Comedy of Confusions

11. Krish: Fun, Cute, Fun

Krish walked past the ice cream spot where he had a very sweet orange popsicle just the other day with the wild child. The thought elicited a small smile. He looked across the street, only to spot the joint where he got his pakoras, reminding him of the wild child and her wild motorbike ride. He paused for a moment. What was wrong with him? Why was he connecting everything with her? Why did he offer to take the team out for lunch ? He convinced himself that it was Nandini's idea, as an atonement for treating her team badly. But why the hell did he have that popsicle with the Wild Child? She did not ask for it. He did not need it either. It was just a wild impulse and he had ceded to. Could it be because she found it 'fun' to watch him eat ? 'cute' perhaps? The thought gave me a bout of cough.

It was for Nandini, to make sure she got to know that he was treating her people well.

"For Nandini" He mindlessly uttered aloud startling a stray dog that was curled up on the pavement. At that very moment his phone started to ring and who should it be but Nandini!

"All well Nandini?" Krish tried to sound calm. Though he could not figure out what it was, he was certain that he was anything but calm.

"Yep. You got a minute?." Nandini sounded alright. At least now that he had made peace with the her team, he did not have to worry about stressing her out. He was hoping it was about his generous treatment of her people that got her to call him this early until he heard her mention something important.

"I received an email from Dan a few hours ago. He wants to meet me. He will be here next week on a holiday."

"He wants to set up meetings here?" Krish forgot everything else.

"It is strange, but he did not mention about meeting us at our office. He has sent me the address of a resort about 3 hours from here inviting us to stay with him for the weekend. As you know, I cannot travel 3 hours. We cannot refuse it either. I don't know what to do."

Dan Price was one of their earliest angel investors who held a significant stake in their company.

"We tell him the truth. You are on a maternity break and he is most welcome to visit us here at our office." Krish said as a matter of fact.

"That... I think, is not enough. How about you go and meet him instead? Take a few key people along"

"But he did not reach out to me." Krish protested.

"Yeah right. But how would he know that you are here? I will mention that in the email. If he wants to meet you, we will know."

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Before noon, Krish was staring at his calendar for the following weekend, tearing his hair over all the rescheduling he needed Katy to work on. Dan Price was not someone he was ready to say no to. At the same time, he did not like it when he lost control over his plans. His irritation forced him to take a break. The first thing he noticed on his way out to the water cooler was the wild child and her bunch were very much at work, and cheerfully so. He would have expected them to take time off now. Perhaps it was him. He felt bad for his behavior.

Nandini was right about them.

The rough tumble of ice into his tumbler failed to drown his thoughts. Team! He was to take his team along. How about these three? He decided to check with Nandini. In any case, WIP project was the most important of their current projects and these three were working on it. If Dan wanted to know anything about their product line up for the near future, these people will prove to be handy. He had to convince himself before seeking Nandini's opinion on the plan.