‘F
11
oreclose on the company properties first. Scare him so he plays ball,’ I said to Jonathan. We
stood by the coffee machine in the office pantry. We were talking about MedTron, a semiconductor
company gone bust.
‘That’s true. Smart suggestion,’ Jonathan said.
I made two espressos and passed him a cup.
My phone rang. Debu. I looked at it and put it aside.
‘Go ahead, take it,’ Jonathan said.
‘It’s a personal call. I can call back,’ I said.
‘No, go ahead. I’ll see you back at your desk.’
Jonathan left the pantry. I picked up the phone.
‘Hi,’ I said. ‘A middle-of-the-day call. Nice!’
‘Well, you are speaking to a senior creative director of BBDO,’ he said.
‘Oh my God! It happened! Congrats, Debu. This is headline news.’
‘Thank you. You are the first person I called.’
‘Of course. We totally need to celebrate this.’
‘It’s okay. They promoted two others too.’
‘It’s huge. You know it is. Anyway, I got to go. Need to make some calls. What time will you
be home today?’
‘7.30. Why?’
‘Nothing. I might get a little late. Okay, Mr Senior Creative Director, bye!’
I hammered out a quick plan. I messaged Avinash, Ashish and Nidhi.
‘Kind of big news. Debu got promoted. My boyfriend is a senior creative director! Surprise
celebration drinks. Our place. 7 p.m. sharp. 55B, 50 Franklin Street, Tribeca.’
Within minutes everyone confirmed. I messaged a few others. Some wanted to bring their
friends along. In half an hour, I had a mini-party organized with about a dozen confirmed guests.
Finally, I dashed Debu a message.
‘Busy day. May get late. Have dinner and sleep.’
‘Surprise!’ everyone shouted in unison as a clueless Debu opened the door. His shocked and dazed