Chapter 1 : Meet and Hit
The venue was usual - a hotel. Someone in the TechBiz consortium must have invested in the real estate and hospitality business. They might have given away the venue and the hospitality services for the TechBiz Awards.
“Typical Loss Leader model.” Julia uttered underneath her breath. She was busy calculating how much business the real estate business and the hospitality business could attract in the following three years just by showcasing their capabilities by arranging the award event.
Her phone rang. She checked. Her mother was calling. She hung up. She did not want to turn her mood sour before talking about some important business. The next buzz was from Eva. She skipped that call, too. At the end of an average work day she used to take Eva’s calls to have some good laugh - at Eva’s vanity and at her own fate. In those hours, she never had the feeling of fulfilment like the one she had been having standing at the reception area of TechBiz Awards.
For the past three years, she had worked days and nights, alone, to build a team of very skilled professionals and a business that was about to be recognized in the seniors in the business community. When a year ago she hired her the PR farm, she was not sure that they could bring her to the ceremony of triannual TechBiz Award. She prepared herself for the event with too much sincerity. She would not let her preparation go ashtray because of two women in the world who had been stabbing her all her adult life.
The next call was from her PR farm. The account manager herself was on the line (though most of the time one of her lackeys blabber copybook tricks in a monotonous tone), “Miss Ybarra, this’ your big night. Go to the toilet, sit in a stall and look through your speech with all your mind.”
Julia smirked, “Why do these people always think that their client has a fright for public speaking?”
She hushed up the account manager with one word, “Okay.”
No resistance on her part, no opinion on her part, extinguished the enthusiasm of talking for a long time. A girl in black suit walked upto Julia and asked, “Miss Ybarra, please follow me.”
She took Julia to the ceremony hall and made her sit in a chair by the table on the middle row in the audience. There were three more people, all men, much older than Julia, sitting on the table. Julia was unable to read their name cards. They were talking about some app that would be able to read data and make suggestions based on the trends to the users for more efficient decision making. Julia was thinking there were already a few apps that could fit the description. There was no question that these people were thinking about Artificial Intelligence, yet, all AI apps must come with a disclaimer that the app would never make a decision for the user. The disclaimer was in place to save the owners of the apps from unprecedented lawsuits when the users might mess up with decision making and would try to make up their losses by suing the owners of the apps.
The ceremony began. The dignitaries gave their speeches. Some were relevant, some were irrelevant, some outdated, some funny and some grim words created a cloud of noise over the hall. Julia kept herself awake and aware by sipping from a bottle of mineral water. The other three men did not notice her and did not mind extending the conversation to her.
Julia did not mind. She might have forty-five seconds to promote her business through her acceptance speech. She put her mind to running her speech as many times as possible within her head, till her turn to step on the stage appeared.
A man, in his twenties, a few years older than Julia, handed her the trophy. A glass plaque with golden scribbles of the year of the award and Julia's full name and the name of the award - TechBiz Youth Talent.
Julia thought that she might sound animated but she found herself jovial and enthusiastic. She wrote her speech to thank her team and her teachers for enabling her to do what she had been doing for the past three years. Few things she needed to skip about the history and vision of her company. The event organizers had already shown a reel as an introduction of Julia and her company before calling her on the stage. Julia had to improvise to maintain a flow in her speech and to reach a logical conclusion, “When I started the business, the goal was to make money and subsistence so that I can support myself and my dreams of what I do for a living, for a lifetime. I needed to sell something useful to businesses to make money. I never thought that my motivation for making money would land me an award from the seniors in the community of business of technology. I am feeling more motivated to bring in something more useful. I feel inspired being here, among you all. Thank you.”
The man who handed her the plaque was clapping when Julia finished her speech. Then almost ran to her and extended his hand to help her get down the stage. Julia did not notice the man. She lifted her designer evening gown a little and stepped with care balancing her stilettos on the three steps that goes down to the banquet floor from the stage. The man walked behind her, putting his awkward hand into one pocket.
Before Julia could reach her table, a few questions came on her way. The guide of the event managers who was walking in front of Julia, answered, “In a bit, when the floor would be open for interactions, Miss Ybarra would answer your questions. Please have patience.”
Julia grumbled, “Yikes! I’ve to stay for interaction.”
An old and bald man asked, “How do you manage without an office space?”
Julia did not hesitate before saying, “By saving money from the expenses of doing business.”
Another old and bald man by the other man’s side tried to know more, “I understand that you cut the cost for renting a real estate, yet you still have to meet people, sign contracts and negotiate business terms …”
Julia’s smile turned to a smirk, “I have my ways …”
The old men were disappointed. They could not coax the little woman to spill her business secrets, not even playing to her bragging nerves. They were searching for words. Julia suggested, “Why don’t you meet me sometime? I might have some solutions for you to make money from your commercial real estate investments.”
Both of them agreed one after another but they wanted to send their sons to talk to Julia. Julia agreed to both of them. The next person waiting to catch her attention said, “Your specialty is AI guided marketing tools. Aren’t they?”
