Vedika's POV
The next few days passed in interviews, shifting, and arrangements. And now I am standing in the flat Mihir arranged for me, getting ready for the first day at the office as Prisha Mehra, Management Executive at Zyvora Systems.
Now I am not Vedika Roy, a crime journalist.
I am Prisha Mehra, a simple girl who has come from Udaipur for her job in Zyvora Systems. Nothing more than that.
My parents believe that I am in Mumbai, but they don't know that I am still in Jaipur. It's the first time I have lied to them, and that too such a big lie. But it was necessary. I don't want them to be in danger because of me.
Everything had to be planned carefully. One mistake, and everything could fall apart.
I wore formal clothes like any corporate girl would, a white shirt and black pants and picked up my handbag. I looked at myself once in the mirror.
Prisha Mehra.
I'll have to become her completely.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Who could it be at this time, at 9 a.m.?
I walked to the door and opened it.
Mihir.
"Mihir? You're here? Why? You know I was leaving for the office today."
"Yes, I know. That's why I came to wish you all the very best for our 'Operation Moon.'"
I paused for a moment.
"Yes... Operation Moon."
"I kept the name of this mission 'Operation Moon' because... just like the moon looks so calm, so peaceful from a distance... Shreya is exactly like that."
"Whenever I used to talk to her, no matter how stressed I was, no matter how complicated things were... she had this way of making everything feel lighter. Like nothing was really that big of a problem."
"She never forced anything. Never made things dramatic. She just... stayed. And somehow, that was enough."
"So yeah... the moon reminds me of her. Calm, constant... and always there, even if you can't see it sometimes."
Mihir looked at me, his expression softer now.
"We'll find her," he said.
I nodded.
"We have to."
He stepped a little closer. "Just be careful, every time, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. You've said that so many times already."
"So what? I'll say it as many times as I want," he replied. "I'm really worried, Vedika. Don't take it lightly."
I looked at him and said calmly, "I'm not Vedika. I think you're mistaken. I am Prisha Mehra now. You'll have to get used to it."
Then I added, firm but steady, "And don't worry. Everything will go as we've planned. I know what I'm doing."
"I hope so," he said.
"Okay, now I'm getting late. How will it look if I'm late on my first day?"
He nodded slightly. "Yeah... go."
I picked up my bag properly and moved towards the door.
As I stepped out, I paused for a second.
This wasn't just a job.
This was the beginning.
And I was walking straight into something I didn't fully understand yet.
But one thing was clear...
I was not coming back without the truth.
...............
Author's POV
Suryansh Oberoi was running exactly on schedule.
He reached the Zyvora Systems parking area at 9:48, parked in his usual spot and turned off the engine. Stepping out, he straightened his jacket and checked his watch in one smooth motion.
Just a couple of seconds later, his phone rang.
He picked it up and started walking towards the office, already focused on the call. It was important, and his attention stayed completely on it.
The parking lot was just something he had to cross.
Which is why he did not notice the car.
The sudden screech of brakes cut through his call.
He froze for a second.
And then he turned around.
...............................................
Vedika reached Zyvora Systems and checked her watch.
9:50 am.
On time Vedika. Umm no, not Vedika..... On time Prisha.
She took a breath and smiled to herself. First day as Prisha Mehra. Great start.
The security guard pointed towards the parking area, and she drove inside, looking around carefully for an empty spot as her eyes moved from one row to another.
A minute passed, then another, and still there was no empty space, cars were everywhere, parked so closely that it almost felt impossible to find even a small gap.
"Oh God, why is there no empty spot," she muttered under her breath while looking left and right, slightly leaning forward as if that would help her see better.
Then after a few seconds, at some distance near the corner, she finally noticed one empty spot.
A small sense of relief came to her, and without wasting time, she slowly started driving towards it, keeping her speed low as that side of the parking area was unusually quiet and there was no one around.
She kept moving ahead, her focus on the empty spot, thinking that finally she would be able to park and get done with this.
And then suddenly, a man came right in front of the car.
He was tall, wearing a black suit, his back completely turned towards her, with his phone pressed to his ear as he kept talking, completely unaware of where he was walking, as if nothing around him even mattered.
For a second, her mind did not process what she was seeing, because just a moment ago there was no one there and now suddenly someone was standing right in front of her car.
Then the realization hit her.
There is someone there.
Right in front of her.
