Beyond the Beats

Chapter 66. Smoke-to-five

"Help us, Boomer," Ronit's friend said.

Why is he calling me that?!

I stepped back. "Please use my real name, and no, I am not going to do anything. Handle that situation yourself. Cheating is not good."

"Who said we are cheating?" he retorted. "We just need someone professional. I am sure you have already seen how the battle is going. It is pathetic! Ronit is an idiot. I had already told him to not mess around, but he has put our crew's reputation on the line. We can't back off now."

"That's your problem, kid," I said. "I am here for work, so please don't disturb me. As for saving your crew's reputation, call someone from your crew itself. Why are you asking me for help?"

The boy's face started losing color. "First of all, I am not a kid. My name is Varun, and second, I can't call my seniors. All of them are busy training for the national level crew competition. They will kill us if they get to know what we are doing here."

"Then stop this battle," I said.

"We can't."

"Excuse me? Why are you doing this when you know you will land in trouble?"

Varun looked at his opponent angrily. "They made fun of Ronit on his birthday and even said that The Emperors must have been high for selecting us. They insulted our captain and challenged us, so how could we let them get away just like that? Unfortunately, they have two senior members among them, so we are having a hard time. I know this is an informal match, but we don't want to lose. You are TJ and Hriaan Bhaiyya's friend, no? Please help us."

Even though I got agitated after hearing what Varun had said, I couldn't help him. I would have lost my job.

I refused and moved away from him, but Varun kept following me.

"Why are you refusing? Aren't you going to help your friends?" he accused.

"Varun, don't try my patience," I scolded.

"It is Ronit's birthday. He will be really embarrassed if he lost," he said sadly. "You just need to help us in winning one round. The rest we will manage."

I laughed. "I can see how you guys are managing. Thank you for the joke. I am a lot busy, so please excuse me."

Varun grabbed my hand. "Bhoomi Didi, please."

I narrowed my eyes. "I have already been in trouble once for being Boomer. I am not going to repeat the same mistake again. Moreover, I will lose my job because of you."

If Varun wasn't enough, Ronit also arrived alongwith his other teammates. There was a small break in their dance match, so all of them decided to attack me.

"You can just hide your face," Ronit suggested. "I will tell your supervisor that you were busy with some personal work of mine, so no one will suspect you."

"Kids, you are really asking for trouble. Why should I sacrifice my salary for your mistake?" I almost yelled. "And you Ronit, are you an idiot? Don't you know how strict Tejas is? Why the hell did you accept the challenge? What will you do if Tejas or Hriaan get aware of this? You all have just joined the team. Are you preparing to get kicked out?"

None of the boys said anything. All of them were staring at me like lambs, and I kind of felt bad for scolding them.

"How much is your pay?" Ronit asked.

"That's not your concern," I replied.

"I will pay twice- no, thrice the amount you are making today," Ronit said. "Just help me one time. I promise there won't be any issue. You will not lose your job. I have to win this dance battle. I can't lose my face by accepting defeat."