‘What am I doing?’ Monica kept repeating this as she ran around the city through the back alleys. There weren’t many and those that did exist didn’t connect to one another. This left her having to scale buildings like a cat scurrying across a ledge or like a monkey climbing up a tree. She was okay with either comparison for she was nimble as a cat and strong as a monkey.

She kept looking at the face of the shopkeeper from whom she purchased an all-black outfit. It wasn’t much, a full sleeve t-shirt and black pants that felt it would rip with the slightest effort. She bought it along with several other clothes to make sure she wouldn’t get caught later on. But the truth was, the shopkeeper would forget she ever even visited the moment she left.

She climbed onto the roof of a building nearby which was taller than the buildings around it. There were no stairs or ladders leading up to it, making Monica feel safe at least for the moment. She quickly got down to business, swapping out her clothes for the new black ones while dumping the rest in an alleyway behind the building she was on. The clothes rained down onto unsuspecting beggars who slept peacefully despite the noise of city life. She hoped they would find it useful when they see them the next morning.

Monica felt something grow inside her as stood tall and watched the city beneath her. The adrenaline rush pumped her heart rate up, widened her eyes, and make her pant as though she had just run a marathon. The cold wind of the night blew across her face, causing her short hair to flutter. ‘Oh, how much I have missed this,’ she told herself. She put a black monkey cap, which she took from a local store by placing five hundred Rupai in its place, before leaping off the building into the darkness below.

***

Monica shut her eyes and focused. It was like meditating, but instead of looking at her inner self, she needed to focus on the outside. Everything became clearer. Even when the world appears to be dead silent in the middle of the night, it is buzzing with life. And now, at a time when the whole city is buzzing with life, the world inside Monica’s mind became unrecognizable chaos. She could hear the horns of the vehicles on the road, the chatter and gossip of people gathered at the café and restaurants, haggling that was happening at every storefront, all of which were jumbled into a soup of gibberish that Monica found herself swimming through.

The news gave a list of places to avoid, and conventional wisdom says that if you are looking for trouble, they would be your first choice. However, Monica knew very well that the troublemakers must have moved on to greener pastures. Adding yet another roadblock to her efforts is her desire to stay in the shadows. The most common crime during such seasons is pickpocketing and swindling, both of which Monica despised more than anyone. They were also the least important on her list, for it was a task she simply couldn’t solve with a mask on.

There is, however, no lack of crimes that happen outside the vicinity of busy streets. Places where the police survey once in a while, plenty of time in between for the thieves and rowdies to do their dirty work. These are the places, ruled by darkness, where Monica found most work at.

***

“Watch out now, I can see him coming,” said the man in a mask.

His accomplice was scootched down beside him, both with their backs against the wall and with a wooden pole in their hand. He was looking around the corner, into a dimly lit alleyway. His eyes were fixed on a lonely man, making his way through the narrow path. The other was removing a knot from a rope while a small piece of cloth lay on the floor. Just as he finished unknotting, he felt something heavy strike his nape, before he could even react to it, the world went blank.

“Get ready. He is around the corner,” the man whispered as he tightened his grip on the pole. But there was no response from his friend. “Idoit!” he whispered furiously before looking back, only to see his friend on the floor. He looked up but saw nothing, that was until a fist appeared out of the darkness, striking him right in his nose.

Sharp pain radiated from his broken nose and across his face. He dropped the pole and stumbled backwards but was dragged back into the shadows.

The pedestrian stopped mid-motion on hearing the sound of the pole drop. His eyes widened and his heart raced. “This was a bad idea,” he told himself. But all was quiet again. He was already halfway through and turning his back was equally dangerous. So, with caution, he stepped forward and tiptoed his way through like a cat. Around the corner, where he believed the sound came, was emptiness. The corner was pitch black and could have been hiding something. He squinted his eyes to make out if something or someone was hiding but found nothing. He sighed relief and cautiously jogged away.

Monica was thankful that the thieves had bought a rope with them. It made her job of cleaning up, much easier. She broke a wide smile, looking at the two men on the ground, knocked out and tied up. She exited the narrow gap that hid in the darkness of the corner where she dropped the two thieves. She hoped that they would be picked up by the police soon.

“Where to next?” she asked herself as she bolted up the building and disappeared over the rooftop.

