Page 155 of 12 Years
‘Cool.’ I signalled for a waiter to come take our order.
‘You can order your chicken though,’ Payal said. ‘You need your protein, right?’
I looked at her.
‘You need your protein, right?’ she said again.
Okay, this is a business meeting, I wanted to remind her but didn’t.
‘An appetizer platter and a chicken shish taouk,’ I told the waiter.
After he left, Payal said, ‘When I asked how are you doing, I didn’t mean SecurityNet. I meantyou. How areyou? I’m meeting you after, what, like five years?’
No.Six.
‘Yes, something like that.’
‘Six years, actually …’ Payal said.
‘Do you want me to go through what could be the key growth areas for SecurityNet over the next few years?’ I said.
‘What?’ Payal said, somewhat taken aback by my abruptness. ‘Sure, I guess … I mean, that would be helpful, yes.’
‘All right. Let’s begin with the cross-selling potential,’ I said.
For the next fifteen minutes, I went on about our future business plans. Payal listened with full concentration, taking copious notes on her notepad. I stopped when the waiter arrived with our food. The appetizer platter was a crescent-moon-shaped silver platter with ten different mezze items. The Turkish bread was freshly baked, all fluffed up and huge, the size of a rugby ball.
‘This looks amazing,’ Payal said.
I poked a hole in the bread with a fork to let the steam out.
‘Is it okay if we just eat for a few minutes?’ Payal said. ‘I want to take notes when you talk about the projections, and I can’t do that while eating.’
‘Of course,’ I said.
‘This is delicious,’ Payal said as she took a bite of the bread dipped in hummus.
‘Yes, it’s nice,’ I said.
We ate in silence for a minute.
‘You didn’t answer me,’ Payal said. ‘How are you doing?’
‘I’m doing great,’ I said. ‘The company has scaled new heights. You know that. I never imagined that we’d reach this point.’
‘It’s fantastic. And I see you continue to maintain your health.’
‘I try. It’s harder to maintain muscle strength as you get older though,’ I said.
‘Hence the protein,’ Payal said as the waiter arrived with my shish taouk.
I smiled.
‘How’s life been otherwise? How’s Dubai treating you?’ Payal said.
‘It’s been good,’ I said. ‘Mudit is here. I’ve made some new friends too. This is home now.’
‘I’m glad to hear that,’ Payal said.
