Two Different Worlds

Part 1: Inbox (Un)Expected

Shifa blinked once. "Oh."

Ishani's eyes narrowed. "Wait, A.S.? Like...?"

Srushti tried to wave it off. "Could be anyone. Anshi Singh? Aditya Sinha? Akshay Sawant?"

"Or," Ishani said slowly, leaning forward like a gossip vulture, "Abhay. Sharma."

Silence.

Srushti coughed, defensive. "Okay, stop. Abhay Sharma is not emailing me for management. He probably has, like, a team of twenty."

Shifa's eyebrows arched. "You sure? He's lowkey compared to other cricketers. Remember that piece? 'The Anti-Celebrity Star'?"

"I do," Ishani said. "And I also remember someone"-she looked directly at Srushti-"reading it out loud and highlighting lines in her Notes app."

Srushti turned red. "It was good journalism!"

"Oh my god," Shifa grinned. "You're shaking."

"I'm not!"

"You are!" Ishani shrieked, grabbing her hand.

Srushti yanked it back and shoved her face into the couch cushion. "Okay fine. I may have had a tiny crush. Like, two years ago. It's not even relevant anymore."

"Define tiny," Shifa said.

"Define relevant," Ishani added.

"Guys," she groaned into the cushion. "This could be anyone. Let's not get excited for no reason."

"I'm excited," Ishani said, already unlocking her phone. "BrightHalo's website. Lemme stalk their client list."

"Wait, I'll check LinkedIn," Shifa offered, already typing. "Who even runs their talent vertical?"

Five minutes later, the room was a storm of furious scrolling, taps, and occasional squeals.

Srushti stared at her email again. The words were still there.

A.S.

What if-

"GUYS," Ishani suddenly yelled. "I FOUND SOMETHING."

"What?" Srushti snapped up.

She turned her phone around. It was a now-deleted tweet, but screen-grabbed by some fan account. A PR manager had casually mentioned, "BrightHalo is currently handling short-term strategy for AS" after the Asia Cup.

Shifa cross-checked the tweet with an article confirming Abhishek had not renewed his previous agency deal.

"Oh my god," Shifa whispered. "Srush. It's him."

Srushti stared at them. "I'm not breathing."

"Well, don't die yet," Ishani said. "You still have to draft a response."

............................................................

"Nope. Nahi. Tum log zyada soch rahe ho," (No. You guys are overthinking) Srushti said, slamming her laptop shut like that could erase reality.

"Tu zyada soch rahi hai," (You are overthinking), Shifa replied, not even looking up from her screen. "The way your hands are twitching? That's your fight or flirt response kicking in."

"I have neither!" Srushti cried. "Also, shut up."

Ishani had stopped googling and was now smirking like she'd just won a psychological game. "Let's rewind to last year, hmm? When suddenly you were obsessed with IPL. You said it was for 'background noise' during coding."