Three crores. Mishti is short of three crores, and she doesn’t know where to arrange them from. 

Earlier today she had formed a plan, a plan that would bring change for good in Samrat’s life as well as hers because she is unable to take it anymore.

The first that Samrat had discovered what had happened, he had taken it well than anyone ever could. Apart from that look of sorrowful disbelief, there had been nothing more to his reaction.

But it had affected what he demanded of Mishti in his meals, or what he didn’t demand at all – no fancy Italian or French delicacies that Mishti had a hard time even reading the name of, neither had he commented on the food, neither bad nor good. 

She couldn’t take his silent moping anymore, couldn’t bear his sullen face, not when the said man hadn’t once looked at her with doubt in his eyes even though his valet had, very rightfully insisted that the culprit behind this fiasco must be her.

“No, Vivek, you can’t just say that. She has been nothing but of help to me, just because she is new doesn’t mean that we can put all the blame on her. She probably isn’t even aware of what is happening in the house. Also, I’ve already once doubted her regarding the watch incident, I can’t even think of suspecting her or humiliating her like that again.”

It had hurt Mishti, realizing that the man, somewhere, somehow trusted her lying and distrustful self, it had hurt a lot, enough to speed up with the plan to somehow fix everything without putting her or her brother’s and friends’ lives in jeopardy.

She had thought of one.

The loss was of four crores. She had a fixed deposit of one crore in her name that her brother had invested in. Mishti could use that, and even though she’ll probably not have the regular interest coming her way, it’ll help Samrat and currently, she wants only that.

Though she still had no idea where to arrange the rest of the three crores from.

Prior to this, the agency hadn’t ever given them a task this huge. Yes, they had conned people, had robbed houses but the amount had been small; the agency always wanted to keep itself lowkey to avoid the attention from the authorities. The maximum that they had gone for was 50 lakhs then why now? Didn’t the agency think before formulating this task? Didn’t it think of the repercussions of robbing a man with a net worth more than seven hundred crores? Not to mention, it was the first time the agency had formed a plan without telling her brother or consulting their team.

And even though Mishti has a hunch that something isn’t very right, she has no time to ponder upon it. Currently, she wanted those three crores of rupees, and so she calls the only person that can help her.

“Hello, Aisha?”

*

“Aisha, wait!”

“No, Mishti. I am not going to wait!”

“But you said we’ll share it.”

“I did but I will not because you also didn’t share your chocolates with me. It was your birthday. Hmph!”

“Sorry, Aisha. Sanjay sir took them away from me. And then I only had one left. I gave it to my bhai.”

Mishti confesses with a pout, her voice coming out breathless from running behind her friend. Thankfully though, the girl stops, turning around to face her.

There is a confused frown on her face.

“Oh,” Aisha exclaims, her gaze softening. “Does that mean you tried to save some for me?”

Mishti nods furiously, extending her hand in which she holds her new pencil case that her brother had bought for her.

“Yes, but because I couldn’t we can share this. My bhai bought it for me.”

Nine-year-old Aisha looks at her friend and then at the case that has cartoon imprinted on it. She hasn’t ever seen a case like this before.

She sighs though. “No, Mishti. I can’t share this. Your brother will scold me.”

“That’s silly. Bhai will say nothing to you. You are my best friend.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Mishti grins and they both cover the rest of the distance while holding each other’s hands, giggling.

Mishti doesn’t remember much about their childhood days, just that they had made up that day and the day after and the day following it.

Aisha is the only friend that she has had from the orphanage, of course apart from her group. 

Aisha is a computer programmer and a hacker and had lost her contact with the orphanage early on, soon enough to not get trapped with the agency. Now she is a girl who doesn’t do anything remotely close to what Mishti does i.e., illegally acquiring money by robbing people or something equally unethical, but she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty once in a while, especially if it’s for Mishti’s sake. That’s what staying amongst budding criminals do to you, one of them being your best friend but Mishti is not complaining. 

“Hello, Aisha?”

“Oh my God, it’s you, my Mishti Doi!”

Mishti can’t help but let out a small laugh hearing her friend’s excited voice, and of course the pet name.

“Hey, how have you been?” 

“I’m good but oh my God, you called me! This is the first time in years that you’ve done.”

Mishti rolls her eyes at the overdramatic comment, a fond smile still on her face fully expecting those words.

“This is mere exaggeration and even you know that. We talked last month but, yeah then this mission began, and I couldn’t catch up after that.” Mishti admits, sighing.

“Right, the mission. How is it going? I bet the agency’s sucking out your blood, those bastards!”

“I can’t deny that. And you know what’s even weirder? This time they are giving me the kinds of tasks that would bring all the doubt on me. First, they told me to carry out a very obvious robbery of which I became the first suspect and then ordered me to do a transaction of four crore rupees in their account, the ones with which Samrat was supposed to buy Singhania’s shares. It’s the highest number we’ve ever went for, and it’s not just done.” Mishti complains, stomping her fist against her pillow from where she is sitting on the bed.

“You work for a weird-ass agency, sweetie, you should be used to this but this Samrat…say, did he suspect on you again?” 

The question makes Mishti’s frown vanish from her face, a small, involuntary small crawling up her lips. And before she can even utter a word, the girl opposite the call shrieks out. 

“Oh, God! Is this real? Are you seriously blushing right now? The girl who hasn’t ever even had a mere crush on anyone till now is blushing!” Aisha asks, a teasing tinge to her voice, the words collectively making her jaw drop.

