Page 17 of 12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story

‘Whatever we discuss, it stays in this room.’

‘It’s CloudX.’

‘The cloud-server company?’ I said.

‘Yes. It’s Bangalore-based,’

Philip said.

‘A billion-dollar-plus revenue, and a twenty-billion-valuation. Started—’

‘I know CloudX,’

I interrupted him.

‘It started about fifteen years ago. Recently received fresh investments from AWS, which is Amazon Web Services, right?’

‘Correct,’

Neeraj said.

‘And Blackwater was one of the earliest investors in CloudX. It’s been one of our most successful investments. Over 100x return.’

‘Congratulations,’ I said.

‘Thank you. So, AWS wants CloudX to have a cybersecurity business. If CloudX does it on its own, it’ll take time. We feel it’s better to acquire an existing cybersecurity company that’s doing great work,’

Neeraj said.

‘Like SecurityNet,’

Philip added.

‘Thank you. But I don’t see the point of selling, honestly,’

I said.

‘We were going to do an IPO soon and get listed. We get to keep our equity.’

‘CloudX is already listed,’

Neeraj said.

‘If it buys you, you become part of the merged listed entity. Also, we can pay you in equity as well.’

‘I thought this was a cash-buyout conversation?’

Mudit said.

‘Well, we would prefer to pay in cash,’

Philip said.

‘However, if you want some of the consideration as equity in the merged entity, we’re open to it.’

‘What about SecurityNet’s existing management and team?’ I said.

‘What about it?’

Philip said.

‘We would like them to continue.’

Mudit and I looked at each other. Whatever concerns we had, they had addressed them already.

‘Give us two minutes to discuss this,’

I said to Philip and Neeraj.

Mudit and I hurried out of the conference room and walked up to the coffee machine in the pantry. Nobody else was around to overhear us.

‘Can you believe it? The buyer is Blackwater?’ I said.

‘Yeah, I know. Solid guys, right? At least now we know it’s a real party with money. Not some random firm,’

Mudit said.

‘Not that, Mudit. Don’t you understand?’

‘What?’

‘It’s Payal’s firm. Payal works there.’

‘That was like centuries ago.’

‘She was still there when I ran into her six years ago.’

‘Bro, can we not bring your ex-ex-ex-ex into the picture now? Aren’t you with Tania at the moment? Or is it Paulina? Or wait, both of them?’

‘Still with Tania. Considering Paulina’s free-trial-before-subscription offer. Anyway, not the point. Payal probably still works there. She was doing really well the last time we met.’

‘Let her. How does it matter? It’s a huge firm. One of the biggest private equity investors in the world.’

‘That’s true.’

‘And they have literally addressed every concern you had. You stay CEO, and get equity.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Our investors will love it too if we do the deal. They’ll make money and get a chance to exit,’

Mudit said.

‘True,’ I said.

I stayed silent for a few seconds, evaluating the buyout proposal in my head.

Mudit leaned against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles.

‘So? Moment of truth. What do we do?’

‘You’re right. It’s time to make serious money. Let’s do it,’ I said.

Mudit grinned and high-fived me. We walked back to the conference room.

‘Let me negotiate with them first, and you can then join in to help us get the best price,’

Mudit said to me at the door of the conference room.

‘We discussed your proposal,’

Mudit said as we took our seats.

‘And?’

Philip said.

‘We can consider it. What valuation will CloudX give us?’

Mudit said.

‘Ah.’

Philip smiled.

‘Finally, the question that matters.’

Mudit and I sat on the edge of our chairs.

‘Your last valuation,’

Max said, as his analyst put up a slide on the conference-room projector.

‘was at two billion.’

‘That was two years ago.’

‘Yes,’

Max said.

‘Our client is aware of that. So, we propose to buy SecurityNet at 2.5 billion dollars.’

Mudit and I stood up, almost in sync.

‘Guys, I think we’re all wasting our time,’

I said.

‘Nice to have met you though.’

‘Wait, Saket, please. Sit,’

Max said.

‘Mudit, please, have a seat. We can discuss this.’

‘There’s nothing to discuss. Word on the street is that we could have a hot IPO and get listed at a five-billion valuation, and you want to buy us at a distress price,’

Mudit said.

Mudit and I took two steps each towards the conference-room door.

