Conundrum 》ICT AU

-50-

Meera went to school the next morning, lost in thought. She knew she would be facing some kind of retribution for all that she had been doing but she did not think it would come so quick and it would be so difficult to handle.

She was sure it was their retaliation for the scandals. How could it not be?

Flashback
As Meera went down to dinner, her mother looked at her with a worried smile.

"What's wrong?" She asked, putting the dal in her bowl. She took two rotis and put them on her plate, looking up at her mom.

Just then her dad walked in, a look of defeat on his face. He sat down on the dining table after putting his bag aside, looking at the plate with despair on his face.

"What happened? Something at work?" Her mother asked, putting a glass of water beside his plate.

"Work? What work? There was a huge mix up at the company today. Some idiot decided to delete months of hard work on this one pitch I had to present today before the chairperson. I had nothing to present, Nandini." He gasped out. "They fired me on the spot."

"What?" Meera gasped. "They cant do that, can they? They should've fired the person who actually deleted the work that you did!"

"But I had to present it. It was my work, they were right. It was such a bad look on the company as well. They had shareholders come in to hear the pitch as well. Akshit sir also tried speaking for me but it was of no use. I had to pack up everything and leave."

"I got a warning today at my work." Her mom sat down. "Apparently my intern had been slacking off and not coming to work and I hadn't been paying attention at all. The boss herself decided to look through the attendance and balances today. Zoya was supposed to answer for the balances but she had a leave today, so I had to listen both times about how disappointed they were in the entire department."

"Papa, what will you do now?" Meera asked, the food forgotten. It was a sad atmosphere, full of despair as her dad just looked at her. Meera looked at her dad guiltily, as if she knew what was causing all this mayhem.

"For now, your mother will work. I'll try to look for other jobs tomorrow. Everyone should be mindful of their expenses from today, got it? We have savings that should cover us for two months but only if we save frugally. Otherwise, don't worry about all this, got it? Your mother and I will take care of it all."

"Okay, papa." Meera replied. "Please eat now, you must be tired and hungry."

"Yes." Her mother chimed in. "Eat now, we'll think about all this later. No point thinking about it now."

As meera headed up to bed, she heard her parents talking about the situation. Quietly walking to their room, she knelt down and put her ear to the door.

"How on earth are we supposed to manage for two months, Amit? We hardly have any savings left! We've sent Meera to that school, which costs almost half of our salary! With rent, household expenses, we have nothing left." Her mother whisper shouted.

"What am I supposed to say? Meera, we are living hand to mouth here. We can't bear further expenses at all. Hey, should we pull her out of that school? She just has to study another year." her father replied.

"Are you mad? No other school will take her in, it's her senior year. I told you before the admission, let us put her in a cheap school. She's smart, she'll pull through. It was cheaper living in Hyderabad than it is in Delhi, you know that." There was a sound of shuffling and someone sitting down on the chair.

"Listen, I'll look for a job tomorrow. I'll take care of the house as well. Maybe pull overtime tomorrow?" Her father spoke after a poignant pause.

"Of course Amit but what if -"

"Don't think about it. We'll be okay. We will."

She quickly walked to the washroom, standing in front of the sink and looking at herself. She bent down and washed her face with water, wiping her face with her towel. She was annoyed at the fact that she had to beg people again, even if it was for the sake of helping her family. Sometimes, she wished that she had been born in a well to do family, maybe then she could've fit in here.

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in! The degenerate." A voice was immediately heard from the side, making her turn her head towards the door. Anushka stood there, glaring at her as she walked towards the sink, taking out her lipstick from her bag and applying it, slowly. She then puckered her lips to check the contours of her application and then blew herself a kiss, Meera watching the show.

"Want to borrow mine?" She put her hand forward, putting the lipstick at arms length to Meera. As she opened her mouth to deny it, she quickly pulled her hand back, tutting at her.

"Sorry but I don't give out my personal things to random people, especially third class citizens, you know." She smiled, looking at her with a piercing gaze. Meera glared at her, with the fury of a thousand suns but Anushka was unaffected, putting her lipstick back in her bag.

"Well, see you." She flipped her hair and walked towards the door. As she was about to open the door, a hand quickly reached out and shut it, Anushka whipping around to glare at Meera who suddenly stood close to her.

"You're the one behind it, aren't you?" Meera spoke, her eyes brimming with hatred. "Couldn't get even with me so you target my parents?"

"Oh don't hate the player, hate the game." She smirked, pushing her face away from hers with her finger.

"Besides, it wasn't me. it was Virat himself. see, you've got his attention. Now, it's your turn."

She turned around and walked out, hearing the sounds of Meera shouting in anger. Her lips turned up, red against her skin. She felt powerful in that moment but she knew.

The worst was yet to come.

-

"Guys, I'm all for this revenge plan but I feel iffy about this." Gia said, looking at each of them gathered in Virat's room. They had all convened at his house after school to discuss one thing and one thing only.

Meera Dhavani's downfall.

In Virat's words, it was going to be glorious.

No one was holding back. Meera had ruined every single one of their lives, one way or another. It was almost worthy of a movie plot the way she had gone and unearthed each and every one of their little secrets.

"After what she did to Simran, no way." Anushka said, glaring at Gia. "Besides, if I remember correctly she also leaked your sex tape. You have no right to speak of anything."

"I get it, Meera is the devil incarnate. But to fall to her level, it's almost being as bad as her." Gia continued. Rohit nudged Virat, who promptly got up and hugged Gia, pulling her towards him.

"Babe, she deserves it and besides, out of all of us, Simran deserves to do whatever she wants to her. Speaking of Simran, did anyone tell her we're meeting her?"

"I did." Nupur said, holding up her phone. "She doesn't want to join. Understandable, really."

"Okay, still keep her updated. If she wants something else to be done, we'll do it." Virat nodded, keeping a close watch on Gia, who turned her neck around and looked at him.

"Wow, taking orders from someone else. You've changed, Vee." She smiled. "I like it."

"Anything for you, darling."

"Oh god, here comes Virat's sap era." Ritika said, groaning. "I really didn't think I'll be in the same city to see it."

"Shut up Ritika." Two voices simultaneously said, laughing.

-

It's been a little hectic lately and I truly am sorry to say that I can't post an update everyday :(
A new chapter will be posted every two days now!

Again, truly sorry for the delay!

Also, anyone suffering tremendously with the heat nowadays? I literally can't sit at the table without sweating nowadays😭