***

Monica sat on the parapet on the terrace of an empty building, looking below at the streets. It was nearing two at night and the busy crowds had finally withered away. The night had finally felt like it came to a close. She felt a lot calmer and at peace. In the four hours she had been out today, she managed to stop three assaults, two robberies, and also caught a swindler in the act. It was a pretty fruitful day, though, by her standards, she could have done a lot more.

But that way never the intention for coming out tonight. All she wanted was to scratch the itch that had been bugging her for quite a while. It was compounded by the boredom she felt at work. The rush of action was something she thought she was missing and today she was sure of it. Her life seemed to be fleeting away sitting in the office staring at the screen. She never felt like she fit into the world that had designed itself to prioritize comfort over everything else.

Her hope with this little stunt was to put to rest the thought of going back. To scratch the itch and, maybe return to living a normal life. But she now wasn’t sure if she really wanted to. What was normal, completely changed a long time ago. She had been trying to live like others and perhaps that is not what she really wanted.

***

The weekend passed by in the blink of an eye. Monica didn’t even try to think about setting foot outside again. Hiding the outfit in the depths of her cupboard and the thoughts at the back of her mind, she whiled away her weekends catching up on popular shows and comics. Pritham would much appreciate that as he now had someone to eat their brain about them.

As Monday rolled in, Monica found herself back in the office. Today, however, she wasn’t alone for, Rahul, the first member of the gang who was on vacation was back. “How was it? A week of solitude?” Rahul asked as he took a sip of his coffee. The pantry was still devoid of people as the employees were slowly returning from their native towns.

“It was alright. Isolation is nothing new for me,” Monica replied. She cleaned her cup under the sink faucet before wiping off the excess water.

“It couldn’t have been that easy. Were we really that boring? That you didn’t even miss us?” Rahul said.

“No! Of course not!” she exclaimed, “I am just saying that I am used to living alone.” She proceeded to place the cup in the machine before punching in some numbers on the dial. A deep brown liquid poured out of the machine and into the cup.

“Really? Is that why you didn’t go home?” he asked.

Monica fell silent. Her heart sulked as a deep frown appeared. She, however, hid it from Rahul who was looking at her back curiously. “I guess you can say that” she replied.

“I guess? What is it that you are hiding Monica? Whose family name we do not know.”

“I don’t have one. Neither did my mom and dad.”

“Really?” he asked. The fact came to him as a complete shock. Everyone had a family name, even orphans often made one up just to feel like they belong somewhere.

“Yeah,” Monica said as she took her cup of coffee and walked over to Rahul, “they said their parents never had one either.”

“Never heard of anything like this.”

“Forget that. I need to know something,” Monica asked.

“What is it?”

“What is it that you want to do in life?” Monica asked. She looked at him curiously which made him a bit uncomfortable.

“And why are you asking this?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Doing something on my own. Or at the very least be the head of a company.”

Monica was expecting such an answer from someone but wasn’t sure who would be that ambitious.

“To be fair,” Rahul continued, “if I hadn’t got married last year, I would have probably tried a lot harder if you know what I mean.” He had planned to haggle a new position or jump company, but marriage came unexpectedly before putting water all over his plans.

“Why didn’t you do it anyway? Wife not agreeing to it?”

“Not really. She was the one who asked me to try something before we got married. Parents found out. Forced us to marry. Everything happened so fast, we needed some time to breathe. Figure things out.”

Monica nodded slowly, “Tough times, huh?”

“Not really. I am happy that she is my wife, hopefully, she is happy too. There is no issue in waiting a year or two. Sometimes, you just have to adapt.”

***

As they made their way back to the cubicle, the conversation switched from future plans to festivities. Monica was no stranger to the customs, but it always fascinated her how these customs seemed to vary from place to place ever so slightly. As they passed the cabins, her eyes caught a glimpse of Dinesh’s cabin where she saw a stranger having an intense conversation with him. The other was not a total stranger as she had seen twice. At first, she thought of him as just another employee, but seeing how tight knitted Dinesh’s group is and how he never came up in conversation, made her wonder who he was.

“Rahul, who is that in Dinesh cabin?” she asked him.

Rahul squinted his eyes to get a clearer picture of the stranger. “Ah! That is Ishan.”

“Who is that?”

“Don’t know much about him. He is supposed to be a travelling accountant. Whatever that means.”

“What do you mean by travelling?” Monica asked.

“It is exactly what it sounds like. He travels from office to office and… does accounting stuff. Even I am not sure what he does. But don’t worry about him. I heard he is leaving.”