‘Let’s make it three billion, if that helps,’

Philip said.

Wow, two confident steps, and half a billion dollars gained. If we played this game right, we and our investors could end up richer by thousands of crores.

Mudit and I turned towards Neeraj and Philip.

‘Let’s discuss our mutual expectations? Much better if we all sit down,’

Neeraj said.

Nodding, Mudit and I walked back to our seats and sat down again.

‘Five billion,’

Mudit said.

‘Half in cash. Half in equity.’

‘Mudit,’

Philip said, clearing his throat.

‘I understand that you both feel your company has a lot of value, and it probably does.’

‘It does have a lot of value. And a lot of future potential too,’

I said.

‘We haven’t even entered that many markets yet. We’re also developing so many new technologies.’

‘You may be right. However, we don’t know all that. To give you a proper bid, we’ll have to conduct a thorough due diligence,’

Philip said.

‘You’ve worked in private equity, Saket,’

Neeraj said.

‘You know how this works.’

‘Fine,’

I said.

‘Do the due diligence. Whatever it takes.’

‘But I’m afraid, even with that, five billion is too much. That is the best-case, market-risk-dependent IPO price in a year’s time. We’re giving you certainty, and we’re giving it now. You’ll both agree we deserve a discount for that,’

Philip said.

Mudit and I looked at each for a second, then I gave him a slight nod.

‘Four and a half,’

Mudit said.

‘Three and a half,’

Philip said.

‘subject to due diligence and with no unexpected concerns coming up during that process.’

‘Where do you think you are to be bargaining like this? Mumbai’s Fashion Street?’ I said.

‘What’s your final number?’

Neeraj said.

‘4.25,’ I said.

‘3.75,’

Philip said.

Max and his analyst kept moving their gaze from Philip to me, like they were watching a tennis match.

‘Four billion,’

I said.

‘if we shake hands now.’

‘Subject to proper due diligence?’

Neeraj said.

‘Of course,’ I said.

Philip extended his hand.

‘I think we have a deal,’ he said.

‘We certainly do,’

I said and shook his hand.

‘Superb, I’ll send a draft conditional term sheet,’

Max said, unable to contain his excitement as he mentally calculated his investment-banking commission.

‘The due-diligence team will work from your office. When can we start?’ he said.

‘As soon as possible,’ I said.

‘How many people will be conducting the due diligence? We’ll need to make seating arrangements and access cards for the team,’

Mudit said.

‘It’ll be a mix of people from Goldman Sachs, Blackwater, CloudX and our auditors from EY. Around eight of us, I think.’

‘Eight people?’

I said, a little surprised.

‘Yes,’

Max said.

‘It’s a multi-billion-dollar deal, Mr Khurana. The team will go through everything with a fine-toothed comb.’

‘And how long will they take?’

‘A couple of weeks. Maybe a month.’

‘A month?’

‘Let’s try to wrap up the due diligence as soon as possible, Max,’

Philip said, rubbing his hands.

‘Max, just let me know when the team’s expected to start, and I’ll get everything ready,’

Mudit said.

‘Sure. I’ll email the details across to you. Along with the term sheet,’

Max said.

‘We’re closing at a price of four billion. Correct?’

‘Yes. Four it is. Four big ones,’

Philip said as we all shook hands and concluded the meeting.

‘What are you doing?’

Mudit said when I picked up his call.

‘Reading on my Kindle,’ I said.

‘The most boring rich guy in Dubai. Where’s Tania?’

‘She’s gone to pick up Paulina at the airport.’

‘Ah. I stand corrected. Someone’s life is going to become quite interesting.’

‘I don’t even know what’s happening there. Anyway, what’s up? It’s midnight. Everything okay?’

‘Yes, everything is okay. Well, sort of.’

‘Sort of?’

‘Yeah. I mean, something amusing happened.’

‘Amusing?’

‘I found it amusing.’

‘You’ve called me at midnight. It can’t just be for something amusing.’

‘I hope you take it that way as well.’

‘Okay, now cut the suspense and tell me.’

‘I got the list of people who’re coming to do the due diligence. Had to arrange their access cards and cubicles, right?’

‘Yeah? So?’

‘There are two of Max’s analysts. Two people from CloudX’s finance team. Two directors from EY. And there’s one MD and one VP from Blackwater.’

