8. Mayukhi
EIGHT
Mayukhi
A bolt of bright yellow chiffon streamed over her desk as her team flittered around her dragging other swathes of material and lace to layer it with.
I apologise. I was wrong.
How many men had said that to her before last night?
Zero.
“What do you think, Yukhi?”
She snapped out of her daze at the question and focused on what had been spread out over her table. Her soul shuddered at the monstrosity laid out for her approval. Apparently, she employed blind idiots with the taste of frogs in a swamp.
Annoyance had one eyebrow shooting up as she met the hopeful gaze of her head of design. Shawn Braganza swallowed hard as he opened his mouth to defend his creation. Mayukhi held one single finger up to silence him and he shut his mouth immediately. With another flick of her wrist, the fabric and the gazillion accessories were hastily cleared out of her room, leaving only Shawn and her.
“Okay, Yukhi,” he sighed, sitting down across from her, his ripped jeans and tight white t-shirt screaming more bad boy gone wild than fashion designer. But when he wasn’t being a nightmare in yellow, he was one of the best. “Let’s go over the vision board for this line again, shall we?”
She pulled up what they’d frozen on last time and projected it up on the big screen across the room. Bright yellow seared her retinas making her groan inwardly. On the outside, she just shook her head.
“We’re not doing this,” she muttered. “Fucking daffodils are not in season. Let’s rework this from the ground up.”
“We don’t have time to rework this from the ground up. We launch in three months.” Shawn shook his head. “What’s with the mood?”
Before she could snap back at him, her assistant, Payal, stuck her head around the door. “Yukhi, there’s someone here to see you.”
Irritation flared at the interruption. “Not now, Payal.” She turned back to her laptop, changing tabs to some of the design boards she had open. “We need to pivot.” She pointed to one of the boards with warmer orange tones. “This is the palette we should look at. And-“
The door to her office opened again. “I said not now, Payal,” she snapped, without looking away from the screen.
“Well, I’ll be sure to tell Payal that.”
The lazy drawl had her hackles rising. She didn’t look away from her screen as she said, “Not now. I’m working.”
“Yes now, Kraken. It’s important.”
She heard Shawn snort like a stuffed up pig at the ‘Kraken’ and her irritation tipped over into fury.
“Adajania,” she said, her voice covered in frost. “Get out.”
“Careful Kraken.” If her voice was frosty, his was pure ice. “You shouldn’t forget who you’re talking to.”
Shawn’s smile disappeared, a frown appearing between his brows as he glanced between them.
“Give us fifteen minutes,” she told Shawn, who nodded and left, but not before giving Ishaan’s latest suit, Armani this time, an approving glance. Say what you will about the ass, he wore the hell out of a suit.
“Let’s make this quick. I have work to get back to. What do you want?” she asked him, watching as he stood by the door, his hands shoved into his pockets. Frustrated energy crackled off him, roiling under his skin until she thought he might implode from it.
Mayukhi leaned back against her seat, her legs crossed as she watched him take in her domain. His gaze went to the dress mannequin in the corner, the large screen with the design board still up on it, her immaculately and obsessively neat desk with the laptop on it, and finally her.
“Are you free tonight?” He started to pace, controlled steps that took him from one end of her cabin to the other. He was starting to infect her with whatever negative energy he’d come in here infused with.
“No.”
“Make yourself free,” he ordered.
“Excuse me?” Mayukhi laughed. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“The man who has your family’s future in his hands.”
The stark reminder had her smile disappearing. “I have a collection to redesign. I have no time to socialise for the next one week at the minimum.”
“Make time.” His jaw flexed like he was grinding his teeth.
“Listen Adajania –“
“I’m not asking. I’m informing you. I’ll pick you up at eight tonight. Dress casual.”
“You can’t just-“
Again, he interrupted her. “I can just. Stop arguing, say yes, and then I’ll leave and you can get back to work.”
Mayukhi thought the top of her head was going to explode with the rage that boiled through her.
“Yes,” she snarled. “Now get out.”
“With pleasure.” He gave her a mocking bow before tossing something at her. “Catch!”
Mayukhi caught it reflexively, his aim sending it right to her. She looked up to glare at him but he was gone, the door swinging shut in his wake. Her fingers tightened around the tiny velvet box in her palm. Cursing, she opened it and blinked.
The brilliant round cut solitaire diamond ring nestled in it was blinding. She’d asked for ten carats but she might have gotten an easy thirty carats at least. Now, she was going to have to wear the bloody egg sized diamond. Fucking asshole.