“Leaving? Like quitting the job?”

“What else does leaving mean?” Rahul retorted.

On reaching the cubicle, Rahul immediately fell onto his chair and settled in. Monica retreated to her corner quiet as a mouse. Her mind, however, was overflowing with thoughts. Mainly the idea of travelling for a job. She wondered what that would be like.

***

“Dinesh? Can I speak to you?” Monica asked, with her head peeping inside his cabin through a half-open door.

“Yes, of course,” he replied. Ishan walked out about fifteen minutes ago and he had gotten back to working on accounts that were left on his table.

She walked in with a quick pace and took the seat before him. He could make out from her frantic behaviour that she wanted to talk about something serious. But he nevertheless kept a calm appearance. “Yes. What happened? Do you want to talk about your future?”

“Kind of. But I just wanted to know more about the travelling accountant job.” Monica asked.

He threw a puzzled expression at her which made her heart jump a little. For a moment, she thought Rahul had pranked her with a fake job title.

“Why do you want to know about that?”

Monica fell quiet. She wasn’t entirely sure how to answer the question. “I was just curious…”

“With the travelling part?” Dinesh interjected.

Monica silently nodded.

“Well, it is exactly as the name says. We have quite a few offices across the country and some, if not many are still using the old book method to do business. We have travelling accountants to make sure the accounts are inline.”

It was exactly what she hoped it was, more or less, which made Monica lighten up unexpectedly. “Is there an opening for it?” she asked.

Dinesh saw this coming. Even though he didn’t know her too well, he was certain that a girl like Monica would be more than happy to take up a job like this. “I kind of expected you would be interested in such a job. But you need to know that travelling for leisure and travelling for work is not the same.”

“I do. I am certain there are going to be challenges but I am ready to take them head-on,” Monica said with an air of confidence.

Dinesh, however, remained unconvinced. “There is also the element of risk.”

“Every job has a risk factor, doesn’t it?”

“It is not the same. Especially for a woman having to travel.”

Monica shook her head, her lips twisted in disappointment, “Come on Dinesh. You know better than that. I am not asking without any merit. I have handled clients and you did say I did a satisfactory job.”

“It is not just me. Even the higher up have to agree. We did hire a few women for this job but all of them ended up quitting because travelling isn’t easy and there are going to be roadblocks, especially for women.”

“So, you have tried before, it is only fair to give me a chance?”

Dinesh fell silent. He pursed his lips and looked at Monica unconvinced.

“You got to let me try this. I really do feel like it is something I can and will be able to do,” Monica said.

***

The stage was set for Monica to make her big announcement. By Wednesday, the entire gang had assembled for lunch and Dinesh had pretty much finalized her new job. While the two girls and Pritham were obvious to the recent developments, Rahul had his doubts that something was cooking in the back.

“Why do you have that look on your face?” Aarathi asked Rahul. His eyes were fixed on Monica who was eating her lunch box of rice very anxiously.

“Nothing,” Rahul replied before returning to the box set in front of him.

Aarathi followed his line of sight to Monica and noticed her hands shiver. “Monica? Is everything alright? You have been acting weirdly lately.”

Monica exhaled. She knew she had to tell everyone now. “I do have something to say.” She put her spoon down and looked up when she saw all the eyes looking at her. Her heart jumped a little but nonetheless, she continued, “I am going to be changing my role in this company.”

A wide smile appeared on the faces of Aarathi and Geetha, but Rahul remained expressionless. He almost looked like he was holding back his smile. Pritham, however, looked confused.

“Congrat…” Geetha exclaimed before being interrupted by Monica.

“Hold on.” She paused for a moment and continued, “I am moving into the role of the travelling accountant for the company.”

Now, the girls looked equally confused while Rahul’s hidden smile vanished, and its place was taken by a deep frown. “That guy's job?” he exclaimed.

“Who is that?” Geetha asked.

“Not sure you know him; his name was Ishan.”

“What is this job?” Pritham asked. Aarathi had an idea of what it was but was too afraid to confirm it.

“It is as it sounds. For now, I will not be working in this office,” Monica replied. “I will be doing the same work. Only I will be travelling from office to office according to their needs.”

The news hit them like a truck. After returning from home, everyone expected to return to normal but now had to face the reality that their normal was soon going to change.

