Shoma Narayanan - An Offer She Can't Refuse

‘Hmm … no, that isn’t what was bothering me.’

She smiled at him, and Darius felt his heartbeat quicken in response.

‘But tell me—is it true that he’s interfered in some of the investment decisions the team have made in the past?’

It was very likely to be true. Darius had heard rumblings from his team, but he hadn’t paid much attention up till now. Mallika’s pointing it out after being exactly one day in the job, however, hit him on the raw.

‘He’s talked to them about a few deals,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t go so far as to call it interference.’

‘Maybe it wasn’t brought to your attention, then,’ she said, clearly unfazed by the sudden chilliness in his tone. ‘But he’s made some bad calls, and the fund’s asset value has dropped. It’ll take me a while to undo the damage.’

It was her air of knowing exactly what to do that got to him.

‘I’d suggest you take a few days to understand the business properly first,’ he said firmly, though he was feeling uncharacteristically defensive. ‘Before you jump in with both feet and start undoing things.’

Mallika frowned. ‘I thought the whole point of my being here was that I already know the business,’ she said. ‘I researched the fund before I even started interviewing with you guys, and it’s obvious that you have problems. Logically, it makes no sense to wait to fix them.’

‘There’s a lot of stuff you wouldn’t know from the outside,’ Darius insisted. ‘Venkat might have his … quirks, but not all the decisions he’s made have been bad.’

She shrugged. ‘Statistically speaking, even if you made decisions by rolling dice you would end up making some decent ones. But from what I can make out Venkat is superstitious, and his judgement is coloured.’

It had taken Darius months to realise that Venkat’s superstitious side sometimes overruled his normally sharp business brain. Mallika had taken exactly one day to figure it out. She was extraordinarily perceptive and he felt slightly wrong-footed. Again.

What was this woman doing to him?

Mallika was leaning forward a little. ‘Look, you hired me to run this fund,’ she said. ‘Not because you liked my face. So let me get on with my work. If I mess up you can play the hero and come in and rescue me.’

For a second Darius was tempted to tell her exactly how much he liked her face, but hard as it was he bit back the words. Being her colleague meant that he had to keep a certain professional distance. Speaking of which … Darius realised just how close he was to Mallika, and rolled his chair a few paces back. Unfortunately as soon he started to speak again Mallika scooted her shapely butt closer to him once more, robbing him of his train of thought.

‘You’re right about Venkat,’ he said, trying to sound as detached as possible. ‘The whole superstition thing… .’ He hesitated a little while trying to find the right words. ‘It’s a little …’

‘Kooky?’ she supplied, putting her head to one side. ‘Eccentric? Odd?’

‘Unconventional,’ he said. ‘But it’s not uncommon.’

‘And it’s unimportant too, I assume?’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘As far as you’re concerned anyway. Because you’re not planning to be around when the problems kick in.’

If she’d expected him to look guilty she was disappointed, because he threw his head back and laughed. ‘I mightn’t be around, but the fund’s performance is still pretty damn important to me. I have a fair bit of my own money invested in it, and I don’t fancy seeing it go down the tube.’

‘I suppose I should be flattered,’ she said drily. ‘Here I was, thinking you’d given me the fund to run because you didn’t care what happened to it.’

‘And now you know I’ve put my life’s savings in your hands,’ he said. ‘Who told you I was moving out? Venkat?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘It’s not supposed to be public knowledge yet,’ he said. ‘The board has asked me to stay on for a few months, and they felt it best that the rest of the firm be told I’m leaving only when it’s a lot closer to my last day here.’

‘Funny … Venkat assumed you’d already told me,’ she said. ‘Perhaps he thought it was only fair—given that you recruited me and everything.’

Darius leaned a little closer, his brow creasing. ‘Are you annoyed that I didn’t tell you?’ he demanded, putting a hand under her chin to tip her face upwards. ‘Even after what I just said?’

Mallika jerked her head away, trying to ignore the little thrill that went through her at his touch.

‘Not annoyed … just a little … concerned,’ she said, hoping her words would hide how much she longed to work alongside this charismatic man. ‘There might be other things you omitted to mention. I pretty much took everything you said at face value.’

‘Now, wait a minute,’ he said incredulously. ‘Are you suggesting I lied to you about the job? What makes you think that?’

‘You weren’t open at all,’ she said. ‘All this while you’ve let me think that you’d be around—that you were simply taking on something within the firm. If I’d known you were leaving …’

‘You wouldn’t have joined?’ He looked quite genuinely puzzled. ‘Why not? You seem like you have a handle on things already. My being here or not doesn’t make a difference, surely?’

Darius was struggling to keep a smug smile off his face—he wasn’t the only one who felt what was between them then.

Oh, but it does, Mallika almost said. The thought of working at Nidas without Darius was unsettling in a not very nice way, and she had to scramble to think of a logical explanation for her anxiety.

‘I’m just wondering why you’re leaving,’ she said. ‘I something’s going wrong with the company … And I did discuss my working hours with you …’

His brow cleared immediately. ‘Oh, the flexi-time thing?’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about that at all—I’ve cleared it with the board. And give Venkat some time—he’s a great guy to work with once you get past his superstitious streak.’

He was probably right—he’d worked with Venkat for years, after all, and she’d only met the man today. And she hadn’t known Darius for very long either—there was absolutely no reason for the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought about him leaving Nidas.

‘Hmm… .’ she said. ‘I think I’ll get along well with Venkat—I’ll have to. I’ll need a lot of help from him for the first few months.’

‘Will you?’ he asked, feeling oddly jealous.

If Mallika needed help he’d have liked to be the one to provide it. For a few seconds before his rational side had kicked in he’d actually thought that she was upset because she’d miss him. Now he was left with an absurd feeling of being sidelined—just another stepping stone in Mallika’s life.

Their timing was completely off, he thought ruefully. If he’d met her either a couple of years earlier or later he’d have tried to get to know her better—perhaps even acted on the growing attraction between the two of them. Right now it was completely out of the question. By the time they were no longer colleagues he’d be long gone.

‘You still haven’t told me why you’re leaving,’ Mallika said, and he blinked.

‘Personal reasons,’ he said, standing up to leave. ‘Don’t worry—the company’s not about to go under.’

Mallika laughed at that. She had a particularly appealing laugh, Darius thought. It was as happy and uncomplicated as a child’s, but it had a woman’s maturity as well, and a sexy little undertone that was irresistible.

‘That’s reassuring,’ she said, slipping off the desk to land on her feet right next to him.