‘Okay, that’s quite an army, but it’s fine. What’s so amusing here?’

‘That MD from Blackwater …’

Mudit trailed off.

‘Yeah?’

‘It’s someone we know. Rather, someone we used to know.’

‘Who?’

I said, a little concerned now.

‘Wait, no way. Are you messing with me?’

‘I wish I was, but I’m not. It’s our madam, Payal Jain. Now MD at Blackwater India.’

‘Holy fuck,’

I said. The phone almost slipped out of my hand.

‘You there, bro?’

I gripped the phone tighter.

‘Yes, yes,’

I said.

‘Did you say Payal is part of the due-diligence team? She’ll be working out of our office?’

‘Yes,’

Mudit said.

‘Isn’t it funny though?’

‘No,’

I said in a serious voice.

‘What the hell, Mudit. You got me into this.’

‘Relax, bro. Let’s meet up and discuss how to handle it.’

‘Now?’

‘Yes. Let’s go to BDP. I’ll pick you up.’

The whole world may be asleep at midnight, but not Dubai. And definitely not the people at Bar Du Port, or BDP. Located at the Dubai Harbour, the buzzing nightclub and restaurant originally hails from Lebanon. We had come on a Wednesday, BDP’s famous ladies’

night. The entire outdoor terrace was jam-packed with beautiful women and rich men.

Mudit ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate signing the term sheet and poured me a glass.

‘Now, tell me, how did I get you into this, bro?’

Mudit said.

‘I never wanted to sell in the first place. I even raised concerns about Payal working at Blackwater right after we heard about them.’

‘Okay, fine. But should we say no to a four-billion-dollar buyout offer because your ex-girlfriend from ten or twelve years ago works there?’

I remained silent.

‘Bro, you know markets can turn bad, and we may not even be able to do an IPO next year. And here we have a one-shot confirmed deal.’

‘It’s a good deal, yes,’ I said.

‘So, it’s the deal that matters, not one little member of the due-diligence team that will be in our office for the next three weeks.’

‘Three weeks?’

‘Maybe four or five, or even six. Doesn’t matter, bro. At the end of it, we get our deal done. That’s it. Focus on that. Don’t worry about Payal. She may be an MD or whatever, but in this deal, she’s just small fry. We’re the big guys now.’

‘I don’t feel comfortable with her being around,’

I said.

‘Can we remove her from the team?’

‘How? What do I tell them?’

Mudit said.

‘That we don’t want her on the team because you dated her in the past?’

‘Obviously not that. Find another reason?’

‘Bro, she’s the one from Blackwater who made the original investment in CloudX. She’s definitely going to be involved in such a huge acquisition.’

I kept quiet and stared at the bubbles in my champagne glass.

‘Saket, you and her, that was twelve years ago,’

Mudit said.

‘You’re over her now, right? Or does this girl still have a hold on you?’

‘No hold, of course,’

I said.

‘She has zero hold. I’m over her.’

‘Why is there an issue then?’

‘It’s just annoying and an irritation.’

‘We can all be professionals, right?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Cool. Let Payal and her team come and do their work. Let them go through whatever information they need to. After that, we sign the final deal and collect our money. That’s it.’

‘Hmm … When do they start the due diligence?’

‘Tomorrow,’

Mudit said.

‘What? She’s going to be in office tomorrow?’

‘Technically, today,’

Mudit said, glancing at his Rolex.

‘It’s past midnight.’

The DJ increased the volume as he played an Arabic-English fusion track. The crowd at BDP went wild on the dance floor. Mudit left to join them.

I stayed behind at the bar and checked my phone.

‘Miss you, baby. Paulina wants to see you soon,’

Tania had messaged me.

‘That’s Jensen and Gloria from EY. That’s Rishabh and Sandeep from the CloudX team and, of course, you already know Max and Alan,’

Neeraj said, introducing us to the due-diligence team.

We had all assembled in the office conference room to kick things off.

‘The Blackwater team members are on their way. They should be here in two minutes. Sorry about that,’

Neeraj said.

‘That’s okay,’

Mudit said, handing out the new ID and access cards to the due-diligence team members present.

I sat next to Mudit, debating if I should leave the room. Mudit could easily handle things.