“Hey! That’s not true.” Mishti mumbles in her mouth and her friend calms down but only to laugh loudly thereafter.

“Yeah, yeah my bad. That’s not true. You did have a crush on that guy back then, four years ago?” Mishti’s eyes widen at the words, blood rushing to her cheeks as she shakes her head. 

“Wha- no! what are you even saying, why would I – I didn’t have any kind of crush on anyone alright? I – I just felt bad for him.” Mishti mumbles, plucking out the thread from the poor pillow.

Aisha scoffs. “Oh please! There is a big difference between liking someone and feeling pity for them. You don’t keep on feeling pity for four long years especially in a life-like yours that is full of illegal adventures. If that man has still somehow been able to create a place for himself at the back of your mind, you sure as hell just don’t feel bad for him!” Aisha exclaims with a tone that says she wants no argument. 

Mishti doesn’t argue.

“But back to my question, did this Samrat suspect you again?”

Mishti shakes her head. “No, he didn’t. He…even told his valet to not think bad of me even though that is exactly what I deserve.”

“Oh, will you stop sulking for a minute and let me absorb the info. He didn’t doubt you again even if you are so new to the job. Does he like you, or better, do you like him? It’s ok to move on to someone new, and all the more when you don’t know when you will encounter your crush of four years ago.” Aisha suggests, overriding Mishti’s all expectations regarding where she can go to in her head. 

Mishti rolls her eyes. “I bet you’d never do that if you’ll ever find yourself in a situation like this. Also…… Samratandthatguyarethesamepeople!”

“What? I couldn’t hear you after that boring statement you gave. Come again?” 

It takes Mishti a few courageous seconds to gather her thoughts and reveal the information that “Samrat and that guy from four years ago are the same people.”

One.

Two.

Three.

It takes three seconds for her friend to scream, probably disturbing the whole neighbourhood.

“What? Did I hear right? They are the same? Same? Mishti!!” Aisha remarks with a scandalous gasp, voice so loud that Mishti has to pull away the phone from her ears, albeit finding the situation mildly humorous.

“This has to be the plot twist of the century! The only two people that you ever liked in twenty-two years of life are the same?”

“I don’t like –”

“And you are still wasting this chance like this? You absolute fool!”

“Aisha….” Mishti whines bashfully.

“Don’t Aisha me. You had eaten my ears off talking about that guy, how genuine he seemed, how you wished that you could’ve stayed with him some more and how you wished that he doesn’t shave his face because that scruff looked good on him. Scruff, Mishti! And now you’re doing everything you can to bring back the money that you robbed from him, risking your safety as well as your team’s just because you don’t want him hurt like that again because you don’t want to see tears in his eyes again……Don’t you realize, Mishti? You like him! I might go ahead and even say that you might lov-- ”

The implication has Mishti’s breath hitching in her throat, and eyes widening. She interrupts before the girl can complete the sentence. “Aisha!”

Though Mishti doesn't know what to say next. How to refute the statement, if she even wants to refute the statement. The words still ringing in her ears.

“Y-you --”

“Ha! See, my little Mishti is all dumbfounded. So cute!” the girl laughs, and it is only then that Mishti can answer her back, her face burning. “Shut up, Aisha! Y-You say anything and everything. It’s n-nothing like that. And, anyway, he is a divorced man, my employer on top of that. I – I can’t even imagine –”

“Why can’t you, Mishti? What’s wrong with imagining anything about you and him together. And what is this nonsense about him being your employer? You realize that you’re not actually his employee and are only disguising as one, yeah?”

“Yes, but –”

“And even if you were, it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you like him, or he likes you. Haven’t you heard, everything’s fair in love and war.”

“Aisha!”

“And there is nothing wrong in him being a divorcee –”

“I know that I didn’t mean it like –”

“Oh, my dear friend I know, you like him too much to think bad about him in any way but what I was saying –”

“Ok. Aisha. Stop. This is a fruitless discussion, one that we don’t have any time for. Currently, I have to help the man you’re implying that I have feelings for. I have to arrange those three crores from somewhere!” Mishti frets, biting her nails but Aisha doesn’t seem to be in a similar state, not with how she’s clicking her tongue. 

“So desperate to help him and the girl says this discussion is fruitless. I bet you’ve never felt this way for any of the targets before.”

It’s not a question, but a statement, one that Mishti’s unable to force out any words against.

“But fine, let’s keep this for some other day because now it’s time to share with you my very easy and direct plan.”

And the way the girl lets out that evil laugh at the end of the statement makes Mishti question her sanity. What was she even thinking before calling this little schemer? Though she can’t back away, she’ll probably agree to anything her friend will say anyway.

“I’ll hack agency’s account, and wire three crores back to Samrat.” 

Or maybe not. 

“No, Aisha. Absolutely not. Do you even have any idea how dangerous this will be? What if they check the accounts and catch the discrepancy?”

The girl lets out another wicked laugh.

“That’s the thing, my love, they won’t see through any of it. What do you think? You are the only gang that is doing all this? They have these small gangs made all over India and some international troops as well. The agency collectively gets this small amount of three to five crores every day. And sure, they might have an accountant sitting on a computer, but they don’t have me. I’ll be leaving absolutely no trace in their system while I’ll hack their database.”

“Wow, is that – is that possible? Because if it’s the case then you have no idea how grateful I am to you.” 

Aisha laughs. “Oh, I know it mighty well, this gratefulness of yours and the person behind it. So, you don’t worry about this and go think about getting your man.”

“Aisha! You –”

“Goodbye, Mishti Doi!”