‘I’m coming! Just give me a minute,’ Siya yelled back.
When the last remnants of the dream slipped away, awareness prickled her senses. She had fallen asleep on top of her latest design, spilling coloured water on it. Her fingers were stained with paint, probably from smudging the intricate pattern she had drawn in the regal pendant.
Siya knew that the drawing was beyond saving, but still dabbed on it with a rough cloth to salvage some semblance of the drawing. She couldn’t spare another night to recreate it, and couldn’t take a ruined design to her father. She was screwed either way, but she still had to try.
She wished she could just go back to sleep, but her sister’s next words were like a drench in ice water to her senses. ‘Di, Dad and Dhruv are on their way to Mumbai.’
Siya pushed back the chair and heard it thud to the floor just as she rushed to open the door, coming face to face with a bewildered and worried Kashvi.
‘What do you mean they are on their way to Mumbai? Why didn’t anyone inform me of this?’ she hurled all her haggard thoughts at Kashvi and dashed back into her room without waiting for her to respond.
In a mad rush, Siya looked for her phone. Her room was a prime example of home organisation most of the time. But today, it was a mess, and she made a quick mental note to deal with it later. She had to find her phone first, which seemed impossible to do in the chaos of her clothes and documents.
‘Everyone has been calling you, including me! What took you so long to open the door?’
A brief glimpse of her dream broke through the screaming in her head, and Siya silently cursed to herself. Abhay was still getting her in trouble, even years later.
‘I’ve been pulling all-nighters, and I guess it caught up with me. I passed out somewhere in the middle of working on the exhibition designs. Wait, what do you mean by everyone? What happened?’ Siya asked, clutching a shirt in her fist.
‘The Patel Group has announced a partnership with some gemstone mogul, this morning. Dad has called an immediate briefing today at HQ here, and you need to get there now!’ Kashvi said, pulling Siya out of her room. Dazed and lost in thoughts, Siya didn’t register the ongoing news on the television. Slowly, it sank in.
‘In an official press conference held today at The Patel Group’s Mumbai office, Jayesh Patel and Al-hayat, owner of Riaz Diamonds, have declared a partnership which will result in a brand new line of Egyptian-inspired jewellery. As we showed earlier, Jayesh Gupta spoke of his plans to showcase them at the upcoming Jewel of Mumbai exhibition.’
After the fashion week fiasco four years ago when Dhruv stole her designs, it had taken a lot to convince her father for another chance. He had finally agreed, but this changed everything.
Siya gulped down the curse threatening to spill out. This changes everything. She knew that now her father would never allow her “amateur” designs to be shown at the prestigious event. This was her one shot to prove herself, and she could feel it slipping through her grasp.
‘This move has introduced chaos in the Indian jewel market, especially for Kashyap Luxe and Agrawal Jewels, who have maintained their place in the luxury space for decades with no third competitor. Now, we’re interested to see if The Patel Group will prove themselves to be a worthy rival to these generational empires.’
The spokesperson read the news with obvious glee, and Siya recognised him, recalling how he’d tried to book an exclusive behind-the-scenes interview about the designs at the upcoming exhibition, but her father had denied that request. It was evident to Siya back then, as it is now, that it’s risky to make enemies in the media, but her father was not known for being reasonable.
Her hands trembled as she took her phone from Kashvi, who rubbed her arm to comfort her. Kashvi was well-aware of their father’s fragile ego. Even though Siya had spent years trying to shield her from his malicious ways, she knew he would wreak havoc at the office after this new development.
Siya’s screen lit up and a message popped up.
I should have known I can’t count on you in tough times. You don’t even have the decency to answer my calls, let alone to be of use in situations like this.
Her heart sank. Siya didn’t read the rest of the message. It would just be poisonous words he spewed when his temper flared. She had pulled all-nighters, skipped meals, and let her days be consumed by constant work. All so she could make the impossible deadline he’d forced on her.
‘If you really think you can make a half-decent jewellery design, then I want to see ten modern variations of the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace in four days. That’s all you get,’he’d told her when she wouldn’t stop begging him to give her a chance.
‘What did he say?’ Kashvi asked.
‘I need to leave right now. He’ll be landing soon. I should be at the office when he arrives,’ Siya lied and rushed back to her room. Kashvi had a lot on her plate with finals just a few days away, and Siya didn’t want her involved in any of this.
Once she closed her room, Siya took a moment to breathe and calm her nerves. She rubbed the sore spot at her nape and sighed when her gaze fell on the ruined design on her desk. It seemed to laugh at her with the blood-red paint spilled over the intricate spirals she’d painstakingly drawn for hours.
Shaking her head to shed the imaginary taunts, she walked to the closet and chose the first outfit she saw. If she skipped breakfast, she could hopefully make it to the office just in time for the briefing.
As Siya pulled on her stilettos, she made a mental checklist of all the pending legal work hidden away under her work desk. She had foolishly thought she had until the end of the week to finish those. Now, it will be yet another nail in her coffin.
When she pulled the door open, she found Kashvi waiting for her with a bread and butter sandwich in her hand. Before she could protest, Kashvi said, ‘Don’t even think about skipping breakfast. You think I haven’t noticed the lunch and dinner leftovers?’
‘That’s what you’ve been doing when you should be studying? Playing Sherlock Holmes?’ Siya gave her a glare and pushed her aside to rush up to the coffee table.
Her purse was heavy, which reminded her that she had to return one of her design prototypes back to the design team. She quickly stuffed her weekly planner and sketchbooks in it and turned around towards the door but found Kashvi blocking her way.
‘All you have to do is eat it once you’re in the car!’ Kashvi scolded her, her eyes wide with bewilderment.