‘And here they are,’

Neeraj’s voice interrupted my thoughts even as the conference-room door opened.

‘That’s Anirudh and Payal from the Blackwater team.’

I turned my head to look at her. She looked the same as the last time I’d seen her. She wore a formal charcoal-grey business suit with pinstripes. The frame of her spectacles had changed—it was a sleek rimless pair now.

I checked my breath. I was still calm. It was interesting to see her, that’s it. No emotions stirred within me, unlike the last time around. Time does heal a lot of things.

‘Hello,’

Payal greeted everyone in the room. Our eyes met for a nanosecond and we gave each other the perfect friendly-yet-professional half-smile.

‘Treat this office as your own,’

Mudit said to the due-diligence team.

‘And let us know how we can help with the process.’

‘To start off, this is a list of documents we’ll need,’

Jensen said. He handed a document to Mudit, who passed it to Farhan from our finance team.

‘No problem,’

Farhan said.

‘we’ll start preparing them right away.’

‘I think the teams can take it from here,’

I said and stood up.

‘I’m not really needed here anymore.’

Payal looked up at me.

Neeraj stood up as well.

‘That’s right. We should let our more capable colleagues take over,’

he said.

‘But Saket, I’m here in Dubai tonight. Are you free for dinner? Just you and me?’

I hated schmoozing with clients. I would rather Mudit did it. Besides, I’d been planning to meet Tania and, finally, Paulina.

Mudit gestured with his eyes for me to accept. He was right—I could sit through one boring dinner for the sake of four billion dollars.

‘Sure, Neeraj,’

I said.

‘Let’s meet at the Arts Club. Eight o’ clock.’

The Arts Club in Dubai is in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), near downtown. The posh members-only club originated in London, but the Dubai branch is even swankier and trendier. Set over five floors, which are all connected by a glass elevator that runs along a four-storey-tall chandelier, it’s one of the most beautiful dining and drinking spots in Dubai. Every evening, the club is full of beautiful and rich people.

I had booked a table at Rōhen, the fine-dining Japanese restaurant at the club.

‘I’m vegetarian, actually,’

Neeraj said as he flipped through the menu, which read like a list of marine life.

‘Oh,’

I said.

‘I’m so sorry. I should’ve checked before making the reservation.’

‘It’s okay. I should’ve told you. Never mind, there are some vegetarian dishes,’ he said.

I ordered vegetable tempura and an avocado roll for Neeraj.

‘This is like our bajji or pakodas,’

Neeraj said when the tempura was served.

‘Exactly,’

I said, and I wondered if I should’ve taken him to Bikanervala in Karama instead.

I had ordered codfish for myself. I was in the middle of a cut, which meant no rice at dinner. Going out is no fun while one’s in calorie-deficit mode, particularly with a boring client.

‘Looks like the due-diligence team has hit the ground running,’

Neeraj said.

‘Yes, everyone came prepared. Impressive,’ I said.

‘May I make a request?’

Neeraj said.

‘Something that’ll make the due diligence go smoother and faster.’

‘Anything for that,’

I said.

‘I’d really like us to conclude it soon.’

‘The person who’s finally going to sign off on the due diligence is Payal Jain. Our MD, and the principal on CloudX.’

‘Is that right?’

I said, my ears perking up at the mention of her name.

‘You know her?’

I took a few moments to respond.

‘She was there at the meeting today, right? On her laptop.’

‘Yes. She’s smart and dedicated. If she feels confident that they’ve done all their checks, we can wrap this up faster.’

‘Okay, what I can do to help?’

‘Could you give her some time? Maybe meet her for lunch? Explain your vision for SecurityNet and where you think the growth areas are. She needs to hear it from you to justify the high valuation.’

‘I have to do it?’

‘You created the company. You run it. It must come from you.’

I kept quiet. My phone buzzed.

‘Where are you, baby? Drinks later tonight?’

Tania had messaged.

‘I’m at the Arts Club,’

I replied while Neeraj waited for me to finish typing.

‘Oh, Paulina and I are nearby, at Clap. In DIFC itself. Can we come by?’

Tania responded.

‘Okay. Come to Rōhen. I’m wrapping up a work dinner,’

I replied and kept my phone aside. I turned to Neeraj.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said.

‘Work stuff?’

Neeraj said.

