, love, but no one’s here. And it’s all really expensive stuff, so I can’t just send a rando,’ he said, and I waited for him to file his request. ‘Could you … run out and grab it for me?’
‘Why can’t you go?’ I was ready with my response. Unfortunately, so was he. ‘I wish I could. But Deepti’s bridesmaids are waiting for me in their room. I have to style them for their appearances tomorrow.’
I opened my mouth and then shut it.
‘Please, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency. The store will shut in an hour,’ he said, hopping on his heels to channel his nervous energy.
I looked longingly at the coffee shop in front of me, my stomach silently rumbling.
‘Besides, if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had to do this cover shoot at all.’ His tone was still friendly, but he was done pleading.
