undercover

Part 18: Root

Present day...
The camerawoman took her leave for the time being, she knew she'd have to find a way to meet him again.
"Call me, if you ever change your mind," she said handing a little blue card to Dev and then on an afterthought, another to Kanimozhi.

Kanimozhi saw the ID card that dangled from her pocket. It had the emblem of the Oceanus hotel, beaming down at the figure leaving down the cascading stairs, her eyes did not once leave the lady.

As she clambered down the stairs to the basement, she knew she had to capture this on camera. She just had to. Her phone screen flashed alive with a notification- "Got anything for the competition yet?"
She didn't, not yet, but she knew exactly what it would be.

Dev buttoned his black shirt as he followed Kanimozhi to her office. He wondered what she needed now. For all his loyalty he had taken two gigs from her for the night, one of them was probably illegal and was spent for the day.

"They'll come looking for you and I want them to come here," she said.
"And how do we do that?" Asked Dev, picking up a jug to drink water. His body was still slightly trembling from exhaustion and Kanimozhi plucked the jug out of his hands.
She poured him a glass of water and offered it to him.

She rested her head on her palm and gazed at the table fan on her right vacantly. The rusted apparatus struggled to keep going without sputtering and groaning, it creaked every time someone changed its settings. It was getting old.
The wallpapers, the door hinges, the daggers mounted on the wall, everything in her room has aged, mere shadows of their former glory. She was no exception.
But she did have something exceptionally quick and sharp despite all the encroachments of time.

"Call the lady," she ordered suddenly.
Wiping his mouth with the end of his sleeve, Dev looked at her in confusion, "Which lady?"
"The one with the camera, she was awfully keen to get you on camera and now she will."

Dev looked at Kanimozhi incredulously. She had a way with people, getting them to bend and break their backs for her, only a couple of them knew that those who did, rarely did so willingly.

"You want me to call her and ask her to come in a couple of days?" He asked. It was easier to just go with what she said.
"No, you'll tell her to come now." She said, before moving on to her vintage cash register.

Despite there being a ticket counter out front, an online booking system, and multiple agencies to handle their accounts, Kanimozhi always sat for an hour every night, going through their finances. Dev never knew if she just counted the money they transferred to her account and if so why were they in physical bills.
He knew asking questions would get him answers that he never wanted and Dev already knew too much.

"So you want me to call the lady you just chased away and ask her to come do just what you prohibited a literal ten minutes ago?" He confirmed, sarcasm lacing his tone.
"Boy, is that cheek I hear?" She chuckled, "Yes, and she'll come. Call her before she gets too far. Even though I'm sure she'll come, you wouldn't want her to be troubled right?" She said slowly, tasting each word she said.

Dev dialled her number, his eyes not leaving Kanimozhi's bent head, a couple of rings later, the receiver picked up.
"Hello?" A confused voice came from the other side.
"Hey, this is Dev, from the museum."
"Who?"
"The dancer. The one you wanted to take a couple of photos of. You gave me our card. If you want to take photos, could you come right now?" he tried.

The sound of a sudden break and a couple of horns would be heard from the receiving end.
A minute of silence later, Dev was calling out hello. He finally ended the call and turned to Kanimozhi.
"I don't think that's how you expected the call to go," He said.

Kanimozhi raised a frail arm to wave him away, an elegant hand that was only more beauteous with the corrosion of time.

At the exact minute, the phone rang again. Dev looked at Kanimozhi before picking it up, who did not seem to be expecting anything.
"Hello?" He said.
A familiar voice answered him, "Do you want me to come right now? I've got my camera,"
Dev mumbled his assent and Kanimozhi giggled in victory.