Viren and Rajan were busy talking about something when Daivik walked into their usual haunt- De Café. It was a small café that focused on artisanal coffee and the food was out of the world. Rajan was having his usual Americano and Viren was onto his second cup of filter coffee. Seeing Daivik walking in Viren ordered his brother's favorite- cheesy Garlic bread. Daivik ordered his usual salted Caramel Coffee. Seeing his grumbling face, they both asked what happened.
Daivik: What else? I ran into her again! Maybe I need the Jhaad Phoonk Rajan advised me to get done!
Viren: Her?
Rajan: Should be Shubhi. Clue 1: Dev is upset and Clue 2: he is ready for jhaad phoonk to fix it.
Viren started to move the tissue paper over Daivik's head and Rajan started to blow air at him. Jhaad in Hindi means to shake something out and phoonk is blowing air, while the term means getting exorcism done by a professional, Rajan and Viren decided to mock the terms to have some fun at Daivik's expense.
Daivik: (irritated) What are you two doing?
Viren: I am doing jhaad (shaking bad spirits) and Rajan is doing phoonk (blowing bad spirits) away.
Rajan: (with the most innocent face) We are doing the best with the equipment and capability we have.
Daivik snatches the tissue paper from Viren's hand and warns Rajan to stop.
Daivik: Stop both of you! This is not helping at all!
Viren: Then you would need the professional services of Bengali Baba. Rajan, can you arrange that?
Rajan: Anything for Daivik's love life. He has gone too grumpy on his own.
Daivik: Both of you, TIME OUT! This is serious!
Viren: Interesting, what do you want to do (eyeing his brother closely)?
Daivik: I do not know! (angry and upset)
Rajan: (laughs and says) Sherlock, maybe it is a sign, Clue 1: you run into her. Clue 2: you run away from her and even then, run into her!
While Rajan was smiling, Viren was laughing heartily.
Daivik: (pointing to Rajan) Watson you have gone crazy! And you have infected my brother as well! Have you spiked his coffee??
Rajan: I thought you wanted to see your brother happy! I am happy to spike his coffee if needed! (a smug smile on his face)
Viren: Spike my coffee...what are you two planning? (he decided to play along)
Rajan: See, a fun and happy Viren bhai is all we want. F.or another kind of plan, we would need some sensible female to oblige us.
Viren: Sensible and female...generally doesn't happen...
Daivik: Then let's find a nonsensical one for you...
Viren: Thanks bro but no thanks. Let's focus on your accomplishment for today (sarcastic smile)
Daivik: You can be jovial, but not at my expense! Right now, I am not sure whether to be angry that you are making fun of my miserable love life or be happy to see my otherwise too-sensible brother laughing!
Viren: Okay time out! Where did you meet her?
Rajan: This time...... (still smiling)
Viren: What do you mean this time?
Rajan: They were married at a point in time, so they met earlier as well..... (winking at Viren)
Viren is laughing uncontrollably, and Daivik looks as if he could murder Rajan.
Rajan: So, we should be clear where they met this time...
Daivik: I did not meet her! (in a clipped voice)
Rajan: Sherlock aren't you confused, you just said you ran into her!
Daivik glared at Rajan and Viren tried to hide his laughter. The waiter came and served the next round of coffee. This time there were biscotti on the side as well.
Viren: So, let's hear it from Dev... tell us what happened.
Daivik: She is the CA for the boutique.
Rajan: How did you figure that out?
Daivik: There were delays in the accounting and I told Uncle that I wanted to talk to the accountant. And he made the call and handed the phone to me. It took me 3 minutes to know for sure that it was her.
Viren: Ohh! And what did she say?
Daivik: That she does not want any consideration for being a single mother!
Rajan: Ouch that would have hurt!
Daivik: My problem is how come they made her their main accountant?
Viren: From what I know, she cleared the CA exams on her first attempt and was one of the youngest CAs in the country. She even got a gold medal from the University as well. So, she is quite bright. That is what grandfather told me about her at the time of your marriage.
Daivik: That sounds true, but isn't she a scamster?
Viren: What do you mean?
Daivik: Did she not siphon away 5 crores from our business?
Viren: Are you sure of that? What is the proof?
Daivik: It is there somewhere in my emails... I will have to dig it out...
Viren: You are believing an email?
Rajan: Sherlock you are not investigating properly.
Daivik: There was a report from the accounts department, let me find it...
Viren advised him to remember that this was not solely a business transaction, and he should remember that the elderly couple were family friends. While they wanted to close the formalities in the next month, as cleanly as possible, he was not supposed to apply the usual business tactics.
Daivik turned to Viren and told him that it did not make sense that someone who fleeced them and cheated on them had the guts to be so self-righteous. Also, why is she handling accounts for the company they are planning to acquire,
Viren: Everything checks out, their lawyers and auditors have gone through the reports and records.
Daivik: believes that once a cheater, always a cheater.
Viren is not sure it was this Shubhi who did the scam. He remembers the accountant mentioning a similar name but not Shubhi.
The next morning, Daivik goes to the office and connects with Mr. Mishra's team to get the 6-year-old report to confirm what he had read. He comes to know that there was an error in the report, and he is sent both versions- one with Shubhi's name and the corrected one with Shubhechha as the culprit. It throws him in a bit of thought that she had not swindled him and his family. He had thought that she had swindled crores! The image of her as a certified gold digger was crumbling by the day.
Daivik: She was not the one who did the scam.
Viren: Well, I can now say that I told you so.
Daivik: But why are you so sure?
Viren: I have not seen her as very money-minded...I have known her for more than a year now
Daivik: but why would that come in your social interaction?
Viren: Even if I do not know her, she knows who I am... she has never asked for anything.
Daivik: Nothing related to money.
Viren: No and she is even teaching Dyuti well to respect people and the right values. Why else do you think I like Veni to play with her?
Daivik: It seems I made a mistake...
Viren: But what I also want to know is, who sent you the wrong report? That too from our accounts department
Daivik: Maybe they made a mistake as well?
As the night fell, Daivik's guilt only rose higher. He found it tough to believe that he had misjudged someone so badly. His business acumen and ability to know and understand people was famous. He was not sure how he made such a mistake six years back. Maybe Viren bhaiya was right, he was too young back then. Also the saving grace was that he just needed to be nice, thankfully he had not openly accused her of anything- as in being a financial fraud! So, all he needed to cover for was his unintended rudeness of questioning her professional aptitude. Once this entire boutique acquisition was complete, there would be no more reason to meet Shubhi....They were looking for matches for her, that what the aunt said....it made him feel weird...
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Authors Note: 🌟 Huge thanks for all the love and support! Your votes and encouragement mean the world. Excited to keep the story going! 🚀