Page 153 of 12 Years
‘You created the company. You run it. It must come from you.’
I kept quiet. My phone buzzed.
‘Where are you, baby? Drinks later tonight?’ Tania had messaged.
‘I’m at the Arts Club,’ I replied while Neeraj waited for me to finish typing.
‘Oh, Paulina and I are nearby, at Clap. In DIFC itself. Can we come by?’ Tania responded.
‘Okay. Come to Rohen. I’m wrapping up a work dinner,’ I replied and kept my phone aside. I turned to Neeraj. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I said.
‘Work stuff?’ Neeraj said.
‘No, some close friends. They’ll join me later. What were you saying?’
‘If you could have lunch with Payal …’
‘Lunch?’
‘It’s better if it’s kept casual. Just share your vision for the combined entity. You can do that, right?’
‘I can but …’
‘Let me check with her as well,’ Neeraj said, and before I could react, he’d already sent Payal a message.
‘She’s free tomorrow. Is that okay?’ Neeraj said as he kept his eyes on the phone.
‘Yes.’
‘Any place you’d suggest?’ he said. ‘Somewhere near your office?’
‘Sure. Let’s do Bosporus. It’s around the corner from the office.’
‘Cool,’ Neeraj said, typing on his phone. ‘Fixed it for 12:30 p.m. Thank you for doing this. Trust me, this will move things along faster.’
I nodded and fake-half-smiled.
A couple of minutes later, two young girls came up to our table. One of them was Tania. She wore a short red dress.
‘Tania,’ I said, standing up and giving her a hug.
‘That’s Paulina,’ Tania said, introducing me to the gorgeous six-feet-tall girl, who could easily pass off as a ramp model in her long emerald-green dress.
‘I’ll see you girls at the bar, okay?’ I said to Tania and Paulina. They both nodded and left.
I turned to Neeraj.
‘All right, Neeraj,’ I said. ‘I have to go. I’ll do the lunch with Payal.’
‘Okay, bye,’ Neeraj said, still looking a bit dazed after seeing my “close friends”.
I stepped into Bosporus, which, with its walls of beautiful peacock blue and white mosaic tiles, was a gorgeous dining spot. Bosporus has several branches across Dubai and is famous for its delicious Turkish food and shisha.
‘Your friend is already here,’ the hostess said when I told her about my reservation.
She’s not my friend.
On the way over, I’d repeated the four rules of engagement with Payal: One, keep it professional. Two, don’t discussanything personal. Three, don’t make too much eye contact. Four, stick to the deal. That’s it.
