First Date?

Mriga was bone tired the next morning. Lack of sleep and extensive workout were taking a toll on her body and mind, already. How was she going to ride out the next seventy odd days?

"You look as if a horse cart went over you. Do you really need the money that badly? Last I heard, people in the police or army were amongst the highest paid. So your mother's pay can't be that bad. Also, all homemakers draw a minimum wage to avoid forced dependence on their partners. So your dad must be earning that along with his income from the cultivation," Ishani commented, looking at her friend's pale face and dark circles under the eyes.

Mriga gave her a tired smile and said, "it's just a new schedule and I am going to take some time getting used to it. In a week or so, I will be back to the usual self."

She wanted to distract Ishani from this topic.

Hence continued on a lighter vein, "I don't think you should frown so much. The sides of your eyes will look as if the crows landed on them and decided to reside there permanently. And your currently average looks will deteriorate further."

Ishiani lunged at her friend with a ferocious scowl but Mriga, who was faster and lighter on her feet, escaped the attack, causing Ishani to fall on the floor with a thud.

Controlling her bubbling laughter, she sat down on her haunches and asked, "are you ok? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

Ishani glared at her and said, "I had an important message to convey to you, but looking at your behaviour in the past few minutes, I have decided to withhold it. Alas, someone else will have to pay the price for your meanness, while waiting endlessly for you to arrive."

Mriga straightened up immediately and started cajoling her in a singsong voice, "what message? Who is waiting? Is it Yash? When? Where? C'mmon, you can't be so mean. I was only teasing you. You are my sparrow, no no, my swan. You are the best… no one is smarter, nicer and kinder."

Ishani put her hands to her ears, "stop. Remember to never attempt singing in front of anyone else unless you want them to die from ear bleeding."

Mriga's lips turned downwards at her friend's harsh words. Her face looked crestfallen. Ishani suddenly felt guilty and stood up from the floor.

"Oh ho. I was just kidding. Now who is behaving like a delicate flower?" she attempted to cheer her friend up.

But Mriga's eyes and mouth stayed downwards, making Ishani feel really bad.

"How about this? What if I tell you about Prince of South's message for you? That'll make you feel better, right?" she tried again but her friend remained quiet.

Now Ishani was fretting at having upset Mriga so much. But she braved on.

"Yash met me in the foodhall last evening and asked me to tell you that he will wait for you at the Gurukul's entrance gate day after tomorrow at 10 in the morning. He has a project for which he needs to visit the nearby shops. Since it is the weekend, he is hoping to spend sometime with you. What do you say? You think you will be able to get out that time?" she asked, hoping that this would have cheered her friend.

But Mriga's shoulders started to shake.

"Oh God! Is she crying now?" Ishani got really worried.

Extending her both hands, she held Mriga's shoulders and raised her face, only to realise that her wicked friend had been laughing all this while.

Mriga finally stopped laughing and raised her hands in surrender, "now don't get angry with me. There was no other way that you would have given me the information as quickly. I am already late for my class. And I would have died waiting till the evening, to hear this from you. So thank you very much. Now, I have to make a dash for the lecture hall to learn how to become a good administrator. I will see you in the foodhall later this evening."

Ishani stared at her friend's cheekiness in disbelief but a smile broke out on her face after she had left.

"Oh, wait. She didn't tell me whether she will be going to meet Yash or not. Actually, do I really need to ask her? The way her face had turned into a full moon after listening to it, I am sure I know the answer," she snorted to herself.

Last day of the week

Mriga had just returned from the sports ground after another exhausting round of drill under the strict guidance of Ramanujam. He was brutal as an instructor and had zero tolerance for any sort of weakness. She had dared to ask him the previous morning whether there would be training held on the weekend.

His stony faced answer had been – "if you can eat, sleep and bathe on those days, why would you not train?"

To avoid his wrath, she had arrived ten minutes earlier this morning and started with warm up before he came.

For the past week, she had been undergoing interval training. On the first day, he had explained the logic behind it, "since you are an athlete, you possess a basic level of stamina . Now we need to cash upon it and take you to the next level of fitness. As an covert operative, you need to be prepared at all times for unexpected things. Alertness and agility will be your best friends in those moments."