Siddharth

I was barely holding on to my life. While her eyes shot lasers at me, I gulped the rest of my confidence. 

We were sitting in the desolate park next to the market where mothers sit, waiting for the children to come back from tuition. Until this moment, I was actually being proud of my big brain and its quick idea of getting Abhiraj to act like me. But everything disappeared the moment I told her the whole deal. 

She laughed and it looked like she was struggling to accept the reality. "So, you are the son of the CEO of Star Group..." She broke into fits of laughter once again before continuing, "You told Abhiraj so that he can act like he is Siddharth Ahuja as you had no idea that the market I was talking about was Pegasus Plaza. Right?" 

I nodded as she laughed crazily. 

"Are you sure she is okay? She looks like she needs a doctor right now." Abhiraj whispered but it didn't go unheard by Payal.

"Shut up. Right now, it seems like you both should see a doctor." Payal spat out the words, clearly not in the mood for sweet talk. "Have you completely lost it? Tell me how did you not know I was talking about Pegasus Plaza all this time?" 

Her big round eyes looked at mine with utter disbelief. I didn't have any idea how to convince her that I never gave it a thought that day. "I seriously didn't know. You never told me." 

"You never asked. And how many markets do you think have such a ridiculous job requirement?" On that question, I had nothing more to argue about.

Pegasus Plaza is the only wonder of the world to have that rule stamped on paper. I sighed.

"Why did you even involve him?" She pointed to Abhiraj who was spacing out and just like his usual self, he jumped on the mention of his name. "You could have just given him some excuse for your absence." 

"And what do you think my father will do? He will throw me out of the house. You don't know him. He is like the devil with invisible horns." The dreadful thought flashed through my mind as I could imagine him roasting me like a chicken fry. 

As if on cue, a song played loudly, taking my attention. "You are my chicken fry, you are my fish fry." I looked to my side to see Abhiraj sitting straight before realising that his phone was ringing.

He muttered a curse before turning it off. He turned to see our stunned expression and chuckled awkwardly. "That must be my cousin. That little jerk." 

I sighed and shook my head. "What do you plan to do next?" Payal asked like a tired human, done with the deals of her life. 

I could feel her somehow. As if my life was not enough drama, they had to put this ridiculous movie-like plot in my life.

"I have no plans." I chugged down the water from the bottle kept next to me. 

She chuckled. "What the hell is this situation? It feels like someone made a comedy out of our miserable lives." She shut her eyes close and took a deep breath. "Let's not do this." 

"What?" Both of us shouted at her sudden declaration.

"Let's just... drop this idea, like completely. I will not take the job, Siddharth will go back to the market as the CEO's son while Abhiraj will be back to his job. That will be better for all." As she thought a little more, she spoke again. "Just tell them that they misunderstood or something." 

"What are you talking about? How are we supposed to stop now after coming this far?" I didn't know what I felt any longer. Of course, I wanted to stay with her a little more and this plan was perfectly fitting but now that she planned to end it here, I don't know if I should be happy that the problems end here or sad that maybe, I will never get another chance to be with her.

She looked at me. "Why are you calling for trouble? We don't know how long we have to keep up this act. If we get caught later, we will be doomed." 

"I agree with Payal." Abhiraj broke through my thoughts as he stood up. "That way it will be good. I was planning what will happen if I quit my job but now I think I don't have to do that." 

Payal picked up her purse and stood up, checking her saree. "Siddharth, I am sorry for wasting your time. Looks like we don't need to do this anymore. I am sorry again." She bowed slightly. 

As if the cat caught my tongue, I stood still for seconds before awkwardly replying, "Ah... don't worry. It's... okay." 

She gave a half-smile.  "Thank you for helping me." She looked at Abhiraj and then turned to me. "Please come to our house sometime. We can have some friends gathering." 

"Yes, sure!" He was more than happy to think about a gathering.

My feet were frozen, stuck to the ground as I stood motionless more like a lifeless pole. As she was about to leave, Abhiraj pushed me forward. It was so sudden that before I could even realise it, I was standing right behind her when she turned in surprise.