Julia was annoyed, “What kind of question is this? Wasn’t this spelled out loud and clear in the reel for introducing Julia’s career and her business? Moron.”
Julia smiled and said, “Yes. That’s correct.”
The woman asked, “Does being a woman help you in the business of technology?”
Julia fought her facial muscles hard to keep her eyebrows creating frills and furrows, “What an obnoxious question! Anything I say in answer could be twisted to fuel any side of the argument …”
Julia raised left eyebrow and returned the taunt, “Aren’t you in the same business? Don’t you know how being a woman helps in this business?”
The woman blabbered, “Everyone has different experiences …”
Julia retorted, “That’s everyone. Everyone brings the advantages and disadvantages of being who they are, men, women, otherwise. If you want to know any of my specific experiences, then please rephrase your question.”
She swallowed the, “madam” at the end of the sentence.
The woman was in no mood to give up, “Seems you’ve quite a gift of the gab.”
Julia acknowledged, “Thanks for your kind words. That’s one of my advantages.”
The woman did not expect that a girl of twenty-three could turn her insults into a compliment without much effort. She quit her effort to stir up the sensation in the evening and moved on to her next target so that her business can hit the trend.
Julia swallowed the entire liquid in the flute in her hand. She wanted to douse the irritation running through her nerves, crawling through her skin. Immediate effect was a burning in her throat. She stepped out of the hall, to the open terrace by the hall, to get some fresh air.
Her head was abuzz, “Booze gives no biz, but gives buzz in the head.”
She reached a conviction, “I’ll fire this PR. They are all for these booz and buzz. They don’t bring any biz. All the biz have so far been bought by my company’s marketing team - Lindsey and Laura.”
She opened her clutch to get her phone and started drafting an email to record her thoughts about doing business. Her fingers seemed sticky and her vision was blurry. She never found that typing on a phone could be so daunting. A voice from her back came, “Tipsy?”
Julia turned her head and found the guy who handed her the trophy. She could not remember his name. She nodded and the booze in her blood made her neck move a little way too awry fashion. She felt awkward. Last thing she wanted to take away from this gathering was embarrassment. The voice threw the next question, “First time in this type of gathering?”
Julia was searching for an appropriate answer and the booze in her blood made her brain a lot slower than usual. Julia blabbered, “I’ve been a member of the consortium for the past three years. But I had to come here today because my PR recommended that I attend and they have arranged for the trophy so that I dare not skip the gathering.”
The voice chuckled, “So you think this’ is a waste of time?”
Julia nodded; her nods were a bit heavier than before. More the time went, the head on shoulder seemed heavier and more out of control. She blabbered, “Booze gives buzz in the head, never brings biz.”
To her own year her speech sounded slurry. The man with the voice kind of protested, “That’s because you gulped an entire flute in a go. If you would have taken little sips like the seasoned drinkers, you would not have made your head so buzzy. Don’t blame the booze. It’s you who can't control your booze.”
Julia was stunned. She kept looking at the man with wide eyes. He criticized Julia like he knew her all his life. The familiarity made Julia cautious, a little nervous. The voice of the man softened, “A splash of water and puking could have driven away the buzz in the head. Could have. No guarantee.”
He added, “Fresh air may help you, too. You made the right choice by stepping outside.”
Julia looked away from the man. The man called for her attention, “I guess you can’t remember my name. You heard too many names tonight and met too many new people, on and off stage.”
He was leaning on the railing of the terrace. He straightened his posture into a standing one, stretched his hand and declared, “I’m Roman Coppola. I run a company that has a few AI products and services that cater to institutional investors.”
Julia stretched her hand and felt a firm handshake, got the hint of a strong personality.
Roman felt Julia’s nails sinking deep on the skin of the back of his palm. He never met such an aggressive woman before, even in the business world. The black evening gown made of silk, the delicate collarbones, the round but thin arms with curved biceps, straight back and a big bun, not on the top of the head but just above the neck, ornamented with crystal hair accessories made Roman think of Julia that a keepsake out of her father’s glass cabinet making a debut in the business world relying on her father’s capital and connections. He noticed her even before she entered the hall.
When he saw the reel on Julia’s professional profile and her company, Roman’s idea of the keepsake was torn apart. He found a sharp tongued, crafty business person in disguise of a keepsake. He could not let Julia go out of his sight for the remaining part of the evening. His gazes followed Julia to the terrace. He could not help reign his desire to get closer to Julia and made her notice his own presence.
Julia uttered in a clear voice, “Thanks for sharing your details. I must confess that I could not remember your name though you handed me the trophy.”
Roman smiled, “I can understand. When three years ago they handed me the trophy, I could not remember the names of all the members who climbed on the stage. After leaving this party, I could remember just those people who lent me their business cards and showed interest in doing business with me. I still can’t remember the name of the guy who handed me the trophy. I’m fortunate that he did not show up yet and asked me the challenging question, ‘Remember me?’ ...”
