"Really?" Koushik asked wide eyed.
Olivia nodded.
"Are you a chef or something! You should totally be. The lineup in front of your restaurant will be spectacular." Rishi suggested with such enthusiasm that he might leave his career and join her restaurant.
Olivia went silent for a moment then replied, "I do work in one."
"Wow Rishi, are you a seer?" Koushik turned towards his friend in bewilderment.
Rishi fixed the lapel of his blazer and answered, "Heh, it's not something you can just have it like that. You need a keen sense of taste. Very particular, sophisticated..."
Bikram cut off his nonsense and asked, "Would you mind telling us which restaurant you work in? I promise we won't visit unannounced and disturb you."
She waved her hand dismissing his concerns and said, "Basu Pakshal"
Rishi choked on his saliva, "What the f*ck!"
"Wait, wait, do you mean that Basu Pakshal? Is there a second one or do you mean the one that I'm thinking of?" Koushik asked.
Bikram gave a stern side eye to Rishi for cursing like that. But the latter could not care less about that at the moment and impatiently waited for her to answer Koushik's question.
"There's only one in that name."
Rishi made a dramatic gesture of fainting on Koushik's shoulder.
"Here I am queuing up for the second time to finally get my hands on their food after getting a notice of cancellation the first time but now I have a classmate who literally works there! I even got to eat my favourite food prepared by her! Is fate mocking me or something! I've been waiting for six months! Please don't let it be cancelled again. I finally got the chance to register after two years of listening to all the hype."
"The head chef was away for some personal causes. No cancellation this time." Olivia said.
"Oh thank God!" Rishi became inflated again.
They were done packing up and were about to head back when Olivia's question halted their step.
"Do you know anything about the missing idol? He was from B.E."
Bikram replied with a confused look, "No, we haven't been to the company much and the times we went well were busy with our upcoming concert. We didn't have much time to know anything. He still hasn't been found, that's all I can say."
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?" Rishi asked.
That sure was a weird question for a first interaction.
"It's all in the news nowadays that's why I was curious if you as insiders of the company have any answers. So many rumours are spreading around I didn't want to get news from that." Olivia shrugged.
Koushik gave her a distrustful eye. He did not buy her explanation at all. The iceberg he knew could not bother less about going out of her way to know something. She did not even know about her class gossip but today she was asking strangers about news? He was also from B.E if she was that interested she could have asked him only. But he did not comment for now.
When they parted ways and the boys were out of sight Koushik opened his mouth, "Why.."
"Are you free the day after tomorrow evening?" Olivia asked.
He thought for some time and said, "No we have meetings. Our concert is next week so we'll be practicing at the venue testing instruments."
Olivia fell silent, "Tomorrow?"
Koushik shook his head.
"Okay today after school. No wait." She let out a deep breath.
"Night. Before bedtime." She said in a frustrated manner, rubbing her brows.
Koushik stared at her in amusement and said, "What's happening today? Are you sick? That's the first time I saw you speaking with so much hesitation! Is the world coming to an end?"
Olivia did not respond nor look at his face, just kept walking straight to her seat.
All these weird behaviour puzzled him so before the teacher started the period he whispered, "Is this about my friend by any chance?"
It was a guess completely off his head, he was not even serious about that question. But Olivia's smart pen fell off her grip the moment the question left his mouth.
She licked her dry lips and sighed while picking the thing back up, "Something like that."
That was it. Koushik could not focus on the next two classes for the life of him and waited with baited breath to get a chance to clarify if he heard correct. The whole time he kept glancing sideways hoping to catch any expression on her face but Olivia seemed to have turned into a robot, staring ahead at the teacher and writing away on her N.B without looking back and forth. But in reality she was hyperfocused on the lesson and taking notes in a desperate attempt to not feel his gaze on her side. As soon as the bell rang indicating the end of the sixth period she sprang up from her seat and excused herself out. The teacher knew she was the School Captain so she assumed Olivia had some work regarding the upcoming interschool competition. Koushik, however, could not get a word in before she vanished. With no other choice he started counting the hours left till their decided meeting time.
Once out of the building Olivia headed straight to her room. Hastily taking off her blazer, she slumped on the sofa and threw her head back. Only one question echoed in her mind, how to break the truth to Koushik?
Just like that an hour passed yet she found no answer. Feeling even more frustrated she changed out of her uniform and put on some loose clothes and let her hair free from the braids. Her appearance at the moment was quite a sight. No pressed outfit, stray hair, slouched shoulder and a deep frown between her eyebrows. Olivia ran her fingers through her hair and let out the millionth sigh of the evening.
After a lot of back and forth she decided to come clean to him. And that included letting him know that the person he believed to be his friend does not exist. That part of the revelation made Olivia the most uncomfortable. She was besides herself trying to find an alternative to that but there was none. At times she really blamed him. How could someone be this deep into a friendship in months? Yes, there was also a matter of crush but that was a minor factor. She remembered the storm of feelings reflecting in his eyes the moment she affirmed having news related to Ankita. Hope, disbelief and relief flashed in his eyes the split second she caught them while picking up the pen.