Chapter 1
Akash stood there on the Friday road, impatient and little scared. He could hear his own heart beating hard. He constantly felt the sweat on his forehead despite it was a cold winter evening in Pune. As he looked around, he saw the hustle and bustle of finely dressed young crowd hitting local pubs and nightclubs. Friday road was known for its nightlife, in fact, its name was derived from that fact. He looked at the location tracker on his whatsapp, the dot he was interested in was moving slowly and yet he constantly stared at the moving traffic hoping to see the right car.
As people passed him he felt their sight. As if everyone was noticing him and was judging him. As if they knew what he was doing.
Akash, Punit, Happy Singh and Rajat were great friends from the college days. Straight A kids. First benchers, excellent at academics, and excellent at everything else. No one ever had any complaints about them. The pride of their parents. Every area has that 'Gupataji ka beta' who is an over-achiever that all other parents envy, these 4 kids were those "Guptaji ka beta" stereotype of their respective neighborhoods.
They did their civil engineering then MBA and got their first job in Pune. They stayed together. They enjoyed it together. The carefree days of their fresh out of college days were over. The rat race was taking their toll. Their parents pressed them for marriage and they had to get "settled", which meant buying a flat and car and so on. It was evident that they had now arrived at a fork on the road where they were expected to part. The year 2019 was going to be that year.
Punit was the brightest among them. Somewhat eccentric but could know things. He could see things others won't. Happy on the other hand was a classic short-tempered Sardar. His lack of temper compensated for his lack of stature. Akash was a good looking guy. Son of a headmaster and a school teacher. Rajat on the other hand was a somewhat rich guy. He already had a big car and he was in the process of buying a flat of his own.
To mentally prepare themself for the parting of ways they decided to celebrate the new year of 2020 differently, something more adventurous and more thrilling. Akash, the good looking guy was their frontman whereas happy had arranged everyone. Happy's friend Sodhi knew someone who had the right contacts. Sodhi gave them a number and a password. They were supposed to call on that number and provide that password. The other side would then send them a "catalog". Pictures of high-class escorts. You select the price and rate and bring them to the location of your choice. They were certain to be the best money could offer.
Happy and Punit had planned this, Rajat had got a temporary sim card. For 25,000 the girl was supposed to arrive on a friday night. They would then take her to their apartment. What will happen there was up to them and to be honest even they were not sure.