‘No, some close friends. They’ll join me later. What were you saying?’

‘If you could have lunch with Payal …’

‘Lunch?’

‘It’s better if it’s kept casual. Just share your vision for the combined entity. You can do that, right?’

‘I can but …’

‘Let me check with her as well,’

Neeraj said, and before I could react, he’d already sent Payal a message.

‘She’s free tomorrow. Is that okay?’

Neeraj said as he kept his eyes on the phone.

‘Yes.’

‘Any place you’d suggest?’

he said.

‘Somewhere near your office?’

‘Sure. Let’s do Bosporus. It’s around the corner from the office.’

‘Cool,’

Neeraj said, typing on his phone.

‘Fixed it for 12:30 p.m. Thank you for doing this. Trust me, this will move things along faster.’

I nodded and fake-half-smiled.

A couple of minutes later, two young girls came up to our table. One of them was Tania. She wore a short red dress.

‘Tania,’

I said, standing up and giving her a hug.

‘That’s Paulina,’

Tania said, introducing me to the gorgeous six-feet-tall girl, who could easily pass off as a ramp model in her long emerald-green dress.

‘I’ll see you girls at the bar, okay?’

I said to Tania and Paulina. They both nodded and left.

I turned to Neeraj.

‘All right, Neeraj,’

I said.

‘I have to go. I’ll do the lunch with Payal.’

‘Okay, bye,’

Neeraj said, still looking a bit dazed after seeing my “close friends”.

I stepped into Bosporus, which, with its walls of beautiful peacock blue and white mosaic tiles, was a gorgeous dining spot. Bosporus has several branches across Dubai and is famous for its delicious Turkish food and shisha.

‘Your friend is already here,’

the hostess said when I told her about my reservation.

She’s not my friend.

On the way over, I’d repeated the four rules of engagement with Payal: One, keep it professional. Two, don’t discuss anything personal. Three, don’t make too much eye contact. Four, stick to the deal. That’s it.

Payal sat at one of the corner tables in the outdoor patio. She was furiously typing on her phone, probably replying to a work email. As always, she was mouthing the words as she typed. Strange, how some things never change.

‘Hi Payal,’

I said, stepping in front of her.

‘Oh hi,’

Payal said as she looked up at me. She kept her phone aside and stood up.

Rule one: Keep it professional. No hugs, not even side ones.

We shook hands.

‘Please, sit,’ I said.

Both of us sat down, facing each other.

‘How are you doing?’

Payal said.

‘We’re doing great. Last quarter-on-quarter was eighteen per cent growth.’

‘Huh?’

Payal said, somewhat surprised.

‘SecurityNet, right? We’re doing great,’ I said.

‘Oh yes. That’s good to know,’

Payal said.

‘How about you? How’s the due diligence going?’

‘Early days still … but your team is quite competent. They understand our needs and are preparing the information for us.’

‘That’s good,’

I said.

‘I’m glad you’re getting what you need.’

Awkward silence. Twenty seconds, which felt like twenty minutes. She looked at me. I looked away, staring down at the menu to follow rule number three: Avoid eye contact.

‘Should we order?’ I said.

‘Sure,’

Payal said, picking up a menu.

‘Are you vegetarian?’ I said.

Payal looked at me with an amused expression.

‘What?’

‘You know that already,’

she said.

‘Don’t you?’

‘People change,’ I said.

She looked at me again.

‘Do they?’ she said.

I shrugged.

‘Well, I’m still vegetarian. I’m a Jain, after all,’ she said.

‘Okay. No onion and garlic too?’

‘No, that’s fine. I’m not so rigid now, especially when travelling abroad.’

‘I suggest we order the appetizer platter. It has all these mezze dips along with freshly baked Turkish bread. Everything is vegetarian.’

‘Perfect,’

Payal said.

‘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 meant you. How are you? 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.

Another round of awkward silence followed. Should I also ask her about how she was doing? I didn’t want to. But would it be rude if I didn’t?

‘How are you doing, Payal?’

I said finally, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

Before Payal could respond, my phone began to vibrate. I’d kept it face up on the table, and Tania’s picture flashed on the screen. Payal noticed the picture for a second and looked away.

‘Sorry,’

I said, cutting the call.

‘It’s fine, you can take it,’

Payal said.