She raised a questioning look when I abruptly said, "T...take care." 

She chuckled and nodded. "You too. Since we met like this again, let's keep in contact."

I wasn't exactly shocked, I was rather flustered. "Yes, sure." Maybe, it was fate that we met again.

Though it seemed that I wouldn't be able to come out of the "friend-zone" spot, it felt like it wasn't the end. 

★★★

Payal

My mind was all messed up. How could things turn out like this? 

I was depressed for all I can think about my mood right now. Of course, I knew he was rich, like too rich but why of all families, did he have to be the son of Mr Ahuja? 

"I am done with my life." I knew what I looked like right now. Just like those many depressed and frustrated employees working their asses off the whole day just to get their medals snatched away.

In my case, it was my luck that was snatched away.

I stepped into the elevator, sighing heavily. Somehow, it felt like a relief. Was it because of all those lies? I started to feel better about thinking that we both don't have to pretend or lie about anything anymore.

As I walked towards the door, I noticed a couple of cartons lying in a corner. Confused, I kicked my leg on one to hear jingling sounds out of it. I opened it to see old utensils and some broken stuff.

On ringing the doorbell, Anvita Di opened the door. "What are all these things?" I asked immediately.

As if caught off-guard, she stuttered, "Ah... those things... Just getting rid of old stuff..." Her voice trailed. Somehow, it didn't sound all genuine. "Come inside and tell me about your interview first. We can talk about other things later." She swiftly changed the topic.

I got in and slumped on the sofa. "I guess, I will not do it." 

"What? Why?" I heard a shocked voice behind me, only to see my brother-in-law walking out of his room. His face turned pale all of a sudden and when I turned to Anvita Di, I saw her face sullen as if she was thinking too hard.

"What happened? What is it? Tell me." They looked at each other before looking away.

"Payal, we are moving out. I know we should have told you beforehand but things escalated really fast. I have to go back to Kolkata. My parents wanted me to stay close to them and that's why I also applied for a transfer to the Kolkata branch and it got sanctioned." 

As I listened to them, my whole body refused to react. They further told me how it was all planned beforehand and that they couldn't tell me because I already lost my job and was desperately searching for a job. 

They thought once I got the job, it wouldn't be a problem to inform me about it but time passed so fast that the moving dates came earlier than they thought. 

"So, what about this house?" My heart was shaking at this point. I needed to find some way to survive here. I can't practically leave everything and go to Kolkata. I always wanted a career in Mumbai, the reason why I left my hometown.

Anvita's eyes shook as she spoke, "Our house lease will be coming to an end in the next three weeks." 

It will be impossible to find another job in three weeks. How am I supposed to survive?

"Don't worry at all. I looked for an apartment for rent. You should just focus on your job-searching mission. But what happened with Pegasus Plaza?"

Both of them stared with their round eyes, waiting for answers. I ended up telling them the whole story, the story of my chaotic life.

"Wow, what a twist!" They were in awe.

"You should go and change now." Anvita Di got up to the kitchen as I walked inside my room. After washing up, I straight jumped onto the bed.

While thinking and rethinking, I gave serious thought to if I should go ahead with the job in Pegasus Plaza. I opened the website on my phone to check about employee benefits for a second time. 

It was all too good to be true. A permanent job with no extra hours, decent pay for the newbies and lodging facilities are also available in a few cases. What if I just got this job? It would have been great.

I was happy and kind of regretting at the same time. Just then, I got a message from Siddharth. 

Are you sure about giving up this job? Maybe, you can think and decide.

As I rolled across the bed, the last thought caught my brain. I messaged him back.

Will you help me if I think about giving it another shot?

I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do. Soon, I received an answer.

I am ready.

With a bright grin on my face, I sat up when I heard my sister's voice coming from outside. "Dinner is ready!"

Jumping off the bed, I walk towards the dining area, when my phone chimes with an email notification which makes me sleepless all night.

Congratulations on passing the candidate interview! 

~•~

Finally, another chapter after a long time!

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