Page 28 of Driven By Desire
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Life Industries took up four floors of a very impressive building in the city’s business district. Glass, steel and chrome came together to exude formidable success and had Max squaring her shoulders defensively. She took the elevator to the fifth floor and stepped out into a world of plush carpeting, low voices andfor some reason freezing cold air conditioning. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the receptionist sitting primly behind the front desk.
“I’m here to see Mr. Krish Mehra.”
The receptionist barely looked up from the screen in front of her before asking, “Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but if you tell him Maxine Sheridan is here, he’ll see me.” She hoped.
Eyes widening as she took in the large bunch of flowers Max was holding, she said, “If you could just take a seat, Ma’am, I’ll check and get back to you.”
Nodding, Max settled herself into the comfortable sofas in the corner of the lobby and waited. A discreet telephone conversation later, the receptionist walked over.
“Ma’am, if you could go up to the ninth floor, Mrs. Lata Sharma, his secretary, will be waiting for you.”
“Okay.” Gathering up her handbag and the flowers she’d brought with her, Max made her way back to the elevators. Punching the button for the ninth floor, she exhaled nervously and waited for the doors to open.
Walking out again, she walked over to the foyer to find a grey haired, distinguished looking lady waiting for her. In a crisp white cotton saree, with her hair pulled back in a severe bun, she reminded Max of her fourth grade English teacher.
“Mrs. Sharma?” A crisp nod had her continuing, “I’m here to see Mr. Mehra.”
“Mr. Mehra is in a meeting and can’t be disturbed at the moment. You can leave a message with me.”
“No, I can’t.” The firm refusal had the older woman reassessing her opponent.
Mentally instructing her shaking knees to behave themselves, Max added, “I can wait till his meeting is over. You can tell Mr. Mehra that Maxine Sheridan is here to discuss the vintage MG car she is restoring for him.”
“And should I also tell him you come bearing flowers?”
Flushing under that steady gaze, Max glanced down at the bunch of assorted flowers she was clutching. Maybe they hadn’t been such a good idea after all. “I’ll be waiting here in the foyer until he’s free to see me.”
The resolute answer brought a small smile to his secretary’s face. “About time someone didn’t give up on him.”
A little startled by the fact that the previously frigid welcome was warming up by several degrees, Max eyed the dragon lady warily.
“He’s not expecting you or he would have told me,” the woman mused aloud, “So maybe the best place for you to wait is in his office.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Max wanted to surprise Krish, not give him a heart attack. “I’ll just wait here till he’s done.”
“Follow me.” The brisk order was followed by the sight of the lady’s disappearing back. Hurrying to keep up, Max tried to keep her interest in her surroundings as discreet as possible. Rows of cubicles lined the floor with conference rooms flanking them on either side. The muted clacking of keyboards, murmur of phoneconversations and low hum of the air conditioning was a bit of a culture shock to someone who spent most of her working hours staring at the underside of a car.
Acutely conscious of the short, brown skirt and cream top she was wearing, she tugged at her wind tousled ponytail to try and make it more presentable. She found herself ushered into a large, roomy cabin, the size of a small studio apartment. An impressive rosewood table with its back to a wall of glass faced the room. To her right, an L-shaped leather sofa set lined the wall with a glass coffee table in front of it.
“You can wait here. Anything you want to drink? Some tea, coffee? Something cold?”
The barrage of questions had Max blinking dazedly. “Why are you suddenly being nice to me?”
Eyes softening, Mrs. Sharma smiled. “Like I said, dear. It’s nice to meet someone who won’t give up easily on him.”
Smiling back nervously, Max wandered up to the frighteningly clean desk. Even the files stacked on one side of his desk had been arranged till all their ends met with alarming precision. Nothing on that impressively professional and technical looking desk looked familiar or like the Krish she knew. Until she saw the photograph standing on the right hand side of the desk, within easy reach of his hand. Chirag, Adi and Pooja sprawled in a tangled heap on what looked like their front lawn. Beaming smiles and comfortable embraces had her smiling in return even as she reached out to trace a finger gently down its edge.
Looking back at the lady still waiting patiently near the door, she answered, “I don’t need anything, thank you. If you could just tell Krish that I’m here?”
“Half the fun is in the discovery, don’t you think?”
Max could still hear her chuckling at her parting sally even after the door swung shut behind her.
Finding herself alone with the privacy blinds down on the windows, Max heaved a quiet sigh of relief before plonking herself down on the sofa. Leaving the flowers to rest on the table in front of her, she settled in to wait for Krish’s meeting to finish.
