Everything happened in such a flash that no one has the time to react. Tanmoy was alarmed at the sight of the weapon and immediately shielded Ankita. Then he looked at the person who calmly threw the wig and beard away.
'So she knew everything all along. But why did she not expose him earlier?' He was amazed by her perception.
Speaking of perception, he still did not know how she figured out that he was a lawyer. Their conversation had been interrupted interrupted by the old man's accomplice.
The man pointed his knife at the girl at a dangerously close distance and said to the gathered people, "Back off. I said back off. If any of you try anything funny, I'm going to kill her."
Tanmoy jolted from his reverie at the word kill.
"Especially you young man. You were defending her ak fiercely. I don't know what deal you have. But I'm warning you. Put your hands up. No funny business." The ragged man beside the fraud address Tanmoy.
He obediently raised his hands, afraid that the knife, that was almost touching the girls throat, would be plunged in if he defied them. While the fraud duo was busy scaring the others, he started hatching a plan to rescue her.
'Hmmm. I'm close enough to stun the fraud and snatch the knife... but there's the risk of her getting hurt. Tch, what should I do... Oh!'
Tanmoy suddenly looked at Ankita whom he had pushed into the crowd, away from the swindlers.
Just as their eyes met, he mouthed, "Distract him."
Ankita could not understand. She looked at him with furrowed brows.
"This dummy. I said, distract him." He hissed.
"Hm?" Ankita squinted, trying to focus.
After some effort she finally understood what he was trying to say.
"Ohh! Are you telling me to distract him while you knock him out?" She said loudly and proudly.
Tanmoy felt like punching her.
The fraud also looked at him, "You trying to be a hero, huh? Then let me teach you a lesson first. You shouldn't poke your nose into other people's business."
He swung the knife at him.
Tanmoy luckily dodged the blow and muttered under his breath, "This stupid girl."
The man raised his hand to strike again but Tanmoy ducked and punched his knee with all his might. Thankfully that was enough to tackle him, as he dropped the knife and clutched his leg, howled in pain, screaming and cursing. Once the man was taken down, someone called the police, who arrived pretty quickly and handcuffed the duo. Everyone on site was questioned for a while before the frauds were taken away.
As everyone gradually started dispersing, Tanmoy walked up to the girl and bowed his head, "I too should apologize to you for such poor manegement of the situation. My mistake almost cost you your life. I should've known my sister wouldn't understand me from her place."
"It's okay. No biggie. Like I said, your job requires observing and analysing things, not carrying out rescue operations. So don't fret over it. You've helped me, so thank you." She waved her hand.
Then, turning to the girl who was jogging towards them, she said with a smirk, "And your sister also helped a lot in distracting the fraud. Although it wasn't the distraction you thought, it still worked. So, all's well that ends well."
Ankita did not hear what they said but from the looks of it she knew it was about her idiotic move earlier. Ashamed of that she apologised to the young woman numerous times. Still, feeling that it was not enough, Ankita held the woman's hands, looked into the latter's eyes and gave an extempore on how sorry she was.
As both of them looked at each other, many unspoken words were conveyed through the brief eye contact.
After bidding farewell the girl left but Tanmoy's gaze was fixed on the departing car until it completely vanished from his sight.
"Woah! What are you looking so intently at?" Ankita stood on her toes and looked at him with her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Tanmoy pushed her face away with two fingers and said scornfully, "You almost cost us our life! What are you talking about!"
"Ouch! Be gentle. Are you planning on poking a hole through my temple?" She said, rubbing her forehead.
"I do. I really do wish to crack your head open and see how many kilos of cow dung is in there." He said.
Ankita remorsefully scratched her head, letting him scold her to his hearts content.
Having reached the mall, Ankita began hunting for a lehenga for the upcoming wedding. She went from store to store dragging Tanmoy behind her.
"Hello. Please show me a lehenga with a breathable and highly stretchable waist."
The salesperson was puzzled.
'People would usually mention the colour, design, size or the style of the dress they're looking for but she came to buy a dress based on the type of fabric used at the waist?'
"What?" He thought he had heard wrong.
Ankita repeated.
"What do you need that for?" Tanmoy asked with an equally confused gaze.
The salesperson nodded in curiosity.
"Ah, you don't understand. If the waist of my dress is flexible my tummy won't feel strangled when I eat. I won't be able to eat my fill if I wear too tight of a dress." Ankita said it like she was explaining something complicated to an ignorant kid.
The salesperson laughed, "You're right. We should wear beautiful but loose clothes to weddings. Else, how are we supposed to eat in the buffet?"
"Do you even know anything besides eating?" Tanmoy said flicking her temple.
Ankita shook her head proudly. The salesperson laughed again and pointed to the screen behind them and asked her to choose her style. Ankita chose a one-piece lehenga with a soap orange-coloured base with golden thread for design. After that, they proceeded to show her the dresses according to her preference.
"This one." Ankita pointed at one of the panels.
"Good choice ma'am. This design is made by India's number one fashion brand, Jet. They allow you to apply for custom measurements. We have a sample for you to try on. You can also request for a different fabric material if this doesn't feel good on your skin." The salesperson said.