The Other Side

by Shreya Faria

  ‘So, Sahil knows about me?’ asked Kavya.

  ‘Well, today morning he retrieved he zeroed in that the number from Rachel’s call list was yours. I will call him tomorrow and confirm, he is really going to be amused,’ said Harvey.

  ‘So how are your other cases regarding Ashton Martinson going?’ asked Kavya.

  ‘Too bad, you probably know that the blackmailers have leaked so much of data, that the damage is done. Money was not their main agenda, teaching a lesson to those who were cheating on their partners was the real reason for the hack. I was not able to do much, and my boss is mad at me and so are other clients,’ said Harvey.

  ‘Oh, that’s hilarious but bad for you,’ said Kavya.

  ‘Oh well, I can understand the state of the folks who came to know their partners were cheating ... so well Sam, where are you lost?’ asked Rachel.

  ‘Nothing Rach, just absorbing your discussion,’ said Sam.

  ‘Oh, please come on; shoot, what it is?’ asked Rachel.

  ‘Okay, fine if you insist ...tell me what would you have done if you found out I was not innocent, and if I had some fun time with Ashton Martinson?’ asked Sam.

  Everybody stopped their munching and became still, Harvey and Kavya looked at Rachel and Sam. Rachel was all poker face, she had not given a thought about it and was not expecting something like this would come from Sam. When she was angry earlier she did want to leave Sam after teaching him a lesson, but also she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it and the whole process of teaching him a lesson had confirmed it. She wouldn’t have left him and could have lived without him even after all that. Now, she didn’t want to hurt Sam by telling that at first, she had thought of leaving him. She had told this to Kavya as well. She looked at Kavya, and Kavya was looking back at her. Looking at Rachel’s face, Kavya knew that she was in a soup as to what to answer; to be honest, enough to start things afresh, a little lies here and there are okay for something good to start. It was taking time for Rachel to make her mind.

  ‘So Rach, can I assume your silence as the option of leaving me?’ asked Sam.

  ‘No, Sam you cannot,’ said Kavya.

  ‘Sam, at the beginning I was mad at you for sure enough to leave you, but in this whole process of teaching you a lesson, I had realized I can never live without you,’ answered Rachel after stopping Kavya who was going to say something in her aid.

  ‘Okay, come now, I will make you more mad,’ said Sam laughingly and hugged Rachel.

  ‘Yes, and also I would have beaten you hard enough if I would have found out that you were cheating on me; I would have tied you forever and would have never let you go out of the house,’ said Rachel.

  ‘Hmm, now that sounds interesting. I would have loved to see something like that for sure,’ said Harvey, and everyone burst into laughter, including Sam.

  Chapter 56

  The mysteries and suspense were settling up, and the environment in the room was getting lighter and lighter. The drinks and snacks were coming in and the four were on a roll when Sam came up with another question.

  ‘Hey, Rachel and Kavya, I have one more question for you guys,’ said Sam. Harvey looked in surprise.

  ‘Yes, shoot Sam,’ said Rachel.

  ‘When did you guys exactly make the plan to blackmail me? Because I got the email the very same day when the news broke to the world and also Rachel you were with me since morning; remember we had gone for a date, a drive...? So when did you guys plan it?’ asked Sam very curiously.

  ‘Finally. I was wondering why this question has not come yet. I wondered if you were overwhelmed with the fact that Rachel was the blackmailer that you didn’t ask about how we executed the plan,’ said Kavya laughingly.

  ‘Oh my God, even I forgot to ask this,’ said Harvey. Rachel and Kavya laughed, looking at each other and deliberately explained the whole plan.

  ‘Well Sam, after our argument and a patch up session, you went to sleep. But I was not able to sleep at all, so I snuck out to the study and was chatting with Kavya, just when the news about Ashton Martinson broke out. And that time Kavya was at the airport waiting for her connecting flight to the US. She was supposed to reach her friend’s place in Cambridge. And that was when we were discussing our fights and about your account in Ashton Martinson and the scam. That’s when we made this plan instantly, and instead of her flight to Cambridge, she took a flight to Las Vegas. Initially, because of lack of time to think, our plan was carried in a slovenly fashion, but it still worked out. At first, we thought we would be caught out in Las Vegas only, but we weren’t. Harvey started suspecting Kavya, but we were not expecting that he would go till India to investigate Kavya, but we were able to handle that situation also,’ said Rachel.

  ‘What the heck ... I still don’t believe you. Must say you girls played well,’ said Sam.

  ‘Yes, we had never realized that it could last so long, nor did we ever think you would not take police help over this. Things were in a quandary, and we knew we had to stop all this soon, but we were worried about the outcome,’ said Kavya.

  ‘But now all’s well that ends well. So guys, cheers,’ said Harvey, and everyone came closer to clink glasses. Sam looked shocked and surprised about Rachel’s acting. He couldn’t believe that she was aware of it the whole time they were on the date.

