‘You’re right about Venkat,’ he said, trying to sound as detached as possible. ‘The whole superstition thing… .’ He hesitated a little while trying to find the right words. ‘It’s a little …’
‘Kooky?’ she supplied, putting her head to one side. ‘Eccentric? Odd?’
‘Unconventional,’ he said. ‘But it’s not uncommon.’
‘And it’s unimportant too, I assume?’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘As far as you’re concerned anyway. Because you’re not planning to be around when the problems kick in.’
If she’d expected him to look guilty she was disappointed, because he threw his head back and laughed. ‘I mightn’t be around, but the fund’s performance is still pretty damn important to me. I have a fair bit of my own money invested in it, and I don’t fancy seeing it go down the tube.’
‘I suppose I should be flattered,’ she said drily. ‘Here I was, thinking you’d given me the fund to run because you didn’t care what happened to it.’
‘And now you know I’ve put my life’s savings in your hands,’ he said. ‘Who told you I was moving out? Venkat?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘It’s not supposed to be public knowledge yet,’ he said. ‘The board has asked me to stay on for a few months, and they felt it best that the rest of the firm be told I’m leaving only when it’s a lot closer to my last day here.’
‘Funny … Venkat assumed you’d already told me,’ she said. ‘Perhaps he thought it was only fair—given that you recruited me and everything.’
Darius leaned a little closer, his brow creasing. ‘Are you annoyed that I didn’t tell you?’ he demanded, putting a hand under her chin to tip her face upwards. ‘Even after what I just said?’
Mallika jerked her head away, trying to ignore the little thrill that went through her at his touch.
‘Not annoyed … just a little … concerned,’ she said, hoping her words would hide how much she longed to work alongside this charismatic man. ‘There might be other things you omitted to mention. I pretty much took everything you said at face value.’
‘Now, wait a minute,’ he said incredulously. ‘Are you suggesting I lied to you about the job? What makes you think that?’
‘You weren’t open at all,’ she said. ‘All this while you’ve let me think that you’d be around—that you were simply taking on something within the firm. If I’d known you were leaving …’
‘You wouldn’t have joined?’ He looked quite genuinely puzzled. ‘Why not? You seem like you have a handle on things already. My being here or not doesn’t make a difference, surely?’
Darius was struggling to keep a smug smile off his face—he wasn’t the only one who felt what was between them then.
Oh, but it does, Mallika almost said. The thought of working at Nidas without Darius was unsettling in a not very nice way, and she had to scramble to think of a logical explanation for her anxiety.
‘I’m just wondering why you’re leaving,’ she said. ‘I something’s going wrong with the company … And I did discuss my working hours with you …’
His brow cleared immediately. ‘Oh, the flexi-time thing?’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about that at all—I’ve cleared it with the board. And give Venkat some time—he’s a great guy to work with once you get past his superstitious streak.’
He was probably right—he’d worked with Venkat for years, after all, and she’d only met the man today. And she hadn’t known Darius for very long either—there was absolutely no reason for the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought about him leaving Nidas.
‘Hmm… .’ she said. ‘I think I’ll get along well with Venkat—I’ll have to. I’ll need a lot of help from him for the first few months.’
‘Will you?’ he asked, feeling oddly jealous.
If Mallika needed help he’d have liked to be the one to provide it. For a few seconds before his rational side had kicked in he’d actually thought that she was upset because she’d miss him. Now he was left with an absurd feeling of being sidelined—just another stepping stone in Mallika’s life.
Their timing was completely off, he thought ruefully. If he’d met her either a couple of years earlier or later he’d have tried to get to know her better—perhaps even acted on the growing attraction between the two of them. Right now it was completely out of the question. By the time they were no longer colleagues he’d be long gone.
‘You still haven’t told me why you’re leaving,’ Mallika said, and he blinked.
‘Personal reasons,’ he said, standing up to leave. ‘Don’t worry—the company’s not about to go under.’
Mallika laughed at that. She had a particularly appealing laugh, Darius thought. It was as happy and uncomplicated as a child’s, but it had a woman’s maturity as well, and a sexy little undertone that was irresistible.
‘That’s reassuring,’ she said, slipping off the desk to land on her feet right next to him.
Darius looked into her eyes and there was an instant of absolute connection that made his earlier thoughts irrelevant. A small part of his brain recognised how clichéd the moment was, and he was even amused. The rest of him was completely overwhelmed, and he kept on looking at her stupidly until she blinked and looked away.
‘Goodness, look at the time!’ she said, her voice slightly more high-pitched than normal. ‘I really need to get going.’
‘You haven’t touched your drink,’ he said, and she blinked at the can as if it had just materialised on her desk. ‘I’ll … um … carry it with me,’ she said. ‘What about your coffee?’
‘I hate that stuff from the machine,’ he said. ‘Next time we’ll go to a proper café.’
The way he said it made it sound like a promise he couldn’t wait to keep.
‘See you around, Darius,’ she managed to squeak, before making a hasty exit.
The next time he saw her was a few days later, with over fifty other people in the same room. Venkat had called for an investor conference, and Mallika was the main presenter.
Darius came in late, slipping into the back of the room. He very rarely attended investor events, but Venkat had been unusually insistent, and he hadn’t been able to resist the thought of seeing Mallika in top professional mode.
She was an impressive speaker—economical with words, but leaving her listeners with no doubt of her grasp over the subject. Slim and graceful in a raw silk printed sari, she exuded an aura of confidence and authority that was strangely attractive. Some people would probably think that it detracted from her femininity but, standing at the back of the room, Darius had to work hard to maintain a professional veneer.
She was quite something.
‘She’s brilliant, isn’t she?’ Venkat said, materialising next to Darius.
Mallika was answering a question raised by a grizzled investor old enough to be her father—and by the way the rest of the audience was nodding they were as impressed as Venkat was.
‘It’s been a while since we’ve held an event of this sort—it’s bloody expensive, paying for the dinner and the booze, but it’s worth it if we get the monies to come in. And people are interested—the market’s looking up. We’ll get a couple of hundred crores of investment after this event.’
‘So does that mean you guys are doing perfectly well without me?’ Darius