Page 123 of One Indian Girl

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He stood up restlessly and walked to the window. Staring into the harbour he spoke again. ‘I can’t call it a blunder. How does one call the most special experience of one’s life a blunder?’

He has a way with words. Be careful, I told myself.

‘Call it what you want. Point is, it was not real. We can put it down to the setting, the drinks, the air... It won’t happen again. It won’t,’ I said, my voice as agitated as his was quiet.

Neel came back to his seat and sat across from me.

He held his chin with his right hand.

‘Okay, okay, calm down,’ Neel said. ‘I get it.’

‘We should focus on work,’ I said briskly.

‘Fine. We cool then, otherwise?’

‘Yeah,’ I said.

‘So if there’s another deal I want to staff you on, I can?’

‘Of course. You are the boss.’

‘Even if it is with me?’

‘Do you have to staff me in particular?’

‘Greenwood wants to buy some more distressed hotels in Korea. They want us to look at some options. They liked your work. So...’ He left the sentence hanging.

‘Whatever you say,’ I said.

‘I won’t staff you if you don’t want to. Should I say you are not available?’

‘So I lose my clients now?’ I said.

‘Of course not. You are on. The target company is in Seoul. Let’s go there soon.’

‘I am looking for a sofa. A two-seater, please,’ I said.

‘Would you like a simple sofa or a sofa bed?’ the salesperson said.

I had come to IKEA, the Swedish furniture store, on the weekend. The huge, 20,000-square-feet IKEA store is located in Causeway Bay.

‘Sofa bed,’ I said. At some point, if I had guests from India, I would need to provide a place to sleep. The IKEA salesperson led me to the sofa bed area.

There were a dozen models, from Japanese futons to clever snap-shut mechanisms.

‘Do you have a colour preference?’ the salesperson said.

‘Not really. How about the steel grey right there?’ I pointed at one.

‘Oh, that’s a bestseller. Comfortable and minimalist,’ she said.

I sat on the sofa to see how it felt.

‘Good,’ I said. ‘I like it.’

‘Hi.’ Someone waved at me from a distance.

I looked up. ‘Neel?’ I said.

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