Her foot pressed the brake immediately, almost instinctively, without even giving her time to think anything else, and the car stopped with a loud screech as the tyres dragged against the ground.
The sudden force made her body jerk forward towards the steering wheel and then snap back, her grip tightening on it as her breath got stuck in her throat for a moment.
For a second, everything felt completely still, almost too still after that sharp sound, as she just sat there, staring at his back through the windshield, trying to register how close the car had actually stopped.
The distance between them was so little that even thinking about it made her chest tighten slightly.
"Aaj toh baal baal bach gayi..." she whispered under her breath, still processing how close that moment had been.
(I narrowly escaped today. )
The man had also frozen at the sound of the screech, but almost immediately, he turned around, lowering his phone from his ear as he did, his eyes first going to the car in front of him as if realizing how close it had come, the suddenness of the moment clearly catching him off guard, and then his gaze shifted to the person sitting inside, where he paused for a second, still trying to process what had just happened, and as she saw his face clearly, she recognised him, while at the same time, something in his expression changed slightly, like he was slowly starting to recognise her too.
(Suryansh's Outfit)
For a brief second, that change in his expression stayed, like he was just confirming it in his mind, and then it settled completely, and from the way he was looking at her, it was clear that he had recognised her.
Of course.
Him.
Of all the people, it had to be him again.
For a second, she just stared at him, like her brain was still catching up with what had just happened, and then without really thinking it through, she pushed the car door open and stepped out.
"What is your problem?" she said, her voice coming out sharper than she intended, but at that moment she did not care enough to hold it back.
"This is a parking area, not a park where you are roaming around without looking?"
For a second, he just looked at her at those words, like that was not what he had expected, before his expression settled again.
"I am not wandering around," he said, his tone calm but not soft, "I know very well this is a parking area. Maybe you did not, that is why you were driving so rashly. Miss, people usually look where they are going."
"Rash driving?" she repeated, almost in disbelief, taking a step closer. "I was barely moving, and you came right in front without even looking once."
"Oh really?" he said, a slight edge coming into his tone now. "I think you have a habit of not looking. First at the café, and now here."
"I bumped into you?" she said, her irritation rising again. "You walked into me."
"You were coming in without looking."
"I had barely stepped in."
"And I had barely stepped out, so we are even."
"We are not even," she said firmly. "You almost came under my car because of your own carelessness."
"My carelessness," he repeated, like the word itself did not sit right with him.
"Yes, your carelessness," she said, her voice sharper now. "Your phone, your back turned, and no awareness of anything around you."
"Interesting," he said, looking at her. "Coming from someone who almost hit a person in a parking lot."
"Almost, because I have good reflexes. You should be thanking me."
"Thanking you?" he said, and for a moment there was a slight shift in his expression. "You should apologise instead."
"Apologise? To you?" she let out a short laugh. "In your dreams. I do not apologise for something I have not done."
"I do not thank people for trying to hit me either."
"Trying to hit you? Do you even hear yourself right now?"
"I hear myself perfectly."
"You were standing in the lane on a phone call with your back turned, and somehow I am the one at fault?"
"I am just stating what happened."
"What happened is that you were not looking and I stopped the car in time, and now you are acting like I owe you something."
"I never said you owe me anything."
"You basically did."
"I said I do not thank people for nearly running me over. That is not the same thing."
"It is the same thing."
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
He just looked at her, and there was something in his expression that was not exactly calm, but not completely irritated either, like this situation had turned into something he had not expected.
"Are you always like this?" he asked.
"Are you always like this?" she replied immediately.
A brief silence passed between them, neither of them willing to step back.
Then his phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen, and then at her again.
"This conversation is not over."
"It never even started properly the first time," she said.
He held her gaze for a moment longer, and then lifted the phone back to his ear as he turned away.
"We will agree to disagree."
"We will not agree to disagree, because I am right and you are...."
But he had already started walking away, his attention back on the call.
She stood there for a second, staring at his back.
"Unbelievable," she muttered. "Absolutely unbelievable."
"Mr. Careless."
Then her eyes went to her watch.
9:58.
"Oh God, how much time got wasted because of him," she said under her breath.
She got back into the car, parked it properly, picked up her bag, and stepped out again, closing the door behind her as she walked towards the building.
That man was not getting one more second of her morning.
.......
Was he really not going to get her more time? What do you think will happen next? 👀
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