Bombay Mixx

Bombay Mixx - Chapter One - Part Twenty Three

Chapter One – New Pastures?

(Part Twenty Three)

We both looked at each and fell into a fit of laughter.

‘Ok, Renesh. All you need is to get laid! Why don’t you have a romantic night? Get the candles and massage oil out, get Barry White playing and get your groove on?’ I chuckled whilst tucking into my sirloin steak. ‘I’ll give it a try but I tried that last week and she took a long bath without me, turned on her TV show, put the roller’s in her hair and called it a night,’ he sulkily muttered. ‘You just need to try harder then, don’t you?’ I replied.

As he nodded, the waiter came over with dessert menus and I chose the chocolate torte, with Renesh opting for the white chocolate roulade; he continued the conversation with a focus on me this time. ‘Anyway, enough about my marriage, how’s your love life going? Any potential husbands at the new workplace, eh?’

‘Oh why are people always talking about love lives? Can’t they just let me be?’ I screamed in my head as I tried to divert him away from that topic. ‘Oh, no real talent there.’

Renesh laughed and we continued the conversation on more settled ground, Sunday dinner and what mum would be announcing this week (last week it was her holiday idea to Majorca, however dad was having none of it, saying, ‘I will not go to that Brit packed island to be served cheap tasting beer and only having English breakfast for breakfast, lunch and dinner.’ His stereotyping does amuse me at times but mum usually ignores his protests and goes ahead with her plans regardless and dad always has to give in. It’s very cute and very funny).

I get back to the office half an hour late and with a lovely filled stomach feeling; I check my telephone messages and emails before I settle back into the humdrum tasks Ann has piled on my desk in my absence.    

As if she has a tracker on me, which tells her when I’m sat back at my desk, she comes up behind me, ‘I trust you’ve had a relaxing lunch? Well forget doing those tasks at the moment, Mr. Maguire has asked us to join him in a meeting with the managers from Advertising, Sales and Marketing and Research to go through a new client profiles. I think it should only be for half an hour. He will just be telling us who the new client is? What the plan of action is for the month? And how much money they will be letting us invest? Make sure you have a note pad and pen please,’ she announced and without a response she walked off.

‘I’m sorry, what was the last department she said? Oh bloody hell, she said Research, didn’t she? Shit, shit, shit. Ok stay calm Nita. You can do this! Just cos Sarah will be in there, it doesn’t have to be awkward, does it? Just stay professional! Explain that you have been very busy and have been meaning to respond to her messages but haven’t found the time. That’s a good excuse, right?’ I thought as I started panicking and the sweaty palms made an unwelcome reappearance. 

‘Ok, Mr. Maguire would like us to be the first in the meeting so are you ready?’ Ann asked without it really being a question. ‘I tried to think of an excuse to not go in…food poisoning from lunch time? Nope cos doesn’t that take a few hours to set in? I have a banging headache all of a sudden? Nope cos she already thinks I’m an alcoholic after Wednesday so she’ll be shipping me off to AA before I could say I was joking! Ahhh I know what to say. It never fails!’ Ann regarded impatiently. ‘It’s my time of the month and I’ve got very bad cramps. I think maybe I should go home early as I can never concentrate properly when I first come on,’ I explained as I held my stomach with an Oscar winning performance.

Ann did not look impressed.

She came closer to me and I must admit I got a little nervous.

With the look on her face I thought she was going to give me a wallop. She looked like a mother in a supermarket who is at the end of her tether with her child who is throwing a monster strop because he/she was told they wasn’t going to get the new novelty toy which is advertised everywhere. ‘You will not be going home early, Nita and if you need some pain relief you will go to Human Resources and ask them to get some Paracetamols from the medicine cabinet and be in that meeting before everyone else. You will not let this department down like you let yourself down on Wednesday. Are we clear?’ she whispered to avoid others hearing her anger.

I couldn’t believe she played the Wednesday card! Was she never young? Fighting the urge to tell her to chill out, I just nodded in agreement and entered Angus’s office.

Luckily he was on the phone when we entered and he ushered us towards our seats and continued. The others entered five minutes later and when drinks and biscuits were distributed by the catering staff, the meeting started.