Julia giggled. She felt annoyed. She never giggled this much fluid in her life before. She heard women giggle like this because some men made them giggle like that, on the bed or before luring the women to the bed. Roman stopped at the inappropriate giggle, too. He rescued the moment of awkwardness with, “You’re too tipsy, I guess.”
Julia quipped, “Look, who’s blaming the booz now!”
Roman took the reign back, “I’m very much influenced by your ‘lean and mean’ business model. The lease for my office space would be over in a year. I am thinking of adopting your model to cut the overhead - real estate, utilities and all. It’s so true that the people while sitting at the office were still spending money for another piece of real estate where they just go back to take a shower and to sleep. While they are using the real estate facility for ten hours at max, they are paying for twenty-four hours everyday. If we ask them to work from home, they would save on transportation cost, and time. They could use that time for shopping and cooking so that they get some healthy food. We can increase their allowance for paying utilities by a hundred dollars per month. I think most of the employees would agree.”
Julia was looking at the conical darkness forged by fir trees by the boundary of the hotel. After a long while she felt awakened by Roman’s analysis of her business model. She never gave these details to anyone, other than her investors. Roman somehow got the basic idea of her ‘lean and mean’ model. Her profit figures came from this model.
She couldn't help but share, “For the past three years, the initial years of the business, the model worked wonders for my company. My marketing team and sometimes myself - we used to hop onto client locations - on rented cars or by cab or even by subway. Now some of the clients want to see our facility. We don’t have any. Unless I gather them in a conference room for a meeting, they don’t find us sincere and they suspect us to be frauds.”
Roman was surprised that Julia was not wasted at all at that moment. She seemed to be thinking with full clarity. Roman responded, “Keep thinking. You’ll find a solution sooner or later.”
Julia smiled. She could see Roman’s chiseled face, wide shoulders, thin waist, long arms and legs and hints of a well built body inside the tuxedo. The blurriness in her eyes were gone. She felt grateful and did not hesitate to express gratitude, “Thanks, Mr. Coppola, for talking sense to me. Otherwise, I was wasted for the rest of the night.”
Roman appreciated Julia’s humility, “No mention, please.”
He added, “Mr. Coppola makes me feel like too old. Even my father is not Mr. Coppola yet. Please call me Roman.”
He digressed, “Your look confused me this evening. I thought your father sent you here to find a husband. Your parents sponsored this award for you to attract other fathers’ attention for their sons and plan for a great business marriage.”
Julia’s face broke into a few comical pieces as she said, “Did your father sponsor your award, three years ago so that you could find a wife and business alliances through marriage?”
Roman laughed out loud, “You would not believe me if I claim that’s not the case.”
Julia shrugged, “This award thing is quite complex. My father did not sponsor this award for me, but my PR did. I hired the PR. I worked hard to pay the PR farm. In a roundabout way I earned the award. Still the intervention of PR makes me question my own merit as a technology talent and makes me question my business acumen. Did I earn it?”
Roman giggled and agreed, “In a roundabout way, yes you earned it. No way one can say that you bought it.”
Julia wanted to know, “How did you get the award? A PR farm or a father?”
Roman laughed, “You’re kind of a shocker. In the reels, I noticed that you are sharp tongued. But I did not think that such a beautiful face could ever be so straightforward.”
Julia twisted the matter a notch harder, “The question still hangs in the air. You did not answer. How did you get the award?”
Roman retorted, “Tough woman.”
Julia belched out, “You're a hypocrite. You dare not say how you earned your award.”
Roman asked a different question, “May I see your pendant?”
Julia was a little taken aback, “Why?”
Roman laid out his condition, “Unless you hand over your pendant, your earrings and your crystal hair accessory to my hand so that I can check them for transistors - audio and video recorders and transmitters - I will not say anything about the award.”
Julia took no time handing over her ornaments, yet grumbled, “So suspicious! Haven’t I spoken my mind just now? Still doubting my integrity?”
Roman did not say a thing till he finished testing the ornaments. While handing those over to Julia he said, “You can put them on by yourself, in a lady’s room. Otherwise, I can help you put them on, in a lounge.”
Julia put all her ornaments in her clutch and said, “No need, the show is almost over.”
Roman quipped, “You look beautiful even without those accessories.”
Julia smirked, “Are you hitting on me?”
Roman argued, “You just agreed to meet sons of both old bald men. Did you snap at them for seeking a business alliance through marriage?”
Julia held her left ring finger before Roman’s eyes, “I thought they had noticed my ring.”
The chapters will be updated every day on -
Blog : https://projectionofnaught.blogspot.com/
On this Page : https://www.facebook.com/WrigglerSan%20hita2000s
Snippets on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/sanhitamukherjee3478/
~~~~
Each book costs less than ₹ 90/-
The whole series less than ₹ 800/- Here’s the series : https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0F6KTSMPY