‘No, I don’t usually take personal calls during a work meeting.’

Payal nodded. Her girl brain probably connected Tania’s picture with the word ‘personal’

and figured out what was going on here.

A second later, a text message from Tania flashed on my phone screen.

‘Call me back when you can, baby.’

A cartload of hearts and kiss emojis followed the text. I don’t think Payal read the message, but she certainly noticed the emojis.

I picked up my phone and typed a quick response.

‘Sure, baby. In a work meeting. Talk later.’

I put the phone on Do Not Disturb mode and kept it aside.

‘Nice food here,’

I said, taking another bite of my shish taouk.

‘Yeah,’

Payal said.

‘So, do you really want to know?’

‘Know what?’ I said.

‘You asked me how I was doing, before that call came? In case you still wanted to know my answer to that …’

Payal Jain’s elegant yet brutal sarcasm. Still in place after so many years.

‘Of course, I do. How’s everything? Work, health, life?’

‘Work is good. Still with Blackwater, as you can see.’

‘MD now, as I can also see.’

She laughed.

‘Thank you. I got lucky. Some of my investments did well. Like CloudX.’

‘Pretty young for an MD at Blackwater.’

‘Maybe. Not young otherwise. I’m thirty-three, can you imagine?’

‘Wow,’

I said.

‘Hard to imagine you being this age.’

‘That’s how old you were when we first met,’ she said.

Ah, you remember all that? I thought you got those memories erased for good, with Jain metal scrubbers.

‘True,’ I said.

‘Healthwise, I’m good, I think. God’s grace. I don’t get enough sleep though. This job! You know private equity.’

‘Yeah … But sleep is important.’

‘I know. You used to tell me all the time. The three pillars of fitness—diet, exercise and sleep.’

You remember that too? Okay.

I smiled in response.

‘Life …’

she said, and sighed.

‘Well, a lot has happened in life.’

‘Oh, okay. How’s your family? Parents? Parimal?’

I said.

‘That’s your husband’s name, right?’

‘Parents are fine. Parimal, I don’t know. He should be fine, I think.’

What do you mean, I wanted to ask but didn’t.

‘Okay. Good,’

I said.

‘Anyway, I also wanted to tell you about SecurityNet’s AI strategy. On the AI—’

‘Parimal and I are not together anymore.’

I looked at Payal, shocked. ‘Oh …’

‘We got divorced two years ago.’

Okay, I want to know more. But what about my rules? The AI strategy discussion also awaits us. But damn, I want to know what the hell happened.

‘Really?’ I said.

‘Yeah. Anyhow, you wanted to discuss SecurityNet’s AI strategy?’ she said.

‘I did, yes.’

‘Let’s do that now. Let work meetings be work meetings. If you want, we can meet separately after work someday, in a personal capacity.’

I looked at her. ‘Right,’

I said. I went over our AI strategy as we finished our lunch.

‘Thanks for lunch,’

Payal said.

‘You’re welcome.’

‘And let me know if you want to meet after work someday to talk about the other stuff,’

Payal said, adding.

‘only if you want to.’

‘Oh, yeah, sure,’

I said.

‘I’ll let you know.’

No, you may not. Just turn around, go back to work and forget about her. And her personal life.

Mudit and I sat in my office. We had just finished going over a report on SecurityNet’s progress in Europe.

‘We’ll need to open a European office at some point,’

Mudit said.

‘Frankfurt?’ I said.

‘Possibly.’

Someone knocked on my office door. I looked through the glass wall and saw Payal standing outside.

‘Hi Payal, come in,’

Mudit said, opening the door to let her in.

‘How’s it going?’

‘Hey Mudit. Sorry to disturb you guys.’

‘Hey, no worries,’

I said.

‘How can we help?’

‘I needed Mudit for a minute.’

‘Me?’

Mudit said.

‘We need some data on customer-wise revenues. It’s all classified. The IT head needs you to sign off on this. The file won’t open until you enable access,’

Payal said.

‘Oh, okay, of course. I’ll come do it in a few minutes? Let me wrap up this meeting with Saket first?’

‘Oh, yes, of course. No problem,’

Payal said and left.

Mudit looked at me.

‘It’s going fine with Payal, right? It’s all quite professional?’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ I said.

‘I guess, as in?’