“When you were having your discussion with Dinesh, I was assuming it was about promotion. This is not what I expected,” Rahul said.

“Why? And also, why this job?” Aarathi asked.

“Because I didn’t want to live the rest of my life in an office chair,” Monica replied.

They wanted to object. But looking at Monica's soft smile, all their arguments lost power. It was something she wanted and tying her hands for the sake of others didn’t seem fair.

***

The day had come to a close and mood was as melancholic as a day under the grey clouds. The light had faded, and Monica was hours away from her first bus ride to a new destination.

“Is that it?” Aarathi asked, looking at the single two-foot suitcase sitting at the end of the mattress.

Monica was treated to a farewell, which was custom to anyone leaving a team. Everyone had sad faces, including her boss, who seemed to have had a hard time giving her the job. Each of the boys got their chance to speak with Monica before she left. Pritham was heartbroken to see a close friend leave. She tried to cheer him up by talking about the shows she watched while he was gone, she instead ended up with a stack of comics for her journey. Rahul expressed how he regretted not getting to know her more, but he said he would miss her smile more than anything else.

Now, it was time for the girls to talk. For over a week, there had been trying to pretend as if nothing was going to happen. Like Monica would suddenly drop her plans at the last minute. That was never their intention, but only to delay the pain as long as possible. In an effort to so do so, they made the last day as hard as possible.

“I will be staying at the office for only three days. Then I will have to travel again. Light luggage is what I need to get accustomed to now,” Monica explained.

“Gosh! How is this life going to be? On one hand, you will be seeing new places, but at the same time, you won’t be staying there long enough to really experience it,” Geetha wondered.

“Don’t drag her down now!” Aarathi exclaimed.

“It’s fine. Need a reality check anyway. Better than jumping into cold water without caution, right?” Monica replied.

“So, what now?” Aarathi asked.

“Do you really want to make this more dramatic?” Monica asked.

A deep frown appeared on Aarathi’s face and her eyes turned misty. “No please don’t cry,” Monica said.

“Easy for you to say!” Aarathi exclaimed.

“Come here,” Monica said reaching out for her. The two embraced just as tears burst out from Aarathi’s eyes.

“I am going to miss you!” Aarathi exclaimed.

“I will miss you too… darling,” Monica replied.

Aarathi scoffed before quietly retreating out Monica’s embrace. She began to sob as she wiped the tears off her face. Monica turned towards Geetha who sat as quiet as a mouse.

“And what about you?” Monica asked.

“What about me?” Geetha replied with a smirk on her face.

“No sad feelings?” Monica asked.

“Not really.”

“She is lying,” Aarathi replied.

“Yeah. I can see that,” Monica replied.

“Okay I am sad, but I don’t get teary and all so easily.”

“Fair enough,” Monica replied.

Geetha scoffed at her response before jumping at her with a heartful embrace. “I going to miss you Mon.”

“I will too.”

“It is crazy that you were here, thinking about moving in just a year ago and now you already leaving it,” Aarathi said.

Monica nodded quietly. She didn’t really want to reply.

“Let us talk something more fruitful, shall we?” Geetha said, her eyes were fixed on Monica, and they were burning with intent.

“What do you mean?” Monica asked.

“We have known you for a year and yet, your past is a complete mystery to us,” Geetha explained.

“Come on Geeth, not now,” Aarathi said.

“Now is a perfect time. You have to let us know something about your past. Something you cherish.”

Monica remained quiet. The truth was that she wanted to share a lot, but revealing her past was like opening a pandora’s box that would lead to more problems than anything else. That is at least what she thought. “I have shared with you guys everything I cherish. There is really nothing you would want to know.”

“You are like that bad boy from the movies, only we haven’t found the nice guy to unwrap you and your past,” Geetha commented.

“I doubt romance is something I can handle. I can tell you this. I never left home my entire life. I always got homesick anytime we tried to.”

“What changed?” Aarathi asked curiously.

“You know how it is. It takes a great deal of pain to force change in someone like me. And look at me now. I am finding it hard to stay in one place.”

“So, are you planning on living like this?” Aarathi asked.

“For now, until I find my place in this world.”

“You make the simplest questions sound like a philosophical thesis,” Geetha remarked.

Monica sniggered and said, “I have a knack for overthinking. But now is not the time for that. Aarathi, do you have any of that beer left?”

A wide grin appeared on Aarathi’s face, “enough to make tonight into a party.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Monica asked.