  ‘I don’t know if I can ever trust any girl after this, you both acted so well,’ said Sam. Rachel and Kavya felt proud about the acting part and the fact that they were able to fool them for such a long time.

  ‘So Kavya, was Kabir too involved?’ asked Harvey.

  ‘No, initially not; he too was shocked when I landed in Las Vegas instead of Cambridge, and so I had to explain everything. And later, he didn’t have much choice but to support and co-operate with me, though he cribbed at times,’ answered Kavya.

  ‘And were you guys not scared of what all you were doing in fooling Sam, what if you had got caught by police themselves, because they were in the loop regarding the blackmailing that Sam faced and they were the one who generated your call details. We were almost close to closing the case before this confession,’ said Harvey.

  ‘I know, we were aware that you were suspecting us and we were scared for everything all the time, especially of getting involved with the police; so we had to confess about this sooner or later and thus we decided to confess about it before the matter went out of hand. So Harvey, you can handle this for us, right?’ said Rachel sarcastically.

  ‘Hmm, yes, let’s see, let me also have some fun taking you guys to the LAPD and then see what I can do!’ said Harvey.

  ‘Very funny Harvey, you know you have to sort this for me, I don’t want Kavya to get under any complication for no real fault of hers,’ said Rachel. Sam held her hand tightly and told her to relax. Harvey’s phone rang, and it was Sahil.

  ‘It’s Sahil, he must be desperate to know,’ said Harvey as he showed his phone screen to others.

  ‘Oh, he is missing all the fun here, you should answer his phone and not make him wait till tomorrow,’ said Kavya. Harvey nodded while he answered Sahil’s call.

  ‘Hey bro, so there’s a long story to tell you. So to start with ...’ Harvey left the study room as he explained everything in detail to Sahil. As the others chatted in the study, the doorbell rang. Rachel and Sam looked at each other, rather surprised, when Rachel’s household staff came upstairs to inform that there was a guest who had come to meet them. They wondered who it must be, and Rachel and Sam went to the front door. And to their surprise, it was Kabir. They welcomed him merrily and took him to the study where Kavya was sitting.

  ‘So good to see you here, we have never met before ... so does Kavya knows that you are coming here?’ asked Rachel.

  ‘No, it’s a surprise for her. Our last trip to the US was left incomplete, so I thought to finish it since she is also here; how about you guys, why don’t you join us?’ asked Kabir as they walked towards the study room.

  ‘Oh my God, look who’s h
ere, how are you, man?’ said Harvey as soon as he saw Kabir after finishing the call with Sahil.

  ‘I am good, I hope you guys are doing great after all the suspense,’ asked Kabir.

  ‘Yeah, it was hilarious,’ said Harvey, and they moved inside the study room with a lot of exuberance. Sam and Rachel first made Harvey go inside, and then they entered, and later after a few seconds, they made Kabir enter so that they could see the surprised look on Kavya’s face.

  ‘Oh my God! How come you are here? Is this the day of surprise and suspense or what?’ asked Kavya after looking at Kabir surprisingly. She stared at him with mere shock as he came forward to hug her.

  ‘Wow, all’s well that ends well, this was only left,’ said Harvey.

  ‘I thought if we should finish our US trip with them. What do you suggest? I know it’s sudden,’ asked Kabir.

  ‘This sounds so good. What say Rachel, Sam, Harvey? Don’t you think we need a break after what happened,’ said Kavya.

  ‘Well, yes, absolutely ... I am in, what about you people,’ said Rachel.

  Harvey and Sam looked at each other as they were doing some mental calculations before answering them.

  ‘Hmm, yes, I think I can manage. I will just need a day to manage work before we leave,’ said Sam.

  ‘And I will require two days before I settle the cases of Ashton Martinson and also remove the detail of your records from the police station,’ said Harvey.

  ‘Cool then, two days are also enough to set the whole itinerary, and also till then I can explore Los Angeles,’ said Kabir.

  ‘Cheers guys, I don’t believe this is actually happening, or I am high with wine,’ said Kavya as she smiled.

  ‘Cheers!’ in chorus.

  ‘This is actually happening Kavya, we will have so much fun,’ said Rachel in full excitement.

  The aura of the room and their souls changed instantly.

  Shreya is a freelance fashion designer based in Mumbai. They say home is where the heart is, and despite working in a different field, after years of visiting bookstores and falling in love with the place, she found her solace in reading fiction books and came up with her own. And when she is not writing or reading or designing garments, she is binge-watching series or baking her food cravings or exploring some places to curb the hunger of curiosity. To know more you can connect with Shreya on:

  @shreyafaria19

  @shreya19590

  Shreya Shah

  shreya19590@gmail.com

  Copyright © 2020 Shreya Faria

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, institutions, businesses, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  First published in 2020

  Print Book ISBN: 978-93-89058-37-6

  Publishing facilitation: AuthorsUpFront

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