Page 75 of Not Safe for Work
All of them broke out in loud laughter as I squeezed into the group, so I let out a polite little chuckle of my own, even though I had absolutely no idea what I was laughing about.
‘What’d I miss?’ I asked.
‘Agency days … I miss them even though I was miserable throughout.’ Varun shook his head fondly.
Saloni took a sip of her drink, then tipped her head at Neil. ‘So, Neil, tell me something … now that you’ve won the pitch-off, are you planning to stick around permanently after your internship?’
‘Uh … not exactly,’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
‘Why not?’ Nitya’s disappointment was apparent. ‘You were really good today.’
‘You werefantastic,’ Saloni corrected, squeezing his bicep through his tailored shirt. ‘My interns can’t even draft an email without using ChatGPT, forget about cracking a whole presentation.’
‘To be fair, ChatGPT writes all my emails too.’ Neil shrugged.
‘Same,’ Varun admitted.
Everyone laughed again. Except me.
I hated that they were hogging Neil.He’s my teammate.Shouldn’t he be celebrating with me?I folded my arms loosely, pretending to be engaged in the conversation. But my eyes were busy clocking the way Nitya looked up at him through her lashes whenever she spoke to Neil. And the way Saloni was eyeing him … like he was some kind of edible candy. If Neil noticed, he gave no sign. He just kept talking, easy and animated, completely at home as the centre of attention. He laughed at something Varun added and I caught myself wanting his attention with an intensity that was pretty damn embarrassing.
It took forever for the group to disperse, but finally, Varun wandered off to order another beer tower and the two women headed to the washroom. Everyone else had formed their own little huddles around the room. A few interns had even managed to snag a nearby table.
Neil looked down at me, a smile playing on his lips. ‘Hey.’
My stupid heart fluttered. ‘Hi.’
‘You’ve been awfully quiet.’
‘Have I?’ I held his gaze and lifted my chin. ‘Or could you just not hear me over all your fans?’
He leaned back against the bar, propping an elbow on the counter. ‘You’re cute when you’re jealous.’
‘Pfft, jealous? You wish.’
He chuckled softly. ‘We made a great team today, didn’t we?’
‘We did.’ I pulled myself onto the barstool next to him, trying to ease the strain on my neck from looking up at him. ‘I still can’t believe we actually won.’
‘You didn’t expect it at all, did you?’
I shook my head softly. ‘Um … no, not really. Not after how amazingly everyone did today.’
He shifted his weight to the other elbow, turning fully in my direction. ‘That’s your problem ...’ There was something unsettling about the way he was looking at me. ‘You acknowledge everyone’s talent, but are completely blind to your own.’
I squeaked out a shaky laugh. ‘You need to stop saying things that sound a hell of a lot like compliments …’
He raised an eyebrow, amused. ‘Why?’
‘Because it’s very off-brand for you?’ I could feel my cheeks growing hot. ‘Besides, I suck at receiving compliments. I don’t know what to do with them.’
‘Well, you could try believing them, for once,’ he offered, his gaze sincere. ‘So, are you looking forward to the Mussoorie shoot? To going home?’
‘Yes … and no.’
He frowned, tilting his head. ‘Why not? With the unholy amount you crib about Bombay, I thought you’d be thrilled at the opportunity to escape it for a bit.’
‘I don’t crib about itthatmuch.’
